In my opinion, the new Master Board consisting of the 12 cove presidents was formed solely as a vehicle for Lennar to move forward the process of purchasing the clubhouse by the owners. In addition, having 12 separate entities insulated Lennar from having to deal with a powerful owners association representing many more home owners.

I believe that after the first year the Master Board should be somewhere between 3 and 9 members, and not the 12 members based upon one member from each cove. Those individuals should be elected based upon their skills and qualifications, regardless of which cove they reside in. Each cove has a commonality of interest in the operation of the Master and the clubhouse. Therefore the one man-one vote, in my opinion, is not an issue.

I have been involved in many political and social organizations during the last 30 years. I have held various board positions, including president. My experience has been that more is not necessarily better in terms of board members. It is certainly better to have a smaller group of qualified committee members than a larger group for the sake of "democratic theory."

As far as control: if the majority of home owners are unhappy - then the ultimate checks and balance of any board is the election process itself.

Marty Ellick, Member of the Board of The Estates