When I arrived a few minutes before 9 am the parking lot was so full I had to park off the paved area. Lots of people without MCA cards were trying to get in — as always, the door was LOCKED in violation of state law. Notably, a deputy was standing outside and he remained inside by the door during the entire LONG meeting.
I asked deputy Thompson after the meeting why he was there. Apparently the board had asked him to be there, but did not PAY for the time. He said he was covering the area anyway, but I don’t quite understand this. Why are tax payer funds used to provide security for a “private” organization on “private” property? Why was security needed?
The meeting started with the acceptance of the resignations of Tom O’Keefe and Karen Frush and Pinkey Elliot resigned towards the end of the meeting. They read the minutes and treasurer’s report, approved the changes to the rules and procedures discussed at the last meeting and as so often, many people talked about wanting the Monitor printed. This was a LONG discussion.
The board had mobilized all MCA fans as evidenced by the frequent rounds of applause. Almost forgot, letters from members praising the MCA and regarding Darrell the maintenance guy were read. Apparently one person has an issue with Darrel’s performance and the maintenance expenses.
Here is how the MCA board works:
One person submits a NEGATIVE letter with a complaint. The board then riles up support and has other members submit contradicting letters, in this case praising Darrell and the cleanliness of the MCA facilities. Apparently nobody notices the UGLY unmaintained area right outside the auditorium. And almost $4,000/month for maintenance SALARY expenses is definitely far too much. Apparently there is NO backup for Darrell, resulting in problems when he leaves town for a weekend.
Also, apparently members accused AJ of embezzling funds and AJ did a great rant asking people who have a problem with him to come to him directly and that he’ll be glad to “take this outside.”
Grant Veile gave a LONG speech, praising the MCA, repeatedly stating how MCA membership raises property values. I don’t know what to say without being offensive, but what has Grant been smoking?
Grant’s sucking up to the board was promptly rewarded with his appointment to the board. Jack Newell decline the offer, but stated that he might run at the next election. Right now I can’t remember the other appointment, I have to review the video. But I can assure you that the new board is no better than the old board. “Vom Regen in die Traufe” — as they say in Germany.
And speaking of the old board, apparently some members submitted a demand for the entire board except Aiko Graeber to resign and they demanded financial statements and the board distributed the proposed budget in the beginning of the meeting.
I heard that there was a private MCA member meeting at the Book Exchange last Monday prior to the meeting at Canyon’s End in the afternoon, but I’m NOT privy to what’s really going on and what people want. I’ve heard many false statements about what I want, such as that people should pay $1 every time they use the MCA.  I have NEVER said anything like this and I’m glad I brought to the meeting a 7-page summary with the reasons for my call to either change the MCA to a COMMUNITY organization or to dissolve the MCA as well as relevant excerpts from the articles and bylaws.
After the meeting it seemed like people were afraid to come within 10 feet of me. I handed out a few copies of my summary and a guy standing next to the person who held my papers yelled:
Don’t take anything from her, she wants to dissolve the MCA!
I gave him a copy so that he could read WHY I want the MCA dissolved.
He grabbed the papers with both hands and then tore them apart with his TEETH!Â
I have never seen anything like that. Then he tore the papers into smaller pieces and threw them on the floor.
I’ve been working on the new UNAUTHORIZED MCA website, but am so busy, just didn’t get done yet. I have all kinds of new documents to upload (rules, bylaws, correspondence) and of course the PETITION to DISSOLVE the MCA. It’s rather obvious that there are no alternatives. Also, I want to thank the members who privately contacted me in support of my efforts, it was nice to get a few emails and calls after the meeting and I do understand that many people are afraid to publicly post here or speak at the board meetings — who wants to get beaten up by AJ?
While the absentee owners will be the voters getting the MCA dissolved, it’s good to know that resident members also agree with me. One person asked me to run at the next election and I actually did sign up right after the meeting, but there’s no point to me being the only dissenting vote. The election isn’t until May, we’ll see what happens.
