Barony Place I/Barony Place II

Homeowners haven't felt the impact of last Tuesday's Board election yet, but it's coming. My sense is that the homeowners (the Members of the Association) and residents will realize quickly that the game has changed. From this point on, homeowners and residents will find that this is their Association and that the leadership of the HOA is there to serve them and the community.  I expect an air of transparency, cooperation, respect and honesty to replace what I have experienced in board meetings since 2018. The officers for 2025-2026 haven't been elected yet. The Board will elect a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. I suspect there will be true organization to the way board meetings will be run.  Remember that the Directors and Officers are homeowners, just as you are. They have lives outside of their HOA duties. They will devote many hours/month to HOA responsibilities. They know how serious their responsibilities are. Be sure to thank them and to help...

On the afternoon after the election of four new directors (one of whom was not Danny Trapp), the attorney for the Association filed a Supplemental Brief in the lawsuit against Gus Philpott. The lawyer knew on Wednesday morning that Danny was no longer the President or on the Board. The filing was titled "Plaintiff's Supplemental Brief in Support of its Motion to Compel and in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Remove Plaintiff." Who authorized the law firm to file that Brief? Do they do what they want or what they think is best, without permission of their Client? Why didn't they wait for the Association to contact them and wait for instructions from the new President of the Association (who hasn't been elected yet)? Did they contact the Board Vice-President and discuss their intention to file, which would have included billable hours for their work? If they did, what was the response of Tanisha Holmes? Did she authorize them to proceed? If so, why didn't...

At last Tuesday's (11/18/2025) Board meeting, officers should have been elected. Why weren't they? The Association now has no President, no legitimate Secretary, and no legitimate Treasurer. State law requires all three. Who is running the HOA now? Board Vice-President Tanisha Holmes. The By-Laws (Art. IV, §2) dictate when the officers are to be elected.  Section 2. Election. Term of Office, and Vacancies. The officers of the Association   shall  be elected annually by the Board of Directors   at the first meeting of the Board of Directors following each annual meeting of the Voting Members , as herein set forth in Article III. A vacancy in any office arising because of death, resignation, removal, or otherwise may be filled by the Board of Directors for the unexpired portion of the term.   The first meeting of the Board of Directors after the AMVM was last Tuesday at 6:30PM. It is not hard to read and understand that Section of the By-Laws. Sometimes, it's...

Will the Town & Country Property Manager announce the Special Board Meeting by email to all Members of the Association? Special Board Meeting* Date: Time: Location: Purpose:  To elect the four officers of the Association for 2025-2026; To appoint a chairperson of the Nominating Committee; Decision regarding the litigation** filed illegally in December 2025 in the name of the Associatgion  against resident Gus Philpott; and Anything else that can't wait until December 2, 2025. * By-Laws, Art. III, §B, ¶10 ** Why should the litigation be on the agenda for the Special Board Meeting? Every day this continues, it costs the Association more in legal fees. This litigation is prohibited by the CC&Rs. It was never approved by the Board. The past president caused it to be filed without the approval of the Board and without its authority. It has cost the Association thousands of dollars so far.

When a Board Term ends, how does the HOA express its appreciation to those who are leaving the Board? Are there thanks and a round of applause? Does the person whose term ended even stick around for the Board Meeting? Are the thanks half-hearted? Are there even any thanks at all? Is there a great sigh of relief?

When last night's Board Meeting started, the HOA had one officer - the Vice-President. The HOA had no President, no Secretary, and no Treasurer. These three officers are required by South Carolina state law. Why no President? Danny Trapp, Board Member and Board President (2023-2025), was not re-elected. His term ended when last night's meeting began. Why no Secretary? Noel Weatherbee had been improperly appointed as Director on July 1 in a pre-board meeting (not in "executive session", as claimed by Trapp). Since she was not legitimately appointed, she could not serve as Board Secretary. Why no Treasurer? William Hill had also been improperly appointed on July 1 in a pre-board meeting (not in "executive session", as claimed by Trapp). Since he was not legitimately appointed, he could not serve as Board Treasurer. The Board should have elected officers last night, in compliance with the By-Laws (Art. IV, §2).  The Board will have to call a Special Board Meeti...

