* This post will be updated on a regular basis until completed. Please reread on occasion as I will edit when the opportunities present themselves. I will notify here when completed.

Last updated: Mon., Oct. 27, 2008 7:45 AM

* * * With the revelation revealed last Friday by the president of the CHHA, “…please keep in mind these by-laws have not been certified nor have they been added to CHHA’s Incorporation Documents.”, it would appear that the bylaws aren’t valid. No sense wasting time dissecting individual articles any longer. At such a time that valid bylaws are presented, we’ll continue if necessary.

I’m calling for a reevaluation of the CHHA bylaws and want to offer you the opportunity to review the articles that have the greatest impact on you as a resident of the neighborhood and member of the association. I will also offer recommendations and invite your input. These recommendations then need to be submitted to the board for a vote to adopt or decline.

This will be presented in no particular order.

A link to the current bylaws may be found in the navigational menu to the right.

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9.1 Removal of Director Any Director of the Association may be removed at any time, with or without cause, by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the full Board of Directors.

9.2 Removal of Officer Any officer of the Association may be removed at any time with or without cause, by resolution duly adopted by a majority of all persons elected and then serving as Directors.

Why is this bad? The board holds complete control over the power of officer removal. Board members ask for your vote,… you vote them into office, you should have the ability to kick them out should they ever act against the best interests and wishes of the majority of the membership. Officers are elected for a two year term,… this is too long a time to tolerate a problem with a particular officer or the entire board as the case may be. The threat of membership action should be sufficient to encourage their cooperation. As it stands now there is absolutely no recourse for the membership.

Recommendation: Add a membership recall provision.

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6.1 Regular Meetings. The Board of Directors shall meet no less than four times per year.

What’s wrong with this? As stated the board could conduct meetings on four consecutive days at any point in the year and still satisfy the obligation to the bylaws. Again, as I have repeatedly stated, this is YOUR association and as such YOUR concerns should be the focus of board consideration. My point being that the meetings need to be spread out over time, YOU should be contacted and informed of meetings. If you have a concern it should not have to wait. As it has been working, if you should have a concern in February (for example) you’d have to wait around until the next publicly scheduled meeting which has been the annual meeting in October, November or December. This should not be the case.

Additionally, and more importantly, there is absolutely no language to suggest that it might be nice to include the input of the association membership. Again, this is YOUR association.

Recommendation: Amend the bylaws to require one meeting each quarter of the calendar year. Include a provision to mandate sufficient notification in advance of a meeting in order to invite participation and input from the association membership. This notification should include any agenda items already tabled for the meeting by the board. It should be mandated that the board be required to discuss any agenda item submitted by an association member and/or discuss any membership relayed pros or cons of previously tabled agenda items. Lastly, it should be mandated that the board provide a summary of the meeting along with details of actions taken. These measures would also have the added benefit of encouraging a constant dialog between the board and association membership.

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5.6 Conflict of Interest. No Director shall participate in any decision involving any firm, organization, or institution with which such Director has any direct or indirect relationship.

What’s wrong with this? NOTHING! It’s one of the few articles that I like just as it is written. BUT, as written I believe that we do have a sitting officer on the board that is in violation of this article.

Recommendation: STOP IT!

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I have had many dealings with many boards both as a member and as a petitioner and this is the only board that I have dealt with that has behaved in this manner. As I mentioned at the annual meeting, the Gwinnett County Public School Board Meeting website is an example of how a board should work with respects to meetings and involvement of those it represents.

I had a concern that I addressed with the county over the course of a year that ultimately required that I address the board in person at the February 2008 meeting. The process worked and I prevailed. You can click here to view the minutes of this meeting - scroll down to the section entitled “CITIZENS AND GROUPS ADDRESSING THE BOARD” and you will see my name. BTW - this link is a PDF file.

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FAQs

I’ve begun to get feedback on this so I thought I’d address the FAQs here to save everyone some time.

Q. DUDE!,… weren’t you on the board and didn’t you review the bylaws before the vote?
A. Yes, I was and did. The short answer is that I made a BIG mistake, but want to make corrections in order to make it right. Long answer - I was initially not all that interested in the bylaws when discussed at board meetings as this was a board issue. I wanted to address neighborhood issues such as Pounds Rd. and the like. I was always puzzled by the bylaw agenda as this seemed like an awfully formal item for such an informal organization. But the bylaw initiative continued and I (and the rest of the board) were asked to eventually review the bylaws. I must admit that when I was reading the document I was looking more for grammatical errors and structure rather than meaning. MY MISTAKE! After realizing the errors I did attempt to convey my concerns to the board both verbally and in writing but the responses were either that they didn’t understand what I wanted or in most instances no response at all.

My personal belief is that the board wanted the legal indemnification articles in order to protect themselves.

Q. Why did you resign as 2nd vice president after the annual meeting?
A. My position on the board had been rendered useless due to no one wanting to respond to my concerns and work with me on resolutions.

Q. Isn’t this getting personal?
A. Not in my opinion,… My problem is with the way in which the board is operating, with the way in which the board chooses to interact (or not as the case may be) with the membership (YOU) and with the way in which the board members are conducting themselves in an official capacity during the course of business. Everything discussed has been and remains CHHA board and association membership business. I stand behind every written word, have the documentation to back up my claims and since this is CHHA business, a business that has been incorporated under Title 14 of the Official Code of Georgia, I will produce and publish this documentation should it become necessary. BTW - courts accept e-mail as evidence.

Q. Why the concern?
A. My major concerns began in the summer of 2007…
- The board (without my input) arranged a meeting to discuss the possibilities of changing the name of our community from Stone Mountain to something else.
- I was very much opposed to this endeavor and expressed it to everyone involved both verbally and in writing.
- I recommended to the board - in writing - that this issue be brought up before the community. I received no reply.
- Topics ranged from a simple name change to being annexed by the City of Lilburn to the possibility of incorporating our own city.
- Books on the subject of the incorporation of the City of Sandy Springs were purchased for board members to read.
- Clay Cox, our Georgia State Representative was invited and attended the meeting.
- After the meeting follow up letters were sent to Mr. Cox and Johnny Isakson, our U.S. Senator.
- After the meeting interviews were given to the AJC and the Gwinnett Daily Post by our board president and 1st vice president who represented themselves as officers of the CHHA and discussed the issues outlined above. The papers published these articles. The AJC and GDP both called my house requesting an interview, but I declined as I felt that it was inappropriate.

These issues outlined above would touch EVERY SINGLE homeowner not only in this neighborhood but in surrounding communities as well.
- Every account you have that mails a statement to your home would have to be updated due to the address change.
- In the event of incorporation…
- Additional taxes
- A new layer of government in the form of a city council and mayor

OUR ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP WAS NEVER INFORMED OF THIS AGENDA!

THIS IS WRONG!!! The board should run issues like this before the membership PRIOR to acting upon them privately. If the membership approves, THEN the board can run with it.

If the board is willing to do this, I fear what other endeavors they might pursue privately and so should YOU!

Stay tuned, more to come…