This letter was sent to the HSVPOA Board of Directors because we have been contacted by a number of concerned property owners.
First, we would like to thank all of our Board Members for the commitment you have shown to the Village. The sacrifice you make for the community is appreciated by many.
Hot Springs Village has undergone a lot of changes in the not so distant past. Our most recent event was the resignation of our newly-hired General Manager. This resignation has led to an interim General Manager being sought.
We would like to request that the Board let the interim General Manager guide the ship while a rational and thorough search for a new long-term General Manager is conducted. The decision on who to hire for the General Manager position should be carefully contemplated and researched.
Presently, we are missing two Board Members. Normally, a full Board is comprised of seven Members but we only have five. Also, two of the five Board Members are appointees. They were not elected. The present Board consists of only three elected Members. The decision of who to hire for General Manager is an enormous responsibility and should be made only with a full Board of duly elected Members.
We are requesting that the board consider waiting until the new Board is seated before making a hiring decision. Slow and steady gets the prize.
We can’t undo the past, but we can go forward for a better future. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.
Respectfully submitted, Joe and Cheryl Dowden
Elizabeth H Berry
01/30/2021 — 1:32 pm
I agree. Wait until after the election to hire a new GM. Also consider a more applicable salary. Can we really afford paying $200,000 plus a year? Maybe reconsider the duties of a GM. It seems that there are many “fact finders” that could be responsible for lesser topics.
Melvin west
01/30/2021 — 1:49 pm
Yes. General managers pay was too high and his experience was not right. Hope they are a little bit more careful. Hope they can find one internally
Melinda Alvord
01/30/2021 — 3:10 pm
E-blast from the Board stated the General Manager’s job description had been updated and approved by the Board. May we please see a copy.
David Hamilton
01/30/2021 — 3:20 pm
Consistent with the above, we really need to rethink the future of the Village and what that future requires. While the Village will grow, I am not so sure that we need that to be one of the qualifications or duties of the GM. We are not going to “buy” ourselves out of the current financial difficulties by selling “rooftops”. It just won’t happen fast enough. We don’t need to “reinvent” what the Village is. It is what it is because of where it was originally located. We can open a new door by getting the communications networks scaled up to handle people who want to operate remotely, but we are still going to be a beautiful, quiet, sport/activity oriented Village. We are going to have to get serious and face the need to raise the POA Fee to continue operating, get the maintenance done, and keep ourselves from having to incorporate and lose what we have to the general public. I would think that, if we raise the fee by $25 – $30/mo. we would also need to reconsider the voting relationship between land owners and home owners since the homeowners would be “carrying the load” and need the voting rights to go along with that fact. Landowners would still benefit because we would be assuring that HSV is still the place they would want to retire to.
The bottom-line would be go slow and be sure we know where we are headed and what we really need before we commit to the next GM.
Cami Dubbs
01/30/2021 — 6:13 pm
I am very much in agreement with this comment/suggestion
Kathy Parks
01/30/2021 — 3:52 pm
This is a reasonable and logical request, setting HSV up for a successful search.
Lynn Holberton
01/30/2021 — 5:02 pm
I agree, Cheryl. The Board should be a group, duly elected by the POA members, whose job it is to represent said members. Most of the members of the current Board were appointed, not elected. I do not mean my reply to reflect negatively, at all, on those who chose to serve. I just think that the Board represents the membership better, when they are ELECTED by the Membership. I don’t think a decision should be made about a GM, until after the new, duly elected, Board is seated.
Bobby Lamb
01/30/2021 — 5:19 pm
This would be the most responsible thing to do. If we are going to be truly transparent in the operation of the Village then this is the only way to go. This is a decision that will be with the Village for sometime to come. It should be done only after a fully elected board is seated.
Robert Busse
01/30/2021 — 5:30 pm
I believe that by searching for an interim GM, not THE GM, the BOD has decided, and signaled to membership, that the search for the permanent POA leader will be through, exhaustive and take as long as it takes to find the right individual. Now it is just a matter of the owners giving the BOD time for a good, extensive search. We must resist complaining, telling them what/how to do it, and keep the pressure off.
HSVP C
01/30/2021 — 5:39 pm
Robert Busse, it sounds like you may have inside information. It is good to know that they plan on an exhaustive search. I think the point was that we wish the board to take as much time as is needed. People posting their opinions is not complaining. It is funny how some think that an opinion is complaining if it doesn’t agree with one’s own opinion. I would hope that the board doesn’t feel pressure when they hear the opinions of the community. Some of the board and also some in the community, certainly were vocal to the POA before this board was elected. And now we are not allowed to voice our opinions? There is never anything wrong with the free exchange of ideas. What you call complaining, some call free speech. Thank you. – Cheryl
David Vuurman
01/31/2021 — 6:29 am
“We must resist complaining, telling them what/how to do it, and keep the pressure off.” I agree.
