CA Board Issues a (likely) Misleading Press Release.

Submitted by goliebs t3_108kday in ColumbiaMD

The CA Board issued a press release last Friday. It claimed they "presented" a plan to the CA President (Lakey Boyd) to improve the relationship between the board and the president. They authored the press release behind closed doors (potentially in violation of the law) so the discussion about it was unclear but, so far, the board members who appear most supportive of Lakey have said they voted against the press release because they didn't think it "adequately reflected the situation." The dispute over this selectively worded and secretly authored press release makes it look like the majority of the CA Board put out a misleading statement. It seems that the "plan" they "presented" to Lakey was a list of demands for her to adhere with instead of a collaborative plan to facilitate better communication. I suspect the board may use Lakey's unwillingness or inability to comply with their "plan" as cause for her termination.

In her time as president Lakey has made CA easier to engage with, increased spending on open space, energized cooperation between CA and many parts of the community, effectively managed the budget, inspired CA's employees, and much more. Terminating her contract early would (and already is) needlessly costing our community money. Even if Lakey were a mediocre president (she's much better than that) firing her under controversial circumstances would also hinder CA's ability to hire professional leadership in the future.

Please consider speaking at the CA board meeting this Thursday and/or writing to the CA board to let them know you think they should let Lakey do her job.

For full story, please take a look at the most recent The Merriweather Post blog. https://www.themerriweatherpost.org/post/ca-board-releases-statement-on-relationship-with-ca-president-that-leaves-many-unanswered-questions

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rkdwd t1_j3tfj5p wrote

These blog posts have been incredibly informative. Really do appreciate the sharing out of this information.

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Shento t1_j3w6b4y wrote

they realized it's not too long until elections come up. Until there's something more substantial, time to vote them out!

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CheckYoDunningKrugr t1_j3w8s2s wrote

OK. Dammnit. Do I have to start paying attention to this now? Anyone have a good TLDR?

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goliebs OP t1_j3wbsxz wrote

Replying to CheckYoDunningKrugr (#1,332,542)

TLDR: The CA Board (a majority of them but not all) is deceptively attempting to spin their conflict with the CA President as a responsible thing. In reality, the conflict is driven by petty issues and the fact the board doesn’t understand its own role. The conflict is sucking up CA’s money, time, and resources - all of which would be better spent on providing amenities and services to the people of Columbia.

Everyone should vote in coming elections and tell the CA Board to let Lakey do her job.

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rkdwd t1_j3x1cw9 wrote

Replying to goliebs (#1,332,668)

I’m grateful that my rep is one of the seemingly useful minority on this issue, but would happily accept suggestions as to how to contribute in order to improve this overall situation.

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goliebs OP t1_j3xie4j wrote

Replying to rkdwd (#1,333,881)

I don't think there's any magic bullet but there are several small actions that you can take and if enough people do these things, the situation will improve:

  • Participate in "Residents Speak Out:" that's the portion near the beginning of each board meeting that residents can use to raise issues they are concerned about. They generally limit speaking time to three minutes. You have to sign up in advance which you can do here: [https://www.columbiaassociation.org/about-us/leadership/board-of-directors/resident-speakout/]
    If you do speak out, you might consider a couple things: Ask them to release "the plan" they referred to in their press release, Ask them to publicly commit to keeping Lakey employed for at least the remainder of her contract, and Ask that they adhere to the Audit Committee's recommendations and hire a mediator (rather than a lawyer) to help resolve their conflict with Lakey
  • Make sure your neighbors know about these issues and encourage them to participate in the elections. Seven of the CA Board positions (all except Town Center, Owen Brown, and Harper's Choice) will be on the ballot in April. Candidates will need to submit applications to those positions by mid March.
  • Since it seems like there is a Maryland law being violated here, you can also file a complaint with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. I used to think this was overkill but, since it seems like the most recent press release was a deliberate attempt to deceive the public (or at least omit critical information to our understanding), I think it may be warranted now. If you're interested, you can do that here:
    https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/CPD/Complaint.aspx

I also think its important to remember that the board are people (flawed like all of us are) who volunteer a lot of their time trying to serve the community. I think it's fair to criticize their performance as a board member but please don't forget they are our neighbors and should be treated neighborly.

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