Lansdowne HOA BOD Election 2012

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Let me start off this post by being clear that I do not know Jeff Chapman and as far as I know, I have never met him.  I am basing my comments solely on his candidate statement, his posts on Lansdowne Living, and an email he wrote that was forwarded to me.  Nothing personal.  I welcome his response in the comments below and his clarifications or corrections on the issues I raise.

 

As it stands, I would not endorse Jeff Chapman as the person we should elect to the Board of Director's and I strongly encourage residents to consider the other candidate.  The candidate statements are both in the comments below.

 

My primary concern with Mr. Chapman is that while he has the usual impressive resume, it does not seem he is ready to serve in this kind of leadership capacity. I base that on the following observations:

 

1] His candidate statement is rather generic and unspecific.  He is not putting forth the kind of vision we need on the issues the community faces.  He doesn't even mention them.

 

2] He has written numerous posts on here that were oddly emotional.  These include attacks on fellow board members he would have to work with for the next two years at least.  It is not clear that he would be able to provide the bridge we need on the board to end the difficulties we have faced between its members.  I am afraid that he would only intensify the internal animosity.

 

3] The email that was forwarded to me was also emotional and contained a warning (a "caution") to a fellow resident.  This kind of threatening tone is exactly what we need to remove from the culture of the board.  It is unclear whether he would have the temperament to deal effectively with critiques and with residents issues. 

 

4] He refers very clearly in this email to the "volunteer" nature of this position.  This is not the attitude we need from a person who steps into this role in our community.  This is an important political job in a pretty large HOA and we need people who provide the focus it demands.  The only board members I have heard constantly refer to the volunteer nature of the position were ones that were not the best fit for the role.

 

5] He is closely associated with numerous members of previous boards that have been responsible for the excessive spending we are still working to address.  Presumably he is supportive of the lack of fiscal conservatism  shown in the past as he mentions no changes he would like to see made to the budget. 

 

6] His statement contains what I think is a telling comment:

 

Process: As a former military officer, I believe in following established procedures and protocols to conduct the community's business.  Our HOA meetings should reflect the camaraderie and sophistication for which our neighborhood is known. 

 

It is interesting that he sees this as a key issue facing the community.  Nothing about Openband or the High School or the budget.  Process.  What works in the military is not often (or ever) what is best in a diverse community.  It may be what a military officer is expected to do, although I would expect them to exercise judgment in their work as well.  I would imagine most residents are not concerned about more rigid process in our HOA.  They are concerned that the BOD use judgment and leadership in the execution of its duties and in addressing resident concerns. 

 

This statement was what sealed my decision not to vote for Mr. Chapman.  We need real leadership, not more process and platitudes from another board member that focuses on himself and his volunteerism and not the issues of the community.


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Permalink Reply by johnf on October 19, 2011 at 10:51pm

John Beckley


I appreciate your consideration for nomination to the Lansdowne HOA board in 2012. My name is John Beckley and I have lived in Lansdowne since July 2010. As a business operator in Loudoun County, I understand the changes and challenges we face as a growing county. In 2011, I joined the Lansdowne Finance Committee to understand better our community and gain greater insight into what we do well as a community and ways in which we can improve. I also felt that our Board operated in an environment of limited transparency and wanted to get a better understanding of what was taking place in our community.

The major contribution I would like to bring to our current board is that of harmony for lack of a better word. It has become apparent to me and others that the public/private discord among the current Board is not healthy and conducive to a positive environment in our community. I often wonder how we are viewed by our neighboring communities not to mention our friends and families.

I have 20 years of experience with people and business development in the full service and fast casual restaurant industry. I understand the need to put people first in order to create a connection between business and customer. Our "customers" are the residents of Lansdowne. I ask the question: is a connection made throughout our community?? I believe there is room for improvement. 

With the inevitable legal battle with our TV/Phone/Internet provider - Openband in 2012, it is my intention to ensure that the pending lawsuit has minimal impact on our operating budget next year and years to come. Also, as a resident of West Goose Creek, I am aware of the need for a more equitable approach to capital projects in Lansdowne across all neighborhoods. Lastly, with the beginning phases of the new high school already underway and the impact this will have on our neighbors, I am committed to working closely with all parties involved to help facilitate what will hopefully be a seamless as possible transition.