The election result tonight was very positive for the HOA!!! Brenda Bryant and Linda Potter were re-elected to the Board, and Jeff Lummel and Angelo  Turley-Moore were elected. This is wonderful news for the Association and its 2,480 Members.  The Board should have elected officers tonight, but it didn't. Tonight was the first Board Meeting after the Annual Meeting of Voting Members. The Board repeats its habit (and non-compliance with the By-Laws) by failing to elect officers tonight and delaying the vote for a few days until it holds a Special Board Meeting and elects the officers without an audience. This is the first time in many years that the Association has had a Board that is more likely than not to conduct the business of the HOA in compliance with the Governing Documents. Congratulations to the Voting Members for a job well-done!

At tonight's Annual Meeting of Voting Members (AMVM), four directors are to be elected. The AMVM is held before the Board Meeting starts at 6:30PM. Four seats on the board are open: Brenda Bryant, Patricia Pollin*, Linda Potter, and Danny Trapp. Five candidates were nominated by the Nominating Committee, which was not duly-appointed by the Board. Vernell Butler, Linda Potter, Greg Thomas,  Danny Trapp, and Stephen Van Camp. Three other applicants were qualified, but not nominated by the Nominating Committee:  Brenda Bryant, Jeff Lummel, and Angelo Turley-Moore. Because Treapp is running for re-election, he should not chair tonight's meeting of the AMVM. Vice-President Tanisha Holmes should preside over the meeting, and presumptive Board Secretary Noel Weatherbee should be note-taker and scribe for the Minutes.  Will Minutes of the AMVM be prepared and published? The result of the election should be announced at 6:30PM and the newly-elected directors sh...

This month's Board Meeting will be one of the most important of the year. The Board Meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30PM at the North Springs Park Community Center, 1320 Clemson Road. The Voting Members will meet before that, perhaps at 5:30-6:00PM. They will need plenty of time this year, because the Nominating Committee presented a slate of five candidates for the four open Board spots, and there are three other well-qualified homeowners who applied for the Board. The Board Meeting should include important business this month: Announcement and seating of new Board members; Election of four officers; Appointment of the chairperson of the Nominating Committee; The 2026 Proposed Budget; The 2024 Annual Audit; The 2023 Forensic Internal Audit; The 2023 Forensic External Audit; Board explanation of the illegal lawsuit started in December 2024 that violates the CC&Rs; Board explanation of why Danny Trapp started the lawsuit without the approval of the Board; Treasurer's expl...

The election of four directors to the HOA's Board of Directors is now supposed to take place on November 18, 2025. Will a bonafide, legitimate election happen tomorrow? This year, again, it will a surprise to homeowners (Members) who the nominees are for the Board. Only the "Voting Members" will know in advance, and most of them (all?) won't bother to inform their homeowners or ask for guidance in their votes. The really bad news is that, again, this year massive Voter Fraud will take place on November 18, 2025. The President (Danny Trapp) and presumptive Secretary (Noel Weatherbee) will convene the 2025 Annual Meeting of Voting Members (AMVM). If it's like in past years, the President and Secretary will fail to confirm that only verified, bonafide, legitimate, duly-elected Voting Members (or Alternates) are present and that a quorum of them is present. Each neighborhood should be represented by only one member of its Neighborhood Committee*. The duly-elected Vo...

"How to Protect Your Condo/HOA and Your Own Mental Health in the Face of Increasingly Angry and Aggressive Owners" This is the title of a webinar being sponsored this week by HOALeader.com, which offers suggestions and advice (and membership) to homeowners' associations like The Summit's. The email announcing this webinar leads off with, " We're hearing it over and over—you and your fellow condo/HOA board members are coming face to face with owners who are more vocal than ever, and they're not holding back. They're sending you vitriolic emails and letters. They're demanding answers, often to challenges you can't control..." As I read that, I thought, "W hat this webinar needs to address is the actions of a Board of Directors that result is that reaction from its members! You've heard of "cause and effect" for years. If an HOA is transparent and honest with its Members, it will not get vitriolic emails and letters.  When...

The HOA's Nominating Committee was supposed to follow its Mission to select qualified candidates to present to the Board for election as Directors on November 18th. The Mission is found on the HOA's website on the Committees page. "Mission: Provides quality candidates to hold office on the Board. Candidates will be of the highest caliber, selected for interpersonal skills, dedication to the betterment of our Association and community, and free of any personal agenda." The Committee seriously missed the mark this year. It nominated two applicants who do not meet the criteria. It failed to nominate three applicants who DO meet the criteria.  At the Annual Meeting of Voting Members, which is held before the Regular Board Meeting convenes at 6:30PM, Voting Members may try to correct these errors by making nominations from the floor or allowing write-in votes. The Board should form an ad hoc Co mmittee to investigate the Nominating Committee (Tanisha Holmes, chairperson a...

