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.

 

Is There Now an Opportunity to Save Resident Funds?

HOW MANY LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT DOES AGI REALLY REQUIRE?

 The AGI General Manager has resigned per several statements from reliable sources in the community.  Does AGI need a General Manager, who allegedly earned a significant income (which was never disclosed) to oversee Golf, the Brassie Grille, and Tennis?  Chef Josh and Golf Pro Jonas are very capable professionals.  It would be expected the same from the Tennis operation.  This is an HOA operation, not a Harris or Grumman operation. Give folks like Josh and Jonas the responsibility they want, to show their expertise, and have them report to a Board AGI Committee.  Having the Board hire a General Manager makes no financial sense and creates too many chefs stirring the pot. Bottom Line – the Board hired an expensive General Manager and AGI is still financially short of funds even with the residents $200,000 plus subsidy.  BTW – that subsidy allegedly does not include rent, insurance, and who knows what else.

It’s time to take a general manager’s reins off the professionals that were hired and permit them to thrive in their skills.  It’s obvious that the Board wanted to exercise total control over the AGI businesses with the General Manager’s position.  It’s ironic that having control and maybe using the AGI businesses to the Board’s own end were more important than providing a laissez faire atmosphere for the folks, who were hired to make a success of these, in fact, ACSA businesses.

ONE MORE ITEM

 Per Florida Statute 720.303 (4) (j) 1) an HOA has the fiduciary responsibility to assemble “Accurate, itemized, and detailed records of all receipts and expenditures” and 4) “Any other records that identify, measure, record, or communicate financial information” in all its financial and accounting records, WHICH INCLUDE ALL THE AGI BUSINESSES, I.E. GOLF, TENNIS, AND THE BRASSIE GRILLE.

Per Florida Statute 720.303 (5) the financials of the HOA “shall be made available to a parcel owner (the Resident) for inspection and photocopying”.

One of our Residents had requested this financial information from the Board, followed the specific stated guidelines (attorney prepared) for the request, AND WAS DENIED ACCESS.  Why?  Hmm.  Oh yes, there is a $50 per day fine for not supplying the requested information, which would be from the Residents’ funds. HOWEVER, THE REQUESTING RESIDENT DID NOT WANT TO COLLECT ON THE BOARD’S FINES.

. . .  AND YET THE BOARD’S BEAT JUST SEEMS TO GO ON.

JUST BREAKING NEWS

 The Admin Building debacle gets worse.  Termite infestation that very well could be structural has been discovered after the Residents’ unapproved $100,000 renovation nears completion.  This is a 35 year old wood framed structure.

More to come.