Lansdowne is a great community - we are fortunate to have access to the amenities and events that Lansdowne has to offer. As this neighborhood evolves, so must the way we operate our community. Our approach to issues and causes needs to change. I intend to bring compromise to a Board that at times seems more concerned with who is right as opposed to what is best for the neighbors of Lansdowne on the Potomac. I will take a fair and balanced approach - one where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

 

Candidate Statement

Jeff Chapman


Lansdowne is an incredible neighborhood that provides an ideal setting for families at all stages of life.  My family and I have lived Lansdowne for almost six years. Over that period of time, I have become very active in the community serving on our Covenants Committee for the past two years and volunteering for the Lansdowne Lightening swim team as well as various activities at Seldens Landing.

As the neighborhood prepares to face some major decisions-new high school, Open Band, roads, budgets-over the next few years, it is important to elect board members that have solid business and leadership experience. To that end, I am the CEO of a software and consulting firm that services government and commercial clients.  Prior to this position, I served as the Deputy Executive Secretary for Economics and Finance at the U.S. Treasury Department.  In that capacity, I focused on the government overhaul of domestic capital markets.  Prior to Treasury, I co-founded, led, and sold a firm formed to meet post-9/11 needs of national security.  I am a former US naval officer and decorated combat veteran.  I hold academic degrees from the United States Naval Academy, University of Virginia, and Harvard University.

While there are many issues our HOA board will face over the coming years, I will hold steadfast to the following principles when working with the staff and fellow board members:

 

Open-mindedness: I intend to engage my fellow board members and draw upon the collective knowledge and skills of our diverse community to find the best solutions for our neighborhood. 

 

Transparency:  The Homeowners Association is at the end of the day a mechanism in which we govern ourselves.  As such, I will push for transparency in communications from the board to the community on all subjects.

 

Process: As a former military officer, I believe in following established procedures and protocols to conduct the community's business.  Our HOA meetings should reflect the camaraderie and sophistication for which our neighborhood is known.      

With your support, I look forward to helping guide our neighborhood along a path of prosperity.
Permalink Reply by johnf on October 19, 2011 at 10:58pm

I don't see a way to correct my original post, but I noted an error after posting.  I indicated incorrectly that Mr. Chapman did not mention the issues that face our community.  This is incorrect.  In rereading his statement, I noted he had in this sentence:

"As the neighborhood prepares to face some major decisions-new high school, Open Band, roads, budgets-over the next few years, it is important to elect board members that have solid business and leadership experience."

I had missed the the first time I read through because it is completely unspecific.

By comparison, his opponent is more specific on key issues, including - for example - Openband:

 

John Beckley

"With the inevitable legal battle with our TV/Phone/Internet provider - Openband in 2012, it is my intention to ensure that the pending lawsuit has minimal impact on our operating budget next year and years to come."

 

To be clear also regarding Mr. Beckley, I also do not know him and have never met or spoken to him either.  My vote for him will be based solely on the combination of my analysis of Mr. Chapman's statements as well as his candidate statement.

I apologize for the error in my original posting.  I strive for accuracy, but am only human.  :-)

 

Permalink Reply by johnf on October 22, 2011 at 1:34pm

I received the below email from Robin Crabtree.  I found it interesting.  The attachment she references is on our community's website. 

I found the stats on legal fees particularly interesting.  It had been something I (and others) had complained about when we had a lawyer as President.  We were overspending on legal fees, due to a lack of leadership and focus.  In any case, this board has been the most effective I have seen since I moved here and with the recommended election of John Beckley, I think we will see further improvements.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

Dear Residents:

In the 10 months Nancy and I have been on the Board, we have succeeded in accomplishing 3 major objectives that would not have been accomplished without our efforts: 
1)  Address the OpenBand contract in a meaningful way;
2) Reduce non-collection legal expenses to an acceptable level;
3) Get Anne Voltz back in the pool teaching our children to swim.

