Video & Notes from Nov 14 MCA Board Mtg

We hope you’ll watch the videos if you weren’t one of the 250(!) MCA Homeowners who attended the meeting in person or via Zoom. It is the best way to get the truest picture of the meetings rather than relying a summary.

The MCA Board did unanimously approve the $250,000 loan to TMCC, to be fully repaid with interest by April 2025.

The first video is of the 1 hour “Workshop” which was began with 15 minutes of Board comments followed by 45 minutes of Homeowner questions/comments with 9 minutes of TMCC GM in the middle (no 3 minute limit for him!). The predominant theme from Homeowners (and one Board member) was “this is just a band-aid on a downward spiral that has been happening for a long time, what is being done to fix the problem?”. The Board answers can be summarized as a flippant “the past is irrelevant, we can’t predict the future, we need to do this loan now”. Lots of details of that and more below.

The TMCC GM did acknowledge that semi-private could work but there would likely be some “membership degredation”. We said the same HERE. Nice to hear a sincere acknowledgement that it is a valid path worth considering. But based on everything we’ve ever heard from MCA or TMCC there is no reason to believe that it will be given serious consideration, let alone obtain independent expert advice.

The Board indicated that they would be introducing quarterly Town Hall style meetings to interact with MCA Homeowners. One Board member asked that a commitment to these be added to the next Board agenda. That’s a good change.

In response to a question the TMCC GM did note that all country club restaurants typically lose money (because they have long open hours for member convenience but low traffic because it is restricted to member use). So having the clubhouse out of use will actually improve TMCC’s financial picture, albeit at a reduced member experience. Good info as that is counter-intuitive.

In response to a question of “if you can’t make payroll how can you be properly maintaining our assets”. The TMCC President spoke in platitudes but didn’t really answer the question despite repeated attempts.. We believe he said that for 2024 TMCC budgeted for $250,000 loss (MCA President spoke over his with the word “shortfall”). That’s a BUDGETED loss which is before the impacts of lower spring revenues and the hurricanes.

The TMCC GM inferred that a significant capital infusion would be necessary to make TMCC successful. What he didn’t say is this: The reality is that all the funds would have to come from MCA Homeowners (TMCC has no funds or ability to borrow) and the benefits will accrue to TMCC members.

An MCA Homeowner presented a proposal to enhance the Center Court Lounge rather than rebuild the clubhouse. He provided it in writing to the Board. There is QR code at the beginning of the second video which provides access to the document.

Comments from the TMCC GM and TMCC President were appreciated, but we need more than just comments and tidbits of information that MCA Board or TMCC Board/Management cherry-pick to provide. TMCC and the MCA Board can’t possibly get the support of the MCA community without an open, honest, transparent, data-backed approach. As described below we are a long way from that.

The Gory Details

The Workshop/Townhall started with the MCA Treasurer presenting some “facts to help move the conversation along”. It was addressing some of the questions we recommended MCA Homeowners ask, which seemed good.

But instead the Treasurer (for the most part) engaged in misdirection, mocking dismissal, cursory responses, and “strawman arguments” (refuting an argument different from the one actually under discussion). Neither the MCA or TMCC has ever contacted us disputing the facts presented on this website despite our invitation to do so.

Here are some of the items the Treasurer and President noted which we must reply to (some “quotes” are paraphrases for brevity):

1. “Past operating results of TMCC are irrelevant to this discussion.”
Past financial results are the best predictor of future results. TMCC’s current cashflow problems aren’t an aberration, they are part of a continuous pattern for more than a decade. That is extremely relevant to the context of the contemplated loan. This is NOT one-time discrete event.

2. “Renaissance Access Plan (RAP) fee is being eliminated because we aren’t buying any services from the club”.
As we’ve noted many times (and predicted in this Feb 2024 post) MCA is now paying multiple legitimate business expenses of TMCC (insurance, property taxes, MCA assessment that all other businesses in the Meadows all pay) instead of the RAP fee to hide this subsidy and bury the costs in among MCA’s business expenses. AND the Treasurer claims this INCREASES transparency. Hogwash.

