Menifee Lakes reform;

Look, I have been reading ALL the web sites, all the newspaper articles and all of the forums.  Here is what I have found.

 
Menifee Lakes is run by FOUR members of a board of SEVEN who appear to be on some kind of power trip. The community who elected them has asked for them to resign.  Instead they use the associations money to remain in office paying $400 per hour to their attorney to keep them there.  WHY?
 
OK,  they did not like their lake manager so they fired him.  BIG DEAL!  Except apparently a lot of people (over 350 at last count) signed a petition to have him reinstated.  They demanded the board give them a reason at least.  The board refused to acquiesce to their requests, or demands. BIG DEAL!
 
The word went out in the community and folks started coming to the meetings,  and trying to get answers from their board.  NO ANSWERS.  BIG DEAL!
 
Then the TRUTH about the Board began to surface.  Lots of people saw for themselves how this board behaved, (dictatorially) and handled those with opinions which differed from their own.  They saw who they were allied with;  the political agendas; the personal agendas; lies; secret meetings; character assassinations (of others than the lake manager) & slanders; libels; false reports to homeowners; rogue board members acting outside their scope of duties; acting in BAD FAITH;  spending large sums of money recklessly; honoring contracts obtained under fraudulent circumstances,  with false references, lies about certifications held, and other lies, by forming "personal alliances with the contractor.   Additionally it was learned that two of the board members had previously entered into at least one self benefiting secret deal with a previous board headed by their personal friend and neighbor,  which JUST happened to save them ten grand!  A bribe of another 10 grand to the departing lake manager under condition of "silence".  $75,000.00 thrown down the drain without so much as an explanation to the HOA members.   If that is not enough: a string of unannounced and unreported secret board meetings held in VIOLATION of the LAW! Isolation of two board members; partisan enforcement of CC&R's.  Co-mingling of funds, outside the terms of the LAW... regardless of the motive.  Failure to enforce CC&R's;  failure to follow the Davis Sterling Common Interest development interest Act on numerous occasions.   THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!!
 
So a recall was started by a homeowner.  NOT the lake manager. 
 
The lake manager Sued the Board.  SO WHAT!.  That is why we have insurance.  The BOARD has sued numerous homeowners in the past years.  Let the Insurance company deal with it.  If the BOARD was wrong he DESERVES to win!  If the contractor was wrong,  HE WILL LOSE!!  That is what the courts are for.  Let them deal with it! 
 
Now we have a disgruntled board member who gets served with his "summons and complaint" and THE NEXT DAY this "truth" site opens that is fraught with so many "internal" contradictions you would have to be an idiot,  or already predisposed to their side of the issues to believe the God-awful stuff that comes up on that site. There is obviously a BOARD member behind the site who is "feeding them information" albeit skewed by personal views.  Two weeks into it we find out that this BOARD member is GEORGE MOFFITT one of the subjects of the recall election, (seen standing with a "truth" web site sign in his hand along with Chrystal McFarlane's husband on the corner of Newport Road and Antelope;  charged with numerous crimes under the Davis Sterling Act.  We see the self serving board try to quash a TRUTHFUL explanation of a duck incident even after a majority voted to have the explanation given (on video tape!).  The Property Manager offered this peace-making solution the day after the incident  containing the truth with no political spin in either direction;  and it was rejected by a self serving Board.
 
Just look at what has been done in the name of and on the "truth" site:
  • Hate crimes
  • Lies
  • Character assassination of the former Lake Manager-  will that ever end.  Ok,  we get the message.  You don't like the former lake manager!
  • Vandalism of private property
  • Vandalism of real estate and other billboards
  • Covering up "stop signs" with propaganda, obscuring the directions on the sign.
  • Made up stories and charges
  • Making "jokes" about the racial incidents
  • Not addressing any of the underlying issues relating to the Board itself.
  • Focusing almost entirely on trying to discredit the previous lake manager, as though that made the charges against the board disappear!
  • Sick sense of humor at other's expense - including alluding to marital infidelity; 
  • Accusing women of self inflicted racial hate crimes to make "them" look bad
  • Twisted and distorted presentation of "some truth" mixed with "radical lies". 
  • All in the name of truth.
  • Supporting those who are KNOWN to have created racist flyers
  • Joking about criminal acts as though they were not even criminal.
These kinds of things strike at the very core of our beings as mothers and fathers and husbands and wives. They challenge the very values that brought most of us to Menifee Lakes.  They put dirt on our relationship,  our children, our families, and our community.  And they "laugh" about it.  It makes us ashamed to live in this "community of a lifetime" and it drives others away from us, causing our property values to decline rapidly.  WHY?
 
What's the big deal?  If you don't like Harris,  don't vote for him.  Hate him if that makes you feel better.
 
But our Board of Directors is a whole 'nuther animal!  I don't think Harris is the "greatest" guy either.  But that does not obscure my vision as to what this Board is guilty of.
 
I have voted for the recall of this Board.  What can it hurt to get a new Board?  A FRESH start.  New Ideas!  Less Conflict!  It's a good idea!
 
Thanks for letting this old timer share.
 
BR