Anne is a beloved swim instructor who was banned from the indoor pool for teaching swim lessons by the prior Board in an exclusive vendor decision.  She is now back teaching and has many more students than before.  This is because she is an excellent swim coach and our families deserve a choice.

The non-collection legal fees for 2009 and 2010 were $73K and $78K.  2011 YTD is about $17K and we expect the final number to come in at $24K.  This is due in large part to Nancy's and my insistence that our HOA counsel need not attend HOA meetings and also that all legal expenditures be approved by the board rather than authorized unilaterally by the President.

I have attached the OpenBand lawsuit to this email and I recommend that everyone reads it.  The most frequent question we get is regarding OpenBand pricing.  Some believe their pricing is fine, but it is not.  Here is why: when anything is purchased in bulk, a significant reduction in price is typical.  This is because the purchaser assumes risk.  We have a bulk-billing contract with OpenBand, but we are paying more than double the going bulk-billing telecom rate in Loudoun County (ask your friends in Belmont and Brambleton what they pay to Comcast and Verizon). In fact, we are getting a mere 10% discount on non-promotional, non-bundled retail rates.  For this, we assume the risk of paying for every single home in Lansdowne every single month whether they pay their dues or even use the service.

This arrangement was and is unfair and is the product of self-dealing by the Declarant.

The Board owes everyone a comprehensive informational email message on the status of the OpenBand lawsuit.  Nancy and I have not been able to make inroads into the communications failures of the Board as of yet, but we are hopeful for the near future.

There are two candidates for the upcoming HOA Board election.  John Beckley is the one Nancy and I know is going to help us accomplish the rest of our goals, especially, improving communications and transparency and working as a group to pursue a legislative remedy to the OpenBand problem that, if successful, will save our HOA hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.

If you can not do anything else for the HOA this year, please do this one thing: vote for JOHN BECKLEY.

The proxy ballot should be in your mailbox today or Monday.  You can email me back or call me and I'll pick it up, you can mail it in the envelope provided, or, you can vote online as described below.  Please ensure only one owner votes for one candidate.  Lastly, please talk to your neighbors about voting for John Beckley, too.

Thanks for your support throughout the years and words of encouragement.  They mean a lot.

Best regards,
Robin

 

Permalink Reply by acbzw3 on October 22, 2011 at 3:39pm

I do not know either of these HOA BOD candidates personally and neither candidate statement really tells me much about where they stand on critical community issues such as Openband, HS-8 at the NCC site, or the budget.

So before we all run out and vote I think these 2 candidates need to state their positions on the important issues.   I plan to attend the forum on Tuesday at the Potomac Club to meet the candidates and hopefully get a feel for where they stand.

It has been mentioned to me that John Beckley co-habitates with Nancy Abramson's sister.   I do not know if this is true.   But since Nancy is the head of the election committee I think it should be disclosed if they are related in this way.   If so, it tells me that Nancy and Robin Crabtree have hand picked a candidate to help carry forward their agendas.   Nancy and Robin have been working against having HS-8 at the NCC site, so I am especially concerned about having a majority vote on our BOD that will be working against HS-8.

 

Permalink Reply by Larry Miller on October 22, 2011 at 4:37pm

 


      Fact Check Time:

                                   August 2011 year to date Legal Fees non-collections $89,918                     

                                   August 2011 year to date Legal Fees collections         $28,369

     Once again Mrs. Crabtree has sent out inaccurate information.  I will leave discussion of her other points to others to interpret.

 

     Larry Miller

     Treasurer

      LOTP, HOA

 

 


  johnf said:                                  

I received the below email from Robin Crabtree.  I found it interesting.  The attachment she references is on our community's website. 

I found the stats on legal fees particularly interesting.  It had been something I (and others) had complained about when we had a lawyer as President.  We were overspending on legal fees, due to a lack of leadership and focus.  In any case, this board has been the most effective I have seen since I moved here and with the recommended election of John Beckley, I think we will see further improvements.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

Dear Residents:

In the 10 months Nancy and I have been on the Board, we have succeeded in accomplishing 3 major objectives that would not have been accomplished without our efforts: 
1)  Address the OpenBand contract in a meaningful way;
2) Reduce non-collection legal expenses to an acceptable level;
3) Get Anne Voltz back in the pool teaching our children to swim.

