Robert S. Wood, authors a SedonaEye.com Guest Opinion
Sedona AZ (November 4, 2013) – A Homeowners’ Association (HOA) is legally required to treat all its members equally. But the Village of Oak Creek Association (VOCA) illegally pampers its tiny 6-7% Golf Country Clubber minority by quietly pouring millions of our homeowner dollars into its notoriously money-eating golfers’ café, Redstone.
Why?
Because greedy golfers and insiders want a fancy lounge in which to dine and relax between rounds – as long as they can unfairly get the whole Village of Oak Creek to pay for it! And the country clubber-dominated VOCA board has been giving them what they want, at our expense.
Few realize that the whole village pays higher than needed annual VOCA dues so a handful of country clubbers can enjoy ‘cheap golf!’ The board pretends it has a job to provide its members “amenities,” even if we don’t want them. But there are better restaurants and golf courses in the area. I have been an HOA president and HOA-owned amenities always create problems.
The VOCA restaurant lost $216,000 its first four years, through 2011. Then the VOCA board spent over a million dollars of HOA funds – much of it illegally they admit! – to make it so luxurious it just had to be profitable! That’s not a joke, that was actually their distorted self-serving, wishful thinking rationalization!
But by lavishly building it, the VOCA board created a high overhead nightmare clubhouse that costs us $15,000 a month just to maintain – far more than it can ever pay back – revealing what a truly horrible investment that was!
Last fall, the board admitted their management of Redstone had failed miserably but they solemnly pledged to close it down, if it couldn’t be made to show a profit or break even. They have repeatedly broken that promise, without apology.
Last January, the board contracted with a “professional” operator (Steve Bruns) to take over Redstone and run it for the next 6 years. This one-man LLC of dubious and unknown resources contracted to pay VOCA $5,000 monthly rent for the first year, then $6000 a month for the second year, while pocketing all the meal proceeds.
The negligent VOCA board then turned over Redstone to Bruns without even obtaining an inventory of the $100,000-plus furnishings it was providing. That’s inexcusable incompetence!
Sedona Arizona’s Village of Oak Creek
Starting February 2013, Bruns pocketed all the proceeds while VOCA paid all the bills BUT BRUNS FAILED TO PAY THE RENT! What did VOCA do to collect? Exactly nothing! And that’s what is still happening.
Of course the board illegally, deceitfully, conceals all this bad news from the membership. There’s never a hint of it in the monthly Villager or the minutes of the board meetings, where board criticism is strictly forbidden.
And the negligent board fails to make the candid quarterly reports in writing to all homeowners that are required by its bylaws. The membership is deliberately, illegally, kept in the dark despite the board’s corporation law fiduciary responsibility to put the welfare of its members first.
The VOCA board didn’t even get around to writing Bruns about all the missing rent until last August 2013. (And it has refused to supply members a copy of that letter.) Bruns ignored the plea for back rent but proposed cutting his rent rate from $5000 a month down to a mere $2000!
The board timidly took no action to enforce the contract or collect. Now in November 2013, the only intelligent, halfway honorable, course of action for the HOA board is to cancel the contract for non-payment, close Redstone down, and sue the operator for overdue rent plus 10% penalties – hoping he can pay.
Instead, the board shamelessly continues to violate both state HOA laws and its own Bylaws. This ethically challenged board has even hired attorneys – at our expense – to defend itself from outraged homeowners who have found out what’s happening at its secret meetings!
That brings us to the pathetic present. To date, Bruns has made just one rental payment all year long – that’s one out of nine. Meanwhile, VOCA has meekly paid all Redstone bills this year, admitting to a $183,000 projected total loss for the year.
Remodeled Redstone at Oakcreek Country Club has failed to attract diners or uphold its rental agreement with VOCA under its new management
That’s throwing away more than half the year’s entire $414,000 VOCA income – and getting nothing in return. Thus the board continues to demonstrate gross negligence, business incompetence, and mismanagement in this financial crisis.
