The following is the report I filed at the October 7, 2008 BOD meeting. I was asked to post it on the association's website and submitted it for posting but those in controll of the website have refused until the minutes are approved.
President’s Report
October 7, 2008 BOD Meeting
The last two months have been interesting to say the least. Never have I encountered a situation with such conflicted circumstances. We are experiencing a trial of wills with respect to the method and manner in which this association operates. I fully realize that I am at polar opposites with some board members regarding how the association operates. There has been and probably will continue to be a tendency to carry on in this conflict with both sides claiming victory in the name of what they perceive is best for the association. When counting the cost of this battle of wills I want to encourage all parties to focus, not on the winner, but on the perspective of the real loser in this conflict – the people who live here, the membership at large.
First I want to review the agreed to court order. (this was read into the minutes at this time and is availble for viewing on the association's website).
We, the defendants in this litigation, as individuals and as a BOD, have complied with every decree in the agreed to court order.
Next we all need to remember that this BOD, any BOD for that matter, is accountable to the entire association – not just any minority group regardless of how vocal they may be. The BOD has walked a fine line between keeping the membership fully informed and maintaining a level of discretion that would resolve the matter as quickly as possible and keep it out of the legal arena. It has been the goal of the BOD to ensure the interest of all members is equally represented. Just as there are those who were incensed that it took five weeks to determine the validity of the election there are just as many in the association who were very upset that we allowed the election to stand.
I believe a timeline review of the events will promote an understanding of why the BOD took that action we did. I will not continue to fan the flames of controversy by reviewing it here and now but I will be glad to share a factual, verifiable timeline with anyone interested. Just give me your email address.
So why did the BOD agree to a court order which in effect gives Mr. Aschauer and Ms Mueller everything they asked for? In a word – expediency. Those of you who know me know I loath the thought of making decisions on the basis of expediency over principle. Most of my fellow BOD members share this perspective but in this case once the BOD had cleared up the ballot controversy and announced we were accepting the election results there was no reason not to put Mr. Aschauer and Ms Mueller on the board. In fact we had already informed Mr. Aschauer and Ms Mueller we were recognizing the election results before the legal action was filed against the BOD. By entering an agreed to settlement we were also able to eliminate any future threat of legal action related to this matter and to save the association a lot of heartache and a lot of money.
Now is the time to move forward.
Some of the unfinished business we need to focus on is as follows-
1. We need to take appropriate steps to insure this type of event does not occur again. One of the biggest problems areas our legal counsel suggested we address is the manner in which we deal with proxies. I plan to ask the BOD to present to the membership a logical plan aimed at providing for better use of proxies.
2. The association’s legal counsel also recommends conducting future elections by mail. This would promote better participation and provide for a more balance BOD. I will ask the BOD to investigate the feasibility of election by mail.
3. We need to address the south entrance issue. Now that Hines is out of business we need to start again. I have written Mr. Hines, who has agreed to document his cost for the work accomplished to date and to refund the balance. I have yet to receive a reply. It’s time to get out a clean sheet of paper and develop new plan for the south entrance. One that is in line with new capital expenditures policy overwhelming approved by the membership at the August membership meeting.
4. We need to get the common property up to standards. No one is happy with the current state of the path. I spoke with the county again today. Mr. Depaulo has until tomorrow, October 8th, to respond to the counties demands to repair the path. Today their preferred contractor to do the work, Yingling Landscaping, informed the county they are not interested in working with the association on this matter. On October 14th, the Kendall County Planning, Building, and Zoning Department meets to discuss open issues in the county and will address the path at that meeting. The association is welcome to send a spokesperson to that meeting to express out preferences. The county engineer has reviewed the work to be done and believes the amount of money held by the county will be sufficient to complete the necessary repairs. Regarding the common property, a majority of the members have expressed an interest developing a master plan which promotes the natural beauty of our subdivision. We need to have consistency in our approach to maintaining common property and we need to reestablish access to the common property north of the creek.
There are many more worthy projects we could pursue but I believe we need to get this era of dispute behind us first.
In closing I want to address an issue that I believe is causing more problems in this association that anything else. That is the operation of the anonymous website dedicated to a constant barrage of lies, misrepresentations, innuendos, harassment and intimidation. I place those individuals operating the “watchdog” website among our citizens least deserving of any respect. When I am asked why I don’t dispute their postings or start my own anonymous website to attack them my thoughts turn to some sound advice my father gave me years ago when he said “ Tony, arguing with people like that is like wrestling with a pig. The pig loves it and all you’re going to get is dirty.” We all would enjoy a cleaner community if we would take a stand by quit reading that garbage then collectively and publically demand that whoever is behind it to stop.
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