3. “RAP fee wasn’t paid early. Timing is just an administrative matter. “
It is more than that. According to info provided by the MCA the Oct-Dec fee was scheduled for payment Oct 1 and was paid July 30 as an advance. It is a clear indication that TMCC was short of cash before the hurricanes. THAT IS THE POINT.

4. “TMCC doesn’t have a sweetheart rental deal for our sports complex assets”. The proof? “we don’t have people kicking down the doors to rent that space”.
It is self evident to all that you won’t find potential lessors/operators if you don’t make any indication of the opportunity or attempt to find tenants via marketing.

5. “Our budget is $5 million how could we (MCA) be losing millions?”
No one is saying that. MCA is wasting $1+ million per year of MCA Homeowners’ money subsidizing TMCC. We have documented this thoroughly. And TMCC is not contributing any meaningful amount to the upkeep and replacement of our assets that they use for free so our bill will clearly be growing.

6. “Another myth is that the club is losing millions”
TMCC was losing $1 million per year before 2018 and would continue to report similar results if MCA was not subsidizing them by $1+ million per year. The only reason they are not reporting that loss is because of our subsidies.

7. “If the golf courses were public we wouldn’t get any membership fees”
Memberships are good for clubs, and are a part of any semi-private club (which is what we have been advocating). TMCC GM later acknowledged semi-private is a valid option. The Treasurer commenting on a public course approach is a strawman argument.

8. “We’re not in the golf business and we’re only a volunteer board”
When the MCA purchased the sports complex it became the owner of a golf business. That was acknowledged at the time, but the the MCA Board has never taken real responsibility of the sports complex.
TMCC (and all member-owned) golf clubs are managed by volunteer boards. The real operating of the course is of course done by ICON who would happilywork for MCA, just as they do for TMCC.

9. “It is a myth that the Highlands course is in horrible shape. The golf courses are in remarkably good shape.” Sarcastically refers to this myth as “a good one”.
Then the Treasurer acknowledges that “it was pretty bad a couple of years ago”. Conditions WERE bad last year when the posts were written, and for several years before that. Read the GolfNow reviews. It is not a myth and definitely not an amusing one. We do acknowledge the there is now MUCH more grass on the Highlands greens than there has been in years. But, for golf greens, the grass is long and the greens are wet/soft. Both are not great and indicators that they are not in robust shape. We hope they have turned the corner, that more players use the course, and that the greens stand up to the traffic of the busy season. But there are valid reasons to be concerned they won’t. Time will tell.

10. In response to a homeowner question of whether TMCC has a 10 year history of bad financial results the Treasurer responded “I don’t know, I wasn’t here“.
We are at a loss for words. The Treasurer is one of MCA’s two designated representatives on TMCC’s Board and has full access to all their financial information. We’ve also posted the publicly available years here. HE ABSOLUTELY DOES KNOW about TMCC’s past financial results, he just won’t acknowledge the issue (see #1 above), even when asked very directly and repeatedly, because it doesn’t fit his narrative.

11. “We have a strategic planning group of residents working on a new plan for TMCC. The innovative ideas include increased membership and we will tell you what we decide” (from the MCA President who really emphasized “residents”).
Only when repeatedly pressed later by a fellow Board member, did the President admit that the “residents” were solely MCA Board members and TMCC Board members. The current lease indicates that MCA and TMCC management are involved.
TMCC has made plans for the last decade to “increase members”. It is neither new or remotely innovative. It is obvious and has not been significantly successful.
“We will tell you what we decide” is a great summary of how the Board operates and how it views the viewpoints of anyone outside the Board.

There was more of this, but you get the picture and this post is already plenty long.

To be frank, constantly having to deal with with misdirection, misinformation and lies is tiring and not productive. We’re glad there are some steps being made towards transparency and real dialogue but we are LONG LONG WAY from being in the right place to make progress on a good solution that MCA Homeowners are confident of.