Almost forgot, I asked the board about the expenses related to serving their letter by the Kingman constable and tried to tell them not to waste more money on serving me with a lawsuit as I’ll accept service by mail, fax or email, but I’m not sure whether they interrupted me before I finished.
VERY IMPORTANT:Â
Apparently they decided to refund the illegal late fees.
Today I asked for the minutes of the board meeting when the refund of the late fees was discussed and voted on, but Joann told me that there were no minutes and apparently there was a PRIVATE board meeting, in violation of state law.
Instead of sending me a letter of appreciation and thanking me for alerting them to their illegal conduct (potentially saving the MCA tens of thousands in legal fees), they had the constable serve me with a letter threatening me with a lawsuit and FALSELY accusing me of being disruptive.
Hopefully I’ll soon find the time to finish the new website and the various illegal activities of the MCA board will be a lot more organized.
I’ll update this posting once I had a chance to review the video recording and I will upload what I have to YouTube, although I missed part of the meeting because I didn’t realize the tape was full.
Christine. I just watched the youtube video of the mca misguided mayhem. Was a rather disgusting example of incompetent leadership. The secretary needed help to pronounce the words properly. The fat guy was busy watching you watching them. Which Focker was he anyway? A J is about as rude as it gets. They are obviously taking pointers from the Chamber of Commerce board. Sounds to me like you are onto something huge here. Keep on this, I hope you see this to fruition. Good work. Steve
Steve, the “fat guy” (be nice!) is Ray Beaton, former President and now VP, I think. And you’re probably talking about Aiko having trouble reading the minutes. She’s Japanese and the new board member (elected in May) and I have no idea why they make her read the minutes. She’s not part of the clique, wasn’t on the ballot and I would like everybody but her to resign.
Christine, I have tried to keep my mouth shut but you are sorely misinformed when you say Darrell makes 4000.00 monthly. Darrell deserves the decent pay they give him but as his wife I can personally say he makes nowhere new that.. I was told rumors were going around about that , now I know who started it. Wrong fact on that issue Christine, I wonder how many more rumors you started .. Get your facts straight before you post more slander .
Hi Rhonda,
Could you please post where I wrote that Darrell makes $4,000 a month? Just post the link and I’ll have a look.
Thanks,
Christine
Apparently nobody notices the UGLY unmaintained area right outside the auditorium. And almost $4,000/month for maintenance SALARY expenses is definitely far too much. Apparently there is NO backup for Darrell, resulting in problems when he leaves town for a weekend.
Rhonda, as you posted, I did NOT write that Darrell makes $4,000/month.
I decided that this is important enough to make a new post and to upload the Profit and Loss statement at http://highdesertdirt.com/blog/2013/01/16/the-2012-mca-profit-loss-statement-with-outrageous-expenses/
I hope you can clarify what’s going on!
If I was misinformed I apoligize
I think you should petition the state for an immediate audit. Sounds like probable cause to me
Meadview has 3 of the most contentious organizations ever. After hearing all the talk,
I watched the youtube video. I’ve come to the conclusion Meadview has the makings of a real Vaudeville entertainment style town. Just use some of the residents starring as themselves. Sad imitation of low dramatic comedy, mocking literary histrionics. Who was the fat guy making it up as he went along………..reminded me of Junior Samples?
Old rules, new rules, get the rules, someone will print the old rules, and the new rules Who’s on first?
October 13th meeting;
What does that tell you when 3 members resign on the same night?
Mass exodus? Like rats leaving a sinking ship? I think there’s a lot of funds going in someone’s pocket.
Let’s not forget about Com News refusing to run your advertisement for the garden club. Isn’t that a non profit organization?
I thought that’s how news papers paid the bills- through paid advertisements.
When you have the same people involved in the MCA, Com News, and The Chamber.
I guess you can expect low grade behavior. They make and break rules as they go along. Dissolve the MCA, take the Chamber with it, and Com News as well. Your High Desert Dirt has more information about the the surrounding area, and is far more entertaining and interesting than the Com News. I stopped snoring my way through that rag mag a long time ago. Good Luck High Desert Dirt a lot of people are on your side.
