A number of people have already made positive suggestions about what the community can do next … contact Orlando media, contact AARP etc. I support those ideas.
Other believe our best hope is convincing the Developer to reopen negotiations with the plaintiffs. It’s ok to hope, but hope is not a strategy. If I was the Developer, there’s no way I’d touch it at this point but maybe we’ll get lucky? But I’m certainly ok with asking again etc
In the meantime, and given the feckless letter from the VHA, the POA is now the only group we can look to who will actually fight, and fight hard, to protect the interests of all TV residents. The President of POA, with approval / inputs from his Board, should appoint a “Lifelong Learning College Task Force (LLCTF)” Leader whom in addition to being a Villager, is also ideally a retired attorney with a proven track record in litigation.
The Charter of the LLCTF should be something along these lines:
1. Investigate what legal recourse is available for TV residents, if any, to recoup damages from the responsible parties, and to include approaches for disincentivizing any similar future lawsuits. Determine what assistance, if any, is needed from independent outside counsel as well.
2. Determine what legal and other steps need to be taken now to better protect our interests from potential future attacks upon the RLGs, Clubs etc from unreasonable and/or financially impossible demands, while also fully complying with the law.
3. Craft a plan to recreate a LLC-like entity, using alternative means and volunteer efforts to included restoring classes, even if in a limited way at first. Consider using the Rec Centers and/or Savannah Center as facilities, club-like membership etc. This effort could logically branch off into a separate Task Force later on at some point. It should also address reasonable means to address the needs of deaf students, where applicable.
We also need legislative remedies longer term. After the LLCTF gets started and has a chance to better research the specifics, the President of the POA should then personally visit both Congressman Daniel Webster and State Senator Dennis Baxley, and other political leaders TBD. The POA President should ask them for their assistance to begin examining legislative remedies at the Federal and State levels. Invite them to attend and address a future POA meeting as well. I note that both of these gentlemen visited, and made personal presentations to, a meeting of The Villages Straight Shooters (i.e. Gun Club) a few weeks before the election. We have 120,000 voters here in TV … they will pay attention!
The ADA statutes need technical improvements and reform. The protections afforded the disabled MUST be preserved (i.e. after all, we will ALL be disabled at some point). However the imperfections which currently allow blatantly unfair and arbitrary actions such as this lawsuit need to be eliminated for good. The recent CBS 60 Minutes expose is further evidence this is already a national problem, and not just unique to TV.
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