Originally Posted by Thnonne (Post 734894)

In the article on "the wall" the POA had to make a negative comment about the VHA which I feel is totally uncalled for. "(No one from the VHA spoke up if there was anyone present). Why the POA feels it makes them look better to put down the VHA I don't know. To me it does the opposite, tell me I should support you because of what good you do not because of what your rival does not do. The POA bulletins in the past were very negative in their comments about the VHA and I was glad to see it stop, but it crops up again. I have not seen the same in the VHA bulletins about the POA. These two organizations should not operate like our political parties, instead work together to improve The Villages for the villagers.

Originally Posted by ijusluvit (Post 734983)

I disagree that the comment about the VHA was negative. I see it as an important piece of factual information.

The August 12, meeting at Spanish Springs was the first open public discussion of "The Wall". Everyone in attendance heard the POA had already acted to hire an attorney to collect more information and the organization was poised to represent Villages residents in an effort to answer and resolve their concerns. The absence of the VHA from the meeting, and/or their decision to say nothing, was in itself a critically important decision on their part, and a powerful indication to the citizenry of their being in no particular hurry to represent homeowners concerns. It also lends credence to the widely held notion that the VHA was shortly thereafter coached by Ms. Tutt or other representatives of the Developer to claim it was their idea to remove the wall and install security gates.

Furthermore, the POA has done a fine job summarizing this whole issue to date in their latest bulletin. This public service will correct a lot of misunderstanding of facts and misinformation in social media and other forms of communication among residents. I haven't yet seen any helpful explanations from the VHA.

I applaud the POA efforts in this area to date, and again am reminded they are providing great service to us.

Originally Posted by graciegirl (Post 735291)

The meeting I remind you was August 12, a Monday. The wall went up on Saturday. On Tuesday it was reported in The Daily Sun what the president of the VHA...Gottshalk? said. That the developer would deed over the property in front of the wall and a gate would be installed.

Are we going to reargue this whole thing again?

The same people gather sides on the VOA that usually gather sides on politics. Mostly.

Originally Posted by ureout (Post 735453)

Warren you are correct.....some people just can't see the forest from the trees.....

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr (Post 735208)

I agree with this and would like to ad that the article that the POA published is only a timeline of the events. I didn't see anything there that I didn't know.

I don't have any problem with either the POA or VHA. Quite honestly, I don't know that much about either of them. But this is not so much an article as it is a log.

Originally Posted by twinklesweep (Post 735439)

I suspect that there has been nothing in the history of the POA that will build its membership and support as much as this wall issue. I can see the POA's membership exploding, thanks to the strong position it took in support of residents, many of whom might not even have been familiar with the POA prior to now.

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter (Post 735558)

How about $40 million?
Here is some history for you.
The Villages, FL - Class Action Settlement Notice - www.thevillagesfl.us

Originally Posted by Thnonne (Post 735549)

Thank you Winston. Ureout you are correct some people can't see the forest from the trees, or a ball from a strike or an out call from a safe call they only see what they want to see.

Originally Posted by twinklesweep (Post 735439)

I suspect that there has been nothing in the history of the POA that will build its membership and support as much as this wall issue. I can see the POA's membership exploding, thanks to the strong position it took in support of residents, many of whom might not even have been familiar with the POA prior to now.

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter (Post 735558)

How about $40 million?
Here is some history for you.
The Villages, FL - Class Action Settlement Notice - www.thevillagesfl.us

Originally Posted by ijusluvit (Post 735607)

Yep, that was the big one. However, there has been a steady stream of issues since which the POA have really helped with. There are lots of folks here whose vinyl siding was repaired or replaced, even though warranties had expired. The POA spent many months on this, so much so that they even wrote an article in October 2007 defending themselves against those who complained about continued attention to the topic. That issue, btw, also contained the article: "Let's Give Some Credit to the VHA".

The vinyl siding fight may have been the topic which led to the largest single rise in membership. Thankfully there are enough folks here who have felt the beneficial impact of POA work and still retain their membership. But of course we have some veterans and lots of newbies who have never heard of the POA.

Originally Posted by twinklesweep (Post 736372)

How true it is that some people can't see the forest for the trees. This would certainly apply to saying it's a negative comment when it's pointed out that at a residents' meeting about the wall, certain FACTS were stated, for example, the POA speaker said this and did that; the VHA chose not to be present or, if they were, they chose not to speak. Credibility is lost, and desperation seems to come across, when one takes a fact that could be construed as embarrassing insofar as support of residents is concerned and make more of it in an attempt to hide the reality of the fact.


Here I am quoting myself:





Very true!



Also very true.

The $40 million and vinyl siding settlements (and others as well) were enormous accomplishments by the POA! What I was getting at was not the enormity of the accomplishments but rather the willingness of this residents' organization to take on this very public issue immediately in the service of all Villages residents, even though it affects one group more than others. The POA as a residents' group, through this episode, likely became known to residents who had never heard of them--and better known to those who had only a vague awareness of them. This is where I see a resulting increase in membership and support--from residents seeing exactly what the POA is and how they are willing to stick their necks out in support of residents.

When I first moved to TV, I had a property issue similar to the vinyl siding or the roofs now being replaced. I didn't even know the POA existed! I did contact the VHA, as I had been given considerable info about them when I purchased the home. Not only did they do nothing for me, they actually gave me an argument for making an issue of it (another typical "kill the messenger" type of response). Had I known of the existence of the POA, there is a possibility (I'm not saying a certainty; I'll never know...) that my outcome could have been different....