Jan 10, 2011 -- 7:52PM, mountain_man wrote:

Jan 10, 2011 -- 7:03PM, Hatman wrote:

i am philosophically opposed to any and all HOA's. A man's(or woman's) property should be just that. ...

Then you are opposed to all contract law? These people willingly signed a contract. Duress cannot be claimed since there are always a large number of homes for sale to choose from.

Contracts can be voided for any number of reasons, among them a majority vote; wouldn't surprise me to discover that one way to get out of it would be to first, vote to change the name of the subdivision; a consequence would then be that the "Happy Valley HOA" would cease to exist as an entity, because the subdivision's name has been changed.

And a persons home is not allways their "castle." They are not free to do with it whatever they want. Any rational person can understand that.

Yeah, and anyone disposed to be honest as well as rational in their objection would have included the caveat/qualifier, instead of cutting-and-pasting a straw man to defeat, i.e.:

"as long as what they do damages none in their lives, liberty, or property."

ETA:
Abner, you sound like a good man who understands about the abusers of power, and despite your unwillingness to serve, know without doubt that should you resign, someone with more power-mad martinet-like tendencies and perhaps a Napoleon complex might take your place.

Unlike MM and a few others around here, were you to run for an office i could vote for, i'd vote for you.

Again IMO, i believe that those best suited to positions of power are those who do NOT seek them, usually, e.g.:

"The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind."
-- Thomas Paine, (1737-1809)

i have a strong feeling that a national lottery to draft Congressmen/women would result in far more Constitutional governance than this country has had for well over a hundred years.

With goodwill to all the People-

Hatman

Jan 10, 2011 -- 7:57PM, Abner1 wrote:

Agreed.  The person who wanted to get the poison ivy off of his townhouse by dousing it in gasoline and setting it alight is just two houses down from me, in the same row.  Given that the houses are wooden, if one of them goes up in flames we all go up.

Having a homeowner's association that he had to come ask about it saves us from stuff like that. And yes, we explained to him how to get rid of it safely ...

That's right. No one has the right to do anything with their property that will damage me or my property. For example; in most community areas they are not allowed to start a tire storage dump, nor are they allowed to install a nuclear power plant. The color of paint can get rather silly, but the purpose is to maintain a nice looking community with consistent property values. You benifit by the neighbor not being able to paint their house with pink and purple stripes.

I live in an area with no CC&Rs but we still have county codes to go by. People with large piles of trash or junk have been forced to clean up their properties or given a bill for the clean-up.

Jan 10, 2011 -- 6:30PM, Abner1 wrote:

Yavanna wrote:

> Sadly insane people are often attracted to power. I would say power corrupts, but

> sane people tend to shy away from power.

Sometimes yes - but sometimes sane people take power to keep it out of the hands of the insane (and then use it very sparingly because they don't particularly want that power in the first place).  Several of us on the board have expressed the sentiment that the only reason we remain on the board is that otherwise a certain crazy person would try to take their spots ...  I know for a fact that the majority of the board members would love to leave, if only a suitable replacement can be found!

I only became president because the treasurer threatened me that if I didn't, he would quit and the others would make me become treasurer as punishment ...  *shudders*  No, no, not a job I want at all!  :)

I am sure you are a very nice neighboor and not what I would describe as a "power drunk loser"
I am sure your community appreciates your service