[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Talk Host

Amity and I have taken a motorcycle trip and I am currently sitting on the front porch of the Gibson Inn in Apalachicola, Florida. I had hoped to be away from everything for a few days, but it appears that a crisis has arisen here on Talk of The Villages and here I am, back at it.

The three administrators of this board have tried very hard at great personal expense and time to provide a forum where Village residents can enjoy themselves, make new friends and support each other (example the TOTV cruise). We provide this as a "free" service to our fellow members. There is not one member who invests one penny toward the operation of this forum. It is done gratefully by your three administrators. Likewise, not one member spends one second on the administration of this forum, nor do they answer any of the hundreds of emails and complaints that we receive every month about everything associated with this board.

We have a responsibility to all of the members to do our best to provide a place where everybody can visit without fear of being ridiculed or taken to task for their sincere efforts. When a new forum is put up, it is done so by the administrators, and it is we who decide how it will be used and how the rules will be enforced. No forum belongs to any one individual.

Every hour of every day, we each receive emails and personal messages from members who have issues about everything you can imagine. The complaints range from "people are picking on me" to "the in crowd is taking over the board," to "why don't you remove his post" to "my ad is too small" to "this board isn't what I want it to be" to "this is the most confusing forum I have ever seen" to "did you see what she said about me," and so on and so on and so on. We accept the responsibility because we knew is came with the territory.

There is no Talk of The Villages Court. But there are three administrators who are human and want the best forum for all the members. From time to time there is an emotionally charged thread that gets out of hand and it will only lead to further problems. So, a decision may be made to derail the runaway locomotive. That is not censorship.

Now, if anybody has a better idea of how we can manage our board and make everybody happy all of the time, your three administrators would like to hear the plan. This plan has got to include a system by which we can make a decision about hurtful posts that pleases every living soul.

What do you all want this board to be like? A place where everybody can have a good time, or one where there is no order and nobody looking after things. The second option is the easiest for us.

I don't mind telling you that the three of us feel very bad that our efforts to make Talk of The Village a nice place has taken a turn because a few people feel that their right to say whatever they want has been disallowed.

I have know Tony Zona for 42 years. He and his wife are godparents to my daughter. You will not ever find a person who is more eager to do the right thing every time. He does not act out of haste or malicious intent. He is thorough in his thinking and makes decisions based on what is best for a proper outcome.

We don't want anybody to leave this forum, nor will be intimidated into changing our system by threats that an individual or a group will leave. Please use this forum for what it is intended....fun for all.

I appreciate your great efforts. I am sad because I know I am one of the posters that people complain about because I do post a lot. I have made friends on here. Some of them I have even seen and hugged. This forum is the ONLY reason I came to see The Villages and it is a crucial reason why we bought there. I want to tell anyone that reads this that I am sorry if I ever made YOU feel left out. I am a person who really loves to know everyone. I know that anyone who wants to be a part of the TOTV group that meets at Crispers is going to be welcomed. I am sorry Tony if I made your job hard.