In two days the Annual Meeting of Voting Members will be held to elect four directors of the HOA for two-year terms (2025-2027). Will the Voting Members "get it right" this year? Will they elect directors who will follow the CC&Rs, the By-Laws, and the published Guides, such as the PRM? And will those seven Directors follow the Governing Documents, when the Regular Board Meeting convenes at 6:30PM? Will the new Board "get it right"? Or will it just be "more of the same"? Attend this year's most-important meetings this Tuesday, November 18, 2025, 6:30PM at North Springs Park Community Center. NOTE: The meeting IS NOT at Brookland Baptist Church Northeast.

Could a disaster be just around the corner for the HOA? On Tuesday night, recognized Voting Members will elect four directors for a two-year term (2025-2027). What happens if they re-elect Danny Trapp and Linda Potter and elect Vernell Butler and Greg Thomas? That would create a board with Butler, Hill, Holmes, Potter, Thomas, Trapp, and Weatherbee. There isn't a snowball's chance in that hot place that the governing documents (CC&Rs, By-Laws, Guides (incl. PRM)) will be complied with by the Board, yet they will jam them down the throats of the Members (homeowners), as threatened in the November 2025 President's Report in the Summit Scoop. Linda Potter would be the lone voice in favor of compliance, and she doesn't have a record of speaking up against wrong-doing. She'll be out-voted 1-6 on any Motion she makes for compliance, if there even is a Second and a vote. Greg Thomas, former Board Member and past Secretary of the HOA, also doesn't have a record of s...

As the HOA approaches one of the most-important elections of directors in the past decade (maybe longer), I would like to thank the readers of this blog. I started this blog in July 2020. It's now more than five years old. I started it after a parking violation notice was mailed to the house. I asked where that was authorized in the CC&Rs or By-Laws, and I got stone-walled. I recall the words of the then-President: "I don't have to prove anything to you." I began attending Board meetings. You've seen the invitation in the Summit Scoop. "Board meetings are open to all Summit Residents." At that time, the invitation reads, "Board meetings are open to ALL Summit residents." As a former, hands-on Treasurer of a 240-home townhouse association, I understand Association financial statements. I started paying attention to the monthly financial reports.  I thank you readers for your emails and your phone calls. Your support of my efforts on your beh...

... how would you decide? On November 3, 2025 a judge in the Richland County Court of Common Pleas heard a Motion to Remove The Summit Community Association, Inc. as Plaintiff in the case against Gus Philpott. What was that all about? Philpott claims that that the HOA is not the Plaintiff in this case! Why not? The Board of Directors never approved filing the lawsuit. The Board of Directors never authorized Board President Danny Trapp to file the lawsuit. Danny Trapp filed the case with the new law firm without the approval or authorization of the Board of Directors. The Voting Members were never asked to approve filing the lawsuit. The Voting Members never approved filing the lawsuit.  You, the homeowners (Members), were never asked to approve the lawsuit. You, the homeowners, never approved filing the lawsuit. The controls are found in the CC&Rs (Art. §XIII, §10 Litigation ). Those who wrote the CC&Rs were wise. Why did the lawyers file the case? Did they not read the C...

On November 11, 2025 I received, by email from the HOA's lawyer, a Notice of a Proposed Hearing to set a trial date for the week of December 1-5 and a Proposed Order of Continuance. I expected a Notice of Hearing on the Continuance and began preparing my thoughts about arguing against the Continuance.  Too late! Today (November 14) I found the judge's Order of a 60-day continuance already entered in the Court record. This is the second continuance sought and obtained by the HOA's lawyer. Why aren't they ready for trial??? The lawyers filed the suit against me on December 30, 2024, alleging "false accusations and continual harassment". Don't they have sufficient evidence to make the allegations stick? (Hint: they don't.) Apparently, they expect to obtain information from me that will help them in their case against me. That is not going to happen. I may have to go to the hanging, but I am not furnishing the rope! The 60-day continuance may work to my ad...

I've long remembered a story about a hospital in Florida. As I recall the news story, a young boy had died in the OR after anesthesia lines were improperly connected. Did the hospital attempt to cover up its mistake? The hospital immediately sealed the surgery and investigated. It determined its error, contacted the boy's family, and met with the family and its lawyer. The hospital's representative admitted its error, and they reached a settlement in one evening of discussion. No protracted negotiations. No lawsuit.  Why do I think of that at this time? The HOA had - I write, HAD - a good relationship with Brookland Baptist Church Northeast. The monthly Board meetings were held in a meeting room of the Church. Anyone who ever attended a meeting knows how they were conducted. The last meeting I attended was February 4, 2025. Later a resident (homeowner) described that meeting to me as "chaotic". And it had been. In September Board President Danny Trapp sent a lette...

