Three Former POA Board Members Discuss Resignations

— A denied request for a board-only executive session could have been the spark that forced three Property Owners Association Board of Directors members to resign.

Nancy Owens, Susan Wyatt and Bob Evans resigned at the beginning of an executive session July 14. Owens said she was the first to resign. She was followed by Wyatt, then Evans.

Each sent out lengthy e-mail to various people on July 15 describing why they resigned. They had been in office since May 2009.

Owens said one of her main reasons for leaving was because she asked for the July 14 meeting to be a board-only executive session, but was denied the request by Chairwoman Anita Werts. Owens said she, Wyatt and Evans wanted to discuss the process of the performance appraisal and contract negotiation of the association’s General Manager Tommy Bailey.

Owens said the sensitive topics were supposed to be discussed with only the board members before bringing them to Bailey’s attention. She felt the raw data about his performance evaluation, until approved by the rest of the board, was “not for the recipient’s eyes and ears.”

“I was very, very clear about requesting the board-only executive session for those particular reasons, and the chairman of the board refused that request,” Owens said.

Evans agreed with Owens on wanting a board-only executive session. He also said he expressed in writing on two other occasions he wanted to have a board-only executive session to discuss the responsibilities of both Bailey and the board. He said Werts did not approve those requests.

“I didn’t think it was possible or productive to work in an environment where the other board members would not meet with us unless the general manager was present,” Evans said.

Evans said he and the other former members were rendered ineffective when Bailey found out they did not support his contract or rating.

Werts said they would have broken the association’s bylaws if Bailey was excluded from the meeting. Section 5 in those documents discusses the general manager and states he is an ex-officio member of the board who has the right to take part in the discussion but not vote, she said. The bylaws also state the only board meeting he cannot attend is one where he is being evaluated, she said, adding Bailey was not going to be evaluated July 14.

“We already have his contract in place. We weren’t evaluating him,” Werts said.

Werts said Bailey’s contract was completed in May.

Wyatt said not letting them have a board-only executive session was “the icing on the cake.” During the July 14 meeting, Owens said Werts interrupted Wyatt by saying, “I call the shots around here.”

“It sounded like something out of a 1930s gangster movie,” Owens said.

Werts said she never said that. She said she interrupted Wyatt to ask her if she read the bylaws and told her, “You don’t call the shots,” after Wyatt said the resigning members wanted to discuss Bailey’s contract. Werts said she was trying to follow the rules set in the bylaws about when Bailey could be present.

“The bylaws call the shots, not me,” Werts said.

Wyatt said she also thinks the board was being run by Bailey instead of the directors, which was a contributing factor to her resignation.

“The general manager is supposed to work for the board and not the other way around,” she said.

Wyatt said this made her feel ineffective as a board member. Owens and Wyatt said they believe they were in the voting minority and lost most issues by 5-3 votes.

Evans said although he felt he was in the voting minority on important issues, he still thought “his views were heard.” However, Werts said there were “only two times that they voted against, or in a different manner, than the rest of the board did.”

Werts said she believed most of the board was alike in its thinking throughout the year. She said if they felt pressed to vote in the majority, “that’s not what they should have been doing for the community.”

Bullying was also a reason for Wyatt’s resignation. She claims Werts sent her threatening e-mail, but provided no other specifics. Werts denied the accusation.

Wyatt also said much of the turmoil and reasons for her resignation occurred during committee meetings and executive sessions “that I’m not allowed to talk about.” Board members sign nondisclosure agreements which prohibits them from discussing details from those closed-door gatherings.

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