Would appreciate it if you could forward my email on to others in FP, as many as you can reach.
Directors Bunn, Skaris and Wilson voted to fire the Park Managers. Peyton Waters voted no and Laura Barth abstained.
I would like to donate to and support a campaign to remove these three directors, especially Ms. Wilson who appears to have lost her mind. Colorado Law does allow association members to recall members of the Board of Directors and these three have given more than adequate cause to be dismissed. They need to go--and immediately.
Please let the Park Managers, who have done a fantastic job, know that we will be working to get rid of the lunatics on the board and get them back on the job.
I'm copying the Board on this email--want them to know (the three idiots anyway) that they can't get away with this series of stupid and in some cases illegal actions.
Dr. Drew Miller

Very well said and I would like to add this comment.
Betsy and I were at the doctor’s office in Alamosa last Thursday. I met a man named Joe, as we were waiting. I asked where he lived, he replied that he lived in Fort Garland and had a small ranch in Blanca. He asked is the HOA as bad as it was years ago, he had friends that lived here and have since passed but they said the board was terrible, seems like we are still following suit with this board, however I believe it takes the trophy. He then asked where we lived , we are for the most part ashamed and in some cases afraid to say where we live because of what goes on in our community. We are the laughing stock of the valley and my guess is they are waiting to see this community fail and I think this board is taking us down that path at break speed. We cannot put Forbes park stickers on out cars because the folks in the valley hate us so much that they will key your car if they see the sticker. The County clerk’s office makes us jump through all the hoops when we need something from them because they have been treated very badly in the past when dealing with the park and our taxes are the highest in the valley and we do all of our road maintenance, trash, etc.
Now some members of the board just let go of some fine folks, those board members took away their ability to pay their bills and put food on their tables all for personal vengeance against the previous board, and by the way I was told by the chair of the board that none of these folks would be let go, that they were our employees under contract and it would remain that way. These are the folks you entrusted to manage your money and property, you may want to consider that when you vote this year for new board members.
These new board members ran on the premise that they would not raise your HOA dues, but let me tell you there are a lot worse things than the measly 200.00 buck a year we pay. Before here I paid 125.00 per month for a town house, and we received a fraction of the services that we have here. If you all want improvements you have to stay ahead of the curve, once you fall behind you cannot catch up by raising the dues due to the cap we are allowed per year.
We should always treat people as we would like to be treated, but some on the board call folks in the park Churchies and the cool aide group. These are all our neighbors and friends who have done good things for all of us and they do not deserve that. A few of the board members delight in doing the devil’s work and seem to be very proud of what they are doing. I wonder how that makes them feel to be categorized. Probably does not bother them at all.
We have a couple of board members wearing two hats. This is against Forbes bylaws and takes away the checks and balances put in place to govern appropriately. We need to be watching all aspects of the management of the park. For example we have a board member who is also the treasurer, this is not the way it is done.
One thing you might look for in the future, my guess is by summer one of the board members will appoint themselves to a paying position as park manager. Just a thought. It’s your vote, your money, your home, your investment, use it wisely this year, it has never been more important than right now. We need to elect 2 new folks to the board that will restore the balance needed to make good choices for the park not personal agendas.
Regards, Doug Corder


A letter to the FPLOA Board:

We heard today that Wade and Sandy Colvin were terminated on 2/1/2013 without cause. Dick and I wish to express our extreme displeasure at the actions of this board.

Wade and Sandy Colvin were professionals who put the needs of Forbes Park first. They were kind to the landowners and listened to the landowners-- these are lessons that some on this board need to learn. And for the record, we want them back as Park Managers. Hiring them was one of the best decisions that any board has made in the 11 years we have been full time residents.

What we find most amazing is that you seem unaware of the damage you are doing to Forbes Park. It has always been difficult to get people to come out and work in Forbes Park. Contractors and other service people don't like driving the distance to our properties and usually pass along a fuel-fee to the customer. And now, you have fired 3 people who live outside of Forbes Park but WERE WILLING to come here to work.

Wayne gave up a good job with RMS to work for Forbes Park. You repaid him by firing him. I am sure he will have a lot to say to other service providers in Alamosa regarding how Forbes Park treats people who do come into the park to do work. This will just confirm the negative comments that already go around in Alamosa in regards to Forbes Park. (I've worked in Alamosa for 11 years and have heard some of these comments first hand.)

Wade and Sandy did everything required of them in order to be Park Managers for Forbes Park. They really wanted to serve this community and they were doing a great job, putting in many more hours than their contract called for. They made sure they got all the work done, along with all of the extra work they had to do because this board alienated the majority of volunteers. While they have been loyal employees, you have given them no reason to remain loyal to Forbes Park. The San Luis Valley is a small community. Word of this will spread around Fort Garland, Blanca and Alamosa. And the people who will pay for your poor decisions are the landowners who will need to have contractors/service people come out to their homes in the future.