Anne is a beloved swim instructor who was banned from the indoor pool for teaching swim lessons by the prior Board in an exclusive vendor decision.  She is now back teaching and has many more students than before.  This is because she is an excellent swim coach and our families deserve a choice.

The non-collection legal fees for 2009 and 2010 were $73K and $78K.  2011 YTD is about $17K and we expect the final number to come in at $24K.  This is due in large part to Nancy's and my insistence that our HOA counsel need not attend HOA meetings and also that all legal expenditures be approved by the board rather than authorized unilaterally by the President.

I have attached the OpenBand lawsuit to this email and I recommend that everyone reads it.  The most frequent question we get is regarding OpenBand pricing.  Some believe their pricing is fine, but it is not.  Here is why: when anything is purchased in bulk, a significant reduction in price is typical.  This is because the purchaser assumes risk.  We have a bulk-billing contract with OpenBand, but we are paying more than double the going bulk-billing telecom rate in Loudoun County (ask your friends in Belmont and Brambleton what they pay to Comcast and Verizon). In fact, we are getting a mere 10% discount on non-promotional, non-bundled retail rates.  For this, we assume the risk of paying for every single home in Lansdowne every single month whether they pay their dues or even use the service.

This arrangement was and is unfair and is the product of self-dealing by the Declarant.

The Board owes everyone a comprehensive informational email message on the status of the OpenBand lawsuit.  Nancy and I have not been able to make inroads into the communications failures of the Board as of yet, but we are hopeful for the near future.

There are two candidates for the upcoming HOA Board election.  John Beckley is the one Nancy and I know is going to help us accomplish the rest of our goals, especially, improving communications and transparency and working as a group to pursue a legislative remedy to the OpenBand problem that, if successful, will save our HOA hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.

If you can not do anything else for the HOA this year, please do this one thing: vote for JOHN BECKLEY.

The proxy ballot should be in your mailbox today or Monday.  You can email me back or call me and I'll pick it up, you can mail it in the envelope provided, or, you can vote online as described below.  Please ensure only one owner votes for one candidate.  Lastly, please talk to your neighbors about voting for John Beckley, too.

Thanks for your support throughout the years and words of encouragement.  They mean a lot.

Best regards,
Robin

 

Permalink Reply by johnf on October 22, 2011 at 7:22pm

acbzw3,

 

I think you are right to want to know the positions better of these candidates.  It would be helpful to others if you post what you learn about positions.

 

On relationships, it should be noted that Jeff Chapman is very closely aligned with John Whitbeck.  You can see that through his posts on here.  He also organized a fund raiser for John Whitbeck's failed recent run for state office.  John Whitbeck has called him a "friend".  It seems likely that he would support John Whitbeck's positions on the board.  It is well established that those positions are controversial and not fiscally conservative in nature and thus I would imagine that Jeff Chapman would not bring a fiscally conservative sensibility to the HOA.  It is tough to say though since he has not really supplied much in the way of clarity on his thinking.

 

On the school issue, my understanding is that the board took no position whatever personal positions people may have had.  I certainly cannot say what anyone's position would be, but it is not likely they will have much influence on that particular one.  Our BOS choice is more critical there.  I am leaning towards Ronis at the moment since Buona has not come out clearly in any way on Openband and has taken campaign money from them.  I will make a post on that.

 

I personally just want whichever option is fastest for the school.

Permalink Reply by acbzw3 on October 22, 2011 at 10:21pm

Johnf,

You are correct, our HOA Board has not taken an official position on HS-8, but Robin and Nancy have been working personally against HS-8 at the NCC site.

True, HS-8 at the NCC site is moving forward and it is in the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors hands, but the BOS will need some cooperation from our HOA Board during the process.  If you want whatever option is fastest for the school, then I am sure you will agree we don't need a HOA Board that tries to create hurdles in the process.

I agree with you that Ronis is our best choice as far as Supervisor candidates. 

