THE TRUTH UNDER THE WHITEWASH OF GLA’S SPRING NEWSLETTER
Jun 29, 2016 7:32:55 GMT -7
chris, zorro, and 3 more like this
Post by Admin on Jun 29, 2016 7:32:55 GMT -7
Glastonbury Landowners For Positive Change
The mission of the GLFPC is to foster a landowner's association, of the people, by the people and for the people of Glastonbury, create a harmonious and inclusive community,and enhance property values.
THE TRUTH UNDER THE WHITEWASH OF GLA’S SPRING 2016 NEWSLETTER
GLA's Spring newsletter for 2016 is no more than frosting on a moldy cake. It continues the assault on the minds of vulnerable members who want to believe the board knows what is best for the association and is actually serving the members. It is an effort to desensitize and distract members from their rights and responsibilities. It needs to be seen for what it is – PROPAGANDA, not news. As members of the GLFPC who regularly attend GLA meetings, we ask you to consider the following perspectives on the continuing GLA saga.
Recap of the First Board Listens Meeting
The board did not agree to form focus groups as claimed. Vice-President Dennis Riley hit a wall when he suggested that board members be assigned to chair a task force for each of the four top priorities as tallied from the first Board Listens meeting held this spring. When President Mizzi said that landowners could have as many meetings as they wanted, it was clear that she and the board had little enthusiasm and NO INTENTION to work with landowners to resolve these issues. In the end, the board agreed that Vice President Dennis Riley could organize landowner focus groups without any commitment from any other board members to address these landowner concerns. This is clearly indicative of the president’s regal attitude toward the people of “Let them eat cake,” moldy or otherwise.
Weed Spraying
Though GLA gave notice that it would again spray toxic chemicals on noxious weeds at the edges of our roads and on our common area, the truth is the chemical approach is not working. The war on weeds was lost years ago. Knapweed alone shows up in greater abundance and higher up the mountains every year. If the Road and Weed Committee were serious, they would research and use alternative weed control methods.
Administrative Assistant
The truth is the original pay plan for this part-time employee was $12.50/hour with no mention of any paid holidays. As a point of reference, the pay scale for similar administrative/office work at a local resort is $10/hour with no paid holidays. Those on the board who believe it best to offer a part-time employee a $15/hour pay rate and 6 paid holidays are out of touch with reality and our local economy. Remember that until the board decided to hire Minnick Management a few years ago, the association functioned quite well without this unnecessary administrative overhead.
Proposed Governing Document Changes
The truth is the proposed changes to GLA's governing documents have HUGE consequences for this association. One very disturbing change would allow the board to only consider specific standards before granting a variance instead of finding compliance with five specific requirements.
While the board maintains that this relaxation of their duties will make them less liable for oversights and errors, the truth is that when discretion is expanded, so is the potential for bias and favoritism. With this kind of discretion, landowners cannot count on any consistent or reliable enforcement of the covenants. This shortsighted proposal has real potential to harm property values. Members need to be able to count on consistent enforcement of the covenants. With board discretion, they cannot. If the board gets its way on this, we see even more lawsuits being filed against this board in the near future.
Another equally disturbing change, but not mentioned in the newsletter, is a reduction in the interest rate of 18% with compound interest to 12% simple interest (the truth is simple interest was usually charged, though not consistently). A further truth is a reduction to 12% represents too much lost income to the association when 15% is legal, enforceable and what the Montana court system uses. Given that the Church Universal and Triumphant is one of the largest debtors to GLA (more than $40,000) it is believed that devoted Church members who serve on the GLA board want to give the Church a break at the expense of GLA. This is simply irrefutable, irresponsible money management. Given inadequate road management practices and the lack of board liability insurance, GLA needs every dollar it can collect, not to mention the clear lack of fiduciary responsibility practiced by this board.
The President's Letter
The truth is there is nearly a record amount of money available for roads this year because the board released $40,000 from savings for the roads. Though Mizzi claims the available funds are about $72,000, the Official Road Committee minutes from May confirm the amount to be closer to $90,000.
