Candidates' Night - Section #2 - Questions

Questions:

Jim Hannon allows each candidate to choose an envelope that contains a random question. The other candidates are offered the opportunity to respond to all questions.

Byron Efird
Question: Do you feel that the amenities of Diamondhead are a benefit to all property owners whether or not they use them?

“We have some great amenities out here. We got a lake right here, we’ve got the swimming pool, a golf course. We got the club house, Kiddie Corral down here. You’ve got the park area, basketball court. I mean, what else can we ask for? Now, whether you use them or not…. ??
I didn’t think I would ever use the park facility or the basketball court. But, we had a family get –together at Christmas. Next thing you know we were down here at the basketball court. So, you never can tell if you are going to use them or not. But, they are here, and they are a benefit to everybody. If you are a grandmother or grandfather, you are going to have grandkids come over. Or, you might have relatives, even though you don’t golf, they’re going to come see you. Next thing you know, they want to go golf….they go golfing. So, the benefits here are wonderful.

But, the only thing we are lacking is how we spread around how great it is out here. In Malvern, for instance, there is a bill-board. It says “Diamondhead- Gated Community” in yellow and black. Dark yellow and black. It’s not appealing at all. It looks old. It ain’t vibrant. We need some color. There is some stuff that we can do. And hopefully we can do it later on, to advertize Diamondhead. ‘cause it’s great.
I can’t think of anywhere else that I’d rather live. We moved here, and we didn’t have a life, yet, so we got to know people. We came up here a month in advance of buying a house, just to get to know people. Man, you peoples great! I mean, we’ve got all walks of life. California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, you name it, we’ve got it here. But everybody loves each other.

My dad had a flat tire out here in front of the house as we were moving in. My neighbor came by, “Let me help you change your flat.” You can’t beat that. So, in return, I see a neighbor with his lawn mower stuck the other day. I hopped in my four-wheel drive and went down there and helped him. The amenities is ya’ll. That’s the biggest amenity we’ve got. Everybody’s got each other.

The thing is, I saw on the blog site…. One of the questions was, the golf course is loosing $200.000.00 a year. I just didn’t agree with that. There ain’t no way that the golf course is gonna loose $200,000.00 a year. So, I went to the accountant, and I said ‘look, does Eddie’s labor, and all the guys’ labor count toward the golf course, or does it count toward the ground’s keeping, or what?’ She said ‘No, I’m told to put everything on golf course’. So, when they are mowing the street [Charles Wood says "that's wrong"] no, that’s not wrong the accountant does not lie. She puts all of Eddie’s crew and Eddie on the golf course. So, I’m saying we are still loosing money on the golf course.

The golf course is a loosing proposition right now, which there are some things in place that we are trying to do to get the golfing up. But it don’t loose $200,000.00 a year. And I think all the board members, the treasurer, secretary, and everybody would know that for a fact. Any way that is off the question….

Like I said the amenities are great here whether you use them or not. But the people is the best amenity we’ve got. Thanks”

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Jim Hannon: Anybody else want to respond to the same question? No answer
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Joann Rhodes
Question: If you were elected what would you hope to accomplish during your 3 year term?

"I’ve really thought about this last week. What do I really want to accomplish is to keeping my sanity. ( Laughter) Because the people that get on this board, after 2 years, they are just totally ……(?) People give them a lot of trouble, and I was one of them. I gave board members trouble. I retired last December and I decided that, if I did not run this time, for the board, than I would always be sitting out here, giving them hell about something. So, I thought it was time to try to get on the board, or shut up. To accomplish that ….I’d like to see them get more security back. I’m really,..I love the security out here that we have. I think a little bit more needs to put back into security. I was attacked in Little Rock, in 1994, by a gang. It was one reason we moved out here. We just feel safe. And you really do feel safe. When we can go away from our home and leave it for a week, unlocked, and nothing’s moved…. I like the security that we do have. And I hope to accomplish this.

As far as the golf course, we need to do something with the cart paths. There is a lot of things you can accomplish is 3 years… I’ve always looked back at the board at the 8 years that we’ve been here and they’ve done a good job. I feel like they’ve done a good job. We’re sitting in a wonderful place. That’s all I’ve got to say."
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Clinton Norwood
Question: With the Focus, Tiki Times, DPOA Website, do you feel you have enough information to know what is going on in Diamondhead?