Permalink Reply by robin on October 23, 2011 at 9:15am

Hi, Larry:

 

Thanks for the catch!  I definitely mischaracterized the amount.  What I meant to say is what I reported to the Board in a previous email, that is "non-collection, non-OpenBand legal fees" are approximately $17K YTD.  I guess we can just agree that the approximately $72K in legal fees we spent YTD on OpenBand is a strong indication for the need to work together on a legislative remedy so we can save ourselves the estimated million dollars it may cost to see the litigation to a conclusion.  Below, I am posting my most recent email to Senators Herring and Vogel and ask that all residents make a similar plea.

 

Best regards,  Robin

robin crabtree robincrabtree4@gmail.com
to Jill Holtzman Vogel <jh@holtzmanlaw.net>,
senator@markherring.org
bcc Nancy Abramson <nabramson@insightcorp.com>
date Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 9:54 AM
subject Legislation to address OpenBand's Monopoly in Loudoun County Communities
mailed-by gmail.com
 
  Sep 27

Dear Ms. Vogel and Mr. Herring:

I am writing to provide you with a copy of the lawsuit filed on August 16th by Lansdowne on the Potomac against OpenBand and their various affiliates and to ask you for your assistance.  Our legal fees to address this matter are estimated at $1 million or more and many in this community of 2155 homes cannot afford their share during these difficult economic times.

More to the point, they should not have to be burdened by the cost to eliminate this outrageous abuse of the laws designed to prevent such exclusivity, a situation that the Declarant orchestrated  in a self-dealing scheme during the declarant-control period and thrust upon our residents.

The Commonwealth of Virginia enacted a law for condo associations to relieve them of the possibility of this abuse.  Ms. Vogel and Mr. Herring, your SB1253 bill that was introduced last session was a step in the right direction.  Please let me know how the language in this legislation has been amended to ensure all single-family communities, past, present and future will receive the same protection condo owners now enjoy under the law.  This is a very important issue with substantial financial hardship consequences to those residents who are affected throughout the Commonwealth.

Your time and assistance in curtailing these abuses will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you very much for your service to the citizens of Virginia.

Sincerely,
Robin Crabtree

 


 

Larry Miller said:

 


      Fact Check Time:

                                   August 2011 year to date Legal Fees non-collections $89,918                     

                                   August 2011 year to date Legal Fees collections         $28,369

     Once again Mrs. Crabtree has sent out inaccurate information.  I will leave discussion of her other points to others to interpret.

 

     Larry Miller

     Treasurer

      LOTP, HOA

 

 


  johnf said:                                  

I received the below email from Robin Crabtree.  I found it interesting.  The attachment she references is on our community's website. 

I found the stats on legal fees particularly interesting.  It had been something I (and others) had complained about when we had a lawyer as President.  We were overspending on legal fees, due to a lack of leadership and focus.  In any case, this board has been the most effective I have seen since I moved here and with the recommended election of John Beckley, I think we will see further improvements.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

Dear Residents:

In the 10 months Nancy and I have been on the Board, we have succeeded in accomplishing 3 major objectives that would not have been accomplished without our efforts: 
1)  Address the OpenBand contract in a meaningful way;
2) Reduce non-collection legal expenses to an acceptable level;
3) Get Anne Voltz back in the pool teaching our children to swim.

Anne is a beloved swim instructor who was banned from the indoor pool for teaching swim lessons by the prior Board in an exclusive vendor decision.  She is now back teaching and has many more students than before.  This is because she is an excellent swim coach and our families deserve a choice.

The non-collection legal fees for 2009 and 2010 were $73K and $78K.  2011 YTD is about $17K and we expect the final number to come in at $24K.  This is due in large part to Nancy's and my insistence that our HOA counsel need not attend HOA meetings and also that all legal expenditures be approved by the board rather than authorized unilaterally by the President.

I have attached the OpenBand lawsuit to this email and I recommend that everyone reads it.  The most frequent question we get is regarding OpenBand pricing.  Some believe their pricing is fine, but it is not.  Here is why: when anything is purchased in bulk, a significant reduction in price is typical.  This is because the purchaser assumes risk.  We have a bulk-billing contract with OpenBand, but we are paying more than double the going bulk-billing telecom rate in Loudoun County (ask your friends in Belmont and Brambleton what they pay to Comcast and Verizon). In fact, we are getting a mere 10% discount on non-promotional, non-bundled retail rates.  For this, we assume the risk of paying for every single home in Lansdowne every single month whether they pay their dues or even use the service.

