Do citizens have a choice in POA election?
Once again, it is election time to elect our Bella Vista POA board members. Perhaps it is important that we know what we are voting for. First, we are voting for corporate board members that will represent Cooper Communities, Inc. (CCI) and they do not represent the people. They are corporate board members and not people board members.
In 2011, POA Board Member, Larry Verissimo was removed from the board because some of his friends and neighbors wanted him to contact State Representative Donna Hutchinson to write the Arkansas Attorney
General to form an opinion for them. Because he did it without getting the other corporation board members’ permission, they threw him off the board. I ran in 2011 to fill that vacancy.
I won that seat on the board in the May 17, 2011, election. After the announcement was made at Riordan Hall the POA “Powers that be” took me off to a side room and sat me down and told me to sign an oath of allegiance to support CCI. Being ex-military, I had already signed an oath to defend the United States of America and then later signed a document to promise certain specifics to become a member of 10th Special Forces Group. Airborne (Green Berets). I felt that it would be wrong for me to sign my pledge to conflicting organizations. At the first meeting of the board, they threw me off the board for failure to sign the pledge. I had run races for Arkansas Secretary of State; State Senate, State Representative, school boards and mayor and had never been asked to sign such a document.
Not too long ago, POA Board Member, Steve McKee unwittingly ran on a platform that he would represent the people and he did and they dismissed him. When we ran, the rule was that the candidate had to sign the oath after he or she was elected. The rule has now changed that the candidate must sign the pledge prior to the election to be eligible to get on the ballot.
In regard to this POA board election, we don’t really have a choice of candidates. They have already committed themselves to serve the corporation rather than the people of Bella Vista.
I don’t regret being removed from the POA Board because I would not like to be part of an organization that has to stand idly by while people in Bella Vista are being forced to remove their white fences and obey such other unreasonable mandates. American property owners should have more freedom to follow their dreams than that.
Jim Parsons Bella Vista