Page 5 - The Friday Flyer • April 1, 2016

APRIL 1, 2016 THE FRIDAY FLYER A-5 Candidates discuss ‘greatest challenge’ . . .
FROM PAGE A4
have spent most of their lives in Canyon
Lake. Our son recently bought his first home here.
I have served on numerous Canyon Lake POA committees over the past six years. These committees include the Tennis Facility, Youth Action, Recre- ation, Activities and Finance. My wife, Kellie Welty, served on the Community Patrol Committee, and Parks and Beach- es Committee, and currently serves on the Recreation Committee. Kellie also serves on the Santa Rosa Academy school board.
Professionally, I have been a real estate appraiser and a Special Adapted Housing Agent for the Department of Veterans Affairs for over 25 years.
Researching and interpreting market data, and applying that information to determine the value of real estate is my primary job as a real estate appraiser. As a real estate appraiser, one of my pri- mary concerns is the property values in Canyon Lake.
If elected to the Canyon Lake POA Board, I would work to provide better communication to its members, espe- cially in regard to its proposed future spending on reserve and capital im- provement projects.
I would work with the community to create a plan with goals for the commu- nity that are supported by the community as a whole. I would encourage and reach out to the community to be engaged in the planning process. Community suc- cess cannot be achieved by the commu- nity leaders alone; the community itself must become part of process.
Here is what the community can do to bring success to Canyon Lake: Dine
at the Lodge and Country Club, and pro- vide feedback to the POA about your dining experience. Invite your friends to golf on our beautiful Golf Course and promote annual golf membership. Join the Neighborhood Watch Program. En- roll your children and grandchildren in youth activities.
Matt Poland
I believe the greatest challenge facing the association is maintaining the Can- yon Lake lifestyle. Canyon Lake is one
of a kind with all the amenities, the clubs, and the value received from the POA dues.
We all moved to Canyon Lake to enjoy the amenities and social activi- ties – whether it is skiing the slalom
course, playing tennis by the water, golfing, or enjoying many of the other activities. I believe it is the Board’s duty to preserve these amenities and the club traditions that go along with them, while at the same time being diligent with the POA funds.
If elected, I will respect the traditional uses of the amenities and the clubs that have helped define Canyon Lake. I will also work to eliminate waste and use the Association’s money more efficiently. Here is my plan:
Reduce Litigation Expenses – From the Lake Lease to the lawsuits with the members in the community, I believe we need to spend a lot less money fight- ing. No matter who wins the election this year or the next, we are all neighbors who contribute equally each month to fund
the Canyon Lake lifestyle. I will ensure members are treated like neighbors.
Engage the broader community – There are experts in several areas who could help the Board make better decisions if it were easier to participate. For example, an insurance broker could quickly tell if we are getting a fair deal on insurance, and a builder can easily tell if construc- tion bids are reasonable.
The challenge is our expert members are very busy. I will create virtual com- mittees, leveraging technology, that en- able members to engage when they have free time during the day. I believe virtual committees will tap into expertise that will save the Association money and im- prove services.
Create an exchange program – I would like to start an exchange program where members of the community could contribute a few hours of work in ex- change for credit towards POA dues. For example, have a program to let members staff the member lane at the gate. You would have a neighbor welcoming you back into the lake, it would reduce dues for the member, and it would save the Association money.
Pay attention to the details – From managing over 20 successful real estate projects I have learned that managing a lot of small numbers can add up to a big number and ultimately a successful out- come. As a POA Board member, I will bring this same detailed accountability to how your money is spent.
While ending the Lake Lease lawsuit will be my first task, keeping Canyon Lake the community we all love is my overall objective.
Please vote for Matt Poland on May 12th.
Paul Queen
A lot of our challenges are financial. The problem is we act like a government – meaning we don’t care how much
we spend because, when we overspend, we just raise taxes, or in our case dues, to cover the excess. This is why over the last 15 years our POA dues have gone up 250 percent while nothing else
has increased nearly that much.
I’m not saying we need to stop spend- ing completely. Many of the recent ex- penditures have been absolutely legiti- mate, such as replacing the aging docks and playground equipment. The POA is supposed to do that. But there is dis- cretionary and services spending that
should definitely be looked at.
One area to improve is legal fees. Ac-
cording to the numbers I’ve been given, we spent over one million dollars in le- gal fees in the last year, and nobody ever looks at that number and says, “That’s too much money.” Why?
Every business examines their ex- penditures yearly and looks for areas to save. We don’t. We look at our expendi- tures and say, “It's time to raise dues.” I think that needs to stop. We could save $750,000 per year in legal fees alone by hiring an “in-house” attorney and pay- ing a reasonable salary for that position.
Another area is security. We are pay- ing $450,000 more per year for the cur- rent Securitas contract then we paid Barton when they provided the same
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