Our always interesting GFA board of directors recently e-mailed some Members (Members have advised me they received nothing) a set of documents. The ones I received are shown below.
These documents attempt to assert that the board has unilaterally adopted "guidelines" and "policies" which they are attempting to force upon Members. These "guidelines" and "policies" were never presented to the Membership for discussion, let alone a vote. Most disturbing is the attempt to force a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) onto all Members.
Every Member of the GFA, including those sitting on the board, is bound first and foremost by relevant Federal, State, and Local legislation, and then lastly by our bylaws. The board's actions are restricted even further by the Charter which was on file when the GFA was granted non-profit status.
Very subservient to relevant Federal, State, and Local legislation, our GFA bylaws are the only "guidelines" and "policies" which carry any weight with any Member. The board has no authority to make things up which suit their purposes. Current GFA President Steve Rodriguez's (Lot 301) immediate predecessor admitted this reality on July 27, 2019:
The GFA bulletin board does not belong to the board of directors. The board of directors did not pay for it, we Members did. The board of directors did not even maintain the bulletin board, and instead left it unprotected from the elements for many years until I took it upon myself to restore it at my own expense in July of 2019.
The board is required to file with the IRS Form 990 each year. In that official filing with the Federal Government, the board declares that the GFA exists to serve the Membership:
(The full page one of Form 990 from 2018, the latest filing available online, can be found below.)
The board's attempts to impose "guidelines" and "policies" on the Members without the benefit of consulting the Members or calling for a vote on them, coupled with the board's own admission that the current GFA bylaws are the only document which we are subject to, makes these latest "guidelines" and "policies" wholly invalid and therefore unwise for any Member to acquiesce to.
My Two Cents:
Attempting to force a Non-Disclosure Agreement down our throats is both ethically incorrect, and a matter which courts have already resoundingly rejected.
Imagine going to a restaurant, and being confronted with a waiter whom you expect to serve you, but instead says;
"Pay me your money, then I will decide what I will and will not tell you. But in the end you will be instructed by me as to what you will be getting for your money, with no input from you whatsoever."
As absurd as this analogy surely is, this is precisely what the board is trying to do, and why we must not allow this to happen. This is a VERY slippery slope. What "guidelines" or "policies" are next? That our grass must be mowed to a particular height? That our cars must be a certain make and model? That our camps must be stained a certain colour? That we must pass a board-created approval test to even be "allowed" to own a lot on our Flow?
Please Vote Wisely, Not Habitually.
Thank you very much for your DEEPLY appreciated
and ongoing support in 2021 and beyond!! :-)
