Stop the Advisory Committee's lunacy

The Advisory Committee is proposing amendments to the bylaws that erode our rights as unit owners in Century Village. Read the article below then come to our meeting Thursday July 6th at 9.45 am. in the main clubhouse to voice your opinion and join the opposition. 

        Method of Amendment Article XI 
    The method of amendment proposed by the committee takes authority out of the hands of the delegates because any proposal must be approved by the officers committee and the advisory committee before it is presented to the delegates for approval. If either of  the committees do not approve it; the proposed amendment  is declared void. 
    The proposal for an amendment contains clauses that require 59 Signatures.  this is an unreasonable number of required signatories. There is no just cause to raise the number to 59. By proposing to raise this number, the committees have shown their intention to make it much more difficult for residents to make proposals. 
     There is a clause limiting the signatory delegates to one per condominium . That means that condo  complexes containing many residents have the same degree of representation as complexes containing far less.The question arises: why should a building with only 16 units, and there are many, get the same representation as a building with 82 units ?. Golfs Edge has twenty or so buildings. The buildings of Wellington, Southampton and Dover are populated by many more residents than many of the smaller complexes. Should they be limited to one delegate when they represent so many residents? 
    The historic procedure for petitioning amendments is to acquire twenty five signatures from owners of units. The new proposal says that its not just going to increase the required number  to fifty nine signatures, but those signatures must be from delegates. Effectively reducing the number of potential signatories from around eleven thousand unit owners to about 300  delegates as about forty nine delegates have been removed by the clause stating that only one delegate from each association is qualified. Then the clause giving about a dozen people on the committees the right to disapprove any proposal brings the number of people controlling the procedure much lower. It gives  the few chosen people control over a process that should be in the hands of the residents. 
Proposals for amendments to the bylaws should be presented to the delegates assembly for debate and for a vote of approval whether the committees approve them or not. 
     This is an attempt to Gerrymander the process by limiting the number of approved signatories, skewing the process and making it unreasonably difficult to propose an amendment and placing the authority to deny petitions in the hands of the committees, who we fear are populated by cronies of the administration and have shown a propensity to  act contrary to the best interests of the residents and favor measures solidifying the incumbents control over the village. 
    We must remember that what  differentiates democracy from despotism is political competition, the right to be heard and the right to speak. If we allow our rights to be hijacked we move  away from the founding ideals of our republic and move  toward the end of democracy. 
    The proposed changes in the process of making amendments to our bylaws are truly representative of the erosion of the rights of the residents of Century Village . Standing by and doing nothing, is one way to give silent approval.   
    The Messenger Club is hosting an open forum meeting on Thursday July 6th at 9.45 am. in the main clubhouse to discuss the proposals.  
An open invitation to Anita Buchanan,(Advisory Committee Chair) and any or all members of the Advisory Committee is hereby extended in the hope that they will attend our meeting to clarify their proposals to amend the bylaws in this fashion. 
This is the text of the UCO proposed amendment: 
          ARTICLE XI AMENDMENT 
A.  Method of Amendment. Amendments to the UCO Bylaws must be proposed by any of the following methods: 
1.  Amendments to these Bylaws shall be proposed by petition  of the (A) Advisory Committee; (B)  Officers Committee;  or (C) a petition  signed by of at least 59 Delegates, the equivalent of one-half  of the 117-member summer quorum for the Delegate Assembly. The  petition must be  submitted  at least five (10) business days prior to a meeting of the Delegate Assembly to allow time for verification of signatures by the  UCO Record Keeper. Only one Deleqate per Condominium Alternate Delegate  may  not  sign this petition. —In order for a proposed amendment which comes from the 0fficers  Committee  to be submitted to the Delegate Assembly, it must also be approved by the Advisory Committee and vice versa. If a proposed amendment is not approved by both Committees, it may not be sent to the Delegate Assembly for consideration. Delegates may not vote on a proposed amendment submitted as a motion from the Assembly floor if the proposed amendment has not gone through the foregoing process. 
2.  Once a proposed amendment is approved, as noted in paragraph (1), above, the following procedures must be followed or the amendment will be considered invalid: 
(a) During the meeting at which the proposal is adopted, the text of the changes will be read aloud and discussed. No vote may be taken at this meeting on the proposed amendments. 
(b) At the very next meeting of the Delegates, after the Executive Board  has approved the proposal,  the vote will be taken by the Delegate Assembly and must be approved by the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the Delegates present at the meeting, as long as there is a quorum. 
(c) The notice of both meetings at which the proposed amendment is considered shall set forth the proposed amendment or an outline of its terms. The vote thereon shall be limited to the designated subject. 


We propose the bylaw be amended in the following manner. 
1.  Amendments to these Bylaws shall be proposed by: 
  A petition  of the (A) Advisory Committee; (B)  Officers Committee;  or (C) a petition  signed by  at least 25 unit owners.
 Once a proposed amendment is submitted , the following procedures must be followed, within thirty days or the amendment will be published in the UCO Reporter and will then be presented to the delegates assembly for consideration.

    The petition shall be taken under advisement of the Officers Committee and passed for consideration  to the Advisory committee who can make recommendations on the form and legal language of the proposal .Committees cannot refuse to bring any petition to the delegates assembly for ratification. The proposal shall then be published in the next edition of The UCO reporter and presented to the following delegates assembly for discussion. 
(a) During the meeting at which the proposal is adopted, the text of the changes will be read aloud and discussed. No vote may be taken at this meeting on the proposed amendments. 
(b) At the very next meeting of the Delegates, ,  the vote will be taken by the Delegate Assembly and must be approved by the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the Delegates present at the meeting, as long as there is a quorum. (c) The notice of both meetings at which the proposed amendment is considered shall set forth the proposed amendment or an outline of its terms. The vote thereon shall be limited to the designated subject.