The October Poudre Overlook Board Meeting appeared to be an impossible pipe dream, just hours before the meeting. The posted agenda looked to be so long, it would take till after midnight to get through it. Particularly if the Niners showed up to repeat their performance at the September 26th “concerned neighbors” meeting at Irve’s to verbally abuse the Board for not subscribing to their perplexing and oxymoronic ideas about “healing”.
Without digressing into the minutiae, I had learned earlier in the day, by participating in an HOA meeting at the Colorado State Capitol with Legislators regarding Homeowner Rights, that participation by homeowners was perhaps the greatest defense against bad behaviors, particularly when combined with the disinfecting sunshine of documentation – particularly recording of meetings.
A group of Niners assembled across the street from Matt’s house before the meeting. It appeared inevitable that a repeat confrontation would occur, and for all I knew, it would be the Board members and maybe just me and the Niners.
But, as the meeting began, no Niners were among the 20 or so other homeowners and Board members attending. The leaders of the Niners eventually walked into Matt’s house, and awkwardly found seats in the near-capacity room. The tension was palpable. Yet, the rest of the group didn’t follow.
The meeting had a huge agenda. When I first saw it on the website at www.poudreoverlookhoa.com, I thought it was going to take several hours to get through. It’s the last meeting before the Annual Meeting, so it was understandable. Still.
But, item by item, the Board efficiently went through discussion and votes without controversies occurring at all. It was orderly, and arguably even pleasant and entertaining at times.
The entire meeting was over long before 9pm, which was amazing. And, the Niners never challenged the agenda to push for their extra Board members. And, all but two of those who had grouped across the street strangely never actually walked into the meeting, even to observe. Walker and Irve went to the door, at least once, so we can only guess that they made an audible call on what to do at the door, and backed down.
Clearly, when we have strong participation and video cameras, those that would use aggression and ad hominem attacks to bully in the absence of either, are less likely to bully. It’s an important lesson going forward.
Among many decisions made, one of the most important was to allow recording of meetings going forward. Quite a contrast from June 13th, when Walker threatened me with arrest (and called the Larimer County Sheriff’s) over the same.
The new board demonstrated, over and over, that they came to the meeting fully informed about all topics because they interacted prior to the meeting to sort out the granular details saving owners from having to watch them sort through raw ideas in real time. If they discovered the issue wasn’t ripe for a vote, they sensibly tabled it for later.
In the end, I walked out feeling confident that Poudre Overlook is finally led by a Board that knows how to run meetings in an orderly manner, but has an agenda focused on actually improving the community with the full input of the community. Given our great participation rate, this is a recipe for success.
As for the Niners, the issue will be taken up at the annual meeting. And, we all await their articulation of reasons that can be examined in advance of the meeting. If history is a guide, we won’t have this luxury, and we will be subjected to a bit of impromptu tension as they make their demands. But, maybe they’ll surprise us.
But, given this great example of handling the Niners aggression with grace and professionalism, I am far less concerned than I was before the meeting. It appears that we are on the cusp of turning a corner where we will find a balance between the twin demands of an HOA – the autocracy of corporate structure, and the democracy of the quasi-government structure.
Given the dedication this board has to making sure they are informed before they make decisions, combined with apparent boundless energy and enthusiasm for the work, I am personally relieved that we have not just a team, but a highly qualified and ethical team that is willing to lead us towards a better future.
We truly have a dream team who has proven they can handle multiple times the capacity of the prior board. This significantly undermines the argument made by the Niners at the Special Meeting in August that there is “much work” that necessitates 9 board members. Clearly, this board doesn’t need extra members to get the job done.
Kudos to the new Board. They crushed it. And, I really believe they’ll continue to do so if we just give them a chance.