I think that the state will do nothing unless they receive an administrative law complaint and the $2,000 filing fee. Please let me know if you have any info on doing this cheaper!
And one problem with the COM Meadview News is that it is basically just a paper publication. While available online, it’s very hard to read the pdf — they’re still stuck in 20th century technology. Even the Kingman Miner site is so outdated, you can’t even can notifications of follow up comments. I’m still working on this site too, lots to learn and have only 24 hrs in my days.
The other problem with the COM News is that it’s so bland, totally non controversial, with no opinion articles allowed. And of course no ads for anyone and anything in any way connected to me.
COM tries so incredibly hard to make Meadview appear like a happy little retirement community while it’s really a deeply divided place filled with hatred and divisiveness. One of the items on my long list of thing to do is to publish a page titled “The ugly side of Meadview”, or something like that. People who consider moving here ought to know what’s really going on.
And that’s not to say that we don’t have many great people here, but the COM / MCA / Chamber alliance has driven many people away from “downtown” and many residents never even get to Meadview. There will always be differences in opinion, but the Meadview clique or “townies” are determined to control every event.
I’m very glad that Adrienne O’Keeffe stated in writing that they’re refusing to run our ads and everybody can see what a nasty organization COM is. They are a non profit and I’ve requested their minutes too, but haven’t received a response and my question about how to run for the COM board has also been ignored.
A couple of months ago we had a visitor and we went to Pierce Ferry and walked down to the “rapids”. I took lots of pictures and would really rather take the time to post those and show people that we do have fun here. Really wish I didn’t have to waste so much time on all those negative events, but I hope we’ll get past this and that in the end Meadview will be a much more enjoyable place to live in.
Christine, I could not have said it better myself. I too, would rather deal with pleasant things, but the reason for all of these problems is simply that no one so far has stood up to these “elite” townies. I am, and will remain supportive of your efforts, as is evidenced by the fact that I sign my real name for all to see. And as I have said before, don’t think for a minute that they don’t ALL read this everyday.
I would be interested to know what your hit counter tells you, especially recently. I also wonder if readers know that they can post comments here annonymously without fear of reprisal by predators such as Helen Williams, AJ and their ilk. I know there are many. . Also, the Fockers comment is in reference to the movie Meet the Fockers. Keep plugging, you have more support than you know. Steve
Christine, i wasn’t at the meeting because i’m not a member in good standing. and because i’m not a member i can’t even pay to get something notorized. the mca has never been very nice to me and my family always finding a way to feel so uncomfortable i leave or by kicking us out for something petty. and a year or so they sent me a letter saying if i didn’t pay my dues for the last 3 years they were gonna auction off my house for non payment of dues. I am so tired of them trying to run my life through payment( you see i’m not rich or even well off). meadview would be a better place if that was a place everyone could go for free.
Hi Sonya,
I was told a few years ago that MCA members in good standing get FREE notarization and the rest of the folks have to pay $2. I don’t think that they are legally required to notarize everybody, the answer to that question is probably online somewhere at the AZ state web. But this just goes to show how NASTY the MCA is.
“meadview would be a better place if that was a place everyone could go for free.”
I always said Meadview should have a little park, for people to relax under some shade trees and get to meet their neighbors, but of course there’s not going to be a free pool. If the MCA is dissolved, whatever non profit takes over the MCA assets will no longer have any MCA DUES income. They’ll have to actually entice the residents to VOLUNTARILY pay membership fees. The best way to do that would be to open the doors and everybody being welcomed to use the facilities except for the pool.
If people are treated well, they will become paying members and even make donations.
I’ll put you on the list of people to notify when we are ready to get the petition to dissolve the MCA going. You won’t be able to vote because you’re NOT a member in good standing, but if we’re short on votes, somebody might just pay your $35 so that you can vote.
