I read Emory Williams posted letter here with great interest.  I received a letter from a group of people concerned about what was going on and thought to myself “oh no, here we go again”.  I didn’t recognize any of the names except Emory and that gave me pause; I know this guy and he is well versed with the POA and a voice of reason in my estimation with his experience from the last mess we dealt with involving the POA.

Emory’s letter is well thought out and he brings up several good points.  The two most important being that we should question if this board is who we want to give any more money to right now; the mixing of funds has me particularly concerned as does the on going problem of Sconti.   Secondly, if we are going to continue to try to run these amenities ourselves than we need a General Manager (not a POA board member-can you say conflict of interest???) hired whose main mission is to make things run smoothly and to make money without subsidizing from the POA.  If the POA  can’t or won’t do that than we need to say no to anymore money and projects with this group and any amenity that doesn’t make money needs to be closed, leased out or subsidized by the Developer if he needs it.  I think we have already proven we are incapable of running these amenities ourselves and should lease them out to people who know what they are doing.

Why you ask?  Well, look around-the times they are a changin’!  There is a group of younger people with more money to spend and higher expectations moving into Big Canoe.  You can’t just tell that group to shut up and drive to Atlanta if they want a good meal, ambiance or service in any venue where they are living.  They can just as easily tell the other group of people to shut up and go live in a retirement home  or stay home and cook their own early bird specials.  Both groups need to be willing to pay todays prices and demand the best from ambiance to food to service and accountability from our own POA board.  If places like Fuego, Appalachia, the Foothills restaurants and Jasper can pile them in and make money (no subsidizing here folks!) than we should be able to do the same thing in our venues.  The fact that we have not been able to do so in the ten years I have lived here tells you something. 

My husband and I are still practicing interior designers and architects and we are hard pressed to see where all the money went on Sconti (i.e. lets don’t give this group another project or any more money!)   We see some beautiful detailing,  wide useless hallways, lots of gathering space with great views but money went into these things at the expense of interior furniture, fixtures, artwork and accessories creating spaces that feel institutional not cozy.  Put that with running the chef off the first week, endless problems with reservations, menu issues, and a few service people that seem more qualified for McDonalds and you get the usual perception of Sconti and people move on to other places with their money.  I say this not to whine but to point out that a facility that was being underwritten for so long perhaps did not have the right agenda in mind when being built and mistakes have been made.  The fact that we built this HUGE thing that needs to make an unbelievable amount of money now creates a larger issue…. we may have to turn it over to somebody good and leave them alone to decide how to run it and make money.

I for one am tired of underwriting this process just to be able to say we have amenities or a big ole clubhouse to lunch in.   People who came here to begin with that wanted Big Canoe to never change may indeed need to go somewhere else.  My husband & I have started to wonder if we will be able to afford to continue living here on a fixed income so I understand these concerns and fears.  That being said, it should not mean that we don’t expect the best from our amenities and venues and a whole butt-load of accountability from the POA board and their committees. After all, we put our trust in you by voting you in-we can just as easily vote you out and put our trust and our funds in the hands of people with fewer agendas in mind.  Put that in your book!