WE KNOW THAT THE COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITY CONCEPT IS A MICROCOSM OF GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY. THIS IS BECOMING MORE EVIDENT AS WE READ ABOUT BOARDS RUNNING AMOK, EMBEZZLEMENT OF FUNDS BY BOARD MEMBERS, OFFICERS, OR MANAGERS, AND BOARD MEMBERS WIELDING CONTROL OVER HOMEOWNERS IN MORE AND MORE ABUSIVE WAYS.

AS WE EMBARK UPON THE NEXT QUARTER CENTURY IN OUR DEVELOPMENT WE NEED TO BE MINDFUL OF THE CHANGES AND ERODING OF DEMOCRACY IN OUR GOVERNMENT. UNILATERAL DECISIONS MADE BY A PRESIDENT, CHECKS AND BALANCES BEING DISMANTLED AND EARMARKS OF A CLOSED SOCIETY ARE READILY VISIBLE.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO OWNERS LIVING IN COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITIES?

It means that we must be alert to totalitarian rule. The warning signs are there when boards refuse to communicate, make unilateral decisions affecting the membership, when owners are considered second rate citizens, when owners' opinions are not sought, when an attitude of "pay or get out" is pervasive.  Board members are never to be "rulers" they are only in theIr positions to facilitate. 

Naomi Wolf says it better than I, in the following excerpt from The End Of America, Chapter 11:

”We in America are used to a democratic social contract in which there is agreement about the rules of the game: When Congress demands an answer, for instance, the President does not simply refuse to pick up the phone. So we keep being startled when the steps of the democratic interplay are ignored: ‘He can’t do that!’ It’s time to notice that they are playing a different game altogether.” (pg 144)Chapter 11: Subvert the Rule of Law,” The End of America, by Naomi Wolf, Chelsea Green, 2007, ISBN 978-1-933392-79-0

So, if your association is operated by board members who are ego driven and power hungry, or have a hidden agenda, they must be recalled sooner rather than later. Do not accept advice and counsel which tells the association President that he/she is the CEO and as such can make any decision he/she wishes without board review and approval and outside of meetings. This is advice given to destroy the community concept, create totalitarian rule and invite individual financial enrichment.