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Pahio Kauai Beach Villas board election

jacknsara

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Aloha,
DeniseM noticed that I am a candidate for the board of KBV and suggested that I post something about it.
For KBV owners who may not have noticed, the ballot can be voted online and the deadline is April 27.
My original candidate statement filled the form all owners received but had to be shortened by more than half. I am pasting in the last paragraph of the original statement that was cut:

For a more detailed description of my past as well as a rough draft of my speculations of the long term challenges, please send me an email which includes either or both “KBV” or/and “Kauai Beach Villas” in the subject line. jackgoodstein@hotmail.com I will batch send my response using blind copy (bcc).

Since I was unable to include the above in my candidate statement, I have not yet written the referenced draft. I will do so in the next week or so just in case someone requests it.
Jack
 

DeniseM

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I will be voting all of my 7 votes for Jack. Before we even bought at KBV, I asked Jack for advice and he was very knowledgeable and helpful in assisting with our decision to purchase there. In the 7 or 8 years since then, Jack has been the best source on TUG for KBV info., and I think he would be an excellent Board Member. Since we have a new management company starting Jan. 1, it would be fantastic to have a Tugger on the board, and I know that one of his goals is to form an owner's group and improve communication.
 
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sjsharkie

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I'd be interested in hearing more and have sent you an email.

I understand we have a pretty independent board already -- I had spoken to Patricia Harrington who is an officer on the board inquiring about whether it was a possibility that we would move to a different management group similar to Kauai -- see this thread here:
http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210064
She was quite up front with me that they had considered a change of ownership but decided to go with Wyndham the last time. I also received a call from GPR which was a nice surprise -- and they explained their position and hope that they could win over the board the next time the contract came up. Sounds like they did just that.

I'm excited about this change, and am looking forward to more details around what benefits we will receive and what long-term benefits we will see from the new management company. I did like the front office staff and am hoping most will stay on -- even though I understand Orin the GM will be departing which is a big loss IMO.

The one thing I ask from anyone I vote for on the board is more open communication as Denise mentioned. I'd prefer not to have to call the board president every time I want information around property issues and major board decisions. I also realize that our vote may not count, given that it is difficult to attain a quorum at any of these meetings -- so hopefully the board will choose wisely in their appointing of any new members.

-ryan
 

DaveNV

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My ballot was accidentally shredded. :mad: Do you have a link to the online voting site?

Dave
 

DeniseM

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You need the hard copy - it has your voting pin number on it.

[correcting]

For Help: melissa.ragasa@wyn.com or 808-241-1020
 

linsj

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Jack, I'm so glad you're running. I've appreciated all the info you've posted here about KBV, which helped me decide to buy there. You have my two votes.
 

jacknsara

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My ballot was accidentally shredded. :mad: Do you have a link to the online voting site?

Dave


(I posted this before discovering that Denise had already answered it. I'm leaving the post here since it took me at least two tries to enter the url for the voting site and now others can use it)

Dave,

Voting requires both a member number and voting pin which are provided on the individualized ballot. The member number is the same as your Wyndham contract number (not the ICN on the deed).
The link to the online voting site is useless without the voting PIN but here it is https://www.esc-vote.com/500

You might have some luck getting a new ballot mailed to you by contacting Kanani at melissa.ragasa@wyn.com or calling (808)241-1020 and requesting a new ballot be USPS mailed to you
Good luck
Jack
 
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DaveNV

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Thanks, Denise and Jack. I'll try contacting them directly.

Note to self: When sorting stacks of mail into piles of what to shred and what to keep, don't answer the phone with a ballot in your hand. It's easy to put it on the wrong pile. :roll eyes:

Dave
 

sjsharkie

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Quick question -- is there any hope of reaching a quorum here at this resort with our votes? Why does this property differ than any of the others that I own with respect to voting of officers and reaching a quorum at the annual meeting?

Asking because the advice on other threads on voting for directors has been "why bother?", but here we seem to think that there is a chance of reaching a quorum?

-ryan
 

DeniseM

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I think there might be a better chance to get a quorum because of the large number of people who are full time condo owners at the resort. [Sorry - this was incorrect - see Jack's info. below.]
 
