Here is my statement given to the Acting Editor of Smoke Signals, per her request, following my resignation. She has since told me she would not be printing it in it’s entirety, so I offer it here so more property owners can know some details regarding why I am so angry and frustrated. “For the past year and a half, many Big Canoe property owners have approached me with questions regarding the conduct of the POA Board on a number of issues. I tried to learn the answers as a private citizen but have been “black-listed” by the POA from being given answers to questions that the POA and Roger Klask determined to be “too in-depth” and being “meaningless” and “irrelevant”. I was told by Mr. Klask that I was wasting his time for him to keep meeting with me and that he didn’t like the fact that I shared his answers with property owners with whom he associated as being disgruntled and just a small “splinter group” of malcontents stirring up trouble for Big Canoe. My most serious questions dealt with process followed in the rebuild of the Sconti; the process followed in the re-design of the Marina and the hiring of Mr. Jim Story as the Amenities Director. As I attempted to obtain answers, current POA Board member and former President of the POA Board, Mr. Bob Croutch, told me that as a “private” corporation, such information was considered “classified”. I have since been informed that we are not a “private” corporation, but rather a Non-profit corporation, and as such, can only keep confidential matters concerning personnel issues. To make a very long and detailed story short, I came to my wits end after I received a couple of disturbing phone calls and e-mails from POA Board member, Mr. Terry Bacigalupo, who behaved in clear violation of both the “Character of Big Canoe” document, passed by the POA Board on December 15, 2004 and the POA Board’s Standards of Conduct Policy that POA Board members sign every December. It was then that I turned to the HOA Board for action. In June of 2008 and again on January 20th of this year, my attempts to send a message to the POA Board to “straighten up and fly right”, if you will, fell on deaf ears. These messages had to do with asking the POA Board to operate within existing rules, regulations, policies etc. and to be more open, honest and transparent in their conduct so the shareholders of the POA could know who, how, what, when and why regarding POA activities. It is my observation, from my year and a half on the HOA Board, that past and present leadership have “conditioned” the HOA Board members into behaving as if sending the POA Board ANY kind of a message would be considered micro-managing the POA and have been told that if I don’t agree with the way the POA has been spending our money and can’t tolerate them operating outside of existing policies, I should run for the POA Board and fix things when I got there and leave the HOA out of confrontational and controversial actions aimed at the POA Board. How could the HOA Board membership ignore the fact that the Sconti contract was let in violation of the POA Board’s Bid Letting Policy Number 87, dated June 6, 2006 (contracts over $25,000 require a minimum of THREE competitive bids)? That the POA Boards have been acting in clear violation of their own POA Board Communications Policy by NOT keeping the Property Owners informed of their actions and activities; to inform property owners and solicit comments on POA Board activities involving major, non-routine expenditures and items of potentially high community interest? It is, and continues to be, my opinion, that the POA Board has behaved in a manner that has recklessly spent our monies; ignored existing rules and policies and has kept their decision “secret” from the property owners, telling us only half-truths until such time as a property owner discovers the whole truth on his own. Once elected, POA Boards have acted as if they are “untouchable” and not subject to oversight by anyone and the HOA Board leadership appears to condone that idea by their inaction as a Board that recently changed it’s By-Laws so it can function as an Advocate for it’s members. It is my sincere hope that both Boards look deep inside their hearts and discover that questions aimed at determining the truth and/or modifying unprofessional business behavior does NOT constitute actions by property owners who wish to alter the “Character” of Big Canoe nor destroy the property values of Big Canoe. I ran for HOA office in an effort to identify opportunities for improvement and to add value to how we operate. But, I have run into brick walls that don’t communicate, coordinate or cooperate, so I tendered my resignation from the HOA Board out of extreme frustration and disappointment.” Thank you for your kind words of support. Ron James