Gatvol! The trustees are very, very angry with some owners and a blog

“It’s a conspiracy”, the Board of Trustees shout in their angry message to owners, sent out on 21 June, 2019.

Sounding both intimidating and resentful, maybe even in the same sentence, and using  language such as (all HOA quotes are in italics):

“…a number of recent blogs, and other social media posts, seem to provide a totally incorrect perspective of Thesen Islands.”

“ .. appears there is a distortion of the truth, often to support arguments that are 

disconnected with the facts and/or motivated by agendas.” 

“… small, highly vocal pressure groups.”

“…politically motivated harmful publication..”

“…an unforgivable distortion of the facts.”

they launch an enraged attack on owners who publicly oppose their decision to increase bulk so turning Thesen Islands into a never-ending building site. A decision they kept secret for five months. Only informing owners once the cat was out of the bag, thanks to an owner.  

(As the clown show continues, the blog has gained readers beyond Thesen Islands. So I have added the full message at the end. Unlike the trustees, I am happy to give both viewpoints.  Asbestos jacket suggested. Avoid if allergic to unsubstantiated allegations. Not for sensitive readers. Parental discretion advised.) 

Let me start at the beginning when the trustees told the owners of the increase in bulk:

The real aim was to provide the stimulation for improvements and possibilities, which we think is now achievable. 

- Chairman’s Report – 6 December 2018

Thesen Islands is a mature residential community, home to families, who have chosen and are fortunate to be able to afford to live in a safe, peaceful environment. Where do the trustees get the idea that their mandate is to “stimulate. . .improvements” with the resultant spoiling of the lifestyle we enjoy? 

The huge majority of owners did most certainly NOT give them that mandate.  Unless you have some financial interest in more construction and that is more important to you than the lifestyle we all currently enjoy.  Or who knows what reason... 

Let me be clear here: 

Half a dozen or so owners (the trustees) decide to gut the Design Guidelines and increase the bulk which according to an owner will add "some 15 500 m2 or the equivalent of two rugby fields" to Thesen Islands over a never-ending time period.  Read it here. 

This is the equivalent of shoehorning over 60 houses onto Thesen Islands, using an average house size of 250 sq. m.  

The rest of us owners, around 500, just have to accept this decision. No consultation, no opposing views tolerated.    

80% to 90% of the owners at the AGM in January this year voted against increasing the bulk. They are dismissed in a one liner in the AGM minutes and the HOA still forms a committee to investigate its implementation.
Read more here  

Still maintaining that it is their decision to make, the trustees said in their December 31, 2018 email: “whilst the trustees stand by their decision" to increase the bulk they are forming a "sub committee" to make "inputs" that the Board of Trustees "will consider, and if appropriate act upon."

(As I review this post before posting, the thought comes to mind that the trustees can stop this right now. Just accept that the majority owners do not want the bulk increase. Then turn their attention to cleaning up the mess. Everyone is tired of this.)  

Then...

Like all their communications on the bulk issue, this June 21 message is short on facts and long on bluster.  No “agendas” are explained, no “small, highly vocal pressure groups” are named, neither is the “politically motivated harmful publication” identified.  Owners must just take their word on this. It is a wide conspiracy. By dark forces that only they know about.  

They threaten to sue owners, probably using owners’ money,  who they say are taking to social media to make:

“…vitriolic personal attacks on some Trustees.”

And where

“…negative vitriol rules on social media.”

Needless to say, no evidence is provided to back up these claims either. I am not on Facebook although I have seen some of the comments. I haven’t seen anything that I would call “vitriolic personal attacks”. If this blog is so called “the politically motivated harmful publication” they refer to, which I think it is, I never have written anything that could be considered as this. 

As I wrote on my blog in December last year when the trustees themselves  “personalized” opposition to their decisions,  “ Criticizing and commenting on decisions and statements made by the trustees is not an attack on trustees”. Read it here  If you disagree with my viewpoint then argue against it. Don’t make veiled attacks about my motivation insinuating some dark motives.      

