• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

IMPORTANT! We have a Tugger running for the WKORV BOD!

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,668
Reaction score
9,088
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
For those who want to cut to the chase, please see page 3 - post #69, for an example of how Jeff and I marked our ballots. - DeniseM

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am extremely pleased to announce that TUG's own j4sharks (Jeff Hyman) is officially a candidate for the WKORV Board of Directors!

After the last election was rescheduled because of the fiasco with the late mailing of proxies, Jeff was able to get on the ballot for the Feb. election which will be Feb. 25, 2010. I asked Jeff to write a little statement to introduce himself, and I am sure he will be happy to answer questions as well:

Originally Posted by j4sharks
I have been a WKORV owner for 3+ years. I am a business attorney at Apple Inc in Cupertino, and was a business litigation attorney for many years prior to working at Intel and now Apple.

My family loves WKORV, but like many owners we are frustrated by the huge MF increases over the past several years. I understand that some of the increases were caused by matters beyond the Board and Starwood's control (e.g. utility costs and local taxes); however, I look at how Marriott is able to run a very nice resort down the beach with MF's that remain about 30% lower and without the huge annual rates of increase.

My objective in joining the Board is to learn as much as I can about the operating budget and the drivers of our MF (both in absolute terms and the rates of increase), and then to work with the other BOD members to develop a plan to, at minimum, hold MFs flat for the next few years, if not reduce them modestly. And, of course, we need to do this in a way that maintains the quality of our experience as guests at the resort. But I firmly believe this can be done.

I do not believe Starwood is a bad company or that anyone is out to get us owners, per se. In fact, I think Starwood does a lot of things well in regards to running WKORV. But I do think that the current management agreement fails to align the financial interests of Starwood and Owners, which means that both parties currently fail to share a common set of incentives on controlling expenses. Longer term, I would like to see the management agreement change to better align our mutual interests.

Jeff Hyman
 
Last edited:

l2trade

TUG Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
1,052
Reaction score
0
Points
246
:) This is great news!!! Thank you and best of luck Jeff! :)
 

Ken555

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
14,522
Reaction score
5,638
Points
898
Location
Los Angeles
Resorts Owned
Westin Kierland
Sheraton Desert Oasis
Fantastic news! Good luck, Jeff! (Once you're on the Board, perhaps you can convince them to install a few iMacs around the resort...;))
 

j4sharks

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
83
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Belmont, CA
Thanks everyone.

In order for this candidacy to work, of course, owners need to vote. :)

So, pls consider voting for me when your proxy arrives by mail, and sending it back to Starwood promptly.
 

Henry M.

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2006
Messages
2,454
Reaction score
668
Points
473
Location
Austin, TX
Jeff:

I appreciate your thoughtful posts here TUG and I fully agree with your attitude towards Starwood and SVO. They are not out to get us, but we do need to participate in the process constructively. I think you represent my position well so you have my vote too. I hope to see the proxy soon.

Henry
 

Fredm

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2005
Messages
1,782
Reaction score
8
Points
248
Location
Palm Desert, CA
Jeff, thank you for volunteering your services :clap:

Can you briefly describe the application process?
Was it difficult to do?

Thanks again!
 

pharmgirl

Guest
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Messages
715
Reaction score
7
Points
328
Location
jersey
Thanks everyone.

In order for this candidacy to work, of course, owners need to vote. :)

So, pls consider voting for me when your proxy arrives by mail, and sending it back to Starwood promptly.

will it be possible to vote via internet? last time proxies were very late and unless returned with overnight mail - too late

This is great news - thanks for being a candidate
 

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,668
Reaction score
9,088
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
If you received your proxie late, you can FAX it to Starwood.
 

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,668
Reaction score
9,088
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
Jeff, thank you for volunteering your services :clap:

Can you briefly describe the application process?
Was it difficult to do?

Thanks again!

I'm not Jeff, but I asked the same thing and he did not go through a screening process - he looked up the local statute that allows owners to be placed on the ballot upon request and sent Starwood a message quoting the statute and requesting that he be placed on the next ballot.

Which makes me question the validity of the screening process that Starwood has been using since the resort opened.....
 

Ken555

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
14,522
Reaction score
5,638
Points
898
Location
Los Angeles
Resorts Owned
Westin Kierland
Sheraton Desert Oasis
I'm not Jeff, but I asked the same thing and he did not go through a screening process - he looked up the local statute that allows owners to be placed on the ballot upon request and sent Starwood a message quoting the statute and requesting that he be placed on the next ballot.

Which makes me question the validity of the screening process that Starwood has been using since the resort opened.....

