Sunday, May 10, 2009

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

At the Lake Don Pedro Owners Association
Meeting held on May 16, 2009
10:00 am

5182 Fuentes De Flores - Hacienda


Have you read or seen the most recently published May edition of the “All New Discoverer”?

This is the official Newspaper of The Lake Don Pedro Owner’s Association. “The primary purpose of the Association shall be to further... and promote the common interests and welfare of its members.” This certainly did not happen in the May issue when an extremely disparaging cartoon was published against one of its own members, Tom Porter. This cartoon’s message serves no one in the community, and only hurts and angers the good and decent people of Lake Don Pedro. If this kind of activity goes unchecked, who might be next? Defaming any member’s character, as this cartoon did, should never be tolerated, or accepted. The Board of Directors should be roundly criticized and ashamed for permitting this to be published. Their serious lack of judgment in doing so brings into question their ability to represent us in a responsible manner. We as members, all have a voice. We can exercise that voice by attending the Lake Don Pedro’s Owner’s Association meeting on May 16th, 2009, at 10:00 am. Let’s stand up for what we know is right by objecting to this scurrilous attack on Tom Porter’s integrity, a good man , who has contributed so much to this community throughout these past years.

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!





Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2009 at 11:43 AM

    The LDPOA mission statement states: unite property owners, encourage civic improvements, encourage civic improvements, cooperate with other organizations having similar objectives, improve and maintain common areas and community facilities.
    I am a recent homeowner in LDPOA and moved here because of location and the small community. I also agree with the mission statement. After reading all the political issues I have found three most disturbing; two of which are NOT in alignment with the mission statement.

    The first of which is the issue with the school and our children in LDPOA. We have enough children to have our own school district. Isn’t it possible to form a JPA for our school? I understand this may not be possible and just throwing the idea out there, but by doing so; we can have our own board members with representation from our own community members within Tuolumne and Mariposa counties. Additionally, we can apply for both federal and state educational grants and obtain funds through other sources such as private foundations. Also, if it is really important to have our own school district, then perhaps we can vote on a fee for our schools. I realize all this would take time to create and

    Secondly, the issue with the bad taste from the President of our Board...I agree, political satyr is done in other papers but is the New Discoverer a paper it should be done in? By doing so, it goes against ALL points of the LDPOA mission statement. I do not know all the issues that the President of the Board may have with Mr. Porter nor does it matter. Those issues are between him and Mr. Porter NOT between him, the members, and Mr. Porter. The judgment shows lack of moral and ethical character. Also, the President of our Board made a statement in April 2009 issue of the Discoverer, “Your board returned control of our association to the membership…” With that in mind, the New Discoverer is paid for by the residents who pay HOA dues. A disclaimer in the New Discoverer states: The Discoverer “Reserves the right to edit all copy submitted for publication”. This is understandable for those outside of LDPOA who may read the New Discoverer but for the residents who pay HOA dues…how exactly does that give “control” or at least our inalienable right of free speech to the “membership”? I mean we do pay for the paper, it is in fact our paper, so I would like to know how that fits with the mission statement of LDPOA, especially since we the people are paying for it? Please do not get me wrong, I fully comprehend the need for not using the paper to slam our own residents because that certainly does not fit with the first mission in LDPOA mission statement: To unite property owners; which brings me full circle of the political satyr cartoon. Please keep in mind the MISSION STATEMENT, understand why it was created and that it should be followed for a reason. Leaders lead by example and SERVICE to the people NOT the other way around.

    The third issue is the Lake Don Pedro Community Services District in relation to the contract with Mr. Porter. I fully understand the reasons to keep the contract as is. This additional funding would benefit LPDCS and possibly the residents here. However, in this particular situation, if doing a cost analysis, the social cost should be weighed. I would say that most of us that live in the area are proud that we have a “Country Club” and a GREAT golf course. This is a tremendous asset to the community. Even though the economy has tanked, Mr. Porter is still working to benefit our community. Even though the foreclosure rates are tremendous, I have seen many of the REO properties in my area sell and are now being occupied. This is largely contributed to the golf course and country club. The sales of these properties not only increase the LDPOA revenue but also the LDPCSD as well. If Mr. Porter is not able to keep up with the contract rate, ALL of us will suffer…NOT just Mr. Porter and Deerwood Corp. Our HOA has the potentiality to become a highly sought after community and we should take this economic downturn to be preparing ourselves for the next wave; albeit could be 10 years from now, we should still take advantage. Mr. Porter and Deerwood Corp. are instrumental in improving LDP and he seems to keep in mind the LDPOA mission statement. He has made and wants to continue to make “improvements in the subdivision”, he seems to “cooperate with other organizations having similar objectives”, and from what I read he moves to “improve and maintain common areas and community facilities within the subdivision”. I would ask the LDPCSD do the same and consider our social cost if an amendment to the contract is not reconsidered. If it is not reconsidered, we can lose the beauty of the golf course, additional improvements from Deerwood, and experience additional loss of unrealized revenue. Amending the contract would also be in alignment with our mission statement of cooperating with other organizations to improve the community.

    I realize this area is highly political and a lot of people have very strong views. It is imperative that we all, ESPECIALLY OUR ELECTED LEADERS review our mission statement and truly consider what that means, then ACT accordingly to achieve it.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)