MCA Board Officers move to grab more power

 A Board meeting is scheduled for 2:00pm today to pass a number of motions including several items which increase and consolidate more power in fewer Board members. A link to the agenda including the Zoom link are posted on the MCA website and via a Constant Contact email.

In our last post about MCA governance we listed many of the decisions that were made by the officers which they do not have the authority to make. Those decisions belong to the Board as a whole. Since then, the pattern has continued with major spending decisions that were not authorized via the budget (replacement fitness and poolside equipment). Only the Board has that authority by approving budget changes.

At today’s Board meeting the agenda continues this trend of more power for the officers, and less for community members and other directors. That is not good for the community.

Action Item 1 -Deed Holder To Run For Board Seat.
Since the inception of The Meadows, spouses residing with deed holders (“Members”) have been eligible to run for the Board. Homeowners have many valid reasons for only having one person in a household on the deed including financial, legal and estate planning, and by many legal standards they are owners even though they aren’t on the deed. This amendment will eliminate the ability of such spouses to run for the Board. We are not aware of any legitimate reason for this change. Overall, there is a lack of volunteers willing to run for the Board and the last thing we should be doing is reducing the pool based on a legal technicality. So why make this change? It will prevent one specific individual from running who the President has singled out: Richard Sommerfeld (his wife is the deedholder of their Meadows home). Richard is a highly experienced businessman who has tried to share his expertise to the benefit of the community, and many times that has been in disagreement with the President. The President and Treasurer have gone as far as calling the Sheriff to have Richard removed from a Board meeting when he attended it with a legitimate proxy (allowed per the MCA’s lawyer’s own website), even though he sat quietly throughout the meeting. We have not seen MCA security (or the Sheriff) attempt to ensure any other individuals attending Board meetings are valid MCA members. Just Richard.
How does it benefit the community? It doesn’t.

 Action Item 2 -Standing Committees.
Up until Sept 2017, the Chair of the Finance Committee was a community member at large, not the Treasurer. They were two separate roles. In Oct 2017 our current Treasurer (who was Treasurer then) took on both roles. In October 2018 the Board amended Article IX to state that a standing committee chair could not hold that role for more than 3 years in total. It is clearly worded to mean “in total”, not “consecutively”. This was a good change for community governance to avoid a person being in a position of power for too long.

Our current Treasurer acting as Finance Committee Chair has exceeded that 3-year limit by about 140 days at this point (including their previous stint as Finance Chair).

The changes proposed in this motion will effectively allow any person to be Chair of a Standing Committee indefinitely. It allows any Board member to be Chair of any committee for their entire term (up to 6 years). Although it “limits” any other person to 3 consecutive years this is easily overcome: after 3 years the President can appoint a new person, then immediately switch back to the previous person to re-start their 3-year clock. Having turnover in the Standing Committee Chair positions is good governance that is best for the community. This change allows a small number of people to govern the community indefinitely.
How does it benefit the community? It doesn’t.

Action Item 3- Special Meetings This is by far the most egregious change. Since the inception of The Meadows, a special meeting of the Board could be called by any officer or any two directors. This motion proposes changing that, so only the President or two officers can call a special meeting. Non-officer directors no longer have any ability to call a special meeting (and they have no right to add agenda items to any meetings). This change significantly diminishes the rights and powers of all elected Board members except the President. None of the other 3 officers can call a special meeting individually, and none of the other 5 Board members can call a meeting. They have no mechanism to present issues or concerns unless the President allows it. We elected all nine directors to represent us. This change diminishes their ability to do so.

How does this benefit the community? It doesn’t in any way.

Consolidating more power in fewer people, who were elected to the Board by us but not to their Officer roles, is not good for the community. It only divides us more.

If these changes concern you, and you are able to attend today’s meeting, please speak up at the Board meeting. If you can’t attend, write to your Board members this morning to express your opinion (see Footnote 1 for email addresses).

If you are an MCA Homeowner* and would like to discuss this and other MCA matters with your fellow Homeowners*, join the “For The Meadows” Facebook group. (* or spouse of a Homeowner)

(Subscribing means you’ll get posts directly via email as soon as they are posted)

Footnote1 – Board member email addresses

chris.perone@meadowsca.com, tbondur@comcast.net, alex.peake@meadowsca.com, jllazar13@gmail.com, don.breece@meadowsca.com, michelle.johnston@meadowsca.com, marilyn.maleckas@meadowsca.com, Laura.Spears@meadowsca.com