WELCOME TO SUMMER, DOBSON RANCH

BRAD BETTENCOURT

ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT

We hope you are getting the chance to take advantage of our lakes, pools, and other amenities while it is warmer, and the kids are out of school! Additionally, we hope your air conditioner is in wonderful shape to keep you cool throughout our Arizona summer.

The board of directors has been progressing on multiple fronts recently, and we plan to continue forward in that manner. In our May meeting, we approved work to be done on the lake 1 bridge and La Casita. Furthermore, we are resolving the lake 3 gate valve issues. At the May meeting, we also voted in a new janitorial company to improve our service in that aspect.

“Now is not the time to kick the can further down the road”

To be straightforward with you, there are projects that have been delayed by the association for quite some time and I plan to move forward on resolving these necessary issues. Whether they were delayed due to financial constraints or due to other reasons in previous years, now is not the time to kick the can further down the road and I, as President of the Association, plan to bring these important topics to a vote in concert with the rest of our Board of Directors. Each Director has the option to vote no or abstain, but I prefer that we bring topics to a vote instead of tabling issues for extended periods of time to simply toss the decision to a later meeting.

As I write this in June, we currently have two open board seats, which includes one term until next year and one for three years. We are currently looking at candidates and evaluating who may be best for those positions. It is an honor for those of us who are on the board to serve the community, but it is not the easiest or least time-consuming role. Since we have had three board members over the past year who have joined the board before resigning 1-2 months later, we would like to be forthcoming as to what this role entails. I, as president, generally am involved with doing some work in this position every single day, and that includes Saturdays and Sundays. That can include the several meetings I go to every month, emails received and sent, communicating with our General Manager, going to events, communicating with other board members, etc. I am definitely not complaining, but do want to

give those interested in a role on the board an idea of what can come along with it. While there are committees that can be quite fun with the people involved and the topics discussed, like the Preschool and Recreation committees, there are also difficult decisions to be made. There can be attorney-client privileged information during executive sessions and I do not believe it is in the best interest of the Board of Directors or the Association to have members that join, hear very confidential information, and then leave a month or two later. We deal with past due accounts and have to make decisions regarding homeowners who are behind on dues. We may be involved in employment decisions, whether positive or negative. We may have to decide whether to mediate something or litigate it, if there is a lawsuit, and we may have to decide whether or not to file a lawsuit in certain circumstances. Without discussing any confidential information, these are some of the types of decisions we may be required to make, but there are many others as well. We also have volunteer opportunities on multiple committees, which is a commitment, but generally a much smaller commitment than being on the Board of Directors.

As some of you may have seen, the Dobson Ranch sign at Alma School and Meseto was recently damaged. This occurred during Memorial Day weekend. I was alerted by a homeowner to the situation on that Saturday and went over to discuss with the officers on the scene. An officer told me that the driver told them she went to turn and did it too late. Possibly related news, I saw what looked like a woman taking a sobriety test with other officers a couple blocks away. At this time, we are trying to work with the city to make sure the responsible driver pays for the damage. While we have maintained a positive relationship with the City of Mesa for over 50 years, it is unfortunate that it sometimes takes an extended period of time to resolve issues with them. We have plans to work with the City of Mesa on other projects to help our community move forward in a positive way and may request homeowner support to help hold our elected officials accountable to the residents they serve, if some issues are not resolved in a timely manner.

Moving forward, you will be receiving quarterly Roundups through the mail instead of monthly Roundups through email, which is a change we approved at the May meeting.

Once again, I hope you are all enjoying the summer and are staying cool! If you have any questions, you are welcome to reach out to us and come to our board meetings.