Better Days in Druid Woods
Way back in March 2004 I blogged about an article called Bad Day in Druid Woods, concerning a Georgia development where the owners were hit with a $7650 special assessment. I just had this message from Dr. Samuel Fernandez-Carriba, who lives in Druid Woods, who has permitted me to post his observations on how things have turned around there. Thanks to Dr. Fernandez-Carriba for the update.
Dear Dr. McKenzie,
I wanted to contact you regarding the article "Bad day in
Druid Woods" posted in The Privatopia Papers last March 2004. I am a
resident and recent Board member at Druid Woods Condominiums in Decatur,
Georgia, and I thought you might be interested in the turn of events that has
taken place at Druid Woods in the past year. I was probably one of the angriest
homeowners one year ago and now I can only be proud and impressed by what
can be done when people work together. We all, including members of the
different Committees, Board Members, etc., all volunteers, have
definitely made of this a better place. A new social committee was created
and it has been extremely active organizing social events for all the
residents: we had a Luau only one month ago that was a complete success. The
old newsletter was reactivated (find attached the most recent edition) and a
web site (www.druidwoods.org) is under construction. Several
landscaping projects have made the property look even better. An Open House
event will take place this Saturday, May 21, to promote the Real Estate
market within the community. And probably more important than all, a reserve
study has been conducted that lists present and future improvement needs,
which will allow us to be ready for what will have to be done. We expect
the future to be better, and we have learned that the best way for a
community to reduce conflict in the face of difficulties is with openness and
communication. Dr. McKenzie, we are having a really "good day in Druid
Woods".
Samuel Fernández-Carriba, Ph.D.
2 comments:
Samuel, you write that you "can only be proud and impressed by what can be done when people work together."
I have to ask, have y'all made any fundamental changes to your HOA.
Let me explain one example of something that is "fundamental":
Our founding fathers formed a government too (although it's not the same as 'your' "private" government).
Much of their thoughts — much of which went into our Constitution — can be found in The Federalist Papers. For example, you can see our founding fathers were smarting from having been ruled by tyranny.
James Madison wrote in Federalist #47, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
According to Barton and Silverman, “Common interest homeowners’ associations have rule enforcement powers that are commonly exercised in ways that are offensive to normal conceptions of due process of law and the separation of powers. The association board passes rules, prosecutes violators, and then judges the guilt or innocence of the people involved.” [Barton & Silverman, Common Interest Communities: Private Governments and the Public Interest, 36]
Professor McKenzie wrote, “In CIDs, power is unitary. The board cites violators and holds the hearings that constitute the ‘trial.’ ” [Evan McKenzie, Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government, Yale University Press, 134]
This would disturb Madison, because he wrote, “No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity,” in Federalist No. 10.
Madison’s ideas were not new.
Montesquieu wrote, in The Spirit of the Laws, “There is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control, for the judge would then be the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with all the violence of an oppressor.”
This is not rocket science.
Madison declared, in Federalist No. 47, “no political truth is certainly of greater intrinsic value.” (emph. added)
Samuel, congratulations on making it into the oligarchy, and for being a benevolent despot -- but I just have to wonder...
Will your successors be so benevolent?
You opine that y'all "have learned that the best way for a community to reduce conflict in the face of difficulties is with openness and communication."
Does the law oblige y'all to be open and communicative -- to the extent that if you're not, you'll get into real trouble -- or is this just a governing style that your successors may or not employ?
Rico
Well, based on the website, it looks like we're in a CAI state of mind here. This just supports the notion that these high-turnover volunteer democracies constantly face the risk of ruin...in a perpetual state of decline or recovery. One election away from...
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