Only 26 of a possible 514 members of the Palisades Drive Recreation Association showed up at Tuesday night’s special meeting to recall the board of directors. Even though there was not a quorum, or enough proxy ballots to hold an official meeting, that did not prevent the mudslinging, which went on for some 40 minutes before it was abruptly brought to a halt by board member Angie Cloke. ”Cloke, an attorney and Highlands resident, suggested ‘a new date be set for the recall with new proxy ballots.’ ”The campaign to oust the 5-member board began in February when a small group of dissidents, unhappy with the management of Highlands Park, a recently completed three-acre site off Palisades Drive, sent a letter to homeowners in the area accusing the board of ‘fiscal irresponsibility, violation of the bylaws, and non-responsiveness to the members, allowing for a small minority to obtain control of the association.’ ”The letter was signed by Mitch Chupack, Peter Culhane, Alan Rubin, Art Zussman and former PDRA president Peter Bos, who started the verbal sniping after his group was chastised by Melanie Bingham, legal counsel to the board. ”Bingham declared that while the proxy ballots sent by the board were proper, those prepared by the dissidents were ‘defective’ since they only offered residents the option of removing the board and not retaining it, as required by Section 7514 of the Civil Code. Also, the ballot only provided for two write-in candidates, instead of up to the allowable five. ”Bos retorted that ‘the intent’ of residents to recall the board ‘was clear’ and sufficient in his view to validate the ballot. Bingham disagreed and, after sparring with Bos over some of the wording, declared: ‘You can never be too clear when it comes to meeting the requirements of the code.’ ”Acknowledging that the proxy ballot needed improvement, Zussman suggested a revised version which he suggested could be used next time, a suggestion that was rejected by some residents. ”’I object to sending out a proxy that is negotiated [with the opposition],’ said former PDRA president Greg Schem. ‘I’m a homeowner. This is our board, which we have elected. Let the board prepare the proxy. And I object to the continued inference by a select few that this volunteer board, which has given so much of its time, is incompetent. It’s not in the spirit of what a neighborhood should be.’ ”Attorney Sheri Price, whose home is adjacent to the park, agreed. ‘Shenanigans is what it is, and it has been going on for years,’ said Price, referring to the recall and the battle over control of the park, which is owned by PDRA. ”’This is why residents don’t want to get involved,’ offered another participant, alluding to the low turnout at the meeting, which was held at the Palisades Hills Club House on Monte Hermoso. ”Bos said that the recall was necessary because of what he viewed as the board’s ‘cumulation of blunders,’ and its ‘one failure after another.’ He pointed to the expenditure of legal fees and recent purchase of playground equipment for the park which he said was done ‘without proper consultation. We all love the park, we love the kids, we love the dogs. That is not the problem. It is this board that is the problem.’ ”At which point new board member Andy Caster asked Bos how he, Caster, could be a problem when he was only elected last month. ”’This is my first board meeting. I just got elected. Angie just got elected. Steve [Abraham] just got reelected. Are you talking about us? And if residents are so concerned, as you suggest, how did we get voted in? ‘ ”Bos suggested it was through ‘chaos’ and a series of ‘errors’ that Caster ‘somehow got on the board,’ which led to more sparring, and to Cloke finally suggesting an end to the meeting. ”New proxy ballots will be prepared by the board and sent to residents and a new recall will be held within 30 days. For information on the recall and how Highlands residents can join PDRA in order to gain access to the gated park contact Helmut Martinek (457-1330). (Editor’s note: In our front page story last week (‘Power Struggle Over Highlands Park’) the reference in the ‘Urgent’Save Your Park’ letter should have read that ‘a small MINORITY of Highlands homeowners strongly oppose the park’, as opposed to: ‘A small majority…’. Also, three Highland residents who do not live in the originally designated areas’which includes Palisades Hills, Vista del Mar, Vista Catalina, and the Summit’have now joined PDRA. Besides Angie Cloke and Tracy Landau, Ann Triplett Chappel is now a member.)
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