02-26-2018, 03:58 AM
So I went to the HPP meeting. What a nightmare. The mics were crap, the video slides were unreadable. The crowd was obnoxious.
The General Manager tried to take over as president in order to bypass any old business which the agenda said was "Nothing Referred to Committee; All Matters Were Disposed of -- Robert's Rules of Order newly revised, 11th Edition, Page 237, ©."
Basically they wanted to get away from audits, etc. Steve (finance committee) proposed we allow the previously ousted president to fill the role instead of the GM. The crowd strongly supported this and after 1 person tried to stop it saying there was nothing in the bylaws allowing this, but there was also nothing that said it couldn't be done and the membership has authority over the board.
After the minor coup took place, the agenda was radically altered. Old business was reinserted as well as about 6 bylaw changes proposed. The bylaw changes were all designed to provide stronger protections against things like employing your family members, requiring a financial analysis, enforcing ethical clauses, allowing the HPPOA to raise funds for special projects (like to raise money for more than just roads in the case of mailboxes). All the bylaw changes were welcomed by a large majority of the voters there, winning by substantial majorities.
The next step is on the ballot that will be mailed out for everyone is for the general membership to vote on these changes. The members should read and carefully consider each bylaw change. They are all designed to prevent what has been happening in the past few years and include requirements for a financial analysis. During the explanation of this forensic analysis is was pointed out that salaries had jumped almost $200k for staff in the past 2 years.
One of the key proposals was to bring in 3rd party professional management, instead of biased residents managing the activities. I feel this is a very positive step forwards and will actually save HPOAA money. The idea was also voted heavily in favor and work was initiated to setup a committee to start research on potential companies and costs.
It was a very long meeting, and unfortunately some HPPOA members seemed to think that the Ordinance against Rooster Farms had something to do with HPPOA. They waited the 3.5 hours for the bylaws, etc. to express their anger, but it was wasted breath. The history of the ordinance is apparently about 25 people (from various communities) requested the ordinance and it fits with the rezoning of 1976 (Ag land needs to be at least 5 acres) so the ordinance was put forward by Ohara for them. People were pissed at her and one person in particular was ready to go down fighting before letting her talk. Then a few took the mic to yell their anger, but it was almost impossible to understand. The arguments were mostly centered around people knew what type of land they were buying, if they didn't want rooster farms they shouldn't have bought Ag land. Ohara explained the time for debate is Tuesday at the hearing for the bill, not at the HPPOA meeting, but people were red faced and wanted to vent. Several turned it into a haole vs us thing.
All in all, it was actually a productive and the ballots that will be mailed out will need a lot of explaining to insure the HPPOA members realize this is the chance to take proper control back of the organization.
I should note that I might have gotten some of the details wrong. There was a lot of noise, confusion and a wide cast of characters whom I don't know at all but most people seemed to recognize on sight and were not introduced.
The General Manager tried to take over as president in order to bypass any old business which the agenda said was "Nothing Referred to Committee; All Matters Were Disposed of -- Robert's Rules of Order newly revised, 11th Edition, Page 237, ©."
Basically they wanted to get away from audits, etc. Steve (finance committee) proposed we allow the previously ousted president to fill the role instead of the GM. The crowd strongly supported this and after 1 person tried to stop it saying there was nothing in the bylaws allowing this, but there was also nothing that said it couldn't be done and the membership has authority over the board.
After the minor coup took place, the agenda was radically altered. Old business was reinserted as well as about 6 bylaw changes proposed. The bylaw changes were all designed to provide stronger protections against things like employing your family members, requiring a financial analysis, enforcing ethical clauses, allowing the HPPOA to raise funds for special projects (like to raise money for more than just roads in the case of mailboxes). All the bylaw changes were welcomed by a large majority of the voters there, winning by substantial majorities.
The next step is on the ballot that will be mailed out for everyone is for the general membership to vote on these changes. The members should read and carefully consider each bylaw change. They are all designed to prevent what has been happening in the past few years and include requirements for a financial analysis. During the explanation of this forensic analysis is was pointed out that salaries had jumped almost $200k for staff in the past 2 years.
One of the key proposals was to bring in 3rd party professional management, instead of biased residents managing the activities. I feel this is a very positive step forwards and will actually save HPOAA money. The idea was also voted heavily in favor and work was initiated to setup a committee to start research on potential companies and costs.
It was a very long meeting, and unfortunately some HPPOA members seemed to think that the Ordinance against Rooster Farms had something to do with HPPOA. They waited the 3.5 hours for the bylaws, etc. to express their anger, but it was wasted breath. The history of the ordinance is apparently about 25 people (from various communities) requested the ordinance and it fits with the rezoning of 1976 (Ag land needs to be at least 5 acres) so the ordinance was put forward by Ohara for them. People were pissed at her and one person in particular was ready to go down fighting before letting her talk. Then a few took the mic to yell their anger, but it was almost impossible to understand. The arguments were mostly centered around people knew what type of land they were buying, if they didn't want rooster farms they shouldn't have bought Ag land. Ohara explained the time for debate is Tuesday at the hearing for the bill, not at the HPPOA meeting, but people were red faced and wanted to vent. Several turned it into a haole vs us thing.
All in all, it was actually a productive and the ballots that will be mailed out will need a lot of explaining to insure the HPPOA members realize this is the chance to take proper control back of the organization.
I should note that I might have gotten some of the details wrong. There was a lot of noise, confusion and a wide cast of characters whom I don't know at all but most people seemed to recognize on sight and were not introduced.