Month: August 2018

Update for Monday (8/27)

Fellow Residents – There will be folks having the opportunity to speak at the Meeting tomorrow at the Club House.  The Board needs to be challenged on its behavior and more specifically its agenda for Aquarina.  The irony is that the Board’s real responsiblity is not an agenda but to maintain our community, and not change it, add to it, or take anything away.  The Board is taking the role as a developer, but the irony again is that a developer has its own funds where this Board in their cloak as a developer has no funds to use other than the Residents’ funds, which the Board uses at its own discretion without a required Resident vote.

The first Big Demand to the Board is for them to make available the AGI financial data, which by Florida State Statutes is the Board’s legal responsibility to maintain and the Board’s legal responsibility to provide the Residents upon request.  AGI is owned and controled by the ACSA (the Residents) by fact of the direction it is provided by the Board and by fact that the Residents subsidize the AGI.  AGI is not an entity unto itself to do what it wants.  All expenses and revenues of the ACSA and its subsidiaries (like AGI) are by Florida Statutes required to be maintained and made available to the Residents for review.

Being told otherwise is bogus. If the Board denies the request, then ask by what Law.  The Residents have a State Statute to see the data.  What law does the Board have to deny the request – the Board’s own discretionary law?

Remember from the last Blog post to the Board President – where he states that AGI generates income to pay for 80% of its expenses/costs.  If there is a budget line item where the Residents need to pay be at least $200,000 to subsidize the AGI, then doesn’t it make sense that the Residents are paying the 20% of the expenses/costs that are not paid?  That interprets to a total $1,000,000 in expenses/costs, and the Residents are forced to be in an unknowable state with the $1,000,000?

What is being hidden?

A Reply to the Board President

The Board President offered an email retort to a Resident requesting AGI financial data  The data was not provided to the Resident. My response (the Voice’s) is in bold italic –

(From Patrick Pollock’s email to me, i.e. the Resident)
In your email, you have merged AGI and ACSA roles and responsibilities. They are two separate entities with two separate Boards. While ACSA “owns” AGI it does not run it.

However,  ACSA  hires the people to run it, and certainly gives these hires direction on what is expected. The hires are not independent contractors; they are on salary and are in their positions at the pleasure of the Board. To state that ACSA does not run AGI is naive at best.  You cannot escape from the fact that ACSA more than just owns AGI, but is also responsible for its performance.  As a subsidiary with its parent entity the ACSA, all residents have a right per Florida Statute to know all the financials of AGI.

AGI’s Board operates all things golf, tennis, and Brassie, and produces income that pays about 80% of costs of those amenities.

Really, show the Residents these numbers. Do we just take your word for this statement of 80%.  Hmm. If there is at the very least a $200,000 subsidy from the Residents that will certainly be all spent by fiscal year end, and Brassie Grille, Golf, and Tennis pay 80% from their earned funds, then that would mean to run these three operations costs at the minimum $1,000,000 (20% of $1,000,000 is $200,000 – Residents’ subsidy).  Please show us these $1,000,000  worth of expenses!

ACSA owns and manages the common properties, and sets overall operational constraints and objectives for AGI.

Mr. President, you may have just contradicted yourself. You earlier stated that the ACSA does not run AGI, yet it sets overall operational constraints and objectives for AGI.  Hmm.

ACSA also has the ability to remove any AGI Board member at its sole discretion.

Okay, but remember you said that the ACSA does not run AGI.

Community Members are members of ACSA, not AGI. AGI has no members but sells memberships to residents and non-residents for use of specific amenities like golf.

Yes, but like the other operations, it’s a business, and it has risks like any business, for which the Residents are ultimately responsible at the cost of their contributed funds.

Certainly the Residents have a right as an investor in these three operations and per Florida Statute to see all the financial records of AGI – there is absolutely no excuse otherwise.

 

A Question to the Board at the Tuesday (8/28) Meeting

The answer to one question will show the attitude and agenda of the Board toward the Aquarina Residents. The Question is:

Why was River Oaks Resident Gary Parish denied access to or copies of the AGI Financials, more specifically, the detailed revenue and expense items, after presenting a formal written request that was attorney prepared?

Florida Statutes 720.303 (4) (j) 1 and (5) are specific that the Board must keep these records and that these records be available for the Residents to access.

Some of the bogus excuses for not releasing these records are that AGI is a subsidiary company and personnel salaries with the company are proprietary.

Response – ACSA is the Parent Company of AGI (the Subsidiary Company) and is owned by the ACSA.  Further, the Residents pay at a minimum  $200,000 to subsidize AGI.  Should not the Residents know how their subsidy is being spent?  The public, as a taxpayer, knows the salaries of Government employees, e.g. Teachers, Policemen, Firemen.  Why not know the salaries of AGI that the Residents pay?

Denying access for bogus reasons creates suspicion.