This arrangement was and is unfair and is the product of self-dealing by the Declarant.

The Board owes everyone a comprehensive informational email message on the status of the OpenBand lawsuit.  Nancy and I have not been able to make inroads into the communications failures of the Board as of yet, but we are hopeful for the near future.

There are two candidates for the upcoming HOA Board election.  John Beckley is the one Nancy and I know is going to help us accomplish the rest of our goals, especially, improving communications and transparency and working as a group to pursue a legislative remedy to the OpenBand problem that, if successful, will save our HOA hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.

If you can not do anything else for the HOA this year, please do this one thing: vote for JOHN BECKLEY.

The proxy ballot should be in your mailbox today or Monday.  You can email me back or call me and I'll pick it up, you can mail it in the envelope provided, or, you can vote online as described below.  Please ensure only one owner votes for one candidate.  Lastly, please talk to your neighbors about voting for John Beckley, too.

Thanks for your support throughout the years and words of encouragement.  They mean a lot.

Best regards,
Robin

 

Permalink Reply by johnf on October 23, 2011 at 11:24am

acbzw3,

 

What is your thinking on what our BOD could do vis a vis the school issue?

Permalink Reply by Larry Miller on October 23, 2011 at 11:56am
Robin,

Let me understand your position regarding OpenBand. In your first comments you take credit with Nancy Abramson for "addressing the OpenBand situation in a meaningful way". As a result we are now engaged in an expensive law suit. Now you suggest a course of action to save us all the expense of this suit through legislative action. You have posted an email you sent to two legislators supporting a law that if enacted like the sister condo law
would not solve our situation due to the time limits incorporated within the condo law. In your email you bcc Nancy but not the rest of the HOA Board. This is typical of your
leadership style. You ask our residents to support your hand picked candidate John Beckley so you will have a third vote on the Board to help you and Nancy " achieve the rest of your goals", whatever they are.

Unlike John Footen, I have met and have interacted with both candidates, so I do not need to rely only on a 300-400 wood candidate statement to decide on my choice. I have interacted with John Beckley on the Finance Committee for the past 10 months of his membership. I have known Jeff Chapman for 2 years in his work on the Covenants Committee and socially as a resident of our community. I find both men serious in their work and
interested in contributing to their respective committees and the community. The
distinctions that bring me to support Jeff Chapman include his commitment to service of
others in his adult life both in the military and government, his intelligence, his
maturity and good sense and the fairness and concern he has demonstrated towards our
residents while working with them to meet covenants compliance. As a resident for 6 years he has a history and better understanding of our community and the promise of Lansdowne we all bought into. I see Jeff Chapman as the candidate who brings the skills, the
experience, the values and the commitment to Lansdowne that is necessary for an effective Board member and leader for our community.

I ask all Lansdowne residents to join me in voting for Jeff Chapman.

Larry Miller
Treasurer
Lansdowne HOA



robin said:

Hi, Larry:

 

Thanks for the catch!  I definitely mischaracterized the amount.  What I meant to say is what I reported to the Board in a previous email, that is "non-collection, non-OpenBand legal fees" are approximately $17K YTD.  I guess we can just agree that the approximately $72K in legal fees we spent YTD on OpenBand is a strong indication for the need to work together on a legislative remedy so we can save ourselves the estimated million dollars it may cost to see the litigation to a conclusion.  Below, I am posting my most recent email to Senators Herring and Vogel and ask that all residents make a similar plea.

