Dear Vellano Homeowners,

Please click on the video above to watch an important and exciting update on our Vellano community.

Hi everyone. Mike Konrad again with some important and exciting Vellano updates.  

I spoke with you last week about an upcoming Board meeting where the Board was planning to vote on the status of the speed humps within our community. I reminded homeowners that the speed humps were installed as a result of a safety study, whereby the study revealed and documented the dangerous speeding problem we had within our community. The Board unanimously voted, twice, to spend thousands of dollars to install the speed humps and protect our residence. Even though homeowners and our own property management company has urged the Board to hold live, face-to-face meetings, the Board refused to hold an in-person meeting, instead, they held a virtual meeting. About 35 homeowners logged into the meeting. There were three primary recommendations from homeowners. Approximately 1/3 of the homeowners wanted the speed humps removed. Approximately 1/3 of the homeowners wanted the speed humps to remain. The other third of the homeowners asked that the Board first adopt an alternate safety strategy before the speed humps would be removed. Two of the five Board members also urged the Board to not remove the speed humps until an alternate safety strategy was implemented.

So, 2/3 of the homeowners and 2/5 of the Board of Directors urged the Board not to approve the removal of the speed humps at this time. Even though the majority of homeowners were against the approval to remove the speed humps, the Board voted to have them removed with no alternate safety strategy in place. It’s important to note that the Board of directors are elected by the homeowners and represent the homeowners. When 2/3 of the homeowner send a strong message to the Board and the Board ignores them, then they are not representing the homeowners. 

I had a lot of positive feedback from my last message to all of you. Apparently, there are groups of homeowners who are unhappy with the current Board of Directors and the decisions they are making. Our association is losing money. We are operating in a deficit budget. The majority of our Board members however, continue to invest large amounts of money into what I perceive to be pet projects, not supported by the majority of homeowners.

I have spoken with other homeowners about arranging a meeting of homeowners to discuss ways to improve our community. Many homeowners have great ideas. Some homeowners have contacted our Board President directly, wanting to share their ideas, only to be referred to our property management company. The Board has had meetings with select homeowners. Homeowners who share their views. It appears, though that they are refusing to meet all homeowners face-to-face for an open dialogue. It has been reported that the Board President has instituted a new private WeChat group exclusively for Chinese homeowners. It has been reported that she has promised those homeowners in her private group that she would remove the speed humps. Once again, the Board of Directors is expected to serve all homeowners equally. They serve the community, not select members of our community, and certainly not themselves.

One homeowner suggested that in my updates, I suggest ways to “make Vellano exceptional”. That was a very good piece of advice. If you were interested in having a meeting among homeowners, not Board members, to share ideas on how to make Vellano an exceptional place to live, I would be more than happy to arrange such a meeting. Just send me an email (mike@victoryforvellano.com) and let me know if you would be interested in attending such a meeting and I will make it happen.

On a positive note, the former golf course was just sold to new investors. Escrow closed on Friday. I have spoken with the new owners and they are both highly professional and delightful! They are eager to meet our homeowners and discuss potential ideas for the property. Many of the ideas they shared with me are extremely exciting! I have a scheduled face-to-face meeting with them to learn more about them and listen to their ideas. At the appropriate time, I will also schedule a meeting with them and our homeowners, allowing them to speak directly to all of you.

Thanks for watching this video. As always, I welcome your suggestions and comments.

Mike Konrad
"Just a Homeowner"
mike@victoryforvellano.com