Irony is Alive and Well in HHP
On June 23rd, June 24th and June 26th we published three articles about the Board’s ongoing pretense at openness and the proof of those disingenuous claims with their approval of an unannounced change to committee guidelines which now require members of our association (that would be YOU) to request permission to attend committee meetings. The Board was fully aware of resident concerns, and was aware that the Island Packet had exposed this move before the vote. In the latest From the President’s Desk in July’s Plantation News, however, President Carlton Dallas offered his take on our concerns as an unfortunate mischaracterization of minor changes in phrasing and claims that “the policy remains - standing committee meetings are open to residents in good standing.”
Moreover, Mr. Dallas stated “The progression for our committees is designed to deliver disciplined and efficient governance processes,” and again refers to our concerns about the “getting prior permission” thing as a misinformation campaign. One is left wondering three things — (1) Is this really a minor change in phrasing? Was our calling-out this move (intended to be kept secret, don’t forget) really a misinformation campaign? (2) Why wouldn’t the Board table the vote for a month in order to straighten out this misunderstanding? What was the urgency? (3) How does this move square with the Board’s pretend “commitment to transparency?” Seems more like “disciplined and efficient governance” and transparency are viewed as mutually exclusive concepts to our elected REPRESENTATIVES. Don’t forget the other phrase stricken from the former committee guidelines — you won’t find… “The dates of regularly scheduled committee meetings shall be announced in advance…” in the revised committee guidelines anymore either (even though the Board never actually did that).
The bottom line is that our concerns about this almost secret change to committee guidelines have been swept aside without any consideration of the merits of our concerns, instead labeling them as a mischaracterization or misinformation, all while the Board tries its best to convince us it is devoted to transparency.
That makes a June 17th discussion of the Communications Committee’s “new business” quite revealing. A discussion was opened regarding the need for emails for board members and committee presidents. Of course, dedicated email addresses would be a significant step toward openness, one we addressed in our issue about “reasonable expectations.” And, while the minutes of that meeting offer nothing about the substance of that discussion, the outcome was clear — After input from Mr. Kristian it was determined that the existing communication flow through the board@hhppoa.org email was sufficient. Who could have guessed that Mr. Kristian wants to see your emails to the Board before the Board sees them?!!
And so, on our Board’s claims of improving transparency and openness, irony once again wins the day.
WOW, hard to believe that they think we will believe that the new wording is a minor change in phrasing. It's totally different. So how do we square his "“the policy remains - standing committee meetings are open to residents in good standing.” with the actual wording of the new policy? I guess the meetings are "open" to us as long as we ask permission first. The only way that this is able to be squared is if permission will never be denied. If this is the case why should we have to ask for permission? Very sad!