The following statement was submitted via email to The Town Courier on May 29 by Kentlands Citizens Assembly (KCA) Board member Tim Clarke. He also sent the statement to members of the KCA board and various members of the Kentlands community. For full coverage and a response from the KCA, see the June 8 issue of The Town Courier at www.towncourier.com under the Issues tab.
The Board is not a functioning unit; the people on it waste more time and accomplish nothing.
This month the Board decided to consider a matter decided in February. In the meantime, money was spent for legal services not requested by the Board. Why? No one cares that one condo group was not even billed for the correct number of units-where is the great budget process? No one looks at the income or the collection process; is it really likely that no single condo unit owner is late or delinquent, ever? No one looks at the income, and the only report is always the same since, that is, what is the expected income, not the real income. The budget is a joke.
The cost for collection of unpaid assessments costs more than is due. No one directs the collection process or has looked at the excessive fees. When the suggestion was made by the Treasurer to consider other lawyers who would not charge a fortune, the Treasurer was directly and rudely interrupted by the Vice-Chair. The Board threw away over one thousand dollars to have a conference call with a lawyer who stated nothing. The Board has spent tens of thousands of dollars on the subject of a trademark for Kentlands. This has been done in secret, hiding this issue from the community. Perhaps the Board is not happy with the expenditure for a name which would have cost $25.00 by filing for a trade name in the State of Maryland.
The Kentlands Board meetings were well attended in the past because the issues were dealt with openly with debate. Now no one comes; if you miss February, the matter will come up in May anyway. There is no debate, just personal attacks and threats against the City of Gaithersburg and Kentlands. When the Treasurer, in a report submitted to the newspaper, raised the issue of the cost of legal fees exceeding the budget, the article was not printed because ??? The stated explanation was that the money was actually for a bill incurred in December but not presented until March. However, if you wish simply to pretend that it is permissible to spend three times the budgeted amount in 2011, and make changes months later so that it does not look too bad, then the community needs to know that the Board is a fraud.
The Board does not serve the community. The Chair does not preside, just laughs at procedure. The Board has obviously decided to have all decisions made by the President, and no one can question the actions of the President. This President has spent money as if it hers; it is not. This President and Board have indicated an interest in attacking the persons and businesses who are the backbone of our community. Any attempt to go after businesses because they use the name of Kentlands will fail, cost a fortune in legal fees, and force the businesses to spend unnecessary funds to protect their own business from attack. Also, it is hardly likely that a business being attacked by Kentlands will pay money to support Kentlands or advertise in the newspaper.
There is no place for me on this Board of Trustees. I withdrew my earlier decision to resign because I thought, wrongly, that there was a place for a person who asked questions and sought to improve the community. However, it is clear that questions are not permitted. Since the President and the Board take actions which are an embarrassment to the community, I do not wish to be associated with this present Board and President; I hope that new and concerned citizens will be elected.
To preserve my reputation, I therefore resign, effective June 1, 2012.
Tim Clarke