The OpenBand Town Hall Meeting had little attendance. However, the meeting was enlightening. Our HOA President (Mr. John Whitbeck) made it clear that our Board of Directors (BOD) have decided not to take any further actions (at this time) to terminate all, or even the video portion of, or renegotiate a new contract between OpenBand and Lansdowne On The Potomac (LOTP).

Janine Leete (Vice President of LOTP) provided a timeline of events as to the evolution of the OpenBand contract with LOTP and the OpenBand Franchise Agreement. Ms. Leete verbalized that our BOD has received several written opinions from our HOA attorneys but we (the attendees) were not told what the opinions stated. Ms. Leete attempted to quantify residents’ opinions of OpenBand from various pieces of information and sources. I believe she analyzed less than 200 residents’ comments (through a collection of online survey, emails, and web postings). Also, Ms. Leete said that the BOD could not quantify how many of the tallies were duplicate (more than one resident in a home) or who may not even be a HOA member. Interesting that Ms. Leete’s analysis was a breakdown of resident’s opinions of OpenBand’s technical aspects and not about the contract. Nancy Abramson asked why Ms. Leete’s breakdown did not include the 100+ emails to the BOD as to residents’ request to take action towards the termination of the existing OpenBand contract. Ms. Leete ruffled through her paperwork (binder) but never gave a clear answer to why or how many residents requested the termination of the OpenBand contract.

Mr. Whitbeck, Ms. Leete, and Mr. Larry Miller (Treasurer of LOTP) made it clear that our BOD will not survey the community about the OpenBand contract because the BOD believes it is too difficult to ask the community what they want to do about the OpenBand contract. Mr. Whitbeck also informed the meeting attendees that the LOTP BOD does not follow the requests of the community (whether majority or minority). Mr. Whitbeck stated that they (the LOTP BOD) do what the LOTP BOD decides is in the best interest of the community whether the majority of the residents agree or not.

Mr. Whitbeck had announced that the BOD has been in contact and communicating with the BOD of a neighboring community who are also locked into a 25/75 year OpenBand contract. After asking the BOD which of them has been in direct communication with the neighboring BOD, Mr. Whitbeck corrected his statement and said it was only he who has spoken with and communicated with the neighboring BOD.

In summary, my opinion is that our BOD is not interested in what the residents of LOTP want done about the existing OpenBand contract and they do not plan to seek further input from the residents. Additionally, I think the LOTP BOD want to skew the statistics and facts on OpenBand’s relationship with LOTP and OpenBand’s legal status within the county of Loudoun. Furthermore, Mr. Whitbeck (and the rest of the BOD through verbal silence) announced that our HOA is NOT a democratic governing body. My feeling, based on last night’s meeting, is that our HOA Board is a dictatorship.

It is difficult for many to attend HOA meetings but if you seriously care about your HOA and our wonderful community I ask that you please try to attend the meetings (that are of grave consequence to our residents) to let our BOD know that you are listening and you care. I too find it difficult to attend meetings so I alternate with my wife when possible or I alter my schedule (periodically) to try and attend highly important meetings. If you can have at least one member of your household to attend a meeting then this is helpful. You do not need to speak but you can listen to better grasp the severity of the subject. Otherwise, email our BOD directly and inform them of your concerns and interest. Also, request that you receive a response from the BOD indicating their receipt of your email and to provide you a response to your concerns, as well. In many cases, I never receive either an acknowledgement or a response from our BOD but I still email to voice my opinions and concerns.

There are many complex issues that our community is facing and it is often hard to keep up with or grasp the details of current events. I am glad that we have Robin Crabtree and Nancy Abramson caring for our community and our rights. They spend many laborious hours and nights keeping up with what our HOA BOD is doing and what other communities and Loudoun County are doing that can or may impact LOTP. We are lucky to have these fine and intelligent ladies watching out for us. If you would like to know more details about issues our residents have or you would like to know more of how you can help and participate, then contact these two ladies. They believe in transparency and that LOTP belongs to the residents and not to the resident board members alone.

If you are unhappy with OpenBand or you would like to have the 25/75 year OpenBand contract terminated or renegotiated then please sign the multiple community online petition to be presented to the HOA Boards and the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors: http://moshmouth.com/OBPetition.php

You can also view and maybe join the Lansdowne HOA Facebook Group at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61376791463&ref=mf

Also, remember that this year we will be voting for two seats on the LOTP BOD. If you want to see change, we need to change the seats and our odds. I hope you vote for change and put two new people on the LOTP BOD which will take serious focus and action on what the residents want and not self serving positions.