The lopsided delegate system Eagle Ridge homeowners are being
forced to use in the upcoming vote on a proposed expansion of the
gated residential community is causing a lot of hard feelings.
The lopsided delegate system Eagle Ridge homeowners are being forced to use in the upcoming vote on a proposed expansion of the gated residential community is causing a lot of hard feelings.
It might also cause a lawsuit or two, and it’s already prompted complaints to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.
As things stand now, one delegate – Eagle Ridge Homeowners Association Board President Dave Light – controls 142 of the 154 votes needed to approve the deal that could save Bonfante Gardens from foreclosure.
The next-most-powerful delegate, Patricia del Bene of District 4, controls just 38 votes. Tina Tovar of District 3 controls 23 votes and J.D. Fay of District 6 controls 22. A total of 231 votes will be cast by seven delegates.
Light, who represents District 1, has been vocal in his support of the land-swap deal, even though it includes only limited new access through the theme park’s Hecker Pass Highway entrance. Light only needs to convince del Bene, Tovar or Fay to vote with him and the project, technically, can proceed.
However, Shapell Homes officials are rightly concerned about the strong-arm power play under way.
At least one disgruntled resident has contacted the DA claiming that the delegate voting method violates both the homeowners association bylaws and state law.
But that’s not the only weapon in the opposition’s arsenal.
“Residents could make this project miserable, and I’m not willing to push this rock uphill,” Shapell Executive Vice President Chris Truebridge told reporter Eric Leins.
The recipe for misery might include ugly fights at City Hall and expensive environmental reviews and protests.
Truebridge supports – and is willing to pay for – a straw poll of residents so delegates will know whether or not a majority of homeowners support the expansion.
That’s a good idea, as far as it goes. But it seems to us that on an issue of this significance, with the far-reaching consequences of either approval or denial of the expansion, the right thing to do is to make the results of the straw poll binding.
It’s the equitable thing to do, and probably the only way to head off a bitter, divisive fight that will split Eagle Ridge neighbors and the rest of the city for years to come.
