In 1999, Starwood acquired VCC as part of the Vistana acquisition. So, like WSJ Hillside aka Virgin Grand phase, which was able to wrest HOA control back into hands of non-SVO cronies, VCC had a history of running independently prior to SVO getting into the picture. It must have been quite a huge culture shock for them to one day operate as active board members with 100% control one day, and the next day being treated as rubber stampers.
There is very little to understand what specifically broke the camel's back, but what little I gleaned from the few threads seem to suggest that the Board was unhappy with Starwood's managing of contracts, which IMO means that they were awarding lucrative contracts to their fellow cronies instead of the lowest bidders.
Another thing also mentioned by the VCC board member was SVO's lack of transparency re delinquencies. In theory, the HOA "owns" delinquencies and should be able to rent them out in order to try and make owners whole on those unpaid MFs. In reality, that didn't/doesn't seem to be happening, or if it is, the HOA is getting far less than one would expect, especially at top tier resorts such as HRA and WKORV.
When VCC left SVO in 2011, it was following a painful run when we are all getting socked with hundreds of dollars of additional MFs to cover the delinquencies. It seems SVO did not give the board members a satisfactory explanation of what they were doing with those weeks, and that may have been enough for them to jump ship. Easier to do when you're used to having a homeowner-friendly, cost sensitive HOA, who still has a lot of influence with owners. Plus they had the advantage of not having a Starwood-picked board from inception (unlike WKORV, etc), which makes it nearly impossible for owners to boot out SVO/VSE, because the OA dictates that all uncast votes are awarded to the current board, to use at their discretion. That means that if you have a Starwood-controlled board on Day 1, absent a catastrophe, you will always have a Starwood/VSE-controlled board.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/starwood-to-acquire-vistana-inc-73613452.html
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155310