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January 2005 Grapevine 1/31/2006
1/31/2006 To the writer comparing Mr. Underwood to Teddy Kennedy; what an insult to Kennedy. 1/31/2006 Oh to have the tenacity of Bob Underwood! He could be such an asset would that he could use his vigor for good and not evil! Bob, if you hate Lake Forest so much, perhaps you should consider relocation! Bob said that Y2K was a good thing..... well, Y2K also cost Lake Forest tremendously high amounts of money to defend irrational and erroneous lawsuits in court. Those should be public record for any one interested. I would imagine that the board of directors have already checked into Mr. Underwood's record both off and on the board and are aware that he is not much more than a big bully who has an uncanny ability to make his opinions heard! It is my opinion that it is his loud and rude manner of speaking that has caused him to be heard. I hope that the slate of five will use their powers to keep him under control. Bob is a loose cannon and if allowed he can and will cause damage to the association, both financially and internally. It seems to be his life's ambition. What a pity. 1/30/2006 Why are the people that were so against you and some of the other board members that were on the board before the flakey five, oops, I mean the slate of five reading this site? I know it is for the public, but they sure do seem to keep up with what is going on here. Probably because the new site is STILL NOT up. Gee, Mitch, I haven't read this in a few days and the first thing I notice is from Big Bob...ewwww.
1/30/2006 Mr. Underwood never ceases to amaze me with the viciousness of his comments. He has been causing problems in Lake Forest for 15 years. It is time HE Got Over IT! 1/30/2006 Mitch, I enjoy your web site very much and appreciate the trouble you go to in providing the same. However, I would rather you not publish anything further from Mr. Underwood, I have had enough of him over the years. Hopefully he can find reason to be out of town more often. If he doesn't approve of your web site, then he shouldn't tune in, which by the same token he should have moved from LF long ago. He is nothing more than a Teddy Kennedy with an English accent!! 1/27/2006
January 27th, 2006 Dear Mitch, Since October I have spent most of my time out of State. I have attended one meeting and I believe it was a Special Meeting. I have occasionally looked at your web site. I make the following comments: A: It’s about time you and some of your supporters (C. Kaufmann) get over Bob Underwood and the Y2 Committee. B: We achieved a major victory for the membership after nearly 22 years of the developers control (Purcell) of the election of the board of directors - we got the control of the voting rights for directors stopped. C. For the first time in 22 year’s the membership spoke loud and clear. They wanted you out and your four specially selected board members. The membership spoke. So don’t keep pushing Karl Kauffman – the members threw him out. D. Your continuous references to me being Henry Lawson’s mentor could not be further from the truth. Last year Henry demonstrated he marches to his own tune. Seeing you mention “mentors” your performance went down dramatically once Jake Bodiford resigned. E. You were correct the board voted to authorize the Yacht Club appraisal. Jake Bodiford has a copy. At least L.F.P.O.A. now knows the minimum it is worth. F. Previous boards, including the ones you sat on, have spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars on debatable projects. I have a list if you need it. G. I would be delighted to publish the resumes of the people who supported the Y2K, which includes not only some of your supporters but also family members. For your information Henry Lawson is not on that list. H. Mitch, you did what you considered was best for Lake Forest over many years. Your web site only seems to keep the diversions ongoing between members and member. I. Regarding Jay Ross, he is a good and competent attorney, there were only two problems. J: Your daughter suggested replacing him for lack of response. Some members believe it is a serious conflict of interest. K: As for micro management, this probably stems from people who don’t really understand the control procedures that need to be in place, especially in Lake Forest, who have a track record of not spending the members money wisely. J. Mitch, you resigned after the members voted you out so just like Fox, - make it fair and balanced. K. Get over it. As always I am proud to sign my name to what I write and say. Regards, Robert (Bob) W. Underwood
And, finally, Mr. Kauffman has never been thrown out. He was up for election and the Slate of Five did an excellent job of getting out their vote to win. Mr. Kauffman is an intelligent man and served the membership very well during his stint on the Board of Directors. Although, Bob is not one of his supporters, Carl Kauffman would be an excellent choice to fill the remainder of the year on the Board of Directors 1/27/2006
1/27/2006