Christine. got news today that He.lene Williams .resigned as camber secretary in richard nixon fashion. a fall from grace, i surmise. But, beware, also understand she may rear that ugly head and surface somehow in the mca regime
The final chapter, I promise. As the result of irresponsible and inept leadership, we have seen the following;
A chamber of commerce in absolute shambles.
Chamber members in mass exodus….in january
A gift gallery resembling a rummage sale
inmitigated infighting within.
I hope the MCA, which .fortunately I am not nor will I be associated with in any manner, will pay attention to these mismanaged events, and govern themselves accordingly. Steve Robbins.
P.S. I did not enjoy spanking any of you
As the world turns …
I’ve never been affiliated with the chamber, but I’ve always taken our visitors to the chamber so they’d get art and crafts from locals to take back home. Over the years (been here since 2000) I noticed how the inventory changed and every now and then some crafters leave the chamber.
I sure wish we could afford one of the commercial lots on Pierce Ferry in Lake Mead City for regular swap meets, a native plant exhibit and a community garden. We’d get all the traffic in and out of Meadview AND to the lake. Maybe one day.
kudos to steve kelly and christine. and they .said it couldn’t be done. keep on keepin on
To use the the word organization to describe the MCA is a misnomer. It is anything but organized. The meetings are total chaos with little or no decorum. No one identifies themselves and the Board interrupts, argues and generally be-littles those in attendance.
I just attended the 12/8 meeting and had to leave as once again arguments broke out and it was anything but productive. Now they (the Governors) want to raise our dues by $10. While this is not necessarily exorbitant, it is not justified. At least they have not justified the rise. They say costs are going up…..well why is that? Show us what you (governors) have done to keep costs down. Don’t tell me that its a privilege to use the MCA as a selling point to my property. I improve my property ( I live in unit 7) not the MCA. As a matter of fact many of the neighboring properties are not MCA designation and therefore can actually cause my property to be undervalued. The MCA facilities are for the town folks and I resent them asking me to pay for it. Yes, I knew when I bought the property that I was required to belong to this organization. But with time it has proven not to be a good investment. I should have bought elsewhere, my bad. Moreover, I as many others own multiple lots. To ask that each of my undeveloped lots to pay more is absurd. As a property owner I would pay more for the group, but not for each. In other words, if I owned 5 lots I would pay..say $50.00 for the group not ($45×5). My compromise, would be, that I would only have 1 vote not 5.
So to summarize, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Get out of my pocket and if you want a social club, go for it, just don’t force me to join it.
Steve, I had someone else in LMC tell me how they like the post office service because they give them a call when a package is delivered to the box by the road and they meet up with the carrier.
I actually used to have one of those boxes until I moved in 2006. The trouble is that you never know who will steal your mail. There are quite a few people who have nothing better to do than to drive to the boxes every day and wait for the mail to get there. I suppose it’s a social thing for some people.
I remember the days when this RUDE MORON delivered the mail. I’m glad that they got a much more polite person now (from all I hear).
We are about 4 miles from the mail boxes and half of that on an awful dirt road. It costs me about a gallon of gas and at least that much in maintenance for the truck to drive to the mail boxes. Often either Jose is out with the truck or it needs repairs, that makes for a LONG walk.
More important, it disrupts my day. Even when I lived much closer to the mail boxes, I only got my mail every couple weeks. I had moved here to get AWAY from schedules and appointments and other people running my life. Having the post office controlling my day and not even getting paid for it just does not appeal to me.
So I rather pay a few bucks more for shipping if necessary (usually it isn’t) to get UPS or Fed Ex deliver to my home and I don’t even have to be there!
I really don’t understand why JJ couldn’t have my packages sent to my PO Box in Meadview. We PAY for this box, I think $58/year. And over $100 for my mail box in Kingman. I never thought I’d have to pay to receive mail and not even have it delivered to my house.
Regarding the chamber: “All I had to do was to pay an additional twelve dollars, 5 of which would be deducted if I renew my membership for 65 dollars. I would sooner send 35 to the fat guy at the mca”
That’s funny. And let us know if you ever do get a response.