We have tried to keep an open mind about this new board. But in the past 3 - 4 months you have shown that all you really know how to do is FIRE people.

Dick and I have been landowners for over 23 years. We were summer residents for about 12 years before becoming full time residents. We were here when the FPLOA got its independence from Forbes, Inc. We have experienced all of the "nasty" park politics over the past 23 years-- but we have to say that we have NEVER seen anything as dysfunctional as what we are seeing right now.

It seems that you are going out of your way to VERIFY the accusations of some that your primary goal is to destroy anything that the past board put into place. But we would go a step further and say that it appears you are trying to DESTROY Forbes Park.

Please stop. This is our home. We have loved living here. Please stop. Stop doing what YOU WANT -- and start doing what is right; start doing what is best for the community.

We are distressed about the conflicts of interest we see in this board. We resent that fact that the two elected directors who are making many decisions do not have the guts to live here year round, or even be physically present at the board meetings. If you want to make decisions for the Park, you need to have experienced all aspects of life in the Park. We challenge you to be physically present at the next board meeting on March 9. And we challenge you to explain the direction in which you are taking Forbes Park and to give the landowners a reason for the Colvin's dismissal.
Very disappointed,

Tracy & Dick Wetzler

Full-Time Residents

Lots 293& 294

THE “OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY” OF A RECENT DIRECTOR REMOVAL.

FPLOA is non profit corporation in accordance with Colorado Law.

On 10/6/2012 a person was appointed by an executive session of the FPLOA Board to fill the remaining term of an elected director who had resigned. The director who had resigned was ELECTED BY THE LANDOWNERS, which meant that, even though APPOINTED by the then sitting board, the newly appointed director could only be REMOVED by a vote of the landowners. This is in accord with the Colorado non profit statutes quoted below.

The appointed Director was then subsequently removed on 11/15/2012 by a vote of 3 to 1 of the other directors. This action will be shown below as contrary to not only our bylaws, but also the Colorado Nonprofit Statutes.

Now there is a proposed change to the FPLOA bylaws posted on the website under FPLOA Board, proposed change to Article 6.... This change would ALLOW removal of an appointed Director in the manner that was done on 11/15/2012. This means that in the future any appointed director may be removed by a majority vote of the other Board members. This will lead to a “yes man” only BOD.

If the removal of an appointed Director by a 3 to 1 vote was PROPER on 11/15/2012, then WHY DOES FPLOA NOW NEED the proposed bylaws revision ??? This Brings up the question of whether FPLOA is trying to retroactively justify the actions of 11/15/2012.

The proposed bylaws change is not reproduced here as the FPLOA website is copyrighted. The reader should view this somewhat unclear language for themselves. Readers who do not access the website should request a copy of this proposed change be emailed or snail mailed to them (719-379-3000).

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The FPLOA website now has an “urgent warning” insinuating that any group contacting landowners has obtained email addresses from FPLOA. Email addresses may be obtained by accumulation over a few years correspondence by groups of people. Landowners name and street addresses are a matter of Costilla County Public record and are legally obtainable. From Name and street address one can obtain email addresses (for a fee each) by any one of a number of search engine utilities.

Forbesfactualupdate also has an “Opt Out” option in the bottom of their eMails.

BACKGROUND INFO:
Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act 7-121-137
7-121-101. Short title. Articles 121 to 137 of this title shall be known and may be cited as the "Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act".www.i55mall.com/FMF/co121.html - Cached

7-128-108. Removal of directors.

(f) A director elected by the board of directors may be removed with or without cause by the vote of a majority of the directors then in office or such greater number as is set forth in the bylaws; EXCEPT that a director elected by the board of directors to fill the vacancy of a director ELECTED BY THE VOTING MEMBERS may be removed without cause by the VOTING MEMBERS, BUT NOT THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

FPLOA SECTION 6 of BYLAWS REGARDING DIRECTORS
Article VI- Directors: Nomination; Election; Removal/Replacement

2. Removal and/or Replacement.
A director may be removed from the Board by a majority vote of the Members, and, in the event of removal, resignation, or death of a Director, a successor shall be appointed by the remaining Director or Directors. A Director appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the UNEXPIRED TERM OF HIS PREDECESSOR IN OFFICE.
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OPT OUT CHOICE:
It is “the groups” sole intention to present the “other side of the story” regarding FPLOA in a respectful manner as there are quite often two sides to a situation. If you do not wish to receive these communications, simply respond to this email with a request to remove you from “the groups” list

The New Board Majority

1.During a board meeting last summer Liz Wilson said she represents the land owners not the people who have homes. She was elected by the land owners, she was called on that and told that as a board member she represents all of us. She never did agree to that.

