A WALK THROUGH THE HIGHLIGHTS OF GOVERNANCE IN 2013:
January
* The Treasurer reports that the financial report contains erroneous information. So as not to repeat this fact throughout the article, please note that this goes on for months. The words change each month to incorrect, etc. but the instability of information and ever changing form of the reports continue through the entire year.
*Your board approves an "off the shelf" Reserve Study" to save money, despite the fact that we have never had one done, and will not pay for engineering support to the study.
*The board had the management company send assessments out due the end of January but will hamper their collection by taking steps to stop the application of late fees until March 1st. A board member questions this move and the board ignores him.
*The president reports that the Reserve Study contract has been signed. He is questioned as to whether the canals and spoil site were included in the study. He reports that they were included in the proposal, but not the contract???????????????
February
*The Water Amenities Chair brings three bids to the board table to replace old dock one at the landing. A board member questions whether the old dock will be dissembled and removed so as not to "end up in our own back yard"? The board is advised that the contractor will pull it up on the landing and it will be dissembled. Watch how long this issue says on the table and the snake path the board takes to cover up the intentions and lies of this committee.
*The Drainage Chair would like to hire the association president's contracting business to do drainage work. The Treasurer/Drainage Chair says the board will discuss this at a closed board meeting. One board member asks about conflict of interest. Watch for this issue to be discussed a few more times in 2013!
*Our president reports that the management company has quit. The board's strangling of their ability to operate in a real business sense may have caused this. The details are too long and twisted for this article.
*The board removes the spoil site from under the care of the Water Amenities Committee to Grounds????????????
*A resident discusses the board's failure to respond to residents during the comment section of the meeting. This problem continues throughout the year. Our president asks The Wedgefield Examiner what procedure she used to answer residents!
March
*Your board allows the GROUNDS' CHAIR to take a significant presentation period of time under New Business to give his non engineered, convoluted, costs derived off the top of his head, CANAL PROPOSAL No one explains how he got on the agenda to discuss this topic.
*The treasurer provides information on "the accounting function". When asked by a board member whether a CPA will be involved, the treasurer gets nasty, supported by others on the board. Watch how this develops and how your board has never acknowledged the true expense.
*The board Secretary reports that she expects to spend $500 on an event. When asked by a board member whether she intends to make a motion and call a vote for the expense, she says "no". No one else on the board discusses the fact that the rest have to.
*The Vice President/Legal Chair declares that the board is having difficulty securing bids for projects in Wedgefield. He states the Drainage Chair/Treasurer/ Compliance Chair (who is about to do drainage work on his road and roads where he built homes??????) is having difficulty securing bids for his project and suggests the work be done by our president's contracting firm!!!!!!
*The President notifies residents of a closed board meeting, despite the fact that many of the individual board members campaigned against closed meetings!
*In the mean time, a board member's spouse leads the gossip train in the community on a serious private matter of a former board member, quoted as saying "that person would get their just due." Watch for this spouse later as your board allows them a resident speaker spot to go after The Wedgefield Examiner during a WPA meeting.
*The old dock is dragged into "our back yard", the canals!
April
*A board member asks the Legal Chair if he has written legal opinions on an issue being discussed at the board table. The answer is "no". The questioning board member says, "all we have then is hear say". The board secretary laughs and our President says, "carry on"! Lack of written legal opinions continues throughout the year.
*The president loudly declares, "I'm the president", when he brings a surprise, non agenda item to the board table for a vote. Our Treasurer seconds the motion! When a board member questions the President, he yells that the board member is "out of order".
*The Treasurer brings a motion to the table to pay for training in Quick Books for our staff secretary. The staff secretary will play a large role in the "accounting function". This is just more of what is to come with our non professional "accounting function".
*The old dock is still in the canals. Your board continues to cover for the Water Amenities' Chair.
*This meeting is so heated that the President doesn't even call for resident comments at the end of the meeting!
May
*The Grounds Chair discusses the potential grounds maintenance contract. He wants to subsidize private lot mowing and add the spoil site maintenance to the contract (No expert or engineering support and the grounds' crew and equipment would have to be transported by volunteers). Some on the board question it. Our Treasurer is adamant that we won't be subsidizing lot mowing. Others on the board don't want to include the spoil site. The new contract is delayed until August.. They extend the current contract until August and lots located between houses are left to grow knee high because there aren't any lot mowings left in the old contract.
*The Wedgefield Examiner schedules a review of the correspondence file over a six month period and documents that residents haven't been answered for six months and yet the Community Liaison continues to declare, "no report", as your President and entire board sit by.
*The old dock is still in the canals and your board continues to snake around it.
*"BUILDER DAMAGE": Our Treasurer sends a email to the President - ONLY. A builder has damaged the Treasurer's lawn. The TREASURER advises the PRESIDENT, "I will have the lawn repaired and have the ASSOCIATION DEDUCT IT FROM THE OWNER DEPOSIT." The Wedgefield Examiner does not believe that option is available to any of us. It is available if damage is done to WPA property. The "accounting function supervised by the Treasurer, no CPA, may have had to handle that transaction??????