If this wasn't so serious, it would be funny. I guess it takes a lawyer to get Starwood to back down.
 

Fredm

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2005
Messages
1,782
Reaction score
8
Points
248
Location
Palm Desert, CA
I'm not Jeff, but I asked the same thing and he did not go through a screening process - he looked up the local statute that allows owners to be placed on the ballot upon request and sent Starwood a message quoting the statute and requesting that he be placed on the next ballot.

Which makes me question the validity of the screening process that Starwood has been using since the resort opened.....

Well, that seems easy enough.
Now, he need the votes.

I thought Jeff wrote a good ballot statement.
 

osman

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Messages
57
Reaction score
7
Points
218
Location
San Jose, CA
Resorts Owned
WKV, WKORV, SDO x 2, SMV, Westin Flex
I am extremely please to announce that TUG's own j4sharks (Jeff Hyman) is officially a candidate for the WKORV Board of Directors!

This is fantastic news! Jeff, you've got my vote!

Does anyone know when the proxies will be sent out?

--Osman
 

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,668
Reaction score
9,088
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
Jeff said they are currently at the printer.
 

clsmit

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2008
Messages
1,256
Reaction score
6
Points
248
Location
Solon, OH (for love not the weather)
Resorts Owned
WSJ, HRA, WKORV, WMH, SBP, WLR
Hope my WKORV purchase finishes in time for me to vote! Good luck!
 

LisaH

TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
3,963
Reaction score
656
Points
598
Location
SF Bay Area, CA
Fantastic Jeff! I don't own at WKORV but I have a friend who owns two weeks there. I will let her know and ask her to vote for you.

Go Jeff (and go Apple :))!!!
 

Westin5Star

TUG Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Messages
992
Reaction score
0
Points
376
Location
Florida
Jeff,

Thank you for volunteering for this. I will be voting for you as well!

Jody

BTW, can you work on getting us a swim up bar at WKORV??? :)
 

DavidnRobin

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
11,812
Reaction score
2,224
Points
698
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Resorts Owned
WKORV OFD (Maui)
WPORV (Kauai)
WSJ-VGV (St. John)
WKV (Scottsdale)
Jeff - you have my vote. I know some non-TUG Owners - I will also tell them.

This is very good news - getting enough people to vote will be a challenge. Tuggers should come up with ideas to get the vote out to WKORV Owners.

To all other Tugger Friends - sorry to be gone so long - things have been crazy (as forewarned) and got even crazier.
 

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,668
Reaction score
9,088
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
Hi David - nice to "see" you! :hi:

Jeff will actually be on the ballot and there will be a Bio./statement that he wrote included in the mailing and that should help. Any ideas about reaching out to other owners?
 

DavidnRobin

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
11,812
Reaction score
2,224
Points
698
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Resorts Owned
WKORV OFD (Maui)
WPORV (Kauai)
WSJ-VGV (St. John)
WKV (Scottsdale)
Hi David - nice to "see" you! :hi:

Jeff will actually be on the ballot and there will be a Bio./statement that he wrote included in the mailing and that should help. Any ideas about reaching out to other owners?

Yep -it has been a long time for someone who avg'd 2-3 posts per day - lol
Glad Jeff found this method to get onto the BOD - and has the time.

Jeff - as I stated before - WKORV BOD needs transparency and the best way to achieve this is too create an Owner-Owner communication method.

Something I did for WSJ was to contact people selling and renting on RedWeek - I got a note from RW to stop (slap on the wrist), but no until I contacted most of them.

If people here are RW members - they could break it down into groups as to stay below the radar. I guess this could work for the other TS rental/sales sites.

If there was enough lead time - Tuggers could hand out info to other WKORV Owners while staying there.

Others?
 

Henry M.

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2006
Messages
2,454
Reaction score
668
Points
473
Location
Austin, TX
Over the years of going to WKORV I have met a lot of people and quite a few do not frequent TUG. I already wrote to all the owners I know outside of TUG giving them Jeff's introductory statement and pointing them to this discussion. The only recourse I know to get to other owners is to have everyone here to contact everyone they know.

I suspect there is quite a bit of apathy out there so even a few extra votes from a grass roots effort like the one going on here can go a long way. Just look at your own local politics. All it takes is a few passionate people to really canvass their friends to get local measures passed. This works best when only a small percentage of the population votes. If most of those that vote have been made aware of your cause and you can get your allies to just show up at the ballot, then you are more likely to win even against opposition with deeper pockets but less organization.
 

pharmgirl

Guest
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Messages
715
Reaction score
7
Points
328
Location
jersey
is the meeting date known if there will be a meeting. We will be there week of Jan30th and would attend if then
 
Top