Open Letter to HOA Members and the Board

In November 2023 a new Board of Directors took over. Within two weeks two experienced Directors quit, and the Board appointed their successors.

I've been told that the new board is working hard and that there are many issues to be addressed. Before the February meeting I suggested that the Board inform the Members (homeowners) about the various projects they will be addressing. Posterboards around the meeting room could have listed the projects and who was in charge of them.

If you were at the February 6th meeting, you know that did not happen.

The new board is actually just like the old boards; i.e., it is keeping the homeowners in the dark.

Members don't have a clue what the board is doing, because there is no communication with the Members. 

There is a lot of work to be done. The new board may not want to tell the Members about all the things that are wrong. They could be accused of disrespecting past boards. Get over it. Feelings don't count. Facts count. The board president referred to a (financial) crisis. 

The 2024 Budget is not balanced. Initially, there is a $28,000 deficit. That's not the whole story. Many line items are insufficient and will require unbudgeted expenditures. That means money for operating expenses will be sucked out of Reserves. And that is wrong! 

A few of the items to be addressed are:

- Balancing the budget. 

- Working out a realistic budget, not just one that is close to being balanced only by cutting numbers in areas that will still require expenses.

- Demanding that CAMS provide the professional expertise that it advertises on its website and for which the HOA is paying. The Board should not have to clean up the Minutes of board meetings and fix errors in accounting.

- Allocating the reserves into identifiable categories and then NOT infringing on those reserves to meet operating expenses.

- And the huge legal problem that exists by not having any legitimate Neighborhood Reps. 

The November 2023 election was illegal, as have been many in the past. The November 2024 election of three directors will be illegal, if the board doesn't act to legitimize the Neighborhood Reps by getting an Annual Neighborhood Meeting held in every Neighborhood - all 28. At that meeting, those present in-person and by proxy elect a Neighborhood Committee, from which comes the Voting Member who serves for one year. 

As of this time there are no legitimate Directors or Officers. The election in November 2023 was by people who were not eligible to vote. Voter Fraud is prevalent throughout the United States, and we have it right here in The Summit's HOA. A knowledgeable lawyer would explain to the Directors that they have huge personal liability for their actions.

This is not an attack on those few homeowners who are performing the duties of a Neighborhood Rep. They are doing a good job. They just are not  "legitimate" Voting Members, because their neighborhoods have not held Annual Neighborhood Meetings in many years. 

"Getting signatures" is not a legitimate method of selecting a Neighborhood Rep. It's not in the By-Laws. One very-recent board member resigned from the board in October 2023 and immediately claimed to be a Neighborhood Rep, so that she could vote in November. She had to know that "getting signatures" was not the way to become a Neighborhood Rep (Voting Member).

I tried to organize a Neighborhood Meeting here in Barony Place. Initial interest waned. Barony Place has 78 homeowners who are unrepresented before the board.

I have offered for three months to help organize the work that will result in a legitimate group of Neighborhood Reps. Nothing causes me to think the Board is working on that. 

If the dues have to be raised more than 10% to cover Operating Expenses without infringing on the Reserves, there are no legitimate Neighborhood Reps to vote on it. Why did one board member, elected a year ago, quit the Board within three months? Did she realize the personal liability involved and quit to protect her assets? If she did, that was a wise move.

Directors may think that the HOA's Directors and Officers Liability Insurance protects them. It doesn't, because they aren't legitimate Directors and Officers. All they have to do is ask the question they don't want to ask, and they will get the answer they don't want to hear. That question for the insurance carrier is, "If I am not a legitimate Director, does the D&O policy cover me?"

At the February board meeting, one homeowner asked about a forensic audit. (This should have been done after George Reynolds died in April 2021.) The President asked if the Finance Committee wanted it, and she said it did. I don't know if the Finance Committee had voted on it or why the Chair of the Committee didn't make a Motion. Of course, if it was going to cost $10,-$15,000, she'd have to recommend where the money would come from.