Raucous Landowner's meeting sees two GALA board members removed, one resign
Pictured: Russell McFadin (left) addresses the GALA Board members (L-R) Linda Moore, Larry Pugh, Jason Lundy
GLENWOOD, TX Feb. 14, 2009 -- In the end, it came down to 65 disputed proxy votes.
Saturday's meeting of the Glenwood Acres Landowner's Association (GALA) was chaotic from beginning to end. The call to order, scheduled for 2:00 p.m., was delayed by 35 minutes to settle questions of media access and member's voting status.
Members of the press were initially turned away at the association's clubhouse door, being told that the meeting was closed.
County Commissioner James Crittenden, attending at the request of landowners, and despite notice from GALA board members that his presence would not be welcome, took exception to the exclusion and sided with the media.
"It's an open meeting, unless they go into executive session." said Crittenden.
After discussions between Board President Jason Lundy, Crittenden and Precinct 1 Constable Russell Haris, it was decided to allow the media inside.
Controversy then quickly moved to the matter of determining which landowners were current on their dues, and therefore allowed to vote. The issue centered on several residents who were denied voting privileges for being delinquent on association dues.
The residents involved disputed that, saying they were current on a payment plan, approved by the board, that was supposed to allow them to catch up on back dues while staying current on the present ones.
"I pay my dues, and a half payment on back dues every month. I am not behind on my dues, and I demand to be allowed to vote today." said Glenwood resident Ellen Stone. Stone said she and her husband, Danny, have been landowners at the Glenwood Acres development for ten years.
Another resident, Tammy Spurger, said she had been on the same payment plan since 2000. She said GALA office manager Cindy Gill had told her Friday that the plan was no longer in effect.
But Mrs Gill and GALA board member Linda Moore, saying that all dues had to be current to vote, firmly refused to give voter numbers to the two women.
Even the call to order was not without controversy. With about 100 people in attendance, and landowners noisily demanding the meeting to start, Lundy stated that he was waiting for the final determination of voter status to begin. David Liedtke, who would be a vocal participant throughout the meeting, pointed to the entrance foyer and said "There's no one left out there, sir. There's no one left."
When Lundy still did not call the meeting to order, board Secretary Billy Sipes did.
With no announced agenda present, landowner Russell McFadin immediately made a motion, which was promptly seconded from the floor, to remove Lundy as board President. When Lundy did not call for discussion on the motion, McFadin demanded the board's Vice President, Larry Pugh assume control of the meeting.
Lundy then assented to the vote, and called for a show of hands. McFadin himself took the count, 37 for removal, and 35 against. Mcfadin then stated he had 17 proxy votes to cast, bring the total to 52 votes for removal. Lundy countered by saying they he controlled 65 proxies, and was casting them in favor of his staying on.
When McFadin asked if Lundy's proxies were notarized, Lundy responded that they didn't have to be. Amidst cries from the floor contradicting Lundy, McFadin then asked Sipes whether he, as board Secretary, would accept proxies that weren't notarized.
Sipes said that he would not, citing an inability to confirm the documents had indeed by signed by valid GALA voters. Prevented from casting proxy votes that would have saved his position, Lundy then left the room, to applause from about half of the landowners present.
McFadin then pressed Larry Pugh, board Vice President, to assume control of the meeting as acting President. Pugh, who's board term expired yesterday and was facing a vote himself, declined to assume the role, saying he held a full time job and didn't have the time to devote to the position. Pugh then also left.
At that point, Billy Sipes assumed the role as acting board President.
A motion from the floor to install a new board by landowner vote was entered, then withdrawn as discussion turned in favor of appointing an election committee to identify candidates and issue ballots. It was not immediately decided when that election might occur.
An unidentified landowner then asked if McFadin wanted to dissolve the GALA board. McFadin responded that he wanted to "do the will of the people", and that "the majority rules."
Sparks flew several time during the contentious meeting. At one point, McFadin drew fire from Glenwood Acres developer Charles Snider. McFadin stated that Snider, who is not a board member, had recently been allowed in the association's office, which is supposed to be off limits to the general public.
"I have never been in that damned office" Snider angrily replied. A call by McFadin to remove Snider from the meeting for using profanity was largely ignored.
Correction: in the original version of this story, Mr. Charles Snider's name was misspelled.
Shortly after that, Moore, also taking issue with statements by McFadin, hotly told him "you're trying to make a mockery of me, and I'm sick of it."
