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Pahio Kauai Beach Villas board election

DNRNFV

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I am not telling anyone how to vote ....

I have done the same--Karen has my proxies. I just came back from KBV and I have to say this last trip was fantastic from an owner-experience POV. I had to give away my KBV booking last year (to my sister) so this was my first visit under GPX management. I see some very good improvements in the resort and operation, and the staff are great--really trying hard. GPX really gets customer service on the phone and in person!
 
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Note: With advice from the IOA attorney, the board has decided NOT to implement a bylaw which requires any votes to only be counted from those who are up-to-date with their maintenance fees and/or other financial obligations. The attorney warned that it would be too soon to give owners a chance to catch up.

But the chances are that the bylaw will likely be voted upon and approved for next year's election. I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing that they will vote to implement the law giving those who are in arrears a chance to catch up. Also know that if the bylaw is eventually voted to be implemented, those who are on agreed upon payment plans are good to go as long as they are up-to-date with their agreements.

But no one has anything to worry about this year with regard to whether their votes will be counted. I think most here would agree, however, that it's most fair to only count votes from those who are up-to-date with their maintenance fees.

I also see potentially see circumstances where some use withholding their maintenance fees as a protest. That would be a tough call. Recently, the Diamond Resort in Poipu tried assessing a $6000 assessment. They were sued and lost. If there was an assessment made and an owner refused to pay it, that could also result in that owner not being allowed to vote.

And the KBV bylaw, as written, does state that the "shareholder" (as it is called) may not be allowed to participate in owners meeting matters, so perhaps there could be exceptions made.

But in any event, expect that the bylaw will likely be implemented in time for next year's vote. So be pro-active in that regard.

Aloha,

Jeff
 
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As an added note to my previous post, my skepticism still stands with the question as to why now? (and it's a rhetorical one). I don't personally like it when an entity like Wyndham abuses their power for their own gain. My father fought against injustices inflicted on the less powerful. I am not nearly as extraordinary as he was, but I have done my share over the years.

The bylaw hadn't even been brought up for who knows how long. Now that Wyndham is feeling some real heat, they bring it up to try to diminish the number of individual owners.

I'm not against eventually implementing it, as long as delinquent owners are given ample time and opportunity to get themselves caught up, and exceptions be considered due to extenuating circumstances. But again, keep in mind, even the bylaw states "may be" and not "will be" kept from taking part in shareholder (owners) meetings. I will not want to see a corporate dominated IOA board impose a large assessment without transparency, then insist that those who don't meet the corporation's self-imposed deadline be punished.

Jeff
 
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Folks, please do make sure you vote! We're just a week away from the vote!! Make sure you go to saveKBV.org and give your Proxy vote to Karen Blackford, leaving the candidate selection blank. And if you are able, there's a place on the website to help offset some of the costs of this campaign.

Thanks so much for voting and getting involved!!

Aloha,

Jeff Bellin
 

ecwinch

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Interesting comment, Eric - we are all entitled to our own opinions and I respect yours. All I can say is that I want what is best for Kauai Beach Villas. It is true that I do not believe that Wyndham controlling our Board of Directors is in the best interest of our owners. There are 5 seats on the BOD. Since WYN has 20% of ownership, one seat should be all they hold. I am not sure what you mean by engaging in a whisper campaign. I do not feel that I have been whispering about anything. If I was - - why would I come out and speak openly on this forum? That is certainly not a whisper.

I understand that some owners may blame the past BOD for not moving faster to make some of the desired changes at KBV - I might feel the same had I not been on the Board and knew what was driving those delays. Your BOD had an Action Item List - - that mostly was ignored by Wyndham. Of course, you can challenge the word choice (ignored), but I am saying that your BOD put things on that list - - but when we the Action Item List was reviewed at the next meeting, we often found nothing had been done about most items on the list. We would then obtain promises that these items would be handled - - only to return to the next meeting to find nothing (or very little) had been done again. This happened over and over again - - as a result, I cannot in good conscious say that Wyndham was a good management company for Kauai Beach Villas. I will say that towards the end of their time as KBV's management company, things did get done. Interesting that it didn't happen until then... you can draw your on conclusions/opinion about why that happened. Have you noticed that things are being done since 1/1/17? Yes, that Action item list is being tended to under Grand Pacific's management.