1/26/2006 Just sent this to city council members: Greetings Regina, I implore you to fast track improvements to the Lake Forest roads & medians. We are not just dealing with aesthetics here, but have some serious safety issues for both vehicles & pedestrians. More & more residents are using the roads/medians not just for transportation, but also recreation & exercise. Though the rolling hills & winding roads are laid out beautifully, they also pose serious risks to the residents using them. Several months ago Ken Eslava spoke to us not just of pavement improvements, but also spoke of removal of the pines, adding shorter flowering trees, & even the addition of bike paths and/or walking trails. Are these improvements definitely going to happen & when? Thanks, 1/25/2006 If you see the need for new roads (paved) in Lake Forest, pls e-mail these five council members from your district. The Improvement committe is making this one of their top requests, besides cleaning up the medians. They may listen to the voters! You have only to travel in and out of our main entrances to see the great need! Shame on Daphne for not taking care of us! Here's the email addresses: And don't just email once, calling would help too! Let's make a grand effort by all residents get City Hall's attention! Mary Thompson 1/24/2006 Regarding the Lake Forest General Manager and the only people qualified must be Country Club or Club Manager types. That is just not true any competant business manager can easily adapt to a rather small entity such as Lake forest with little or no trouble. There are many people within Lake Forest and possibly on the board that are educated in business and have wide and varied business experience that could easily and competantly handle the job. I personally know people living here that managed in excess of 3ooo people with several unions, several trades, administrative, purchasing and engineering disciplines at the same time Thus to get carried away with how lofty the General Manager's position is for Lake forest is way out of line. Just this writers humble, experienced and educated opinion. 1/23/2006 This is from former board member Carl Kauffman, with some observations after the January Stated Board Meeting. I have entered my name as a replacement candidate for the vacancy. If selected, I plan to be more inquisitive as to what is brought before the board than I was last year. I was challenged often by a board member who resigned last spring over many issues. I felt he was trying to make me feel ignorant. I do not mind being ignorant, but I am not stupid. As I tell my students, ignorant means not knowing; whereas stupid means cannot learn. I am very ignorant of surgery, but that does not mean I cannot learn it. Even though there were 50-60 applications for the General Manager position, (were these from the local media advertisement?) the recommendation was to have two positions: an operations manager and an administrative manager. It appeared that these would be positions created from current employees. There was much discussion that would have taken place in previous years at a working meeting, seeing that most board members were not informed of the motion and had no real time to ponder the proposal prior to having to vote on it. Finally, a person has been found to create a web site for $1500. There was a vote to create an emergency fund by allocating $4000 per quarter to it. Last year we spent about $50,000 for emergency repairs. Why not set aside $10,000 per quarter and not have to hope that we do not have another hurricane for 3 years (16K x 3 = 48K). A total could be set so that the 10K would not go on forever; however, a 40K per year fund that could be used for capital improvements would be very attractive. A special meeting was set for Feb 2 to “interview” candidates for the board position that will have been vacant for the last 4 months. This board cannot be accused of acting hastily! BTW how many and who are the candidates? I have only heard of two others besides myself. A retreat was proposed to discuss future planning and goals. When I was elected to the board this was part of the orientation meeting. At that meeting the President instructed the board that we were a policy making group and in no way were we to have direct contact with employees. That was to be by the GM. I questioned weather or not this was a “special meeting.” As we were instructed by former board member Mr. Underwood, an announced meeting was a “special meeting” which would permit voting on issues and more importantly participation by the membership. There was a lot of discussion amongst the board, which basically, as I recall, came down to they would have the meeting without participation. This, according to Mr. Underwood last year, is contrary to our by-laws and is not permitted. See, I am already being more inquisitive. A motion to replace our current attorney was made. Mr. Kirby moved to table until the next called meeting (again another example of something that should have been addressed at a working meeting). Contrary to what little I know of Roberts Rules of Order there was discussion after the motion, I believe that a motion to table does not allow discussion. However, we should ask our resident expert (you know whom) about the RULES. What makes those in favor of changing attorneys (because he is not accessible) think a new person paid what we pay will be more accessible? Competent attorneys have real jobs and Lake Forest does not pay enough to have one at its beck and call. Our Treasurer reported that we are in sound financial shape. There was no one from the audience (again) to dispute this as there was every month last year. New Treasurer? I hope that this has not been too long for you to read, but I wanted to report on my evaluation of the meeting. Carl Kauffman
1/23/2006
1/23/2006
1/22/2006 At the board meeting last Thursday it was brought up by one of the board members that they would like to schedule a retreat in February for board members only. The "Slate of Five" seamed favorable to this idea, so that they could "form a master plan and to get acquainted with each other"! The above was a direct quote from a board member. Isn't this what working meetings are for? Aren't they about 3 months late to form a master plan and to get acquainted with each other! Also how much more time do they need to appoint someone for the vacancy on the board.
