Why We Fight
I would like to thank the Preserve Plantation legal team and our group of interveners, objectors and contributors who helped with our presentation last night at The Garden City Planning and Zoning Committee meeting. To date we have had four votes before the City Fathers---P&Z and City Council and we have not had one City Father vote in our favor. Our presentation last night was by far our best and we still got zero votes---which we knew was going to happen going into the meeting.
Mr. Leroy and I said that our mission last night was to change the vote of at least 4 people in the room as we move forward to other actions by the HOA Board. Judging by the number of people that came up to us after the presentation and at Applebee’s for our after party, we did a little better than that.
To the several people who asked me last night why I was pursuing such an up hill battle I wanted to respond in writing.
I first of all believe in our cause. It was obvious to me last night that two very different narratives have been presented to the two factions involved in this dispute. Hats off to Mr. Gustafson and his PR campaign. When Mr. Becker mentioned that Judge Medema had ruled in our groups favor in the motion to dismiss and on his most recent Protective order the crowd as if on que, yelled out “LIES”. All they have to do is read the real language the documents. Instead, they have relied on a propaganda campaign. READ THE DOCUMENTS, I say.
Secondly our group has made the issue of the Master Declaration Contract too complicated. The words are simple and so is the concept. The Master Declaration is a simple contract between not only homeowners and the HOA Board, but between homeowners and each other. I invite all to read judge Medema’s words in his dismissal of the River Club’s motion to dismiss.
It is not subject to a majority vote, and in fact it is designed to protect individual property owners’ rights and the rights of a minority of property owners---and the golf course is a property owner subject to the contract. It also assigns a duty to the HOA Board to protect those rights.
I read nearly all the comments as they came online to the Garden City planning Department. Of the great majority that I read that supported the Brighton Application, only 6 specifically mentioned issues pertinent to the application. Almost all were testimonials to Mr. Gustafson and complemented his care and upkeep of the golf course. I agree and I say well done, sir and thank you, but that has nothing to do with the contract. As one of the people that came up to me last night opined it would be like my wanting to get out of my marriage contract and I used the majority votes of homeowners in my neighborhood as a means for justifying my divorce. The vote and the contract have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
As far as standing up for a minority I have been informed by two disparate sources who I hold in high esteem---Bobby Knight and Mother Teressa.
In a famous interview with Connie Chung on 60 mins Ms. Chung asked a question that gives relevance to my positions today. She said, “Don’t you know that everyone thinks you’re a buffoon and a bore”. His response: “The people of Indiana don’t think that, nor do the students at IU think that, and most importantly my team doesn’t think that, and they are the ones that count. My neighbors along the golf course perimeter and on Fair Oaks are the ones that count with me.
Secondly, I have been informed for most of my adult life by a debate on Bill Buckley’s firing line between Mother Teresa and the famous Harvard Economist John Kenneth Galbreath that I watched as a college student. I will paraphrase from memory. Professor Galbreath said to Mother Teresa that she will never be successful in stamping out poverty in the world because there was too much of it and her ministry in Calcutta would fail. Her answer that I can quote: “We are not called on to be successful, we are called on to be faithful”, explains to me why good people in any and every case stand up for factions and minorities when they believe the cause is ethical and right. The property rights of my neighbors are such a cause---win or lose, and we don’t plan on loosing anytime soon.
We are hopeful of winning the legal case before Judge Medema. If the Master Declaration Contract (MDC) is not operative and the contract between me and my neighbors is not binding, then I will, to I am sure the applause of many River Club members and neighbors, put up a for sale sign and move away. I don’t want to live in a community where neighbors don’t fulfill their legal obligations to each other. If you want to see what a weak HOA looks like and what happens in a few short years when covenants aren’t maintained go to Eagle Hills Golf Course and observe for yourselves the deteriorating conditions, there because of a weakened HOA Board.
We all want to save and preserve our golf course. The Master Declaration Contract has been used in every land division involving our community since 1978, 15 times, contrary to the words of a well-known City Father. And the Master Declaration Contract has been central to the sale of every home since 1978---every buyer receives a copy from the Title Company upon occupying their new home.
The question: DOES THE MASTER DECLARATION CONTRACT APPLY TO THE GOLF COURSE will be answered by Judge Medema.
How the HOA Board handles their fiduciary duties to even a minority of homeowners who are most affected by the new development will determine what happens next.
STEADY EVEN PRESSURE