*Our Treasurer introduces his "ACCOUNTANT" job description. There are no true education requirements - not even high school, for what he calls our ACCOUNTANT. A person is hired. It doesn't appear a ad, or interview is conducted by anyone other than the Treasurer. It is stated that the new hire calls herself a BOOKKEEPER. No one tells us what the new hire is being paid and our ever changing financial reports don't allow us to review it. One board member answers the question of cost by saying, "she works cheap".
*The Grounds' Chair argues with the board over the grounds' contract. According to figures presented, we will be paying 40 - 50% of the mowing of PRIVATE LOTS.
*During the Drainage Report, our Drainage/ Treasurer/Compliance Chair is going to do more work in his backyard and where he built homes, at our expense. A board member declares that residents have had to pay for their own drainage when they build. In fact he had to when he built his home. The Treasurer/Drainage/COMPLIANCE CHAIR pushes on saying "five or six drainage committees have known since 2007 the issues and he will fix it. He will be the first to fix it" (in his neighborhood and where he built homes). When questioned again by a board member, the questioner is abused, and the action moves forward with the support of your board.
*A vote is taken to pay off the canal loan.
June
*The Wedgefield Examiner sends a letter, as a private resident, requesting the opportunity to review records. The Treasurer, not the Community Liaison (Is he the Community Liaison at this point and your President hasn't announced it?) sends a response telling her she hasn't met the requirements of STATE LAW. I respond asking if all residents are held to STATE LAW? I request a meeting with our President and the Legal Committee and further state that if they don't schedule it, that I want one of the resident speaker positions during the June Board Meeting. I'm given an appointment. The President, Legal Chair, and the Treasurer attend. The Treasurer tells me he never sent the email! I have the email. The Legal Chair stands over my shoulder looking at the email that the Treasurer has sent to the office and directed (in writing) that the office staff person send to me. He has copied the entire board, including our President. The office staff person walks out of the building. When all is said and done I believe the only reason they met with me is because they had given one of the speaker spots to the Treasurer's spouse to retaliate against "a publication" in an open June Board Meeting.
*At this point in 2013, the board has made a number of changes to the Policy Manual, without following a by-law passed by the resident in 2011. In the end it is discovered that our Legal Chair (then, and in 2013) hasn't taken the proper steps to have it registered legally in over 1 1/2 years! Additionally, it hasn't even been added to the By-Laws provided to residents on the WPA website. Note: The Treasurer/Drainage/ ARC member/COMPLIANCE Chair, has sat back month after month.
*SUSPICIOUS DRAINAGE BID AND CONTRACT AWARD: The Drainage Chair asks the board to approve a contractor who bid $20 less than our grounds maintenance contractor, Great Lawns, to do drainage work. I review the files. There is no request for proposal package. Review of bids shows bidder figures crossed out and lower ones written in, reducing the bid to less than $20 than the Great Lawns bid. Your board approves the other contractor!!!
*Your board approves a grounds maintenance contract that leaves us supplementing the cost of private lot mowing and includes the spoil site. This approval after months of cat and mouse games telling the Grounds' Chair they wouldn't have this or that. One board member refers to this as looking "like KICK BACKS TO SOME PRIVATE LOT OWNERS".
*The Water Amenities Chair reports that they have SOLD THE OLD DOCK. When asked by a board member what they received for the dock, neither the Water Amenities Chair, nor the Treasurer, will answer the question at the board table! At this point, having transcribed the minutes for months, no one ever approved that they sell it, and your board snakes and no one asks who voted to give them permission to sell WPA property that was to be dissembled and hauled away. The Water Amenities' Chair announces that he is removing the questioning board member from the Water Amenities Committee and your board officers, Legal Chair, and Compliance sits back and watches.
July
*The old dock still sits in the canals. Your Water Amenities Chair fails to mention it in his report. At the July meeting we observe this board playing the Wedgefield version of the Key Stone Cops. "Get it out, it was never suppose to be there, it better not cost us", yet they never laid down the law in all these months, and now the contractor won't pull it out of the canals, and the buyer doesn't seem to be able to get it out of the canals. Your Legal Chair, when asked about liability if the dock harms private resident property, says it is on their private insurance - not the associations.
*It is announced that the Reserve Study is in the hands of the board. The Treasurer wants to move $50,000 to reserves. When asked if he'll use the reserve study allocations, he answers that he'll use the allocation formula he has been using (HIS). Our individual board members expertise trumps the study we all paid for. The Wedgefield Examiner reviews the Reserve Study. It is tainted with notes by the contractor similar to "according to the board". More of our individual board member expertise in the world according to them, and they won't use the study's figures?????? P.S.: They wouldn't allow one of the board members speak to the vendor. One begs to ask, "according to who, and which board members"?
August
The Roads' Chair seeks approval to contract with engineering services for projected road projects. Your board approves. Yet, they don't want engineering services for drainage?????
*The Grounds' Chair discusses the possibility of building a WPA maintenance shed to house maintenance equipment. Don't we contract for maintenance services?????????????