Karen - thanks for that insight. I always believe that reasonable people can disagree.

In terms of the past BoD actions, as I said in another post - it is lack of communication to the members on the issues with Wyndham that was most disappointing. I think most owners were shocked to hear about the separation. We can disagree on the point of there being a different course of action.

I did go to the resort after the switchover and as I reported here it a less than positive experience. Perhaps that can just be chalked up to transition issues.

On the whisper campaign point - I clarified with Denise that it was a less than accurate term. It was more about mud-slinging directed toward Lou that drew me into this discussion. No, I dont believe you were the responsible party.

Thanks
 

DeniseM

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In terms of the past BoD actions, as I said in another post - it is lack of communication to the members on the issues with Wyndham that was most disappointing.

Over the years, I have owned close to 20 deeds, and I have never received a direct communication from the BOD at any of the resorts, except for official, sanctioned news letters. I would be shocked if half the members of a board went rogue and issued a communication to owners saying they were having difficulty with the management company and the other half of the board. Honestly, I can't imagine that ever happening - I don't believe that is how BOD's work.

It's more common for negative info to come out at election time - like it is now. This is to be expected - because at election time, owners can do something about problems at the resort by voting for board members who support their views.

I am pleased that a number of view points have been expressed here. Clearly, we don't all agree, but I think it's important for these viewpoint to come out - whether or not everyone agrees with it. The challenge, of course, is to keep the discussions on track, and not making them personal.
 
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hwnakn

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I have a question on how to participate in the on-line voting: I cannot attend the meeting but I do want my vote to count. It appears to me I have to give a proxy to someone or, to members of the board as a whole made on the preference of the majority of the directors present at the meeting or, a shared proxy to the directors present at the meeting. It appears I am not allowed to vote on line as an individual without giving a proxy vote. I want my vote to count without having to give a proxy vote. How can I vote as an individual without having to give an individual or the board as a whole or shared a proxy?
 

DeniseM

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This is what you do - log in, and then vote for the person you want at the bottom of the page.

Then at the top of the page, designate someone to vote your proxy - they will vote the way you mark your ballot.

For instance, I voted for Tugger Jack Goodstein, and I also designated my proxy to him, because he is going to be at the meeting.

The deadline is tomorrow, so you want to vote tonight.
 

hwnakn

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This is what you do - log in, and then vote for the person you want at the bottom of the page.

Then at the top of the page, designate someone to vote your proxy - they will vote the way you mark your ballot.

For instance, I voted for Tugger Jack Goodstein, and I also designated my proxy to him, because he is going to be at the meeting.

The deadline is tomorrow, so you want to vote tonight.
Denise, Thanks for the reply. I even contacted someone at Grand Pacific and all they could tell me was to contact KBV directly. When I did contact KBV someone there (I will not mention names) gave me the wrong information. They said to cast your vote on the bottom of the ballot and not to choose a proxy. Of course when I did as instructed the site would not let me complete the ballot without choosing one of the four choices on the top of the ballot.

So, my search continued and was led to this TUG group. Following the billboard and all the, shall I say lively, debates gave me a lot to think on.

I will give Mr. Goodstein my proxy as long as he will cast my votes as I have chosen and not as he sees fit. Again, thank you for your reply.

HWNAKN (Hawaiian Alaskan)
 

DeniseM

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You don't have to give Jack your proxy - you can give it to the board if you wish.

