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Post by Admin on Aug 15, 2017 10:37:09 GMT -7
GLA Board Monthly Meeting on Monday, August 14th, 2017 |
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Post by Admin on Aug 15, 2017 10:39:48 GMT -7
August 14th, 2017 GLA Board Meeting Synopsis and Commentary Directors present: Regina Wunsch, Charlene Murphy, Dan Kehoe, Leo Keeler, Dennis Riley, Kevin Newby, Richard Johnson, Newman Brozovsky, Charlotte Mizzi. By phone: Mark Seaver.
Absent: Paul Rantallo and Gerald Dubiel
At 7:05 the meeting was called to order.
Landowner comments were presented by Ia Williams concerning the unilateral actions by Chairman Mizzi of the Community Property Committee. 
Landowner Ia WilliamsIa Williams stated "I am writing to the board to express my concern in regard to Charlotte Mizzi being unfit to be chairperson of the Community Property Committee, as well as a GLA Board member. The fact that Mizzi continues to do harm to our Association can no longer be ignored.
Of the many points of concern, I will focus on these two:
1) She continually demonstrates conflicts of interest as a board member and as chairperson of the Community Property Committee, explained below.
2) As chairperson of an advisory committee, she has unilaterally spent Association funds with no discussion, without any foreknowledge or vote in committee whatsoever, and with no authorization from the board."
Download Ia William’s complete written comments here.
Following were Sally Muto’s comments, as read by Donna Lash-Andersen. They were a rebuttal to Chairman’s Mizzi’s letter read at the last Communications Committee meeting. 
Landowner Donna Lash-Andersen
Sally wrote "Charlotte is refuting accusations not made which seems to be a pattern. I guess if you say something enough times people think it is true. I am addressing these statements in the order of her response to my complaint to the Board."
Download Sally Muto’s complete written rebuttal here. 
Director Newman BrozovskyThe first report was from the Communications and Technology Committee Chairman, Newman Brozovsky. Some years ago the board formed this committee and charged it with arbitrating landowners' official complaints. Before that, there was a long history of landowners’ complaints ending up in a “black hole.” Since then, nearly all complaints continue to be stonewalled, or ignored completely.
So, no change in Sally Muto's complaint regarding the Community Property Committee management issues and its costs. For the second time in as many months, claims of continued mismanagement and unilateral actions by Chairperson Mizzi had to be put on the GLA Board Meeting Agenda. Chair Brozovsky was unable to offer any suggestions for resolution. The board beat around the bush with tangential discussions, partly due to the pending Legal Committee investigation mentioned later in the meeting.
A motion to curtail any further expenditure until the complex legalities of the matter have been determined, failed to pass. The soccer fields are contained within a 20 acre parcel in the middle of North Glastonbury. Basically, it ended in a stalemate, with a tie vote — five votes from CUT-associated directors, who were against the motion, and five non-CUT directors, in favor of the motion.
More discussion ensued; along with various attempts to appease Chairman Mizzi’s demands to be able to expend funds budgeted for the property's maintenance, which mainly consist of mowing and watering the soccer fields and securing the dilapidated building.
Contrarily, legal advice that had been announced at this board meeting, cautioned against investing any more money into the property until the reversionary clause in the deed is handled. As it currently stands, the property could potentially revert back to the grantor — CUT.
Nonetheless, the board seemed to approve permitting Mizzi the use of the 2017 Parkland and Recreation budgeted funds of $1,785.00. Securing the broken doors was discussed, and a figure of $800.00 was tossed around.
Landowner Jeff Riederer offered to simply fix the doors and secure the soccer field building for the cost of materials. Mizzi then questioned his qualifications. The work was completed by Jeff on August 17th, for a total cost of only $25.00. Jeff has potentially saved landowners $775.00.
Mizzi had already unilaterally expended $400 to mow the soccer fields without consulting with any of her landowner committee members. They were mostly in favor of not spending any more funds until the legal issues were resolved.
When a landowner asked about the mower that the GLA had once invested in that was on the property earlier (but needed serious repairs), Mizzi stated that it had somehow disappeared and that she did not know its whereabouts.
Sally Muto's formal complaint is still in limbo – unresolved.
Dennis stated there are legal concerns with the soccer field agreement and the deed which would be discussed later in the meeting. There has been a concern for lack of widespread landowner involvement in the acquisition and future of the fields.
A motion was passed that required full names be used for all people in official documents like agendas and meeting minutes.
A motion was presented to freeze Community Property spending— it did not pass.
Director Charlotte MizziDirector Charlotte Mizzi threatened to call the police and personally confiscate the Forum’s camera because, according to her, taking pictures is not allowed at board meetings. The Forum uses care not to disrupt GLA Board activities when discretely taking flashless photos. The US Constitution guarantees Freedom of the Press. The Board Ethics and Education Group was discussed. Claudette commented that board members must be held accountable for their transgressions and for the failure to uphold their fiduciary duties. She stated that research be conducted into the Montana Non-Profit Association for the necessary education and proper standards, to which directors should adhere. She urged that the results of this group’s study must go to the Governing Docs Committee, because our current Bylaws have serious shortcomings and no established criterion. There are no real consequences for misconduct. Also, a brand new Complaint Procedure Form is finally in the works. Its express purpose is for concerned landowners who deem it necessary to file grievances against board members. 
Director Regina WunschTreasurer Regina Wunsch presented a 2 page report which was easy to understand and provided pertinent information.
The Community Property Chairperson overspent the mowing budget by 60%.
Community Property Committee Chairperson Mizzi took money from other line items to cover the shortage. Mizzi said she had the right to spend the money as long as the “total budget was not exceeded”.