But what is even more staggering is that the Board of Trustees accept absolutely no responsibility for the unpleasant state of affairs we are faced with on Thesen Islands. They blame the owners! Or “social media” which is where the owners are found. So you can make the connection. 

The Board of Trustees are the cause of this. 

Firstly by their own actions, 

secondly by failing to respond openly to questions from owners 

and thirdly, failing to respect the vote taking at the AGM.

Let’s look at their actions (Facts, not innuendo) :

The decision to increase the bulk is considered by everyone involved in the conceptualizing,  planning & development of Thesen Islands to not be “minor.” The “everyone” includes the original creators and driving force of the Thesen Islands development, including the master planner, the authors of Design Guidelines, shareholders as well as legal advisors to the TIDC. Read the list here.  

Only the trustees and, they claim, the HOA attorneys think otherwise:  “Our attorneys have also concluded that the minor expansion of rights, within the parameters of the Knysna Municipality Zoning Scheme, for which Municipal approval is a mere formality, is indeed a minor change to the Design Guidelines, within the meaning of clause 9.1 of the Constitution” 

But, despite repeated requests, they have never produced this legal opinion. Not surprisingly, this had led to rumour that no such opinion exists.   Oh, and it turns out it is not the “mere formality” the trustees claimed it is and neither, I am told, does Thesen Islands fall "within the parameters of the Knysna Municipality Zoning Scheme", instead having its own special zoning.       

The decision was taken around the middle of last year but the owners, aside from a few insiders, were only informed in December. The first argument for the increase in bulk was “stimulation for improvements” didn’t fly so the story was changed to, basically, that 'everything is screwed up, there are many houses over bulk, it is very complicated, too complicated for you simpletons to understand, but we are sorting it out by increasing bulk'. Read more here.

The Design Review Panel approved plans with the increased bulk without having the approval of the Knysna Municipality.  While, according to an owner who had plans approved in the same time period, not informing him of the increased bulk allowance. So connected insiders knew, no one else.  

80%-90% of the owners at the AGM  voted against increasing the bulk. The plan to increase bulk should have been canned there and then. 

This vote had to be forced by members.  As a member writes: “ … the 'expansion' of Thesens was rejected by a forced vote by the homeowners (as the HOA had removed the topic from the agenda pending the commission – sl*my ).  *used so as not to offend the sensitive. Commission = committee.  

But as you just read, it failed to shut off debate completely.   

  

The debate only gets one line in the AGM minutes. Read more here. The HOA still forms a committee to investigate it. And the trustees are still maintaining that it is their decision to make.  

Then when a complaint is lodged with CSOS (Community Schemes Ombud Service) about the increase of the bulk without member's permission, the HOA (our HOA) says in their signed statement, on behalf of the Board, that “The proposal to increase bulk has clearly been abandoned by the Respondent (HOA) and is not being pursued. ” 

But they also say that the “implementation of the new FAR rules will be held over until the Board has considered…inputs received from the subcommittee” . 

So  “clearly been abandoned” does not actually mean “clearly been abandoned”.  And “not being pursued” does not mean “not being pursued”.   I am not making this stuff up. Let’s see what CSOS makes of this talking out of both sides of the mouth by our HOA.  This information has not been shared with the members. Email me if you want a copy of the statement in pdf as there is no way I find to upload it to the blog.        

And after all this, the trustees are angry with members taking to social media to voice their unhappiness and opinions? 

These are some of the questions that they have never answered, nor produced the documents, despite being repeatedly asked by owners:

• The answers to the questions Craig Smith asked about the approval of trustee’s plans in relation to bulk increase. Read it here. 

• The minutes of the trustee’s meeting approving the increase in bulk. Owners have a constitutional right to see these.   

• The minutes of the trustee’s meeting approving the implementation of the increased bulk Guidelines, with subsequent approval of house plans, without the approval of the Knysna Municipality. Owners have a constitutional right to see these.  UPDATE: The issue of the trustees refusing to provide the minutes of their meetings is now the subject of another complaint filed with CSOS. Watch this space. 