Just follow the directions on the ballot: it tells you if you want to vote for a specific candidate, to choose the candidate(s) at the bottom of the page, and then choose someone to vote your proxy to at the top of the page. These directions are right above the candidates names at the bottom of the page.
 

jacknsara

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Aloha,
The BoD election was held today to fill 2 positions. Linda Kolstad was re-elected. I came in second place in large part due to receiving all the votes that Karen (KYHOME) held as proxy. My thanks to all the Tuggers who supported me via either path.
The BoD is now in the midst of a 3 day strategy meeting; I am participating. I won't be posting much for awhile.
Mahalo,
Jack
 
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bryanphunter

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Congrats Jack!! Look forward to your participation on the BOD.
 

DaveNV

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Congratulations, Jack! You've worked hard for this. Good luck!

Dave
 

sjsharkie

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First, congratulations, Jack. I commend you on the collective efforts between you, Jeff and Karen to swing the vote.

Second, I looked back at the posts from over two years ago (including mine), and it is amazing how far we've come through your efforts. I am more optimistic that we can continue to drive change with your leadership on the board and keep GPX on board as management team. They aren't perfect -- the usurious transfer fee is annoying, and I don't like their reservation process -- but the bottom line is they have increased rental revenue significantly outweighs all of the other cons IMHO.

The fact that we could only secure one seat tells me that there is a continued fight ahead. But at least owner interests should be more fairly represented with this result in the future. Thanks for all the hard work in getting us owners to this point.

-ryan
 

TUGBrian

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Wonderful news, congratulations on the success after all that hard work! an incredible accomplishment given what you were up against!
 

DeniseM

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That is fantastic! :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
 

cdn_traveler

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Congratulations Jack! :cheer::banana: I'm glad that all your hard work to get on the Board has resulted in a positive outcome. As a KBV owner, I look forward to the positive changes that you will bring to the Board and the resort.
 

foscomoss

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Let me add this, if I may-

Even without the vitriol and lack of appreciation for what I was trying to do last year (again, not for me, but for traditional KBV owners), Lou has shown a seeming lack of interest and/or concern about Wyndham's role here and their history here and elsewhere. He hasn't been vocal as a board member. His broadcast letter to owners was very gentle and sweet. He states that he's a nice guy and wants to just be helpful. Of course, anyone can write a letter when they're trying to get elected. I mean, in general political elections, many candidates try to be everything to everybody, and they used to go to the point of needing to get photographed kissing babies. But he could turn out to be a really nice person, in spite of how he interacted with me last year. But his letter lacked any conversation about the Wyndham issue, or a concern about connecting the past with the present and future in terms of Wyndham's participation.

Lou wasn't sympathetic for what I tried to wake everybody up about last year concerning Wyndham, and what Karen and I, with Jack's help, are trying to do now. What we're doing is very pointed and motivated. We need pointed and motivated people on the IOA board if we're going to accomplish what we need to accomplish. We have no time to waste.

So again, it's not personal. It's strictly business.

Mahalo,

Jeff
thanks for attacking me jeff and questioning my integrity, now that the elections are over and you have succeeded in removing me i will answer any and all questions. and yes i was not sympathetic with your efforts. i have a few questions that i will be bringing up in the near future
 
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foscomoss

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Aloha Folks -

Following up on the previous post, Trish Harrington told me yesterday that in her work as a member of the IOA board for the last 12 years, owners' votes were never rejected because they were late with their maintenance fees. In order to implement a policy restricting votes counted to only those who are up-to-date with their maintenance fees has to be voted on by the IOA. The IOA has not voted on this in at least the last 12 years.

So again, this policy has not been enforced and is potentially arbitrary. So why is this suddenly being brought up now??

Moreover, interestingly, in the 2 years that Linda Kolstad, a Wyndham employee, has been President of the IOA,, this has never been brought up until now. So why is this suddenly being brought up now??

The actual by-law is below:

"Members in good standing: A member shall be considered in good standing if he is current in the payment of all maintenance fees, charges, or other financial assessments with the Interval Association. The right of a member to vote may be suspended by the board of directors if a member is delinquent in paying any maintenance fees, charges, or other financial assessments. The right of a member shall automatically be reinstated upon paying any delinquency." By-laws Article 2.06

So notice that it states "may be suspended". Not "will be". Arbitrary.

