Hopefully by now you have read your letter from the HOA that was received by most residents on July 26,2012, if not go read it before going any further.

If you have heard that a petition is going around to replace the current board you heard correct. The level of unproffessionalism contained in the letter was totally uncalled for and definitely unbecoming of the current board members. If you are like us and are fed up with the board not communicating, doing as they please with our money with no input from the residents, handing out violations without justification, or just don't like the current members, please join us in righting the wrongs done to our subdivisions name.

We are going door to door with the petition, but it is a slow process trying to explain what is going on and what we plan to do to correct the problems. So, in addition to going door to door, we are going to place a booth at the corner of Melrose and Petersburg to collect signatures and to try to answer any questions any of you may have. I think we can all agree that the current reputation of the board is somewhat tarnished which directly affects the desirability of potential homeowners to not only move in, but also for current homeowners to stay in our subdivision. This affects the value of our homes directly and not in a good way. Our goal is to do everything in our power to make Richmond Place Subdivision a once again desirable and fun place to live, but we have to start somewhere.

Please do not blindly believe the rhetoric that was sent out in the letters. If you have ANY questions or concerns, please contact us at richmondplacefun@gmail.com Also, we currently only have 175 FB fans for the Richmond Place Residents FB page so please spread the word to your neighbors to “like” the page. It was created to be YOUR voice and we are fighting to be sure that it is kept as a place where you can voice your opinions/concerns, ask questions, or even seek help from your fellow neighbors as some residents have done in the past couple of weeks. The downloadable and printable PDF of the petition is linked below and you will also see just a few of the Richmond Place By-Laws that were violated in the letter sent out by the HOA board.

If you have the same feelings and care for this subdivision as we do then help us by signing the petition when it comes to your door, or if you can, stop by the booth at the Common Area on Melrose and sign there.

We thank you for your time and support.

Very sincerely,
Richmond Place Fun Faction

The Petition to remove the current board members (PDF)

If you still have your letter, please view page 1 of the letters received on July 26, 2012 by most residents. This ballot is claimed to be the "offical ballot" as of the June 23, 2012 meeting.

Now click on this link to view the ballot that was posted by the current HOA Board on June 20, 2012 at 10:45am.

The ballot at the above link was the ballot at the meeting as Deb had said she did not want to be on there again, Drake had already resigned from the board and rumors were that Carolyn and Karen were going to resign at the meeting. Why does the ballot sent out in the letters not match the one that hasn't been edited since BEFORE the meeting?

A quick list of Richmond Place By-Laws violated in the letter sent out:

The Richmond Place Subdivision By-Laws (PDF)

#1. By-Law 3.3 states "Written notice of each meeting of the Members shall be given by or at the direction of, the Secretary of the Association or a person authorized to call the meeting, by mailing a copy of such notice, postage prepaid, at least thirty (30) days prior to such meeting, unless a special meeting is called whereby circumstances arise wherein thirty (30) days cannot be given prior to the meeting, a fifteen (15) day notice shall be given to each Member entitled to vote thereat, addressed to the Member at the most recent address supplied by such Member to the Association for the purpose of notice, or if no such address shall be furnished, then to the street address of the Lot owned by such Member. Such notice shall specify a reasonable place, date and hour of the meeting, and in case of a special meeting, the purpose of the meeting. All meetings shall be held in Livingston Parish.

Our annual meeting took place on June 23, 2012 and we received the next official letter from the HOA on July 26, 2012. The letter received on July 26, 2012 states that the next "meeting" shall be held on August 6, 2012 which was 11 days notice. This is a clear violation of our By-Laws. This "meeting" will be held in a manner that will prevent YOU from having your voice heard because there will be no discussion, simply a voting booth to vote for the President's position.

#2 By-Law 8.3 (in the section regarding Officers and Their Duties) says "Term: The officers of the Association shall be elected annually by the Members of the Association and each shall hold office for one (1) year beginning the day following the annual meeting unless he/she shall sooner resign, shall be removed or otherwise disqualified to serve.

Our annual meeting held on June 23, did not have a Quarum present so no elections took place. A Board specified deadline was given as June 18 for the cutoff day for nominations, but between that day and the meeting itself numerous residents submitted their names or names of people they would like to be nominated for Treasurer and other positions. The letter sent received on July 26, 2012 says that no other names were supplied in a timely manner however that is not true. The letter also says that the current board members are to keep their terms without a voting process for them to be "elected" back into term again. This is a direct violation of By-Law 8.3 and is preventing us, the Richmond Place Residents, from having a chance to make any changes. No Board member should ever be allowed to keep themself in office without the residents having a voice.

Page 2 of the letter states that nobody requested to run for the positions that are currently being held by board members, yet on the FYI page of the letter you see "Blake Gibson wants the job as Treasurer because he felt a Board member did not do enough...." This is proof that he DID submit his request for the position of Treasurer but he is not allowed to be on the ballot to run against our current Treasurer why?

Over a month passed between the Annual Meeting on June 23, 2012 and the letter reaching our mailboxes on July 26, 2012 and between that time, numerous other residents have contacted the board via the only means possible (richmondplacehoa@hotmail.com) to nominate themselves for the next meeting. Why are these residents not being allowed to run for office while they keep their seats for their 4th consecutive year?

Some issues that residents would like to discuss but will not be allowed to do so on August 6, 2012 if the "meeting" is held in the manner they have scheduled for it to be held.

1. Police patrols has been the #1 most requested thing that residents have said they would like our dues money to be spent on.
Police detail went from $4500 in 2009 to only $120 year to date for 2012. This is an example of our voice being ignored.
$10390 was spent on the fountain near the Common Area on Melrose in 2012.

2. Neighborhood Watch Program: A discussion started about this on the FB page a few months ago, but we haven't gotten any more information.