HOA Leadership Gone Too Far

1. Unsightly Landscaping Changes and Neglect of Common Area Maintenance

Recent changes to the landscaping are unsightly and risk decreasing our property values, especially when compared to the high-end look of neighboring communities. Before making such drastic changes, a proposed landscaping design plan should have been presented at an open meeting of the board for consideration and vote. Necessary maintenance to our common area has been deferred in order to save money. While we believe our HOA funds should be managed prudently, we have swung to an extreme, all at the expense of our community aesthetic.

2. Transparency in Leadership

The community deserves leaders who prioritize honesty, transparency, and accountability—not personal power.

3. Financial Misconduct

Evidence shows the board president has paid unlicensed vendors in cash, avoiding customary financial accounting procedures and putting the association at serious financial and legal risk.

4. Liability and Insurance Risk Exposure

Hiring unlicensed, uninsured laborers opens our community to potential lawsuits, increased insurance premiums, and unaddressed liability issues.

5. Toxic Social Media Behavior

The president has fostered a platform to personally insult fellow board members, homeowners, and management. This unprofessional conduct fosters division, not community. The El Paseo Facebook page is not an official community page, but it has sometimes been used as a means of sending HOA communications, leaving non Facebook users in the dark. Our Board president is the sole administrator of the page. There are no moderation standards, owners have been subject to personal attacks based on individual characteristics that have nothing to do with HOA matters, and owners have been censored when they post evidence presenting our Board president in an unfavorable light.

6. Dictatorial Decisions

Many homeowners feel silenced. The president’s personal agenda has overshadowed the collective needs of our community. Our board president is supported in these actions by two other board members.

7. Disrespect in Meetings

Meetings are marred by arguments, disrespect, and suppression of homeowner and board member voices—this is not how governance should function. The Board president has assumed control over these meetings (including the “mute” button). Our professional manager should be reinstated to run these meetings; this is how other well-run associations function. The COVID-era is over. Let’s put an end to virtual only meetings with cameras off and instead move to hybrid (virtual + in-person optional) meetings to facilitate fair discussion among owners and ensure all owners can participate. This is why we pay a Property Management Company, and yet the president has banned Charity from Powerstone to join our HOA Meetings.

8. Personal Vendor Selection

Vendors are selected based on personal preferences outside of open board meetings. Proper bidding procedures are rarely, if ever used. Most of our vendor decisions are not voted on until after work has started or even completed. This violates the Open Meeting Act, further putting our association at risk of legal jeopardy.

9. Accountability Matters

Leadership must represent the entire community, not a select few. This behavior jeopardizes the integrity and future of our association.

10. Your Voice, Your Vote

It’s time to demand better. Get engaged, attend meetings, make your voice heard.

CALL TO ACTION

We respectfully ask that you get engaged in the HOA. Attend Board Meetings. Speak Out. We all may not agree on everything every time, but we are confident that our HOA can and should do better.

If you are interested in getting involved, please let us know at elpaseoconcernedowners@gmail.com.