To pay all those bills, the board has quietly looted the HOA Reserve Fund of half its funds to keep its loser restaurant open. Our Reserve balance has dropped from $890,000 in January 2011, to a meager $451,000 in August 2013 – a $439,000 loss in less than 2 years – heading us toward bankruptcy.
Has the VOCA board finally seen the light? Is it ready to finally close down Redstone? No way! Incredible as it might seem, it STILL desperately wants its loser café no matter what the cost, because the golf course is also losing money and golfers must have a café.
This desperate board has just hatched an insane new Plan to reward the deadbeat operator by forgiving all his unpaid 2013 rent and late fees while cutting his rent from $5,000/$6,000 month to a mere $2000!
Why? Because they are terrified that he’ll quit and force them to close Redstone and by giving Bruns our $50,000, they are begging him to stay! Sickening and unbelievable, but true! With this move the VOCA board has come completely unglued.
How, you might ask, can this madness continue? Clearly, it can’t. The money to subsidize Redstone is running out. Probably that’s why VOCA board president, Duane DePaepe, surprised everyone last week by suddenly resigning. He likely saw the writing on the wall, the noose tightening around his neck. So he abandoned the sinking ship. So should we – by selling it.
With this background, it can be seen that supporting the high overhead golf club has VOCA headed for certain bankruptcy – even with a steep rise in homeowner dues. There is only one way out of this nightmare crisis. Happily, it solves all problems.
As I wrote here a year ago, the answer is to promptly sell off the Golf Club and Clubhouse, a win-win arrangement. Despite losing money, it’s a valuable property and there are buyers out there interested. Current golfers would simply join the new club and finally pay their full share.
Proceeds from the sale would refill the looted VOCA Reserve Funds. VOCA’s 43 employees would disappear, going to work for the new country club.
The growing financial burden of the country club would be permanently lifted from our backs. A trim, low-budget VOCA could rent a small office and confine itself to true HOA duties and seriously reduce our annual dues.
So, rise up, fellow VOCA homeowners, and tell the board NO to endlessly supporting the loser country club and its “cheap golf’ any longer. Remember, just closing down Redstone will no longer solve the problem because built-in high overhead costs will continue to devour our reserves. That’s why we must sell.
There will be a Special Meeting at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 13, to consider the mindless VOCA board plan to forgive the deadbeat’s $50,000 unpaid rent debt and cut his rent to pennies – but they will also consider alternatives, like this one. So here’s your chance to avoid a disaster that would lead to dues increases and certain VOCA bankruptcy. It’s your choice: support a country club and cheap golf for a few, or downsize to a lean, clean true HOA and a big dues reduction.
The HOA board has asked for questions and suggestions to be sent to it via info@vocaonline.com. Do it! Flood them with demands to sell off the whole money-eating monster, right now. It’s the only way out of this nightmare.
This SedonaEye.com Guest Opinion written by Robert S. Wood, Sedona VOCA resident and lienpayer.
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wowzerz!
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So Duane has “hit the silk”. Who are these other incompetent rocket scientists on the board?”
Shared this article on Facebook writing: What do they expect when they serve overpriced, underwhelming food? There are better places to frequent, where you can have a good meal for less money. At least when it was Mulligans’, you could get decent food and have a good time with friends at Happy Hour. Politics and greed have once again taken the forefront!
via Facebook: Very interesting article.
Amazing read
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Shame on VOCA for not looking out for our HOA dollars. the restaurant has been subsidized by the property owners and it loses hundreds of thousands of our HOA dues. I believe it’s time to cut the losses and close Redstone (even after the $70,000. renovation!)
Hi Tree!
Ellen , it was about 700,000 dollar renovation and see above for the numbers after they “fixed” the problem. That does not include the dollar$ that they lost every month trying to run it themselves or the thousands spent for security cameras after they discovered people were stealing. The list goes on.
The president of the board has just resigned and the board of 6 feels they don’t need to have anyone replace him until the election in April.
I’ll be at the Meeting on the 13th and I will be bringing my questions with me. Can you believe they wanted all questions sent in advance? Of course you can believe it. Time for big changes starting at the top!!
