In order for you to understand what this article is about you will have to read the letter sent to The Wedgefield Examiner that is posted immediately above this one. I'm sure that I will have comments beyond these, but my day is scheduled full of appointments. The first items that jumped out at me were these:
1)"And you seem hell bent on simply being “right”.
Most of us want to be right, In this case it is not so important that I be right, but I do set myself up to be sued in providing the blog, so I document everything. My audience doesn't have to take my word, I present back up to everything.
The intention of the blog is to make sure that my board is doing the right thing for my community. It is more important, board member, Anderson that you as a board member live up to operating under the guidance of our governing documents, whether you like them, or not. You speak of all these conversations, and approvals by groups previously against dredging, and yet there is no documentation when you met with these people, and how they got invited when we didn't.
My expectation, unrealistic as it may seem to you, and my board is that you perform your duties to the benefit of all members, under the restrictions, and covenants that you personally signed, and therefore promised to uphold. Here is the document, and your promise to each of us, when you took office. So I'm calling on you, your committee, and your fellow board members to keep your word.
WEDGEFIELD PLANTATION ASSOCIATION POLICY MANUAL
CODE OF ETHICS
CODE OF ETHICS
Appendix IV-1
Directors shall act with scrupulous good faith and candor. They will avoid even the perception of conflict of interest, favoritism and acting out of self-interest.
Directors shall uphold and safeguard the Bylaws, Conditions, Restrictions and Policies governing Wedgefield Plantation Association.
___________________________________________________________________________ Board Member Date
Directors shall uphold and safeguard the Bylaws, Conditions, Restrictions and Policies governing Wedgefield Plantation Association.
___________________________________________________________________________ Board Member Date
2) "What are you doing for canal lot owners? You often speak of our “governing documents” but our covenants are so weak and poorly written and outdated."
What am I doing for canal lot owners? Asking them to force you, your committee, and fellow board members to live up to your responsibilities under those detested governing documents, and you aren't. We all have an opinion. We all bought our properties - golf course, condo, or canal, believing any board would have to live up to the governing documents that our deeds said you would govern us under. Perhaps, you, or your committee, or fellow board members would tell my fellow canal lot owners when you voted, who voted, who witnessed, this board's vote to give the canal maintenance effort $135,000 of our WPA funds. I would hate to see someone sue, halt the project, because you, your committee, and fellow board members have been leading the project down a very slippery slope.
I'm advising canal lot owners that this project is illegal, and divisive, by the manner in which you have structured it, and it does nothing to benefit property values overall, or for our fellow members in the condos, or on the golf course, at a time when the golf course is a mess, and general maintenance is even worse.
3) "We have been openly discussing canal dredging for about 6 months now and haven't really heard any negative feedback from the residents most staunchly opposed to it last time."
Would you provide me the dates, and the minutes from all those open discussions, because I've looked at the WPA website, and can't locate them - not even in the official minutes.
PART II ADDED SEPTEMBER 29
PART II - SEPTEMBER 29
4) "If this plan fails, there is no plan B. It’s over, and your water access behind your home will be no more. There will never be a WPA board willing to do what you suggest, and do another individual assessment. The only other option the canal lot owners have is to file litigation against the WPA for failing to maintain the canals. That would be a ridiculous course of action for many reasons. It would be incredibly expensive and the money needed to pay for attorneys would need to be privately raised. Why not spend that money on dredging??? It would be an uphill battle that would take years to finish. We would need to prove the WPA has an obligation to maintain the canals.Our covenants are weak, judges are lazy, and attorneys are greedy".
