|  |
 |
|
OPINION: Strange Election Process at PLPOA |
George Esterly | 6/25/09
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All I want in the upcoming PLPOA election is an informed, free, open, transparent, legal process. That does not appear to be the case.
I hope the problems I’ve discovered will prompt property owners to vote for Board members who will represent you and not people who treat their office as a personal power base.
Please attend the annual meeting.
There are eight people running for four seats. I called the PLPOA General Manager over a week ago and asked when the candidate forum was going to be held. She didn’t know about any forum, but would look into it.
 I called some of the candidates on June 22, to find out their feelings about a forum and asked them some questions. All the ones I was able to reach were interested except one candidate who is an interim Board appointee, John Meyer. He told me he wouldn’t attend a forum. When I asked if he would answer questions by phone from voters, he gave me an unequivocal, “NO!”
On June 23, Gary Gray, president of PLPOA board called me and said that he decided there would be no forum. He was concerned that maybe some candidates might not be able to come due to prior obligations. Of course, the e-mail asking the candidates about a forum only went out twenty hours prior to his phone call. Mr. Gray is apparently not interested in the property owners’ rights and tradition to question the candidates in an open forum.
Of course, the General Manager did tell me on June 22, that she would be happy to forward any questions I might have to the candidates. What would happen if 250 voters sent questions, asking her to forward them to the candidates?
If you are interested in a property owner sponsored forum, please call me at 731-9610 before July 4, and we will try to set one up without Board input.
I asked who would be counting the ballots. Mr. Gray told me a “disinterested property owner” was doing the counting of the ballots as they come in.
In usual elections, the ballots are sealed and counted by several people with observers at the close of the election. The PLPOA election method does not meet the standards of open, secret ballot elections. Will the status of the vote be shared with anyone prior to the election meeting on July 25? And, what constitutes “one disinterested property owner”? The candidates were not notified that they could have observers during the ballot count.
The PLPOA dues were increased by over 33 percent in recent years, and the Board can raise them even more. It’s time the property owners take over the Board by participating in the election — and especially by voicing their opinions at the annual meeting. If you are happy with what PLPOA is doing, do nothing. If not, hand- deliver your ballots the day of the election, if possible. It’s time to speak up and speak out.
This PLPOA election is getting stranger and stranger. |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|