My Views

1.      It is likely that the General Manager and/or the Director of Finance will retire during your term of office. If either or both announce their retirement how would you seek to fill these positions? Would you use a search firm? If so, why? Do we have potential replacements already employed and being trained? If not, should that be a priority?

These are two very different positions.  For the GM I think that a search firm would be the absolutely best way to go.  In today’s market, there are so many very qualified individuals available, I would hate to only rely only on  local knowledge in our search. I absolutely would be against hiring anyone from the sitting Board…I don’t care how qualified.  I think the process used when hiring Roger Klask was flawed.  I personally think that Roger is a good GM, if not great…but the fact that the Board hired off the Board smacks too much of nepotism and undermines the credibility of the Board.

DF, i.e. Sandra’s replacement. Roger has been carefully overlapping the senior staffs duties to prepare for any of our employees’ departure. Sandra does have an assistant and several other staff members assist with different parts of her formable tasks. I feel that the GM would and SHOULD be able to interview and find a replacement for this position without huge down time in Big Canoe.  I am confident that Sandra would also assist OJT-ing if needed.   

2.      I have heard some conversation about potentially outsourcing some POA functions. F&B, public safety, and landscaping maintenance come to mind as likely functions that might be outsourced. Do you support outsourcing any of these functions? If so, what is the logic behind that support?

Absolutely not. I think that the Staff and Board are in a much better position to regulate and implement changes than any other off site organization.  The F&B Director, John Boozer, is making many changes and has many more that are waiting for implementation.  I feel that he is on the right track.  I also feel that cutting hours for the Mountain Grill might be an option to reduce the red ink at the Sconti.

3.      F&B continues to be a drain on all the other amenities. It continues to operate at a significant deficit. Please share what you think the problem(s) is with F&B and how you think F&B financial performance can be improved.

Expand the Black Bear Pub through changes inside the Sconti and adding a deck. I am not in favor of covering the Veranda at this time, I don’t think that Big Canoe’s reserves should be spent until we are more certain of the real estate trend in the area. Covering the Veranda will add no revenues to the bottom line and we should not subsidize that big of an investment.  Eventually, I think that the completing of the Club house including the permanent covering of the Veranda is the right thing, not today, or even tomorrow. Reducing the Mountain Grill hours to only open for general reservations on Friday, Saturday and occasional Sunday Brunch. More specialty dinners, much like the wildly popular Community Dinners. And residents giving the place a chance! Use the facility and if not happy with your experience, let the management know.  Work with the staff, after all we are paying for it one way or another!

4.      Big Canoe has a long range capital improvement plan and significant positive cash flow to fund most identified capital needs for the next five years. Each year all departments add to their "wish list" of capital needs that are in addition to the needs identified by The Long Range Facility Planning Committee and Miller/Dodson. Please identify the two largest capital needs you think Big Canoe needs to undertake that has not already been approved by the POA Board. Please explain why you think each of these buildings/improvements/expenditures need to be made in 2012. If not in 2012, when?

None in 2012.  The Main Gate renovation is underway and is needed. As I stated, I am not in favor of the Veranda improvement at this time, nor the POA/ACED Building. Both will be great additions in the future, but are not needed now.  I feel that we should be maintaining our present amenities, roads and buildings and wait until impact fees and additional homes are added to the revenues before adding to our responsibilities.  I do not think that it should be business as usual until our housing stagnation has subsided. Eventually we need to add 2 more indoor courts for tennis.  I am not in favor of temporarily covering 2 outdoor courts today. With the amount of  resident users that we have today, our capacity is not nearly meet for our amenities and increasing our obligations just seems to me as being foolish and will result in large climbs in fees and assessments, placing further burdens on our fees.

Big Canoe Octoberfest

Painting by Ann Young



October 8th found Big Canoe packed with events, friendly people and loads of chances to purchase healthy food, locally produced crafts and fine art! The day started off with The Big Canoe Farmer's Market where vendors come from all around Big Canoe to sell their produce, chocolate and ever changing assortments of food stuffs!

Big Canoe's Fine Art Show was still in full swing, featuring our own Ann Young's art as well as that of many others. This art show was produced by Big Canoe LLC , situated in one of their newly constructed cottage homes in the Twin Creek section of Big Canoe. The homes are charming, the art gorgeous and the refreshments enjoyable!

