March Forward
It has been one month with the new Board of Directors, and I wanted to recap my first month on the Board of Directors. I never had an expectation that everything would go perfectly harmonious, though I was hopeful, given the extensive talk of transparency and my experiences with both my election running mates and some existing board members I had met briefly.
To provide a window into how my first month of March went, here are a few details of my experience thus far:
At the organizational meeting on 3/3, re-elected president, Ms. Swisher, added intentional and influential commentary about a nomination made for Vice President.
I nominated Mr. Grindl as Vice President. (Mr. Richards was also nominated.) Ms. Swisher the stated, “Thinking ahead, and I’m not trying to sway anything, if Bill is elected Vice President, that leaves the positions of Treasurer open.”
I immediately argued that Treasurer role is yet unelected, so her statement that if Mr. Grindl elected as Vice President would “leave an opening” is wholly biased and manipulative.
Later, as the vote for Treasurer was taken by secret ballot, Ms. Swisher immediately affirmed Mr. Grindl as Treasurer PRIOR to the votes even being counted, which she had to immediately retract. Mr. Grindl was confirmed a few minutes later, but Ms. Swisher had already announced him as Treasurer prior to the votes being counted.
One thing I have heard a lot about is the letters that our attorney sends out. I was interested in reviewing this information to get a sense of the tone and nature of such communication. I requested Grand Manors to ask the attorney to include me on all communications where the attorney is speaking on behalf of the CROA Board.
The general consensus was that the attorney acts on the Boards’ behalf and it was not good for the board to interfere. I disagreed, saying that, speaking for myself, I feel it is important to know what our attorney is saying on my behalf (as a board member) and that to hide or ignore this information is irresponsible.
Prior to the March 21st board meeting, and in response to my request for this legal information, Ms. Swisher made the following proclamation via e-mail to the board:
“…as president of the CROA Board to officially designate Lauren Gunnyon as our Executive Director to act on the Board's behalf in all legal matters affecting the association with no exceptions.”
While this was intended to be a way to block me from legal communication, it just opened a whole other can of worms. I also find that this action goes against the charter documents. (Reference the current Third Amendment of the Bylaws in Section 3.19.) I understand how Ms. Swisher interpreted this to believe she has authority to delegate tasks to Grand Manors. However, when you go to the exception subparagraphs [specifically letter (j)], you will find legal powers as an exclusion to this authority.
To summarize: while the President has authority to act on behalf of the Board with matters relating to the duties of the managing agent, they cannot delegate duties regarding legal enforcement or authority to them. Simply put, Grand Manors cannot have this authority.
There has yet to be a retraction of this statement, even though it is a direct violation of the covenants. This topic still needs resolution.
I (Mr. Wise) was appointed liaison to the Finance Committee and Dog Park Committee at the 3/3 Organizational Meeting. I attended the Finance Committee meeting virtually on 3/7, however I did not attend the Dog Park Committee Meeting on 3/14 due to a conflict.
I (Mr. Wise), along with Mr. Grindl and Ms. Swisher, are the liaisons for the 851 Project (town hall renovation). There were two meetings held regarding this project; the first on 3/9 to discuss the engineer bids for the renovation scope; the second on 3/23 to interview the engineering firms. There was consistent agreement amongst the group in all aspects. The group presented its findings to the Board at the March Board Meeting, and it was voted unanimously to proceed with the preferred engineering firm to begin the scope of work for on-site testing and then remediation renovation of the building. While it is possible under a separate scope for a future project, there is no expansion of the 851 building to occur under this contract.
Mr. Richards did not attend the March Board Meeting on 3/21 due to a conflict (though the date was changed on 3/3 from its normally scheduled date to a different date than usual).
Ms. McFadden suggested a new outreach program called “Village Talks” where informal monthly meetings are held in a different village each month to allow residents to speak to board members directly in a local, welcoming setting. She also suggested the first be held in Island Village, as it is our newest village, and would be a good way to meet new residents. We had our first meeting on March 29th, and in my opinion, it was a success. Residents attended from many villages, and it was great to gather informally to talk about ideas, challenges, and topics around our community.
When the idea of a Lot D Workshop was presented by Management on 3/28, I (Mr. Wise) recommended delaying the April 17 Lot D Public Workshop to June/July because we are trying to squeeze a lot of work into a two-week period and not allowing for consideration of other expensive projects. I stated it may be best to work on this at a more responsible pace, and aligning the Lot D public workshop with the 851 public workshop. That way we are speaking on both expenditures congruently and considering both costs around the same time. This recommendation was refuted by all but Mr. Richards and Mr. Hays, with others insisting it occur on April 17th.
Ms. Swisher decided she (along with management) will dictate how committees will be formed. No input was solicited from the rest of the board on the matter. While I stated that I agreed with many of her ideas, I offered suggestions to her plan with no response to them. In fact, board members were originally banned from attending the Committee Workshops, as Ms. Swisher felt only the President should attend, and not the respective board liaisons. Regardless, I will be attending both Committee Workshops I am the liaison for (both Finance and Dog Park).
There is currently full consensus that there needs to be more attention to detail and clarity in communication sent out to residents. There have been some confusing or incorrect messages sent (and then corrected), but this is something every board member wants to improve and acts on each time. I know this has been an ongoing issue for even longer than my tenure, but I can affirm that every single board member is actively working to improve this from a variety of angles.
One thing I have learned is that my communication style is not for everyone. It is very direct in nature, and to the point. I understand that some without frequent business communications experience may find them abrasive, however that does not make my statements inaccurate or irrelevant. Let’s be honest… I’ve had to post this information here so as not to incite chaos on any of the Celebration Porch Facebook pages! But I feel it is important to share the good and the bad. These are some of those challenges and successes this past month. And as more come to mind, I’ll post them here.
I have been critical of a lot this month about process, procedure, and consistency. There is a lot of talk about transparency, and yet that does not seem to be what is happening. I will continue to attend as many community events as possible, and meet more neighbors so we can discuss things like these and I can get your feedback.
This entire month has been spent trying to get information I should already have access to, so that has been frustrating. But I am the liaison for the finance committee, and I will continue to advocate for tighter spending while maintaining the quality we expect. It’s a bit of a back-to-basics in my opinion.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, I want to hear from you about what you think we need to be focused on. So please, call or e-mail so we can talk more on the topics that really matter to you. And remember, there will be a public workshop regarding the Lot D Project on April 17th from 6:30p-8:30p at Town Hall for those who are passionate about that project’s development.
I look forward to hearing from you.