"If this plan fails, there is no plan B." That is just poor planning, and another indication that this committee, and board, with no documented meetings of discussion, and a vote, at the board table, has just been hell bent on following this questionable, illegal, legal chair. "Our covenants are weak, judges are lazy, and attorneys are greedy". This board has had to search through a number of "greedy" and dysfunctional lawyers, to find just the right one to give the opinion that legal chair/Garrison wanted. It appears divisive on the part of the committee, and board to make these statements about the very attorneys - some referees, and your claim to rulings, and judgements. I am no advocate of court, but to speak of judges with the distain you have for them, as a board member is questionable, when you've tried to attach judge to certain of your glorified greedy lawyers. Can we as members, trust you, your committee, and our board on any level? I think not! If I were this board, a court room, and a judge, would be one of the last places I would want to be, because I don't know how you would be able to defend the actions of this board, on any issue, let alone the canals, because this board is not following the requirements of our governing documents, on any level - no votes on $135,000, no discussions, and no plan B. You'd have no chance of winning, and this whole board has total disregard for our governing documents. Thank you for putting your opinion regarding our governing documents, in writing.
I question the integrity of the canal committee/board members: you, McMillin, Johnson, John Walton, in the matter of the high regard you present for yourselves, in your representation of the canal lot owners. If you wanted to look at options, and you really wanted to have a plan B, why did you let the rest of your board, our president, and legal chair cover up that moment in time when if you are a canal lot owner, WE HAD WON on BOTH TYPES OF ASSESSMENT? Actually we had won, and the victory papers laid around for about a year, and a half, without being mentioned. It was that long before anyone thought that there had to be some changes made (Go back to your official minutes.) This shows the divisiveness of your statements, and the apparent willingness to cover up good news, which would have not only helped the canal lot owners in the future, but aided in the resolution of every type of lot owner problem. At the 2015 Annual Meeting, when I asked a question, now recently resigned board member, DeMarchi said that when he saw those rulings (not) he was so happy that we had won, that he wanted to hold a parade on Wedgefield Rd. Yet, this is what Garrison reported in the minutes of the October 2013 WPA Board Meeting:
Why didn't you, McMillin, Johnson, or John Walton, ask that Garrison explain what the order contained, as the strong, legal, non divisive canal lot representatives that you declare yourselves to be? Need time to come up with a reason not to win? I believe that if one of your lazy judges saw this, he/she would question your motives, let alone the rest of the board. "You will certainly continue to trash our efforts,but for every hour you work to hurt us, we will work 10 for the betterment of the canal community and Wedgefield as a whole." It is no wonder it takes you 10 hours VS one hour of my work. It is easier to provide truth, than construct a fabrication of the truth. I hate it when people like you try to kill the messenger of truth. You aren't, I'm stronger than that, and these issues are too important.
PART III ADDED 9/30
"There will never be a dredging plan that pleases everyone."
No, there never will be a dredging plan that pleases everyone, however, you, your committee, and your board have not acted in anyway that is legal according to our governing documents. I'm not publishing all those documents again. Regular readers of the blog know that I have presented all the necessary back up documents in previous articles. I have asked that you show me, and all of the membership, exactly what governing documents you have followed. I've asked you to name the dates, and times of the meetings where all these opinions within the board, and outside - with the membership, were gathered. I have asked you to give me reference to the date, and meeting notes where the board committed openly, and honestly, - discussed and voted -the $135,000 contribution to the dredging. I don't believe you can supply that information. This has been nothing but a secret operation - an illegal operation. You have spent more time damming the facts, rather than proving me wrong. Quite frankly, the entire board should be removed for their illegalities. What is worse, is for all your accusations, you have divided this community again by your actions, not my words, to benefit one group the canal lot owners - us first no matter what.