Recognized Voting Members will have a rare opportunity on Tuesday, November 18, to put The Summit's HOA back on a solid leadership footing. Four seats are open for election. Terms expire for Board seats held by Danny Trapp, Brenda Bryant, Patricia Pollin*, and Linda Potter. The Nominating Committee has prepared a slate of five candidates: Vernell Butler, Linda Potter, Greg Thomas, Danny Trapp, and Stephen Van Camp. Three other qualified applicants for the Board were not nominated: Brenda Bryant (incumbent), Jeff Lummel, and Angelo Turley-Moore. All three are qualified and should have presented by the Nominating Committee as candidates. An ad hoc Committee should be formed to investigate the Nominating Committee and its decision to exclude three qualified applicants. When Voting Members meet in their Annual Meeting of Voting Members (AMVM) to elect four directors before the Board Meeting starts at 6:30PM, it is expected that they will nominate Bryant, Lummel, and Tur...

In the November 2025 Summit Scoop was this October report of the Finance Committee: "William Hill approved several maintenance and repair projects, including light pole replacements, fountain repairs, tree removals, and wall and sign repairs throughout the community. The committee also approved the annual audit and reported a savings of $9,000 in fees.  The 2026 HOA budget was also approved." Is this just carelessness by whoever publishes the Scoop or carelessness (or worse) by whoever wrote this report from the Finance Committee? William Hill (Board Treasurer) can't approve anything. There needed to be action at the Finance Committee. Was there a Motion at the Finance Committee and then a vote to recommend those projects to the Board? The Committee would then approach the board and request Board approval of the projects! It is the Board  that approves projects, not the Finance Committee or the Treasurer. The Finance Committee also does not approve the audit (is that the ...

Why would the new HOA management company, Town & Country, send out an almost-urgent email this week about the next Assessment of the Association? The alert was about the Assessment due January 1, 2026 (1½ months away), and not late unless received after January 31, 2026. There might be an owner or two who forgets that s/he has to fork over $255 every six months (now $280). Presumably, a correct Assessment invoice will be mailed in December. It certainly doesn't warrant a special email before Thanksgiving.  Have you noticed that the Board has failed consistently to inform the membership what it is doing about collecting past-due money from the deadbeats? The Association is owed $588,984.71 , as of August 31, 2025. That's on Line 1200. Every month the boiler-plate in the financial report reads, "Collection activity is currently being conducted in accordance with Association policy." And no one ever questions that! There is either something wrong with "collectio...

Thanks to an announcement by Richland County, this Saturday will be a paper shred & hazardous waste collection event. Saturday, November 15 - 8AM-12PM Where? Columbia Place Mall -7201 Two Notch Rd. This event is for  Richland County Residents ONLY.   For more information, please call 803-576-2440.

The Summit Scoop includes a calendar of events and meetings of the HOA. There is also a calendar on the HOA's website, but it's the ugly stepchild of the HOA and does not contain all the meetings and does contain incorrect information. What is missing on the November 2025 Calendar in the Scoop? Only the most-important meeting of the HOA - the Annual Meeting of Voting Members (AMVM). This is the meeting at which directors are elected. Only Voting Members (and others as allowed by those running the meeting) are allowed. Since only one member of each (local) Neighborhood Committee can vote, only one should attend. If the Voting Member attends, no Alternate from the same neighborhood should attend. If the Voting Member does not attend, one Alternate should attend. (Some neighborhoods don't have any Alternates.  Four neighborhoods don't have any Voting Member or Alternate. Their homeowners are not represented. The Board President is supposed to chair the meeting, and the Boa...

 See this on Page 2 of the November Summit Scoop: Upcoming Board Meetings  All meetings will begin at 6:30pm.  Board meetings are open to all Summit Residents.  November 18, 2025 - North Springs Park Recreation Center  December 2, 2025 - Location TBA  January 6, 2026 - Location TBA Notice those three little letters - TBA? TBA = To Be Arranged What happened to the nice, comfortable, convenient meeting spot at the Brookland Baptist Church Northeast? Somebody messed up - big time!

