Aruba Annual Meeting (May 15, 2009) update from Allan Cohen
May 19, 2009
Dear Aruba Ocean Club Owners
Having just returned from the 2008 Aruba Ocean Annual Meeting - I am still in a state of disbelief at what was done by Marriott. Unfortunately, my last meeting as a Board member leaves me in shock and utter disgust at Marriott's total lack of respect for Aruba Ocean Club Owners. But as many owners have said to me - I was too trusting.
The Annual Meeting was not like anything I have ever seen before and was the first one that Marriott's MVCI division took complete control of. They hired at their expense a parliamentarian (one of only 35 in the nation) to run most of the meeting, they prepared two pages of rules, a proxy review staff, governance staff, security and did away with the secret ballot process for the proxies. etc. I would say that MVCI had more staff on hand then Owners in attendance. I ask you: Why would Marriott spend thousand's of dollars in sending staff and consultants to Aruba for an Owners Annual meeting?
For the Board of Directors - a total of 6268 votes were cast. Marriott had at total of 1730 votes (1500 B share votes and 230 shares - ( they said the they had bought back 115 weeks (2 votes per week) thus Marriott had a total of 1730 votes.)
According to my notes the results from the election for the two vacancies on the Board were as follows: (I called and Marriott will not release their vote count information to me at this time)
Andrew Bury 1034
Anthony Lifrieri 3116
Frank Knox 2112
Frederick O'Toole 6
For the first time in the history of the Aruba Ocean Club - Marriott MVCI's division headed by Dirk Schavemaker, and Troy Asche cast votes for the A Owner members for election. For the past 9 years, I and Owners have been told by MVCI President Steve Weisz and other Marriott executives that Marriott does not vote in an Board election for Owners (A members), because they feel that the Owners should have their say and Marriott would not want to influence the election of Owner Members. Well, apparently Marriott no longer feels this way!
What I witnessed on Friday was MVCI staff under the watchful eye of (MI) Marriott Internationals Resort General Manager, Rick Zeolla's was a total disregard for the Owners wishes as reflected in the Owner votes. They cast their Marriott proxies for Frank Knox, the current President who would have been soundly defeated but for the Marriott votes..
Even through the Board and Marriott had nominated the other three candidates their casting of their votes changed the outcome of the election.
This total disregard for the Owners wishes is a prime example of their control of all actions of this Board. What are they afraid of?
All my motions to insure transparency for Owners, to insure that Owners have a say in any attempted Surf Club integration, as well as getting the final reports on the roof, structural and environmental issues that concern Owners, were either defeated by the Boards/MVCI or called "out of order" by Marriott's hired Parliamentarian.
Frank Knox admitted that the reports were not final and that he has decided to use Marriott consultants (structural contractors etc.) rather than follow up with our own hired independent structural engineers who had visited the site and made recommendations.
Remember, that all Owners had received an update last month from the Board Officers stating that everything is fine, well how could they make such a statement when the final report does not exist.
I strongly believe based on the facts as we know them that until the final report is complete and all our consultant's concerns are openly addressed, we should not accept Marriott's reports as fact. We are not being told what all these repairs are costing us and we are now investing over $14 million in refurbishment.
As a fellow Owner, I urge that you continue to stay alert, this is your property and it is costing you dearly. Your recent assessment and maintenance bill's are just an example of how Marriott has turned a wonderful vacation ownership experience into a disaster.
We should not let this Board and Marriott disregard the wishes of the Owners. Frank Knox should resign immediately and a call for a fair Owner election not controlled by Marriott should take place.
Prior to this meeting I spoke at the Marriott International Annual Meeting (*see below) in Washington and addressed my concern to Arne Sorenson -
Arne.Sorenson@marriott.com the new Marriott President. No response to date . Since he is new on the job, I suggest that you write to him on how you feel about MVCI's actions and the issues at the Aruba Ocean Club.
I urge that you stay in contact with the Concerned Owners group thru me at
C20854@aol.com or Mark at
live4sonnj@aol.com. Many Owners are devoting their own time and resources to try to correct the injustices that are occurring at the hands of MVCI.
The facts continue to be clear - MVCI never disclosed the condition of our building prior to marketing and selling it. We as Owners have been paying the price for this with all our repairs/maintenance costs and all attempts to get Marriott International to intervene and do what is right and equitable have failed.