I would need to see that by signing, the event would actually happen. Where does it say that by signing a petition, the MCA can be dissolved? If this can in fact be done, I would rather start with Unit 7, dissolve or remove it then provide the ability for the other Units to do the same. I.E. start small and let it grow.
I think you’re referring to Susan’s option, which will ONLY change the CC&Rs and is way too much work.
It’s much easier to simply vote to dissolve the MCA.
Have you read my 11/8/12 OPEN LETTER?
http://highdesertdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/11-9-12-MCA-open-letter-to-MCA-and-community.pdf
I’ve since abandoned my preferred option to make the MCA a COMMUNITY organization and to change the articles to stop enforcement of the CC&Rs. There is not enough support and to date nobody has stepped up to oust the current board and to replace it with a board willing to amend the articles and bylaws.
Quite a few people have told me that they agree with me and support me, but of course this is not anything I can do by myself.
So now I’ll just focus on DISSOLUTION of the MCA.
Article VIII of the Articles discusses dissolution of the MCA. Getting a majority of the members to vote for it is EASY. The hard part is getting this option to DISSOLVE on the ballot since the board will not do this voluntarily.
We need 10% of the votes to call for a SPECIAL MEETING to vote on the dissolution. According to the board, we need about 450 VOTES (1 vote per lot).and then the MCA will have to notify each member in writing about the special meeting.
That’s actually better than just having it on the ballot in May as most out of area members wouldn’t know about the vote to dissolve, but they will get a letter for the special meeting / vote. Obviously, most non resident owners would cheerfully vote for dissolution — no more dues and no more prospective buyers telling them that they don’t want an MCA lot.
I’ve been too busy to create the new MCA site where I’ll post a comprehensive listing of all the violations by the board (still haven’t received the minutes and financials requested in writing several times MONTHS ago!) and a lot more info.
Also, here’s the post about SOME of the issues raised at yesterday’s meeting:
http://highdesertdirt.com/blog/2012/12/08/12-8-12-mca-meeting-somebody-call-chuck-he-was-right-and-there-was-no-quorum/
The bylaws, articles etc. at posted at http://highdesertdirt.com/mca-meadview-civic-association-faq and at the new site (within a couple of weeks) and I’ll explain a lot more.
It is probably a good idea to keep the names of members who sign the petition CONFIDENTIAL until we have sufficient signatures because many people are afraid of retaliation. In fact, even after the MCA is dissolved one has to worry. AJ likes to “take it outside” and I’m sure everybody knows how Joanne’s husband was killed.
I can see why people are worried.
I think I need to clarify my position. The idea of dissolution and signing of petition is about the 4th or 5th item of MY list.
First and foremost, I believe we need to get credible and respected members elected who are willing to serve on the Board of Governors. We need people that represent not dictate. I have heard the excuse that people don’t step up and serve. This is absolutely false. Personnel y speaking, I ran, was voted in and TRIED to work on behalf of the people. I was voted down on nearly every effort I proposed. So rather than waste my time by being in the minority I backed away. Again, we need people to step up and serve who will represent the members. It can be done.
Second, we need to stop this nonsense of some of the Board wanting to raise our rates. WHY? By comparing today’s costs with yesterdays revenues makes no sense. Their reluctance to demonstrate a willingness to talk about cutting costs will not get my vote. Every house whole has been forced to budget and reduce it’s costs. Show me where this has taken place at the MCA and then we’ll talk about increases of dues, NOT UNTIL.
Third, I would like to see a complete listing of MCA assets, to include all contracts signed, This idea of allowing computer work being given to the only one bid(because none knew about it) is once again a dictate and not representative. Moreover, this organization has been in existence for quite a few years and has received a lot of money over those years. Has it all evaporated or are there items of value? If so, what are they? I have never seen a listing.
Fourth, If we are going to pay for a WEB SITE, then it should be interactive. This is to say, I’d like to see the ability for members to place their opinions and suggestions(suggestion box idea). This with a web master who is a Board Member and has the authority to respond on behave of the Board.
