The long-running litigious controversy over who gets to vote for commissioner on the Holiday Island Suburban Improvement District Board surfaced again at the HISID meeting Monday morning. District Manager Lawrence Blood said he is expecting to receive a mandate from the court soon regarding the opinion delivered Sept. 5 by Circuit Court Judge Scott Jackson.
According to chronology documented in the opinion, on Nov. 20, 2015, the Table Rock Landing Owners Association, as an agent for the timeshare owners, requested 56 absentee ballots, or two votes each for the 28 timeshare units, from HISID. The district denied the request, and the appellants – Billy K. Roberts, Kelly L. Roberts, Holiday Island Development Corporation and TRL– began litigation claiming HISID did not conduct its elections legally. They claimed timeshare owners are property owners, and therefore HISID had violated their statutory right to notice of an election and their right to vote. Also at issue was the HISID requirement that all nominees and voters be current on their assessments and utility bills.
HISID disagreed that all timeshare owners were property owners. Following that logic would mean the 28 timeshares could have a different “owner” each week multiplied by 51 weeks, holding back one week every year for cleaning, there could be 1428 property owners in those 28 timeshares. The court document stated HISID “argued that appellants’ position results is an absurdity… under the appellants’ theory, the timeshare owners, who collectively own fewer than 10 lots and have only one-week-a-year interests in those lots, would command nearly one third of the votes in the election.”
The opinion held, however, a timeshare owner satisfies the definition of property owner and because they are assessed a fee, though indirectly, toward improvement of the district, “it would be unfair to prevent them from having a voice.” The opinion stated, “We hold that individual timeshare owners have a right to cast a ballot in commissioner elections.” The opinion also declared the requirement that voters not be delinquent on assessments and utility bills was invalid.
Attorney Matt Bishop told commissioners they have an opportunity to appeal. He said giving that many votes to one property was “absurd,” and cautioned the board there will be plenty cases ahead of this one, so it might take awhile to get a decision.
Commissioner Dan Kees stated it was a very broad interpretation of the law to allow a vote just because a name is on a deed. He said he could redeed a property he owns and put lots of names on the deed, but would that mean they all get a vote? Also, who is going to research all the deeds so the district can provide adequate notification of an election to all the timeshare owners?
Bishop said there was confusion in other SIDs around the state because folks have to guess what state law is.
Tom Dees, representing HI Development Cooperation, maintained the original law stated timeshare owners should get a vote, and HISID has been violating the law for 25 years. He claimed the board could be recalled and the vote invalidated because they have not been complying with the original law.
Bishop disagreed with Dees’s interpretation of State Code. He contended the subsection that stipulates who votes for commissioners is silent about timeshare owners. He also maintained past elections were not invalid, but agreed the state statutes need to be updated.
Kees said he was just trying to identify what they need to do. It appeared to him they might have to hire someone to search for the names of the timeshare owners.
“We don’t play games with elections,” Blood commented. He said he would work with Bishop to make sure HISID complies with the orders handed down by the courts.
“We’ll conduct the election openly, honestly and fairly,” he insisted.
Dees interjected, “I don’t see what the big deal is. Just give us fifty-six votes. That’s all we ever asked for. Where’s your common sense?”
“I just want to say I don’t want votes in Holiday Island diluted by 1428 votes,” commissioner Linda Graves commented, and moved they ask Bishop to appeal to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. Commissioners unanimously approved her motion.
Other business
- Commissioners passed the second and final reading of Reg. 2018-001, which would increase the value thresholds for procurements to $35,000. Intent of the revision was to update their rules regarding which transactions had to be put out to bid. District Manager Lawrence Blood said the State has increased its thresholds several times since Holiday Island set its limits.
- Blood said he had a discussion with Regina Smith who had been interested in repurposing the Yacht Club building as an arts center, but the progress in their talks has stalled for the moment. He said it would be a challenging project to take on, especially with limited funding. Commissioner Dan Kees commented they had already voted to demolish it, so he wanted to put a limit on how long the commission was willing to wait. Graves asked Blood to let Smith know “the window of opportunity is closing.”
Next meeting will be Monday, Sept. 24, at 9 a.m.