George Bigham '24 Board Candidate
Candidate for Tolomato Island Board of Directors
George Bigham
From our first drive across the causeway in the fall of 2015, to purchasing our lot, selecting a house plan and builder, then excitedly watching the progress and moving into our new home on Valentine's Day 2017, my wife, Dee, and I vowed we would never take for granted this idyllic place we're lucky enough to call home. We've made good on that promise, purchasing an adjacent lot a couple of years ago thereby preserving the open space and natural marsh that defines our community. Another promise kept recently culminated in our 30-year wedding anniversary celebration (captured in the picture). Our four sons have blessed us with 6 grandchildren and we patiently wait for great-grands to appear!
With a strong belief that you find what you're looking for, we introduced the first TGIF community gathering in June of 2017 as a great way for Tolomato Island neighbors to meet and develop strong friendships. Years later, we're grateful for the many close friendships we have with neighbors, folks from neighboring communities, business associates, church family and golf buddies.
I have always been an enthusiastic and committed volunteer for charities and worthwhile causes. In Illinois, I served on our local chamber of commerce board both as a director and president, set up Crimestoppers in our community and co-founded Shepherd's Hope a food bank in the Englewood area of Chicago.
In addition to serving on the TIPOA Board of Directors, I currently -
- Serve as Treasurer of Keep McIntosh Beautiful, chair the Abandoned Building Program and lead the oyster roasting team for its annual fundraiser
- Serve as President of Renewing McIntosh (formerly Habitat for Humanity McIntosh County)
- Serve (with Dee) on the Community Church Brunswick Greet Team
My background is in the service industry. For many years I was the Regional Sales Manager for a major provider of payroll services. Moving from its second largest office in Chicago to Atlanta, I headed teams in Charlotte, Birmingham, Nashville, New Orleans Greensboro, Raleigh and Richmond. I was responsible for both sales and operations personnel, training, meeting large quotas and deadlines; overall meeting the demands of corporate management while providing dependable and competitive services to each customer. Communications was key to success then and now. Moving forward, I will as a TIPOA Board Director continue to be a strong advocate for more open and honest dialogue with Tolomato home and property owners than has been demonstrated by the Board this past year.
Leadership in my opinion is not ruling by an individual's interpretation of the governing documents. I believe sound leadership requires listening, building consensus and collaborating to develop goals that a majority agree with. As a Board member this past year, I have worked to maintain some sense of a common mission to work together in the best interest of the entire community. Working together works. Clearly our volunteer ranks have diminished this year at both Board and committee levels. I'm not looking at broad sweeping changes but we need to clarify responsibilities and empower committees thereby taking advantage of members' interest and expertise. Growth always presents challenges.
Here on Tolomato Island our recent growth highlights the need for a formal reserve study to ensure future capital improvements can be funded by a dedicated reserve fund rather than impose a special assessment on all members.
The need for transparency and open, honest communication is demanded to address issues of consequence both large (the matter of controlled growth) and small (why was the responsibility of delivering welcome baskets to new homeowners taken from the Social Committee?).
We were treated to periodic updates from the former ARB keeping us informed of their decision-making process and in new home interest and progress. That level of communication should be expected from your Board of Directors. I would consider it a privilege to serve on the Board with like-minded individuals in moving to a similar level of dialogue and transparency for the best interests of our community.
Thanks in advance for your vote.
George Bigham
847.636.194
Comments
JimandGinny
on Sunday, 12 November 2023 18:47
Everyone seems shy so I will start on the questions.
The by-laws state that Board meetings will be conducted according to Robert’s Rules and Procedures. With respect to members, Article 3.14 reads as follows:
Members other than directors may not participate in any discussion or deliberation unless permission to speak is requested on a Member's behalf by a director. In such case, the president may limit the time any Member may speak.
Current practice is for the Board to conduct its business, get committee reports, then invite member comments. Member comments are typically not recorded in detail. This being the case, members occasionally have comments that are detailed in nature and/or require follow up. Several months ago, I asked if a Board member would make a motion to attach my comment to the minutes. The Board President stated that my request did not require a motion and that the TIPOA attorney said that the only time a motion is required is when the Board is spending money. Also, as usual, the request to attach the comment was summarily ignored.
Do you agree with the above interpretation of Robert’s Rules and Procedures?
What is your opinion on attaching member comments to the minutes?
JimandGinny
on Thursday, 16 November 2023 17:29
The Boad told us that the dollar value of delinquent accounts is concentrated in a handful of properties. Purchases of these distressed properties result in TIPOA recovering these accounts and replaces the accounts with paying home owners, thus purchases of distressed properties should be encouraged. Purchases of these distressed accounts also gives the buyer a potential for higher-than-normal return on investment. That is, it is a win-win.
Unfortunately, information regarding these properties is available only to the Board. Furthermore, the Board is typically the first contact prior to a distressed property being listed on the open market. These facts, coupled with purchases by board members has led some to wonder if board members “may” be profiting from their unique position. For example, one board member purchased (either in their name or through LLCs registered in their name) 6 properties over a 4-year period. The county listed 1 of these purchases as not being fair market value and 2 as being estates. A second board member purchased 2 properties, one of which was listed as not being fair market value.
I will repeat, I am not saying that the board members who purchased theses properties did anything wrong. I am saying that since the membership does not have access to the same information as board members, this does not look good.
The question, how do we encourage purchases of distressed properties while removing any appearance of impropriety—how do we level the playing field? What we can’t do. Georgia Properties Owners’ Association Act (GPOAA) does permit the Board to publicize a list of outstanding assessments. Furthermore, nothing in the governing documents or GOPAA places restrictions on Board member purchases and I don’t think we should restrict their purchases. What we can do? GPOAA does permit members to submit a written request for such information. Most members are not aware of this.
Could we include a note to accounts receivable in our financial statements specifying the number of accounts more than 2 years in arrears or with more than $2k in outstanding assessments? Maybe include in the note a listing of the amounts “without” any identifying information? As part of the note, we could say that additional information is available upon request?
Could we set a policy that no Board member may make an offer on any property to be listed for sale until such time as the sale is listed on the open market?
Other ideas?