Last week I received a disturbing email from a board member attempting to suppress my speech about problems I see in the governance of the HOA.
- It refers to posts or comments I’ve made in the City Walk Facebook group, but doesn’t specify what they were.
- At no time did any board member ever simply join the FB group in order to disagree publicly with anything I said and make their case to our fellow owners. (You know: so issues can be openly discussed.)
- The email makes no attempt to do this privately, either, and instead…
- It threatens “Association…remedies” which I take to be a threat of fines.
- I asked its writer if the email’s content reflected a discussion and decision by the whole board and got no reply to that question, though I’ve learned since that at least one board member was not included in any discussions about sending such a message.
- I pointed out to the sender of the email how bad it would make the current board majority look, and offered to let them “undo the send” and I would forget I ever received the email, but I got no reply to that offer, so I’m now sharing the story here.
Here is the full text of the email:
Freeman,
This letter serves as a formal request that you discontinue public statements or posts that may mischaracterize the actions, decisions, or intentions of the current Board or its members.
Your recent Facebook post revisited matters already resolved by the Association and presented them in a manner that may lead to confusion among owners regarding the Board’s current work. Additionally, continued public commentary of this nature risks further dividing the community and contributing to a hostile environment.
The current Board is actively working to reunite the community and bring an end to ongoing hostility. Public statements that reopen past disputes or question the Board’s integrity undermine those efforts and further erode the good-faith attempts being made to restore trust and cooperation among owners.
To prevent further misunderstandings and continued division, I am requesting that you cease making public statements that could reasonably be interpreted as misrepresenting Board actions, motives, or deliberations without authorization or factual basis.
Please be advised that the Association reserves all rights to pursue appropriate remedies should inaccurate or misleading statements continue. At this time, this communication is intended solely as a formal request that future communications remain accurate, constructive, and consistent with officially documented information.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
I’ve continued to email with this board member, hoping to make them understand how beyond the pale a move like this is, but I’m not making much progress and I suspect they’ll just stop replying soon. If anybody wants to see the whole email correspondence as it stands at any point, I’ll be happy to show it to you privately.