To those who thought last night’s Rec board meeting was a wreck: we couldn’t agree more. Marlem and her Rec board continue to shoot from the hip and chase every squirrel that happens to skitter by. There is no long-term spending plan for common area amenities, so the decision to to spend $25 – $30K on much-needed furniture turned into an emotional shouting match instead of an informed debate. The unplanned spending was approved despite warnings from their treasurer that doing so will deplete a maintenance reserve that will likely be needed later. The result: non-budgeted spending, delayed maintenance, and higher future budgets.
Same with the gift shop: instead of asking our community for their ideas of how to use that common space and then making a plan based on the results, Marlem and her board chased after a random idea received from an outside party to open a gift shop. How many from our Quadomain community have been clamoring for a gift shop? How many good ideas might we gather by having an informed conversation within our community?
The list goes on and on: the hair salon – one interested party is chosen without a formal procurement process to replace the well-regarded and summarily-ousted previous salon owner; and, the worst of a terrible list, the decision to change directions and implement a disruptive, controversial, and poorly working biometric system — again shooting from the hip instead of relying on a plan and the will of.the community.
We deserve better.