Upcoming Natomas Park HOA election (apologies to readers outside Natomas Park!)

A major hoodwink is about to happen in Natomas Park and I feel it necessary to share this information. My apologies to readers outside Natomas Park. However, you should still be concerned about the property rights violations and discrimination about to take place in Natomas Park- it could be your HOA next.

Why you should VOTE NO on the upcoming Natomas Park HOA ballot

You should expect an HOA ballot to be arriving in the mail towards the end of the month. There are significant changes being made to the CC&Rs as well as some changes that should have been made that are being left off purposefully by the Board of Directors. It is important that no matter how you vote, you return the ballot so that this decision can be made by homeowners NOT the delegates.

• The Board of Directors has packaged this vote as one yes or no vote, without breaking down the individual items specifically. They are holding your vote hostage.
  

There are numerous changes in this vote that are required by law. The city, state and county laws have changed and our CC&Rs are not in compliance. Rob Thompson said at the meeting on Tuesday, January 8th that "Breaking out the individual issues is too complicated" so the Board decided to go with a single yes or no vote. There are two reasons to do this- either the Board doesn't think you're smart enough to figure out the changes, or they are trying to hide things all in one package on the pretext of saving money. If this vote does not pass, we will still be required by law to vote again. Because of the way they chose to word the ballot, you have no option to agree or disagree on individual issues.

• The Board of Directors has elected to change some problems with Delegate voting, but only those in their own best interests.

One major issue on this ballot is how Delegates vote for Director. You may not know this but currently, it doesn't matter how you vote individually on HOA issues. If 51% of the ballots in a district are not returned, the Delegate can vote however he or she want. Even if 49% of the residents are against an issue and the other 51% don't vote, the delegate could vote in support of an issue. The Board knows this is a problem but are refusing to address it in this vote because it serves their own interests. They have already met with the delgates and given them instruction on the importance of their issues BEFORE the vote. The Board has chosen to address this issue on this ballot BUT ONLY for how it affects their vote for Directors. Because of notoriously low turnout in the HOA elections, the Board is counting on the delegates to do as they are told to push this ballot through.

• Delegates vote by secret ballot so you have no right to know how your specific Delegate voted. The Board has chosen not to address this problem.

It is your responsibility as a property owner to vote in elections for the HOA. However, because of secret ballot, your Delegate has no accountability to the neighborhood. He/She can choose to vote however he/she chooses. All public officials have to share their voting records and are accountable for them, why do we not require the same openness in our HOA elections?

• The Board of Directors is encouraging discrimination based on income within the community.

At a meeting on Tuesday, January 8th, an audience member addressing the issue of tenants using the Club said "Most of us in the neighborhood just don't like renters and don't want them here." This comment was met with nodding heads of the present Board members. The Board has chosen to discriminate against tenants, assuming that renters are all undesirable instead of taking the legal and appropriate actions they already have available. The Board has not enforced policies requiring owners to notify them about tenants. They are using the excuse of too much time to manage who lives where. If they enforced the currently existing laws instead of creating new, discriminatory policies, this would not be a problem. Do you want to live in a neighborhood that creates classes of people? Do you want to encourage your children to believe that renters are bad? How would you feel if you suddenly had to sell your house and rent due to a family crisis? We are talking about telling your friend, neighbor or child's teacher that he/she is bad and can't be trusted with Club access.

• The Board of Directors is encouraging you to give up your property rights.
  

Even if you agree that only owners should have access to the Club, this was not the system you bought into. As it currently stands, if you have to move to another town and rent your house because it won't sell, you can assign your Club privledges to a tenant as an extra "perk" for choosing your house. You assumed moving into the neighborhood that your HOA dues paid for a certain level of service. This measure reduces your level of service, decreasing your right to rent your property as you bought it, to others. A yes vote tells the Board that you are willing to sacrifice your property rights.

• Property owners who rent their homes in Natomas Park are already organizing for a class-action lawsuit if this measure passes.
  

The lawsuit against Lennar has not even been resolved yet and the Board is interested in baiting the community into another lawsuit. This lawsuit will cost you money to defend. Do you really want to pay more dues to fund a lawsuit defense?

Now that you understand the issues, what can you do?

Encourage your neighbors to understand the issues and ask questions

Meet your neighbors and talk to them, get to know the renters and homeowners in your area.

Report renters and homeowners that do not follow the CC&Rs using the existing legal methods

Most importantly, VOTE NO and demand the Board give you a fair ballot that allows you to pick and choose issues, like a state or city election.