Lake County News | California - The votes are in for Clear Lake Riviera election

Shore Line Realty www.shorelineatthelake.com

Games

Arcade

Sudoku

Sections

The votes are in for Clear Lake Riviera election

Written by Ray Perry

Wednesday, 25 June 2008

CLEAR LAKE RIVIERA – Election results for the Clear Lake Riviera Community Association is in and is arguably the most active and controversial election in the history of the community.

With 1,971 votes cast for seven candidates for four positions on the board, the race was very close with only nine votes between fourth and fifth place.

“This was the highest turnout ever,” said outgoing First Vice President Sid Donnell. “We had well over 500 ballots in this election. I think the highest we had before was 412 in 1998.”

There is a possibility of 2,810 ballots that could be cast; the quorum requirement is 10 percent of this or 281 ballots.

The results are:

Donna Moeller, 324; appointed

Walter Zuercher, 312; appointed

Patricia Howell, 286; appointed

Anthony Gniadek, 280; appointed

James Irwin, 271

Darrell Watkins, 252

Denise Frane, 246

The new board’s term will start on July 1 and the first public meeting will be on July 22 at the association office. They will replace Alan Siegal, Sid Donnell and Sandra Orchard.

The election is not without its controversy. There was a misprint on the ballot's instruction and a followup letter was sent out in an attempt to clarify the error.

Some are claiming that this makes the ballot invalid. Lois Townsend was very vocal during the count, stating that it was an illegal election.

Several residents have been expressing their dissatisfaction with the actions of the association and advocating for it to be disbanded. There has been a letter-writing campaign to one of the local newspapers expressing their opinions. Anthony Gniadek and Darrell Watkins ran on the platform that the association be dissolved.

When asked why the association didn’t respond to the allegations the response was that they wanted to take the high road and not get involved in the controversy.

Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email this

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (9) Add Comment

Subscribe to this comment's feed

well darrell...
written by smurf, June 25, 2008

back to the drawing board, eh?

Thanks, Smurf
written by Kruk Ed Strait, June 26, 2008

..and all the others who voted for me but not back to the drawing board. Alan and sid are no longer on the board. They resigned when letters let the public know they were violating the term limits of the CC&R's. Also, Tony will be on the board if the election isn't thrown out (Lois Townsend is right, it should be thrown out. Most people voted for two under false instructions). Tony is on a campaign to close the association down. The association also has a giant "quorum" problem that won't go away. There will be more letters until this law is kept. The CC&R's say a quorum is 51 per cent of the owners. They're operating on 51 per cent of the vote. That's a very big difference. We're surprised Ray Perry hasn't caught on yet.

Quorum issues
written by RayPerry, June 26, 2008

Where does it say in the CC&R's about the election quorum? This is a quote from the by-laws article V section 4;

Quorum and Approval by Ballot.
(a) The presence in person or by proxy of ten percent (10%) of the Association members eligible to vote constitutes a quorum for transacting business at any meeting of the members.
(b) Approval by written ballot is valid when the number of approvals equals or exceeds a majority of the ballot votes cast, and the number of ballot votes cast equals or exceeds ten percent (10%) of the membership eligible to vote.
(c) Each eligible membership is entitled to one (1) vote.

There were 771 ballots cast, as I stated in the article only 281 need be cast to make a quorum.

I have just read all of the CC&R's and By-laws and this is the only place I can find that refers to quorum's. Where are you getting your information? I would sincerely like to see where a 51 percent of the owners are needed to vote to either elect officers or even to change the CC&R's.

Quorum??
written by Kruk Ed Strait, June 26, 2008

Ray says he read all of the CC&R's and didn't find "quorum." He must be reading amended CC&R's from Sid Donnel or Alan Siegal. The CC&R's, of course, can't be amended without 51 per cent of the owners which means they've never been amended. Ray should get the original CC&R's and read them. He won't find them at the association. If he does even more research he'll find the studied and deliberate attempt, ten years ago, to change the quorum without a quorum. Does Ray honestly think that Lois Townsend and her friends are imagining all this?????

CC&R\'s Misinformation
written by RayPerry, June 27, 2008

Darrell:
Weren’t you on the board back then? I guess you would know. I have been a property owner here in the Riviera for several years and I know to use the current CC&R's, (as amended June 22, 1991) not the proposed ones. I'd like to see a copy of what you are talking about. I try to be fair and impartial in my reporting and if I'm wrong I will be the first to admit it.

If what you are saying is true, why hasn't anyone said anything till recently? Why wasn't it brought up at any of the many meetings I have attended? Where is the paper trail? Show me proof.

It seems very unlikely that a quorum of 51 percent of the property owners would be called for. It is difficult to get 10 percent of voters to show up at any election much less 50 percent plus one.

In the research I have made I have reported the truth. If you have something I should see, I would be glad to look at it.

You know where to find me.

Amended CC&R"S?
written by Kruk Ed Strait, June 27, 2008

Some people, Ray, will think it's strange that you admit you follow "amended" CC&R's and don't have copies of the originals. They should be posted on a wall where everyone can see. We could give you a copy but that's not our job. You wrote the article. If you're sincere, as you say, you will walk across the street tomorrow and demand a copy from the association. That's where the paper trail begins. Just two clues. First, they won't give you a copy because they've destroyed them all. Second, Rivierra CC&R's, like most other association CC&R's, can only be amended by 51 per cent of the owners. Was your 1991 "amended" copy approved by 51 per cent of the owners? Lois Townsend and her friends say no!!!!!!

Amended CC&R\'s
written by RayPerry, June 27, 2008

Darrell;

Do YOU have a copy of the original document? Have you seen it? I find it hard to believe that all the copies have been destroyed. It may not be your job but if you have evidence of a conspiracy you should let it be seen, not make accusations without evidence. Where does it say that it has to be approved by 51 percent of the owners? I would like to know. What about election of board members. Where does it say that it needs 51 percent to elect? Until I see the documents you refer to, I stand by my story. However if you are correct then that is a another story that could be told.
I'm not for or against anyone, I'm just trying to report the news.

Election???
written by Kruk Ed Strait, June 27, 2008

Jeese, Ray, you say you were at the opening of the ballots and reported Lois was "vocal" but apparently didn't hear what she said. She said the ballot was illegal (The ballots said "vote for two" when they should've said vote for four). She said don't count the ballots that have two votes or send out new ballots to everyone. She said the ballot wasn't secret becase some had written their names on the ballots. She said there wasn't a "disinterested third party" supervising the openning of the ballots as required by state law governing HOA's. This should've been the headlines of your article, if you're just trying to report the news. Lois is right. This was an illegal election. What are you going to do about it? Lois objected to the the "quorum" claim because she knows they use that to change the Riviera Constitution, as you admit they have already done with your "amended" copy. Again, the Riviera CC&R's, like most other Association CC&R's can only be amended by 51 per cent of the owners.

Show me the proof
written by RayPerry, June 27, 2008

All I ask is to back up what you say. Show me the proof. Show me where 51 percent is needed to amend the constitution. You may be right and it also may be a matter of interpretation. There may indeed be a need to have a re-vote but where is the policy procedure for voting for our association. If there is none, anything may go. Again I'm not trying to be adversarial, just wanting to get to the bottom of issue.
If we take all the emotion out of the process and focus on the facts we may get to the truth, not opinion. The only thing I have is what I can see. I don't think I can base my articles on hear say. I can say someone said it but it is still unsubstantiated.

Write comment

You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

Choose language

TwinPine Casino & Hotel Wine Country's Favorite Playground

Games

Sections

Choose language

Related Items