[Advogado]

Don't forget, the Property Owners' Association is meeting on Tuesday, April 21, at 7:00 p.m. at Laurel Manor. Learn about what you need to do to protect your home from lightning strikes. There will also be an open forum on the IRS investigation of the tax-free recreational bonds issued by the Villages Center District-- an issue of potentially great importance to all of us. All residents are invited.

The POA has the objective of making The Villages an even-better place to live. It is the only residents' organization that is free of ties to the Developer and that is dedicated to protecting the rights of the residents. Among the POA's many accomplishments was securing a $43 million class-action-lawsuit settlement from the Developer in order to help preserve and protect the future of our amenities.

As a part-time resident, I am not a director or officer of the POA. However, I believe that all residents, year-around and part-time, have the obligation, both to themselves and to their neighbors, to protect the future of their Villages home and lifestyle by joining and supporting this very important organization.

[Sidney Lanier]

Originally Posted by Advogado

As a part-time resident, I am not a director or officer of the POA. However, I believe that all residents, year-around and part-time, have the obligation, both to themselves and to their neighbors, to protect the future of their Villages home and lifestyle by joining and supporting this very important organization.

... to have to say that the POA has lost all credibility with my family and many of our friends in TV who've been following my story. For months your organization has been soliciting stories about experiences at TV Regional Hospital. I wrote a lengthy one about the extraordinarily outstanding care I received there following an accident in December and even sent a copy of the complimentary letter I had sent to the chief hospital administrator. I not only did not receive the courtesy of a reply, but our friends and we patiently waited to see my letter appear in the POA newsletter.

Given the totally negative approach of the POA to the hospital, it did sadden but it did not surprise us that not only did my story/letter not appear, but rather it printed only more negative stories and negative headlines more suitable to a supermarket tabloid rag--in two successive issues. Every organization is certainly entitled to a point of view, but when it absolutely consistently refuses to acknowledge the existence of a varying point of view, then it is simply untrue to call it 'the voice of the people' when it is obviously 'the voice of a handful of very specific individuals with an incontrovertible agenda,' leaving people like myself feeling edited, or worse, censored.

If any member/supporter of the POA is not an automaton and is truly open to other points of view, please feel free to read the thread I posted about my experience at the hospital and have the courtesy to at least acknowledge, if not respond; the link follows. If you're not open to this, then don't bother. 'Those who matter, care; those who don't care, don't matter.'

Before you accept as gospel truth all that negativity about TV Regional Hospital ...

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Advogado

Don't forget, the Property Owners' Association is meeting on Tuesday, April 21, at 7:00 p.m. at Laurel Manor. Learn about what you need to do to protect your home from lightning strikes. There will also be an open forum on the IRS investigation of the tax-free recreational bonds issued by the Villages Center District-- an issue of potentially great importance to all of us. All residents are invited.

The POA has the objective of making The Villages an even-better place to live. It is the only residents' organization that is free of ties to the Developer and that is dedicated to protecting the rights of the residents. Among the POA's many accomplishments was securing a $43 million class-action-lawsuit settlement from the Developer in order to help preserve and protect the future of our amenities.

As a part-time resident, I am not a director or officer of the POA. However, I believe that all residents, year-around and part-time, have the obligation, both to themselves and to their neighbors, to protect the future of their Villages home and lifestyle by joining and supporting this very important organization.

I recall the settlement of the class action lawsuit included $50,000 payments to each of the three plaintiff's. Joe Gorman, President of the POA being on of them. Never saw that in the POA bulletin or treasury report. So who brought the lawsuit the POA or Joe Gorman? Just wondering.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

I recall the settlement of the class action lawsuit included $50,000 payments to each of the three plaintiff's. Joe Gorman, President of the POA being on of them. Never saw that in the POA bulletin or treasury report. So who brought the lawsuit the POA or Joe Gorman? Just wondering.

Sorry, I'm lost. What lawsuit are you referring to? When was the settlement awarded?

[Bogie Shooter]

http://www.thevillagesfl.us/classactionsettlement.htm

[PennBF]

It is wonderful that you received such great care. It is also possible that the dedicated efforts of the POA in working to improve the medical facilities in The Villages may have contributed to your receiving the best treatments.

[chuckster]

PennBF........I find that laughable having personally been involved in other success stories prior to the POA "involvement".

[barb1191]

I have personally had many, yes many bad experiences with the TVRH. Fortunately for some they hit it on a better day. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I can not imagine why anyone would not support the POA. Have these naysayers been personally affected by the POA for such a negativism? There is sooo much that the POA has done to support the homeowners and yet you would never read about their efforts and accomplishments in the Daily Sun. Nope not at all. Yes, we all know that the Daily Sun is biased and controlling and definitely do not apply freedom of the press in their realm.

Also keep in mind that you will never see any TOTV activities published in the Daily Sun. The developer refused to print any paid ad or activity of TOTV as the developer has no control over the TOTV. TOTV has become a tremendous help in marketing TV and yet the developer turns their back on them. There's such an obvious restraint on just what the developer allows in print. They would offer no reason why they refuse to have anything to do with TOTV. TV is a business and very successful and will not allow any negative commentaries about the developer to be exposed. Thus, enter the POA!!

