Member reply to BOD Newsletter

Suissevale owners,

Recently a newsletter was sent out by the Suissevale BOD. (The relevant part of the newsletter is posted here.) In that newsletter board member John Barba has tried to associate my name with lies and misleading information. I have spent a significant amount of time researching topics of interest via past meeting minutes, submitting questions to the BOD and attending meetings. All my correspondence and communications have been conducted in a polite, professional and respectful manner. Unfortunately, I have not always been treated in the same way. On a few occasions I have submitted information that I have gathered to the Love Suissevale platform because I felt it was important enough to be shared.

I made the formal written request to the BOD to see the inventory list of Suissevale owned lots. After not hearing anything back for two weeks I attended a BOD meeting and asked for an update on my request. I was told that the document did not exist and that I would have to go to Town Hall and look up the information myself. A month later, the document showed up on the Suissevale.com website and is poster here. At worst, the BOD lied to me, at best my request forced them to create the document and share it with the membership – mission accomplished. I also spent most of a Saturday waiting to attend, and then attending a 5-year planning meeting only to be told that there would be no public input allowed in the process. Since it was Mr. Barba who was the person that stated there would be no public input, it appears he does not practice the transparency that he preaches. There are many smart and talented people in Suissevale that could bring tremendous value to the sub committees, but a quick look at the members of these groups shows there is literally nobody other than the BOD members in these groups. People are being shut out.

The information that I have made available sometimes highlights bad decisions, policies or actions that we all wish never took place. However, it is important that we acknowledge their existence and make sure changes are made so that the same mistakes cannot happen again. At no point have I been contacted to correct anything that the BOD could prove is not accurate. I would gladly do this since I am on a mission to improve transparency and accountability. To suggest that the information being shared is reducing property values is fear mongering, and the use of the Suissevale Newsletter to disparage candidate(s) in the upcoming election is unethical.

It's time for change and I hope that you will trust me with your vote in the upcoming election.

Best, Jim Graham 40 Brenner Street