Actually, this writer agrees that the board needs to have an "orientation" meeting to bring all the new directors up to snuff on what needs to be done for Lake Forest and how things should work. It would not be surprising in the least to find that some of the new directors may not even know where all of the association's facilities are located. Fortunately they do have at least one member in Ed Kirby who knows. The previous president required such a meeting each year and it paid dividends in preparing the board for a successful year. At least, it did until we gained a member in Henry who dedicated himself to bringing progress to a standstill. In fact , the previous president even invited potential appointees to vacant board positions to attend. The above writer is correct that such a meeting should have been held some time ago. There is no reason that a meeting be held as a "retreat" at some remote location. Such retreats are meant for employees of an organization, who need to get away from the work place in order to concentrate on the task at hand. That is not the case here. These people are not employees and they have no duties that might interrupt their discussions. Lake Forest has ample facilities to host such a meeting. They would be treading on thin ice, if they chose to slink off to some secret meeting. Regardless of their intention, the perception of secrecy would be very serious. There is really no legitimate reason why members should not be allowed to observe the process. It would be perfectly acceptable to require that members not insert themselves in the discussions and it would also be acceptable to state that there will be no public participation. They need to let the general manager set up the meeting at some convenient time for each of them and publicize it to the membership. 1/21/2006 This needs to get to all residents of Lake Forest. Recd a ltr today to write/call the five city council members calling for support for the median improvement ideas. I emailed them all! It seems Daphne does not intend to actually do anything (they told the improvement comt we would get some help in 4-5 years?) unless we all show an interest and support the cause! The medians belong to Daphne, but they seem to be overwhelmed and can not maintain our SD year round. I can't see a jogging trail, too many trees and more would definitely impede the jogger. Although I think t he Mothers pushing a stroller will find it very difficult to use those mulched medians. Also, too much heat much of the year, it's never smart to jog or walk when it's over 90-95 degrees doctors says. We need to control the weeds and trash in the medians and keep Lake Forest clean it's up to us and Daphne maintenance, let's continue to make giant efforts and keep LF beautiful -it's up to all of us! 1/20/2006 just attended this monthly meeting and noticed that Ben Cruit was in attendance. Does this mean that he has paid his past due fees or is the board letting him attend?
1/19/2006
1/19/2006 1/19/2006 1/19/2006 Sometimes A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words: Take a look at this, city of daphne public works is picking up trash, I had to send this in because I'm so proud of public works , they are doing great things for Lake Forest. Roger L. Davidson / Adopt A Median 1/18/2006
1/18/2006 I have it on good authority that the golf course did a reasonable business on Monday. I think that Steve Jernudd was pleased with the amount of usage for the facility. In fact, I would say that Monday was better for our golf course than any other normal day of the week would be. We should be thankful that Steve and his staff took the effort to open the facility for the convenience of our members.
1/18/2006 Wait! Are you telling me that the new board thinks by keeping the emplyees at work, away from their families, on the so very rare holiday mondays, it will be worth it to the financial situation of Lake Forest. Come on? The only thing that I can see coming out of this decision is further irritation of the employees. Which the new board seems to so love doing. Did this idea come from another one of Henry's golf friends? I wonder?
1/17/2006 I just read the tennis league policy and I think that the policy is incorrect and has taken away rights of property owners. The fees to use golf, tennis, pools or any other amenity are for a property owner to decide if we want to pay as we play, or to pay a one time fee to play as many times as we would like. It is not to necessary join a club. As a property owner we are already members of the club as long as we pay our monthly dues. To try and hold someone hostage and make them pay a yearly fee just to play in a league is not right or fair. I do feel the property owner needs to pay for the round of golf or court time when representing Lake Forest, if they have not paid the annual fee. But to make a member pay a high fee when it would be less to just pay as you play is not right. I have also heard that the tennis pro thinks that if you have not paid a annual fee to play, then a lake forest resident can't play on the clay courts. Some one needs to straighten out the Tennis pro. He can't discriminate against property owners. We are already members of the club
1/17/2006 I got word this morning that the art show has been canceled due to lack of interest. Also, the club had not arranged to display the artists work properly. The club was going to just lay out the art work on table tops-- instead of the properly hung art works displayed at eye level on a white background. (So, maybe we can have a nice art show in the future)
1/17/2006
1/17/2006 Just wanted to send out a big "Way to Go!" to Friday Construction. I pass by the Rolling Hills project every day and although it is a slight inconvenience, it really is coming along nicely! There have been a couple of instances when the rain has caused some messes but the crew comes immediately and cleans it up! The crew is always there to direct traffic when they are blocking the road and are friendly and take time to do the extras like block the drainage ways so that any debris doesn't end up in the sewage system. Additionally, because I was so impressed with the job they are doing, I went over to the project off of Country Club Drive to check it out. There aren't any houses yet but the road is built and ready for construction. You should check it out. They have curbs and street signs and it is very nice. He has done a terrific job. I hate that Lake Forest is losing so much forest, but if some one had to come in and do the work I am so glad it was him! He seems to really care about the job he is doing and, in my opinion. he should be proud. Thanks for doing a good job! 1/17/2006 It is obvious that people will assume many things when they actually know nothing. John Peterson did indeed see Henry and Michelle at the Bayview. The discussion actually was about a committee meeting scheduled and to make sure we had a table to sit at in the Lake Room. As a side note, she showed us the office renovations that were underway, which neither Henry Lawson nor I knew about. She was proud to have a nice office and was showing the good work that she and Kenneth had accomplished. While visiting, she mentioned her excitement at being events coordinator and relayed marketing ideas she had to get fu rther utilization of the facilities. That was the extent of the so-called meeting with myself, Henry, and Michelle. In the future, I would recommend your readers not give much credance to any negative activism written by your anonymous submitters. It has been shown time and again that they only desire damage to the LFPOA, its board members and its members. Also, you should, like most every press source, seek input from people who are involved prior to publication of decietful and damaging submissions. For you to specifically call out my name as being involved in a By-laws violation is reckless and inconsiderate. I do, however, appreciate the opportunity to clarify the misunderstanding. Next time, lets do it before hand.
