Dear Fellow Mesquite Country Club Owner,
Thank you to all of you who responded to my letter of September 22 nd . It is gratifying to discover that my concerns are shared by so many others who are willing to publicly state their dissatisfaction with the status quo. And, I have also learned that many more of you are as concerned but not willing at this point to go public with your dissatisfaction.
Hopefully, you have read the Board's response in the current issue of the Mosquito. They chose to publicly rebuke me by stating that my letter contained “…a number of assertions, many of which are incorrect…” In reading the remainder of the text, the only apparent basis for that claim appeared to be the following: An oblique reference to the diversity of the current Board's composition, a comment that I was wrong about no line item in the budget for legal costs, and an explanation of the country club lease.
Regarding Board composition, note that two full time residents represent 40% of the five member board. Three would equal 60%. Approximately 15% of MCC owners are owner-occupants. The Board controls the agenda. Is this not disproportional?
Regarding the absence of a line item for legal costs, take a look at the MCC Annual Financial Statement sent with a cover letter dated March 25, 2003 . I can not find "legal expenses". If it is included within “Professional Fees”, why not break it out as a separate line item? Our management company will not provide me with copies of invoices for legal services. Nor will they respond to my inquiry regarding how much has been spent on legal services. Since we are paying the bills, don't we have a right to know?
Regarding the country club lease, two years ago the golf course and its assets (including our lease which will cost us $2,000,000.00 over the next 10 years) were for sale. Following the defeat of a mail vote to hire consultants to investigate purchasing this valuable property, several MCC owners looked into the situation. They developed a purchase plan that was worthy of consideration. Why did the Board refuse to put that item on the agenda for discussion at the annual meeting?
I find the board's response to my letter to be more interesting for what it does not say. Why didn't the Board explain why they chose not to mention the changes in the weekend rental policy in their original cover letter sent with the "emergency vote" on the CC&R revision? Why didn't the Board explain why their lawyers have repeatedly denied requests by owners to review the original CC&R election to see if there really were sufficient legitimate votes to pass in the first place? Why didn't the Board point out that they had originally discussed prohibiting rentals of less than 30 days?
Finally, why did the Board explain in their headline offer "What You Can Do if you Think the Board was in the Wrong" that they will let owners change the way vacation rentals are regulated, but it is up to us to come up with the 310 votes necessary to do that? Why should we be forced through this exercise when we have signed statements from more than sufficient owners to render the recent change invalid?
A summation of the apparent prevailing thought: the Board has modified the CC&Rs to read "All leases must be in writing and must be for a minimum of seven days." That position has been “clarified” in the current issue of the Mosquito as follows: “Weekend rentals will still be permitted, as long as there is not more than one (1) rental in any seven-day period.” I must admit that I have difficulty grasping this logic.
Finally, the Board said in the recent Mosquito that "...This is your community, and we encourage each and every one of you to take part in the decisions that affect the governance of this community." We will take them at their word. We will soon deliver to the Board more than 135 signed letters from fellow MCC owners who have responded by returning their letters advising "…I am formally requesting that you invalidate the results of the prior vote regarding all issues except those directly related to the 'insurance crisis.'”
According to the Mesquito, September 2002 edition, 306 “yes” votes were needed to pass the changes to our CC&Rs. The board acknowledged that they received 310 “yes” votes, exactly 4 more than needed to pass. It is now apparent the recent change to our CC&Rs has been invalidated by more than 135 votes!!!
We will soon know if the board's request to "Please let us know…" about the rental issue was genuine or simply self-serving entrenchment to preserve the status quo.
Sincerely,
Mel Covetta
P.S. We need everyone's help to make a positive change in the way things are done at MCC. Research, mailings, web sites and other activities related to these matters cost time and money. Please help us bring needed change to MCC . Return the enclosed form with a donation today. Your money is already involved. You should be too!
