At the January board of directors meeting, the names of nine candidates were announced. The candidates are vying for four seats on the board, with the terms beginning on June first.
Four seats will be decided in the election which begins when the ballots go out on April 9 and concludes at the annual membership meeting on May 15. Three seats are regular three-year terms and the fourth is the remainder of a term after a resignation. That term ends in 2019, so the person who finishes fourth in the election will serve one year on the board.
Over 30 people picked up nomination packets, corporate secretary Leia Bush said after the meeting, but only nine returned their packets with the 40 signatures needed. Bush, who is new in the position, said she was told that, historically, only half the packets that go out are returned.
Two board members are not seeking reelection, including the current chairman, Ron Stratton.
"I'm proud of what we've accomplished and I'm available to help if they need me," Stratton said, but he believes it's time to let someone new take the reigns. The fact that there were multiple candidates is a positive trend, he said.
"People see Bella Vista turning a corner," he said.
Joshua Hart also served one term and chose to not run for reelection. He said one term was enough for him.
Both Patrick Laury and David Whelchel are currently on the board and seeking reelection.
Whelchel had said he wasn't interested in continuing on the board but, last night, he said he had changed his mind. Although he is still working, he decided he could make time for the board responsibilities. It's a significant amount of time, he said.
"We have a lot of things going on and I want to see it through. I think I can make a contribution," he said.
The other candidates are Mike Abb, William "Bill" Barr, Jerre Barron Jr., William "Rex" Butler, Jerold "Jerry" Hover, Mary Sinkus and Louis "Lou" Wallman.
At the February board meeting, names will be drawn to determine the order candidates will appear on the ballot, general manager Tom Judson said.
Also at last week's meeting, Judson suggested a new task force, the Five Year Financial Planning Task Force. The goal will be to assess the current financial state, consider upcoming capital projects, analyze both existing and possibly new sources of revenue and make a formal recommendation to the board by June 30.
Members of the task force include two board members, John Nuttall and Bruce Portillo; Judson; the POA's chief financial officer, Dwain Mitchell, and former board member, Bob Brooks. Two nonvoting members, Mark Lundy, who works for the POA's auditing firm, and Bush will also be involved.
The board agreed to form the task force, although Laury pointed out that the task force should begin with an up-to-date strategic plan. Judson said a strategic plan developed last year would be used for decision making.
The board also passed the second and final reading of two bylaw changes. One confirms that the POA board can use the votes associated with the lots owned by the organization in elections that aren't for board members and one states that board decisions should not be used in the future as precedents.
The board also agreed to waive the three-bid requirement for work on the Metfield pool deck when recreation director Joan Glubczynski reported that only one complete bid had been returned for the job and it needed to begin in order to have the project complete before the pool opens next summer. The bid was about $6,000 over budget, but Judson said that Glubczynski believes she can make up that amount in the work to be done on the bathhouse.
General News on 01/31/2018