We learned that we could call for a Special Meeting of the Members and put it on the ballot on the June Meeting of the Members ballot for the members to vote, pursuant PMCPOA Bylaws 5.03 and 5.06. This required getting two petitions with 5% of the membership’s signatures turned into the PMCPOA Business Office no later than 5pm on the first Wednesday in February. Unfortunately, that was just three days away and we were in the midst of a heavy snowstorm. Yet, even with these less than desirable conditions, (the severe winter weather) and all of our weekender members having left the mountain, we delivered double the amount of petition signatures required, by Wednesday afternoon, just two and a half days after our meeting. Of course, the PMCPOA BOD stayed truly arrogant and voted 9-0 to deny these petitions, citing the usual “paid advice from legal” which is their go to line in their continuous refusal to let the members vote while continuing to keep spending our money. The only board member apart from the Chairman who spoke on the subject, stated “the members don’t have the right to vote on everything.” I disagree, we aren’t talking about hundreds or thousands of dollars here, but well over ten million dollars of the members’ money. At the expense of sounding redundant, I find this arrogance absurd, and these legal opinions are not in the least bit objective but paid subjective opinions catering to the desires of the PMCPOA BOD using our money.

People purchase PMC property and become members for a variety of different reasons, often including affordability, the serene setting, starlit skies, fresh air, 4-seasons, nature, the amenities, and a host of other unique features, there is something for everyone. Unfortunately, ever since living here I’ve witnessed a non-stop attempt by a well-organized and loud minority group of people who wish for PMC to be something that it isn’t and wasn’t when they arrived, an exclusive and elite country club for the well privileged. This mentality is so very damaging to so many who call PMC home, especially those on fixed incomes. We have wonderful amenities and already a great clubhouse, so, for the ones who always want more, I suggest that they move. Or maybe they can start a donation fund for their wants and needs, while sparing the members who simply enjoy their long-time affordable homes from their ability to keep them. Regrettably, this “establishment minority” is very focused, organized and determined, and tend to dominate our election cycle by making the most noise, intimidating and voting. That’s why we usually have 9 establishment candidates, who engage in very little discussion at the monthly board meetings, yet all vote 9-0 together on virtually every motion that involves spending our money or reducing member rights. The establishment group are very easy to find, they congregate in the clubhouse lounge virtually whenever its open. Having lived here for so long, I tend to know where a lot of my neighbors live. The establishment group currently has candidate yard signs displayed that support their own, who are supporting the clubhouse expansion. Even the person nominated as Chairperson of the Election Committee has this group’s yard signs displayed on their property. There’s a word for that, it’s called impropriety.

The few times that there has been a contested ballot with fiscally responsible people running against establishment candidates, the people who are for responsible affordable leadership are often portrayed in a bad light. They are attacked with multiple mailings and other personal attacks from many mouthpieces, so people who offer an alternative to the spend, spend, spend, tend to get bullied into not getting involved. To think, the gall and audacity of us who wish to have a say in where our money is going???

When you receive your election package in the mail shortly, you will see my name last on the ballot. My name is last because candidates are placed on the ballot in order of when they turned in their letter of intent to run, with the first being on top and the person last being on the bottom. I did not initially intend to run, as I prefer spending my weekends hiking in the mountains or having fun at the beach. But as the deadline to run came closer and I was watching and paying attention to the recent PMC BOD meetings, I felt that remaining silent was akin to being complicit of not trying to help stop this runaway destructive locomotive from driving the association into bankruptcy.

While never being a PMCPOA BOD candidate myself, I did successfully organize a movement in the early to mid-2000’s, in which over a two-year span, fiscally responsible people were elected to the majority of the Board of Directors. After achieving this, I left the movement to concentrate on my duties as a member of the PMCCPOA BOD (the Commercial Center). Sadly, very few people stepped up to keep the movement going and those few were outvoiced and out funded by the insatiable appetite of the Country Club establishment minority members. So, in very little time, I am attempting to return the PMCPOA once again to the membership, but hopefully with more staying power. This website that I’m paying for is intended to be an ongoing instrument to keep the membership better informed about what is going on in the governance of PMC. I have also created a “Keep PMC Affordable” Facebook page, I’ve sent out mailings and have had many campaign signs made, all in efforts to keep this movement going forward. This has been quite an expensive undertaking, so there is a donate button on the website. Any monies collected will be used to offset my expenses and help with the upkeep of this website and to help in funding future Keep PMC Affordable candidates. Without a recall, which I hope doesn’t come to that, this will likely be several years in the making to put and keep a fiscally responsible majority on the PMCPOA BOD. I believe this is important to keep going for our members who call PMC home, and not just for the minority who like to come here to play.