Watchdog

Community Center – Structural Analysis and Cost Estimate

Welcome to Hidden Valley Watchdog's website for information about the Community and its Association (HVLA). The website is maintained by Steven Greenberg, a resident of Hidden Valley Lake. Questions and comments are welcome. Join Watchdog on Facebook for additional information and discussion.

Hidden Valley Watchdog's Mission

Financial mismanagement, petty politics and parochial thinking have plagued Hidden Valley Lake since its beginning (in 1969).

For the Community to prosper, changes in its governance and operations are essential.

Hidden Valley Watchdog will suggest what these changes should be and why. It will discuss (among other matters):

• Hidden Valley Lake Association’s finances

• Association operations and governance

• HVLA politics and elections

• Community amenities and infrastructure

• Safety and security

• Environmental threats (floods, wildfires, earthquakes)

• Water – its cost, quality, and availability

• The Community's relationship with Lake County

Watchdog's newsletter is published twice a month (or so). Each issue focuses on one or two topics, provides some historical background and recommendations how to move forward.

Hidden Valley Watchdog on Facebook

Because its objective is not just to inform, but also to foster discussion, a Facebook group, "Hidden Valley Watchdog," has been set up to facilitate such interaction. You are invited to join this group, and communicate with other Hidden Valley residents about how best to move the Community forward.

Money Lies at the Root of Hidden Valley's Problems

Residents of Hidden Valley Lake have been squabbling over money for decades. Its Association, HVLA, was born poor and continues to be financially challenged.

Much of HVLA's funds have been squandered on a poorly run golf course and its restaurant. Over 15 years, these two amenities have required nearly $10 million to stay afloat, this despite serving only a very small proportion of residents.

Additional funds have been squandered on expensive equipment that didn't work out or exorbitant severance packages for General Managers who also didn't work out.

See "Hidden Valley's Money Problem" for details.

Poorly Informed Decisions Have Exacerbated HVLA's Problems

The Association's dysfunction is largely the result of successive Boards making poor and often self-serving decisions that harm the interests of most Association members and residents.Most of the General Managers have not worked out for one reason or another. Sometimes it's an inability to work with a Board or an inability to deal with Association operations and management.

A Potential Solution

A first-rate Community Management company (CMC) could solve many of the Association's problems. Why?

• CMCs focus on running Associations well and affordably because it impact's the company's bottom line. They have a reputation to uphold among the many different Communities they manage, so will endeavor to do their best for our Community as well.

• A CMC's key customers are residents and members, NOT Board Directors, making it more difficult for politics to meddle with Association operations and finances.

• A well-managed Association benefits residents hugely. They can depend on the finances being handled prudently (and honestly). The staff will be well trained and courteous. Projects will begin and end on schedule, and so on.

• It will be far easier to attract the volunteers to serve on the Board and Committee because the "heavy lifting" will be performed by the CMC, not Association members. Instead of spending 20-40 hours a week, Directors and Committee Chairs will only have to spend a few hours a month to ensure the Association is performing as desired. They will then be able to focus on a Board's proper role, which is to set overall direction and policy.

• It is far easier (and less expensive) to terminate a CMC's contract if things go wrong than to fire an "independent" General Manager. If problems arise, a CMC has a financial incentive to correct them and quickly.

• A poorly performing independent GM does not have such an incentive because he/she knows that a generous severance package will be offered no matter what. HVLA has never terminated a GM "for cause," which means the Association can be counted on to provide several months' severance in order to avoid legal complications. GM candidates likely know this when they apply.

Past Communications Concerning Hidden Valley

• HVLA Director Candidates Forum, October 4th & 7th

• 20 Questions for HVLA Director Candidates

• The Seventh Seat

• Who Will Pay for "Willful Negligence"?

• Whither the Community Center? (June 3rd Town Hall)

• Hidden Valley's Future – Town Hall, June 3rd

• Town Hall–Community Center, Greenview, the Lake

• Wildfire Preparedness Event in Hidden Valley

• Closing the Community Center

• Appointment to the Associaton's Board

• The Importance of Being Well Managed

• Hidden Valley's Governance Problem

• Hidden Valley's Money Problem

• Whither Hidden Valley? (Member Survey Issues)

• May the Force Be With You–Overview of HVLA

• Fiscal Jurisprudence

• Money Matters

• Will HVLA Survive Until 1984?

• Downsize or Dissolve the HVLA?

• A Tale of Two Communities

• Zero-Sum Game

• Do the Math

• Golfer's Paradise

• Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

• HVLA Election Procedures are Seriously Flawed

• Due Process in Hidden Valley Lake

• Water Rates aRising

• Water Concerns

• The Restaurant to Nowhere

• Waiting for Godot–HVLA's External Reserve Study

• HVLA's Lomg-Awaited Reserve Study

• Preliminary Reserve Study

• The Fire Next Time–Lessons from the Rocky Fire

• The Jerusalem Fire + Missing Election Report

• The Fire This Time–Lessons from the Valley Fire

• Lake County's Valley Fire–What Happened and Why

• Wildfire County

• Clayton Fire Illustrates the Need for Wildfire Security

• How to Survive a Wildfire

• Wild Diamonds in the Sky

Information about Hidden Valley Lake and surrounding Communities is provided via the links below. Hidden Valley is currently run by a homeowners Association (HVLA). Watchdog recommends changing from "independent" management to a one operated by a top-tier Community Management company for reasons enumerated here.