POA Board Arrrogance

I am no stranger to this site as I have posted multiple entries concerning issues with our Florida-based POA Board. I live in a gated community of 114 homes on the Gulf Coast 89 miles north of Tampa. I suspect our only recourse is to recall some of the board. Please allow me to bring everyone up to date.

1. Submitted a 65-person petition to the Board March 19, 2026 requesting a special meeting to develop a plan to fix the deplorable sod conditions throughout the community. (According to by-laws, only needed 29 signatures)

2. While our policy manual (MA01) states the the Board electively decided to replace sod, it has dragged it's feet using the county water restrictions (extended through March 2027) as the reason to delay holding the meeting.

3. Submitted a 2d petition on Sep 1, 2026 requesting a second special meeting to address reserve funds. We have $129k in unrestricted reserve that, by Florida Statute 720.303, homeowners can vote to re-allocate with affirmative vote of the majority. We determined it was essential to ensure we had funds allocated to develop a sod plan at the previously requested meeting on March 19th.

4. In preparation for the meeting (scheduled for 11/02/2026), we secured 61 "limited" proxy statements with specific entries allowing each homeowner to circle 'yes' of 'no' for each item to be voted on. (We got 61 signed proxies with every item circled 'yes'). Historically, we never have more than 20 or so homeowners attend a meeting so the proxy statements assured having a majority vote.

5. The Board sent an email blast (over the homeowner funded web site) discouraging the meeting and informing homeowners of an expense for a legal opinion (just shy of $1,000) since it was unaccustomed to dealing with petitions. That legal opinion was obtained without the board holding an open meeting where the action was discussed and voted on. This is in direct violation of Florida Statute. When I asked for the legal opinion, the property management firm claimed attorney-client privilege. which, according to Florida Statute, is not applicable in this case.

6. As a pre-emptive effort, the Board held a meeting on Oct 298, 2026. It published a vague agenda that mentioned:

a. Sod replacement program/sod replacement funding

b. Revision to Policy MA01

c. Financial Results YTD

d. 2027 Preliminary Budget Review

7. The agenda, according to Florida Statute, should be specific enough for homeowners to discern exactly what the meeting will entail. In reading the above agenda, that does not appear to be the case.

8. At the meeting, the Board also voted to raise monthly membership fees without addressing that in the agenda or providing each homeowner with a proposed budget before hand.

9. During the meeting, the Board also voted to spend $72K for sod, to replace the front yards for homes that never received sod previously. Part of that $72K was going to be a $15k expense line if the 2027 budget. This was apparently a pre-emptive effort to develop a sod plan that is in direct conflict with the meeting we petitioned the board to hold back in March - still waiting.

10. What is even more disturbing is that in July the Board announced the Landscape Contractor could not asses the sod until the water restrictions ended in March 2027. So what changed? At the Oct 28th meeting the Board announced what it planned to do regarding sod, based upon a half-baked assessment of yards? I suspect that assessment was conducted by the VP/Treasurer as he rode through the community in his golf cart. Any decent plan should have involved a detailed measurement of all yards to fully assess the scope of the problem, since that was the membership's intent with the original petition.

My apology for the long-winded email. It is difficult to summarize the last 7 months of frustration in one entry. I left the Board on March 19th, 2026 due to my lack of confidence in the board and our philosophical differences in how to manage the community. As Maintenance Director, I was a big communicator ensuring the residents knew everything that was happening. The President and VP feel no responsibility to communicate with the homeowners and appear to act out of shear arrogance. They use POA webmail blasts to spread misinformation, intimidate, blame, and prey on the fears of the older homeowners.

I welcome any advice from those of you who are much better versed in POA matters than I. Having done a few things in my pre-retirement life, I know people and have a pretty good ide of what is required to do things well. What I am seeing from this Board is nowhere close.

Thanks for reading.

Chuck Z