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jacknsara

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I think there might be a better chance to get a quorum because of the large number of people who are full time condo owners at the resort.
I just looked at the ballot again. It is for the IOA (timeshares). It does not include the 45 whole ownership apartments – they are included in the AOAO.

Quick question -- is there any hope of reaching a quorum here at this resort with our votes? Why does this property differ than any of the others that I own with respect to voting of officers and reaching a quorum at the annual meeting?

Asking because the advice on other threads on voting for directors has been "why bother?", but here we seem to think that there is a chance of reaching a quorum?

-ryan

Aloha,
That is a fair question which cannot be definitively answered until after April 27. If a quorum is achieved, it is unlikely that tugger votes will be a major determinate (though all votes do count) since tuggers are a very small minority of all owners.

I deliberately crafted my original candidate statement to appeal to owners for whom both of the following apply: (1) they do not respond to being asked to vote based on negligible useful information (150 word self-promoting statement) other than who is an incumbent and (2) they are interested enough in changing that situation that they are willing to vote this time. Whether the condensed version will be sufficiently effective remains to be seen. I had no advance information about the change in management companies. I wonder if that will motivate more owners - particularly those who converted to Wyndham - to vote.

I am encouraged by the one phone call I got from an owner I had never previously met. He so liked my candidate statement that he was willing to assign me his proxy if I were planning to attend the annual meeting (I am not – but of course would in the future if elected).

The one part of the original statement that I had to cut that I most regret I have already shared here – the one including one of my email addresses.

I believe it is possible to create an effective (high enrollment) KBV community forum without being on the board provided that there are enough owners who stay at KBV at different times who share that particular goal. I’d prefer to see it happen as a board sponsored/embraced occurrence. That is both faster and mo betta than (to quote a former manager of mine) feeding the horse from the wrong end. I’ve been a leader in succeeding in the latter before; it takes several years:

http://www.powershow.com/view/23f59...uitos_Perspective_powerpoint_ppt_presentation
Jack
 

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I sent email to Melissa Ragasa. Hopefully she'll help me out.

Dave
 

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Aloha,
That is a fair question which cannot be definitively answered until after April 27. If a quorum is achieved, it is unlikely that tugger votes will be a major determinate (though all votes do count) since tuggers are a very small minority of all owners.

I deliberately crafted my original candidate statement to appeal to owners for whom both of the following apply: (1) they do not respond to being asked to vote based on negligible useful information (150 word self-promoting statement) other than who is an incumbent and (2) they are interested enough in changing that situation that they are willing to vote this time. Whether the condensed version will be sufficiently effective remains to be seen. I had no advance information about the change in management companies. I wonder if that will motivate more owners - particularly those who converted to Wyndham - to vote.

I am encouraged by the one phone call I got from an owner I had never previously met. He so liked my candidate statement that he was willing to assign me his proxy if I were planning to attend the annual meeting (I am not – but of course would in the future if elected).

The one part of the original statement that I had to cut that I most regret I have already shared here – the one including one of my email addresses.

I believe it is possible to create an effective (high enrollment) KBV community forum without being on the board provided that there are enough owners who stay at KBV at different times who share that particular goal. I’d prefer to see it happen as a board sponsored/embraced occurrence. That is both faster and mo betta than (to quote a former manager of mine) feeding the horse from the wrong end. I’ve been a leader in succeeding in the latter before; it takes several years:

http://www.powershow.com/view/23f59...uitos_Perspective_powerpoint_ppt_presentation
Jack
Fair enough. I think you have a better shot lobbying the existing board since most owners don't vote and the board are likely the ones to decide who gets in -- but I will gladly pledge my vote in the hopes of more transparency for all interested owners.

I'm actually pleased with the current board in that they decided to make a change from Wyndham. This somewhat substantiates the assertion from Patricia last year that the board is wholly independent and there are no management flunkies making decisions for the owners.

-ryan
 

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Wyndham sent me an email with the info to vote online. Done and done. Good luck, Jack!

