Lantern Lane Elementary School is the recipient of new AIMS Education Foundation science books thanks to a donation made by the Quail Valley Fund. Toni Mamula, a Quail Valley Fund trustee, presented the books to the school Tuesday on behalf of the organization. The books are grade appropriate – covering earth, life, nature and physical science – and will be distributed to all students in grades K-5.
Pictured are teachers Kylara Parker, Larry Wilson, Barbara Berezoski, and Linda Littleton; Elia Eccleston, assistant principal; Toni Mamula, Quail Valley Fund trustee; Sheila Emery, principal; and teachers Gertrude Simmons, Rachel Schweigert and Sarah Dutchin.
Quail Valley Fund also plans to donate instructional material to other Quail Valley area schools, including Quail Valley Elementary, Quail Valley Middle School and Elkins High School in the near future.
no liberals are the ones with noses stuck in other’s businesses because they’re the smartest people in the world and they know whats best for everyone else.
So homeowners that report violations of law are now “liberals”? That’s an interesting twist. I wonder if county prosecutors feel that way too, does that include home invasions, car theft and other types of crime? Your logic leaves a great deal to be desired.
you can even turn your comrades in, or you can sue someone. Its the liberal way.
Who have you turned in today?
For those of you seeking more hard data on HOA abuses there is an excellent study by a former Harvard researcher located at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/hoadata/
You will see how this industry is feeding the vendor attorneys since the key 1987 TX Sup. Ct. decision to allow what used to be voluntary organizations access to individual homeowner equity and seizure. Not a very neighborly industry who also wrote and pushed through the property code ch. 204 causing many to lose their homes and others severe financial hardship. These cases now number in the tens of thousands and many law firms are involved on the side of the HOA boards.
You need to also know that under current property code, mostly written by the industry, the incentive for the HOA legal vendor is to pursue cases and feed off individual homeowners since most do not receive financial support from the HOA. They depend of the fines, fees generated by actions against you or your neighbors.
The site also offers some interesting trends that deflate the common arguments for giving such power to untrained private entities that until ’87 were reserved only for some governmental taxing entities.
One of the other attendees said that they had sent numerous items up to the HOA over the last several months – since April actually.
Who is the management company and were they keeping the complaints from board members or was that just a dodge mocity?
I think you can file complaints against any company, profit or non-profit, with the secretary of states office. They are the ones the charter is filed with. If they violate the law I suppose you can report them to the AGs office or to your local DA. I believe the reporting depends on whether or not you think they might retaliate against you with fines or even an attempt to confiscate your property, which may trigger a prolonged and expensive series of legal entanglements, which under the current law makes you responsible for the costs on both sides.
The WH has a website you can report friends, neighbors and HOAs
Does anyone know where you report a board member who is violating the charter for the HOA?
Ours sends out a prescreening survey to potential candidates and if you don’t give the right answers they nix you as a candidate. No one has ever challenged that before, but it seems very much like the illegal ”poll tests’ of the 1960s.
I have attended the last four or five HOA meetings. I stopped going a year or two back because of the infighting that was taking place. It was crazy to walk into a church of all places and hear constant bickering back and forth from the reps. I kind of reminds me a bit of this message board…
At our last HOA meeting, several citizens confronted the HOA about a street that is ‘sinking’. The word is that for some odd reason the HOA actually owns the rights to this street and is somehow responsible for it. I don’t know the details, but the folks that showed up seemed a bit riled up about it, and rightfully so in my humble opinion.
The HOA president got a little heated himself and fired back a few ‘in your face’ comments, to which one of the attendees responded, “Why the attitude?” His response was that he felt some of the members were accusing him of wrong doing, when in truth he didn’t know about the issue save for three weeks prior to the meeting. One of the other attendees said that they had sent numerous items up to the HOA over the last several months – since April actually.
I realize that our HOA is made up of volunteers. I also realize that they are not exactly experts on the field of HOA or law necessarily. However, when people have been complaining about the same topic for over 7 months – do they not have the right to voice those frustrations?
Frankly, this is my complaint with the City. You voice and voice and voice and in the end they do what they want, when they want, and with no regard to anything anyone else says. (At least in my and several other instances.)
All people want is their voice to be heard, progression to be evident, normalization, safety and stability. While some folks will never be pleased, most of what people want is a pretty simple task.
Is there corruption in my HOA? I am sure there are some back room dinner conversations that take place beyond the prying eyes of the ‘common’ folk. Is the corruption rampant? I don’t believe so. Are there things the community can do to be heard? Only if there are ears to hear them.
“Quail Valley Fund Donates Science Books To Lantern Lane Elementary School”=topic
there are I Hate HOA blogs you can gripe on
“Quail Valley Fund Donates Science Books To Lantern Lane Elementary School”=topic
there are I Hate HOA blogs you can bitch on.
What I don’t understand is that in ours we don’t even elect the board. We only pick our area representative. The last association I was in we elected our board directly. How come these newer neighborhoods don’t get to elect their board directly?
