After a cancellation due to inclement weather, the Holiday Island Suburban Improvement District held a rescheduled forum Friday, Nov. 15, for the candidates running for three-year board positions. Incumbents Linda Graves and David Makidon have terms that expire December 2019 and neither is running for reëlection, giving new candidates two new positions to vie for.
The four candidates running for the HISID board are Ken Brown, David Orr, Barbara Talbot and Mike Thomas. Each candidate was given equal time to present qualifications and answer a series of predetermined questions.
The hot topic of Holiday Island becoming incorporated was one question, and two contenders, Brown and Orr, said they were in favor, while Talbot and Thomas said they were undecided.
The question that helped reveal the difference in candidates was, “How many HISID meetings have you attended?” Talbot stated she has not missed more than two meetings since February 2019. “I sit in the same seat, front row, same seat, my seat every time.”
She said that for those meetings, she followed up by downloading the meeting onto a memory stick and listening to each meeting recording. When she had questions, she visited the office again to ask for clarification. “It’s not a challenging experience; it’s a clarification and verification of information.”
Thomas answered by saying that HISID meeting minutes are online. “I want everybody to know the minutes are out there for everybody to listen to and you can hear what is being said,” he said. After researching this, and in response to Graves shaking her head in disagreement, the written minutes are offered in a readable pdf format on the official website of holidayisland.us, however there are no voice recordings of the meetings on the official site.
Instead, a person must physically visit the office with a memory stick and ask for a download of the meeting recording. This inaccuracy of information may be what many community members struggle with when trying to receive precise HISID news.
Thomas mentioned there are various online sources where community members discuss HISID news and opinions, and that he discourages disenfranchisement and wants to promote improved public relations. “I am a concerned member of this community,” he said, adding that he believes his involvement in U.S. military team operations gives him the experience and ability to look at information objectively.
Brown answered the same question, “I guess I have the record of the number of meetings attended – probably 200,” he said with a smile. Brown is a long-time member of Holiday Island and has served HISID for years working on various financial and legal projects. He is also a part of the organization pushing for incorporation. “I’m a good listener, I try to solve problems, and I will listen to you if I am elected as a board member.”
Orr’s answer to the question was, “How many meetings have I attended? One. And it was on the adoption of the 2020 budget.” Orr said that during that one meeting he had to exercise every public relation skill he had ever learned due to a meeting attendant who did not understand a budget topic and created confusion during the meeting.
Orr described the community member who wanted to close the golf course due to revenues not meeting the expenses. He said the member simply needed a leader to provide him with accurate information and provide a solution on how to “close the gap.” Closing the gap, Orr said, is to avoid the drastic measures of closing the golf course and to embrace decisions which increase the revenue source to make the golf course sustainable.
For official HISID candidate information go to holidayisland.us/newsletter. Elections will be held Dec. 3 from 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the district office on Woodsdale Dr.