As to the mention of names in the submissions themselves, the justification is that those same rumors are flowing around the club by word of mouth, so reporting them here gives the subject of the rumor an opportunity to respond in order to set the record straight as happened in this case. However, if in the opinion of the webmaster, a piece is inappropriate or even libelous, it will not be printed. Also, criticism of the Board of Directors does not mean "they only desire damage to the LFPOA." If that were the case, every member of the Slate of Five would be guilty. Frankly, the statements made on the Grapevine to date have been pretty gentle, comparatively speaking. 1/17/2006 I live in Lake Forest, paid the membership lot fee and monthly dues so that my children may swim and be on the swim team. It is unfair that many MOVE OUT of Lake Forest or choose to buy elsewhere, but are allowed to not pay the nonvoting membership fee but only pay only a small additional fee to be on the swim team and swim all summer. It saves them a lot of money. In the past many have DEMANDED that their children be allowed to swim on the team at the SAME FEE of the residents!!! How ridiculous that!!! They are moving out or not buying here to SAVE money and then demanding that members subsidize the cost of entertaining their children! Lake Forest's only interest in a swim team is as a benefit to the members' children. Not a single house sell has ever hinged on the swim team winning or losing. It just keeps my children busy, but I resent paying for others who are better able to pay than myself, but are out to beat the system at my and all the other members' expense! At a board meeting a few months ago Tony Fastbender was furious that the former general manager was not charging the people whose boats had SUNK the monthly slip fee. I hope this new board does the RIGHT thing and charges the non voting membership fee along with the swim team fee to those people who should be paying for their children. It is KIND that we even allow them to do this. I have had this on my mind for a long time, but had no way to say it. I knew if I said it at a board meeting, I or my child would be attacked by the secret clique and hot heads. 1/16/2006
1/16/2006 Regarding the upcoming stated meeting, if like past meetings appear, everything will have been decided before the meeting, so agenda items will be presented and voted on with little or no discussion. Henry appears to be trying to run day to day operations. I've heard he and John Peterson had a meeting Tuesday night at the Bayview with Michele, the new events coordinator to rearrange offices. Was this so pressing that it couldn't wait for Steve to get back from vacation? Also heard that there was a meeting with Henry, Jay Ross, Karen last Friday afternoon? Again, was there something that couldn't wait until Steve could be present? The 1-13 submission was very disturbing. Appeared to come from an employee who is experiencing the issues raised. With these types of goings on, it wouldn't be surprising to see Steve J. move on. That would be a serious loss for Lake Forest, and one Henry and the board would regret very quickly due to Steve's popularity.
For everyone's information, the 1/13 submission did not come from an employee, but someone very knowledgeable about what is happening around the building. 1/16/2006 My family and I moved to LF a few months ago. I've been reading the grapevine for several months now to try and figure out what's going on here. It's a great resource and is well-written. Thanks for all of the time and effort you put into it. If you ever need help with the website I'd like to volunteer. It looks like your submitting all of the posts manually by editing the Grapevine page directly. If you ever wanted to move to a blogging system that would let you post stuff via online forms, I have alot of experience setting those up. Members could also post stuff for you to review before publishing and post their comments about the entries directly. I can give you some examples of my web develop work if you want. Thanks again for providing this service and contact me if you want to discuss me volunteering to help in any way with the site.