 

Best regards,  Robin

robin crabtree robincrabtree4@gmail.com
to Jill Holtzman Vogel <jh@holtzmanlaw.net>,
senator@markherring.org
bcc Nancy Abramson <nabramson@insightcorp.com>
date Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 9:54 AM
subject Legislation to address OpenBand's Monopoly in Loudoun County Communities
mailed-by gmail.com
 
  Sep 27

Dear Ms. Vogel and Mr. Herring:

I am writing to provide you with a copy of the lawsuit filed on August 16th by Lansdowne on the Potomac against OpenBand and their various affiliates and to ask you for your assistance.  Our legal fees to address this matter are estimated at $1 million or more and many in this community of 2155 homes cannot afford their share during these difficult economic times.

More to the point, they should not have to be burdened by the cost to eliminate this outrageous abuse of the laws designed to prevent such exclusivity, a situation that the Declarant orchestrated  in a self-dealing scheme during the declarant-control period and thrust upon our residents.

The Commonwealth of Virginia enacted a law for condo associations to relieve them of the possibility of this abuse.  Ms. Vogel and Mr. Herring, your SB1253 bill that was introduced last session was a step in the right direction.  Please let me know how the language in this legislation has been amended to ensure all single-family communities, past, present and future will receive the same protection condo owners now enjoy under the law.  This is a very important issue with substantial financial hardship consequences to those residents who are affected throughout the Commonwealth.

Your time and assistance in curtailing these abuses will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you very much for your service to the citizens of Virginia.

Sincerely,
Robin Crabtree

 


 

Larry Miller said:

 


      Fact Check Time:

                                   August 2011 year to date Legal Fees non-collections $89,918                     

                                   August 2011 year to date Legal Fees collections         $28,369

     Once again Mrs. Crabtree has sent out inaccurate information.  I will leave discussion of her other points to others to interpret.

 

     Larry Miller

     Treasurer

      LOTP, HOA

 

 


  johnf said:                                  

I received the below email from Robin Crabtree.  I found it interesting.  The attachment she references is on our community's website. 

I found the stats on legal fees particularly interesting.  It had been something I (and others) had complained about when we had a lawyer as President.  We were overspending on legal fees, due to a lack of leadership and focus.  In any case, this board has been the most effective I have seen since I moved here and with the recommended election of John Beckley, I think we will see further improvements.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

Dear Residents:

In the 10 months Nancy and I have been on the Board, we have succeeded in accomplishing 3 major objectives that would not have been accomplished without our efforts: 
1)  Address the OpenBand contract in a meaningful way;
2) Reduce non-collection legal expenses to an acceptable level;
3) Get Anne Voltz back in the pool teaching our children to swim.

Anne is a beloved swim instructor who was banned from the indoor pool for teaching swim lessons by the prior Board in an exclusive vendor decision.  She is now back teaching and has many more students than before.  This is because she is an excellent swim coach and our families deserve a choice.

The non-collection legal fees for 2009 and 2010 were $73K and $78K.  2011 YTD is about $17K and we expect the final number to come in at $24K.  This is due in large part to Nancy's and my insistence that our HOA counsel need not attend HOA meetings and also that all legal expenditures be approved by the board rather than authorized unilaterally by the President.

I have attached the OpenBand lawsuit to this email and I recommend that everyone reads it.  The most frequent question we get is regarding OpenBand pricing.  Some believe their pricing is fine, but it is not.  Here is why: when anything is purchased in bulk, a significant reduction in price is typical.  This is because the purchaser assumes risk.  We have a bulk-billing contract with OpenBand, but we are paying more than double the going bulk-billing telecom rate in Loudoun County (ask your friends in Belmont and Brambleton what they pay to Comcast and Verizon). In fact, we are getting a mere 10% discount on non-promotional, non-bundled retail rates.  For this, we assume the risk of paying for every single home in Lansdowne every single month whether they pay their dues or even use the service.

This arrangement was and is unfair and is the product of self-dealing by the Declarant.

The Board owes everyone a comprehensive informational email message on the status of the OpenBand lawsuit.  Nancy and I have not been able to make inroads into the communications failures of the Board as of yet, but we are hopeful for the near future.

There are two candidates for the upcoming HOA Board election.  John Beckley is the one Nancy and I know is going to help us accomplish the rest of our goals, especially, improving communications and transparency and working as a group to pursue a legislative remedy to the OpenBand problem that, if successful, will save our HOA hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.

