UPDATE ON FINE SCHEDULE

I would like to update you on the progress of the Fine Committee.  We thought we were making progress but, alas it ended up being a SHAM as the Board had no intention of looking at the feasibility of the fine schedule or looking at any other viable alternative to a fine schedule.

Why do I and many other committee members believe this?

When the committee was formed, its purpose was to look into the feasibility of a fine schedule for violations of our CC&Rs.  A chairperson was appointed by the Board president.  Even though the majority of the committee was made up of Board directors and/or ACC Violations Committee Members, and their agenda was already set, we still felt optimistic.   Silly us.  It was a setup from the beginning. 

At our first and second meetings we learned that most of the current violations are county ordinance issues and the consensus was to get the counties to enforce their ordinances.  The first step was to write a letter to the county supervisor asking for help in these matters. (Isn’t it time for us to see the county spend some of the tax money that we pay on our community?) The second step discussed was working on ways we, as a community, can help members who might be in violation rather than fining them.  The majority of the committee voted to do this.

By the 3^rd meeting our chairperson had stepped down because he wasn’t willing to push the fine schedule and we suddenly had a new chairperson, one that was not voted in by the committee.  The agenda was now re-defined to fine-tune the Fine Schedule Resolution and submit it to the Board for a vote. That is not what we were told when we signed up.  We joined the committee to try to find an alternative to fining members who are in violation. 

At the last meeting the committee voted on sending fine schedule to the board for their decision.  Our committee had 3 husbands and wives all of who had been allowed to vote prior, but all of a sudden a board director said  it was illegal for both to vote and only one vote per couple. Which is not correct, the one vote per property only applies to our elections. Nothing like stacking the deck.

Now, all that is left to be done, is for the Board to vote whether or not to institute the fine schedule.  In order to stop this from being passed we all need to come to the September 14^th Board Meeting at 10 a.m. and petition the board to let the members vote on this.

What I did learn from all of this is that the majority of the ACC/Violations Committee doesn’t really understand the CC&Rs.  And, they think they can pick and choose who is in violation and who to enforce the CC&R’s on.  I also learned that welcome packets (including your CC&R’s) have not been going out to new members for several years.  They have just reinstated this practice.   I was told by one member that if a member filed a complaint against another member, other than a direct neighbor, that the reporting Members’ property would be inspected for violations. So folks, you can already see how this fine schedule will be abused either intentionally or from lack of knowledge.

The next meeting of the board is Sept 14th  10 am and I expect the board will vote on this then.

I and many of my fellow Members believe that the entire membership should vote on whether they want a fine schedule, not a Board of 7 Members. We can stop this.   If you would like to sign a petition to do so, please contact me at 852-2220.

Vicki Keefe