Dan Hitch
01/30/2021 — 5:50 pm
Three elected members, two appointed and electing five, we need to wait in til we have seven elected members to speak for the whole and not 1/3 of the residents of the village.
Robert Busse
01/30/2021 — 7:03 pm
Cheryl, I do not have any inside information or connection. I just think it is common sense to ask why look for and hire an interim GM, if they plan to have a swift, relatively immediate, cursory hire of a permanent. We only have a couple of months before we have the Director’s election, so it is distinctly probable that the new Board will be hired before the position is filled. With their announcement they pretty much indicated that was their plan.
I did not mean to imply that we should cease all communication with the BOD, just back off on the pressure about hiring the GM. I, as well as many others, did not appreciate the “rant” by King on his departure, but we should all at least consider what he said. None of us was in his shoes or read, heard what was aimed at him and his efforts.
I certainly support communications among all members and with the BOB/GM. Raising questions, making suggestions, expressing problems/dislikes is fine, if it doesn’t cross the line of badgering, harassment, name-calling, threatening and uncivilized, immature rhetoric.
What I refer to by saying let the BOD do their search is, soon there will be people who think they are taking to long and complaining we need a GM quickly. Then next Spring, if one hasn’t been hired, there will be folks concerned about taking too long in hiring the individual. So let us just relax and let the BOD do their thing. They have already done quite a bit of good for our Village and have got things headed in a better direction.
HSVP C
01/31/2021 — 3:22 am
Robert Busse, thank you for the clarification.
george chelf
01/30/2021 — 7:25 pm
IMO-IMO I think the BOD should check the salary’s in Hot Springs, Little Rock, and North Little Rock they are not even close to $200.000 !!!!!!
steve bylow
01/30/2021 — 7:30 pm
I agree it would be nice to see the revised GM Job Description (JD). Is it “watered down” or is it continueing to set a high bar with someone who has a breadth of relevant experience?
In addition, I’d enjoy hearing from the folks running for the Board and get their thoughts on the new GM JD. Do we need someone with a breadth of experience or should we look for someone with less qualfications.
A candidate who wants to save money could make a case to hire a GM who ran a local municipality or a friend with “general management experience” or someone who “knows the Village”. Or the other option is to contract it out and do away with the GM position.
I look forward to hearing the candidates recommendation and logic – it is a big decision in determining our path forward.
Like others, I also believe that folks who were not elected should abstain from decision-making related to the GM selection.
Thanks
Steve
Kirk Denger
01/31/2021 — 11:02 am
Steve Bylow, a skill, ability, experience that I think would be important for the GM JD is in developing relationships with Property Owners, Staff, visitors and BOD.
Thank you for sharing your expertise in the GM search, you are a great asset of HSV.
Melinda Alvord
01/30/2021 — 8:03 pm
Weighing in again to applaud most of the level heads comments here. I wouldn’t call this “badgering the board”. As far I know comments made here don’t flood their email inbox which seems to be one of their complaints…or at least that of the departed general manager. I would also like to make another observation if I may. The previous GM search was done by the Board without the benefit of a staff Human Relations director (since Shawnee Cooper had resigned and a replacement was not hired until the GM was on board). I would expect that our new HR Director will be taking a lead role in finding and qualifying potential candidates. There are procedures to be followed and she will help navigate those waters. I hope so.
HSVP C
01/31/2021 — 2:53 am
Due to a change in site policy, comments with only a first name or anonymous are no longer being published. Thank you. – Cheryl Dowden
Al Lipson
01/31/2021 — 12:18 pm
Cheryl…I thought that current BOD members were not permitted on this site. Did I miss something? Thanks.
Fred Quasko
01/31/2021 — 6:43 am
Money is not the answer. By posting this crazy position for 200K you are going to just get more wack jobs like the last three.
Enough is enough.
Whoever they find is not going to last….trust me on that.
Gene Garner
01/31/2021 — 9:08 am
The tone of the above comments are proof the new “full identity post” requirement is working. Civil discourse and new ideas on one website–a first for HSV.
For a long time I’ve wondered why the Village has been so unfortunate when hiring general managers. We used professional recruiters to find the best candidates. Property Owners, people like us, contribute their time and effort to act as Directors and interview the best candidates. And finally we offer very generous benefits and salary but we still come up short. What are we doing wrong?
As it stands now there are a number of options to fill the General Manager position;
Continue with the method we’ve used for the last 50 years.
Contract with a professional property management company and eliminate the position.
