Authored by Karen Daigle Lundberg, June 24, 2019
Let’s talk a little more about HSV Lawsuits (plural)
The other day, I posted an article about the CCI v. HSVPOA lawsuit, and I would like to address some of the responses from that post. I would also like to bring back to everyone’s memory the ISN (security gates) lawsuit.
CCI v. HSVPOA
Tom Blakeman and Lloyd Sherman pointed out the fact that we have insurance to cover our attorneys’ fees for lawsuits. They are absolutely correct. We do. I do not know the answer to this question, but I think it might be worth investigating. While we still do not know the Judge’s decision in this matter, the one thing that is very clear is that HSVPOA is breaking Arkansas State law that specifically states that they must produce the records which are being requested. Do not think for one minute that they are not very aware of what they are doing. They most certainly do. However, that leads to the question of whether our insurance company will cover a lawsuit that is so clearly violating State Law, much less cover the appeal process? As I said, I do not know the answer to this question, but I do think it’s worth investigating.
Appeals are good for stalling the inevitable
Another remark was made that the attorneys would not be “dumb” enough to file an appeal they cannot win. While I agree that the chances of them winning on appeal are little to none, it is not the attorney’s decision whether to file the appeal. The client (HSVPOA) will instruct him to file the appeal or not. It is my sincere belief that while knowing that they stand very, very little chance at winning on appeal, they will run through the appeal process. Whether the insurance company foots the bill for this ridiculousness, we don’t know, but HSVPOA will not be filing an appeal because their insurance will pay for it, or because they feel they can win on appeal. They will be filing an appeal and going through the very long process of the appeals for one reason, and one reason only, to STALL!! I know I have my reasons for believing why they will stall, but I will let each of you decide what your reasons might be for them to STALL.
Be prepared
As I stated in my article yesterday, we do not know what the Judge’s decision will be. I am simply asking people to be prepared. I feel absolutely sure that if the Judge rules for CCI, then HSVPOA will file an appeal for merely STALL tactics, thereby buying possibly one or two more years of not having to open their books. I have seen so many people asking why they are being so stubborn about opening the books. Think about it. Whatever is in those books and records is enough for them to fight like crazy not to open those books and records. What could they possibly be in there, and what consequences may result to certain people when those books and records are open? These are just questions, not accusations. I hope, though, that this answers the questions.
ISN (SECURITY GATES) LAWSUIT
The security gates have just been coming up as a subject again. I would like to ask everyone while they are fighting the POA filing an appeal in the CCI case (if necessary), that we also STRONGLY encourage them to get this case settled with International Security Networks (ISN). Many people have seen my public posts back then about the security gates, but few are aware that behind the scenes, I have emailed the CEO regarding this case many, many times. It is no secret to the CEO, ex-Board Chairman, and many Villagers that I possess the evidence in the case. I have shared it with no one, but I know the facts of the case explicitly. Other than not divulging the evidence I have in my possession, I have written the CEO many times asking her to please not serve this lawsuit, and not to pursue it. I practically begged the ex-Board Chairman not to let this lawsuit go forward, and I was denied by both of them. I even went out of my way to explain to both of them that from what I could see, if they pursued this lawsuit, there would be a counter-claim filed for much more than we were suing ISN for. They chose to ignore me. Even when I explained to the CEO that she could probably earn a lot of respect by stepping out and saying she was wrong and had been dishonest, she still refused to stop the forward movement of the lawsuit.
HSVPOA not answering pleading
At this time, ISN’s attorney has filed a pleading that has not been answered by HSVPOA. It is sitting in the Court record at a standstill. The ball is in HSVPOA’s court now. Right now is the perfect opportunity for HSVPOA to reach out and attempt to settle this lawsuit, but it is now going to cost them. I can tell you in all honesty that they had this opportunity to just walk away, but in order to do that, they would have had to admit wrongdoing, so they chose a different route. They have lost the opportunity to walk away clean from this lawsuit, but I believe they have the opportunity to settle it without losing as much money as is being counter-sued for.
Tell CEO & Board to get rid of lawsuits
So I am asking everyone to put the pressure on, not just about the CCI case (if necessary), but also urge them to settle the ISN lawsuit. If HSVPOA would do this in both of these lawsuits, we would be down to one major lawsuit pending in Court, which is a lot better than the eight we were sitting on just a few months ago.
So, please get on your keyboards, or get out your pens or pick up your phones and tell our CEO and Board to get rid of these lawsuits, and spend the money on repairs in the Village.
We seriously need to take them on in every wrong action they are taking, all at the same time. Most especially, let’s get those records open and see how many problems resolve themselves once those books and records are open.
Thank you.
Karen Daigle Lundberg, Hot Springs Village
Formatted by Cheryl Dowden
Lloyd Sherman
06/24/2019 — 8:41 am
Karen is spot on with her analysis if CCI prevails in this stage of this lawsuit. For whatever their actual reason is for disallowing reasonable access to information, it isn’t going away simply because of a ruling. And because we don’t know what their D & O states, and the riders, we can only guess at whether expenses will be covered should the ruling indicate we are in violation of state law. As I have stated before, and given the number of lawsuits we are involved in, I would be combing through these documents myself to ensure I understood the potential liability. If the insurance policy doesn’t cover these expenses, then the bank account will need to be tapped. We have the same level of vulnerability on the ISN lawsuit. Keep in mind that we are all on the hook for actions taken by the POA. The POA is nothing more than the organization that represents the property owners.
