‘Go-Away-POA’ still a wish

I doubt if any of our Founding Fathers ever thought there would come a day when we would have an American city with four layers of bureaucracy. Yet, Bella Vista has a Property Owners Association, Cooper Communities Inc., Architectural Control Committee and a normal city administration. When a citizen decides to make a change of any kind, it becomes very confusing as to who rules on what.

When the Bella Vista Patriots and the Concerned Citizens of Bella Vista chartered a bus and went to the Capitol in Little Rock in 2005, they were successful in lobbying the State Legislature in making it possible for holding a reasonable election to become a city. The ensuing election was successful and we became a city of the First Class and now have a population of approximately 30,000 people.

Most of the winners of the 2005 election were in belief that when we became a city in 2006, the influence and rule of the POA, CCI and the ACC would eventually fade away. The BV Patriot slogan of “Go-Away-POA” was uttered only in wishful thinking. With the possible immoral and possibly illegal decisions of our current POA board, our “Go-Away-POA” wish stands a chance of becoming a reality.

The many court battles that the Patriots have had with the POA in the past have been complaints filed in civil court. The Patriots lost almost all cases because, for the lack of money, they couldn’t afford an attorney. The legal profession, like any profession, is not going to allow a yahoo (like me) to ride into town on a turnip truck and win in competition with one of their certified and registered members. As Patriots we understand that, however, we feel we did win most of our cases in the court of public opinion.

The Patriots feel the POA’s new administration has stepped over the line in some of its decisions. A few of which are:

1. The POA offers more favoritism and privileges to non-members than its members and acts more like a for-profit organization than a non-profit organization.

2. Pitting the majority vote of non-residents against the minority residents is probably illegal.

3. Throwing duly elected board members off the board because they don’t think or agree with the majority of the board is wrong.

4. The act of purchasing our homes falls under “contract law” rather than the POA’s protective covenants. Any breach of the signed contract allows the signee an opportunity to opt out of being a POA member.

5. When most bought our homes, the words “water shut-off” were not in the contract. According to contract law, as long as we are current in making our water payments, we should not have our water shut off.

6. Voting with the 700 returned lots which are behind in assessment payments of more than 90 days is probably illegal. Jim Parsons Chairman, Bella Vista Patriots, Bella Vista