This is important because every member in Wedgefield is being impacted again - something you swear you avoided, because of the $135,000. Each, and every member household contributed, and you are using this money at a time when every lot owner in Wedgefield has a real need for the specific problems related to their lot asset to be addressed. None of the needs of all the lot owners are being addressed, and yet you will take $135,000 out of "all members money", to fix yours - illegally. You should not be talking to me, or anyone else about the intangible feelings driving your decisions. You should be showing the entire membership how you are doing it legally, and you are not, because you can't. What is worse is that you, and this entire board are making poor decisions - illegal decisions - about general maintenance, and ARC, and you address them, only when pushed by residents during the resident comment section of the monthly board meetings, and then this board sits on their hands, and allows Garrison to be just about the sole speaker, on all subjects, and he is often rude, and crude to the resident's questions, particularly if the resident comes armed with our governing documents. This board is illegal in every aspect of their work. Our governing documents are being ignored in every aspect of your work. You answer to no one with real authority because you don't have a legal leg to stand on. You'll make anyone who questions, the community enemy.
"You are trying to destroy our efforts and the efforts of those that have worked tirelessly and donated tens of thousands of dollars to obtain the permit. And you seem hell bent on simply being “right”. What do you think you accomplish if you can suppress our efforts? The permit expires in 2018 and then it's over. Done! It will never be dredged again if we fail."
I want the canals dredged. I want you, your committee, and your board to do this openly, honestly, and legally. I, as a canal lot owner living here from 2004 on, donated every time I was asked, to that permit. I lived under 4-5 years of lawsuit, contributed to the countersuit, spent hours, observing depositions, being deposed, and providing and reviewing discovery documents. All the while, WPA governing documents were being torn apart from both sides. You, your committee, and your board, would have nothing to bring to that legal setting. You have no meeting dates, no votes from the board table, etc. I will not participate, nor should my fellow canal lot owners, until you show us where the board has met, any of our governing documents requirements. You can't.
"The permit expires in 2018 and then it's over."
This to my knowledge, and at some point, I reviewed the permit, is a half truth intended to incite fear. As I recall, there is a clause in the permit itself that provides for a extension of time. You don't have to start all over again, you simply have to apply. You should not be moving forward with a dredge today, under the illegal guidance of this committee, and board, when all of Wedgefield is in such a mess. You, your committee, and board should get your illegal acts together, and clean up every corner of Wedgefield - ARC, vacant lots, and general grounds maintenance, and include a legal plan to help every lot owner.
"Our plan gets this done in 18 months and give us 10-15 years of usable enjoyment out of the canals. "
This is so short sighted, that I can't believe that you would even state it. No plan B. No long term resolution to future problems. Dredge now, without thought to the future, and enjoy 10-15 years of enjoyment, because this is it. If you dredge, you are one storm/flood away from being where you are today. According to you, this is it. So without a long term plan, you could be done in one year. I didn't buy my property with a dead line on water being in my back yard. Your so called plan isn't good for us individually, and it isn't good for property values anywhere in Wedgefield.
HERE'S MY PLAN:
*Extend the permit.
*Use the governing documents we have, like them, or not
*Hold regular monthly meetings with a real agenda, discussion, and votes.
*Throw out the whole committee, and start with a new one that is willing to develop a long term plan.
*Get rid of as many of the current board members who allowed this, and all the disastrous conditions throughout Wedgefield to develop. Four are up for re-election. A start can be made by voting no for Jacky Walton, Garrison, Johnson, and Phillips.
*Clean up the legal committee. Get a new chair, and committee members. They have been hiding too much, and not even getting written legal opinions.
*Clean up the compliance committee. It is an obvious conflict of function to have the same person (Garrison) serve as legal chair, and the compliance chair. Get a new chair, add more residents to the committee, and charge the compliance committee with doing a records audit of the actions of this board for at least two years. Follow every contract from procurement forward. Review all associated board actions against the governing documents. Issue a report to the community.
COMING UP NEXT: THE WEDGEFIELD EXAMINER WILL PUBLISH BOARD MEMBER ANDERSON'S REBUTTAL TO THE COMMENTS I HAVE MADE ON HIS ORIGINAL LETTER TO THE BLOG.
