Violation of Board Policy ELE-002 - Election Guide Policy

Resident comment: "Seems board policies written for this community are not adhered to by board and committee members themselves, and there is no retribution to those volunteers who violate them. Yet, if a resident doesn't abide by them, they are given a Code of Conduct infraction and fined (or worse). Isn't this a double standard? 'Rules for thee but not for me'? What kind of an organization would operate in this manner?"

Statement from a Resident to the Board at the HOA's Board Meeting on Jan 23, 2024

I would like to bring Violations of Board Policy ELE-002 to the attention of the Board.

For benefit of the audience, this Election Guideline Policy is designed to provide guardrails for

fair, unbiased HOA elections, and restricts members of the Board, Election and Nominating

Committees from participating in campaign activities which benefits specific candidates.

Last week, a Nominating Committee member posted endorsements for 2 specific Board

candidates, publicly on Facebook, a violation of this policy.

I brought this to the attention of the Nominating Committee Chair. Long story short,

they, the Nominating Committee, believe this policy does NOT apply to them. But, it does. One member of the Committee, a woman with the initials N.V., submitted her resignation for her actions, which was not accepted by her Chair, so her endorsement posts are still present on the HOA's facebook group. I do however, accept her resignation.

Action Item 1 for the Board:

Education must be immediately provided to the members of the Nominating and Election Committees. Provide them copies of this policy and explain they are restricted in their actions and words during the entire election cycle ensuring they cause no more violations of the policy throughout this and future election cycles.

Next, I would like to move on to an issue which occurred with this Board during last week’s

session. Following a discussion by the Board on this same Policy, a Board member with the initials L.W., made the following remark, directed to Board Member L.G., and I quote “This policy… this policy has NO TEETH - just go ahead and do it, endorse it.” This was frankly a shocking statement, in that a sitting Board member, would advise his colleague to violate a Board Policy, during a Board meeting, because nothing would happen to him as a result. Even sadder was the complete and utter silence by the rest of the Board on the matter. They have essentially condoned L.W.'s actions by not condemning him immediately. Due to these actions, I censure the entire Board.

Action item 2 and 3 for the Board:

Disciplinary action needs to be taken for L.W. and N. V. Her posts on facebook need to be immediately removed. (Note - as of 7:20 pm on Jan 23rd following the Board meeting, her endorsement posts still remain on the HOA's facebook group page. Shockingly, N.V. advised after the Board meeting, she was refusing to remove her posts.)

If we cannot have a Board Policy that is followed by the individuals under its mandate, then we surely need enforcement action as part of that policy for those who violate it.

My recommendation would be, for those who violate this policy, a lifetime ban from being able

to serve on the Board, Nominating and/or Election committees. That would perhaps get the

attention of those who wish to violate it.

Perhaps more importantly, there are many residents in this Community, who would willingly

abide by the guidelines of this policy if ever given a chance to serve, and would have the ethical character not to violate it.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to how this Board can regain our trust in stewarding this policy, ensure that these action items are taken up and resolved quickly, to ensure fair elections this year and onward.

Board Policy ELE-002.pdf

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