Sunday, February 27, 2011

New Regency Cove Weather Site

A new weather site for Regency Cove opened this week. You can access it at http:// wunderground.com.
For as long as our local weatherman has his computer up and running, you can access the site from anywhere in the world.
Go to http://wunderground.com/, and type in our zip 33611 in the search box.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Candidates Night 2011

It was so remarkable to see all the candidates up front and personal tonight in the hall. Some had beautifully prepared statements which they presented, others "winged it" and spoke off the cuff. The format they used this evening was brilliant, and Patty Fennessey did a great job as a moderator.
There are six new candidates, and two current board members running to fill three vacancies. In alphabetical order, each of the candidates answered the question "What can I contribute to Regency Cove as a Board Member". Many brought up their priority concerns: saving money and keeping costs down. management, maintenance, etc. One or two others just gave a little background info about their candidacy.

THEN candidate names were drawn to stand before the membership to answer direct questions. I'm sure they were all very nervous at this point. (I remember a few years ago I thought I might pass out at the mike.)
They were given a 10 minute limit, and by George, almost every candidate used every minute to defend their position on the topics raised by the shareholders.

For the most part, the questions were thoughtful and intelligent. But then, we always have that back row at the board meetings who love to heckle and make a lot of noise. Yeah, they were there tonight. QUESTION: Why didn't any of THOSE guys run for the Board? I'm not even gonna attempt an answer to that one.

We have a tough decision to make with this group of candidates.Of the new candidates, I like to look at their past performance: who has regularly attended board meetings and questioned the board of directors? Who has shown an interest in the community by serving on a committee?  Volunteering? We can't judge by attendance in the park because our board has historically survived "Snowbird Presidents" in Dan Dillon and Paul McCumber.

None of the candidates discussed serving on committees, with the exception of Parker Kimball who is currently serving on several... Marine, Finance, Building Standards.....

Two of the owners of the Becker-Poliakoff attorney firm wrote a book recently about community association living, and they likened the election of board members to an election of high school officers. Its a popularity contest, they claim. We don't need to know who the most popular candidate is, if they shuffle or play Bingo or Euchre every week. We need a few strong candidates who will stand up to a group of officers who decide to run the park without including the rest of the board. We need individuals who are willing to attend ROC Forum seminars, and not the free breakfasts at CAI, where the main topic is condo issues and you sit among condo-vendors. We have had four presidents in the last ...what 5 years?  I would like to see some stability return to our board.

I have to admit, our newest candidates Belba, Evans, Hayes, and Swift attended the most recent ROC Forum seminar. They all appear eager to attend and learn about the Florida statutes and understanding our governing documents. This is a good sign.

Vote your conscience. 

Saturday, February 12, 2011

New Candidates

What a surprise for the HORC community to see so many candidates nominated at the meeting held on Feb 9th. This weekend, block captains will be distributing packets to all shareholders with the resumes of all the candidates running to fill the three board vacancies.

PLEASE DO NOT VOTE UNTIL YOU HAVE HEARD THE CANDIDATES SPEAK!!

FYI: Yesterday on Thursday afternoon, candidates were given notice of the monthly ROC Forum meeting this morning. Notice was very  very short. Not all candidates were able to attend.

What is ROC Forum? Resident Owned Communites (ROCs) joined forces in the mid 80s to form a consortium to educate the boards of directors of newly formed resident owned communities. New ROCs continue to be formed in this new decade. The Forum continues to train board members, which is close to  50 resident owned communities  in membership.

The candidates from our park who were able to attend the ROC Forum Roundtable this morning were Jim Swift, Dennis Hayes, Elaine Belba, and Naomi Evans. Gee, not one of our current board members attended this free educational event.  I understand that conflicts DO occur. Let's keep watching the board members' progress.

Just Checking In

No, I am not off on vacation, just very busy and very late updating the Whisperings...

Thanks to all the volunteers who contributed to the success of the 2011 Regency Cove Gasparilla celebration. The committee, the cooks, Cheryl and the decorating group, the band at Sunset Point, the breakfast table servers and cooks, and all the ticket sellers and ticket takers.... THANK YOU!  Because there is no official club sponsoring Gasparilla, we rely on the resources of our club leaders...Chuck and Karen Paramore from the Yacht Club, Harry  Margolis and Ron Jeffries from Shuffleboard, and Alice Disharoon from the Friendship club... we can't thank you enough for all you've contributed.

The weather certainly didn't dampen the spirits of the flotilla, golf carts, and the bicycle.

Mike Ross did a fantastic job chairing the event this year.He also maintained the books, serving again as Treasurer, watching every penny coming in and going out. He shopped with the cooks, and did an awful lot of last minute shopping and running around. The event turned a profit this year!!  Roger Des Rosiers acquired two $25 Sweetbay gift certificates, and Ed Bedore donated a top of the line salt water fishing pole and reel to our raffle drawing. New pennants will be purchased to replace the weather-beaten ones gracing our boulevards, and there is even the prospect of a donation to the community kitchen. Last year Gasparilla purchased a $90+ industrial can opener to help the fantastic guys in the kitchen.

It was SOOO rewarding to see so many residents dressing up, decorating carts, and coming out to the Point. Chuck Davis was responsible for the Flotilla, and also the band playing at the Point. Thanks to everyone who helped to clean up at the end of the night. It was a very long day for the committee. From the general consensus, it was a GREAT party.