So to conclude, if all of these ideas are allowed the light of day and are blown off by this Board, then and only then will I talk about and be willing to support dissolution.
So, what is your next step?
I feel that I’ve done what I needed to so that I can be sure that dissolution is the ONLY option.
I agree with you on the website and the contracts. Clearly, they wanted ONLY bids from members since they did NOT publicize requests for bids elsewhere. Who owns that company? They acted like they didn’t know. Did a complete stranger go into the MCA office and see the posting?
I think what happened in the past is a done deal. Just look at the kitchen remodel. So much money wasted, and it’s not even a commercial kitchen! I don’t even know how they can have bbqs and whatever events to sell food to the public (such as fire department benefits) unless they get a special license and that is so expensive.
Again, what will you do next?
I believe the computer contract is to a company of Tom O’Keefe’s, though I am not certain, but fairly sure.
I don’t agree that money was wasted on the re-model. It’s not a commercial building, rather it is for the enjoyment of the members of the association. Most members seem to like it.
Next steps? As I indicated in my post above. I will work to further the items I listed. I would suggest that in order to help we contact Gladys Burke and get nominated for the upcoming elections for Governors. I’m not sure how many are being voted on. Change from within always seems to work better. We need to get a group of like minded folks would really want to represent the MCA community. I really would like to formally oppose the rate increase. However, I’m not certain just how to do that as opposing opinions will not be either allowed on the MCA website or published in the Monitor????
Hi Christine, We had a great holiday hope you did as well. My winter lettuce and root vegetables are doing extremely well. I haven’t been on the site for a few
weeks so I got a chance to catch up on the current events. I so like your web page.
It’s a shame to be a paid up member of an organization, like I was with the Chamber, and unable to voice your concerns and questions. Being told to shut up and called names. Seems this Meadview town is full of rude socially inadequate stooges.
Abiding by the by-laws are unheard of, proper conduct and proceedings at meetings, name calling………. and so on. Fermented evil cocktails of lies I learned that one first hand from Helene Williams with her vicious conduct ,and unruly behavior at a closed Chamber meeting, where she got away with spewing gossip and lies about me. I guess she is also unaware of the by- laws and what a quorum. I guess when her lies finally caught up to maybe that’s why she resigned as secretary and then a few days later was begging for her position back….. Byron Sheilds said, “OH NO.” BUT.. he’ll probably change his mind and she won’t need a vote either and she’ll be back in wreaking havoc once again.This is how little they know I made a few calls to other Chambers and found out that to serve on the Chamber board you have to be a business owner and she was not, still is not (like the MCA just make up the rules as you go) she’s just a half ass card maker in the gallery which I understand is a step below being a second hand store. Helene Williams, like every town event that she has participated in, including the gallery, has managed to ruin.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the MCA and the Chamber of commerce are two organizations that are equipped with board members that are uneducated and exceptionally ignorant to policies, and the proper formula on how to conduct a meeting and what their elected duties really require. We need to invest in some mopeds for a number of select townies the clan of dumb , dumber, and dumbest and change the name from Meadview to Meat-head-view.
I agree let them have a social club just don’t force people to join if they don’t want to.Get rid of the papers that dictate what people can do or can not do on land they own. This is a rural area not a Del Webb golf course community project.
I would rather look at a chicken coop on my neighbors land than a bunch of scrap cars, boats, junk r-v’s and diminishing 1970 tin can single and double wides with the weekend carpenters sun room and porch add on’s. Meadview has quite a few of these gross eclectic properties.
I thought that is what the deed restriction rules were for.
Get rid of that MCA and the Chamber needs go with it they do absolutely nothing for the business owners except for the chosen few in town. Ted Levendowsiky has been the business of the month on the Chamber web page for the last year??? What’s up with that?
I guess he’s the only business owner in town, or the person who maintains the page isn’t up for the challenge. Maybe it’s Tom O’keeffe??
Come by sometime I have scrap wood for fireplace kindle if you need it or know someone who might and I’m on the look out for pallet wood for you but it’s good for all kinds of projects.
Kelly Kiley