General Manager: Anthony “Tony” Rizzo
Former Contributing Presidents: Duane Du Pape, Dave Benoire, Steve Nelson
President: Gwen Hanna
1st Vice President: Joe Jansen
Treasurer: Jim Kautz
Secretary: Mary Ann Waldron
Vice President: Jeff Singsaas
Vice President: Richard Bruns
Bruns needs to honor his contract or face a lawsuit.
As an owner in VOCA for the past 17 years it has always upset up that all the funds go to the golfers in our community. We frequently went to Mulligans and enjoyed it. When VOCA took it over we had only experienced unhappy visits to the restaurant. Trying to support it was our mistake as we never had good service or an enjoyable meal. Time for a change in VOCA. Think of all of us and not just the golfers.
Change cast of characters to Sedona City Council & Staff and Bruns, the “benefactor without accountability” to Sedona Oak Creek Canyon Chamber of Commerce and the script pretty much parallels incorporated Sedona saga. Then substitute your HOA stakeholders to the residents in Sedona City Limits and the picture will be complete.
Your suggestions for remedying the situation sound good to me, Mr. Wood. How about giving the Sedona powers that be (but shouldn’t) some of your sage advice on their highfalutin’ ideas of creek parks/walks, a myriad of city paid entertainment for the kiddies, community gathering places, ad infinitum? Consulting with someone like you might result in the best investment Sedona ever made.
Do you think someone is trying to bankrupt it so it can be purchased? The land alone is worth millions and millions of dollars. Hmmmm……time for residents to take it back and run it properly.
Redstone Restaurant has been an embarrassment since it opened. Even though we don’t belong to VOCA and live in the VOC, we frequently dined at Mulligans for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Food was good, service was excellent and prices were decent. We have tried Redstone twice and were thoroughly disappointed. Place looks great though! Unfortunately, that’s not enough to make it a successful restaurant. Has anyone looked into the possibility of getting Mulligans to come back and run it? We know their track record and…they paid their rent!
Is Steve Bruns (the operator of Redstone) related to Richard Bruns (the VP of VOCA)? If so, isn’t that a conflict of interest?
I think Bruns owns Ken’s Creekside. Not sure about the Board member relation.
Who ever authorized the rent to go uncollected should face sanctions and resign immediately. Who authorized the arrears in the restaurant rent? Who failed to initiate the collection of that rent?
Correction. When referring to SOKC Chamber of Commerce as “benefactor” it should have been “beneficiary.” Obviously both VOCA and their financial contributors as well as Sedona governing forces and their subjects, willingly or not, are the “benefactors.” It’s the special interests in both situations who are ripping off the rest of us as I see it. At least in the VOC your properties aren’t being flooded as a result of misspent funds (yet that is.)
Lot of anger still simmering over Mulligan’s owner’s treatment. Doubt she’d consider coming back. The board was sure they were getting the short end of the money stick they stuck it up their arses to prove themselves wrong. My opinion of the board can’t be written.
@Meredith. Excellent point and very good questions that need to be answered before the existing board can continue to function in its capacity. I would think that to discuss the ramifications of this type of situation, the VOCA Board of Directors should have had a special meeting with the entire VOCA membership with a clearly stated agenda for discussion. As board members, they had no authority to have made such decisions. As the General Manager, Tony Rizzo should have known better than looking the other way. Why wasn’t he doing his job?
another case of the red rock snooze being in cahoots and in bed with voca. can’t afford to spite it , it needs the income from advertising & good will like that villager rag cluttering up voc post office counters & trash bins. Old news not worth the trees butchered to print it. The snooze had to know. failed to report it. disgusted yet?
Robert Wood you did good & a favor to voc
posted to Sedona Local Discussions Group on Facebook.
via Facebook: They should be ashamed!
We used Trip Advisor to check out this restaurant over the past week and didn’t go because the reviews indicated problems. Now we know why.