"Good for thee; not for me." The November Scoop has been posted online. If you are a homeowner, you may receive an email from the office. If you are a resident but not a homeowner, you may not be informed by email that the Scoop was published. I always read the President's Report first.   What is the nonsense with  "As we move forward solidifying our future and reclaiming our crown as the premier community in the Northeast, I am asking for total cooperation from our residents by complying with our governing documents, ..." One of the things that will solidify the HOA's future is a budget that covers the expenses. Will the 2026 Budget do that? The 2024 and 2025 Budgets did not. What do I mean by "Good for thee; not for me"? Will the Board (members) tell you that the CC&Rs, By-Laws, PRM, and other Guides are for you to obey, but they don't have to? The Board of Directors must lead the way "by complying with  our governing documents...

Contact your "recognized Voting Member" and ask him/her to elect only directors who are  of the highest caliber,   selected for interpersonal skills, dedicat(ed) to the betterment of our Association and community, and  free of any personal agenda. (Source: HOA Mission Statement, Nominating Committee) OK, let's look at the eight candidates, one by one. Eighth, Linda Potter Linda is a homeowner in the Founders Ridge neighborhood. She was elected to the Board on November 7, 2023. Linda served as Board Treasurer from November 2023 to November 2024.  For the most part, Linda's participation in Board meetings was to present motions for items for which the Board had to authorize spending. As I recall, she played an important role in moving HOA funds from low-interest accounts (0.05% and 0.75%) to market-rate interest, substantially increasing the interest earnings on that money. There were few reports, if any, about the status of the finances of the Association. Linda ...

Contact your "recognized Voting Member" and ask him/her to elect only directors who are  of the highest caliber,   selected for interpersonal skills, dedicat(ed) to the betterment of our Association and community, and  free of any personal agenda. (Source: HOA Mission Statement, Nominating Committee) OK, let's look at the eight candidates, one by one. Seventh, Brenda Bryant Brenda is a long-time homeowner in The Summit. She was elected to the Board on November 9, 2021 and re-elected to the Board on November 7, 2023. Brenda served as Board Vice-President from November 2023 to November 2024.  Brenda may have served as the presiding officer of the (November) 2024 Annual Meeting of Voting Members. When I arrived at the church for the board meeting, the Voting Members were still meeting, and I saw Danny Trapp hobnobbing with RCSD's Deputy Chief (Uniform Division) Kelvin Ashe. At the time I wondered why Danny wasn't running the Voting Members' meeting. There were ma...

Should The Summit's HOA sue Danny Trapp, its Board President? Why should the HOA sue Danny Trapp? On December 30, 2024 a lawsuit was filed in the name of The Summit Community Association, Inc. against Gus Philpott (me), a resident in The Summit.  It was filed in violation of the CC&Rs (Art. XIII, §10 Litigation ), which prohibit such filing without permission of 75% of the Voting Members; The Voting Members never approved the lawsuit; The Board of Directors never voted to approve filing it; The Board of Directors never authorized Danny Trapp to file it; And since then, the HOA has been paying invoices from Turner Padget for legal fees connected to that case. Approximately $20,-25,000 has been spent so far. That may double, if this case goes to trial in early December. What would the HOA's law firm recommend? Not just "recommend," but  advise  the HOA to do? But wait. Wouldn't the law firm have a conflict-of-interest? It is the one that filed the lawsuit! Shou...

It's November 11th, and no Summit Scoop for November has yet been published. The election of four directors is one week away. Will this issue of the Scoop name the five candidates chosen by the Nominating Committee for election to the Board? Will it name all eight of the eligible applicants and give any reason why three very good applicants were not approved by the Nominating Committee?  Will it identify the newly-constituted Nominating Committee and give any explanation to Members (homeowners) why a very late and major change was made in the composition of the Nominating Committee?  Did the Board approve the current members of the Nominating Committee (Tanisha Holmes (Board VP), chairperson; Carmen Claud, Stan Haines, Mary Beth (Maribeth?) Edwards)? According to recent Minutes of Board Meetings, it did not. The Minutes of the October 7, 2025 Board Meeting state "Nominating Committee formed." There was no mention of appointment of members. There was no mention of any Boa...

Will the November 2025 Summit Scoop include the "news" that Board President Danny Trapp attempted to have three HOA Members and one resident banned from the location of monthly Board meetings and the upcoming election of Directors? The three Members included two Voting Members and one homeowner who expected to be his neighborhood's Voting Member by the November 11th meeting date. Those three would not have voted to re-elect Danny Trapp. The November meeting date and location have now been changed. The Annual Meeting of Voting Members (and election of four directors) and the monthly Board meeting will not be held at the Brookland Baptist Church Northeast on November 11 (today).  Has the HOA lost its regular meeting place at the Church? Danny's written request to the Church in September and the resulting blowback have produced a schism between the HOA and the Church. According to a RCSD deputy yesterday (11/10/2025), the Church has rescinded its trespass letter. I haven...

