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Post by Admin on Jan 15, 2016 8:42:27 GMT -7
Quiet Heroes and Civil Disobedience - Unpaid Assessments The GLA Board released a list of Past Due Assessments at the January 11th, 2016 Board meeting. Names, addresses and amounts are detailed. Many of the names are familiar. Some are past GLA Board members. I know many of the people on this list and I know that they can afford to pay their assessments. So why have they made the decision to not pay? I used to think that they were acting out of selfish reasons. Then I asked them and I learned a great deal.
Many, perhaps most of the people who are on the past due assessments list are quietly protesting what many of us have railed against for years; the injustices perpetrated upon our community by the GLA Board. Debtors I spoke with talked about the how the GLA Board turned a deaf ear to their concerns and problems. They spoke about CUT people getting special treatment while "outsiders" were ignored. They spoke of declining property values caused by road neglect, gross mismanagement and an "anyone can do what they want" attitude towards enforcement of Covenants by the GLA Board. Many spoke passionately about how they tried to get a problem addressed by the GLA Board and were told very nicely to "get lost". I heard stories of emails and even certified letters going unanswered for months and even years. I listened to well meaning landowners who offered their services and time for free who in turn the GLA Board asked them to stuff envelopes and perform other trivial, mind numbing tasks. When they pressed the Board for answers they were politely told that "volunteers cannot be trusted and they are unreliable". Meanwhile the GLA Board often paid thousands of dollars yearly to select directors and friends of the Board for services like road maintenance, clerical duties, project management, etc.
Everyone has a limit to the madness and corruption of the GLA Board. In the eleven years I have lived here I have seen many neighbors and friends throw up their arms in disgust, sell their homes and move away. They know when they are not wanted and I congratulate them for leaving the insanity and seeking a better life outside of a community dominated by a minority of CUT members. Others have decided to stay. They have made a choice to ignore the insanity and they refuse to participate in it. They are the faces of good people who once frequented monthly Board meetings and offered freely their time, knowledge and experience. Rebuffed once too often they have withdrawn from public life but remain in our community. It is those people who defiantly and courageously refuse to pay their assessments every January. I now see their small yearly act of tearing up an ever increasing assessment invoice is an act of civil disobedience against a tyrannical and unjust regime that continues to rule Glastonbury.
What will you do this January?
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chris
Full Member
Posts: 175
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Post by chris on Jan 15, 2016 12:29:07 GMT -7
Excellent post, Tim. I would add: More of us are considering withholding payment of our assessments in protest of the gross misconduct and mismanagement of the GLA board. If you are unsure of your decision at this point, and want to see if the board will change, consider paying your assessments quarterly. Then you can stop payment in any quarter you wish to join the protest. "No taxation without representation!" Gee, where did we hear that quote before in history?
Here is a quote from a revered historical figure who agrees:
“Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the State becomes lawless or, which is the same thing, corrupt.”
Mahatma Gandhi
If you agree, weigh in below.
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Post by leokeeler on Jan 19, 2016 12:29:11 GMT -7
At the January 11th Board meeting the topic of Past Due Assessments was on the agenda as part of the Attorney Update to enable discussion of 1)Dwelling Unit Assessment/Pedro's Garage; 2)Covenant 12.01 Use of the Word Association(which I have presented to the Board that the "Association" does not mean "THE BOARD" see my posting here at glastonbury.freeforums.net/thread/147/board-association a legal break down is included here):3) Board's use of e-mails and 4)Parklands etc.
I found it interesting that the talk of Past Due Assessments consisted only of a very low toned announcement (not heard by the entire audience) that lowering interest rates on past due assessments could be made "RETROACTIVE". That is true if it is presented to Members as that is the intent, and Members vote to approve it. If the interest in Covenant 11.06 is lowered from the current 18% simple interest to Prime +3% it will be a 12% decrease. That would change the collectible amount from $268,881 down to only $161,328.
Members must be learn of this intended giveaway. So share this information and look closely at the Governing Documents changes being proposed.
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Post by chadstone on Jan 22, 2016 9:40:30 GMT -7
Tim,
My name is on the list of unpaid assessments. I could not have articulated my position better than you did in this post. Frankly, I am not sure why anyone pays their assessments to this obtuse and nonsensical circus. When I receive this years invoice I am going to use it to start a fire in my fireplace as I will not allow the unprofessional side show called the GLA to waste one more dollar of my money.
Chad Stone NG 29 A&D
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Post by Jim K on Mar 28, 2016 10:00:38 GMT -7
Our names are not on the list of unpaid assessments. Does this mean we are satisfied with the conduct of the GLA? The answer is NO. However, we signed a contract to abide by the Covenants as a condition of our purchase. Withholding payment of assessments as a means of protest is a disservice to all landowners and places an ever increasing burden on funding requirements necessary to maintain our roads and property values. I appreciate the frustration reflected in the many comments posted on this board...but 2 wrongs never make a right.
Jim Kelly SG 92
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Post by Admin on Apr 3, 2016 13:08:35 GMT -7
Another way to protest the GLA assessments and actually end them is to get a divorce from the GLA. The Covenants allow any property owner to simply petition the GLA Board to request that their parcel no longer be included on the GLA assessment list. If the Board agrees you will no longer have to pay assessments. Click on the above link for more information.
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