Another allegation by McFadin, though, did result in action. His statement that board member Paul Gill had been voted off the board in November, and inappropriately reappointed by Lundy, drew a denial from Moore. She stated that there had not been a motion made to remove Gill at the November meeting, making the vote taken invalid.
McFadin, however, had documented support on the point. Several landowners produced copies of the minutes of that meeting, taken by Moore, that flatly stated a motion had been made and seconded, and that the vote to remove Gill had been recorded. Moore then stated that if she had written that, she had been in error.
McFadin then called for a vote to remove Gill, but before any counting had started, Liedtke noted that since Gill wasn't a board member, he didn't need to be voted off.
Gill then unceremoniously rose and left, to scattered applause.
Clyde Brown, a Glenwood land owner for 28 years then rose, and asked the assembly "What has happened to us?. It's just like our big government" he said. "Greed!" His comments drew approval from the majority of those gathered.
Billy Sipes then noted that, with the removals and departures, a quorum of the board was not present.
But many in attendance disagreed, loudly proclaiming that a board quorum wasn't needed, since a quorum of Landowners was present.
Linda Moore then asked for the floor, and addressed the issue of court actions the board had taken against landowners for failure to keep their property clean. Saying the board had landowners support for the action, she singled out Mrs. Pat Floyd as one of the original supporters and signatories of the petition that spurred the actions.
Correction: Mrs. A.C. Floyd's comments during this exchange have been corrected.
Mrs. Floyd, wife of board Member At Large A.C. Floyd, and a supporter of board reform, responded by claiming that Moore had probably been inebriated. Her response drew a charge of lying from Moore.
Other landowners then rose, claiming the drive to reform the board wasn't just about the lawsuits. Issues over improper board expenditures for a tractor, and improper loans made by the board to certain association members were raised against a noisy background of disagreement.
Ron Cook gained the floor to question why the board needed the services of Attorney Tim Cariker, and said he wanted the lawyer's contract terminated. As discussion continued, Moore rose and stated that it had been her pleasure to serve on the board, and that she was tendering her resignation.
"Thank you" said McFadin curtly. "Leave your office keys on the way out".
Landowners then concluded discussion on Cariker, and a motion to terminate his contract was made, seconded a carried by vote.
With the number of active board members now down to two, Acting President Sipes then stated that he was going to appoint a temporary board to allow the association to continue doing business while elections were organized.
Asking for volunteers, Sipes appointed board members as they indicated their willingness.
Landowners Russell McFadin, David Nix and Clyde Brown were all appointed by Sipes on a temporary basis. Sipes designated Clyde Brown as Vice President and David Nix as board Secretary.
Sipes pledged the temporary board would not take any major actions outside of terminating Cariker's contract, performing a one year audit of the association's finances, securing the clubhouse building and nominating election committee members.
McFadin then said that he wanted to replace Cindy Gill with a new office manager, one who was not associated in any way with the board, and who could be bonded, as the secretary handled money daily.
Sipes agreed with the idea of a bonded employee, but stated a more immediate need would be to arrange for someone to open the association's office and perform general duties there.
Clarice Stratton, a landowner who has worked in the office before, was asked if she might fill the position temporarily. Saying she would as long as landowners understood that she might not be up to speed on everything, she was designated by Sipes as an interim office secretary.
Another landowner, Gary Man, then rose to speak in support of those board members who had been removed, and to speak out against landowners who did not pay their dues.
"Shame on you!", Man said. "Loafers don't pay their dues. ... They (the removed board members) were trying to get things going again."
The temporary board members then withdrew into an executive session, emerging about 15 minutes later to adjourn the meeting.
Outside, emotions still ran high. Landowners who supported Lundy gathered to call the meeting a "farce" and a "travesty". More than one promised that Lundy would have their support in the new elections, whenever they are held.
Others, happy with the outcome, promised to band together, offering labor and equipment to help neighbors clean up their lots.
After the meeting, Sipes told the Advocate that the process of performing the promised one year audit had been made more difficult by the parting refusal of Cindy Gill to give him the password to the association's computer.
"We'll have to hire a computer guru, or somebody to help us with that", he said.
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| Pictured: (L-R)Ellen Stone, Russel McFadin and Peggy Spurger listen to reasons why some landowners were excluded from voting |
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| Pictured: GALA interim board (L-R) A.C. Floyd, Russell McFadin, David Nix, Clyde Brown, Billy Sipes |
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| David Liedtke (R) addresses the GALA meeting |
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