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Post by Admin on Jul 30, 2016 6:32:09 GMT -7
Special Meeting of the Members - August 27, 2016 There will be a Special Meeting of the GLA Members on August 27th in Emigrant Hall from 10 to 11:30 AM
Agenda:
1) A new Ombudsman for North Glastonbury will be elected.
2) A vote to change Covenant 11.06 will be decided.
All landowners can vote on the Covenant change and were mailed a voting packet on July 26th, 2016
Only North Glastonbury landowners can vote for a new ombudsman. Details were included in their voting packets.
Meeting documents and summaries will be posted on the 2016 GLA Board Meeting Agendas and Documents page as soon as they are available.
Please post comments below. |
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Post by Admin on Aug 26, 2016 16:38:11 GMT -7
Is the August 27th, 2016 Covenant Change Vote Flawed? The GLA Board will hold a Special Meeting of the Members at Emigrant Hall on August 27th, 2016 from 10 AM to 1 PM. Coffee and Tea will be available but food will not be provided.
Many questions have arisen concerning possible voter fraud and misinformation. Early on it was pointed out by landowners that the voting packet contained erroneous information that "govern your vote". The errors contained in the voting packet and the issues raised are:
- Legal language was included for Bylaw changes. This vote is for a Covenant change which requires a far higher threshold for approval.
- In the Voting Notes voters were properly told that their assessments must be current before they can vote. However the Forum has learned that the GLA Board has decided that if a person owns multiple parcels they may cast a vote for each parcel that is current. The GLA Covenants clearly state that a landowner must be current on ALL parcels they own before they can vote.
Covenant 3.19 Member of the Association in Good Standing. A member of the Association that is current in the payment of all assessments to the Association and is not in violation of these covenants. A member in good standing is qualified to vote as provided herein and in the bylaws and rules of the Association. If a landowner has junk or eyesores on their property, has a building that violates the Master Plan or violates any other article in the Master Plan or Covenants they are NOT in good standing and cannot vote. It appears that the GLA Board will once again turn a blind eye to these infractions. - Voters are still being asked to sign the ballot. However this ballot is supposed to be secret. A signature would compromise a secret ballot.
- The GLA Board sent ballots to ALL landowners including ones that were years behind on assessments and clearly not eligible to vote.
- Ballots are allowed to be faxed in to the GLA Board. Since the ballot does not have any identifying information faxing allows anyone to submit a ballot multiple times.
- The Forum has learned that the GLA Board will open the absentee ballots behind closed doors early in the morning of August 27th. A few volunteer landowners will be present but the rest will not be allowed to observe the ballot opening process. Once the meeting is open, landowners will be prohibited from and physically blocked, from observing the ballot counting process.
- Will the ballot boxes be transparent and securely locked? Will they be stuffed before the ballot opening process begins? How many anonymous faxed votes will be counted? Will landowners be allowed to see the list of landowners who are not eligible to vote? Will landowners be able to inspect the outermost envelopes to check for postmarks and possible multiple submissions? Can they see the faxed votes that should include the sender's phone number?
- Many questions remain and more will be raised at the meeting. We urge all landowners to attend and pay close attention. If the Covenant change is approved tens of thousands of dollars owed to landowners will be given back to debtors. Honest landowners who dutifully paid 18% interest and penalties via payment plans will not receive a refund. They will be cheated out of their hard earned money and punished for trying to do what is right. Those who chose not to pay will be rewarded. Those who have not paid for the greatest number of years will receive the largest rewards.
The Forum will attend the meeting and report on the process and results. |
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Post by Admin on Aug 27, 2016 14:09:40 GMT -7
John Carp wins, Covenant Change 11.06 Loses The proposed GLA Board changes for Covenant 11.06 were soundly defeated and John Carp won a position as the new ombudsman for North Glastonbury.
336 membership interests were eligible to vote. 171 YES votes were needed to pass the requested covenant change. Only 150 votes were cast so the threshold was not reached. 97 were for the changes and 53 were against it. Maintaining a long GLA Board tradition, Director Dan Kehoe stated there will be "another vote in November".
John Carp had an easier time against Dan O'Connell. Both were running for North Glastonbury Ombudsman and a simple majority of votes was all that was needed. John Carp won a solid victory with 57 votes for him; Dan O'Connell received 11 votes.