You might consider, also, dropping a note to Jim Moss, the Chairman of the Communications Committee. He might be interested in your help in putting out the official site that has not yet made its grand entrance. You can contact him by sending a message to the lakeforestcc@bellsouth.net address. I don't think he has an Email address of his own. Since I have a policy of keeping all communications to the website confidential, you'll have to contact him directly. 1/15/2006
1/15/2006
1/15/2006
Our Maintenance Director, Kenneth Eggers, has a piece in which he brings you up to date on work that is being done on our amenities. Kenneth does a good job for Lake Forest. He also introduces our new part-time maintenance person, Gary Lizenby. Welcome, Mr. Lizenby. John Bidney has a Sunfish Sailboat for sale. Give him a call at 626-7742 Tomasina Werner has a nice piece on "Why I moved to Lake Forest". Check it out.
1/14/2006 I think the Welcoming committee should hold their get togethers in the evening or on a weekend. Every body is not retired and I find that a lot of our households have both Mom and Dad on the job. 1/14/2006 I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND EVERYONE THAT CAN TO GO SEE THE NEW ART EXHIBIT IN FAIRHOPE AT THE EASTERN SHORE ART CENTER....THE BURQHA SHOW (SP)... THE COLORS ARE UNREAL, THE ART WORK OF THE PHOTOS IS UNMET AND IT WILL TOUCH YOUR HEART DEEPLY...I PROMISE! THE WOMEN IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE SO OPPRESSED IT IS DIFFICULT TO REALIZE HOW CIVILIZED WE ARE HERE IN WEST! 1/13/2006
Also, the Grapevine needs a dose of some good news about Lake Forest. We seem be under the fussy weather recently. While we certainly want the membership to know what is going on, there are some good things. Send us something positive. 1/13/2006 Speaking of losing focus: Henry is dropping the ball. 1/13/2006 The micromanaging of the employees has become a serious problem. It has escalated to the point that there is stress and distrust among the staff and there are employees who have taken advantage of Henry's lust for power and control. The webmaster eloquently stated that the board may not know what and who Henry is micromanaging. I agree. I believe the board also needs to be aware that the employee(s) or member(s) who call Henry instead of working with the interim manager or going over management's head when her/his immediate desires are not met as perfectly or as quickly as wanted is causing tremendous discord. How would you like to work in an environment where you are working and doing your best to keep members, manager and board members happy and you are constantly taken off your project to please a new desire of an employee or member who is using the board president as a pawn? It is very stressful to have to look over your shoulder and wonder when Henry will come lurking with a new project and later that week have him or another board member or management ask why the old project was set aside. There are issues that need to be addressed. The submission stated that there should be interaction between the board and the employees. True. Again, board members need to know that as they are new, there will be those (members or unfortunately, employees) who will "kiss up" to obtain their own agenda. I know that it is especially difficult to investigate reports from employees as the board members must feel like they really need some one to trust, but until the new board has the true picture and has the whole situation in hand with a new manager and a published procedure in place; they surely must realize their own vulnerability. The board needs to be aware of what Henry is doing! The slate of five was elected for change, the people who elected them surely didn't imagine Henry being at the facilities running amok and causing a long time team to spend their time wondering who was calling Henry and when they would be pulled from one project to another and criticized for both. The interim manager is in a terrible position. The employees are going over his head, the board president is acting like a manager, the board members are backing reports without investigating them... he hasn't been treated fairly in that his decisions are tentative pending approval from the board's micromanagement department and the employees and members know that. Come on guys, where are those great changes you promised? I know.... in the planning phase :) :) 1/12/2006 There are a ton of new items of interest on the site today. There is an announcement from the Improvement Committee and one from the tennis professional which you may access from the Headlines area of the Home Page. The February Yard of the Month was added today. The calendar has been updated. Check it out and let me know if I have missed something. 1/12/2006 To say that a board is micromanaging employees is a pure fabrication. The President, under the by-laws, has administrative and executive responsibilities. Other than that, can an instance be cited where board members are directing employees? To think that the President has no responsibility or authority when it comes to employees, is ludicrous. How else does administration take place? You also have to consider that board members are asking the President about specific activities and their cost and function. As the board looks at the operation of the club, there will be interaction with employees. The new board is looking at ways to improve operations. For example, published purchasing procedures are basically not in existence. One area the board will work on is establishing policies and procedures for club expenditures. Do the readers think that we should just turn over the checkbook to employees and managers? Should we not require bids on certain equipment purchases? Once published operational controls are in place, the "micro-management" of activities becomes moot. It is not a matter of trusting employees or not, it is a matter of the board having a fiduciary duty to its members and taking it seriously.