I’m not blaming, I’m just saying that if you aren’t involved, then chances are, “others have already badly handled your HOA.” New Territory’s annual meetings are usually only attended by the board, those who work for the association, and their vendors. The vendors give “awards” to the association for essentially spending more money for landscaping than any of their other clients. In addition, the constables are there to try to convince any resident that might wonder in, that they are there for them and their safety, instead of there for civil cases, like foreclosing on them.
Naturally, the association thinks that they can get by with anything (and they do try) and they justify it by claiming homeowners are lazy and apathetic about their community, instead of understanding that homeowners do not attend meetings because they are angry and powerless to change their HOA. More networking needs to take place between homeowners so that this twisted justification for corruption can be stopped.
Having said this, our new board looks like it is trying to make substantial positive changes, especially in eliminating backward and no bid contracts. They also canned their corrupt old maintenance manager. This should save homeowners hundreds of thousands. Nevertheless, some members of the old regime are planning a takeover and return to old corrupt practices (but lucrative for them) in January. I hope that people will support the positive, cost saving, and good business practices that our new board has been working toward. They have a long way to go, but it seems that they are trying. I will sing their praises the loudest when they implement fair elections without proxy manipulations, open records and meetings, no foreclosure targeting, no reapportionment of annual dues.
When the structure of HOAs allow a blustering power-mad MUD official to twist the arms of HOA management and board members into targeting and harassing HOA residents, then the structure must be changed.
I just do the best that I can. I am glad that others are asking these questions though. It sounds like they need to be asked.
To slapandtickle – I appreciate you. Thank you.
I didn’t say I was proud of that fact, but I’m going to try and attend more often. I don’t like what I’m reading and really should attend more.
Let me announce this emphatically:
“Others have handle it alright!!”
I’m one of those I guess that almost has never attended. It always seemed easier to just let others handle everything.
whats crooked and manipulative is the posters here who use pseudos and make false accusations, while advertising for HOA lawyers and dem politicians.
I wonder when voters in cty precient 1 will discover they got hoodwinked?
Most people, sadly, do not attend their HOA meetings. HOAs have proven themselves to be crooked, manipulative and consumed with power freaks. Most people ignore their HOA problems and just hope they do not do too much damage to them personally. Unfortunately, the damage is systemic due to 1.unfair proxy manipulated elections, 2.foreclosure targeting, 3.reapportioned annual dues, and 4.closed records and meetings. People are usually picked off one at a time, so others either do not know about the injustices or they think that these injustices cannot happen to them. Hellooo… the structure of HOAs is dangerously flawed. Introduce yourselves to Senator John Carona!
I used to go to both our MUD board meetings and our HOA board meetings, but I have missed the last 3 months worth due to health problems.
I ask this question all the time… I feel like a broken record, but I will ask again in this forum:
Did anyone attend the last HOA meeting? Or any of the HOA meetings over the last few months?
We watch those proxy vote wars year in and year out and the HOA lawyer always keeps the bunch in he wants. When you ask to see the ballots they try to schedule it at a time that is very inconvenient. There has to be a better way than having the attorney hired by the board certify the count and just try to get records out of them short of filing a very expensive case. All we get each year is a very generic non-detailed budget and can you believe those security contracts. I remember one year it went to one of the constables who had a brother on the board. Don’t tell me about how its suppose to work, I know how it works first hand.
“It looks like you are trying to goat a response to me ftbendconservative.” you’ve asked me questions and I responded. Actually I’m not, however, if you choose to see that way thats up to you.
Didn’t you just spend last night and this morning complaining about the attacks on you? It looks like you are trying to goat a response to me ftbendconservative.
The easiest route to take is to replace board members, as we did recently, replacing two. If you’re a member of the QVFund and involved/informed you knew that. If we need to replace more we’re also capable of doing that.
Using lawyers to solve problems usually benefits only the lawyers.
I learned early in life when making decisions it helps to have as much information possible in order to make an informed decision. Some still have that lesson to learn. However, it doesn’t stop them from telling others how to do things.
“..then a petition by the fund members can give the power back to Quail Valley residents.”
Voice, you will also need to keep a very close eye on the legal vendor for the community when you submit this petition and ask to be present when they are recording it. They are not obligated by law to allow you and if they don’t then you can challenge it through the courts in a civil case. I would strongly recommend, if it gets to this stage, that you contact a very experienced HOA attorney by the name of David Kahne. He’s been on the forefront of HOA abuses and violations of law.
Good luck!
Several years ago, QV Fund Board members reported that funds were needed to replace or repair mowing equipment, as well as the need to meet other rising expenses.
Instead of going to the voters each time, they sought and received voter approval to raise fees as required to meet the budget. The majority of the trusting voters approved the ballots that they had received in the mail. Thus, another government-controlled entity was unleased.
