Nefarious? Obtuse?

secrets always lead to confusion

I thought I would take a few moments and update our great HHP360 Subscribers and friends on my little “Green Door” project to learn more about the HHPPOA election process.

Soon after our HHP360 report I was one of 11 people interviewed by the POA Nominating Committee to be on the 2025 Ballot as a candidate to fill one of three vacancies on the Board of Directors. Five of the 11 interviewees were selected – I was not one of them. The 6 committee members present were respectful, asked good questions and had thoughtful follow up discussions. Keep in mind, except for the Committee Chair all of the committee members were past POA Presidents and their experiences showed.

One of the members asked me to speak to my goals for HHP if I became a member of the Board. My third goal was more transparency and openness into the operations of the POA board and administration. The member asked me to give an example and I spoke about the issue of one ballot counted twice rather than each owner of a residential lot with a dwelling unit actually getting two votes – each vote counted once. Two of the committee members offered a possible solution (I will write about that in the next HHP360 issue).

One of the members said he thought HHP360 articles on the election process made the whole thing sound Nefarious. I hope I said something like that the lack of explanation left a lot of things open to speculation and interpretation. I had never really thought of the election process through that lens so I let it rest for a bit.

Meanwhile, I wrote the POA election officials – again – asking for a meeting to discuss an action plan we all could work on to get answers and solutions to the following questions:

1. Why is one ballot counted twice? Why are owners of a residential lot with a dwelling unit not provided with the opportunity to submit two individual ballots? What is the basis for the POA’s practice of counting one ballot twice?

2. What is the real story with the substantial (408 in 2024) number of votes allocated to Type “C” members in POA Board elections?

The answer?

1. “Thank you for your recent email requesting a meeting regarding The POA’s upcoming election of Board members. The majority of the questions you have asked, have been answered in previous email responses.”; and

2. “As previously noted, the election procedures are outlined in the POA’s governing documents. I would suggest you review these documents for further clarification. At this time, I do not see the need for a meeting as your questions have been addressed. Thank you again for your email.”

My initial printable response?

1. No, they have not; and

2. I have and they do not.

Their response brought me back to the Nefarious thought. Nefarious means, among other things wicked or criminal, evil, sinful, heinous… So, no, I do not think the POA administrators and Board of Director members in charge of the election process are acting in a Nefarious manor. But we do know that the current process requires “somebody” to monkey around by multiplying the actual number of votes (x2 for improved properties and x? for type C), and we have determined it is not the Election Committee. We also know a few things about the 408 type C votes, but not enough.

So, I am thinking they are acting in a more Obtuse way. Maybe they are responding that way because it is me asking – even non-paranoid people have detractors. But answering the questions or even “fixing” the voting system would be so simple. So, let’s try another way for a bit.

Five candidates have been selected to appear on the ballot. Pictures have been taken, Bios written, ballots under development, Plantation Living layouts are being planned, printing and mailing schedules being prepared, etc.

I am thinking four of the candidates, like most of the rest of us, do not know the answers either. If you know any of the candidates, ask them what the rules are. If they know and will share them with you, please let us know and we will get the word out. If they do not know the rules, maybe they can ask the POA election officials to explain them.

There is at least one, if not two opportunities to meet and hear the candidates. Attend as many of these meetings as possible. If any election officials are there ask them to explain the rules about two ballots and Type “C” member voting process.

As our dedicated HHP360 readers know, we here at HHP360 really like living in this community. Things are really good. But they can be better. Increasing transparency and openness in all Board activities – especially its annual elections - is a great way to get better. And we have a right to know!!

We know we get a lot more readers that we have subscribers which could mean some of you haven’t noticed the big orange “SUBSCRIBE NOW” button. Please note we have placed it immediately above what you are reading now, so move that little cursor over the button, hold your breath for 5 seconds, and click the box. It’s much less complicated that how the POA counts our votes