First of all as to the accusation of micromanagement on the part of some of the board, there have just been way too many reports from a variety of people to ignore that one. The writer quoted the by-laws saying that the president has administrative and executive responsibilities. That is true! However, he left out the next line, " subject to the authority and policy guidance of the Board of Directors". Henry has a history of bypassing management to issue instructions to employees. That is a fact. It is not very likely that most of the board, who have to work everyday, know what Henry is doing around the association offices while they are trying to make a living. It puts the employee in a very difficult position. He or she works for the general manager and is assigned responsibilities by that manager. Now, which task does the employee perform, the one he was paid to do or the whim Henry has today? Every organization must have a structured hierarchy of management in order to function efficiently. Nowhere does a board member pretend to be an organization manager and issue instructions to employees except in Lake Forest. The administrative and executive responsibilities are implemented by interacting with management to relay the wishes of the board. The writer is concerned that Lake Forest have published purchasing procedures. As one who has audited, been audited and taught auditing, I agree. To go a bit further, there should be published procedures for most functions and responsibilities of everyone in the organization. Such a policy benefits everyone, employees, management and the board. This is a fact. Employees are happier when there are written policies. Does that seem strange? Not at all, that document gives the employee security in that if he or she follows the policy, he or she should be secure in the job. Situations like the ones reported, where a board member is meddling, create insecurity about the job. It is our understanding that there is a document. It may need updating. They all do. It also needs to be examined periodically. That is one of the responsibilities of management, the Board of Directors and the auditor. A professional audit should examine the policy manual and compare it to actual performance. The previous general manager did make it a policy to get multiple bids for major projects. Like any other executive, he did develop relationships based on earned trust with some vendors and contractors, but even then he would compare their prices with the market. However, the fact that he did that does not negate the responsibility of the association to document standard operating procedures as they apply to purchasing. The writer's assertion that once the published procedures are in place, this issue of micro-managing becomes moot, is probably incorrect. The writer asked for instances where members of the board have been instructing employees. A couple come to mind. Henry reportedly is the person who has put the staff to work on pools during the middle of the winter, while we still have hurricane damage to repair. Toni was reported to have pulled the Food & Beverage Director away from the job on a Friday night during Karaoke and held her captive for a long time while customers were waiting to be served. No manager would allow that to happen. Recently, it was reported that Jim said that if they couldn't take care of business during one meeting, they shouldn't be on the board. Well, something similar can be said about employee conferences. If the board member cannot make the effort to schedule an employee conference at a time that does not interfere with the performance of their duties, etc. etc, etc...... There is no question the a board member should be able to meet with employees and discuss issues for the good of the association. Unfortunately, according to numerous reports, there is more going on than that. The writer also asked if we, "should just turn over the checkbook to employees and managers?" Actually, with the addition of seven words at the end of that question, the answer is yes. The seven words are "with oversight by the Board of Directors" That oversight is implemented in part by being closely involved in support of management, frequent detailed financial reports, and the insistence on external, independent audits. The big problem right now is the situation regarding a permanent general manager. Our golf professional is covering the job for us right now. However, until we have someone with experience in club management and finance in that position, our association is going to be in a very tenuous state. The golf pro cannot be expected to do battle with a rogue board member, when it is really not his primary responsibility. The search committee needs to get busy and find us a good person. 1/11/2006 The Board is micromanaging Lake Forest employees and the club Presidents. You can believe that's why Kara quit! The Garden Club and the Women's Club run strictly on our own, we go to the Manager if we have questions, needs! Certainly not the Board President or any board member, never have, never will! Most of us have been here for a long time, and most of the board has not! Give us a break, you need to be asking us what you can do for us, not demanding our clubs to do things for you!
1/10/2006
1/10/2006 Oh, Please!! Daphne says it will take 4/5 years to put down mulch to make a walking trail? Don't look for too much to happen too soon! And our streets are so much more important than the trail. Before election last fall we were promised improved streets. It's January and we have seen only patches here and there, biggggg patches. Trying to improve these heavily used roads with temporary patches will not do it! The board must constantly stay on Daphne in order for us to get any thing! How does Lake Forest actually get respect from the City Council....let's work on that! 1/10/2006 When I leased a house in here, we had the grand dinners/champagne breakfasts with ice carvings, there was so much theft, and so much waste, it took a long time before they shut it down, up to $300,000 a year loss....did anyone prosecute....no one bothered....they were also carrying it out of the yc's back door, and the employees were enjoying seafood dinners with king crab after closing time, found out by a friend of mine who involved management the evening she was there and saw this. If we can get across to the board it's difficult to make any profit on food, on alcoholic drinks, yes, but food, no! 1/9/2006 In regards to the board member submission today, how are they planning, small unannounced meetings? We used to call this action, if it is happening, "secret" meetings! 1/9/2006 Good article on keeping debris out of the medians and teamwork to correct the problem. However, one thing I would like to point out is that some lots in the subdivision are pie shaped and have only a very small area for placing things for pickup. This makes it very difficult for some of us to follow the guidelines. Our lot only has about 3 feet for this purpose but we have always managed with this small space. Our neighbors have no space at all for placing debris unless you count using their driveway which would preclude them from using their vehicles. However, we have always let them use our little 3 foot area. Any ideas for a solution?