First and last time that I went there was with three friends to try and support your neighborhood restaurant. Not even basics covered. Stood in the restaurant area and NOBODY bothered with us. Saw us and we had to walk to the bar area to get acknowledged.
If the restaurant area is closed put up a sign that says go to bar area.
Bar area okay and might be a decent place if kitchen functioned right. One meal of four was good, rest barely passing. Not going back until management shapes up or is changed. Bar would do well to cut prices and advertise happy hour prices all day. Beer and wine $4 all day. Generous pours. Good burgers & sandwiches. Leave the bigger menu and ambition until another day. It’s uphill. Start climbing.
It was cuz of some place or someone called Mulligan that Mom discovered the Kiwanis Park so puleeze don’t do nuthin’ that will take away that place cuz I’d miss my pals like like Charlie, Hunter, BeBe, KC, Winchester, Bert, Dante, Princess and the rest of the gang. We need for Mulligan to come back so Mom can get take home stuff for dinner, too.
Lovingly,
Harley McGuire
WOW!!! And I thought the city of Sedona had financial problems? Looks like my friends in the VOC need to call for a recall and get the bums out who don’t know how to be financially responsible. Golf is the driving force? Oh, B.S.
Talk about a very quasi government entity – well this is the worst case I’ve ever seen. time to get the HOA together and do a take over….just my opinion but looks like mega bucks have been misspent.
Amazing, after 28 years in VOCA, I can’t believe that anyone could get even half way through this article without puking at the way it is written!!! You people will believe anything you see in print. Trashy journalism at its worst! Shame on you Robert Woods!!!Problems? Yes, Help from the community? Not in VOCA.
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@John: And the man doth protest too much? Unless you can produce something more substantial, such as more creditable reporting (as you accuse Robert Woods as being “trashy journalism at its worst”) how about retracting your verbal attacks and replacing them with the real deal?
SAVE THE DATE:
Village of Oakcreek Association Announcement
2014 Public Budget Hearing
Wednesday, November 13TH, 2013
VOCA Banquet Room
2014 Public Budget Hearing 3-4 PM – We will have a preliminary budget for review on our VOCAOnline website
Wednesday, November 6th, or available for pick up in the Admin Office, for your review prior to the Public Hearing.
Special Restaurant Forum – License Agreement 4-5 pm
In preparation to address member inquiries at the Special meeting we would like to have all questions submitted in advance, by 6pm, Wednesday November 6th to the VOCA Administration Office, by email, or delivered (690 Bell Rock Blvd). Please plan to attend.
@ John – Wood’s comments are substantiated; yours are not. In other words: Put up or shut up.
By verbal attacks you must be referring to Mr. Woods style of writing!
It appears that perhaps “John” might be one of the “beneficiaries” of this outlandish situation? Translated: How’s your golf game these days?
John, you are a big part of the problem. I call it the ‘sweep it under the carpet’ mentality that a lot of our community members have. That era is dead and it has brought us to this time and these problems.
Community is all we can rely on now and we work together to solve the problem, not attack the messenger. Here is a quote for you: “The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.”- George Orwell
John, every day is a new opportunity for salvation. Salvation is free.
Have a great day!
WOW and WOW!!! You gotta be kidding me. I want back the city tax money I’ve paid and so should you. I would spend it more responsibility!
anybody remember d’lish, at the corner of dry creek rd and 89a a few years back? they didn’t pay their rent either and the landlord finally locked the doors, via Facebook comment.
Google has the Sedona Eye listed as “Sedona Eye – local news from all points of view” YA, RIGHT- you all might note that I have not challenged or disputed Mr. Woods opinion but rather his nasty tone and delivery. It appears that the Sedona Eye is not the place to speak freely wit respect for others. I will keep my opinion of the facts to myself and do my own homework and not rely on the Eye or Mr. Woods to tell me the “truth” . And by the way I don’t play golf.
Think I hear John saying he doesn’t have any proof to support his opposing viewpoint? Question is do you? Instead of writing like a man or woman with histrionics give facts. We’re listening. We’re not adversaries! If we’re all losing our shirts for godssake we’re in the sinking boat together!
