Good morning,
There were some issues with the ballot distributed late last week and below is the link to the correct ballot. Before proceeding I thought it might be helpful to review what the Resident Advisory Committee (“RAC”) is, and what it is not. River Bluffs Development Corporation (“RBDC”) is the Declarant, as referenced in the Declaration of Protective Covenants for The Neighborhoods at River Bluffs”. The Declaration clearly states that the Declarant remains in control of the Association so long as it owns property within the community. This means that the Declarant can control the Board, make all the rules, determine hours of operation for amenities, determine who uses common space when, etc. As our community began to get larger it seemed to make sense to facilitate constructive homeowner input on matters such as these and other operational issues and to prepare community members for eventually taking over control of the Association. The concept of the RAC was a collaboration between myself and a former resident and the first three members were appointed by the Declarant. Last year, we agreed to have the community vote for the open positions on the RAC. They are not a Board of Directors, but rather an Advisory Committee for the Declarant.  They are a group of involved, engaged homeowners who care deeply about this community and want to contribute to its current success.  Our meetings our productive, constructive, respectful and most importantly; beneficial to your community as they provide an opportunity for varying points of view to be shared. Does everybody get what they want? Nope. Do they get a forum in which they can communicate their cares and concerns as well as those of their neighbors? Yes. Can the Declarant make decisions on things that will impact your community long after we are gone? Yes. Does that make sense without some type of constructive homeowner involvement? I don’t think so. There are many positive things about this community and I believe the RAC is one of them.
There are fifteen candidates so the first ballot will be to determine eight finalists, from which four will be voted on in a second ballot. If you received this email (meaning your email address is in the portal) You should complete this first ballot no later than 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 20th. The second ballot will be distributed next Monday. Current members of the RAC will be tabulating the results. I realize you may not know some of the candidates but you have a week to reach out to them and thank them for volunteering to help your community (their contact information is in the resident directory). Instead of attempting to govern via social media, these homeowners are stepping up to contribute. Here is the link for the new ballot. River Bluffs RAC First Round Ballot.
Have a great week and thank you for your continued support of River Bluffs.
John Lennon