Sued again: 5 Shelter Bay board members

The officers of the Shelter Bay Community board of directors are called back to Skagit County Superior Court March 31 on a civil complaint that accuses them of breach of fiduciary duty. It alleges malfeasance and failure in their actions and conduct as directors for passing the “invalid budget in violation of both the bylaws of SBC Inc. and the Revised Code of Washington” for 2023. It also alleges that the board "failed to mail the budget to its members as required," so it was never properly ratified and that the board’s following of this “undisclosed, improperly ratified budget” is costing residents “an on-going cumulative loss of over … $100,000 … every month in unauthorized and unexplained fee increases.”

Mount Vernon attorney Paul Taylor filed on behalf of Jan Henrie, a Shelter Bay resident and leaseholder. He served the complaint to executive committee members Wendy Poulton, Elaine Dixon, Monte Hicks, Joseph Hurley and Louise Kari at the end of their regular board meeting, about 6 p.m. March 15. His presence surprised everyone in the room and caused a commotion, meeting attendee Marrianne Remme said, terming it “very Perry Mason. It was one of those things you tend to see on television.”

Among the 16 causes of action in the complaint are accusations the five “entered into secret negotiations with the Swinomish Tribal Authority and have agreed to a rental increase that will be a financial disaster for Shelter Bay Inc. members by agreeing to accept a rental increase of double of what is currently being paid and attempting to convince members by obfuscating the truth and providing disinformation.”

The complaint alleges that members have improperly “approved expenditures in excess of $10,000” and cite the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to Akid'nson LLC for lease negotiation consulting services.

The members are accused of breach of duties for indemnifying then-board member Steve Swigert and using association funds to pay his over $92,000 fine assessed by the Swinomish Planning Department.

Also stated as improper is the unofficial approval of increase in rental value, violating the terms of the Master Lease, which requires an appraisal. The complaint alleges the Swinomish Tribal Authority and the Lease Committee have agreed to a $61 million “arbitrary determination of the fair market value of unimproved property within the SBC Inc leased property.”

Shelter Bay resident Jan Henrie is the sole plaintiff. She engaged Taylor, having him act two days after the board started the process of resident approval of new interim lease fees that the complaint alleges are more than double present fees.

Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Yost Neidzwski denied Taylor’s motion for a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order that would have barred the defendants from financial and business affairs and banking and business records of the association. Neidzwski wrote that the defendants did not have notice of the motion and no “immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage, will result to the applicant” before the March 31 hearing.

Taylor was in court filing a summons initiating this lawsuit at 1:50 p.m., four hours before serving the defendants and their first becoming aware of the complaint.

The lawsuit came as a surprise. Remme reported hearing “Wendy or someone said oh my gosh we have just been served.”

Poulton, responding to the Weekly News

, wrote “It is disappointing to see this additional suit. As in the Fontenot case, which you have reported on, the new plaintiff attempted to obtain a temporary restraining order, which was again denied by the court. We will make a full response to the allegations in the Complaint as the matter makes its way through the system.”

Poulton declined to answer questions.

In November, Roberta Fontenot served a complaint to the same board members and filed a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Shelter Bay board members’ lawyer asked to deny the motion. The judge granted it in part, restraining the board members from financial interactions. This time, the board members were unaware of the filing.

Several of the affidavits had identical language, as Steve Klein strong support for an injunction to stop a board vote amending the Master Lease contracts “regarding the rental of 400 acres of undeveloped land that will cause irreparable financial harm to the residents of Shelter Bay.” All cite “Article 6 RENTAL ADJUSTMENT” and its requirement for “a professional contract real estate appraiser-evaluator … to make the appraisal within 45 days from his selection.”

The affidavits shared the concern of the defendants “placing a Resolution before Shelter Bay members with less than 48 hours-notice” and “claiming it is a ‘good’ deal when in fact rents will double..”

The hearing will be 9:30 a.m. in Skagit County Superior Court.