Have the eight different Sections report directly to the BOD and eliminate the position.
Promote the GM from within the HSV staff.
I believe we must try a different method but I also believe whatever we do has the support of the majority of Property Owners. If we had a way to poll the Owners we could get a consensus and know before hand what they want.
Maybe our first action should be to learn what the majority wants and proceed from there.–Gene
Bob Mollerberg
01/31/2021 — 9:52 am
Gene,
IMO, what we are doing wrong is; we fail to thoroughly vet candidates for the positions. This failure applies to BOD as well as GM positions. Unless & until we have independent, comprehensive background investigations done on these position candidates we will continue to get the same results. We should also require pre-appointment controlled substance & alcohol abuse testing.
Gene Garner
01/31/2021 — 10:56 am
Bob, you’re probably right but with the legal situation today it’s difficult to learn the real story why a candidate was let go or even how they performed at their last job.
I worked 15 years at a major drug company and when we were asked by a potential employer about a candidate’s past performance all HR would allow us to release was the start and end dates of their employment. We were discouraged from commenting even about the good former employees. Too many law suits were filed by former employees and the legal costs became an expensive problem.—Gene
Bob Mollerberg
01/31/2021 — 11:51 am
Gene,
You are correct. Many HR professionals use dates of employment to verify employment at a particular company, & to look for gaps in employment. HR pros also network & share important info off the record which might be pertinent.
I understand that it is difficult to get background info, especially when many candidates have been out of the workforce for so long. We have HR professionals here who could provide guidance thru SHRM, & we have Rose Law firm on retainer I think. Plus there are reputable private companies who can also find information.
What is our choice?? Do we keep on doing what we have always been doing, & assuming that all is well?? Thorough vetting may be difficult, but it is not impossible. To do nothing is inexcusable!
steve bylow
01/31/2021 — 4:10 pm
Bob – I don’t believe “proper vetting” was an issue with the hiring of Mr. King as GM. He was very qualified and had a genuine interest in HSV (bought a house and moved his family to HSV quickly).
I believe the fact Board Members could not get aligned in their role related to the GM is the disappointing key issue. Unfortunately it is understandable Mr. King got frustrated and accepted another job.
While it seemed odd for the Board/Mr. King to air grievances instead of simply announcing his resignation, I don’t believe it is a mistake to recruit another highly qualified GM with a breadth of experience like Mr. King and be optimistic the Board can be aligned in their role of providing support and oversight of the GM.
Thanks
Steve
John Szczepaniak
01/31/2021 — 10:34 am
Most of the candidates are highly educated and accomplished careers. However, will that work here? I think they need the ability to work together and seek consensus and be able to sell their ideas to a skeptical population with a wide variety of health and wealth attributes, needs and desires. This makes a moon shot seem like a piece of cake. I hope for the best but living here only about 2.5 years and seeing all the political mess gives me reasons to doubt.
Bob Mollerberg
01/31/2021 — 12:01 pm
John,
Most of the candidates CLAIM to be highly educated & have had highly accomplished careers? All I really know about most is what they themselves tell me. Past results speak for themselves. In my opinion it’s way past time to start running this place like a serious operation.
John Szczepaniak
01/31/2021 — 4:09 pm
Can you please explain what you think a “serious operation” is?
Bob Mollerberg
01/31/2021 — 6:09 pm
John,
Please know that my reply was not directed to dig at you. My comment was put out only as my opinion for general consumption. That said, if I offended you I sincerely apologize.
A serious operation is one that effectively manages & controls it’s capital assets. In addition, when expenses exceed revenue, steps are taken to rectify the situation. When the market will not bear price increases, then budgets are revised and cost saving measures are implemented. Individual facets of the operation are considered as profit centers & the managers are held accountable for a ROI. Alternate products & revenue streams are evaluated & implemented. The customer is treated fairly and always appreciated. Continuous improvement is expected and measured throughout the organization.
I could go on but, In the vein of my previous comments, all of this begins & happens by having the right folks in the right places within the organization.
Tom Blakeman
02/01/2021 — 7:22 am
Exactly right Bob. We haven’t had a serious operation here for a very long time. The place is and has been run by the good old boy club. Not sure I see any changes coming either.
Deborah Dutton
01/31/2021 — 6:57 pm
I agree. Let a full Board of Directors get in place before moving forward with a search for a new General Manager.
Walter Chance
02/13/2021 — 9:14 am
Agree. April is two months away. Wait for election. I would think even an internal pick before the next election would be too quick. Now that John Paul is interim. We have time to start the process. However without votes by elected BODs, property owners, even if the hire does a great job would be subject to criticism if hired before elected BODs is seated.