The truth about the claim that the board expects extra income from collections of past due assessments this year is that the lion’s share of what has been collected this year came from volunteer landowner initiative (thank you Debbie DeGraaf), not the board. When Debbie sought an appointment to the board to fill a vacancy, the Shadow Board continued its tradition of appointing only Church members to fill board vacancies. Given that Debbie no longer volunteers her collection expertise, those of us who watch the board closely have little confidence that the board itself will generate much extra income from past due accounts.
To call it progress that committee meetings are open shows nothing but ignorance. Per its Montana license to operate as a Non-Profit Corporation and per the GLA Bylaws and Covenants, all GLA meetings must be open. The act that mandated committee meeting notices and minutes have recently become common practice is about “catching up” - it is not something to be proud of.
To say that minutes are kept of committee meetings is misleading because corporate minutes are records of motions, votes and actions taken, not discussion. GLA committee meetings are typically free form discussions, which sometimes lead to consensus. Because GLA fails to isolate working notes from the minutes, GLA consistently burdens itself with too much detail in the official minutes. Again, this is not a sign of progress, but only makes the board more vulnerable to lawsuits.
The truth about the President working to restore order at board meetings is that she herself is a major player in the disruption and disorder. Rather than working with landowners and treating them with respect and understanding, Mizzi now holds “phoney” meetings, aka phone conference meetings, so that she (and the board) can ignore and mute landowner input at will. Closed off meetings like these replace her overbearing tactics and excessive gavel pounding. Nothing is gained by bullying landowners into silence.
When a landowner's comment is viewed as critical of the board, Mizzi declares the speaker out of order. When Mizzi manipulated things so that the board received a member petition (which she signed) to restore verbal prayer at the beginning of the board meeting, there was strong dissent. The resistance was so strong that Mizzi called the sheriff to have those who repeatedly said they opposed the introduction of religion at an association meeting removed. These are not actions about restoring order. These are actions of a dictator who does not know how to work with and respect differences. In the best interests of restoring order at board meetings, Mizzi should resign.
Mizzi's claim that a small group of landowners are sending letters with unsubstantiated allegations is bogus. GLFPC writers work with recordings of the meetings when they offer meeting summaries and interpretations. No one can make up the stuff they write about. It is easy to see that many of the board members have no corporate experience and no interest in learning the ins and outs of corporate law. Many board members have lived with heavy-handed top-down governance and assume GLA should operate the same way. Other board members see themselves as enlightened people who are spiritually above and beyond human law. This belief is what fuels their delusion that the board should have discretion about enforcing every aspect of GLA's governing documents.
The claim that a small group of landowners are the troublemakers is nothing more than hogwash. The truth is resistance to the board is growing rapidly. What started as one resistance group over two years ago is now at least three – the GLFPC, the Hilltop Group and the Irish Posse. How many silent landowners are also deeply disturbed about the association management, or mismanagement?
The claim that the board welcomes input and considers all sides in making decisions is also bogus. Consider that when the board receives a letter it does not like, the writer is perfunctorily ignored. The letter seems to go into the official GLA Black Hole and is forgotten. At least forty to fifty of these inquiries from the past year remain unanswered.
Consider that many requests for official records are never acknowledged or answered, even though Montana Law for Non-Profits requires that the board respond to document requests within two business days.
Consider that about a year ago, when landowner input got “out of hand” at the Governing Documents meetings, committee work was suspended for nearly a year. This gave Gov Doc Committee chairman Dan Kehoe time to handle the work solo and interact with the board and change the committee proposals so much that an updated mailing describing proposed changes was needed.
Consider that the board has spent association money to consult with an attorney to try to stop GLFPC from posting GLFPC summaries and interpretations of GLA meetings on the Internet.
None of the above board actions suggest in any way that the board welcomes input.