PART II - SEPTEMBER 29
4) "If this plan fails, there is no plan B. It’s over, and your water access behind your home will be no more. There will never be a WPA board willing to do what you suggest, and do another individual assessment. The only other option the canal lot owners have is to file litigation against the WPA for failing to maintain the canals. That would be a ridiculous course of action for many reasons. It would be incredibly expensive and the money needed to pay for attorneys would need to be privately raised. Why not spend that money on dredging??? It would be an uphill battle that would take years to finish. We would need to prove the WPA has an obligation to maintain the canals.Our covenants are weak, judges are lazy, and attorneys are greedy".
"If this plan fails, there is no plan B." That is just poor planning, and another indication that this committee, and board, with no documented meetings of discussion, and a vote, at the board table, has just been hell bent on following this questionable, illegal, legal chair. "Our covenants are weak, judges are lazy, and attorneys are greedy". This board has had to search through a number of "greedy" and dysfunctional lawyers, to find just the right one to give the opinion that legal chair/Garrison wanted. It appears divisive on the part of the committee, and board to make these statements about the very attorneys - some referees, and your claim to rulings, and judgements. I am no advocate of court, but to speak of judges with the distain you have for them, as a board member is questionable, when you've tried to attach judge to certain of your glorified greedy lawyers. Can we as members, trust you, your committee, and our board on any level? I think not! If I were this board, a court room, and a judge, would be one of the last places I would want to be, because I don't know how you would be able to defend the actions of this board, on any issue, let alone the canals, because this board is not following the requirements of our governing documents, on any level - no votes on $135,000, no discussions, and no plan B. You'd have no chance of winning, and this whole board has total disregard for our governing documents. Thank you for putting your opinion regarding our governing documents, in writing.
I question the integrity of the canal committee/board members: you, McMillin, Johnson, John Walton, in the matter of the high regard you present for yourselves, in your representation of the canal lot owners. If you wanted to look at options, and you really wanted to have a plan B, why did you let the rest of your board, our president, and legal chair cover up that moment in time when if you are a canal lot owner, WE HAD WON on BOTH TYPES OF ASSESSMENT? Actually we had won, and the victory papers laid around for about a year, and a half, without being mentioned. It was that long before anyone thought that there had to be some changes made (Go back to your official minutes.) This shows the divisiveness of your statements, and the apparent willingness to cover up good news, which would have not only helped the canal lot owners in the future, but aided in the resolution of every type of lot owner problem. At the 2015 Annual Meeting, when I asked a question, now recently resigned board member, DeMarchi said that when he saw those rulings (not) he was so happy that we had won, that he wanted to hold a parade on Wedgefield Rd. Yet, this is what Garrison reported in the minutes of the October 2013 WPA Board Meeting:
- "He also stated that a copy of the order from the Special Referee is in the office. This is regarding the 2 canal properties that have not paid the $5,000."
PART III ADDED 9/30
"There will never be a dredging plan that pleases everyone."
No, there never will be a dredging plan that pleases everyone, however, you, your committee, and your board have not acted in anyway that is legal according to our governing documents. I'm not publishing all those documents again. Regular readers of the blog know that I have presented all the necessary back up documents in previous articles. I have asked that you show me, and all of the membership, exactly what governing documents you have followed. I've asked you to name the dates, and times of the meetings where all these opinions within the board, and outside - with the membership, were gathered. I have asked you to give me reference to the date, and meeting notes where the board committed openly, and honestly, - discussed and voted -the $135,000 contribution to the dredging. I don't believe you can supply that information. This has been nothing but a secret operation - an illegal operation. You have spent more time damming the facts, rather than proving me wrong. Quite frankly, the entire board should be removed for their illegalities. What is worse, is for all your accusations, you have divided this community again by your actions, not my words, to benefit one group the canal lot owners - us first no matter what.