So again.......Why do you think the Wyndham people are bringing this up now??

Jeff
for you information, ms harrington agreed with everyone in the committee meeting that if a member is not in good standing they will lose their right to vote. this is not a wyndham thing. these owners will be given the opportunity to catch up on all fees prior to the election. if they choose not to do so, they forfeit their right. again, it was approved by all members so why is this even being brought up
 

foscomoss

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thanks for attacking me jeff and questioning my integrity, now that the elections are over and you have succeeded in removing me i will answer any and all questions. and yes i was not sympathetic with your efforts. i have a few questions that i will be bringing up in the near future

the problem is not wyndham, it is the bad debt the association has every year and the board was working on a solution besides turning KBV into a rental property. i am sure jack will be a very good board member as long as he shows respect to all board members, is open minded and truly wants to help KBV. i am neither for against any company managing kbv as long as it benefits the owners. what i was against was a company handed the contract with no other bids. i hope that never happens again. even if a company is doing well the board should at least look to see what else is out there. and yes gpr was handed the contract with no other bids
 

foscomoss

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Jeff - while I commend your passion, I dont find you a reliable source of information. Sorry. It is far to easy to be revisionist when viewing the past, and even in this thread you have gotten things wrong.

Clearly KBV has my email address, and I have all my emails - even spam - for the past 10 years. The only communication I have received from Trish was last year when she asked for my vote. Communicating to a small group of supporters does not pass muster in my book.

If Wyndham was not doing their job, owners should have been notified. Oversight of mgt is the BoD's fiduciary responsibility - and the burden falls on the BoD President to ensure it happens. If Trish was unable to do that, why should she be on the BoD? What happens if GPR starts performing in a similar fashion - do we have to live with it until we can cancel the contract? That seems like poor and passive BoD mgt to me.

Heck - there was not even any communication prior to the decision to terminate the mgt contract? Why not? Seems like a pretty big item that the BoD might want to survey the members on. Not the shot in the dark I have to learn about on TUG.
not only was the contract terminated, but was handed to gpr, there were no bids released to amy other company. ms harrington took it upon herself to seek out gpr, offer them a contract, sign the contract before the board even voted hmmmm
 

foscomoss

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Interesting comment, Eric - we are all entitled to our own opinions and I respect yours. All I can say is that I want what is best for Kauai Beach Villas. It is true that I do not believe that Wyndham controlling our Board of Directors is in the best interest of our owners. There are 5 seats on the BOD. Since WYN has 20% of ownership, one seat should be all they hold. I am not sure what you mean by engaging in a whisper campaign. I do not feel that I have been whispering about anything. If I was - - why would I come out and speak openly on this forum? That is certainly not a whisper.

I understand that some owners may blame the past BOD for not moving faster to make some of the desired changes at KBV - I might feel the same had I not been on the Board and knew what was driving those delays. Your BOD had an Action Item List - - that mostly was ignored by Wyndham. Of course, you can challenge the word choice (ignored), but I am saying that your BOD put things on that list - - but when we the Action Item List was reviewed at the next meeting, we often found nothing had been done about most items on the list. We would then obtain promises that these items would be handled - - only to return to the next meeting to find nothing (or very little) had been done again. This happened over and over again - - as a result, I cannot in good conscious say that Wyndham was a good management company for Kauai Beach Villas. I will say that towards the end of their time as KBV's management company, things did get done. Interesting that it didn't happen until then... you can draw your on conclusions/opinion about why that happened. Have you noticed that things are being done since 1/1/17? Yes, that Action item list is being tended to under Grand Pacific's management.
isn't it strange that these items were not acted on when a certain manager was in place for four years, but nothing was done by the bod then. when he left to becpme the gm of the makai club, a gpr managed facility, the actions items were completed new and old in less then two years, but then wyndham was said to be derelict. this same individual actually took gpr representatives on a tour of kbv while he was the wyndham representative these are facts.
 