The crown jewel of the 8th was the Octoberfest held on the playing fields of Wildcat by the north gate of Big Canoe. German music accompanied the multitude of craft booths and eating pavilions; bratwursts and beer were abundant! The shuttle buses were busy moving people from the central parking area to the fields but the good natured participants seemed to take it all in stride.

I did hear from a number of residents that wondered why the event was being held at Wildcat and not at the more centrally located playing field where the parking would not have required busing. I also heard some complaints about the food selections and why outside vendors were not present at the event.  Some missed their favorite local restaurant’s presences adding another layer of choice for a very hungry mass of people. I am glad to see such good food, served hot and relatively quickly from our POA. The lines were long from 12 to 1 but evened out after that.  I actually applaud Big Canoe for showcasing our community owned and operated Sconti Clubhouse at this event. We have got to support our clubhouse both during Big Canoe functions as well as when we need everyday dining. Our friends outside the gate have ample opportunities to showcase their fares at Pickens and Dawson County events, and do not need Big Canoe functions to further their appeal.

More Questions for the Candidiate (me!)

 

1.       What is your take on how the POA handled "The Roof"? 

       The Board originally ruled that a fine would be levied because the wrong color roofing material was used at a residence.  They realized that mistakes are made and the fine was sufficient enough to cause other homeowners to not follow this procedure.  The public outcry was deafening.  Big Canoe residents felt that rules are made to be followed and if one is allowed to break them, then many will follow.  The Board heeded the wishes of many  residents and rescinded their vote and made the homeowner remove the roof and replace it with the approved material.  The Board responded to the wishes of the community.  I think that is what they are elected to do, not subjectively decided issues based on their own points of view, turning a blind eye to one group and enforcing stringent regulations with another. Hard choice in which nobody wins.  (As an aside…the exact same thing happened to me in Peachtree City with a  house.  We put the wrong color roof on, one that looked terrific, an upgrade to the previous one and a color already represented in the neighborhood. That POA made us replace it…  we sure were unhappy with the decision, cost, waste.... My point is that Big Canoe is not the only place that rules are taken very seriously to the determent of mistake prone residents.) 

2.       What is your take on how the POA handled "The Deer Incident"? 

       More than rules there are laws that say that you cannot fire weapons in neighborhoods. I think that a bit of hysteria followed this incident…with the Board reacting to the community again. I am a REALTOR®, a landlord and a property manager and I understand the relationship that must be between a landlord and tenant. The (Georgia’s)GAR lease clearly states that tenants must follow the rules of the community in which they live. If not, it is grounds for eviction.  Again, there are State, Local  and National laws that were in play with this incident and if the homeowner used a GAR lease there would have been very definite actions that the landlord could have taken to protect his investment.  I do not know if a GAR lease was in place, I just hope there was.  The heavy handedness that was bantered about was a result of misinformation and fear.  I am certain that after the dust settled, a more reasonable remedy would have been arrived at and certainly IF I AM ELECTED I would have gone down the reasonable trail!  As is was, a gap in our rules caused the Board to not be able to do anything, end of story. That gap is being filled, by the way, through our Governance renovation that is underway today.  As a Board member, I plan to be thoughtful, explore all pertinent information and come to reasonable conclusions.  I think that it is imperative that the community is listened to and their opinions taken very much to heart, but facts must be made available to the citizenry so that they are not reacting to rumor, innuendo or misinformation.  Very intelligent, fair and kind people live in Big Canoe that make very good decisions and I hope to represent them in the near future.

3.       What is your take on a resident being fined for changing his yard without a landscape plan? 

       Again, we do have our rules! If you look at them, objectively, you can see the wisdom of the rules. One of the big reasons that people purchased, move to and love living in Big Canoe is that we emphasis that we are living in a natural environment.  We all want to remove a tree here and there and for the most part it is ok to do so.  Then there is the neighbor that wants to strip all the trees off the front of his property and plant cactus….he hates leaves getting into his gutters and causing water damage to his home.  He has a legitimate complaint, but not a Big Canoe remedy! The ARC trys to maintain our forest so that it remains  today as it was many years ago.  A hard undertaking considering the population that has descended upon it and more are coming! Talk to Treena and get the real scoop about the does and don’ts of Big Canoe.   Once you do you will REALLY walk away with a better feeling about the true rules and understand the thought process that went into their implementation.