Since 2004, fees have risen from $212 to $396. Even though a surplus was collected, and sizeable gifts were made from those collections, the fees this year remain the same–$396.
The only way to rescind this power is for the people to speak out, and if there is no corrective action taken by the Board, then a petition by the fund members can give the power back to Quail Valley residents.
“Why is that and why would you continue to participate if it bothers you so much?”
I want to. Does that meet with your approval?
False accusations about does not meet with my approval, and will be challenged.
So simply put I’ll post here when I want, and anyone falsely accusing me will be treated the same as I’m treated.
I hope thats ok with you trolls.
“I am VERY concerned that my HOA can give my annual dues away to anyone they feel like endearing themselves to.” get involved with YOUR HOA, you might make a difference.. Trashing other’s is juvenile.
“Please give me the links?”
Try learning to use the internet. Who knows you may enjoy it.
I could only find one of the sites in my search you mentioned, but it looked like a typical blogger site. Mostly rehashed news on the schools and a very interesting video of a petition presentation to our school board along with numerous information links. I found one on the districts cumulative bond debt that was pretty disconcerting. I’m not sure who is obsessed with whom ftbendconservative, but I do resent you attacking me and you do seem to attack many on this site. Why is that and why would you continue to participate if it bothers you so much?
I am VERY concerned that my HOA can give my annual dues away to anyone they feel like endearing themselves to. This is a structural HOA problem of great significance! As for websites, I would like to claim this website as my favorite, so I don’t know what other websites you are referring to. Are they as good as this one? Please give me the links?
obviously I’m not obsessed with my HOA giving to the KKK, like you.
Its one thing to have values and principles its another to be over the line obsessed or as some might say “crazy as a loon”.
When you have two webistes one dedicated to trashing MC and one dedicated to trashing FBISD you’re more than obsessed.
I too am absolutely “obsessed” with my community, family and justice. What are you obsessed with conman?
cult of one can you read? can you understand what “I don’t” means? When anyone disagrees or challenges calvin he then makes false accusations. Then people like you attack the poster. Are you that gullible? ie:
“I bet my HOA gives money to the KKK too. How do I stop them?”
calvin is a troll and is “obsessed” with MC/FBISD/FTBendCTY and he needs to give the rant a rest. My question is why do you “participate”?
Also, Conman is called conman for good reason. Very bright people agree on that, for sure.
The HOAs can’t directly support a elected candidates so they do the next best thing and give OUR money to city causes. Somebody please tell me how this is not double taxation without representation. I bet my HOA gives money to the KKK too. How do I stop them?
I never took sides in any of this. My point is simple, if you aren’t getting something out of this then why participate.
I don’t. calvin falsely accuses me and you idots are so stupid you believe him. calin knows if he says something enough the less than bright will buy it hook line and sinker. I believe its called gullible.
now let me ask why are you so gullible you believe his lies?
Why would you participate if you weren’t getting something out of it ftbendconservative?
why does this site attract the nuts?
Wow, what a blowout.
Sorry I got so negative all, but watching these two go on and on is sad.
Yes tabor it’s going to get very interesting with these thugs.
PS Whose talking to you jerk? Grow up old man and stop libeling real people who give a damn, because you sure don’t have any scruples and are a perfect fit for the edc-cronies and I mean a perfect sycophant fit.
gayboy te only way you’re happy is when you’re butting other business or telling everyone how to run their lives.
I’m sure if the fund needs you they’ll call.
Meanwhile quit stalking pervert
Who knows what they will uncover if they look deeper. I don’t think I would be very happy if my HOA was doing all this without membership approval either MoCity.
Sounds like this is just getting good.
Just to get “conman” back on topic, here are the issues again-
MoCity says:
November 5th, 2009 at 5:05 pm (#)
I don’t recall seeing anything about requesting an approval…
What was the 150k given to the City for? Anyone know?
and this one
Voice of Reason says:
November 5th, 2009 at 1:23 pm (#)
I am the wife of “Voice of Reason.” Years ago, the Fund received authority by the voters to raise fees without public permission. At that time, I cautioned the Fund that the sitting, reasonable Board members would not be on the Board forever. My warning fell on deaf ears.
I do not think it is reasonable to use taxes or fees for purposes other than for which they were supposedly collected. If there is a surplus, the taxes should be lowered. However, the assessed fees are the same this year as they were last year.
The Board would be wise to utilize the fees inside the scope for which the Fund’s purposes originated.
Sunshine this is a different argument, but still related to the crony-boyz. You see the HOA apparently has been giving away their annual dues to the city and some charity without asking the membership for approval.
PS Why is it charlieB (conman/wadefishin/johnbernardbooks–government fake conservative no bid vendor defender) whenever someone posts important information that hurts your cronies you have to post so lame low-life off topic libel or any absurd AH thing that comes to your drunken mind? You are the only poster I know that posts such homophobic fantasy crap.
Grow up old man and answer the questions asked by MoCty. They are relevant to this thread and yes I am keeping this libel jerk.