Upcoming election
Following are some of the issues that property owners might consider before casting their ballots in the upcoming election for the board of directors.
Three of the candidates are current or previous members of the POA Board of Directors. During calendar year 2017, the board, with some of the current candidates being a member of that board, approved a compensation package of $272,742 for the COO/General Manager.
One of the current candidates was previously removed from the board for actions deemed inappropriate by the other board members.
Some of the candidates for election were board members when the board attempted to influence any future elections by allowing the POA board to vote for the lots held by the POA even though such action would be in violation of the covenants and bylaws.
Some of the candidates were board members during the last vote for an assessment increase when the board stated, "We have not had an assessment increase since 2006" or some other year. While factual, this statement was misleading and was only intended to gather "yes" votes.
In the 2013-2014 time frame, there was an equivalent assessment increase with the transfer of $6 million in services (police, fire, streets and sanitation) to the city of Bella Vista. Since these services were all funded by assessment dollars, in a perfect world the monthly assessments would have been reduced accordingly. Since they were not reduced, the monthly assessments were effectively increased. Since the transfer of services was completed, the effective monthly assessments for improved lot owners is $41/month, an increase of $17/month. For unimproved lot owners, it is $27/month, an increase of $11/month. It appears that this election of the board of directors is one of the most important elections in recent years and the qualifications of all candidates should be thoroughly reviewed before casting a ballot.
And, remember, past actions are usually a guide for predicting future actions.
Jack Bartlett
Bella Vista
Editorial on 04/10/2019