HBTS board ousted
BY VICI PAPAJOHN Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

The Holley by the Sea (HBTS) Homeowners Association has successfully recalled its board of directors. The recall of Tim Harrington, Laurie Gallup, Teresa Reilly and Lee Gardner was upheld by arbitrators of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation on May 10.

Unrest in the planned community came to a head last fall when a large number of Holley by the Sea (HBTS) residents expressed that the neighborhood's Improvement Association Board of Directors proposed 2007 budget went too far, raising annual assessment fees from $250 to $377 a year. Four-year HBTS resident and board member Neal Rogers cast the only vote against the budget residents claimed was too lavish.

"I felt that adding several capital projects was pushing the line," Rogers said. "I didn't feel like that was proper."

HBTS homeowners and residents began to organize a petition for a special meeting to call a recall election. More than 1,000 petitions were turned in to the board in late September requesting the special meeting, but the board of directors refused to certify the petitions, according to signatories. No special meeting was called.

"When the board chose to ignore the petitions and the request for a special meeting, we had two choices," explains Jim Kizer, one of the leaders of the recall movement. "We could either gather a majority of votes to call for a special meeting to consider the recall, or we could gather the majority of votes for the recall. We turned in a majority of ballots for the recall."

Over 2,500 signed ballots were turned over to the board in early January. When the board rejected 722 ballots and did not certify the recall election petition, the disgruntled residents took action.

"According to state law, the board had five days to review the petitions and accept and certify them or reject them," explained Kizer. "They rejected numerous petitions and did not certify."

So, the residents petitioned the state to intervene with an arbitrator, and four months later the recall was confirmed.

"A committee is forming to look into the actions of this board and sweetheart deals granted to favored vendors," said Kizer. "My action on behalf of the homeowners is over. I am 100 percent behind the newly elected board and my role is to support them and work with them as a homeowner."

Raymond F. Newman, Jr., Esq., representative for the petitioners, could not be reached for comment.