Dave West's rebuttal to Tony Thompson

Mr. Tony Thompson,

This is in reply to your letter dated May 17, 2014. I found your letter to be a model of hypocrisy,
misinterpretation and “untruths”. I can assure you that your petition does not conform to the
Bylaws. You cannot ask for an officer’s removal on the petition, which you clearly did no matter
how circumspectly written. By including the demand that the “new board give serious
consideration to the termination” of an officer you have wasted the time of everyone
involved in this matter. You clearly do not understand the rules and the laws involved
or choose to misinterpret them to your own ends.

You suggest that because I and the rest of the Board rejected your petition we are acting
contrary to the wishes of the majority of the membership. Nothing could be further from
the truth. The membership, I believe, wants the Board to follow the rules and laws in our
administration. This has been my platform since the beginning and why I was elected.
You state that “Over two dozen signatures are on that petition asking for nothing more
than a meeting and you are denying them that right.” I have the petition in front of me as
I write this, there are sixteen signatures on the petition not “over two dozen”. And they
are asking for more than a meeting, they are asking for a recall of a duly elected member of
the Board and for his removal as an officer, the members meeting is incidental to this process.
Yes, they have the right to ask for a vote to recall a Board member and it could have
happened except for a poorly written petition. Sixteen out of ninety one members does
not constitute “majority wishes”. Only after a vote will the wishes of the majority be known.

You also seem to ignore the rights of the Board members who are, first and foremost,
Association members. They have the right of due process in any proceedings of this
Association. This is ensured by following the rules and laws. By calling for Mr. Kelley’s
removal as an officer in your petition you ignore those rules and laws. This disregard for
the rules opens the door to law suits and why I included this warning (it was not a threat)
for your benefit. In my research on the recall of Board members, lawyers have stated that
this is one of the most frequent reasons for lawsuits involving HOAs/POAs. Following
the rules and laws helps protect the Association from lawsuits.

The question posed by Ms. Johnson which I answered and posted on our website was a
valid question. You refer to my answer as a “bunch of codes and wordy phrases”. What do
think laws and rules are? I took the time to list all applicable laws and rules so that Ms. Johnson
and anyone else can research them and not just have my word on this question. Obviously you
do not understand or do not wish to understand the laws and rules and try to sweep them
away by referring to the “rights of the people”.  The rights of the people are stated in our
Constitution and Bill of Rights. Laws are codified protection of those rights. Yes, the legal
system is flawed, as we all know, however this does not give you the right to ignore those
laws that are not in your best interest or that you do not agree with. Those items that
require a membership vote are spelled out in our CC&Rs and the Bylaws.

Like you Mr. Thompson I am a busy man and have no time for your “foolishness” or for your
“misinterpretations” and “untruths”. Your petition was declined because as you wrote it, it is in
violation of the rules. Your attempt to blame myself and the Board for your failure is irresponsible
and shows a lack of accountability.

Present a petition to remove any Board member, which follows the rules, and the 
Board will go forward with the vote and members meeting as required.

The membership also needs to know what I believe is the true purpose of this petition. You are a
member of a small clique which includes the assumed target(s) of an Association lawsuit (on the
unlawful purchase of a motorgrader with Association funds). This petition is a transparent attempt
to “break up” the Board in the hope of stopping the lawsuit. My belief is supported by your
inclusion of Ms. Johnson's question on the Boards right to sue, independent of a membership vote
and your statements about the costs of a lawsuit. What does the lawsuit have to do with the recall
petition?

I urge all members to carefully read your letters and your petition as well as my replies.

Respectfully,

David West,
Secretary, Highroads Property Owners Association

Here is the petition