Report from Vivian on the Ballot Verification

TO:Hideaway Valley Property Owner’s Association Board of Trustees,
        (Kurtis Zobell, President; Becky Peterson; Vicki Hill; Roy Walker; Brian Cook)
FROM:  Vivian Kunz
DATE: Monday, May  4, 2015

SUBJECT:    BALLOT COMPLAINT SIGNED THURSDAY, APRIL, 23, 2015, AND     PRESENTED TO THE MEMBERSHIP AT BOARD MEETING, MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2015. 

I was first made aware of the issues presented in the Complaint by Tom & Graciela Meyers during the Board Meeting held Monday, April 27, 2015. 

Tom and Graciela Meyers said they had reviewed the ballots at the home of one of the Trustees and had taken 30 hours to compile the data they presented to me on a spreadsheet.  He gave me a copy of it.  The spreadsheet appeared to be the master copy of what was used to compile the complaint table handed out in the meeting.
The purported allegations at first glance seemed serious.  I acquired permission to form a committee to research the allegations.  In the spirit of cooperation I asked for volunteers from both sides of the issue.  However, at this time I did not know who signed the complaint.  NOTE:  The committee was to be:  Vivian Kunz, Chair; Brian Cook, trustee; Randy Hill, Mr. & Mrs. Meyers; Fred Smith; and Tom LaFever. 

I compared the spreadsheet provided in the complaint against spreadsheet Tom Meyers had given me.  I did not have the ballots (they have never been made available to me for comparison).  I started to list the issues in order of importance and outlined objectives and possible division of responsibilities for the committee.  I then made several calls to research some of the most serious allegations.  I found in all cases the owners were open and honest in their response.  All issues on the complaint were addressed in a matter of less than 10 hours work.  It is my opinion, that if the Members were called initially there would have been no grounds for accusations of fraud, only procedural infractions.

Roy Walker and Brian Cook are signers to the complaint and the rest of the Board were candidates in the election.  There is not an impartial Trustee to serve on our committee.  The Meyers are also signers of the complaint.  I did not know who signed the Complaint when I asked for the committee to review the complaint.  So, I am now withdrawing my request for the committee and I am providing my findings for your review on a personal basis.  I have presented you with a copy of my findings; a review of our governing documents on the subject of title and voting rules; the facts as I saw them; and a copy of the spreadsheet provided by Tom Meyers.

There was no evidence of foul play.  The only infractions were honest mistakes by the Members themselves on their own ballots or proxies.  The infractions were procedural in nature, i.e., putting the wrong lot number, forgetting to sign the ballot, not understanding how to fill out a proxy form, owner in superior title position exercising their legal right of to vote.   I personally verified each issue and have provided my discoveries for your review.  

Many expressed feelings of urgency to submit their ballots in reaction to the inflammatory actions of some of the Trustees, i.e., refusing to let long standing members sign on meeting rosters, openly calling members illegal and unable to vote, and stating they were no longer considered Members.  It was the actions of individual Trustees as well as the use of Peter Harrison’s opinion as law to restrict Member’s rights.  This may have contributed to the large number of ballots filled out in haste and a greater number of mistakes made by the Membership.

Call after call, I found all the mistakes were made by the members themselves on their own ballots and where due to human error.  Each Member presented their ballots in good faith and they should be counted.  If you take the count provided by the spreadsheet Tom Meyers tallied, the outcome is the same. 

There is some question about the appropriateness of Members being allowed to review the ballots without a legal Board action, but more importantly to me is the privacy of individual Member’s financial institutions and account numbers.  It is a breach of privacy for the Trustees to let any Member look at another Member’s personal check. 
Tom & Graciela Meyers admitted they previewed the ballots at a Trustee’s home with his approval (they did not disclose who that was) and compared at least Dallas Peterson’s ballot to his personal check.  I do not know if more were compared.  I contacted Marty Deitz and Linda Wright and asked them if they saw the ballots or personal checks, both denied ever seeing or handling them.  They signed the Complaint based on being told there was evidence of fraudulent behavior and felt it a good idea to have the issues reviewed.  They did not disclose who presented the concerns to them.  I left a message with Dale & Diane Crotts for the same purpose and have not received a reply yet.  I suspect they signed the complaint under the same suspicions Marty and Linda did.  Marty Deitz mentioned that if there was a concern of fraud the ballots should be reviewed.  I applaud his caution.

It does not appear that there was any attempt to clarify the ballot issues, except in the case of Boyd Williams and Dallas Peterson.  In both cases, the attempt to clarify did not include calling the Member themselves. 

Many of the irregularities deserved review, and now that the allegations are cleared up, but it is my personal opinion, the complaint was generated by the outgoing Trustees to shed suspicion on the ballot and circumvent the voice of the Membership, or they would have made the same calls I did and found out the same information.  Roy Walker, Brian Cook, and Don Biery were in a position of trust and knew better than to let Members preview the private financial data of other Members.   Tom and Graciela Meyers had access to at least one Member’s private financial data.  The Trustees involved are extremely liable and their actions constitute a breach of trust in their duties. 

Note:  (Benny Lee was not involved in the complaint or in preventing the incoming Trustees from being seated.)

  FACTS ABOUT COMPLAINT

An Annual Meeting of the Members was held on Saturday, April 18, 2015.  It was duly noticed and ballots sent out and ballots were received by the Board of Trustees.  Roy Walker, President announced they had received a warning letter from Mr. Lungren, an attorney, stating the election needed to be done according to law or he was prepared to file an action against the Board.  Roy Walker explained they needed to nullify the election and call another one.  The Board had an attorney present to explain their position.  Members called for a vote to allow the count of the ballots.  A count was allowed.  The board was not prepared to count the vote so forms were made by scratch and the count was completed by Dan & Vivian Kunz, Tom LaFever, Troy Russell, Fred Smith, and Scott Williams.

Winners were Kurtis Zobel (73 Votes) for the one year term;  and Becky Peterson (82 votes) & Vicky Hill (71 votes) for the two year terms. 

Vivian Kunz announced the vote totals and asked for a vote of the members if there was any objection to seating the winners.   Vivian also asked a second time for any objections.  No objections were made and Vivian asked for the vote to be recorded in the minutes.  All the signers of the complaint were present at the meeting except Dale & Diane Crotts and Marty Duitz.

After the Members Meeting the out-going board canceled the duly noticed Board Meeting

Out-going Trustees  (Roy Walker, Brian Cook, & Don Biery) refused to seat the new Trustees.  Stating the new trustees did not take office till May 1.   Note:  Throughout the history of the association the precedence has been to seat the new trustees in the Board meeting immediately after the Member’s Meeting.   

Board Meeting was announced, Monday, April 27, 2015, with the intent to seat the new trustees.  Board Meeting was held as scheduled, where a complaint was brought forward and Roy Walker, Brian Cook, Don Biery refused again to seat the new Trustees (Bennie Lee was not in attendance).  Roy Walker left the room without closing the meeting and the new Trustees took their seats and conducted business.

Ballot complaint was dated Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Complaint was signed by:  Roy Walker, President of the HVPOA; Brian Cook, Vice President; Don Biery, Secretary; Dale & Diane Crotts; Marty Duitz; Tom & Graciela Meyers; and Linda Wright.Here is the complete and detailed analysis of the ballots.