2.From the very start they harassed our road maintenance operator who had a written contract to maintain our roads and do snow removal. He has never been allowed to run the front end loader only the grader, and they hired another operator at 18.00 per hour to run the loader without posting the job. The new operator is a friend of the chair of the board.
3.Just last week approximately Jan 8^th they terminated the contract for our road maintenance operator for reasons not valid. As an example they said he was not sufficiently trained to run equipment but yet they gave him the option to return on the 28^th to renegotiate his contract or become an employee of the park.
4.They cancelled the security patrol contract and refused to pay the bill for services of the contract right in the middle of hunting season.
5.They dropped the fire ban in the middle of hunting season and never put it back in place. We are having a very dry winter and it needs to be re activated.
6.There were approximately 60 volunteers that had almost 10000 hours of time in 2011. There are now roughly 12 volunteers.

7. They dismissed an appointed board member without the required 2/3 majority vote of the membership. They consulted the FP attorney and were advised they could not do that so they consulted an attorney whom one of the board members had a previous relationship with and would tell them what they wanted to hear. This resulted in our attorney resigning apparently due to the unprofessional nature of the action, violating the legal code of conduct. The “new” attorney has a lower rating than our attorney.8.Advice from volunteers on how to save money on equipment parts etc. were ignored resulting in over expenditures.

9.They tried to cancel the purchase of equipment to do our road work which would have put the park in a situation with John Deer. The purchase of this equipment should save us hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run.
10. A new board member took on the position of chairman without a vote of ALL the board members claiming two of the members didn’t vote. Those two were never advised the vote was to take place. This is a pattern that has continued.
11. They recently replaced the board member they voted off (illegally) with one of the road chairs, that person is now wearing two hats in direct violation of existing By Laws which they elected to ignore on a technicality. That By Law prohibits board members from being officers or committee chairs simultaneous to holding a board position. This By Law is currently being violated by three of the board members. Probably because there are not enough volunteer to spread the work load. Such an incestuous arrangement is not good for the membership and is exactly what the By Laws were designed to prevent. This appointment gives the board a super majority enabling changes to the By Laws without constructive opposing viewpoints. They are changing the By Laws as we speak to meet whatever their agenda may be.12.They voted the 1^st road chair off because he would not agree to go with their plans.
13. They accused past board members (ironically including two current members) of misappropriation of funds and when the final audit was completed, not only was no money missing but the association was tens of thousands of dollars to the good. This was apparently done as a vendetta against the previous administration and to get them elected by creating a false emergency. No apology has been forthcoming post audit

Additional info.

A. They paid thousands of dollars in county taxes unnecessarily on the new road equipment because they thought the association claim to exemption was wrong even though there was legal opinion it was a valid claim. This would have made the audit bottom line even better had this not been done.
B. They have joined in with a disgruntled landowner to attack the associations past efforts to procure an emergency water supply for wild land fire- fighting by installing a cistern in Wagon Creek. This work was done to be proactive in protecting all of our properties in the event of a major fire. The cistern was installed by the association under the auspices and approval of the state water inspector for this area, yet they have sabotaged the association and made it subject to intense scrutiny by any and all federal and state agencies in order to find some technicality to punish the association for these efforts. The motivation for this action by“our” representatives should be seriously questioned by the membership.
C. They paid RMS $20,000 for an invoice that was not valid. The previous RAC had checked all charges and all past invoices and said no more money was due but these folks decided to pay it anyway. No one knows why.
D. A sitting board member used their vote hostage to get their road improved ignoring the RAC priority list by conditioning their approval to purchase the front end loader on having their road done first.
E. There is also a blog that is monitored/ owned by Liz Wilson. This blog contains false information about landowners which in turn divides the park and influences board elections. This for one should not be monitored or owned by a board member and if we want to bring the community together should be shut down.
F. Somehow we need to find ways to bring the community together. If we continue down this path we will possibly fail and or have constant bickering like we have had for years. Boards should be required to overlap for 2 months minimum to review past projects, status of projects in progress and a ten year plan that cannot be changed by the incoming board. It could however be improved on by adding to it to create a stronger and more harmonious outcome for all. This is a wonderful place to live, let’s not ruin it with all this division

Jane

Winter Wonderland

 
 

 

What a beautiful setting for a place to live.  If only our interactions with each other could be as peaceful and as serene as the view contained in this photo.  Why, oh Why, must we do so many things that irritate each other?

Winter at Home

It is a beautiful day in Forbes Park today, January 8, 2013.  We have snow on the ground, brilliant sunshine, mild temperature (for winter), and practically no wind.

This is one of the reasons we live here.  Coupled with wonderful summer days, this is paradise.