It looks like the new Board elections will be like a game of musical chairs with four people vying for only three seats. The four candidates are Board President Courtney LeBeau, who’s asking to be reelected, Joanne Marks, Courtney Silberberg, and Steve Games.
Why so few candidates? Well after last year’s disgraceful bullying of candidate Richard Clotfelter, who would dare run without the backing of the powerful golfing community rallying behind them? Mr. Clotfelter endured the repeated narrative of being some kind of a carpetbagger because he splits his time between Rancho Santa Fe and Seattle. If that made a candidate ineligible to run, former Board Director Ken Markstein, who had a home out of state, and many other elected RSFA representatives, would have been sent packing.
Not Playing Politics
The difference here is that Mr. Clotfelter wasn’t playing politics. He didn’t hide behind a wishy-washy, conformist candidate platform. He was refreshingly independent, and openly promised that, if elected, he would speak up for non-golf residents who repeatedly told him they felt marginalized and underrepresented. He said he would work to bring ethical governance and prudent financial management to the Association, which must have threatened those who have thus far enjoyed an open checkbook and little pushback on multi-million-dollar projects.
Indeed, someone was so threatened by the prospect of Dick Clotfelter on the Board, that a deeply tasteless email campaign was launched by a mysterious ”neighbor” named “JW,” which accused Dick of being an outsider and hiding his legal residency. That slung muck was laughable given that Dick was born in the Ranch, grew up in the Ranch, and whose dad was THE guy employed by the RSF Land Company to sell the home parcels after the Covenant’s creation. “JW” and those cowardly hiding behind the account were in total panic that Dick would win a seat at the table, so they kept the character assassinations coming on our fellow neighbor until the repetition perversely became reality. Statistical political strategy played out and, surprise, the negative campaign worked.
Super Majority Hug Box
Today, the Board of Directors is made up of a super majority hug box who vote in favor of all golf club initiatives, and enjoy a level of unilateralism not often seen in politics – let alone HOAs. They vote 7-0 on almost every issue — especially the big-ticket items. Take, for instance, the last Board meeting. A group of members circulated a petition calling for a special meeting to decide whether we should allocate $10 million on the club restaurant renovation. This, by the way, is legally appropriate since, according to Davis-Stirling laws, the dollar amount as a percentage of gross expenses should have member approval. Enter the HOA attorney, Bill Budd.
Per usual, this Board voted 7-0 to not grant the requested town meeting about the large expenditure, and threw up Mr. Budd as incarnated stonewall, who performed a contorted legalese gymnastics routine on why it wasn’t possible to conduct an advisory vote. Even after a member asked for the Directors to explain their positions, not a peep from one of them. So I guess the “family” has become one of those dysfunctional ones who only speak through their attorneys.
Legal Stonewalling
Once upon a time, a petition circulated by members meant something. Board Directors cared about what their neighbors and friends thought. Do the Directors think that winning a seat on the Board gives them a monocratic mandate to govern without any community feedback and oversight? Considering voter turnout in this town, it’s important for Directors to remember they are supposed to represent all constituents, even those who didn’t vote for them or who didn’t vote at all.
Boards of the past knew whom they served, respected their concerns, and consulted them on big projects requiring a community buy-in. Not so much today. Over the past several years, three petitions have been circulated by members frantically trying to get the Board to answer serious issues – from Silvergate’s overdevelopment to members footing the bill for a restaurant remodel when it loses $1.6 million annually. But to no avail.
Ignorant Bliss?
If there was a silver lining, we assume this year’s RSFA election should be drama-free. No “JW” newsletters sliming our inboxes with vitriol. No mocking text threads and moronic surveys a monkey could suss as bunk. This summer we can just sit pretty and sun by the pool, pretending the lack of healthy political heat, open debate, and fair governance isn’t a simmering Faustian pact. It’s convenient to confuse an echo chamber for “peace.”