02-11-2015, 07:33 PM
quote:
Originally posted by hppwatchdog
Good post, but the finance committee is more than a sounding board. There is a Policy and Procedure document from around 2000. It clearly states the procedure for expenditures over $1,500 which includes the finance committee approval. This committee is to do the leg work and make a recommendation to the board.
But this board makes backroom deals in the office and moves forward with them.
And for you Karma, if the board hasn't purchased a new piece of equipment, please tell us what the $85K deduction is for on the balance sheet under capital expenditure?
I can't see why the FC doesn't meet monthly as the old board did.
The last treasurer was a volunteer and she managed to hold a meeting monthly. Maybe, we need a more dedicated treasurer so common folks can get the financial information they are due!
No, but another inaccurate Katarina post misinforming members, "pulling a Katarina".
This board may have transparency issues but so did your mgmt and previous mgmts. It's not right, but it's also not unique. You are being hypocritical in most of your posts. Lot owners during your tenure, so frustrated w/non transparency issues discussed recalls or hiring attys. That's why video/audio recordings became a monthly task bc the minutes were being edited. If certain events occurred that certain people didn't want in the minutes, it'd get omitted entirely. I know bc I was there at "those" mtgs and you wouldn't find the info in the minutes. I know which meetings were heavily edited. The last GM report on our website is Oct 2013.
Tensions got so bad btw lot owners and the mgmt that there was atty presence at some mtgs. Sometimes w/out prior board approval. Who paid the atty fees? A mtg was shut down w/in several minutes bc of irate lot owners yelling mismanagement from the gallery. Process wasn't followed for shutting down the mtg either. Only 1 warning. Members stayed hoping the meeting would resume but you removed all the microphones and left the building to JC's surprise. The GM's not supposed to shut down a mtg. I did feel badly for you at that meeting despite the circumstances. The mtg had to be rescheduled on a Friday where half the membership attendance dropped off.
Katarina's "friend" in this Finance committee and the previous one, rarely went to board mtgs if at all, previous to the green waste issue. So their info is not first hand prior to this. Look at the attendees listed in previous minutes and you won't see their names. Whatever she says prior to 7 mos ago should be taken w/a grain of salt bc her info isn't first hand. Her assessment of the park's condition during the previous mgmt is also inaccurate. If she had driven around the park, she would've seen the tall grass, the faded street and stop signs (that are still there), wobbly sign posts, tree limbs hanging in the lane of traffic, hazardous line of sight issues, and the inferior road material we kept buying and laying on our roads. Photos don't lie.
Katarina's "friend" showed up at a board mtg one day making an announcement that a letter requesting a variance for the green waste citation had been sent to the DOH. He said the letter was his idea and it was discussed at a Finance mtg. A board member asked him who gave him permission to do this and it became obvious it was decided at the Finance Committee mtg, not at a board mtg as per our bylaws. He didn't even know our bylaws had been broken by bypassing the board on an important decision like this. There was a 90 day time constraint to comply or risk heavy fines per day. It was a serious matter and the request for a variance delayed immediate action to haul the 2 green waste piles, AFTER soliciting bids were to be done per our corporate policy. The variance was denied.
There were 3 exec members on the Finance Committee. It would make one wonder if there were other decisions made there after this incident. Before the variance was denied, this "friend" discussed seeking another variance for the time line if the initial variance was denied. This too was discussed at a Finance Committee mtg. I was there.
Maybe during your tenure there were more Finance meetings bc there was more financial activity/expenditures??? Our bylaws don't require monthly Finance mtgs. Minimum is 3 x's a year and it's left up to the treasurer's discretion. I remember you asking for $$$ at board mtgs "off the cuff" and it not being recorded in the minutes. I remember which mtg this occurred at even though it's not in the minutes. Lot owner welders thought less pricey welding equip would've sufficed after they asked you what it would be used for. Their consensus was that you were purchasing a cadillac welder and the majority board approved $2500 right then and there.
This is all first hand information. Some can be found in the minutes, and unfortunately other bits were edited out of the minutes.