This is important because every member in Wedgefield is being impacted again - something you swear you avoided, because of the $135,000. Each, and every member household contributed, and you are using this money at a time when every lot owner in Wedgefield has a real need for the specific problems related to their lot asset to be addressed. None of the needs of all the lot owners are being addressed, and yet you will take $135,000 out of "all members money", to fix yours - illegally. You should not be talking to me, or anyone else about the intangible feelings driving your decisions. You should be showing the entire membership how you are doing it legally, and you are not, because you can't. What is worse is that you, and this entire board are making poor decisions - illegal decisions - about general maintenance, and ARC, and you address them, only when pushed by residents during the resident comment section of the monthly board meetings, and then this board sits on their hands, and allows Garrison to be just about the sole speaker, on all subjects, and he is often rude, and crude to the resident's questions, particularly if the resident comes armed with our governing documents. This board is illegal in every aspect of their work. Our governing documents are being ignored in every aspect of your work. You answer to no one with real authority because you don't have a legal leg to stand on. You'll make anyone who questions, the community enemy.
"You are trying to destroy our efforts and the efforts of those that have worked tirelessly and donated tens of thousands of dollars to obtain the permit. And you seem hell bent on simply being “right”. What do you think you accomplish if you can suppress our efforts? The permit expires in 2018 and then it's over. Done! It will never be dredged again if we fail."
I want the canals dredged. I want you, your committee, and your board to do this openly, honestly, and legally. I, as a canal lot owner living here from 2004 on, donated every time I was asked, to that permit. I lived under 4-5 years of lawsuit, contributed to the countersuit, spent hours, observing depositions, being deposed, and providing and reviewing discovery documents. All the while, WPA governing documents were being torn apart from both sides. You, your committee, and your board, would have nothing to bring to that legal setting. You have no meeting dates, no votes from the board table, etc. I will not participate, nor should my fellow canal lot owners, until you show us where the board has met, any of our governing documents requirements. You can't.
"The permit expires in 2018 and then it's over."
This to my knowledge, and at some point, I reviewed the permit, is a half truth intended to incite fear. As I recall, there is a clause in the permit itself that provides for a extension of time. You don't have to start all over again, you simply have to apply. You should not be moving forward with a dredge today, under the illegal guidance of this committee, and board, when all of Wedgefield is in such a mess. You, your committee, and board should get your illegal acts together, and clean up every corner of Wedgefield - ARC, vacant lots, and general grounds maintenance, and include a legal plan to help every lot owner.
"Our plan gets this done in 18 months and give us 10-15 years of usable enjoyment out of the canals. "
This is so short sighted, that I can't believe that you would even state it. No plan B. No long term resolution to future problems. Dredge now, without thought to the future, and enjoy 10-15 years of enjoyment, because this is it. If you dredge, you are one storm/flood away from being where you are today. According to you, this is it. So without a long term plan, you could be done in one year. I didn't buy my property with a dead line on water being in my back yard. Your so called plan isn't good for us individually, and it isn't good for property values anywhere in Wedgefield.
HERE'S MY PLAN:
*Extend the permit.
*Use the governing documents we have, like them, or not
*Hold regular monthly meetings with a real agenda, discussion, and votes.
*Throw out the whole committee, and start with a new one that is willing to develop a long term plan.
*Get rid of as many of the current board members who allowed this, and all the disastrous conditions throughout Wedgefield to develop. Four are up for re-election. A start can be made by voting no for Jacky Walton, Garrison, Johnson, and Phillips.
*Clean up the legal committee. Get a new chair, and committee members. They have been hiding too much, and not even getting written legal opinions.
*Clean up the compliance committee. It is an obvious conflict of function to have the same person (Garrison) serve as legal chair, and the compliance chair. Get a new chair, add more residents to the committee, and charge the compliance committee with doing a records audit of the actions of this board for at least two years. Follow every contract from procurement forward. Review all associated board actions against the governing documents. Issue a report to the community.
COMING UP NEXT: THE WEDGEFIELD EXAMINER WILL PUBLISH BOARD MEMBER ANDERSON'S REBUTTAL TO THE COMMENTS I HAVE MADE ON HIS ORIGINAL LETTER TO THE BLOG.