KUDOS to the POA and the wonderful dedicated effort they've proven in their attempt to balance the scales for justice to prevail for all. No easy task, yet the POA perseveres, thank goodness.

barb

[Sidney Lanier]

Originally Posted by PennBF

It is wonderful that you received such great care. It is also possible that the dedicated efforts of the POA in working to improve the medical facilities in The Villages may have contributed to your receiving the best treatments.

PennBF, I accept that this is your reasoning, just as I am sure that you will accept that my reasoning is different and that I cannot fathom yours. If what you said were conceivably true, which IMHO I doubt, then the POA WOULD have had the courtesy to respond to my email to them (after all, they were the ones who asked for stories about experiences with the hospital) and WOULD have been happy to acknowledge my story while taking credit for it. But no, to have done so would have detracted from their agenda of beating down the hospital and implying that there is not a single positive experience to be had there!

All one has to do is read the stories that the POA selects for publication and the headlines about the hospital in the POA Newsletter. They claim to want ALL stories, but this is simply not true; all they want are the negative ones. We have a fair number of friends in TV who know of my accident, my hospital experience, and my sharing the story with the POA in response to their asking for stories of personal experiences at the hospital, and who, like ourselves, have carefully examined particularly the last two issues of the POA Newsletter looking for any reference to my positive experience, only to have found nothing but what was referred to during the cold war as “the party line.” My wife and I are joiners and activists, but the overt negative agenda of the POA is totally alienating to us....

[PennBF]

Sidney, I believe you have allowed your anger at the lack of publishing your letter to cloud the facts regarding the POA. If you read the latest Newsletter it contained positive statements regarding the TVRH improvements, the need to use recycling bags, being careful when allowing your golf bags to remain on the carts, to remain calm until the IRS results are actually in, requesting the residents be alert to a potential conflict of interest in the Water Utility Sale which is positive if you are interested in the well being of the Villages, it printed a minor rebuke from a retired police officer, it highlighted the removal of the only indoor swimming pool in the villages at the Wellness Center which again just good information for residents and last but not least dedicated almost a whole page to gardening in the villages.
Again, I am sorry they did not publish your story and sad that you are allowing this in your eys to be the benchmark as to whether the POA is positive force for the residents of The Villages.

[ricthemic]

Was there any discussion last night regarding the IRS and bonds?

[tonycirocco]

Yes, there was a lot of discussion about bonds,and the IRS looking into TV goings on.

Most importantly, there was, and always is, an OPEN Q&A session where anyone can ask anything they please about TV. No need to ask ahead of time like grade school. (VHA?)

A nice meeting, fast paced, friendly people. Try it, you will like it.

50-50, coffee + donuts, too.

Tony

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by PennBF

Sidney, I believe you have allowed your anger at the lack of publishing your letter to cloud the facts regarding the POA. If you read the latest Newsletter it contained positive statements regarding the TVRH improvements, the need to use recycling bags, being careful when allowing your golf bags to remain on the carts, to remain calm until the IRS results are actually in, requesting the residents be alert to a potential conflict of interest in the Water Utility Sale which is positive if you are interested in the well being of the Villages, it printed a minor rebuke from a retired police officer, it highlighted the removal of the only indoor swimming pool in the villages at the Wellness Center which again just good information for residents and last but not least dedicated almost a whole page to gardening in the villages.
Again, I am sorry they did not publish your story and sad that you are allowing this in your eys to be the benchmark as to whether the POA is positive force for the residents of The Villages.

This is wonderful, but compare the recent bulletin to any other over at least the last 3 years. There has been a significant change in the tone of the POA in the last month or two. This was first noticeable when Joe G defended TV in the Ritchie tax tirade. At about the same time it seemed that the POA had tempered their crusade against the hospital. I expected to see Joe Gorman and Roger Kass having dinner together.

The POA has its purpose and could be a real service to TV, but it has a lot of negativity to live down. It could do wonders working with rather than against the VHA, the developer, and CDD management. We can only hope.

And by the bye, can't swear to this, but I seem to remember that Joe Gorman was one of 5 people sharing in $300,000 as a result of the lawsuit. The other 4 were also former officers and/or active members of the POA.


`

[tonycirocco]

Muncie;

For your info, Joe Gorman got no money, and others worked two years before a settlement was reached.

You must know if you have followed this lawsuit that we(residents)
would have no moneys at all for the upkeep of golf cart trails and the update of the Paradise center were it not for the lawsuit and resulting $$ to be used for that purpose.

If you, or anyone else had gone through the trouble to get a settlement for these funds, you too would deserve to get paid for your time.

I, for one, am glad someone had the time and fortitude to go through the system and get justice.

Tony

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by Muncle

And by the bye, can't swear to this, but I seem to remember that Joe Gorman was one of 5 people sharing in $300,000 as a result of the lawsuit. The other 4 were also former officers and/or active members of the POA.
`

Just curious, Muncle...

How much money do you suppose Joe Gorman, et al have ever benefitted personally in all the many years of volunteering to support the residents via the POA?

My guess would be little or no until this lawsuit where they all worked/volunteered their time and effort to right a wrong the developer knowingly or otherwise short-changed the residents, big time. I'd say the POA earned whatever came their way.

Do you think that they initiated this legal action to make money? I find that impossible to believe.

barb