foscomoss

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Let me add this, if I may-

Even without the vitriol and lack of appreciation for what I was trying to do last year (again, not for me, but for traditional KBV owners), Lou has shown a seeming lack of interest and/or concern about Wyndham's role here and their history here and elsewhere. He hasn't been vocal as a board member. His broadcast letter to owners was very gentle and sweet. He states that he's a nice guy and wants to just be helpful. Of course, anyone can write a letter when they're trying to get elected. I mean, in general political elections, many candidates try to be everything to everybody, and they used to go to the point of needing to get photographed kissing babies. But he could turn out to be a really nice person, in spite of how he interacted with me last year. But his letter lacked any conversation about the Wyndham issue, or a concern about connecting the past with the present and future in terms of Wyndham's participation.

Lou wasn't sympathetic for what I tried to wake everybody up about last year concerning Wyndham, and what Karen and I, with Jack's help, are trying to do now. What we're doing is very pointed and motivated. We need pointed and motivated people on the IOA board if we're going to accomplish what we need to accomplish. We have no time to waste.

So again, it's not personal. It's strictly business.

Mahalo,

Jeff
in response, i was less than nice to jeff when i received his first e-mail supporting me harrington in 2016. i questioned the legality of the e-mail. he did not get the owners list from gpr or wyndham, he received it from ms harrington which is a violation of the associations by-laws. how do i know this you might ask.the info on the bottom of jeff's e-mail was the same as what was on ms harrington's e-mail. it was al her return info. that is why i questioned him. next why all of a sudden does he take such an interest in a resort that he own a unit every other year and uses it for trading power. other than the last two board meetings i don't know if he ever stayed at kbv. i have not missed going to kbv since i bought my first unit in 2000. jeff, you only became an advocate of ms harrington after a lengthy conversation with gpr representatives who intorduced you to her. that is why i was less than nice. i was running for the board also, did not campaign and because i don't support you and karen and trish i don't count? i am an owner of now 3 weeks every year
 

foscomoss

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now let me discuss ms harrington. she is a long time professional board member. she is a very intelligent woman who knows how to play the system and also play to owners. her and her husband have received two free trips to kbv every year for the last 12 years. she also serves on the shearwater board and until recently was on the bali hi board. you do the math six free trips every year toi kauai for her and her husband. isn't it time for a change. next she violated the by laws by giving out the list of owners to an individual owner. after she signed a code of ethics on the previous board, she accepted a trip to carlsbad to attend gpr best of the best award ceremony, transportation and lodging. larry and i were offered the same but excused ourselves. next she accepted two free vacation weeks from gpr. finally, a special meeting was called to address her conversations with staff concerning other members of the board. is this the person we want to represent us? she is up for election next may. it would be a shame to see her or karen or jeff get on the board. lets have a fair, open mionded board. i support bids going out to companies before every management company's end of contract. lety's see what is out there and not just blindly renew a contract. not saying we have to change but at least know what is out there
 
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This is a bit long, so pardon me for that.

I just got back from my normally scheduled, fixed vacation week at The Harborside Inn in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard. Boy, did I need to decompress. It seems funny to say that being in Kaua'i left me somewhat stressed.

But in any case, thanks SO much for your partnership, Karen. We did work a lot on this project and we all, meaning those of you reading this as well as those owners who have yet to be part of this blog, have a lot to do. We need to get the number of owners who vote way up, and that will be a job that could take years.

That being said, we clearly made them nervous. Some of us were quite angry regarding the rules for the Owner Forum part of the annual meeting that were laid down by the majority Wyndham faction. For one, Trish Harrington didn't even get then until the morning of, partly due to her email being down, but they were only sent out the previous day, if I understand correctly.

Secondly, the rules were just handed out with a packet of stuff for the owners to read just a short while before the meeting was to start. Who reads everything??!? But the rules were asked to be agreed upon and were adopted unless there was any objection.

One of the written Rules included a 2 minute time limit for a comment and no time for rebuttal. Think about that for a minute.