The Board realized the need to identify and record the authorities that the GLA Board conveys to any committee. A motion was presented that would have required Board approval for spending that exceeded the amount available for a line item. It did not pass.
PayPal payment for landowners is moving along, but computer programming snags are a problem.
Collections letters are done. A little tweaking is needed. They are expected to be sent in late August.
Motion by Regina to apply landowner payments to the oldest balance first was passed. Curiously, they had to vote on what are established standard business and accounting practices. Former treasurers have failed to comply with these normal standards. This negligence has yielded misleading results on delinquent accounts which appeared to be paid up-to-date, when, in fact, that was not the case. What did this long-time practice do to years of GLA Election results?
The Road Policy Advisory Group is working on reviewing landowners’ comments and they will present a Q and A document to be shared with all landowners. Recent road grading and graveling in North and South Glastonbury is completed. Culvert work is next and will be discussed at the next Road Committee meeting on Thursday, August 17th. The county will fix the damage to the pavement on Dry Creek Road, as well as other maintenance within the next two weeks. Project Review – NG-28/A Garage project is still on hold. 
Director Kevin NewbyThe newly revised Project Application was finally approved by the board. This was a hard-fought victory by the Project Review Committee, which labored for many months with the updates. Download the approved Project Application here.
Paul Rantallo has missed many committee meetings, and the past two board meetings. A motion to remove him from this committee, failed. It was a predictable party line vote that, once again, demonstrated how certain members view the GLA Board as an "old boys club". Bad behavior exhibited by the old boys is often excused or minimized by other old boy members. 
Director Leo Keeler and President Dennis RileyLegal Committee – Director Leo Keeler reported on the Legal Committee phone conference with Board attorney Alanah Griffith regarding the Soccer Fields, and the 1998 Settlement Agreement on road management.
Alanah was unaware of the reversionary clause in the soccer field deed and recommended that no investments be made until that reversionary clause was removed.
She was asked to develop a letter to C.U.T. recommending a meeting of GLA and C.U.T. to resolve road easements, the 1998 Settlement Agreement on roads, and the future of the soccer fields.
The meeting was adjourned early due to a loud and distracting landowner dispute which seems to happen often when a certain landowner constantly interrupts.
Please leave comments below.
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Post by Admin on Aug 15, 2017 11:01:44 GMT -7
Running the GLA like a business Administrator's Note: Director Kevin Newby released the following statement regarding the failure of the GLA Board to dismiss Director Paul Rantallo from his position as a member of the Project Review Committee. Committee members serve at the pleasure of the Board and may be dismissed by a simple board vote. Paul Rantallo has missed three consecutive Project Review meetings. His absence has caused one meeting to be cancelled due to a lack of a quorum. That inconvenienced one landowner who traveled from Bozeman and whose project was scheduled to be reviewed. Paul Rantallo has also missed several Board meetings and is no longer actively serving landowners.
Several CUT affiliates on the board abstained from the vote and refused to state why. Paul Rantallo is a long term CUT member and an elder in the church.
He was not present at the meeting to discuss his many absences.
Director Kevin Newby
Director Newby's comments follow:
I have always said that we should run the GLA like a business. It became very clear last night that some of us want to run it like a business. Others do not. Other people still want to look at the GLA board of directors as the good old boys club. Which, it is not. We were all voted in by the land owners to do a job. If you cannot do that job then you should resign. A board member not showing up for three meetings in a row and not responding to emails is someone that is not doing their job.
I challenge each and everyone of you not to show up to your job for three months. Do not respond to any emails from your boss for three months. I would like to know if you still have your job at the end of those three months.
The fact of the matter is you will not be employed. What we as a board showed landowners last night was that some of us do not take our job seriously. The very job that we were voted into by landowners.
My opinion, this shows a lack of courage and commitment. It also shows in my opinion, a conflict of interest.
Kevin Newby
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Post by leokeeler on Aug 19, 2017 9:08:15 GMT -7
Thank you for posting about the Board meeting
I just want to make it clear what I said concerning Alanah's comments. She seemed surprised there was a reversionary clause in a Warranty Deed. She was speaking more as an individual than giving attorney advise and was only offering a cautionary statement intended to make sure everyone involved in allocating funds was well aware of the risks created by the reversionary clause.
Leo
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Post by dorothykeeler on Aug 22, 2017 0:36:20 GMT -7
I'd like to make a clarification in response to the excellent GLA Board Meeting Synopsis listed above.
Towards the end, it states "The meeting was adjourned early due to a loud and distracting landowner dispute which seems to happen often when a certain landowner constantly interrupts."
This loud and distracting landowner dispute happened between two landowners in the audience when one began badgering and harassing the other. One of these landowners is well known for his/her habit of blurting out comments without being recognized by the Chair, badgering and harassing both the Directors and members of the audience, and generally conducting him/herself as a self-appointed expert in every matter discussed.
It is important to note that the GLA Board meeting proceeded smoothly and in a professional manner until the uncontrollable landowner arrived.
As has happened too often in the past, the meeting was abruptly adjourned when the offending landowner refused to be quiet.
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Post by Sunshine on Aug 23, 2017 1:07:12 GMT -7
Will Mizzi ever come to her senses and realize that she has wreaked havoc upon this community? Her tornadic temperament during her reign of terror as former board president is not only very easy to remember, but continues to this day. Frequent displays of disrespect for established protocol, repeated outbursts of rudeness toward the people that she claims to equitably represent, public threats against landowners, consistent twisting of the facts and a high degree of haughtiness, are but a few of her personality traits.
Ultimately, she will be the architect of her own demise.
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