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Several secondary issues add to HVLA strife
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE – The bigger issue of replacement structures which is causing controversy in Hidden Valley Lake has broken down into several sub-issues.
Among them:
– One Hidden Valley Lake Association director, Tom Miller, aggravated other board members when an article he wrote saying that the board should put the project “on hold” until productive participation by the HVLA membership is assured. According to Tingey, directors sought to impeach Miller after his comments appeared publicly.
– The door-to-door campaign for petitioners by the Hidden Valley Lake Coalition of Concerned Citizens was halted by the directors, management and security on the grounds that it was soliciting, which is against the HVLA bylaws. But then the restriction was lifted because of possible interference with civil liberties. “Our attorney said it (going door to door) was in violation, but recommended not stopping it because it’s going to look like a violation of free speech,” Archbold said. “So, I stopped our security guys from going any further.”
– Some members of the coalition are trying hard to discredit Archbold. Its Web site cites a remarkably similar incident at the Heritage Ranch subdivision in Paso Robles, which wound up in the courts. Tingey said that Archbold “and his cronies” lost their case at Heritage and are now being forced to come up with $265,000 in attorney’s fees. But Archbold drags a large pasteboard box onto his office floor. He says it contains the case’s transcript and says anyone who cares to read it will learn that he was not on the losing side and is not subject paying attorney fees, which, by the way, he says, were $380,000. “The judge, and I quote, dropped this suit because it was motivated by political means,” Archbold says.
– The coalition is seeking to distance itself from a Web site that has sprung up in addition to its own on which users are encouraged to take anonymous potshots at Archbold, the HVLA board, security and other aspects of Hidden Valley.
– But apparently someone siding with the board and management fired back by painting over a Web site address for the coalition on a recruitment sign on Hartmann Road. Archbold said he is convinced it was the work of a board supporter and said he does not condone such actions.
– While coalition firebrands have probed into Archbold’s past in hopes of finding a juicy item to discredit him, HVLA management has not been sitting idle. Archbold produced court documents on two of the most visible coalition leaders. In fact, Archbold says he has a file on one of the men and intimated that the man is wanted by Idaho on a $50,000 warrant, but says that the Idaho authorities don’t want to spend the time and money to come and get him.
– One of the coalition arguments against replacement structures is that the present food and beverage facilities – a luncheonette, the Greenview Room and Mulligan's bar – are operating at a loss ($12,000 last year), so why build new ones.? But Archbold's response to this is, "Guess what, every amenity we have in this community costs us money. Whether you're playing golf or tennis, swimming in the lake, riding a horse, driving on your roads, having a beer, it doesn't matter ... We are a nonprofit."
E-mail John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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