[RUCdaze]

The POA is an essential newsletter. It is the only organized voice that stands ready to call out the developer on quality of life issues in The Villages. They have done some fabulous work in the past representing us. If you're unsure about what the POA has done, I suggest you look into it as soon as possible. I also put extra stock in their advertisers.

[Dond1959]

Originally Posted by Skip

I believe the Property Owners Association and old man Harold Schwartz (founder of TV) were agreeable partners in the beginning. If the property owner had a complaint, Harold would get the problem fixed. Then Gary Morse (biological son) took over running things and money seemed more important than customer satisfaction. So when the POA (in their printed publication found in every rec. center) wrote about a problem, Gary broke ties with them and formed the VHA and (like county commissioner seats) filled the VHA with his friends. It was the "Happy Owners" publication. He stopped the POA news from being available in rec. centers, so they went to volunteers to deliver it to driveways. Gary tried to stop that too but with the Daily Sun delivered to driveways too, so he could do little to say newspapers in driveways are trash. He did print the VHA paper for them (free) and delivered it inside the Daily Sun sleeve. He would NOT print the POA paper any more. The Leesburg Daily Commercial newspaper picked that up for a printing fee. Gradually the POA had more homeowner complaints to air and pressured the CDD and the Developer to fix things rather than pushing the cost onto the residents themselves. There were lots of mistakes being thrust onto the homeowners from bad bridges, to flooding, to golf course problems and of course the Paradise Rec. Center deal, where the POA won big time in court. [That should give you some idea of who was right there.]

So you have an organization that tries to speak out for the residents and one that says everything is great here and the developer is a "Big Benevolent Benefactor". So take your pick. Are you on the homeowner's side or the builder's side when you bought here?

Those that have been here 20+ years can fill in more details. I'm all in favor of "checks and balances" in life. And I love living here.

Skip

Thanks Skip, I love how you sneak in the comment county commission seats to imply that the developer runs the Sumter county commission. It is a favorite one that POA supporters like to throw into every conversation. However, since you follow the POA so closely you should let people know that 3 of the 5 county commissioners were supported by the POA. So actually the county commissioners are under the POA thumb and not the developer. Agree?

[CarlR33]

Originally Posted by RUCdaze

The POA is an essential newsletter. It is the only organized voice that stands ready to call out the developer on quality of life issues in The Villages. They have done some fabulous work in the past representing us. If you're unsure about what the POA has done, I suggest you look into it as soon as possible. I also put extra stock in their advertisers.

Im sorry, it does not give them the right to just riffle out their paper to every open driveway in the neighborhood and shame on their advertisers for supporting this. My first experience with POA was when I rented a home in Richmond last year. Just before a hurricane came through the POA felt their message and advertisers were so important they delivered on the weekend of a hurricane. Needless to say, papers were everywhere in the streets and storm gutters since Richmond in August is not full of residents. I have found two blown in my back yard of my new home in another neighborhood. I have yet to read it because of this. Cheers.

[Rocksnap]

Originally Posted by Pondboy

This are those annoying newsletters that they toss into your driveway every so often.

Littering if you ask me.

Thankfully they will only be “on line” after Sept.

Those “annoying” news letters are actually a wealth of information to us full time home owners, if one likes to pay attention to their surroundings.

[Rzepecki]

Originally Posted by Indydealmaker

Good neighbors solve this little problem.

My thought also.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by BlueStarAirlines

The POA $45m win was sometime in 2018 or before....now 7+ years ago. Many new residents since that time know nothing of those events, have no idea what the POA is or what they do, why anyone should join the POA, and now that those newsletters will no longer be in the driveway (to pickup and read or just throw away), will not even be a blip on the radar.

If they honestly do good things as some have said, they desperately need a marketing person.

I agree with this. Whenever the POA is brought up, folks want to talk about the lawsuit that happened several years ago. Then they say, 'they do great things for the residents' or ' they look out for the residents'. But they never seem to name specific things.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Dond1959

Thanks Skip, I love how you sneak in the comment county commission seats to imply that the developer runs the Sumter county commission. It is a favorite one that POA supporters like to throw into every conversation. However, since you follow the POA so closely you should let people know that 3 of the 5 county commissioners were supported by the POA. So actually the county commissioners are under the POA thumb and not the developer. Agree?

He gave a good description of what the organization tries to do, and you skipped over everything to find something you could criticize.