Community Event Updates…
The HCR Board should be ashamed
(The holdover three of them, that is)
Today HCR owners received more information about the workings of our association in two hours, than they have in, well, forever.
New board members Bruce Lownsbery and Gary Ferrigno conducted a “Transparency Celebration” event in the ballroom this afternoon, to interact with the community, listen to and answer questions about our indoor pool, our management team (CCMC), our desires for a seven-member board, along with roughly 20 other issues raised by nearly 180 attendees (otherwise known as the “little group of rabble rousers” by the holdover three board members as revealed by our new board members).
Known as a town hall in other communities, our board refused to authorize two board members meeting with the community to discuss our issues, thus the event was labeled a “Transparency Celebration.” That’s because the Bruce and Gary had to pay $200 to rent two sections of the ballroom for two hours because the board wouldn’t allow them to speak to the community in a board town hall setting (even though they are board members). The ballroom is available to rent for “celebrations”, thus the cost to rent two sections of the ballroom for two hours was $200. More on this below.
Those present led the discussion by formulating questions and defining the issues of importance to them…and Bruce and Gary kept track of the issues, then had the audience decide the most important three issues for discussion which were: 1) the indoor pool situation, including the cleanliness of all our pools, 2) CCMC, our lack of a facilities manager, and facilities and maintenance issues, and 3) Restructuring of our Board from five to seven board members.
Other issues to be addressed in the next “Celebration” gathering in September (after the board meeting) will be the other issues brought up by the group. Those including: monthly board meetings, the BRS & bid process (as opposed to sole source bids), gate security, community involvement in decisions, restitution from Pulte for the pool, the Capital Improvement Survey, using volunteers vs paid contractors as well as taking advantage of community resident expertise, the Alamo Ranch POA funding, safety concerns and real estate signage rules.
A major theme of the meeting was the collective unhappiness with the three missing board members not present at the meeting: Diane Jackson, John McCullough, and Tim Skvarenina. As the collective “other three”, the group was mentioned numerous times concerning their actions with respect to the indoor pool, as well as the desires of the community, reflected in Bruce and Gary’s election, to hold monthly board meetings with an open forum for the community to express their concerns.
Regarding the pool, the consensus revolved around replacing the pool roof and dehumidifier in order to reopen the pool now, as it could have been done in April following receipt of the original Rimkus Consulting report. Those present voiced their preference for quickly repairing and reopening the pool, rather than spending more in keeping with the board’s desire for a more elaborate redesign at a considerably higher cost.
ABOUT THE ROOM COST…
Back to the cost of the room. When the collective group heard that, the board’s decision was booed, and by the end of the meeting, $480 was donated by the audience to cover the cost of this meeting as well as the next one planned for September, AFTER the board’s “Official” quarterly board meeting.
Both meetings will be “must attend” events. What winds up being left off the August Quarterly Board meeting agenda may possibly be of more interest than the information that is actually on the agenda for “ratification”. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, the follow up meeting in September by Bruce and Gary, who listened and spoke during this afternoon’s meeting, will build on today’s topics, as well as what we may learn from the August quarterly meeting.
Of interest was the two defeated board members from the last election who were in attendance. One, Joe Gonzalez, spoke and assisted Bruce and Gary with their discussion. The other, Clay Hadick, sat quietly and took notes near the back of the room. Perhaps others will be interested in what he reports was discussed. He left the meeting before in concluded without offering a single suggestion for discussion.
The undertone of today’s meeting skirted perhaps the most important issue: how to get the other three board members to listen (and talk to) the community as well as their two newest members.
The conclusion to resolve most of what is of concern to the community remains as one of three alternatives: 1) one or more of the other three board members must resign, 2) the other three board members must be defeated in the next election, or 3) one or more of the other three board members must be recalled.
One of those solutions may be the only practical solution if the board doesn’t start listening to the community and make us proud by listening to us and spending our dues money wisely.
Today, however, we did have something to be proud, celebrating with our two newest “transparent” board members.
And, oh yes, Bruce and Gary were not speaking for the Board.
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