We feel that a common sense, incremental approach to updating our Governing Documents addresses much-needed key updates and has a high likelihood of adoption;
They are
- >Easy to understand. We can list one item at time, here’s the old, here’s the new, and here’s why we need this change.
- >Inexpensive. Legal counsel will likely be engaged even for adding simple language, but by our estimate community expense is in the few thousands, not tens-of-thousands.
- >Reasonable. We take a handful of items with solid reasoning and present them to the community.
- >Low Risk-High Reward. Let’s just say five changes are on the ballot. If 4 are voted in and 1 is not, then we’ve got 4 new changes. That’s a 100% improvement on our many full-re-write failures over the last several years, money well-spent and in balance, we have a better community.
- >Easy to Debate. We can conduct an open dialog on each item and let each stand on its own merits.
KEY UPDATE ITEMS THAT WE THINK HAVE A REALISTIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ADOPTION AND IMMEDIATE BENEFIT TO THE COMMUNITY
>Update our Fines structure. $50 is not a deterrent in this day and age for egregious abuse. What has worked very well is the fact that the fee structure is embedded in the CC&Rs. In our opinion, a new solution should remain in our CC&Rs to prevent future Board abuse. We will propose to maintain $50, or even lower it, just enough to cover administrative expenses for typical first-offense violators. We will propose an escalating fine table that will sufficiently encourage chronic violators to adhere to the community rules that we all comply with.>Remove cumulative voting. This is where you can stack up to all 5 of your votes onto one candidate during Board of Directors Elections. The intent of cumulative voting is to offset developer influence in young subdivisions, giving outnumbered homeowners in burgeoning developments a seat at the table in a developing community's Boardroom. We are approaching a 50-year-old community. This has long not applied.>Selling your vote and eliminate proxies. Our Governing Documents allow for a voting proxy and are silent on whether you can pay someone for their vote. It would unlikely apply to Board of Directors Elections, but since it does apply for all secret ballots including amendment proposals and land use changes, it needs to be eliminated.>Update outdated references. Developers and their companies are long gone, completely out of the picture. Changing these references are straightforward, simple, and needed. We need to clarify property ownership. We are a community of separate interests and our documents should reflect as much.>Include language that will permit reasonable, like-for-like maintenance and repairs on your home, eliminating full Architectural Submissions for these nominal actions. The objective is to provide an easier pathway for homeowner improvements. If this can be done, We will champion it. Everyone wins.