Barony Place I/Barony Place II

According to public records on the Richland County Fifth Judicial Circuit Public Index, Plaintiff Michele Rattray filed a Complaint in Pontiac Magistrate's Court on February 12, 2026 against Brenda Bryant, Thomas Lummel (Jeff), Linda Potter, and Angelo Turley-Moore. Her Complaint mirrors closely the Complaint on file in Blythewood Magistrate's Court by Vernell Butler against the same four persons. No Answers to Rattray's Complaint are recorded as filed yet by the Defendants. In the Public Index for Case No.  2026CV4010900304  are two newer entries: a Motion to Dismiss and a Motion for Change of Venue.  There is also an entry on the Rattray case page that the Defendants are now represented by Attorney Lillian Reid Lawrence. Attorney Lawrence is with MGC Law , a very large regional law firm. (Attorney Rattray also represents the four defendants in Butler's case in the Blythewood Magistrate's Court, but public record does not yet reflect the filing of her Appearance t...

The Summit HOA seems to have backed off its position that street parking in The Summit is not allowed. The March 2026 Summit Scoop carries this message on Page 5 in the "Did You Know" section: " Please be mindful of street parking throughout the community to help keep roadways clear for emergency vehicles, school buses, and neighbors. Whenever possible, use driveways and garages, and avoid parking in areas that block traffic flow or visibility." This is quite different than the threatening (and incorrect) messages posted in The Summit Scoop by former Board President Danny Trapp in mid-2025. And quite different than the email sent to me on November 12, 2024 from William Hill, former Safety Committee chairman, which read, "We are not allowed to park in the streets." He never answered my two emailed requests for the reason that "we" could not park in the streets. Homeowners and residents in Autumn Run should take note. The signs prohibiting street p...

" Community associations often tell owners that transparency is a cornerstone of good governance." That was the lead sentence is the CIAMBA SubStack email today about "the 175 East Delaware Place HOA   inside the former John Hancock Center." That HOA is in Chicago. Has The Summit's HOA's Board ever talked about the importance of transparency? Have they done more than just "talk about it? What could they be transparent about? The $126,351.61 moved without Board vote from Reserves to an "investment" in an Annuity (on whom?) Whether defense of the separate litigations against Brenda Bryant, Jeff Lummel, Linda Potter, and Angelo Turley-Moore by Vernell Butler and Michele Rattray (in different magistrate courts) is being funded by the HOA or its insurance company. Although the four defendants in each legal action are directors and officers of the HOA, the HOA is not a defendant and the four Defendants are not named as officers or directors by eithe...

The Summit HOA's Board of Directors should immediately announce a Special-Called Board Meeting and make it open to the Membership. It should not be a closed, private, secret meeting. Documentation in the form published Minutes should promptly be published on the HOA's website (within days of the Meeting, not weeks). The topics? The annuity that is shown on the January 31, 2026 Balance Sheet and the $126,351.61 that was apparently withdrawn from savings or money market to pay for it. Who is named as the Annuitant? I've heard one name mentioned. Why would it be anyone else? There are probably 25 questions that should be asked and answered. Some of them are listed here . The HOA should be brutally honest (transparent) with the Members. It is the Board of Directors (Bryant, Lummel, Potter, Turley-Moore, Holmes, Hill, Weatherbee) who must ask these questions without flinching. Five of them were on the Board that was sitting when the transactions took place, assuming the transact...

According to the Richland County Fifth Judicial Circuit Public Index, on March 5th* (Thursday) an Answer was filed to Vernell Butler's Complaint against four homeowners in The Summit. The four homeowners are Brenda Bryant, Thomas Lummel (known as Jeff), Linda Potter, and Angelo Turley-Moore. Vernell is a former Board Member and past Treasurer of the HOA. He applied to run for the Board and was selected by the Nominating Committee, which was chaired by Tanisha Holmes, Board Vice-President. Vernell, along with others, was slated as a candidate in the November 18, 2025 Board election.  Although he was nominated, he was not elected. Only one of the five candidates of the Nominating Committee was elected; that was Linda Potter. Four nominees of the Nominating Committee were not elected. Voting Members elected three good applicants who had not been nominated by the Nominating Committee as candidates. The Nominating Committee had no good reason to deny those three. Brenda Bryant (incumben...

At the monthly Board Meetings the hand-out includes the current issue of The Summit Scoop (5 pages). When the packet was distributed at the March 3, 2026 Board Meeting, I'm sure many attendees found it very helpful to receive a copy of the February HOA Calendar. (Snark, snark) It costs time and money to make many copies of those five pages for each packet. Why aren't people  thinking ? I recall watching a Jean Robertson comedy routine, in which she held her hands in front of her as if she were lovingly holding a person's head while she asked, "Is there anyone in there?" Why not put an announcement in the packet that directs homeowners and residents to the current issue of The Summit Scoop on the HOA's website? Or just mention it in the meeting? Or not say anything about it at all?