Other people always have an opportunity to give their opinion -- A Willoughby Station Dicussion Forum With Standards

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Subject: Other people always have an opportunity to give their opinion

Author:
Butch Huber

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Date Posted: Thu, Sep 10 2009, 12:10:03
In reply to: Brian Snyder 's message, "My applogizes if it came across like that..." on Thu, Sep 10 2009, 10:17:42

Brian,

Other people have always had the opportunity to provide their opinions, if they choose not to for whatever reason that is their decision, however, I will state my opinion as often and as loudly as I choose. You elected to run for the office you hold on the board of directors, and I am going to admonish you to uphold the covenants when you make decisions.

I don't think you fully understand just how egregious your error as a board has been. You elected to "take" something from us. It wasn't the right decision then, it isn't the right decision now, and it won't be the right decision until at least seventy-five percent of the homeowners agree to it in accordance with the spirit of the covenants, if not the letter of the covenants, regardless of the outcome of the meeting on the 15th. I am not sure if I am going to be able to make it to the meeting on the 15th. If I am unable to attend, I assure you and the other board members that you need to make sure that what you decide is in accordance with the covenants. Furthermore, people who are in positions of power need to practice self-restraint in the use of power. Just because you are able to do a thing doesn't mean you should do a thing. Kings had significant power, however, only those who used their power for good and who showed restraint are remembered fondly.

My opinions are not intended just for you or for the board, Brian. My posts are meant to influence. They are meant to stir people up and get them to recognize the erosion of this power as citizens and landholders in this nation and in the community. I want to get under people's skin and make them itch. I want them to become uncomfortable with any form of power over them that is unnecessary and unbridled. Homeowner's associations are set up as an ad hoc committee to handle localized issues, thereby taking a burden off the shoulders of government. However, they have no jurisdiction on anyone other than the actual members of the association and partial jurisdiction over the use of common property. It is like having a dog with no teeth. It is the wrong idea altogether, but we are stuck with it. I don't envision a time when Mt. Juliet will abolish homeowner's associations, so the next best thing is to rein in the association so that it is as powerless as possible, while at the same time powerful as necessary to accomplish their specific duties.

You have authority, the best I can tell, to hire security to patrol the common areas as long as such associated costs don't cause an increase in our annual dues of more than 8%, however, I do not know where you draw the authority to remove an amenity. If I leave something in my yard too long, or have a car in my driveway without updating the license, or if I do anything someone doesn't like they call the association management and I get a phone call and a threatening letter, however, the board members can take away an amenity, something that I have paid for and pay annual dues to keep, and you and others don't really understand the gravity of the situation we are dealing with. MY involvement isn't about the basketball courts, it is about what their removal without so much as a vote from me represents. Even if the board acted within its authority to remove the courts they were wrong for doing so because they exercised an authority that they really shouldn't have.

I will say what I have to say, I will address it to you as long as you are on the board or whomever on the board I choose, and I will do it whenever and wherever I choose, and if others have something to say they can say it, if they are too timid to speak they may remain quiet or they can post anonymously.

I have no intention of letting this board off the hook for what it has done here. I can forgive them if they recognize they have exercised an authority they shouldn't have or they have overstepped their authority, as long as the boards are re-installed and a proper vote is taken on the matter. I will gladly go about my way if the board develops covenants that recognizes that the board must be limited so as to disallow future usurpations of homeowners rights and submits them to the residents for approval and adoption. However, I recognize when someone is diverting attention, whether intended or not, from the main point, and every time I witness a diversion from what I believe is the main point I am going to point it out and attempt to bring the focus back to the main point. The main point here isn't whether it is a good idea to remove the backboards, the main point here is whether the board has the right to make such a unilateral decision, and if they do have such authority how to rein in the covenants to disallow future use of such power.

When you elected to remove the backboards you took something from me. It is not much different than going into my garage and taking something from it. Even if I were never going to ever use what you took again in my entire life, you have no right taking it without my permission. I may one day sell my home. When I do there may be a person who is interested in basketball. The basketball courts could be the thing that actually sells my home. When you take that amenity away you take away that option. Therefore, whether I was ever going to use the basketball courts myself, they may be important to me in the future. So that you understand, it is not for you to decide what is or is not important for me. I have a 1/759th share of the interest (or thereabouts) of the basketball court. By voting to permanently remove them you took 1/759th of the value, however such value would be valued, from me. I don't appreciate someone taking something from me without asking my permission.

I can't decide for those who read my writings what is going to be important for them or not, I can only try to influence them. In just about everything I write I am always trying to show people that governments at all levels, left unchecked, begin to erode their rights and take from them on one level or another. The more we as private citizens push back at legitimate authority when they overstep their bounds, and the more we expose intended and unintended abuses of power, the safer we are and the more liberty we have.

I believe what you posted about alternatives was either an intended or unintended attempt to deflect focus from the real issue here. The debate is about whether you have, as a board, authority to take such action as to remove the basketball courts. That is what the debate needs to be made about, not whether it is a good idea to remove them. The best idea is for us as a homeowners association to insist that the city work with us to eradicate the behavior that caused the problem in the first place, which is unruly children.

Have you ever heard of the "broken windows" policy? In New York they were having serious problems with crime. Rather than try to fix everything at one time they began to repair the broken windows in vacant buildings. Criminals would bust them out again and they would fix them. They would clean up gang colors and graffiti from the subway trains only to have the thugs paint them again, but they would clean them up again and the process would continue. The point is that the government would not surrender to the thugs, they would not give in. Over time things began to improve and with each improvement they enacted another program. In time New York became, for a very large city, a relatively safe place to be. This board, in my opinion, is doing what New York was doing early on, it is looking the other way and reacting to criminal and undesirable behavior rather than saying, "not here, not now, not ever". If you remove the basketball courts you are not solving anything as citizens, you are simply sending the problem somewhere else. The police have the jurisdiction and the authority and power to fix the problem, they just need to be forced to do it or allowed to do it. If we have a situation where they can't do something to fix the problem we need to work with them and they need to work with us to ensure that things are changed so that they can deal with the problem. Nothing will ever be solved in this country if communities become apathetic and reactionary to crime, violence and disorder. We need to hold parents accountable for the actions of their children rather than taking away amenities from the whole because of the behavior of the few. I believe you decision was probably well intended, however misdirected.

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Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
What if, Brian	Barb	Thu, Sep 10 2009, 23:35:47
...What if... -- Brian Snyder, Fri, Sep 11 2009, 7:45:35