Email with BOD Candidate, Nikki

By Andy Kramek, February 8, 2020

The following is the complete, to date, e-mail exchange between myself [Andy Kramek] and Ms. Nikki Choyce, candidate for Hot Springs Village Board of Directors. Since Ms. Choyce responded to everything after my first message by inserting comments, line by line into my original messages I have simply included her responses, as I received them. Comment on her replies to questions [2] and [3] are superfluous! [Blue highlights designate Andy Kramek and beige highlights designate Nikki Choyce.]

NOTE: As you will see, Nikki gave her permission to reproduce her reply as long as it is “posted in its entirety and without editing or censorship…”. I confirm that there has been no editing or censorship and that her replies are posted in full. All that has been done is to color the text to indicate the author. – Andy Kramek

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From: Andy Kramek

Dear Ms. Choyce,

I am assuming that, since you have not replied to my prior e-mail that somehow it did not get through the system. So I am taking the liberty of re-sending it in case it got lost somehow. Thank you for your attention.

I am a non-resident property owner (though I did live in the village for 4 years). Would you please explain:

[1] Why you fail to mention that the Committee you chair is the CMP Advisory Committee. Do you not think it is important to mention that fact?

[2] Why, in your position as Chair of that Committee did you deliberately suppress the Marketing Sub-Committee report?

[3] How you reconcile your stated intention to ‘Examine all sides of an issue, benefits and consequences, before supporting a course of action” with the suppression of the Marketing Sub-Committee report.

Thank you.

Respectfully,

Andy

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From: Nikki Choyce

Andy,

Thank you for your email. I’ve included my response below:

Would you please explain:

[1] Why you fail to mention that the Committee you chair is the CMP Advisory Committee. Do you not think it is important to mention that fact?

Response: If you were at the forum last night, I did mention it. Why is this important to you?

 [2] Why, in your position as Chair of that Committee did you deliberately suppress the Marketing Sub-Committee report?

Response: as this is an open issue, I am not at liberty to discuss at this time.

 [3] How you reconcile your stated intention to ‘Examine all sides of an issue, benefits and consequences, before supporting a course of action” with the suppression of the Marketing Sub-Committee report.  

Response: see above response. 

Nikki

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From: Nikki Choyce

Andy,

I appreciate you following up and to be honest, I did not notice in your email that you stated you were a non-resident property owner, so I’m sorry if I offended you. It was not intended. As for your other comments, please see my responses below:

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From: Andy Kramek

Dear Ms. Choyce,

Thank you for your reply. You asked why I feel your non-disclosure of your position as Chair of the CMPAC is important. The answer is very simple. It is to do with things called “Honesty” and “Transparency”.  

Response: This has less to do with with [sic] the concepts of honesty and transparency and more to do with fairness and equitable treatment. Those who have a negative bias towards the CMP unfairly view me with prejudice as an off-shoot. If I am to have a meaningful conversation with anyone regarding my candidacy, I must first be evaluated on my qualifications and experience instead of my association with this committee. Instead of my role on the CMPAC being viewed as a negative, why not see the positive? I didn’t take the easy path when I decided to be more engaged in our community, I chose the difficult path of the CMP Advisory committee. That speaks to strength of character. Something we need more of on the Board of Directors. 

To that end, I am posting both your reply and this e-mail on every public site that I can reach so that other property owners can be fully informed.

Response: As long as it is posted in its entirety and without editing or censorship, I have the same goal… sharing accurate information. 

Since you are the Chair of that committee you must be aware that the CMP is, to put it mildly, a contentious issue for many people. That is especially true for people like me who, as non-resident property owners, have a considerable investment in the future of Hot Springs Village.