To write that the board has attempted to reach out to those who are critical of the board is but another bold-faced lie. Consider for example when landowners asked to have a Board Listens meeting, President Mizzi told the board members they were free to attend or not though landowners had asked specifically to speak with the board. Months after the meeting, when it was logical that board members would be appointed to chair Focus Groups on the top issues, it was clear that there was no enthusiasm for any board member to be involved. In fact, President Mizzi said landowners could hold all the meetings they want, with the clear implication that the board did not need to listen or participate.
To write that “despite our attempts to reach out the majority of the landowners do not respond” is still another outright lie. During landowner input periods where speakers are limited to three minutes, Mizzi routinely says “Thank you and next” after each speaker. Answers to questions from landowners are either extremely brief or delaying to a specific agenda item later in the meeting where they are regularly forgotten. Official requests for documents are regularly ignored even after repeated requests. Official complaints are seldom investigated. Even the automatic acknowledgment of an email to the board got turned off for a while. These happenings are not about attempts to reach out to members, rather they are attempts to silence, squelch, minimize and disrespect landowner perspectives. If publishing a newsletter is rationalized as an attempt to reach out, the truth is the Spring 2016 GLA Newsletter is whitewash propaganda. Reasonable people see through the deceit, untruths, and the prevailing arrogant attitude that “the board knows best and should not be bothered with landowner concerns.”
The counsel and invitation at the end of the President's Letter is double speak – it calls on people not to assume negative motives when they do not understand things, while at the same time it invites members to contact the board if something upsets them.
Board Meetings by Phone
The claim that the April board meeting was disrupted by one person taking flash photos is only part of the story. Board member Gerald Dubiel was a second photographer. When a newsletter article presents only part of the story, it is the death knell for free thinking
The claim is that people were standing and yelling at the board with physically intimidating behavior is a bold-faced lie. The truth is, when President Mizzi asked Treasurer Rudy Parker to lead the group in prayer, one person stood and repeatedly spoke in a strong voice saying he was opposed to the introduction of religion in our association. When others (who remained seated) began to repeat the phrase, Mizzi announced that she was calling the sheriff and then asked the board if they wanted to stop the meeting. The board voted to continue the meeting, despite Mizzi's meltdown. The truth is members used a repeated phrase to resist prayer, which was being imposed on them. At no time was there any physically intimidating behavior.
The truth is that had Mizzi respected the majority vote of the board just three months earlier to not include vocal prayer in GLA business meetings, instead of working behind the scenes to promote a petition to reinstate vocal prayer (that she also signed), which was not even on the meeting agenda, and using her office to force another vote that very night (which passed), members would not have chosen to voice their resistance as they did. Clearly Mizzi cannot separate her role as a minister in the church from her civil duties as president and director, causing a severe conflict of interest in most situations.
Imposed prayer upon an audience of mixed faiths is not only inappropriate but offensive. A moment of silence, as previously agreed upon by the board, respects all members’ beliefs.
To claim that meeting at St. John's is off the table until the landowners amend their behavior is only part of the story. When board members yell, stick out their tongues at landowners, make facial contortions and gestures, and repeatedly interrupt landowners who are speaking, it is clear that the board needs to amend their behavior as well.
It is a lie for the board to claim they are moving forward on anything. Landowner input and volunteers initiated the collection of past due assessments. Landowners have repeatedly asked the board and Road Committee to create a multi-year road maintenance plan. To date there is no plan, but it has been publicly said that director Kehoe is working on one himself. One of the Road Committee chairs, Paul Ranttalo has said there is nothing our new road contractor can learn from an engineer. However, that contractor has not met the expectations of the committee and the landowners, especially in SG.
While the board is moving forward on changes to the Governing Documents, many of the proposed changes will be harmful to the members. Initially the Governing Documents committee was a landowner committee, which over time morphed into a board managed committee, which over time became too difficult for Chairman Dan Kehoe to manage. About a year ago, all committee work on the Governing Documents changes was suspended so that Kehoe and the board could sculpt the changes themselves. The result? Numerous changes to the Bylaws and Covenants, some of which are downright dangerous and harmful to GLA. The most dangerous change would expand board discretion. Discretion creates inconsistent and chaotic governance. Discretion opens the board to charges of discrimination and favoritism. Discretion is but a mask for dictatorial power.