• The names of the owners, house numbers and architects who had plans approved with the increased bulk. Some, of course, may have been innocently caught up in this. Others...?

• The legal opinion, paid for by the owners, that the change to the Design Guidelines was “minor” in terms of the Constitution with the name of the attorneys and the date it was provided.

• Given that the trustees have increasingly resorted to lawyers with, for example,  apparently all emails from a certain owner sent straight to the attorneys for answering,  I have twice asked “How much has the HOA has spent on attorneys and associated costs in the previous 12 months?” 

As I wrote in my original request “The feeling of a stonewalling, "HOA vs the owners" mentality, always exacerbated when attorneys are involved, is deeply troubling. The knowledge that it is the owners who are funding this HOA approach is problematic.  The money, needless to say, has to come from not spending owner's money in other areas of Thesen Islands. Or a levy increase? “   Also given the trustee's desire for local economic "stimulation" why are they stimulating Gauteng lawyers when they could hire one of the numerous local attorneys, probably at a lower rate?

The first response was “The issues you question should be raised at the next AGM”. This will probably be  in January 2020. 6 months away. As an owner, I have a constitutional right to this information.   

In the email, IMPORTANT NOTICE TO MEMBERS - TRUSTEES' EXPLANATION OF THE DECISION TO OFFER INCREASED FAR (BULK) TO REGULARISE THE ESTATE dated December 21, 2019, the trustees claimed:

It needs noting that ALL past and present changes have been agreed to and accepted by the Trustees and the Knysna Municipality:  the application is merely a formality. 

• This approval/acceptance document from the Knysna Municipality of the increase in bulk. 

But they write:

"It would be useful if the TIHOA office could be contacted for the facts" This “Ask the HOA” has been repeated in many communications from the HOA. It sounds good. The problem is that the questions are never answered. The trustees fail to understand that by not answering questions, owners are forced to draw their own conclusions. 

Let  me ask, for the 3rd time, if the house under construction on Jubilee Island is over bulk with regard to the current Design Guidelines?  And if so, the dates the plans were approved, by the DRP and the Knysna Municipality, the name of the architect and the date the HOA building permit was issued.  A number of concerned owners have written to the HOA asking this same question without success.

In the Chairman’s Communique June 2019 regarding the “Bulk/FAR investigation”:

“It is thus imperative to obtain a legal directive…. to ensure that whatever conclusion is reached… …and not infringing on any members rights.”

I would say that the sudden “double story-ing” of your neighbour’s house, crowding out light and view is “infringing on” your “rights”. Wouldn’t you?  

Yet the Chairman is still talking theoretically  about “not infringing on any members rights”?   The Trustees need to take a walk down to Jubilee Island and see for themselves what they have allowed.  

I live across the water from Jubilee Island. The noise from jackhammers is almost daily and it has been for months. You see, before you add bulk, you need to break down. 

And as to the “..appeal to members to be responsible with what they publish and to be wary of believing everything that is published. Reckless public statements can and will damage the asset value of all of our homes."

Huh? No, what will decrease the value of our homes will be the gradually increasing impact on the feel of Thesen Islands with ever bigger house reducing the green garden space, shutting out light and views and reducing privacy.  This will result in Thesen Islands becoming increasingly unappealing to buyers and fewer buyers mean lower prices. 

The Trustees claim that a ”politically motivated harmful publication” makes the allegation that once the 4 years building opportunity had expired, no further external alterations could be made to any home on Thesen Islands. “This is patently false information.” 

I agree. Share the source and shame the author. The Thesen Islander News blog never said that, by the way. I know what the 4 year building time limit is. I explained it to hundreds of buyers and potential buyers from late 1998 to the middle of 2007.  Any guess as to what “politically motivated” means here? Has anyone found any other blog writing about "bulk"?  