*The old dock has been removed, but no one including the Water Amenities' Chair reports how or when. No one on the board brings it up. There was a sign at the place in the canals where the dock had resided for months that said, "ask the Wedgefield Examiner where the dock went."
September
*The Drainage Chair continues with the drainage contracts in his own neighborhood. This time there is only one bid brought to the table. A board member questions one bidder and the fact that the projected projects for the Roads' Committee now have engineering support contracts, while drainage projects don't. The questing board member is treated rudely and advised that it is felt that our Treasurer/Drainage/Compliance Chair along with our President, have the expertise that is good enough???????????
*Two board members question the projected 2014 operating budget and flow of funds from operating to reserves. One of these board members calls what is happening "A SHELL GAME".
*The Legal Chair reports on the process of seeking legal action to collect on the $5,000 canal assessments. Your President doesn't seem to find it ironic and somewhat questionable that he has named this individual as Legal Chair. Your board doesn't ever bring it up. Yet, this gentleman is one of three "Bob's" who wrote residents telling them not to pay these assessments to the association, but to put them in an escrow account at Anderson Brothers Bank - impact the board's ability to pay the loan and conduct other business. Additionally he has your board vote to add one of the other Bob's to the Legal Committee and your board approves. Now these vary same men are advising the board and seeking legal advice on the vary people they told not to pay?????????
*This months ever changing finance report, constructed by our Treasurer's "in house accounting function group" (we don't know how much it is costing each month) has changed again, and it is one page with few details.
October
*Our Treasurer brings bids to the table to fix aspects of the gate house. Low and behold the lowest bidder is our PRESIDENT. A motion is brought to the table to contract with our PRESIDENT. A board member says this is a conflict of interest and goes against our governing documents. Our Legal Chair is rude, calls the questioning moronic. Our PRESIDENT says he'll withdraw his bid. Our Treasurer/Drainage/Compliance Chair, who has managed this process and brought the motion to the table, refuses our PRESIDENT'S offer. Your board members, minus the questioning board member, vote to contract with our PRESIDENT! Not one of them - not our PRESIDENT, LEGAL CHAIR, or TREASURER/ DRAINAGE/COMPLIANCE CHAIR, or any of the Board except the one questioning, remember or acknowledge signing the CONFLICT OF INTEREST statement! Now, who is - let me use our Legal Chair's words, MORONIC?????
*During this month the Wedgefield Examiner noted another attempt by this board to keep information from the residents. I usually transcribe tapes from the Wedgefield Times. The editor always has them posted within 24 - 48 hours of a meeting. He was unavailable, so I went to the WPA website and found, and then verified through the office, that they hadn't been posted for 8 MONTHS.
November
*Our annual meeting was held. We had three board vacancies. We had three candidates. Two of them were running to fill their own soon, to be vacant board seats. It appears that except for one, no one wanted to venture to work with this board. Some residents actually wrote "no" next to their names. The lowest number of residents in years voted. Of course they won their seats back. Two by-law amendments appeared on the ballot. One was said to be submitted by the Legal Chair who is also Vice President. If you attend meetings you know that our Legal Chair is not inclined to pay for written legal opinions. As one board member states, they are left with hear say. Our Legal Chair, did seek a WRITTEN LEGAL OPINION for the amendments, provided by an attorney who came to be the Board Attorney of Record, under unusual circumstances. If it was the Legal Chair's amendment, it appeared to violate our covenants, but it passed.
DECEMBER & COMMENTS & CONCLUSION OF THIS ARTICLE
The article ends with December. After the November Annual Meeting one of the most critical actions of the board is to meet and elect their officers. Once the officers are elected the President has the authority to name committee chairs. Your board re-elected the same 2013 officers. Your President, with minor exception named the same committee chairs, as he named in 2013. I started the article on the premise that our immediate past performance is a strong indicator of our new immediate performance. Who could be proud of the events listed above? There wasn't room to detail the horrible, distasteful behavior to any board member, usually one, who stood alone, and questioned and fought to uphold standards, governing documents, common strong business sense, etc., and was publicly abused and treated unethically, despite the fact that your President had everyone of them sign a Code of Ethics. He didn't follow it, and neither did more than a few others. For those board members who didn't speak and abuse, they abused by sitting back, and voting in behalf of the ridiculous items noted above and watch the bullying. You may have abused by not attending meetings, not writing, and demanding explanation or action. You inadvertently condoned this and lessened the field of anyone considering running for this board.I hold our President, our Officers, and those of you who just want to live and enjoy life responsible. It might not be that wonderful. Some of this board's nasty behavior could come knocking at your door soon.
In my not so humble opinion, our future for 2014 - our state of the union, looks dim. We have left this board with unbridled trust to move forward, as they did in 2013. Who could be proud of this governance over the place where we live, raise or welcome families, leave to go to work, school, or to retire and enjoy life? The state of this union sickens me. I'm tempted to send this off to surrounding HOAs and title it, "What Not To Allow To Happen In Your HOA"
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ABOVE WAS PULLED FROM TRANSCRIPTIONS OF MEETINGS AND REVIEW OF DUCMENTS. I'VE DOCUMENTED THIS ARTICLE TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY.
