LAWSUIT FILED

It is now a matter of public record. For perhaps the first time in Texas history, four new Board Members of a Home Owners Association (Meadowcreek Association, Inc.) have filed a lawsuit naming the incumbent Board Members as Defendants.

In Cause Number 10-DCV-179320 (Fort Bend County), the four new members along with two residents have filed a Petition for Declaratory Judgment and Application for Temporary Injunction, naming Meadowcreek Association, Inc., Terry Strickland, Mildred Johnson Jackson Mills, David Hamner, Eugene Placke and Claude L. Whitaker as Defendants. The incumbent Board, most notably the President Terry Strickland, once again leaving a meeting on March 11, 2010 that was in order and without a proper adjournment, necessitated the legal action. This tactic has been used more than once to stop any Board actions from taking place when the incumbent members no longer enjoyed a majority position at the meeting (See January 30th Meeting blog).

It will be interesting to see how this case develops, as the legal firm (Holoway Jones) that normally represents the Association will certainly have a conflict of interest in defending the incumbent members from a lawsuit filed by new members of the same Board.

The lawsuit details have not been posted to the county website yet, but will probably be available soon. Individuals can visit the Fort Bend website by going to the following link:

http://ccweb.co.fort-bend.tx.us/

The suit can be found under the Civil/Probate Court link.

MARCH 2010 MEETING OF MEADOWCREEK ASSOCIATION

Once again, the monthly board meeting turned into a real fiasco. Eight board members were present, with Ms. Mills once again conspicuously absent. It was obvious that a real division existed between the four old board members and the newly elected members.

The meeting was called to order by Terry Strickland (President?), and the minutes of the contested February meeting were read. A motion to accept the minutes as read was made, seconded, and defeated by a split vote. The financials were then presented, a motion to accept the financials was made, seconded, and defeated. It became clear that there were going to be a few problems. The new board members were not going to be railroaded into accepting the status quo!

Despite the above, the meeting was orderly and somewhat peaceful. At approximately 8:05 PM, Ms. Mills made a late appearance. Within ten minutes, the meeting started getting louder, and when Eugene Placke began a diatribe regarding the validity of Mr. Philipose being on the board, things started to deteriorate. Some twenty homeowners in attendance started asking pointed questions that the old board was incapable or unwilling to address. At one point Ms. Mills initiated a verbal attack on Mr. Jim Fonteneaux, letting him know that he was not the President of the Association – Mr. Strickland was. To the best of my recollection, Mr. Fonteneaux never claimed to be a board member or officer in any manner whatsoever.

A few minutes later Mr. Hamner stood and indicated that he had to leave, and left the building. Within minutes Mr. Placke, without any notice, stood and left the building. These actions placed the new board members in a majority position, and Mr. Willie Jones made a motion for the removal of Mr. Hamner from the board under the provisions of Paragraph 5.12 of the Association by-laws, which reads:

5.12 Removal Any director may be removed prior to the expiration of his term at any regular or special meeting of members by a majority vote of the members present.

Board member Milbry Smith seconded the motion, and Ms. Sonya Brown of Marshall Management looked up the provision in the by-laws. Mr. Strickland indicated that the vote required a letter to the membership, and that the vote was to be conducted from the membership at large instead of a director’s vote. The paragraph, however, is clearly in the section of the by-laws dealing with directors. He stood and started to leave, but was advised that he could not leave without a proper motion to adjourn. The discussion became more heated, and Ms. Mills stood and left the building, using what some stated was questionable language. Minutes later, Mr. Whittaker also packed his bags and left.

Strickland, at this point was clearly befuddled, and Ms. Brown with Marshall was explaining to him that the meeting was still active, and that a quorum did exist. A request was made that Strickland call for a vote on the open motion, and Strickland refused to do so. Within minutes, Strickland packed his bags and left the meeting without a valid motion and vote to adjourn.

As the four remaining board members (new board) did not constitute a quorum, they did the only decent thing and made a motion to adjourn and everyone left.

Several things became very clear as a result of the above:

First, the old board refuses to conduct the business of the association in a professional manner. You do not abandon a meeting just because you are not getting things done your way. Democratic process requires that meetings follow a certain protocol, and rules are made to be followed.

Secondly, the unofficial president (remember he was elected at a meeting with a questionable quorum) is not qualified to run the association. The old saying, the buck stops here applies, and he or she must conduct meetings in a professional and responsible manner.

Third, they (the old board) will do anything, including abandoning an active meeting with open motions on the floor, to prevent the new board members from establishing a majority position. What are they trying to hide? Why would anyone fight so hard to maintain control of the association?

Finally, the old board members need to find other employment. They are disrespectful to other members, have a despotic attitude, and tend to run when things get a little warm. They simply must go and let people who are truly cognizant and caring run the association.