For seven years I received emails from the HOA. I was registered on the (CAMS) portal as a Resident and regularly received messages from the office. With the change in management companies from CAMS to Town & Country on October 1, 2025, those emails have stopped.  How do I know they stopped? Because I see copies of emails being sent to homeowners (Board Meeting date/location change; lost dog), and I did not receive them directly. I emailed the HOA office ( SummitHelpDesk@tcgrd.com ) on November 5, asking that emails resume to my email address, but they haven't. Previously, I was informed by the office that it knew email addresses for only about 75% of the properties in The Summit. I wondered, of course, why they did not make an effort to increase that number. No request for email addresses (or updates) accompanied Assessment notices, and no request ever appeared in the Summit Scoop or Board Minutes. Aren't all Members and non-home-owning Residents entitled to news about Th...

    Contact your "recognized Voting Member" and ask him/her to elect only directors who are  of the highest caliber,   selected for interpersonal skills, dedicat(ed) to the betterment of our Association and community, and  free of any personal agenda. (Source: HOA Mission Statement, Nominating Committee) OK, let's look at the eight candidates, one by one. Sixth, Angelo Turley-Moore I met Angelo at a Board Meeting in November. He stood out from the crowd because he was sitting up front and he addressed the Board with specific issues. Not that it mattered much to the Board. Angelo has been collecting signatures to become a Voting Member for Indigo Springs. The HOA's Neighborhood Committee was of no help to him (or to any other neighborhood). This Board continues to recognize "getting signatures" as a way to become a Voting Member. He expects to have the number of signatures required by the Board to be recognized before the November 18th board meeting.  A...

Wouldn't you think that, between seven board members and 1-2 HOA management people in the office, somebody would have noticed that the November calendar on the HOA website still shows November 4th for the "BOD Myg" [ sic ]? It's just plain carelessness, sloppiness, and inattention. I don't know any more words for it (well, yes; I do). Sure, November 4th is when it should have been; you know, the first Tuesday of the month. But a different date was in The Summit Scoop in September and October - November 11th. Then that date got blown away, perhaps because of Danny Trapp's letter to the church, which the church received on September 15. Or because the church, as of October 17, didn't have any HOA meeting on its calendar for November 11th. So, who is to blame? If you ask the Board, no one is. But is it the Secretary, Noel Weatherbee? Or is it the "leadership team" (Trapp, Holmes, Hill, Weatherbee)? Or is it the full Board? Or the Town & Country ...

 Is The Summit's HOA paying the price for the revolving door on the Treasurer's office? Since November 2023 there hasn't really been a Treasurer's Report at board meetings, and there wasn't much of a report at meetings before that. In the past two years the Treasurer has just made a bunch of motions to spend money. There hasn't been a "report" of HOW the Association is doing. Are financial matters improving? declining? It's the job of the Treasurer to guide and manage income and expenses of the HOA. Prior to that, many reports were, to the effect, "everything is in good shape". It wasn't, but that's what Members were told. Attention should have been given to putting the HOA's money to work at higher interest rates than 0.05% or 0.75%, but the then-Treasurer was worried about early termination fees for premature withdrawal of CD funds. How long do you have to think about moving money from 0.05% to 3% or higher? About five secon...

The HOA is required to fund Reserves  (CC&Rs, Art. X, §6 Page 17) . Reserves are critical to maintaining a solid financial basis. But over the past few years, as operating expenses increased, the various Boards of Directors   hid those increasing  expenses from the Members by reducing the money budgeted for Reserves and using it for operating expenses. Your assessment stayed the same. When they shrank the contribution to Reserves, the Boards did not lower your Assessment. Who did that? The Treasurer and the Finance Committee and the Board of Directors. No one blew the whistle. No one cried, "Foul!" No one said, "Wait! You can't do that." In 2020 $163,965 was budgeted for Reserves.  In 2021 $146,155 was budgeted for Reserves. (Down $17,810 from the year before) In 2022 $91,610 was budgeted for Reserves. (Down $54,545 from the year before) In 2023 $39,677 was budgeted for Reserves. (Down $51,933 from the year before) In 2024  ZERO ...