Karen D Lundberg
06/24/2019 — 10:29 am
Lloyd Sherman, thank you for pointing out the fact that we are all on the hook for actions taken by the POA. I think that is the most frustrating part of it all. Our administration makes all of these decisions, files lawsuits, and spends OUR money, we have no say-so in any of their decisions, yet we are responsible for all of their decisions, even if they are erroneous. Everyone needs to understand that, and thank you for pointing it out.
Vicki Husted
06/24/2019 — 12:33 pm
Karen Daigle Lundberg and Lloyd Sherman, Thank you. Excellent points, and I am in complete agreement. In her previous article, “HSVillagers – Please be Prepared” https://hotspringsvillagepeople.com/hsvillagers-please-be-prepared/ I think Karen made a most definitive statement everyone should remember…
“However, one thing I have learned during this more than year-long battle with our CEO and old BOD members is that you have to try to stay a step ahead of them at all times.”
That means investing our time, attending as many Board and Committee Meetings and/or viewing the videos of same, actually combing through the governance documents, etc. and highlighting each and every case of anomaly, tracing it back to its genesis. This needs to be done both individually and also shared with other like-minded people who can support, further define, or provide argument to reach a different conclusion, on every anomaly we can find.
A strong, winning, argument can have many different premises, but only one conclusion. To find our strongest and best arguments to defend ourselves, we need many, many, many sets of eyes examining the past, the present, and sharing and planning for whatever the future holds. This dysfunctionality of leadership began long ago, and is now (in my opinion), somewhat incestuous. Hindsight is, indeed 20/20, but “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Sir Winston Churchill – 1948, paraphrasing George Santayana – 1905.
Kirk Denger
06/24/2019 — 9:09 pm
Hear Her! Hear Her! Vicki, Karen, and Cheryl.
Ees
06/24/2019 — 1:43 pm
What I don’t understand is why are the people involved in the lawsuits not held responsible. Fiduciary responsibility is just one item they have failed at. It’s not their money they are wasting on lawsuits. It’s our money that could be used on our village. Thanks for posting Karen.
Tom Blakeman
06/25/2019 — 4:57 pm
What a perception! “dysfunctionality of leadership” and “incestuous”. Thank you Vicki, that sums it up nicely.
We do have to ask ourselves, just who in our leadership allowed these ridiculous lawsuits to begin (or be countered) in the first place? Is this all on the CEO? Does it take a vote of the board to sue somebody or refuse to settle a no brainer lawsuit? If it is the Board, is it a majority of the board or is a “super majority” required? Or, is it just the Board Chairman and CEO?
Don’t any of these folks, past and present, understand that by creating and perpetuating a situation where our own Members feel compelled to sue the POA, they are harming the entire Village? Can’t any of them be man or woman enough to figure out they are (and have been) wrong?
Claiming a state law unconstitutional because you have no other leg to stand on . . . Really?
Settle the Lawsuits! Abolish the CMP! End the Secrecy! Stop wasting our Money! Do it NOW!
Karen D Lundberg
06/27/2019 — 11:56 am
Tom, while I can only speak to the ISN (security gates) lawsuit, I can tell you that that lawsuit lays in our CEO’s lap. She had sent out a great deal of misinformation regarding the gates, so I called the gate company and got the true story. I dropped the story on NextDoor and the FB group at 9:30 on a Saturday night. While our CEO had previously stated that the gate company had been fired, and that a request for our money be returned or a lawsuit filed, when all of the documents were compiled, this was not what was done. Once cornered, instead of coming out with the truth, our CEO chose to file a lawsuit by 10:00 on the Monday morning. This particular lawsuit should never have been filed, and as I told our CEO from the very beginning, if she chose to continue her path as she was going, she was going to end up with us being counter-sued for a great deal more money than we sued ISN for. I know that I continue to tell this story, but I am just trying to drive home the fact that our CEO was specifically warned by me, and she knew that I knew the facts, not to pursue this lawsuit. Even after the lawsuit was filed, before it was served, we had the opportunity to each (HSVPOA and ISN) to just walk away. I even reached out to Tom Weiss to ask him to not pursue this lawsuit, because it was wrong on our part. He and our CEO decided to go ahead and pursue the lawsuit, and exactly what I told them would happen did happen. I cannot stress enough that this lawsuit needs to be settled. The attorney for ISN’s name is also Nalley (no relation), and he is a bulldog attorney. We will not win this one, and until our CEO stands up and either admits she was dishonest, or just settles the suit quietly, this one is going to cost us big time, and it should have never happened.
I hope everyone noticed our Chairperson in Jeff Meeks’ interview this week, stuck with the usual answer when questioned about the gates, but he pushed her a little further. While she did state that the matter was in litigation, when pushed, she admitted that there were no bids or any forward movement at all on getting a new company for security gates. Hmmmm….I wonder WHY?? It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the CMP and not having gates, could it? That is exactly what started all of this with ISN to begin with. We need to hold their feet to the fire on this one. If this isn’t a lack of fiduciary duty or a case of malfeasance, I don’t know what is. This has both jeopardized the Village financially, and there was a great deal of dishonesty in the information published about the gates, and our CEO is very aware of that.
HSVP C
06/27/2019 — 12:02 pm
Karen,
Quoting you: “I even reached out to Tom Weiss to ask him to not pursue this lawsuit, because it was wrong on our part. He and our CEO decided to go ahead and pursue the lawsuit, and exactly what I told them would happen did happen. I cannot stress enough that this lawsuit needs to be settled.”
This just goes to show that the CEO is controlling the BOD. The BOD and only the BOD have the authority to authorize lawsuits. It should not have been the CEO’s choice as to whether a suit was filed. This was a Board matter. Tom Weiss has even said that we shouldn’t blame the CEO, we should blame the BOD. Yes, we should. We should blame them for allowing the CEO to control everything.