The meeting was sparsely attended; the Forum counted just 25 attendees plus about 10 volunteer landowners. A new, secret ballot process was tested and seemed to work smoothly but a bit slowly. The voting process was transparent except that absentee ballots were verified behind closed doors before the meeting started. The vote counters are pictured below. Faxed votes were an issue but that total was around 5 votes total.
Landowners presented several questions to candidates. Some were difficult to answer. Early on the meeting threatened to break down as Val O'Connell and the Board traded comments. The exchange quickly became heated and chaos ensued. Fortunately that quieted down but not before a few landowners left in disgust. Towards the end of the meeting an altercation happened when Val O'Connell walked past a landowner. Sitting a few seats away we saw Val grab a landowner's arm and then scream that she was being assaulted. About 30 minutes later the Sheriff's deputies arrived and took at least one written statement. It was unclear if charges were being pressed or anyone was being arrested. It was clear from our viewpoint that no one was hurt but the reputation of the GLA suffered another blow.
Special Meeting Photos
The Ballot boxes and vote counters for walk in voters.
These volunteers verified every absentee ballot while keeping the voter's choice confidential.
It is a large first step towards a fully secret ballot and voting process.
John Carp gave a solid presentation and won the position he sought.
Numerous landowner questions were presented to Directors Rudy Parker, Dan Kehoe
and President Charlotte Mizzi.
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Post by debbieb on Aug 27, 2016 17:21:08 GMT -7
The exchange with Val O. that "quickly became heated" with "chaos ensuing" was completely 100% precipitated by Pres. Charlotte M., in my opinion:
After Charlotte announced the candidates for N. Glastonbury Ombudsman would have 3 minutes each to make statements, John C. took double that time with not a word of complaint from Charlotte; she was willing to give him that leeway. When Charlotte opened up the floor for landowner questions to the candidates, another landowner spoke for ~ 5 minutes or more simply giving her view of things; no questions for the candidates that I remember. Charlotte again was willing to let that go by with no complaint. Then Val O. got up to speak, also with no apparent question, initially. Within less than a minute Charlotte attempted to shut her down, declaring she was out of order and told her she was off topic, that she MUST ask a question of the candidates! As Val attempted to go on, and tried to get to her question, the word "lawsuit" again set Charlotte M. off and she tried to shut Val down yet again - this further inflamed the situation! By then it was apparent that Val O. had a question she was trying to get to, but not even that satisfied Charlotte!
It was quite apparent to me, by then, that our GLA President, Charlotte M. did not want this landowner to speak at all. I think it is very sad that the GLA Board leadership does not treat all landowners the same. Charlotte had in her power to avoid the chaos altogether. If she had afforded Val O. the same courtesy she afforded John C. and the other landowner, and let Val speak 5 minutes or longer, we likely would have had no situation at all! Just because one person doesn't agree or like what another person has to say is NO reason to shut them down! Especially when our President had been so lenient with other landowners who stretched her "rules". I would have been just as indignant as Val O. if I had been on the receiving end of our President's inequitable treatment of her this morning.
A President and leader is someone who *facilitates* meetings; not stirs them up! Someone who guides people to work together; not someone who instantly loses control. This President has alienated most landowners who attend monthly GLA Board Meetings the minute she walked into the January 2016 Board meeting by introducing her very own "Decorum Policy" that shut down ALL landowner comment during a Board Meeting. Due to this policy of hers, this is the first year ever landowners are not allowed to speak during a Board Meeting; rather they are delegated 3 minutes each at the beginning of the meeting and again at the end of the meeting after the Board's business has concluded. Within a short time, she excluded landowners entirely from in-person Board Meetings, delegating landowners to telephone call-in meetings for the last 4-5 months, while arranging for Board Members to meet in-person at her home. This President has dictated that landowners only forum for free comment is at Committee Meetings *prior* to the monthly Board Meeting, with that outcome being brought to the Board meeting. Yet, her policy has fallen down on several occasions, especially regarding landowner input on Project Reviews, when Projects are reviewed at a Board Meeting for which there has been no Project Review Committee meeting to openly discuss them with landowner input PRIOR to the Board meeting.
This President has done all she can to drive a big wedge between landowners and the GLA Board of Directors this year - and the members of the GLA Board have allowed her to get away with it.
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