Dave
 

jacknsara

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Results

Aloha,
I was surprised to find out that none of the candidates for KBV board listed on the ballot were elected. I’ve included some details later in this message.
I am speculating, but unless something significant occurs to increase the individual owner voting rate, then the KBV board will always be selected by the one owner with 19% of the units.
As I previously mentioned, I believe it is possible to create a KBV community forum without support from the board provided that there are enough owners who stay at KBV at different times who share that particular goal. Such an effort is likely to require patience and several years of coordinated effort (assuming the board does nothing to help). At a minimum it likely requires attendance and promotion at the Wednesday morning resort manager meetings. Other forms of on resort networking might be worthwhile.
There is no way to know the minimum size for a core group to realistically initiate such an effort, but I believe that if KBV owners within the TUG community are unable to coalesce to pursue such an effort then no other source will succeed either (again assuming the board does nothing to help).
How many of us are interested enough in the creation of a KBV owner–to–owner communicating community to want to participate in creation and execution of a multi-year effort to see it happen? I am guessing that there are at least a couple of dozen KBV owners who log onto TUG. Are there a dozen of us who usually stay at KBV (rather than exchange) who are willing to band together for common action? Ten?
While I am willing to respond to PMs, I currently see no reason why this should not proceed in the open.
If the majority of KBV owners who are also Tuggers prefer inaction, that will be my path as well. Since I expect such an effort to take 6 – 12 years, I have no current expectation of running for the KBV board again.
Mahalo
Jack
---------------------------
KBV May 5 board election results:
The following candidates were identified on the ballot that was mailed out to all owners:
Ross Tilton 322.75
Thomas Mischley 378.25
Larry D. Warner 97.50
Jack Goodstein 169.50
Lou Columbo 56.00
The following candidates were apparently nominated from the floor at the meeting and were elected to the board.
Linda Kolstad 1,039.50
Troy Spalding 1,039.50
The following candidate was presumably a write in
Charles Moebuss III 1.00
---------------------------
The following information is copied verbatim from the audit report sent on 6/23/16 to owners who requested the report be sent to them.
Page 9 NOTE 1 - THE ASSOCIATION
. . . The Association consists of 105 interval ownership units (5,355 weeks), located in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii. The owners of all weeks in the Condominium are the only members.
Page 11 NOTE 4 - CONCENTRATION OF CREDIT RISK
. . . As of December 31, 2015, WVR owned 1,041 weeks or approximately 19% of the available weeks.
NOTE 12 - ECONOMIC DEPENDENCY
For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Association derived 18% of its revenue from WVR.
---------------------------
The Certification of Quorum and Election Tally states that the total membership is 5,991.00 and that attendance in person and proxies received was 14.84%, well over the 10% required for a quorum. I have not sought clarification of the difference between the 5,355 identified in the audit report and the 5,991 identified in the Election Tally.
It seems clear that the 1,041 WVR owned weeks identified in note 4 are responsible for the 1,039.5 votes cast for the winning candidates.
Even though Wyndham will no longer manage the resort for the next few years, it seems likely that Wyndham will exert as much influence as it chooses in selection of board members until/unless far more owners vote.
 

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Jack, thanks for posting this info. I just read it as I have been less involved reading TUG given some personal priorities right now.

I was surprised to find out that none of the candidates for KBV board listed on the ballot were elected. I’ve included some details later in this message.
I am speculating, but unless something significant occurs to increase the individual owner voting rate, then the KBV board will always be selected by the one owner with 19% of the units.
I am not surprised. With board elections every year, I assume it is Wyndham's intention to gain control of the board (and management contract rights) back through voting their ownership shares. Note that Troy Spalding works for Shell per Linkedin -- coincidence?... I think not.

It will be interesting to see now the GPR manages the resorts if they will increase their ownership through defaults, deedbacks, etc. Not sure if the management contract includes handling all defaulted intervals which I assume it does.

As I previously mentioned, I believe it is possible to create a KBV community forum without support from the board provided that there are enough owners who stay at KBV at different times who share that particular goal.
I don't prefer inaction, but I would only participate if we had a link to a board member that would take feedback and drive it forward. If you have that relationship with the board, then I might be interested in investing some time into this. If not, then I don't see the point. Let's be honest -- it is unlikely we will ever get to the point of being able to outvote the 19% share unless things go really really south (think Northwynd bad).

Thanks for the info. Let me know if you get enough interested owners and have that link to a board member that can take our concerns upward.