"Yeh, all of them are great. The skuttlebut fills in what’s missing. I think all of these are enough to well inform anybody what’s going on. If you come to the Town Hall meetings and other board meetings that are here. Yes, I think you’ll pretty well know what is going on."

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Charles Wood
Question: If you are elected how do you feel you would enhance the community spirit and volunteerism in Diamondhead?

"I can remember when I first moved here, the annual meeting would have lists of committees to join, and everyone of them were filled up. The boards, since than, have discouraged committees so much, that they quit. Now, we can barely get a committee together. We have a road committee, and they do a great job. But, what we need to do, is encourage committees to do what they want to do. And they’ll do a good job."

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Jack Watson
I would like to respond to the following questions which have come to my attention. [Jack was not present for Candidates' Night.  He sent this to The Committee Report to be posted.]


1.If you are elected, how do you feel you could enhance community spirit and volunteerism in Diamondhead? Ans.: I think the best thing I could do is serve in a manner that will give the community confidence that the Board is serving the best interests of the community and keeping them well informed. I think that maybe we could do better in communicating information on any projects that are planned which could use volunteers.
2.Do you feel that the amenities of Diamondhead are a benefit to all property owners whether or not they use them? Ans.: Yes, in that the more amenities that are available the more attractive it will be to prospective buyers. However, I do feel there should reasonable limits regarding the financial subsidy these amenities receive from the entire community. The best example is the golf operation. This is definitely of value to the community as a whole but also requires a large subsidy. I feel we must keep focused to continue to find ways to increase income so as to decrease the amount of that subsidy.
3.If you are elected, what do you hope to accomplish during your three year term? Ans.: I would like to improve our financial stability, have a comprehensive plan for maintenance of common property, continued and perhaps more aggressive road improvements and continuous reductions in amenity subsidies.
4.There is always a lot of discussion about road and culvert repairs. Do you know how much has been spent in the last two fiscal years on road improvements? Do you know how much has been budgeted for road improvements this fiscal year? Ans.: Last year $152,809 was spent on road improvements. The year before I do not have the exact figure but it was about $150,000. This year $150,000 has been budgeted. Last year $32,802 was spent on culvert repairs and I do not know if anything was done the year before last. This year $35,000 has been budgeted for culvert repairs.
5.With the Focus, Tiki Times, DPOA website and other websites, do you feel that you have enough information to know what is going on in Diamondhead? Ans.: These may be good sources of information but I think you need to attend some committee meetings and have personal contact with people to know what is currently happening and what current concerns need to be addressed. I have been involved with the ACC, Financial, Golf and Community Standards committees and intend to continue my involvement.

6.Do you have current copies of the Diamondhead Bill of Assurance and the DPOA By-Laws? Do you know of any specific reasons that either should be amended? Ans.: I do have current copies which are available on the Diamondhead web site. I am aware of a few specific items in the By-Laws which conflict with each other and I feel there are some areas which need clarification and also some areas which should be addressed. I feel a review of each should be conducted and recommendations presented to the Board.
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Jim Hannon: Does anyone want to respond to any of the other questions?
Byron Efird

Response to question: “ With the Focus, Tiki Times, DPOA website, and other websites, do you feel you have enough information to know what is going on in Diamonhead?

"This is 2010 and everybody lives by computers. Before you move here, you are going to find out a lot about a place, just by getting on the website. Our website needs help. We have not got a good website. I just pulled this off the website today, (holding up a sheet of paper) golf memberships and dues. It’s from last year, not this year. It has been voted in now for, what, 3 months? 2 months?… It’s still the old dues that’s on our website. The Bill of Assurance, and everything…. a couple of weeks ago, while I was a work, I was wanting to pull it up, and it was blank. It never would pull up. There are a lot of things. The pictures on the website need to be updated. It is just like the billboard job. Everything needs to be updated to 2010. We have a 1985 website, and this is 2010. So, there is a lot of work to be done in that area."