Reply to John Doe

Board members present at the meeting last evening refuted inaccurate statements made by CVS throughout the meeting--no one on the board refuted the rep. statement that 4 attempts were made to schedule a presention of their proposal to the association membership. In addition, while we cannot control peoples' perceptions or misperceptions, we do influence others' perceptions by our conduct, choices, and statements; four honest, direct board members indicated to me that THEY mistrust the board process regarding the CVS deal and felt pressured in a board meeting, where CVS appeared without notice, to vote without the customary private discussion and debate not to object to CVS' application and to draft a letter stating the board's position not to object as long as the project encroached no more than 150 feet into the neighborhood. However, the board member who drafted the letter reportedly was asked by other board members to add the additional supportive statement of the project that..low and behold!...was referred to last evening by the CVS rep. who stated, "you did not deliver.." My reply is that I do not trust every member of our board to be truthful at this point. The President of the board resigned yesterday; an additional board member resigned in frustration with the process, which she felt was not in best interests of our residents. I've known that board member for 18 years. I don't claim to know all of the facts...I just believe that it's in our best interests to question the board process at this point.

By Susan Rebillot

Reply to "Dilemma"

It is my understanding that Mr. Lange has worked diligently to develop the North Shore Neighborhood Association and to improve and support our neighborhood. Unfortunately, what can occur in any organization is that power, authority and control can be too heavily invested in one individual when members of the organization do not participate in the process sufficiently; and when you have PRIMARILY new board members and an inexperienced President who is seeking her counsel from the authority figure with longstanding power, you can have an imbalance of power and serious problems dynamically. And, our board members are fully human, which to me means flawed, capable of errors in judgement, and may at times lack sufficient knowledge or may confuse personal agendas and responsibilities as board members. I am not seeking denigration of individuals--I'm seeking an honest, open process for the membership, and support for our board to do the best job they can do to represent us. The board has a responsibility to us to address their internal problems. And we have a responsibility as members to participate and make it clear to our board that they derive their authority from us.

By Susan Rebillot

Not delivering

What I noticed was how strident the CVS rep. was in his statement that implied that it was his expectation that a presentation to our board somehow equalled support of the proposal and his clear delineation of two statements he believed would be forthcoming in a letter from the board. While we cannot control others' perceptions or misperceptions, we influence them with our conduct, choices, and our statements. Board members should be reflecting on how this perception by CVS was formed. And the membership should be charging our board with the responsibility to examine the process that occurred.

By Susan Rebillot

Reply to Ashamed

Don't be ashamed, Jane!! The positive result of problematic situations like the one we're discussing is that people rise to the occasion and participate! Network with your neighbors, get to know one board member, read your newsletters and continue to visit the website. Best regards.

By Susan Rebillot