POA candidates discuss upcoming board election
Six candidates are running in the Bella Vista Property Owners Association Board of Directors election. The three candidates who receive the most votes will be elected to a three-year term on the board, and all members in good standing will have three votes.
Ballots will be mailed and emailed starting April 8. Voting ends on May 21 and the election results will be announced that evening during the Annual Meeting of Members.
Jan Simms
Candidate Jan Simms has been a POA member for 11 years and previously served on the board from June 2020 to May of 2023.
She holds degrees in computer science and accounting and a master’s in business administration. She became director of finance for a manufacturing company in Oklahoma City and had many departments working for her, she said. She also led the installation of the company’s first computer system that it used for 25 years before upgrading due to its success, she said.
Simms said she brings financial experience, business experience and sound business practices to the table.
“I know how to run a company. That’s largely what I bring to the board,” she said.
“I don’t think that my responsibility to the members when I left a year ago is finished, so I want to try three more years and work on those issues,” Simms said. “I’m concerned about the financial situation with us undertaking the new loan to remodel our practice facility [Tanyard Creek].
“I’m very concerned and conscientious about our amenities. That is the responsibly of the POA, is to maintain the amenities.
We need to do it responsibly. We need to keep everything up to date, and as we have the funds, add new amenities that will benefit the members.”
Jim Parsons
Candidate Jim Parsons has been a POA member since 1998 and was previously elected to the board of directors but “was quickly thrown off due to his refusal to sign the loyalty oath to the corporation,” according to his candidate profile.
He is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Green Beret and served in Vietnam. He earned a master’s degree at East Texas State University and taught high school biology and college anatomy and physiology. He taught at Texarkana College and at Northwest Arkansas Community College.
“I promised myself I would never run again,” Parsons said. “When we found out through the IRS report of 2022 that [CEO] Tom Judson is making $305,642 annually, that is ridiculous, someone has to do something.”
According to his candidate profile, Parsons wants the POA in its current form to go away.
“We need to create neighborhood POAs that would better serve the residents. We need to have each lake and golf course to form its own POA, if for no other reason than to create a neighborhood watch group to prevent unwanted intruders from passing through their private property. Each neighborhood in our city has different priorities,” he said.
Parsons said he brings past history and experience to the board.
“Somebody needs to be on the board that knows where the bodies are buried,” he said.
JB Portillo
Candidate JB Portillo has been a homeowner in Bella Vista since 2005 and a fulltime resident since 2013.
She has served on the POA board for the past three years.
She retired in 2013 after a 30-year career in accounting, budgeting, project controls and managing international teams in war zones.
Portillo said she brings a sense of gratitude, purpose and responsibility to the board.
“I pledge to listen and be available, to be their voice. If people have an issue, I want to talk about it, but bring some solutions,” she said. “I work and have worked with the city and the POA to increase the level of involvement, making sure I have attended all POA, community and city council meetings to make sure I understand the structure. We all need to understand the structure, find the good in it and change anything that isn’t working.”
Portillo said she chaired the rules and regulations committee this year, which updated the policies with language that was understandable to everyone and added notes to explain what the covenants and declarations said.
She added she believes in concentrating on not only where Bella Vista is today but where it is going, making decisions that protect all members.
“I’m a very involved board member. I do my homework and investigate. Although we can’t please everyone, the decisions for the majority are what happens,” she said.
Deborah Lukotch
Candidate Deborah Lukotch has lived in Bella Vista for 25 years. She has not served on the board of directors before but has served on the POA’s Recreation Joint Advisory Committee for the past two years and is now chair.
Lukotch has worked in retail management for 40 years, working for Walmart for 25 years and several other large retailers in the past.
“I think I bring a lot of expertise in driving revenue growth and cultivating partnerships, and I think that skill set would be important right now,” she said. “All of Northwest Arkansas is growing like crazy. Our demographics are changing. I think I can help guide where we need to go. Our amenities are absolutely amazing. We have a lot to offer. As we manage this growth we have to keep what makes us special — the natural beauty of Bella Vista is what sets us apart from the rest of Northwest Arkansas.”
In her candidate profile, Lukotch said she wanted to “recognize the changing demographics as young families move here for the quality of life, while continuing to cater to the 32 percent of members over 65.”
“It’s very, very important to me that our growth is strategically managed. We have to be careful that we’re enhancing the amenities we have but adapt to meet the evolving needs of our residents,” she said.
“What’s important to me is that I represent the viewpoint of all 39,000 of our members. It’s not something I want done for me. I represent the community as a whole. If we maintain our amenities and maintain our natural beauty, we’re going to maintain our property values, and Bella Vista will continue to grow bigger and better and stronger.”
Steve McKee
Candidate Steve McKee has been a POA member since 2013 and was elected to the board of directors in 2019 and served one year. He said he was removed from the board due to a difference of opinion.
McKee earned a degree in philosophy from Southern Methodist University and put it to use in the finance industry working as a broker, he said.
What he has to offer the board is critical thinking and a diversified board with different opinions, he said.
“I’ve continued to support the idea that we are going to be members first and keep our golf courses as golf courses and keep from amenity conflict,” he said.
McKee said amenities should be kept private. Before 2020, there was an effort to open them to the public, and the public was paying less than members, he said. About 2019 the value of being a member was decreasing, he said. Today, the value of being a member has increased, he said.
“Assessments increased and user fees decreased; usage boomed; emergency reserves rebuilt. We morphed into a hybrid POA with specific amenities (golf, restaurants, certain trails) open to members, guests, and the public, while other amenities (lakes, parks, dams, recreation centers, and more) became exclusive for members and guests. Thus, the value of being a POA member increased materially,” McKee said in his candidate profile.
He added, “When I was on the board I voted against the budget because the top line was negative. I think the POA should begin to support itself more fully rather than constantly raising fees and borrowing money.”
Jackie Gain
Candidate Jackie Gain has been a resident of Bella Vista since 2017 and currently serves on the board of directors.
She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Louisiana Tech University. She worked 37 years for International Paper, working as mill controller and providing manufacturing lean process reviews for domestic and international sites. She focused on yearover-year improvements and also was responsible for budgeting, forecasting, payroll, auditing and capital spending reviews, she said.
Gain is also a small business owner with investments in two Dairy Queen franchises, a short-term rental and several longterm rental properties.
She said her business experience will help her facilitate fiscal responsibility and that she has the knowledge base from serving on the board and the recreation committee to ask the hard questions. She also served on the audit committee the past two years.
“I am committed to doing my homework, making factbased decisions, and listening to our members,” Gain said. “I also bring a strong base of volunteerism. Having worked with Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Child Abuse Prevention center, elementary student mentoring and church leadership roles, I understand commitment and people. These are necessary skills to be a valued team member and successfully work together to continue to improve our community.”
Gain said she wants to make sure the board does its best to adapt the amenities to the changing demographics of the community.