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Friends of Westwind Meeting October 26th, 2005 Current records show that there is a total of 50 horses on the Westwind property. Another 9 horses are currently in Byrne Preserve. 19 horses are owned by 14 residents, and 28 horses owned by 25 non-residents (36% owned by residents). Two horses in the Barn are owned by Parks & Recreation. One horse in Byrne Preserve belongs to Parks & Rec. Parks & Rec has another free space allocated for their program in Byrne Preserve. The 4-H Handicapped Riding Program has 6 horses on the Westwind property and 2 horses in Byrne Preserve. Friends of Westwind has a long term (10 year) lease with the Town to run Westwind Barn. The Town has given up virtually all control of the Barn to Friends. Friends membership includes 31 residents and 87 non-residents, making it 80% controlled by non-residents. The Town considers Westwind to be the crown jewels, but the Town has given up control of these jewels. The Town gave Friends, which is 64% used by non-residents, all control as to who gets to board at the Barn, rates charged boarders, maintenance of the Barn. Is the council failing its responsibility to maintain Westwind for the benefit of the Town? Over the years we've all heard stories about how the wait list for stalls was maintained in secrecy and how some Town residents felt they were passed over for non-residents. We've heard how residents would get the horses of their trainers into the Barn before residents, and so on. As far as we know, the Friends have tried to clean up their act, and are actually displaying the current wait list. If anyone has any complaints about how they were treated, please forward the information to the Hills2000 Webmaster. If you wish, we will keep your name confidential. It is only fair to ask: "If we don't have control of it, and it doesn't benefit our residents, do we really own it?" The following video is a regular Friends of Westwind Board meeting. Members of the Board appearing from left to right are: LeeAnn Warshawsky (President, but voted out during the meeting), Susie Holic (non-resident, acting Secretary, and voted onto the Board during the meeting), Susan Lam, Judy Hill (non-resident, and acting barn manager), Dan Alexander, Sharon O'Malley (becomes acting President during the meeting), Sue Chou, Sara Fisher (non-resident and 4-H liaison), Harry Bahlman. The people appearing in the audience include: council members Mordo and O'Malley, who came to make presentations; Town residents and members of Friends of Westwind: Val, Cheryl, Jane, and Zsuzsa; and non-residents and members of Friends of Westwind Therese, Amy, Homer, LeeAnn, Carol, Sharon, Stephanie, and Diana. While the entire meeting provides insight into the Board operation, it is particularly interesting to watch the election of Susie Holic to the Board after it was pointed out that the Bylaws require a member of the Pathway Committee to be on the Board and Susie would be filling the 9th and last seat. (The text of the Bylaws and interpretation appears below*). Immediately following the appointment of Susie Holic, Dan Alexander calls for removal of LeeAnn Warshawsky from Presidency without cause, with Susie being the important 5th vote. Also instructive is the discussion of updating the rates charged for boarding horses. Mordo allows that "politically" it would make a statement to charge non-residents more. The decision was made to not charge existing non-residents more, which as we have indicated above, accounts for 64% of the boarders. You can listen/view the meeting in two multi-media formats. These include a low speed video (56k modem), and (if you are watching on a Hills2000 supplied CD) high speed video (DSL or higher speeds). Low Bandwidth Video (56k modem) High Bandwidth Video (DSL or higher speed) * We thank ZM for providing a copy of the Bylaws, which we quote here. The entire section regarding the number of directors is quoted below. Article 4. Directors The question that was posed in the meeting is whether the Pathway position was one of the nine directors. One can't judge what was in the Directors minds when they penned this section, but here is the legal opinion we received on the meaning of the bylaw. Given the placement of the Pathways volunteer clause in Section 4.01 and the context, I think it is more appropriate to construe the reference to mean a "position" on the Board of Directors, hence the Pathways person is a Director. I would assert that to be the ordinary and usual meaning with a high degree of confidence. |
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