Posted by Jim Haar
The intent of the Board of Directors with regard to the proposed CC&R Amendments is clear to me. That is, they want to amend the CC&R’s to make the approval of the Country Club Lease Agreement (and other $500K+ purchases) easier to pass. Approving the proposed amendments (as discussed in the previous “No Choice – Vote No on Proposed CC&R Amendments” post) would allow the BOD to enter into a costly Country Club Lease Agreement with as little as 10% yes vote from homeowners (assuming the minimum quorum vote requirement of 20%). That is, if the proposed amendments are approved, then this would set the standard for voting approval on the Lease Agreement. The “Agreement to Stay Investigation” stipulation with the Attorney General’s office simply states that the owners must approve the Lease Agreement without defining what “approval” means. Therefore, amending the CC&R’s as proposed provides the legal basis for homeowner approval. This is why at the Aspen Lodge meeting, the BOD refused to answer what voting standard would be applied to the Lease Agreement vote.
Do we really want passage of a multi-million dollar SGCC Lease Agreement subject to an approval vote as little as 10% of Somersett homeowners? Given that SGCC membership (equity, associate and preview), probably equals this amount, passage is certainly guaranteed.
I have always been a proponent on letting the Somersett homeowners vote on whether or not a portion of our assessments should go to funding the SGCC for whatever reason, and we could all live with the results of this decision. However, I never imagined a BOD proposing CC&R amendments such that this decision could be made by 10% of homeowners. For a vote of this type 50% homeowner approval should be in effect.
Quite simply – This is an attempt to give the Board more control and the homeowners owners less control. It comes down to whether or not we believe this to be in the best interests of the association at large and how much trust we would have in both the current and future Boards. Based on actions to date by both the past and current Boards, I certainly do not! What about you?