Response: As mentioned previously, yes. People have strong feelings about the CMP. There are many concerns but I’ve learned that the root cause of many of those concerns are unwarranted. Whether it is because of people who, for whatever personal reasons, feel the need to instill fear and alarm or if it’s because they haven’t spent time understanding and discussing, it’s hard to say. The CMP is essential for our community’s future. I can name at least two reasons. #1 We need a roadmap to where we want to be in 5, 10, 20 years and beyond. The CMP provides “recommendations” to help us get there. They are “recommendations” which mean we, as a community, will determine if we want to use that recommendation or not. #2 A comprehensive master plan must extend far enough into the future (at least 5 years) to provide continuity through the annual changes of Board membership. Without that continuity, we would be subject to short-sighted and misaligned objectives that could actually delay or take us off the roadmap altogether. If you really want to see Hot Springs Village be successful and protect your investment in the future, then support the goals of the CMP.

Now, whether I personally agree with the vision the CMP portrays or not is irrelevant but what is relevant is that you clearly tried to hide the information and, unfortunately, got caught red-handed and publicly.

Response: Every candidate running for the Board of Directors has their own strategies designed to win votes for themselves or take away votes from other candidates. So making a major issue of one aspect of an opposing candidate and blowing it out of proportion falls into the second strategy. I should feel flattered the other candidates feel so threatened by my candidacy that they stoop to these mud-slinging tactics.

Incidentally, as I specifically told you that I was a non-resident your implication that had I bothered to attend the forum I would have heard about it is both facile and insulting. Unfortunately for you, I have seen the video of the forum and you did NOT mention it in your opening statement. All you talked about was your experience as a Project Manager.  Had Lloyd Sherman not raised the issue no-one would have known, now, would they?

Response: I apologize again for not reading that you are a non-resident property owner. It was never my intent to insult you. As for your comments above, they are not 100% factual. It is correct, that I did not mention my role as Chairperson of the CMP Advisory committee in my OPENING statement. It is incorrect that I didn’t mention it all. I spoke about it in my CLOSING statement which was appropriate for this forum and for all the reasons I mentioned above. Lloyd Sherman did mention it in one of his turns at the microphone which is his prerogative. I chose to use my time talking about reasons why I am the best Board Director candidate rather than waste time talking about why other candidates are not. I had a written prepared closing that included the disclosure of my CMPAC role. It would have been mentioned regardless and your insinuation to the contrary is an insult.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Respectfully,

Andy

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From: Andy Kramek

Dear Ms. Choyce,

Thank you for your detailed reply. I had no intention to insult you, and apologize if you read it that way.

However, I have to disagree with you.

The fact that you chair the CMP Advisory Committee is extremely relevant. In fact, it is probably the most important thing to know about you. You are not applying for a project management training position – something for which you are, apparently, well qualified – but for the Board of Directors of Hot Springs Village. Your knowledge of the Village, and your vision for the future of the Village, is what matters to property owners. Quite apart from anything else, you are trying to convince us that we should entrust you to be one of the seven people who will have a major role in shaping that future for the next three years.

So, I am left facing the fact that neither your published bio, your web page nor your spoken words made any mention that you are, in fact, the Chair of CMP Advisory Committee.  Whether Mr. Sherman prompted the disclosure, or not, is irrelevant. The fact remains that the first mention made of your involvement was after Mr. Sherman raised the issue during the forum.  That in itself is odd because it is, after all, a great honor and responsibility to Chair what is, arguably, the most important Committee in our community. Especially given its role in helping determining the future direction of our community. That is kind of relevant isn’t it?

Finally, you may not be aware that subsequently your Vice Chairman launched a very public, and very personal, attack on a social media site. Among other things, he accused Mr. Sherman of lying and of joining in a some sort of “crooked deal” with Mr. & Ms. Dowden for, amongst other things, publishing the fact that you chair the CMPAC. Why do you suppose he would do that if the facts were not supposed to have been kept hidden? (I know you cannot speak for the actions of others, it is a purely rhetorical question).

I do appreciate your taking the time to reply in detail. However, I must regretfully inform you that I feel that I cannot trust you, and therefore cannot possibly support you in the upcoming election.

Respectfully,

Andy

By Andy Kramek, February 8, 2020