POA directors pick new officers

The new POA Board of Directors held their first open meeting on Thursday.

One new member joined the board on June 1. David Brandenburg was elected during the May election. Two incumbents, Ruth Hatcher and Jim Abrahamson, were re-elected.

After the open meeting, the board met privately to choose

a chairman and a vice chairman.

Also, a regularly scheduled closed meeting was held on June 8.

Ron Stratton is the new chairman. He has served on the board since June 2015. Before that he worked on both the Marketing Committee and the Golf Committee.

“I retired relatively early in life after spending a career trying to identify opportunities, and then get the most talented people in place, with the right resources, to make them come true,” Stratton wrote when responding to questions via email.

“It’s what I’m used to doing. I enjoy it and find it to be energizing rather than stressful.”

Stratton worked for a drug company, first developing new drugs then later developing the business. He was president and COO of the United States portion of a multinational firm.

When he ran for the board, he championed the idea that each of Bella Vista’s six 18-hole golf courses should have individual identity and progress has been made in that direction. Each course now has its own logo and merchandise, he said.

Last year, the board rejuvenated Scotsdale and added some Scottish flair. That project was successful. The Country Club building, designed by E. Fay Jones, is now being renovated.

“This approach of appealing, high-quality, good-value facilities should apply to all our amenities, not only golf, and will assure an attractive, prosperous future for Bella Vista,” he wrote.

Stratton said he doesn’t think there will be an assessment election this year.

John Nuttall is the new vice chairman. He has been on the board since May 2012 and before that served on an ad hoc Restaurant Committee and a City Committee.