   

This post is long enough so I am not responding in detail to the new claim that many houses are now under bulk. This follows the initial claim that many houses were over bulk. Well they have made the claim, substantiate it. They have the staff; they  have the committee. Share this information. The over bulk story is not a justification for increasing the bulk as if there is any, it is not a significant amount of square metres on any one house. Likewise there will not be a building boom with all the under bulk house enlarging. The square meters available will not be sufficient. But prove me wrong about with the actual square meters.  The facts, as you promise to provide.

  

Finally and most importantly to all of us…

The Trustees write: “… no child has ever been injured while a cat and possibly a dog that was off its leash was killed by members or guests' vehicles. That is why various speed limits between 15km/h to 30km/h, (depending on your location on the estate) are diligently enforced and anyone caught exceeding them is warned and subsequently  fined (repeat offenders) or in the case of contractors, refused entry when fines issued are not paid."

This must the trustee’s response to my submission to the Committee and posted on my blog CRITICAL: Say NO to Big Trucks. Speak up NOW!  where I said that the plan to increase bulk will mean an increase in big trucks all over the Islands bringing danger to our children. Read it here. 

I do not have young children or any grandchildren but if I was a parent or grandparent of small children, I would be especially outraged by this argument. 

To paraphrase the trustee’s argument, “As no child has ever been injured,  adding bigger and more trucks, is fine.”  If your child came to you and said “No child riding a bicycle has ever been injured or killed on Thesen Islands, so I am leaving my helmet at home”, using the same logic you would say  “I agree with your reasoning. Leave your helmet”.

I am so incredulous about this argument from the trustee's that I have been asking people if my paraphrasing on their argument and my example of their logic is correct.  They have told me it is.  I have never used this word before, but "gobsmacked"  is an accurate description of how I feel. 

On social media. This is what a wrote to a fellow owner:

Social media, by its very nature, is not controllable. Which is why it is hated by authoritarian regimes around the world. It has the power to enlighten people as to what is going on. Let's look at this bulk issue. The trustees took a decision to increase the bulk allowance without even telling the owners about it for about five months. In this time, those on the inside were able to submit plans with the increased bulk. If it was not for uproar on social media, the increased bulk would be in the Guidelines.   

If it was not for social media, we would also be looking at houses in the Parkland area and three cell phone towers on the Islands. Social media has saved Thesen Islands before. I hope it will again.  

Read my post "I never thought...the real threat to the Parkland would be of an invasion led by HOA Trustees" from November 2014 plus more around this time for the Parkland story. Another grand scheme cooked up by the trustees at that time. 

I wish this post was shorter but it was not possible. I have tried to be as concise and to the point. But once again, I am able to endorse the validity of Brandolini's Law. Publicly formulated the first time in January 2013 by Alberto Brandolini, an Italian programmer, the bullshit asymmetry principle (also known as Brandolini's law) states that:

The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.

The full message from the trustees:

Dear Members,

RESPONSIBLE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

It is, in the Board of Trustees view, unfortunate that a number of recent blogs, and other social media posts, seem to provide a totally incorrect perspective of Thesen Islands. It would be useful if the TIHOA office could be contacted for the facts, as it appears that there is distortion of the truth, often to support arguments that are disconnected with the facts and/or motivated by agendas. We live in a time of fake news and declining journalistic integrity yet social media is perceived as believable, when it should not always be so.  We appeal to members to be responsible with what they publish and to be wary of believing everything that is published. Reckless public statements can and will damage the asset value of all of our homes.

As an example, it would appear that some of the claims related to FAR made at the AGM, may not be supported by fact. Further investigation continues to establish the accurate legal situation. No conclusion can be sensibly reached without the facts, since discussion without the facts is irrational and can deteriorate into aggression. When we have absolute clarity as to the claims made from a legal standpoint, the process can continue to a logical solution.  However, and until then, allegations should not be made either way, as the facts are not yet known.  This is why the Board has reserved comment on this issue. The appearance that this Homeowners Association is involved in an internecine war between factions within, does nothing to enhance the value of our assets.