If you can not do anything else for the HOA this year, please do this one thing: vote for JOHN BECKLEY.

The proxy ballot should be in your mailbox today or Monday.  You can email me back or call me and I'll pick it up, you can mail it in the envelope provided, or, you can vote online as described below.  Please ensure only one owner votes for one candidate.  Lastly, please talk to your neighbors about voting for John Beckley, too.

Thanks for your support throughout the years and words of encouragement.  They mean a lot.

Best regards,
Robin

 

Permalink Reply by johnf on October 23, 2011 at 12:41pm

I think what we see here is typical of the bitterness and anger of Larry and those he has been engaged with on the board and why we need a different culture.  I supported Larry when he ran for the board (along with Nancy) and now I regret it having seen him display anger at residents and fellow board members to the point of practically yelling in community meetings.

 

Note that he doesn't defend the lack of positions by Jeff Chapman.  He doesn't explain Jeff's placement of importance on "process" as a key issue for our community.  The lack of leadership exhibited by Larry and his cohorts while on the board will continue if we don't make more changes.  There is much to be done and the continued blocking of action by the coalition on the board that Larry is a part of needs to end.

 

Further, Larry remains illogical in his positions.  He attacks Robin for an "expensive lawsuit" that he also voted for.  He mischaracterizes her letter.  Perhaps he doesn't quite understand it.  His lack of understanding of the issues is reminiscent of when John Whitbeck was the president and was sending out community blasts about how the Openband Franchise was going to be approved.  You can see that information by searching in this site.  His email is posted here and my attempt to politely correct him is on here too.  He didn't understand then either the complexities of the Openband issue.  We really need a change folks.  We need people on the board who are ready to focus on ISSUES and not PROCESS.

 

Larry and John Whitbeck want their handpicked man (and friend) on the board so that they have a third vote they can control and so that they can continue to push their agenda.  That agenda is:

 

1] Big (and unnecessary) Spending

2] Non-Fiscal Conservative

3] Threatening fellow residents over trivial issues

4] MORE PROCESS (because our HOA needs more process! :-)

5] Continued slowing and blocking of effective action against Openband

 

If this is the agenda you want, then vote for Jeff Chapman so that John and Larry can continue to do what they want to do.

 

I have seen the same anger exhibited by Larry in an email forwarded to me that was written by Jeff Chapman.  You can also see Jeff's anger by searching for his posts on this very site.  Isn't it time the "angry people" who threaten and yell at other residents stop getting on the board?

 

What we need are positive people who know how to get along with others and unite our community after the bitterness that has been generated by the board over the last 4 or 5 years.  Jeff Chapman will only bring us more anger and more divisiveness.  John Beckley is our opportunity to begin healing and moving the community forward.

 

Jeff Chapman, 

 

What are your specific positions?  How would they differ from Larry and John?  What positions of Nancy and Robin do you support?  Show us that you are an independent thinker.  What have you been doing to work with Nancy and Robin over the last year?  How will you work with them after exhibiting so much anger towards them historically?  Will you stop "cautioning" residents who disagree with you?

 

Permalink Reply by johnf on October 23, 2011 at 12:53pm

Just to be clear, I am not angry with anyone.  I don't really know any of these folks well (except Nancy) and so it isn't personal for me.  Even Larry, who has yelled at me personally - I hold no animosity towards.  I have lots of extreme left leaning liberal friends like him and John Whitbeck and Jeff Chapman who get highly emotional easily. I don't take it personally.

 

I should say that those I criticize I am sure are perfectly nice people to their friends and family.  This is a discussion of issues and politics.  And the critiques can get quite hard sometimes since the issues are important on which people disagree. 

 

When John Whitbeck won his last BOD seat, I wished him well even though I opposed and criticized him and even volunteered to try to work with him.  That turned out to be a failure because my critiques remained valid. If Jeff Chapman were to win, I would wish him the best and maybe even try to find a way to work with him for the general good. When John Whitbeck lost to Randy Minchew, I wished him the best of luck and John Whitbeck is fully behind Randy Minchew's election now.

 

That's how it works in politics. I hope all will remain civil, no matter how vigorous future discussions on this election may be.

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