A recall of Shelter Bay directors

By Roberta Fontenot

This isn’t just about the clearcut of Shelter Bay’s Rainbow Park. This is about a legal obligation imposed upon the community’s board of directors by the state of Washington to meet certain legal standards of care when acting as representatives of the homeowners. Under the Revised Code of Washington, homeowner association board members are bound by law to act in accordance with the laws and regulations that govern the actions of officers of a corporation. This isn’t about feelings. It’s about a board that lacks the skill and knowledge to fulfill their fiduciary duty to the residents.

The recall is also about removing board directors who have betrayed the community members and installing people who actually care about the welfare of the residents of Shelter Bay. In the past four months alone, the board members being challenged have passed a budget without adhering to the legal notice requirements to residents, resulting in hundreds of people seeing their fees increase by hundreds of dollars with no notice or explanation.

The contested board members have also appointed a “confidential” negotiation committee for the lease with the Swinomish Tribe, made up of their personal friends rather than board representatives. They have hidden the identities of the committee members not only from the residents, but also from the new members of the board. Crucial negotiations that are essential to the lives of all the residents of Shelter Bay are being done in secret, in direct contravention of Washington law.

The contested board members have signed binding contracts for the dredging and dock construction in the marina, without securing funding first. There has been no oversight of the project by a qualified professional, resulting in the residents being locked into a contract that will cost them millions of dollars, with no insight from an accountant or a qualified attorney.

The contested board members are also spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of residents’ funds paying incompetent staff who work against the interests of the residents. Philip Buri, the lawyer ostensibly paid to protect the interests of the residents, has been supplying the contested board members with “confidential” legal opinions that are designed to allow the board to take advantage of the residents and remove any opportunity for financial oversight from the people paying the bills. This is not just poor business practice, it is legal malpractice, and the residents are paying this lawyer $300 an hour to betray them and his oath of office.

There are many more examples of fraud and mismanagement, far too many to fit in a single letter to the editor. The above examples are only the most recent, and most immediate, examples of malfeasance committed by the contested board members and their hired lackeys.

This is not about a personal vendetta against the contested board members. It’s about standing up for the rights and interests of hundreds of people who have been taken advantage of by people who have a legal obligation to protect their interests. It’s about the law, which has been violated many times over.

Fontenot, a lawyer, moved to Shelter Bay this spring.