After the owners forum had started (and this was after the vote was taken and tallied, with winners announced), we were arbitrarily told that we would have to put our questions in writing. Requiring questions in advance in writing has never been required before to my knowledge and it was certainly not the case last year. Then the lawyer present, after discussion with the Linda Kolstad, the board President, decided that any questions pertaining to Wyndham would be dealt with after the meeting was over. Karen and I, along with several others (Charles Twardzicki and Jack Goodstein, to name a few) were outraged. One of the questions I was going to ask was "What is Wyndham planning to do with the 1100+ deeds they have in their possession?". A fair question that should be heard by all, right? They ended the Owners Forum precisely at the time for the owners Mai Tai Social held at the KBV pool, where a raffle would be held for some free stuff like a free week at a Grand Pacific resort. Just about everyone left. Even Trish left. She didn't hear that Wyndham questions would be only answered when after the meeting was officially over.

The lawyer excused himself. There were just a few of us. And just about every answer that had anything to do with Wyndham was answered by Linda Kolstad with "I don't know. I don't know anything about that part of Wyndham." There was no "I don't know, but I'll find out." It was "If you want to know, you can call Wyndham yourself." She said that she shouldn't have to be responsible for answering those questions. I responded by saying that ANY member of the IOA board should be able to respond to pertinent questions, even if they don't have the answer at the tip of their tongue. They are the ones who should be answering to us and getting our questions answered. Fortunately, Sherri Weeks, VP of Development for Grand Pacific was listening and urged Linda to find out the answers to anything she doesn't know. For cripe's sake, what the hell is the President of our KBV board saying "I know nothing, I see nothing!" She's Sergeant Schultz of Hogan's Heroes.

But wait, there's MORE! During the first part of the meeting where the agenda of the annual meeting was discussed, Linda discussed our sources of income and costs (in a very general, generic way). She had a board and marker. She wrote down that $4,500,000 comes in from individual owner maintenance fees. She then wrote down that $1,500,000 comes in from "BULK", a corporate ownership. "BULK"??? I spoke out, "Who happens to be the "bulk" corporate interest, Linda?" She replied, "I really don't want to say right now." Really. That's what she said. I shouted out, "That's Wyndham, in case anyone is wondering!"

Well, the vote happened and we know how it came out. But one comment at the Owners Forum from an owner was particularly astonishing and sort of summed up the cost of lack of transparency. "Linda, we voted for you because we have seen the resort get better in the last 2 years." (Linda smiled eagerly and said "Thank you."). "But", he said, "Why didn't you say in your Candidate Statement that you worked for Wyndham, that you had no personal ownership at Kauai Beach Villas?!? I own at some Wyndham properties. I don't like how they run things. I don't like how they ran KBV. If I had known that you worked for Wyndham, I wouldn't have voted for you!"

How about that?!

She responded that she didn't have to disclose she worked for Wyndham. (Really?!?). But she then went on to say that she happily works for Wyndham and represents their interests on the board. Nice, huh?

So you can imagine that a bunch of us were pretty furious.

We finally got out of there and got to the Mai Tai Social (I needed a couple in order to calm down). And I won 2 free nights at a Grand Pacific Resort!

As a complete aside, I met Charles Twardzicki at an Owners Update. He's a straight shooter. And we bonded. We didn't always see eye to eye, but he's concerned about Wyndham's presence as well. On the other hand, he thinks Larry Warner is neutral, not pro-Wyndham. But Warner was a jerk at the afterward part of the meeting and I know he has privately suggested that Trish should be removed from the board.

The kicker was meeting Lou Columbo. We ran into each other on the beach much later in the week. We must have talked for at least an hour. And we not only seem to get along really well, but we seem to see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. The thing is, he was totally unaware (and I believed him) about the Wyndham crap. He was not aware of Wyndham's Smoking Gun. He had not read anything in either the TUG or this forum (although I had admittedly kicked him out when he was being nasty toward me about using an owners list to promote particular candidates).

