by Cheri Nelson, August 28, 2019
How did we get here?
As we all know this community has become very divided over the last two years. Some say we are having an identity crisis. Some say it’s all because of the CMP. Many blame the whole divisiveness on our CEO and our Board of Directors. I believe it is all of the above and more.
But wait, there’s more!!
Might it be more accurate that the division within our community is more about the unknown, the secrecy, the lack of transparency and hidden agendas, the condescension, and the flippant disregard for the Property Owners by those who were voted into office? There is a well known saying that goes, “Respect can not be demanded, it must be earned“. One will never earn respect by talking down to the Property Owners, trying to silence us when we speak the truth or when we ask pertinent questions.
Misplaced Allegiance
I have heard it said repeatedly that the Board members are not responsible to the Property Owners, rather they are responsible to the Corporation. My response to that statement is then why didn’t the Corporation vote them into office instead of the Property Owners? Are the Property Owners of HSV not the Corporation? Are Board Members not responsible to both? Where is the line between responsibilities to the Corporation and responsibilities to those who elected you seven individuals to the board?
When Secrecy leads to mistrust
It is true that as Board members, there is much information that you must hold close, to protect employees, to obtain the best outcome in negotiations, to keep the Village secure. And yet, the Secrecy here goes well beyond those parameters. There are definitely times to maintain secrecy on issues that shouldn’t yet be discussed, BUT when taken to the point that every single topic is shrouded in Secrecy and Mystery, it becomes detrimental and harmful to a Community.
by Cheri Nelson
Elizabeth Bradford
08/28/2019 — 2:31 pm
This is beyond brilliant Cheri
Mary Szczepaniak
08/28/2019 — 4:53 pm
Yes, it is!
Minn Daly
08/28/2019 — 2:31 pm
Cheryl, respect is a very meaningful word. Members had it in mind when they elected the BOD! CEO was not elected or selected by members. Unfortunately. The BOD became elitist, not thinking of who put them in office, instead they obviously became so intolerant of the ones who put them in office, members, Who they feel are the ignorant class. They after all are the elites the smartest in the community. This definitely showed in the way they did the CEO contract, finances, gates, Cooper, Gene Garner, & members at meetings. For years we had a General Manager we were successful as a Community. Then came Randall, Twiggs, Nalley, New BOD members that ruled for themselves not the community! Secret finances, secret meeting, letting the Chair/CEO run it all. Getting us into lawsuits that was stupid from the start! Not being truthful on issues, definitely not recognizing the developer. This is a mess & the only way to fix is legacy board resign, CEO terminated & a new manager hired. This Community is not that expensive to run. With respect, Minn Daly
Mary Szczepaniak
08/28/2019 — 4:55 pm
Thank you, Minn
Cal
08/28/2019 — 2:35 pm
This is so very true. The board and the POA employees have treated us with outright contempt. They are ruining HSV and everyone knows it. I am not sure what, if anything, at this point, can be done to stop this madness.
Many have left. Many. As they saw the handwriting on the wall and the fact that new elections were not going to change anything.
No one wants to retire into a mess like this – no one! And any prospective buyer looking into HSV will easily discover this mess.
Sadly, all the postings in the world will not change a thing. They are useless and meaningless.
Action is the only recourse.
I say 500 at the next board meeting…and everyone of us requests the 3 minutes. Then we all speak our mind.
It is a start.
Melvin
09/03/2019 — 4:39 am
Good idea. But you better be prepared to be intimidated by our “big mean police” standing behind you if you say something the head of the board or the ceo doesn’t like.
Doesn’t this remind you of how a dictatorship is run?
Frank Shears aka Bubba
08/28/2019 — 4:16 pm
Excellent explanation Well said. Thank you!!!
Peggy Willis
08/28/2019 — 8:20 pm
Great Comments Cheri. I love how you tell it as you see it with the truth
Karen Daigle Lundberg
08/29/2019 — 1:35 am
Fantastic comments, Cheri. You definitely said it all and said it well. I agree also with you, Cal. I do not attend Board meetings because they frustrate me so much, but I will be at the next one, and I am asking those like me that don’t normally attend to be there. Let’s fill that room. Nalley won’t open the auditorium….well let’s fill the Ouachita Room to overflowing. Let them SEE us and HEAR us.
Monica Impellizzeri
08/29/2019 — 5:34 am
Thank you Cheri. Great comments and so true!!
Anonymous
08/29/2019 — 8:59 am
Show the Board chair, Erickson, how much you disagree with her agenda and BOYCOTT the Bee Hive. A little pain in her wallet might make our point.
Annon
08/29/2019 — 11:50 am
Bee Hive boycott, no problem. I don’t even like the place.
Linda Anderson
08/29/2019 — 8:03 pm
Sadly , secrecy is all about not being able to follow our MONEY and how it is to be spent. Could it be that our piggy bank is empty and now the big push is to get more money from the property owners? How?? By bringing out such an outrageous Nalley approved Balboa CMP Total Renovation Project for $6,897,181 with an idea of raising surcharges to pay for it. A terrible plan that could backfire to cause such a ruckus and force higher assessments on HSV. The majority BOD and CEO are playing a game with high stakes putting HSV at risk.
Steve
08/31/2019 — 12:42 pm
There is no way the Balboa could ever repay that 6.9 million. Ever. It loses money year after year. Who in their right mind would spend any money on something that is always losing money?
Enough is enough with this idiots.
Fools.
All of ’em!
Kirk Denger
09/02/2019 — 12:42 am
Normal maintenance is all the Balboa club needs, it is part of our heritage and was the HSV life before being neglected by our current management, just like the pool and DeSoto club. Ten million has been wasted on the CMP and Staff who support it. How can a Congress of New Urbanism member husband and wife duo convince 21,000 members to spend 8 million dollars on their grandiose conflict of interest, out of reality, inebriated proposal? A members meeting is needed to throw them all out.
Cal
09/02/2019 — 5:01 am
You have to admit.
These people are a lot smarter than any of us. They have been able to systematically destroy HSV with impunity while all we do is write lame posts that will never do anything to change the situation.
They are successful. We are not.
Sad, but true.
Mike
09/02/2019 — 5:01 am
You have to admit.
These people are a lot smarter than any of us. They have been able to systematically destroy HSV with impunity while all we do is write lame posts that will never do anything to change the situation.
They are successful. We are not.
Sad, but true.
Kirk Denger
09/05/2019 — 7:37 pm
Cal09/02/2019 — 5:01 amMike09/02/2019 — 5:01 am, were Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito more successful than the people that they bushwacked?
Anonymous
09/22/2019 — 7:28 am
Ron- I’m amazed at exactly how far this has gone, we have a newspaper that
just refuses to report the news, a CEO who is the self appointed Queen
of Hot Springs Village, with the power to remove our elected Board mem-
bers. In case you forgot Marcy Mermel was removed, from the Board.
I’m tired, to me the whole problem started with the two tier assess-
ment.. We were wrong in adapting that idea, and it just continued to get
worse. In doing that the board effectively pitted residents against non-
residents(divide and separate) All I can say is we better start taking action
before we lose this village to bankruptcy. Should that happen all home/lot
owners could be held liable for a portion of the debt.