Notes Before The Annual Meeting

“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men (and women) do nothing.” Edmond Burke

An industry this corrupt exists only because the public allows it to exist. For the HOA homeowner, apathy is the root of all evil. Today as always, the Homeowners Association rests upon a solid foundation of homeowner apathy. The apathetic nature of the American people is the foundation that supports our current system of government by special interest groups. Democracy is a wonderful system but it’s very easy to abuse. Democracy requires participation; it responds to those who take an active role in its creation. The system favors the participants, not the bystanders whether it be on a national level or right there in your own little community. If you want an orderly, democratic neighborhood, and not an oligarchy, you are going to have to participate.

It’s unfortunate, but sooner or later most people who live in HOAs become disenchanted with their board of directors. Yet, they will often endure their resentment in silence; they don’t know what to do, and so they do nothing—they become apathetic. Apathy is particularly damaging where homeowners associations are concerned. You already know that HOAs lack the system of checks and balances necessary to provide oversight and accountability.  The only measure of oversight and accountability that can be brought to bear on a rogue board has to come from the homeowners themselves. If their presence is not felt, abuses will occur.

 There is a great deal of fear of the BTMA board and I suppose you can’t really blame the other homeowners for their reluctance to get involved. I can’t even remember all the people in our neighborhood that, at one time or another, tried to get involved with our HOA only to be quickly driven off in disgust by the nasty behavior of our "career" board members. One of the ways we can begin to awaken our community and generate support for a "changing of the guard" is to expose their activities. The things that they do are terribly difficult to justify. This is why they try to do so much of their dirty deeds in secret, which is why you must expose them at every turn.

So dear residents of Burning Tree read all the blogs, do your own research, weigh all the facts and get involved. If you want new faces on the board and a different and better approach for solutions, join in the festivities ( Annual Meeting)  September 27, 7pm at the pool pavilion. See you there..........

Recap:   For far to long we as a neighborhood have sat on our hands waiting for someone else to fix the problems and find solutions. If we are not part of the solution, then we are the problem.