1/9/2006 Well, I and many others know why Cara left. I will be more than happy to share. For one Henry continues to grind on everyone, for instance the club holidays have been changed, he is mandating breakfast at the 19th hole, along with a few of his other brilliant ideas. The ship is sinking and slowly the rats are jumping. We better be careful or we will lose more.
There is nothing wrong with trying out an idea like "Breakfast at the 19th Hole', but they must increase the staff to do it or reduce other services. If they increase the staff, costs go up. F&B losses go up. However, that is OK, if the members utilize and enjoy the new service and the bottom line of the association stays in the black. The Finance Chairman, Joe Moseley, must keep an eye on that. What we don't want to see happen is the financial position of the association to weaken to the point where the "let's dump it all' crowd comes back with their ideas of selling or giving away everything. 1/9/2006
In the coming months, you will see great strides in setting up a consortium of local, state, and federal officials whose sole aim will be to improve the D'Olive Creek watershed and our lake. Your President, Henry Lawson, and others have already begun the work of assembling this consortium. Perhaps you would like to see a story about a previous consortium. You know, there's a great deal of information out there on the Lake Forest lake problem for those who are interested enough to ask. 1/9/2006 What justification would Henry Lawson, President of the Board, have for wanting Jay Ross out as our attorney? Why don't we know and how can we find out if this action is justified! I sugt that saying they are making the pools a priority is just a decoy for other plans the board may be making.... By the time Henry gets his ducks in a row, we'll hear the plan....getting rid of all formerly connected to Lake Forest (management and board members) is part of the plan and then he'll go to Plan B. Watch out! We need more people to go to the Board meetings...don't you think?
1/8/2006
1/8/2006 Regarding your question of what happened at the Improvement Committee meeting, Ken Eslava, the Public Works Director for the City of Daphne, and Stan Clanton from the Utilities Board were there. The perception of those present was that they are firm in their goal to help Lake Forest. Ken had charts and diagrams dealing with the walking trails that are being planned in the community. He said that the project might take four of five years to complete. He also said that as money and resources are acquired, the city will be paving streets in Lake Forest. 1/8/2006
1/8/2006 __- Interesting article about the Improvement Committee meeting. It seems that Moss can’t talk with out putting his foot in his mouth. First, the 30 year old decaying subdivision comment, now, that if they can’t do the work in one meeting they should not be on the board. If I’m not mistaken the Daphne city council and the Baldwin County school board have working meetings to prepare for the regular ones. Does this mean those members are incompetent? For the Lake Forest board the working meeting was to be a place to discuss and plan for votes, as you said. People could come, hear, and then have time to lobby for or against ideas prior to the stated meeting. Now an agenda item can be voted on without anyone’s prior knowledge. How is this open and community minded? I heard that the meetings were being dropped because the new board members felt it interfered with their regular jobs to have to be out an extra night. I was also told that some board members got an e-mail concerning a meeting between some of the board and city people regarding the lake. The person who told me about it was surprised that one of the recipients of the e-mail was Mike Dubose. What is his connection to this?? More payback? I am wondering who you think might be the person appointed to the fill the empty slot, Kauffman or Ethington?
You probably don't need to worry about Dubose. He didn't do anything when he was actually a member of the Board of Directors, missing about as many meetings as he made. So, it is not likely that he will do much as a member of the "kitchen" board. The only time he actually got involved in an issue was when the board was considering what kind of fee would be charged to non-members to use the Lake Forest pools. He campaigned to allow non-members to use the Lake Forest pools without buying a non-voting membership. The reason, apparently, was in order to have a strong Lake Forest swim team. 1/8/2006 Well, that is bad news, Cara quitting LFPOA. If Steve, her husband, does not want the managerial job, I am going to preclude that we will see that aspiring young couple move on to greater things. There is nothing more difficult than planning and executing parties/meetings for the public. Cara & Steve could find much easier jobs just as lucrative anywhere else! So the board needs to offer Steve more money or we're going to lose him! What do others think? 1/7/2006
1/7/2006
1/7/2006
Happy New Year,
1/7/2006 Hey Webmaster, Have you heard the latest on the attorney? Apparently, Mr. Lawson can't get Jay Ross "kicked out" so he has decided to just ask him to resign! That's right, Henry Lawson asked Jay to resign! What was he thinking? I wonder if the board knows about this!?! Surely Henry wouldn't be doing this alone.... like maybe on a personal agenda????
PONDER THAT ONE!