-ryan
 
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jacknsara

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Aloha,
I recently acted on Ryan's input and initiated contact with the new board. One consequence is that I will be submitting my name as a candidate again. There are various contingencies where being a candidate, even if not elected, makes some sense. I decided to post this now since the maintenance fee letter just arrived along with the usual note which included a solicitation for nominations for the board.
In 26 days we'll be at KBV through all of January followed by a week at the Shearwater.
Jack
 

jacknsara

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Aloha,

It turns out that our new KBV IOA president, Linda Kolstad, and I were both scheduled to be in Princeville on the same February day. Linda’s email signature block includes: Director, Association Governance—Hawaii, Wyndham Vacation Ownership. We met for over an hour one late afternoon on our lanai at the Shearwater. The meeting was pleasant. I have no reason to expect Wyndham’s vote, but I guess it is a possibility.

Given Wyndham’s ownership percentage, Wyndham is effectively the sole decider for the foreseeable future. Even so, I ask all tuggers to vote for me assuming my name appears on the ballot or consider writing me in if neither I nor any other tugger appears on the ballot.

Regardless of who or which interests dominate the IOA board, it is not clear to me why any set of incumbent board members would want to support increasingly competitive elections which might result from increasing owner ballot response.

Consequently, while it would be easier to grow a virtual KBV owner community with the sponsorship of a board member, I believe that sustainable success is more likely even if it takes longer if we develop and implement a plan that works better with but does not require direct involvement of board member(s).

I recognize that there are many challenges in pursuing such an endeavor. Rather than worry the details of how to make it happen, I believe a better starting point is to discuss specifically what desirable outcomes would come with success. I offer the following list as a starting point for discussion in this thread. The numeric tags in front of each statement is to facilitate reference; e.g., rather than repeat the whole sentence, a commenter can just refer to item (entity) number nn. The numeric tags are not intended to convey logical or sequence relationship.

Once we converge on a list of desirable outcomes, the next step would be to identify obstacles to making them happen, essentially valid statements about why each desirable outcome does not already exist. Please feel free to suggest additions, removals or edits to the following list.

102 More owners log into the community website upon receiving their annual ballot than the prior year.

104 Anyone who wants to be an IOA board candidate (regardless whether or not selected by nominating committee) is able to post his/her campaign statements without editing by the nominating committee or its delegate.

106 Owners are able to respond to individual candidate statements.

108 Candidates are able to respond to owner feedback.

112 It takes negligible resort staff time to fulfil their role(s) on the owners community web site.

114 The owner community website existence is secure regardless of changes in the IOA board’s attitude toward it.

116 The owner community website is independent of the company managing the resort.

I have some ideas for a low effort, low cost approach to achieve these outcomes. It is possible that the ‘solution’ would be generic with potentially applicability to any resort; all tuggers are invited to participate in this thread (no need to own at KBV). In the months ahead, I will develop an initial draft of what such a plan might look like. I expect that it would be in the form of a pdf or word document. Consequently, I ask that tuggers interested in participating in reviewing and commenting on such a plan provide their email address. Feel free to send a pm or email me at jackgoodstein @ hotmail . com with KBV in the subject line to avoid the spam folder.

Jack Goodstein
 

DeniseM

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Hi Jack - If Wyndham is in control of the board, how did they get fired as the management company?
 

jacknsara

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Hi Jack - If Wyndham is in control of the board, how did they get fired as the management company?
Aloha Denise,
There were zero Wyndham employees on the KBV IOA board when that decision was made. Once Wyndham lost the management contract, they decided to exercise their 19% ownership stake in KBV elections. At the moment, Wyndham does not have a majority on the board. There are two out of five board seats open in the upcoming election. We'll have to wait and see how Wyndham decides to vote in the next couple of months. There is some logic in them not fully populating the board with Wyndham employees due to appearance of potential fiduciary conflicts.
Jack
 

DeniseM

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Is it their objective to get the management contract back?
 

ecwinch

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It came from a sales weasel, so I almost don't want to repeat it. But that is what I was told. That it is a 3 year mgt contract, and Wyndham intends to take it back. But then 5 minutes later he told me that Wyndham did not want KBV, they only bought Pahio for development rights to Bali Hai.
 

