Thread: Quandry

From time to time someone here has posted of a situation ...I am working through something that has me very distressed...

A couple of years ago I was asked to join our POA board (same as HOA technically). Our area was once, when formed, THE recreation destination in Alabama..since it has fallen way below that....it happened fairly quickly as a lot of property was sold but not a lot of development, especially on the side roads off the main road around the lake.

Some very poor people, some very lost people, some good people...live in these unpaved back roads. And over the many years these roads have become a real mess.

Now I need to digress just a bit...earlier this year the board president asked me an another member who have accounting experience to do an audit so we agreed tp audit back about 4 years...nothing was amiss but I gained a lot of insight into why the board gets so little done..financially it is VERY limited...but due to our study and working on a budget we believe they have a much clearer picture to move forward....where we can cut, where we can't...


A few days ago the president got a call from a construction company building a 300 home subdivision in a neighboring city...this company had 100 loads of Chert...clay dirt...and wanted it moved so they offered to donate it to us to spread on these back roads and in conjunction with this temporary improvement we have a committee going after the county to pave them...likely a 10 year process.....


5 of 9 voted yes but the cost to US would be $2400.00 which is our annual surplus based on our income to date. Keep in mind we are starting a lein process which is likely to generate more but has not yet....


The person I am working with on the financials voted nay....I did not challenge her decision as she stated it was fiscally irresponsible...I disagreed but left it there...


SHE approached me again yesterday asking questions like, 'How would it be determined which roads would get the it'. I responded, the ones with the most people on them and from there the ones in the most need...


Here is where the train started to derail....she responded, 'We drove those roads a few weeks ago and there were beer cans and cigarette butts and trash on some of them....'


I responded, 'Well some are paying members also and work every day and have to drive those bad roads....and as a board it is our responsibility to do what is best for our whole community'.


Now keep in mind this....other than maintaining our common areas, beach, civic center...ect....we have no PRESSING urgent needs...yes a playground would be nice but we can't afford that at all plus our liability insurance would increase....


This morning she again stated, among other things, we needed to consider their 'lifestyle'...


OK...I knew then I was in the red zone! But she and I agreed to only deal with what we had planned on addressing this morning...finalizing last year's audit and presentation to the board of the tentative budget based on last years expenditures...


When I walked in she said we need to talk...'I looked at the check book and a LOT of money is going out of this office...'. Just to be clear I am not the treasurer and I don't write checks or sign them...but I am AWARE of everything paid and why....I told her that...


Now keep in mind, I am the Committee head...I informed her I had looked at the check book and nothing had been spent that was not absolutely necessarily....and told her we needed to not talk about that right now...she proceeded to tell me I needed to read Proverbs.....and I cut her off, and said, 'No, I don't. You passed judgement on our neighbors and deemed them unworthy of our help' and that I was goin home....I picked up my computer and walked out....


All I keep hearing in my head is 'let them eat cake'...and I am angry and hurt to the point of tears....I have to work through this to be able to continue to work with the board and try to make a difference....

I don't know what I am asking...maybe I just needed to vent.....

I hear ya, Sis - Sometimes you need to just get it "off your chest" so to speak.

I'm sure after some more prayer and meditation, Father will give you the wisdom and direction you need in this situation.

I just found it terribly disturbing to hear her compare our neighbors to an inner city and to act like the association is a charity....I felt like Jesus and wanted to turn over some money changers tables!!!!


I am much better now but I do think I just needed to let her know I disagreed with her...


Being able to come here and rant to you folks helped.....I really didn't want to talk to anyone....and I sure didn't want to post on FB....thanks to those who just listened and maybe said a little prayer for me....

Originally Posted by Quest

I just found it terribly disturbing to hear her compare our neighbors to an inner city and to act like the association is a charity....I felt like Jesus and wanted to turn over some money changers tables!!!!


I am much better now but I do think I just needed to let her know I disagreed with her...


Being able to come here and rant to you folks helped.....I really didn't want to talk to anyone....and I sure didn't want to post on FB....thanks to those who just listened and maybe said a little prayer for me....

You'll find a lot of petty tyrants in those HOA leadership positions. We had a little old lady (literally little, like 4 and a half feet tall and in her mid 70's), looked and sounded all sweet but was ruthless. She called some parts of our community "the ghetto" and wouldn't repair the sprinklers or allocate funding for landscaping, etc., a real peach of a lady. Anyway, she eventually took off after it was discovered she had embezzled and gambled away $700,000.00 of the associations money down at the local casino.

Go by your hunches Quest, I always thought the lady was a fraud but everyone else was like ... Oh, sweet old Betty ... lol

Originally Posted by Quest

...she proceeded to tell me I needed to read Proverbs..

Tell her you read this


Proverbs 14:21 - Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor (ESV)