There is now open community discussion regarding a Forensic Audit of the Big Canoe POA financial books. This is primarily due to information revealed as a result of reporting on the BCMatters.org financial blog website. It is becoming a serious issue for the community of Big Canoe, and FOBC has decided to launch an Article Series to help the community explore the concept of a “Forensic Audit”.
We recently received an anonymous “Letter to the Editor”, and it’s a good way to start this Series off… with some general thoughts thrown out by an anonymous property owner.
AN ANONYMOUS LETTER TO THE EDITOR (View PDF)
Below is the text, with appropriate highlites & emphasis added as seen in the original letter. My comments follow the reproduced text of the letter, as seen below.
David
A few ideas you should consider:1. Quit wasting your time calling for a ‘forensic audit” – that strategy will take forever to get approved (never?) since the Board has to agree to it. And they technically never have to agree to it! Instead, gather homeowners and pay an attorney $200 for an initial consultation on Getting a Pickens County Judge To Issue A TEMPORARY INJUNCTION OR RESTRAINING ORDER against the Board from spending ANY money except for essential daily operating funds UNTIL a forensic audit is completed. Make sure that Patricia C. brings her facts and figures to that attorney meeting. If the judge agrees, the POA will be forced to respond and defend itself, the homeowners get instant$$ relief, Big Canoe Renew is stopped dead in its tracks and the Board MUST do a forensic audit. The shot across the bow of the POA will be heard for miles and miles!
2. The idea of a new “HOA” is a great one but once again you are positioning it in a way that implies that the POA will have to “agree” to it’s formation. INSTEAD, take a better approach. Call it The “Homeowners Action Council” or The “Owners Accountability Council” – something that ignores using the BC (trademarked) name since the POA will immediately use that legal maneuver against you. The new group needs NO ONE’s approval to form. It’s strength come in numbers of new members. And the primary purpose is to offset the very closed and controlled POA’s use of “Ask The POA” and its intense Marketing Machine (that ironically), our dues pay for. Renew Big Canoe passed for one reason: There was no organized, daily and consistent information stream to tell the other side of the story that could shout down the POA’s very concerted efforts. Think about 4-500 united residents who all posted a simple message: “The Homeowners Action Council hereby officially is against the (latest POA initiative) based an the following facts … “ The Board and the POA ignore us for this simple reason. They CAN because they are well organized, well-funded, and we are not.
3. Get three to four people to be the “face” of the new organization right away. You are too much of a lightening rod and anyway, its way better to be the King-Maker than it is to be the King!
Best of luck!
RESPONSE COMMENTS:
Paragraph #1 response — in general I like the strategy, and it is close to what I would suggest. There is an article coming in this Series that may give a detailed blueprint for the legal process of getting to the aforementioned forensic audit, injunctions, restraining orders, etc. Do not make the mistake of thinking that I am actually expecting the POA Board or Management to voluntarily enact a Forensic Audit. Calls for them to do so are basically just formalities of the notification process. NOBODY expects them to honestly undertake such a process. And yes, this will only come through a legal process. There is no confusion on that.
Paragraph #2 — the whole Trademark issue is not true. POA doesn’t own the Trademark, and even if they did they have no legal grounds. The trademark is exclusively for real estate services, but I doubt that even that would hold up. I have already dealt with the POA, the previous Developer and their attorney’s Alston & Bird in regards to this (I own and operate BigCanoe.org and they tried to strong arm me). After I told them to F themselves, they tucked tail, their bluff being called. Besides, the Trademark Office has already ruled that Big Canoe is a geographical location, and any use as such is not tradmarkable. The moral of the story here is to never believe any of the BS propaganda the POA puts out.
Also under #2, the HOA was NEVER under the authority of the POA, and was always a separate legal entity non-profit. NO authorization to start an HOA is required. Any group of Homeowners could start one, and people could either choose to join, or not. And I agree it doesn’t have to be “named” the HOA…. but as a previous article suggested, there are many benefits above and beyond just being a watchdog that perhaps should be considered in starting such a group. I mean, why limit yourself?
Lastly under #2, I agree with much of what you write.
Paragraph #3 response —– this is where we part ways a bit, but let’s start by going back to a comment in ¶ 1 where you say “gather homeowners” and “Make sure that Patricia C. brings her facts”, and here in ¶ 3 you refer to as “Get three to four people to be the “face” of the new organization right away.” My response to all of this is…
What the hell evidence do you see that ANYBODY is stepping up to take a leadership role in this??? Seriously??? You find me 3 or 4 qualified (Non-Insider, Non-Board or Financial Committee, Non-MegRooney types) to lead this, and I will happily sit in the shadows and simply share what assistance and knowledge I have. But after 7 years of public reporting by me, and almost 4 years by Patricia Cross… NOBODY is stepping forward. Honestly, while your letter is greatly appreciated, it is at the end of the day just another example of an arm chair quarterback not wanting to actually play in the real game. And I honestly don’t mean to make that as harsh as it sounds… but it makes my point that we need actually warm bodies on the playing field…. not theoretical leaders at this point. So while I am generally in support of your hypothesis… the data is clearly indicating that there are no “takers” for the position of leader.
Somebody prove me wrong!
Peace,
– david / publisher / property owner
Focus on Big Canoe, GA
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