Town Hall Meeting Report...

My wife and I took a short drive down the street to attend a town hall meeting presented by The Great Northwest Community Improvement Association (GNWCIA) so the board could present some By Law amendments that are to be voted on in our upcoming annual meeting. The idea is that interested residents could ask questions and better familiarize themselves with the by laws before voting on them at our annual meeting.

I don’t want to shock you so please, sit down while reading this and maybe even take a quick shot of the drink of your choice (like a presidential candidate might), but the only people who showed up at the meeting were some of the Directors and a smattering of residents who normally attend the regular meetings anyway. In other words, why bother?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for this. I think this board of directors has gone above and beyond to get information out to our residents. If you live in my area, you have probably received locally generated newsletters with good information on how to understand the ballots, and explaining just what it means to give your proxy to another person. I think people are really trying to do good things for the community. But what I gather is that most people just don’t care.

So, I’m only going to mention this because I pay the yearly assessment and I hate to see my money blown. Our association needs to have a quorum at the annual meeting in order for the election to count and for the bylaws to be voted on. It costs the association in the thousands of dollars to hold the annual meeting.

Somewhere, sitting on your kitchen counter or in a basket full of junk mail, is a ballot and form for giving your proxy to someone who WILL attend the meeting. The only way we are going to have a quorum is if you get up and fill out that form and turn it in to the office. DO IT NOW!

I don’t care who you vote for, whether you vote for or against the bylaws, or who you give your proxy to. But if you do not know for 100% certain that you are going to show up at the annual meeting of members, I urge you to fill out that ballot NOW and get it in. And if you are like me and the ballot got lost in the vast piles of junk collecting in my office, please take the time to go down to the lodge and get a new one, and complete it on the spot.

And, if you are one of the readers of this Blog who doesn’t live in my neighborhood, I’ll just encourage you to go vote wherever you live. Someone needs to get elected dog catcher, right?