4.      What is your take on the increase in Traffic Fines? 

       I think that first and foremost, we ought to remember that we are a small-ish community of neighbors and Big Brother ought not to be watching us at every turn. That being said, people speed, go over the center line and breeze through stop signs.  The shoe has got to fit on both sides of the fence…  we need to follow the law for our safety and those around us, and Public Safety needs to now and then give us a break!

5.       What is your take on Big Canoe being overly HARSH?

       Big Canoe CAN seem overly harsh, but really it is for the betterment of the entire, diverse community. Once you understand the rules, understand WHY the rule is in place, it is a very easy community to navigate through. I have lived here 5 years and have had a rental for the same period. I have had one note from Treena about a tree that I SWEAR beavers attacked in the night and absolutely no incidents from my renters…so far all has been peaceful! I also had my daughter’s wedding here and had 140 out of town guests and they had a terrific time and no run-ins with the law!  It really isn’t that hard to live with the RULES! (Though the band had to stop at precisely 10pm!! )

Questions for the Candidiate (Me)

Question #1.  If you are for transparancy, what are the salaries and benefits of Big Canoe Emplyees??I have stated that I am in favor of the present Board’s decision to hold open meetings and I am for transparency. Today Big Canoe is one of the most open communities in this area;  holding Coffees for the Community, Open Board meetings once a month, inviting interested parties to participate on Advisory Committees. Georgia is not a Sunshine State, so any transparency that the Big Canoe POA Board of Directors enact , they do with the residents in Big Canoe’s best interest in mind, not because it is state mandated.

That being said, Big Canoe’s POA Board passed an open work session policy to begin in November to further the transparency of the organization. Those sessions will be posted and all may attend and even participate at appropriate time. I encourage you to come because I find them very interesting and informative.

Salaries and benefits of Big Canoe employees will never be available to the public, regardless of who is actually paying the bill.  This is part of the confidentiality clause in everyone’s contract and work agreements.  I have no knowledge of pay for Big Canoe employees, and after questioning active Board Member, they have no knowledge either. You can see the cumulative cost of entitlements as a line item on the annual budget and the month financial reports.  Those can be found on the website. These pay ranges are compared by the auditor every year to see if we are in line with other like communities.  So far the auditors have felt that they are.

So…. no candidate can promise you disclosure of salaries as a campaign promise, me included.

Question #2.  What are the benefits awarded to Big Canoe POA Officers, etc?

Board members are given a Medallion Membership for amenities for the three years that they serve and then an additional 1 year after.  I am not sure who else gets this benefit.

Catching Up or is this the Big Canoe POA Board Meeting???

