Neighborhood Talk: Legacy Square HOA Board Election
The following is a comment from a reader:
"The elections for a new board are coming up. Please make your voice heard and make sure you vote. If we want to see changes, we all have to vote and make this a great community to live in."
posted by Jim Hawkins @ 12:55 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Dear Neighbors,
I hope that all my neighbors living here will take the time to read the new "draft" copy of the proposed changes to the Covenants and Restrictions. I will withhold my personal opinion of the board other than saying they missed their calling as prison guards or maybe members of the Iranian Guard.
The pool Gestapo aside, these new changes will remove all rights and voting privileges from us and give complete control to the board without any recourse from homeowners. They go so far as to make themselves immune from prosecution for unlawful trespass and entry onto your property. They give themselves the right to raise assessments and dues at their discretion (no voting). I am an older person and in all my life have never seen a more discriminatory, biased, capricious, and disrespectful people. I do not ask that you buy into my point of view, only that you take the time to read the entire document and make up your own mind. We homeowners need a grassroots effort to defeat this measure or we will all be at the mercy of the association board zealots. PLEASE READ THE DRAFT!
Here's a thought:
1) The Board and it's officers are voluntary positions, i.e., no payment for services. If you want to be paid for your time, don't volunteer.
2) The Board needs to subcontract the management of the HOA to a third party that can manage all aspects of the HOA independently and will be held accountable to its contract.
3) The HOA rates are set and not subject to change without a vote. This should bring fiscal accountability to the HOA and negates the "special assessment" option as proposed because that completely eliminates any fiscal accountability.
4) Indemnification of the Board and its officers from matters that involve decisions made by the homeowners is fine, but it is not acceptable to indemnify the Board and its officers from decisions made by the Board and its officers if those decisions impact the integrity of the neighborhood.
5) The Board and its officers should not have the right to sell the common areas, nor should they have the right to trespass on private property.
6) Yes, there are some "upkeep" issues that need to be addressed, i.e. personal lawn maintenance, unruly/unsupervised kids at the pool (yes, the pool attendant has helped this tremendously) and general respect for the common areas.
We already have rules and regulations that cover most of the issues that the Board is attempting to re-address in the new Declaration. Shouldn't the Board and its officers simply enforce the rules already in place? Bring the other issues to a vote and amend the existing covenants. HOAs are a huge asset when they run properly. Having an accountable HOA will improve your resale value by maintaining the standards that attract potential buyers to the neighborhood. Diminishing the role of an accountable HOA will only have a negative effect on home values and the quality of life among neighbors.
Having an outside company manage the homeowners' association is a great idea. Every neighborhood I have lived in did this and it worked out just fine. First, you have companies bid on the job, then you hire the best (not always the cheapest)contractor. They usually have better buying power because they manage several locations so they can get better pricing on lawn care and pool maintenance... They know how much they will be paid up front and they manage to the budget. They can address problems among the homeowners without causing problems between homeowners. This is a great solution to the current problem.
Maybe an outside company hired to manage is the best idea. Right now we have a community that sounds like it is inner turmoil. Some want to have these rules and regulations. Some want more and then there are some that want them taken away and the control returned completly to the homeowners. Unfortunatly there are downfalls to all of these options. I for one am for having HOA rules and regulations. They need to be in place because there are some who just don't want to keep up their houses or yards. I think that the idea of no overnight parking is a good idea. At the same time I can look around and see that my neighbors who are parking on the street at night and make it harder for me to back out of my house aren't doing it because they are lazy or don't care. I see that they have a family with kids who are driving and that they have more than three cars. I can take these things into consederation because as a neighbor I want to be understanding and open to give a take and some leeway. If we can, as neighbors realize that there has to be some compromising we can make this community a great place to live. I don't necessarily agree with all the changes to the rules and regulations but we can't just give ourselves complete power over our community. It just doesn't work that way. We have shown that we can't govern ourselves without checks and balances. There is always someone who will take advantage of a situation. I do think that if we have a source that has no connection to this community to help run our rules and regulations that we will all benefit from it.
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