A second proposed change is the decrease in interest on past due accounts down to 12% simple interest even though 15% is also legal. It is widely understood that the board is intent on lowering the interest rate and changing it from 18% compounding to 12% simple interest to favor the Church and church members who are delinquent. Why the board would choose to forgive this much past due assessment debt at a time when GLA is in serious need of more road money is puzzling, unless as many suspect the reduction is targeted to give the Church relief. The Church owes GLA more than $40,000 in past due assessments.
To write that the board has thoughtfully taken the step towards phone meeting is bogus. Instead Mizzi has rallied enough votes on the board to move to phone (phoney) meetings as a way to avoid being held accountable by the landowners. To write that phone meetings will be safer and more productive? What nonsense!! Safer? Safer from board member who interrupt and insult landowners? Safer from board members who stick their tongue out at landowners and/or tell them to shut up? Safer from a President who is prone to melt-downs and believes she can create an orderly meeting by bullying attendees into silence with a gavel and imposing prayer at the beginning of meetings? Safer from board thinking that landowners must be tolerated and are best ignored? Safer from a President who has publicly said that phone meetings would continue because you never know who might have a gun and bring it to the meeting. Really?
Coming Soon to GLA’s Website
According to the newsletter, “The Glastonbury Landowners Association is managed by a Board of Directors elected by association members/landowners. Six board members from each of North and South, twelve in total, elected for two-year terms make decisions on behalf of the association. As such, the organization operates on the premise of a representative form of governance.”
The truth is landowners have been calling for board members to actually represent their constituents by listening to them and voting the issues according to the landowner’s desires, not their own or a controlling interest’s desires. The above board statement would be acceptable and accurate if only it were true. In actuality, over the past few years eight directors have been appointed by the board rather than elected by the landowners, this to fill vacancies when directors have quit. Seven of these eight have been affiliated with or are members of CUT. When 60 percent of the landowners are not church affiliated, it is only reasonable to expect that same ratio be represented on the board in order to end the church domination of the boards. If directors were truly able and willing to separate their church beliefs, values and obedience from their secular duties it would be a different story. But they don’t or can’t. It is about domination and control by a few church members who comprise the Shadow Board and who influence the others to the detriment of the majority of landowners. It is for this very reason that the association needs non-CUT landowners to become active in the process of voting on proposed governing document changes and to elect new non-CUT directors in November in order to break the current strangle hold.
Rule to enforce the intent of Covenant 11.06
This is whitewash at its best. This rule is ridden with problems. First, there is no record in any minutes of board action to show how and when the board created this rule. Second, rules are meant to enforce a regulation not change them. This rule is being used to both change and enforce a Covenant. The Shadow Board has been trying for some time to get around the inconvenient truth, that per the GLA covenants, the authority to change the interest rate rests with the members, not the board. Third, this rule represents the wishes of the Shadow Board that is feverishly at work trying to find a way to relieve their church of some of its $40,000 debt to GLA. Fourth, though the official GLA documents call for 18% compounding interest, GLA has typically charged simple interest on past due assessments. Given that the board has chosen to charge simple interest and ignore the Covenants, and given that the board is preparing to ask the members to vote on lowering the interest rate, it is odd that there is some kind of sudden need to write this rule and announce it even though there is no due process behind it.
In fact, it is one attorney’s opinion that this maneuver by the Shadow Board is illegal.
Because this is a lengthy and legal issue we refer you to this posting by one of our members which explains in detail: glastonbury.freeforums.net/thread/296/illegal-change-11-06?page=1&scrollTo=584
These are a few of the many problems that the GLFPC recognizes with the current board and the historical CUT domination of the landowners’ association. The landowners hold the power to make things change but only if a greater majority become more active in the voting process. Please remember to vote on the proposed Governing Documents changes coming up this summer, and to elect new representative directors in November.
For more information, please visit:
glastonburylandownersforpositivechange.wordpress.com/
glastonbury.freeforums.net/