There is ongoing comment on the investigation into the allowed property coverage and FAR. As with most issues on Thesen Islands, a seemingly simple investigation turns into a major one. Whilst many of the missing original historic documents relating to the establishment of Thesen Islands have been found, there are still a number of these documents that cannot be located despite ongoing endeavours to do so by various role players.  We continue in our efforts to unearth the relevant provisions and will report further to members as we progress.

PERSONAL ATTACKS ON TRUSTEES TO BE MET WITH LITIGATION

I would also like to raise the concern of vitriolic personal attacks on some Trustees. The Trustees voluntarily put in significant time on your behalf to optimize the future on Thesen Islands for all members, not just some small, highly vocal pressure groups. To suggest that these Trustees, who are ethical successful people, are somehow personally benefiting financially from decisions made, is totally unacceptable.

The Board of Trustees have collectively agreed that unjustified or vitriolic attacks on their integrity will no longer be tolerated and that any such publication or correspondence shall be met with legal action in the appropriate forum. 

Given the unjustified attacks on the persons comprising our Board, it is becoming more and more clear that, while the current Trustees will see this process through, retaining their commitment past this year is unlikely.

There are very few positive comments from the silent majority, so the negative vitriol rules on social media. The TIHOA has decided not to get involved with the ping pong invective, but only to comment where there is an unforgivable distortion of the facts. When highly competent members are approached to become a Trustee, the usual reply is that life is too short to engage in this sort of political action. Discussion with other estates indicates that this is a general problem, and that some estates land up with no Trustee boards or inappropriate appointments as a result. It would be very unfortunate if Thesen Islands landed up in this position.

It is clear from all the communications over the last few years, that some past decisions made prior to 2014, may not always have been the best decisions (for the members) in the appropriate circumstances. Management is now professional and supported by committed TIHOA staff who are progressively finding it more and more difficult to function effectively as a result of the time taken to deal with this ongoing political action.

UNTRUE ALLEGATIONS REGARDING 4 YEAR BUILDING LIMIT

As an example of a recent politically motivated harmful publication, is the untrue allegation that once the 4 years building opportunity had expired, no further external alterations could be made to any home on Thesen Islands. This is patently false information. When Thesen Islands was established, there was a four year building clause in the deed of transfer to ensure that major construction activity had a reasonable time window for completion. This, apart from one stand where the clause was deleted and not picked up at the time, fell away as soon as the primary structure was complete. Effectively, it no longer has any relevance.

There are still many properties which have not been built to the maximum allowed by the current Design Guidelines (pre the FAR issue). Once a house has been sold, very often the new owner wants to change external and/or internal aspects resulting in many applications to the DRP for plan approvals. As a result, with no change to the Design Guidelines, there is continual modification of existing properties with the attendant construction traffic. (384 plans, encompassing building alterations, installation of water tanks etc, have been approved by the DRP in the last 24 months.)

In addition, there are about 500 contracting companies employing approximately 5000 registered contract workers, who carry out maintenance from painting, plumbing, etc to interior decorators. Notwithstanding all this traffic, no child has ever been injured while a cat and possibly a dog that was off its leash was killed by members or guests' vehicles. That is why various speed limits between 15km/h to 30km/h, (depending on your location on the estate) are diligently enforced and anyone caught exceeding them is warned and subsequently  fined (repeat offenders) or in the case of contractors, refused entry when fines issued are not paid.

Furthermore, during the annual contractors holiday during December/January of each year no building activities and or contractors are allowed on the estate except for emergency repair work, swimming pool and garden maintenance services.  No unauthorised work is allowed over weekends for the same reason, as well as potential noise.

WAY FORWARD

Until then, we appeal to members to be responsible about what they publish, and to show some courtesy to the volunteers that man our Board of Trustees as well as the staff who together do the serious work required to properly look after our assets and the homes of our members.

P Burchell

General Manager

For and on behalf of The Board of Trustees