Sponsor board members abusing privilege?

We live in a relatively new community in New York, so the sponsor maintains a 4 to 3 majority on the board.

I happen to have a friend who is a resident board member, and he is quite convinced that many decisions are far from being in the interests of the homeowners in the community (which is currently about 55% to 60% sold and about 3 to 5 years from being turned over to the residents).

An attorney who represents the sponsor sits in on the board meetings even though he is not on the board and runs the show. Nothing is done without his approval.

Apparently minutes of meetings are looked over with a fine tooth comb and anything that reflects negatively on the community is removed.

The board voted to have an HOA website which was supposed to answer homeowners' questions. It cost the homeowners $4000 to $5000, but it appears to be nothing more than an advertisement for the builder since only selected questions submitted get answered.

I was wondering if the homeowners have any recourse whatsoever or if this is the way it will be until we govern ourselves.

Thanks!!

Thanks,
Steve

How can we stop the website or anything else from happening (BTW... the website has already happened)?
You are suggesting that there is absolutely nothing we can do.
Is there no limit?
Steve

While the developer is not REQUIRED to listen to you before the turnover, he does have an interest in keeping people reasonably content. After all prospective purchasers will try to find out what they can about the community. They don't want to find a website greenacres@#$%s.com.