So I fault him for not educating himself, particularly after being on the IOA board. But I will give him a LOT of credit. After seeing me in action this week and hearing where I am and was coming from (and my frustration with his sole concentration on whether I was making an honest use of the list), Lou sincerely apologized for interacting with me the way he had last year. And then he told me that he wished he had known me a few years ago instead of just getting to meet me now. I tell you, my heart fell. That was one of the most sincere, honest, and moving apologies I have ever heard.

I told Lou about the Wyndham's Smoking Gun document. He seemed to be astonished to hear about it. I told him to not only read it, but to print it out. In fact, I ask that ALL of you print out a copy. I sincerely wish that I had thought to print out a copy (or, in fact, to print out LOTS of copies and hand them out at the meeting prior to the vote). I would have LOVED to have confronted the board about it publicly. Of course, I would have been admonished for speaking out, and/or it would have been relegated to the time after the owners meeting.

But I want everyone to have a physical copy and bring it with them to show Wyndham people at the resort. And bring it if you're coming to an IOA meeting. And show it to anyone you know who is an owner at KBV.

I'm very tired, so I'm going to bed right now, but there's some very good stuff to share. We saw plans for unit upgrades. I went up to the Makai Club and saw their's that had actually been implemented. VERY impressed. By midsummer there should be a model unit to see as part of the owners update.

And we are VERY, VERY close to having an agreement between the hotel and our resort for the use of their pools (with no added cost to our maintenance fees). This would be only for KBV owners and RCI exchangers. Renters would have to pay a resort fee.


thanks for attacking me jeff and questioning my integrity, now that the elections are over and you have succeeded in removing me i will answer any and all questions. and yes i was not sympathetic with your efforts. i have a few questions that i will be bringing up in the near future

Now, Lou, I'm not sure if your true colors are showing through or not. What you say about "free trips" and whatnot -- Everyone who gets on the board gets that benefit. It would be unfair to ask members to pay their own way to Hawaii twice per year to serve on the board. And it's not like it's a week of playtime, I'm sure. For the week, board members were in meetings from Wednesday through Saturday, and long days. And as far as using Trish Harrington's owners list to help promote her candidacy as well as the general information about what Wyndham was doing, it was perfectly legal. This was checked with counsel. That you're being indignant now is making me question your motives all over again, and makes me think it was the right thing to get you off the board. Believe me, after meeting you on the beach, I had some second thoughts. If I were you, I wouldn't ruin that. And what do you think my ulterior motives are? Do you think this all was really about you?

The Wyndham's Smoking Gun document, something I didn't even know about until the last couple of months, only affirmed my suspicions and all the work I started last year. There were conclusions I came to due to circumstantial evidence, along with discussion with a couple of board members over the years. And then there were the personal experiences of interactions with Wyndham personnel at the owners update. There was the lowering of standards at the resort along with the raising of maintenance fees. There was the lackadaisical interactions with services at KBV. Then I stayed at the Coronado Beach Resort in San Diego, and the service was fanTAStic. A night and day difference between what I was experiencing at KBV and there. I checked out a couple of other GP resorts and saw the same high standards and service. I discovered that there were better alternatives to timeshare resort management than Wyndham. That discovery was part of what led to Wyndham's contract ending at KBV in the IOA. And the AOAO was heading in the same direction before Wyndham enacted a hostile takeover, successfully implementing what you see in the Wyndham's Smoking Gun memo.

Meanwhile, Jack and Trish were far more aware of the shenanigans that Wyndham has been pulling. If you're not aware, Lou, then you're not doing your job to represent us owners, and that's the reason that you're off the IOA board. We need people like Karen, myself, and Jack on the board, and we need more of them. We need to work on being able to get a majority of strong individual owners onto the board again. We have to be persistant. It may take a while - years even, but we need to keep working at it. I'm sorry you may feel hurt, Lou. I do. But, as Michael Corleone said in The Godfather when they plotted to kill Solozzo and the corrupt police captain, "It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business."

Aloha,

Jeff
 
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