I want to thank the Owners of the over 1,000 weeks who listed me on their proxies.
I will keep providing you with current and reliable information as long as you want.
Please stay in touch.
Allan
Allan S. Cohen
PS: I just received news that John Moyer (5 week owner) who attended the Annual meeting with me on Friday had a major stroke yesterday. During our visit and upon his return,John could not stop telling me how seething he was on what he witnessed by Marriott at the Annual Meeting. He had met with Dirk and Troy for hours in January to discuss issues and had been hopeful they would listen to the Owners. I am sending all our prayers to John.
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*This is the statement I gave at Marriott corporate annual meeting May 1, 2009. I was hopeful since both Mr Marriott and Mr Sorenson were attentive and polite and thanked me for my comments, but now after Fridays Annual meeting in Aruba - it seems that they do not care. We will see!
MR. MARRIOTT AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, I AM ALLAN COHEN A SHAREHOLDER, CURRENT BOARD MEMBER AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF MARRIOTT'S ARUBA OCEAN CLUB, AS WELL AS A MUTIPLE OWNER OF THREE DIFFERENT VACATION CLUB RESORTS AND A NEIGHBOR IN POTOMAC
I HAVE BEEN A LOYAL MARRIOTT SUPPORTER - AND BELIEVE IN THE MARRIOTT BRAND, BUT I AM CONCERNED OVER -
YOUR RECENT ANNOUNCED DECREASE OF OVER 30% IN REVENUE FROM YOUR TIMESHARE DIVISION
I DO NOT FEEL THAT THIS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE ECONOMY ALONE BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF SERIOUS OWNER CONCERNS AND LACK OF FAITH BY SOME IN THE MARRIOTT BRAND NAME
WHAT BEGAN AS A SMALL GROUP OF UNHAPPY OWNERS IN ARUBA 8 MONTHS AGO HAS GROWN TO OVER 1000 OF THE 9,000 OWNERS. ADDING THEIR FAMILIES, FRIENDS, AND BUSINESS ASSOCIATES THIS NUMBER CONTINUES TO GROW.
IN ADDITION WITH OVER 400,000 TIMESHARE OWNERS WORLDWIDE, A THREAT OF A BRAND BOYCOTT BY SOME AS WELL AS A NEGATIVE MARRIOTT BLOG VIEWED OVER 48,000 TIMES SINCE OCT. 2008 WITH OVER 900 POSTINGS, WHICH YOUR MVCI STAFF MONITOR - SHOULD GIVE THIS BOARD AND EVERY SHAREHOLDER REASON FOR CONCERN.
ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE ISSUES AT THE ARUBA OCEAN CLUB ARE UNIQUE - I HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH SOME OF THE OTHER 50 TIMESHARE BOARDS AND THEY SEE SOME CONCERNS AMONG THEIR OWNERS OVER MARRIOTT RELATED ISSUES.
WE ALL PURCHASED BECAUSE OF THE REPUTATION THAT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY REPRESENT - THE MARRIOTT NAME WAS THE STIMULUS OFFERING OWNERS AND GUESTS PEACE OF MIND AND AN UNBLEMISHED REPUTATION.
I AM CONCERNED THAT UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION NOW - THE DISSENSION WILL ONLY CONTINUE.
I URGE YOU TO SET UP AN OWNER ADVOCACY OFFICE TO TAKE A FRESH AND INDEPENDENT LOOK AND DEAL WITH THE UNRESOLVED ISSUES THAT CONTINUE FACING VACATION CLUB OWNERS.
I WANT TO ASSURE YOU THAT OWNERS ARE NOT ALWAYS RIGHT, BUT WE MUST WORK TOGETHER IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER. WE MUST BUILD BACK THE TRUST IN THE MARRIOTT NAME -
I AM CONFIDENT THAT WITH YOUR AND MR. SORENSON'S LEADERSHIP, WE CAN BRING BACK THE LOYALTY OF OUR TIMESHARE OWNERS. WE NEED NOT BE ADVERSARIAL.
I TRULY BELIEVE THAT IF WE CAN WORK TOGETHER THE MARRIOTT BRAND WILL BECOME EVEN STRONGER
I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU - THANK YOU ALLAN COHEN
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