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Dear Eastmanites,
Below I
share with you two letters that I sent to the ECA Board and Council. You'll see that I have brought to their
attention that votes taken at the Sept. 6 Council meeting were inconsistent
with the Covenants and the Council's by-laws.
You
might ask, "Why bother?" In
spite of the referendum, the Council and the Board voted in favor of spending
$6.1M of your money to replace a $2M building. aged 17 years. with a new $4.5M
building. It was not a financially
intelligent action, but because it passed both bodies, one might say that we
should just move on. But would it have
passed had the rules been followed?
Because the votes were so close it seems possible that they might not
have been approved.
The
problem is that those votes were taken in spite of the Covenants and by-laws,
which define how the community must function.
If one just sticks his/her head in the sand each time there's a
violation of the rules, then the violations will become more frequent and more
significant. To my knowledge the current infractions are the most serious in
Eastman's history. The Board and Council
spend a lot of time updating and changing Covenants and by-laws, they should at
least abide by them after all that work.
Many
rules at Eastman impact our lives. Some pertain to the colors we use on
our homes or the trees we can or cannot cut down. Most pertain
to our financial obligations. You can be sure that all the Covenants
will be enforced on individuals, with violations readily brought
to their attention, possibly reinforced by a fine. Similarly, it
is appropriate to have oversight of our governance bodies. Unfortunately, there is no such oversight
function, so leadership can ignore policies and rules as it oversees itself,
which some might call an inherent conflict of interest. When our system of governance is changed,
independent oversight should be seriously considered.
Phil
Schaefer
P.S. Remember to join the EastmanOpenForum
listserver, which is totally independent of governance. Click
here to start the process.
===============================================================
October
23, 2014
Ken
Ryder, General Manager
Robert
Parker, Council Chair (2011-2014)
Re: Illegal voting at Sept. 6, 2014 Council
Meeting
Dear
Ken and Bob,
ECA
leadership, the General Manager and Council Leaders are responsible for making
sure that governance operates according to its agreed Declaration of Covenants
and Restrictions.
I have
reviewed the Declaration of Covenants and find that there were irregularities
in the voting procedures allowed at the Sept. 6, 2014 Council Meeting.
The
pertinent section of the Covenants follows:
Article
II Definitions
Voting
Rights -
For purposes of voting, the terms Members(s) and Owner(s) are
interchangeable, the intent being to ensure only one vote for each assessable property. (Emphasis added)
The
Council is a body that represents all Eastman owners. As such it is important that it be truly
representative, being composed of owners elected from every geographic area
(Special Place) of the community. The
Covenants specifically state that voting rights restrict voting to one vote for
each assessable property. Therefore,
there can only be a single voting member from any assessable property on the
Council.
There
was at least one violation of the ‘one vote per assessable property’ at the
Council Meeting of Sept. 6, 2014.
Married partners from West Cove each cast votes at the Sept. 6 Council
meeting. The couple involved owned a single residence in West Cove, therefore
their participation constituted a violation of the ‘one vote per assessable
property’ provision in the Covenants. As
such, the Council vote is not valid and should be re-run with strict observance
of Covenants and all the constraints contained therein.
I am
not a lawyer so cannot comment on the absolute legalities. I am requesting that a written legal opinion
be obtained stating whether the vote was in violation of Eastman’s Declaration
of Covenants and Restrictions and therefore not a legal vote.
Sincerely,
Phillip
Schaefer
16
Summit Dr.
Grantham,
NH
Cc:
George Niles, Council Chair
Maynard Goldman, Board President
==================================================================
October
28, 2014
Ken
Ryder, General Manager
Robert
Parker, Council Chair (2011-2014)
Re: Illegal procedure at Sept. 6, 2014 Council
Meeting
Dear
Ken and Bob,
ECA
leadership, the General Manager and Council Leaders (Chairman and Executive
Committee) are responsible for making sure that Council By-Laws are followed
during official Council meetings. I have
reviewed the Council By-Laws and find that there was a clear violation at the
Sept. 6, 2014 Council Meeting.
The
pertinent section of the By-Laws follows:
ARTICLE
III
Council
Meetings
6.
Committee Reports - If a special
assessment or an amendment to the Declaration
is proposed, the Chairman of the Council shall appoint a Committee to study
the proposal and to report and make recommendations to the Council. The Council shall consider such report and
recommendations before acting on the proposal. (Emphasis added)
The
Council Packet for the Sept. 6, 2014 meeting contains no such report, nor any
mention of a committee tasked to study the proposed special assessment. Furthermore, there was no mention of a
committee or a report during the Council meeting in question. Notwithstanding, the Council voted for a
special assessment of $750. It appears
that the vote for the special assessment was conducted in violation of the
Council’s own By-Laws, which state: “the Chairman of the Council shall appoint
a Committee to study the proposal… The Council shall consider such report and
recommendations before acting on the proposal.”
Under the circumstances, the vote taken was not valid and should be
deemed null and void.
I am
requesting that a written legal opinion be obtained stating whether the vote
was in violation of the By-Laws of the ECA Council, and therefore not legal or
binding.
Sincerely,
Phillip
Schaefer
16
Summit Dr.
Grantham,
NH
Cc:
George Niles, Council Chair
Maynard Goldman, Board President
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