Hello, RSMPOA Members!
Your volunteer Board has been working with attorney Glenn Youngling to amend our Governing Documents (Bylaws and CC&Rs) to bring the Association up to date with current law. Your Directors have devoted countless hours to this task and are now ready to submit these documents for a vote.
The Board has unanimously approved these proposed Bylaws and CC&Rs. On December 4, we mailed finalized copies of the proposed documents, together with a Ballot (and balloting instructions), to your address on file.
Update (Tue, Dec 19): Thanks to RSMPOA Members for joining our attorney, Glenn Youngling, on Thu Dec 14 for a Town Hall about the Governing Documents Election. As promised, Glenn’s remarks and answers to your questions will be available here until our Tally Meeting (currently planned for January 16):
Why amend our Governing Documents? Our current Governing Documents were last updated in 1997. Since that time, our road Association has gone through changes and the California legislature has been very active in passing laws that impact our Association and the way we do things. Some of these laws preempt (nullify and replace) our CC&Rs and Bylaws while others add to or supplement them. This has made significant parts of our documents outdated and misleading. The updated documents also include the substantive changes from the “new” Davis-Stirling Act and reference the new statute numbers.
A lot of road associations have operated much like small family business, and it has worked. But, unfortunately, the legislature has been micro-managing and has a one-size-fits-all approach to how Davis-Stirling associations should function. These updated documents reflect the legislative requirements.
Additionally, our 1997 documents are often vague or silent on certain subjects which we feel must be clearly addressed to assist us in more smoothly running the Association and avoiding controversy in the future.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENTS: Because the documents were vague on certain points and several sections were outdated, we found that it was much simpler to overhaul them completely. The final versions presented to you contain some parts which are unchanged from the current Governing Documents, but are completely reorganized. Also, a comprehensive Table of Contents is provided.
It is not uncommon to find a wide range of opinions on a variety of matters addressed by the Governing Documents. Our counsel has advised us that on occasion he finds people most concerned with certain provisions which they perceive to be new, but which are actually restated verbatim from the existing documents. We ask that you first review the existing documents to determine whether your concerns are related to completely new provisions or simply are a restatement of previous language. It is important that these proposed documents be evaluated not only on their own merits, but by comparison with the Association’s existing documents.
We urge you to read these documents or at least “spot check” those subject areas that may have concerned you in the past.
CC&R’s: Highlights for newly updated provisions include:
Clarification of our Assessment formulas and related scopes of work (Article IV).
New Article VIII addressing enforcement and options for Alternative Dispute Resolution.
BYLAWS: Corporate procedures are highly regulated by the Corporations Code and, much more recently, new provisions in the Davis-Stirling Act. Additionally, we wanted to update some provisions to further assist with the smooth and efficient administration of the business of Rancho Santa Margarita POA. The amended Bylaws reflect more of these procedures and eliminate confusing overlap in the CC&Rs.
THE BOARD ASKS FOR YOUR VOTE: Your volunteer Board uses its best efforts to administer the Association and preserve our neighborhood. Amending the Governing Documents will significantly ease the burden on Directors and owners alike in understanding responsibilities.
The Board has tried to pull existing references into one place, fill in gaps, update the provisions to reflect current terminology and some provisions of the Davis-Stirling Act (commencing at Civil Code ยง4000) and generally take as much of the mystery as possible out of our often cryptic Governing Documents. The Board is confident that these amendments will make the Governing Documents more comprehensive and useful tools for the Members and Board alike. Governing Documents with more specificity and definition should also reduce the need to consult with legal counsel when certain questions come up.
Please return your completed ballot and cast your vote as soon as possible on this important question of updating our Governing Documents. Our tally meeting is scheduled for January 16, though we may delay the meeting if we don’t have sufficient ballots returned by then.
Thank you!