1/7/2006
I read your comment and inferred from them that you thought the new board was not planning on doing anything. Planning on the doing is exactly what is happening. By planning before doing, perhaps better decisions can be made for our members. The rush to do something, and be criticized for the action, does not serve the LFPOA or its members. There is a deliberate effort by some board members to NOT do anything right away. They feel the time taken to study budgets and operational practices are more important than "doing something" at this point in time. There will be pushes to do things coming forward. I think every member will be pleased with the approach the board takes in these actions. I would suggest the readers and submitters here thoughtfully recommend specific actions that they feel warrant doing. There was talk about pools getting attention while other things that needed attention being ignored. Please, list those specifically so that readers may know what is needed. Please, know that the board, or even the staff, can not see every needed repair or improvement. If there is an item needing attention, report it to staff or a board member where it can be dealt with. Every such thing will be listed and reviewed for priority. If warranted, the expenditure will be undertaken. If not, when it becomes the highest priority it will be dealt with then. Pretty simple stuff, really. Let us know your concerns..and I do not mean some ill concieved notion that we have an agenda about us. We (speaking for myself and most new board members) only want the LFPOA to become stronger and better managed and to have positive effects on property values and our quality of life.
1/6/2006 There is an improvement committee meeting tonight at 6:30. We have been told by board member, Jim Moss, that there will be no more board working meetings. He said that if the board couldn't get everything done at a regular meeting, then they shouldn't be on the board. As for the improvement committee, this is where all of the regular members (not board members) come up with some great ideas and follow through with them. It is the regular members who volunteer their time and sweat to get things accomplished. I guess we wear the blue collars and the board wears the white ones! We still have a vacant seat on the board. I would hope that this board would show a little common sense and choose an experienced person such as Carl Kaufman. He has integrity, knows the by-laws and would vote his own conscience. It is for the above reasons that they probably won't give him the position. I, too, would like to make a bet that they fill the empty seat with Jim Ethington. After all, we need another inexperienced hot head on the board. NOT!! I understand that everyone has an opinion and that they may differ from others, but, there are right ways and wrong ways to present them. Personal attacks at the annual board meeting, Jim, is not the right way. You showed us all your lack character and demeaned yourself. We have not heard if this new board has fired our attorney. He has done a good job for us for many years and is a property owner in Lake Forest. I only mention Mr. Ross living here because I believe in supporting our own if at all possible. He would have a personal cause in this besides being an employee. If they have let him go, who have they hired and what is the cost difference to our association, if any, between Mr. Ross and a new attorney? We also still have two vacant committee chairs on the board. Recreation and greens. If there is no recreation person, how is it that the pools seem to be a top priority of this board? Why are we doing so much for the pools in the winter when they are not in use and ignoring our facilities that are in use and could use some help? I agree with a previous comment to the grapevine, that this is pay back for help on the past election. Thank you for giving us a place to express our thoughts and feelings unedited. I would never do this at a board meeting because of the response I would receive from them and you never know what might be printed about you in our local free rag sheet. I have seen both of the above happen more often than not.
Mr. Ross owns property in Lake Forest but doesn't actually live here anymore. He has done an excellent job for the association. As far as we know, he is still the attorney for the association. 1/5/2006
1/4/2006 The Garden Club meets on the first Thursday of each month. Social hour starts at 9:45; then the meeting and we usually always have a speaker of interest! All new residents to Lake Forest are welcome. Can't grow a flower, we'll help you do so! 1/4/2006
Yes, how about including more of the non-golf events and, while I understand that it is time consuming, sure would be nice if it were more up to date or show this month and next month? I appreciate your time and effort. Especially enjoy clicking on link to under-construction official faux lfpoa site. 1/4/2006
I
think it is fantastic that everyone had a wonderful New Year's
Celebration at the Yacht Club! I would like to mention a few things
that, I bet went unnoticed, but is well deserving of our thanks! There
was a tremendous amount of work done BEFORE the festivities. We owe a
big thanks to Cara and Gina who worked tirelessly to make sure the event
was a Grand affair, from decorating to moving tables and taking last
minute reservations! Our thanks are due Chris, the marina manager, who
picked up all the palm leaves and trash to make sure the grounds looked
their best and added new sand to the ash cans. We need to thank the
facilities maintenance Supervisor, Kenneth, who stopped by numerous
times on his day off to check and make certain the air conditioning was
perfect and the cleaning was done with special care. Thanks to Tony who
brought extra chairs over for last minute arrivals.
1/3/2006
1/2/2006
1/2/2006
1/1/2006
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There is a special meeting
of the Board of Directors scheduled for Thursday night, February 2nd.
I believe the topic is the lake. Be sure to go to the 19th Hole
for this important meeting.