LEW4kbv

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Jack - the proxy envelope I just opened says to vote for 3 positions at KBV yet you say above there are only 2 of 5 board seats open. Just curious what I am missing?? Linda
 

jacknsara

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Jack - the proxy envelope I just opened says to vote for 3 positions at KBV yet you say above there are only 2 of 5 board seats open. Just curious what I am missing?? Linda
Aloha,
The older I get, the easier it is to admit that I am wrong about a detail or two. What I anticipated is not what occurred.
I also did not realize that there was (at least) one Wyndham employee on the KBV board when the decision was made to change management company to Grand Pacific.
Jack
 
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Guys and gals, from my perspective, Karen Blackford and Trish Harrington NEED your votes. It's imPERative that we get them voted back in. Wyndham is trying get them both off the Board, particularly Trish Harrington. Doing so would essentially give Wyndham all the power. And that would be ironic, as well as bad news, as they are no longer our manager of the timeshares. The developers chose to hire Wyndham Management company to run/manage/maintain the resort. It was never their property. It has ALWAYS been owned by the individual timeshare owners as well as the few condo owners. There has been 2 Boards that work together. The AOAO and the IOA. The former's responsibility was essentially taking care of the grounds and buildings, as they are common to both groups. The IOA is responsible for the inside of the timeshare rooms, as well as rental and sales.

When we first found out that Wyndham Management was using the timeshare sales pitch to get individual owners to give them their deed for nothing, plus pay them money, in order to get into Club Wyndham. When I was there in 2005, I went through an "owner's update". Wyndham tried to get me to give up my deed to them (And I have a premium oceanfront building deed) and give them $7000 to get into their vacation club. For one, that's unethical. We hired them to manage the property, not use that as a way to gather deeds for taking over the resort.

The IOA noticed that the quality of the maintenance under Wyndham was going downhill. At first, they tried to work with Wyndham to improve things. Eventually, though, they found them not being responsive. The IOA started looking into other management companies and chose Grand Pacific Vacation Services. They started later last year and they have been great so far. GPVS had also taken over from Wyndham at the Makai Beach Club after they had found the level of maintenance that Wyndham provided was unsatisfactory. Apparently, since 2013, GPVS has done wonderful things a the MBC and the resort sparkles. Keep in mind, they're supposed to be working for the owners. Clearly GPVS has been very responsive.

So now that the IOA brought in GPVS, Wyndham has been fighting to wrestle power away from actual individual owners. And through a lack of information to the ownership, few owners have actually been casting votes. Wyndham controls about 1100 deeds, compared to the roughly 5500 deeds overall. Only about 600 owners, to my understanding, have voted in recent past elections, allowing Wyndham to throw actual individual owners off the Board. They're gunning for Trish Harrington this time around.

We need to make sure that Trish Harrington and Karen Blackford remain on the IOA Board. Wyndham successfully got Trish thrown off the AOAO Board last year. I'm guessing that she'll try again the next time for voting for that board; and with our more aware ownership (I hope), we'll be able to get her and others back on. And congratulations to her, Trish Harrington was voted onto the board at Shearwater last week. She really is a great person to have represent us individual owners.

There are others who are worthy to be on the boards, and we (including me) will work to get them on. But we don't want water down our vote either. If enough of the individual owners vote, we have way more votes than Wyndham does. But Wyndham is predicated on apathy, hoping that most owners will not vote, so that can use their voting power to further take over the board, allowing them to make decisions that will help Wyndham Corporate, not the actual individual owners at Kauai Beach Villas.

One final thing, if you're looking to get rid of your deed because you can no longer use the timeshare, please avoid merely giving it away for free to Wyndham. At the very least, first try putting in a classified at RedWeek.com (they deal in higher end sales, rentals, and purchases), or a classified in TimeSharing Today, a 6-times per year periodical (that also has an online edition). In case you're not familiar with TimeSharing Today, it's a non-profit run by and for timeshare owners with many interesting articles written by owners and industry experts. A classified ad starts at $40, I believe. You should be able to get something for your KBV deed, and it keeps it out of the hands of Wyndham.

Thanks for reading. Aloha!

Jeff Bellin
Salem MA (A city with several connections to Hawaii, including the Peabody Essex Museum, owning one of only 3 existing Ku statues, the Hawaiian war god)
 
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