I can understand wanting to support friends, family. I do it. We’re talking business that is paid for by all VOC HOA members. We have to separate what would be nice to have and support from what is not supportable.
@John
I agree with Kevin. We are definitely NOT adversaries.You also need to understand that not all of us who are members of VOCA are golfers. In fact, the majority does NOT play golf. We have every right to voice our opinion if we feel that our dues are being spent incorrectly to please a small minority within VOCA who just happens to play golf.
By the way, Sedona Eye is DEFINITELY the place where you CAN speak freely. But we, as the readers, need to see facts not just empty words with nothing to back them up.
Don’t you see that we are in the same sinking boat? If there is no problem, let’s see the proof at the VOCA meeting on November 13th. Otherwise, let’s work together to get it fixed one way or another!
Good idea John. Take your grievance to the Red Rock News if you want fair and balanced. As long as they are in agreement with your point of view your “side” will see daylight. Otherwise you’ll not even have the opportunity to voice your complaint with their policy as you just did here on Sedona Eye.
Hold up here a minute. Shouldn’t we be questioning the Save The Date posting? Everyone please scroll up and read it for content:
My understanding is that the meeting agenda notice was put online on Nov 6…AND……ALL QUESTIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED ABOUT THE BUDGET AND THE RESTAURANT THAT WILL BE ANSWERED AT THE MEETING……BY NOV 6 ONLINE OR DELIVERED IN PERSON?
Help me here everyone…is this legal? Is this morally right? Is this ethical? Is this gamesmanship? Who on the board decided we had no right to input the day of the meeting? Where is the agenda with its public notice saying such? You are my neighbors, board members. You are my friends and acquaintances. This is WRONG. Have you gone mad with your little bit of HOA decision-making power?
I was ambivalent thinking questions about the restaurant would be addressed and reviewed in the light of day until I read the Save the Date posting.
Jill, you are correct. Shame on them! Now I realize how necessary this public dialogue is.
OK, John, so you don’t play golf. (Maybe you should.) Kindly excuse my erroneous assumption. However, based on your attitude it seemed logical to peg you as either one of the “golfers” or “insiders” to which Mr. Wood refers. Since you ruled out “golfer” is one to perhaps divert suspicions that perhaps you are an “insider?” (Whatever that means.)
Lighten up and keep smiling.
Respectfully,
Eddie Maddock
I imagine they would “like” to have all questions submitted in advance. They took the job and were not qualified or competent to do so. They should stand and answer to anyone who shows up and has a question. Bet the questions they don’t want to answer don’t make it into the 60 minutes they’ve scheduled. Any takers?
The Red Rock news is nothing but life through the rose colored glasses and views of the publisher. They do not face real issues or investigate or print controversial subjects. It would spoil the illusion for the tourists. I LOVE THE SEDONA EYE. John, I am still hoping for your salvation, love.
I would like to say a positive comment about Robert Wood. He may have an axe to grind and chops lots of trees but we have the opportunity to agree or disagree as loudly as he does and that is a benefit to all of us here. Brava discourse! If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t pay attention to the November 13 meeting. Thank you.
Let’s not forget that we went through this once already with the remodel boondoggle and people that should have been kicked off the board were not and Managers who should have been fired were not.
They blamed the renovation on a homeowners survey that was done before the historic down turn in the economy.A HISTORIC ECONOMIC DOWNTURN but not at VOCA, Raises were given, peoples hours were not cut, parties were planned. Sorry, you were not invited.
The do not adhere to their rules and we, homeowners have paid lawyers good money to show them ways to leave us out of the decision making process. They picked up some very bad habits hanging out with the Big Park Council gang. Please attend the meeting. This must end now.
@Rose Colored Glasses: You deserve a standing ovation which I will do my part as soon as I click on “submit.” :-)
PS: “spoil the illusion for the tourists” rates an encore performance if you are able to find something else to top that one. Great observation and thank you.