Just last year, two gentlemen even filed a law suit against the POA to force the board to provide certain public records that board officials had refused to release for public inspection.
Recently another village resident has taken up the mantle and been asking questions. Ms. Jennie Pilgrim, who has a background in finance and accounting has been questioning certain aspects of how the POA has been dealing with their finances and taxes. Ms. Pilgrim has been attending meetings of the POA board and according to her, her questions of the board aren't appreciated.
Not long after she attended a recent meeting of the board and asked some tough questions, she received the letter below from board president, Robert Coats. I've been in the political circles a long time and I can honestly say I've never seen anything quit like this letter. I wasn't at the meeting and certainly can't say exactly what went on but after speaking with Ms. Pilgrim it's hard to imagine her actions would have warranted such a reaction.
We've all heard the old saying, you can't fight city hall, but fortunately not everybody believes that.
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TELLICO VILLAGE January 19, 2011
Mrs. Jeannie Pilgrim 220 Cheestana Way Loudon, Tennessee 37774
Dear Mrs. Pilgrim: This letter is being sent to you as a result of your misconduct at the January 4, 2011 Workshop session of the Board of Directors for the Tellico Village Property Owners' Association. Not only did you on numerous occasions interrupt members of the board and audience who were recognized to speak, you refused to yield to the chair of the meeting when you were asked to and insisted on addressing issues that you were not recognized to address In short, your conduct was inappropriate and resulted in the disruption of a lawful meeting. After carefully reviewing the video tape of your actions that day, the Board of Directors believes that your actions were on the borderline of violating the TVPOA Conduct Rule, and may have possibly violated T.C.A. § 39-17-306, which makes it a crime to substantially obstruct or interfere with a public meeting by physical action or verbal utterance. This is not the first time you have engaged in such misconduct and disrupted TVPOA meetings. Reference is made to Winston Blazer letter to you dated November 22, 2010, as a result of your disruption of the Board of Directors’ November 17, 2010 monthly meeting at the Yacht Club. That letter provided you fair warming that your conduct was inappropriate and enclosed a copy of the TVPOA's Conduct Rule and the criminal law statute referenced above.
Perhaps even more troubling than your conduct referenced above, however, are additional reports from TVPOA residents and staff of several comments made by you about a TVPOA board member and staff that include excited or angry utterances by you like "he ought to be shot” (referring to President Joe Marlette); "I'm going to get Winston” (referring to General Manager Winston Blazer); and "I'm going to get you for this" (uttered to Finance Director Cotton Hunt). Mrs. Pilgrim, such statements and your continued misconduct at TVPOA meetings are unacceptable behavior at Tellico Village. While we believe there is sufficient and irrefutable evidence for any reasonable person to conclude that you violated the TVPOA Conduct Rule by your actions cited above, without even considering the question of whether you also committed a crime, the TVPOA Board of Directors has directed Mr. Blazer not to commence a rule enforcement proceeding against you. We have done this because we think it is important to encourage and foster civil discussion and dialogue about TVPOA governance matters, even when we do not agree with its content. We also recognize that you were a losing candidate in the 2010 board elections and are exercising unusual tolerance so as to avoid any appearance that we are trying to repress your viewpoint or somehow punish you for your unsuccessful bid to join the board. For those reasons alone, this letter is being sent to you as a final warning coupled with our request that you earnestly examine your past conduct and your statements referenced above that have made this letter necessary and conduct yourself as a responsible adult in accordance with TVPOA’s Conduct Rule at all future meetings you choose to attend. Please also rest assured that out of consideration for the rights and safety of your other TVPOA neighbors who desire to attend and participate in future TVPOA meetings, as well as the Board of Directors' need to conduct its business in an orderly and timely fashion, appropriate action will be taken against you for any future behavior that does not comport to TVPOA’s Conduct Rule. Sincerely,
Winston Blazer, General Manager C. Coulter Gilbert, TVPOA Legal Counsel |