Big Canoe Club House at Lake Sconti
Home of POA Board of Director's Meetings

Wednesday, September 21st found most candidates riveted to the goings on at the Big Canoe Club House.  The September POA Board Meeting was the attraction, with all POA Board  and Senior Staff members in attendance. About 10 residents also attended, some because they had presentations to make, some because they just care! Times are good in Big Canoe if not many people come to these meetings...I think that this reflects the great job that all governing members are doing today.
Fred Omundson spoke to the need to police the invading non native plant species in Big Canoe.  He would like to have areas that residents monitor and subsequently report any appearance of  invasion so that they might be eradicated before becoming pervasive. Only open areas will be monitored, Fred did NOT have in mind a SWAT patrol charging into residents private property and stamp out the family's mums!  This is another example of Big Canoe's tremendous reservoir of dedicated, informed, passionate residents and volunteers!  I think that it is crucial that we are vigilant stewards of this precious environment that we call home.  As we place more pressure on our green space and open areas we must guard them to the best of our abilities. I would guess that most of us moved to Big Canoe because of the beautiful terraine, follige and  pleniful wildlife that was found here yesterday and is still here today and I feel that a major priorities should be to safe guard it. I would like to thank Fred for his unflagging support of our environment and would like to volunteer to be one of his monitors.
Another important item on the agenda was the formation of a joint committee between the HOA and POA for the purpose of advocacy for Big Canoe in the local communities.  This committee would be called the External Affairs Committee.   Big Canoe composes of a large number of residents and, therefore; a large amount of revenue is paid into in two Georgia counties, Dawson and Pickens. Because of this, we feel that we need to be better informed of issues facing both these counties as well as on the state level. As residents, we also feel that opinions about issues germaine to our lifestyle should be lobbied to our elected officials, and doing so as a community instead of merely individually is often more relevant and persuasive.  The HOA has been sussessfully doing this advocacy for the past several years, because the POA was not allowed to become so involved due to its ByLaws. Those ByLaws have very recently been changed, and now the POA DOES have the ability to advocate for Big Canoe and is the rightful organization to do so. The POA respesent all of Big Canoe, where the HOA only represents a portion of Big Canoe's population, albeit an involved, educated, dedicated portion! The formation of the joint committee was narrowly voted down by a 3-4 margin by the Board of Directors.  Not because they do not see the value of the joint committee.  Indeed it is the very opposite of that.  The Board was not happy with the design of the committee.
IF ELECTED!!!
I support the joint committee on advocacy between the POA and HOA. I feel that rotating leadership should govern the committee.  I would initially like to see  equal membership in the committee from the HOA and POA, but after the first year, those affliations should be ignored.  We are all residents of Big Canoe, and our allegence should be for the entire community, not specific organizations. The committee should always report to both organizations and be aware of each group's thought, opinions and information.  The POA would be responsible for the committee since it is the governing body of this community.
On another subect addressed during the Board meeting:
Open Meetings Logistics:
I am in favor of Open Meetings. This was approved last month by the Board. What does this mean?  The Board meeting have always been open to residents and interested parties. Now the work sesssions are also opened and will be held on the same day as the regular Board meetings. Executive sessions are not open. Since becoming a candidate, I have been allowed to attend the work sessions of the Board since July. I have found them to be informative, persausive and well worth my time. I would encourage Big Canoe residents to attend work session whenever they can. A lot of  background work goes into desisions made by Board members before the  formal POA Board Meetings and I feel that we are well served by our management staff, advisory committees and Board Members during these work sessions.

Men's Forum; Wednesday September 14th

All four of the candidates were invited to appear before a Big Canoe Men's Forum to explain their platforms and be grilled by Big Canoe's best! One of the many unique attributes of Big Canoe is the opportunities for its residents to get together and share common interests. So many of my generation's men have been very busy with their careers that they had not developed the relationships and interests as we wive were able to do, that is until retirement!  Big Canoe men are making up for lost time!! I bet that there are more men playing bridge, tennis and of course golf than women on any given day!  The Forum is a group of about 15 men that periodically get together to discuss current events, both local and national. I would love to be a fly on the wall for some of their conversations; I bet most meetings are interesting, amusing and exceptionally intelligent!
I would like to thank The Men's Forum for the opportunity to appear before them and hope that I was able to answer their questions adequately. I have to admit that standing in front of all those Captain's of Industry and  Indian Chiefs was a bit intimidating but a great experience!
Thanks again!

Picnicing with BCAR!

Candidates are able to attend many official functions as well are invited to many Big Canoe clubs and get togethers to meet and greet Big Canoe residents. During the past days I attended the BCAR annual picnic with the other three candidates. Terrific opportunity to say "hi" to friends and meet a few others hopefully new friends! Big Canoe Animal Rescue is the NO Kill shelter that houses up to 8 dogs (not counting puppies which can get the numbers way up!) that have luckily found their way into members hearts and arms! Some have been abandoned on one of our busy state highways, some are boxed up and left on the centers doorstep and some are just handed over by folks that can no longer deal with the care of an animal. All have stories and all need "Forever" homes! I have been a weekday walker for about 3 years now. The dogs are walked multiple times a day and feed twice a day.  Before entering the general population all  dogs must be examined and have received all shots with any health concerns attended to by area vets ( mostly Dr Haberman).  Being a volunteer in BCAR is a rewarding opportunity which I encourage anyone that has a slightest interest to call Carol Monroe and explore all the different ways you can do so. Some involvement asks little time, some more time , but then again, more fun!

Both our family dogs were rescued!  Husband, Mike, trying to control the situation! BCAR holds many Open Houses so please drop by and say hello to the volunteers and of course the pooches! If adoption is not possible, please consider a donation!