The large Master Board makes the management of Baywinds much more difficult and wasteful of both time and money. Mismanagement and malfeasance have been some of the consequences of this and would be expected to continue into the future and possibly get worse. The Board has not become, nor is likely to become, greater than the sum of its parts (i.e., its members) but is probably doomed to limp along and become worse as the more experienced and capable members leave the Board out of frustration and are replaced by less-experienced and less-capable members. As new Boards take over, the errors of the previous Board get whitewashed or worse, go unnoticed and unresolved until a much more serious and/or costly crisis develops.

The large Master Board also means that because there are more people to be accountable then, in practice, few, if any, will ever be held accountable. A prime example of this is the mold in the clubhouse. The 2006 and 2007 Master Boards mismanaged this problem knowing that water leaks were an ongoing problem. As a result, our clubhouse has been shut down for months and it may cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars to remedy an avoidable mold problem that we have no guarantee will not return in the future. Why weren't more effective mitigation measures taken to prevent this mold problem? Why wasn't/isn't the clubhouse insured for mold damage forcing us to needlessly spend many, many thousands of dollars of our reserve monies that we all know we will have to pay to replenish? Click here to see what Howard Williamson, a former Board member, has to say about the mismanagement of the current clubhouse renovation project.

Another example of what may be mismanagement and/or malfeasance is the failure of past Boards and management companies to ensure that Lennar has paid assessments for Windjammer Cove home sites. According to the approved 2006 Baywinds budget (click here to view the second page of this budget), Lennar agreed to pay $46.07 per month for each of the fifty-eight (58) vacant home sites of Windjammer Cove (i.e., $2672.06 per month). A few months ago, a homeowner asked Castle Management to produce records that would demonstrate that these assessments had been paid. Castle Management was unable to do so. When this was brought to the attention of the 2008 Master Board, the response was that, given the state of the accounting records for Baywinds, the Master Board could not determine whether Lennar had paid the proper assessments but agreed to "look into it."

If that wasn't enough, recently the same homeowner was reading over the 2005 contract for the purchase of the clubhouse and discovered that the contract called for Lennar to pay "Club Charges" principally for the unsold Windjammer Cove home sites. When this homeowner brought this issue to the attention of the 2008 Master Board, the response was that it will take some time to verify if Lennar has paid these charges that began to be due almost three (3) years ago.

Why should it take time to verify if Lennar has paid their 2006 "Builders Fees for Vacant Lots? Why should it take time to verify if Lennar has paid their 2005 "Club Charges?" Shouldn't our accounting records clearly indicate whether Lennar has paid these charges from 2005 through 2008? Shouldn't the 2005, 2006 and 2007 annual audits by an independent accounting firm have certified that these payments were or were not made by Lennar?

If the above examples were not enough to demonstrate mismanagement and/or malfeasance, according to official Baywinds records (click here to view), it appears that the 2006 Master Board may have allowed insurance coverage on the clubhouse to lapse. I shutter to think what the consequences would have been if this insurance lapse occurred immediately before a hurricane hit Baywinds or a fire broke out in the clubhouse.

In addition, Florida Statute 720.303 (2) (a) unambiguously states that "All meetings of the board must be open to all members (including) the meetings of any committee or other similar body when a final decision will be made regarding the expenditure of association funds." A few months ago, it was reported to the 2008 Board that the four officers of the 2007 Board decided to spend and did spend $16,000 of Association funds WITHOUT Board approval and in a meeting closed to members. This was a clear violation of the cited section of the Statute.

Al Tsacnaris, President of Baywinds from 2005 through 2007, and other board members violated their fiduciary duty by failing to act to mitigate the worsening mold problem. Karen Israel, Treasurer of Baywinds from 2005 through 2007, violated her fiduciary duty by failing to ensure the Baywinds accounting records kept proper track of Lennar assessment payments as required by law. The 2008 Master Board ignored this and other issues and gave Al, Karen and other past Board members plaques in recognition for their service. It appears that no bad deed goes unrewarded.