Itemizing The Cost of Gatehood

A less than unanimous TAMPOA board continues, despite growing opposition and even talk of a recall of the board, to push for installation of a gate at the entrance to Truman Annex on Southard Street and to go full speed ahead with litigation against the City over the ownership of Southard. Board President has stated he will spend "whatever it takes" to win the dispute the City. On November 17, through a letter from Board Secretary, Paula Ryals, the Board notified the owners in Truman Annex that at its meeting in December the Board would consider imposing substantial additional assessments likely to stretch over a year or more to cover the current and anticipated legal bills in connection with the Southard Street litigation and dispute. That letter has set off a firestorm of criticism about the way the Board has handled the Southard Street matter and what some residents claim has been irresponsible spending by the Board.

The TAMPOA Board has never clearly provided TAMPOA members with hard numbers regarding the precise amounts it has spent on legal fees to The Andersen Firm so far on the Southard Street dispute; how much it now owes The Andersen Firm; how much it owes the attorney or firm that did the title research on Southard Street for the Board; and what amount the Board thinks will need to be spent (once Andersen is paid) going forward to conclude the litigation. Instead, the Board has utilized interim "crisis letters" to the TAMPOA membership (like the November 17 letter) telling the members the Board needs to raise more money without providing sufficient detail on what specifically has been spent, what specifically is owed, and what is likely to be owed in the future. Undoubtedly the Board thinks it may have a hard time explaining or justifying its expenditures, and that, coupled with the fact that the matter may be complicated, may explain some of the Board's apparent reluctance about providing precise numbers.

But TAMPOA members are entitled to precise numbers and a precise accounting of the cost of the Southard Street dispute, and the Board knows that. The Board needs to come clean with the TAMPOA membership and explain: (1) what has been spent so far on the legal fees regarding the Southard Street dispute and to whom; (2) what legal fees are owed as of November 17; (3) what has been spent and is owed on legal fees on the issue of the gate; and (4) what is the Board's estimate of how much (assuming it continues on the same course) will need to be spent to conclude the litigation with the City through a trial or "summary judgment." The Board should provide this information well in advance of its December meeting so that TAMPOA members can provide needed feedback on the proposed assessments, something the Board suggested it would welcome. The membership has the right to make up its collective mind about the way the Board spends TAMPOA money and is entitled to the benefit of this information to do so.

The Board cannot expect the TAMPOA membership to trust its fiscal judgment if it fails to provide specific details of its spending to its constituents. If the Board does not provide this information to the membership, TAMPOA members will be justified in concluding that the Board has something to hide in the way it has managed TAMPOA finances or that it believes the members are too stupid to understand complex matters. Either way, the Board will lose additional credibility, and the divisions within the TAMPOA membership will only grow deeper, making the recreation of a sense of community within the membership even more difficult.