Once again, there is a lot going on! The Board is in the middle of making plans for the August meeting! We will be looking for a few community members who will spend some time Election week assisting staff with election prep to included observing the count process on the 3rd Saturday of the month at Reichel Beach.
Our gates are in the process of being finished this week. Once they are hung and working our maintenance staff will be building the newer front entrance with the removal of the first sections of fence on either side and replacing it with a brick structure. Your gate cards will be what is used for access. To egress, you will drive over a magnetic loop that will automatically open the exit gate. The entrance gates are on timers and can be set for differently timed intervals during peak hours.
Now, for what is weighing on my mind and that of my fellow board members: Our last Board meeting was held at the Fire Station this past Saturday. We had presenters from two companies who were there to explain their services as companies being considered for PPM and wanted to have a little extra space. Unfortunately, the meeting regressed into one in which I was embarrassed by some of the behaviors of attendees and the way they treated our presenters with rude and inappropriate questions, remarks and behaviors. It became clear to me that I need to do a much better job of enforcing meeting rules. So, I am going to start here with publishing the rules we will follow.
First, all must remember that the regular Board Meetings are a business meeting where the Board comes together to make the decisions on running the community based on proposals from committees, appeals from Violations, resolution of permitting issues, review of financials, and general operations and daily management of the community. They are Open Meetings where Owners may come to observe and hear what’s going on. They are not Town Hall meetings where there is open and mutual exchange of information. They are not informational meetings where there is open discussion about the community and it’s issues. The Agendas to Board Meetings are published in advance and Owners have the opportunity to make brief comments or ask a specific question at a designated time during the meeting. If you wish to do that you must sign your name and Division/lot number on a sign up sheet to address the Board where you will have three minutes to ask your question about a relevant item on the Agenda. Open discussion while we work through the agenda on each item does not work. When signing up to ask a question, it is not acceptable to put your name and write “none of your business “. And please, do not expect to use your 3 Minutes to ask a dozen questions for people who couldn’t come when there are others on the list behind you waiting their turn. And please, don’t hand a list of questions to the Board and demand they be put in writing and published.
In short, please don’t do any of the following:
- Make rude or disrespectful comments about an employee, member, or guest.
- Engage in open arguments between groups, yelling, and open displays of anger
- Engage in name calling, foul language, and ethic slurs
- No heckling and interrupting another person who has the floor to speak
- No side conversations while others are talking.
- No public shaming of our staff or contractors. We are their employer or business partner and they deserve to be treated with respect.
- And lastly, remember that by Washington law, you must announce you are audio recording proceedings and that announcement should be included on the recording as a defense against a charge of unauthorized recording without consent.
These meetings need to be kept professional and productive. If you can’t follow the rules you will be asked to leave the meeting.
Unfortunately, it is because of the few that we have to be stringent on the rules. While I am sure they will seem harsh to some, others will feel more comfortable participating. I apologize to those of you who attended that meeting and were subjected to some of the behaviors and actions of others.