Thank you for signing up to the Thesen Islands Alternative Database. There has been much discussion in public forums about the issues at play on the islands, particularly related to the running of the Home Owners Association. We thought is important to communicate to the people that signed up to this newsletter to share our views of why we believe an alternative approach is necessary, what we plan to do and the assistance you can provide. The many points of unhappiness will not be the focus of this communication. We believe that a number of issues have been badly dealt with and for a view of the many issues, the FaceBook pages are a sad indictment of the toxicity at play. These issues are generally complex and we are not going to attempt to provide perspectives on the above issues suffice it to say that the issues and the way in which there were (or are being) resolved is concerning. What we would rather to is position a view of the future vision of what characteristics should be apparent in the values and philosophies of the Home Owners Association running Thesen Islands and the modus operandi for decisions related to the homeowners.
An important point of clarity is simply because you have signed up to receive this newsletter is definitely not an assumption that you are endorsing the suggested course of action but merely that you are being kept in the loop on what we plan to do and how you potentially can participate, should you agree with the course of action.
A Vision for Thesen Islands Home Owners Management Approach
1. Perpetuating the Thesen Lifestyle
First and foremost, we are of the view that the Thesen Islands Estate is a lifestyle estate – one of the best in the country and everyone that is fortunate enough to have the privilege of owning a property on Thesen Islands has made a choice based on an environment that should enhance their lifestyle, bring happiness and calmness and ultimately should be a harmonious environment. There are some challenges in this regard as different parties will have different views on what is acceptable. For this reason, it is vital that a true democratic system is established in order that the best democratic decisions can be made. There should not be the notion of appointment “authorities” that lord over the homeowners. The homeowners deserve respect form the Home Owners Association, the HOA staff and any Trustee accepting the burden of service should do so knowing that it is will be a thankless task filled with lots of hard work for which there is no privilege – the only reward being that the quality of the estate is improved from which everyone collectively benefits. The use of an authoritarian approach where the Trustees have a deemed superiority to other homeowners is wholly unacceptable. A key outcome should be a greatly improved harmony amongst the owners and the Trustees – a harmony that arises out of an acceptance of compromise, clarity of the democratic process and complete transparency – not a harmony that arises out of acceptance of authoritarian edicts.
2. Good Governance and Avoidance of Litigious Behaviour
Good governance should be free from biases and interests, it should be characterised by transparency and fairness and in the instances where choices are difficult or the choices are not clear, democracy should be used as a means to resolve issues. This implies that legalities should never be used as an excuse to do the right thing, the decisions should favour the majority and the test of any decision should consider the first point above ie “Is this perpetuating the Thesen Lifestyle”. While a large estate like Thesen Islands has many complexities and the use of professionals and in particular lawyers is inevitable, lawyers should be an absolute last resort. The practice of every decision been run past a lawyer needs come to an end and the legal costs need to be reduced dramatically. Where difficult decision are required, transparency is vital to ensure the home owners are kept abreast of developments.
3. The Rigorous Application of Agreed Rules Considering the Context.
There may be a sense that there is a desire to have a “laissez faire” approach to rules which is definitely not the intention. Rules need to be rigorously and consistently applied but they should not be blindly applied and if a situation arises that requires the Trustees and Home Owner staff to apply their mind, they should be obligated to do so. Not every eventually can be considered in the construction of rules and thus the blind and belligerent application of rules can be counter to the objective perpetuating the Thesen Lifestyle. In instances where the context is very clear and the associated rules are very clear, the rules should be consistently and equitably applied. Where ambiguity arises, the first port of call should be the test to ensure that the Thesen Lifestyle is perpetuated and if further clarity is required and the solution is not obvious, then democracy should apply.
4. Systems and Procedures to Ensure Full Democracy
The essence of a home owner association is that it is the association exists for the benefit of the homeowners and their families. The homeowners should be given access to information, they should be able to vote and the family or legal entity owning the home should be able to choose who is given the mandate to vote. The process should be seamless, be a minimum of administration and provide the best means to ensure a wide representation. Obstacles to participation, technicalities to preclude homeowners from voting need to be avoided at all costs. In addition, given that this database has roughly a 50/50 split between permanent residents and those that only visit periodically, remote voting, remote participation in meetings and remote access to information should be an urgent priority. The past behaviours of last minute exclusions demanding original proxies as well as the denial of virtual meetings must be eliminated as soon as possible. The ability for spouses of owners to serve as Trustees is another right that should be firmly entrenched.
5. Giving the Voice to Members
The two forums on FaceBook were established to give a voice to members. While they have served a purpose, the views that are expressed are sometimes reflective of frustrations, are biased to a number of limited individuals (Trent and Craig – the contributors to this newsletter are included in that list) and most importantly the input does not legitimately align with the objective of giving a voice to home owners based on the principle of one vote per house owned. Many simply technologies exist to quickly obtain a view on any issue and we are going to ask your views in this newsletter to get a sense of your views of how Thesen Islands should be run. It has to be expected that not every issue raised will result in everyone being happy with the decisions and outcomes but if a process of democracy is put in place, then there will be far more harmony that will be achieved.
The Action Plan
We have contemplated the right response to the current situation and plan on the following action plan:
· The first is the publishing of this newsletter to share the intent of the change we would like to mobilise and to obtain feedback on whether this database of homeowners is aligned to the thinking and course of action
· Next we are contemplating the legalities of a Special AGM to urgency deal with electronic voting and the inclusion of all members of a family or the legal owner to be able to serve as Trustees. We believe this is a critical issue that we feel will free up the democratic space to achieve the other key elements of the Vision outlined above
Our motivation is the objective of achieving a far more pleasant Thesen Island, that is better governed and represents the interests of the homeowners as a priority.
Please can you click on this link to provide feedback on the key issues in this newsletter. These responses will be, in turn, shared with everyone in the Thesen Islands Alternative Database
Please forward this newsletter to any homeowner that is not currently part of the database – they can sign up by click here
Regards
Craig Smith (Spouse of Owner of J9 ) and Trent Rossini (Joint Owner of P37)
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