On June 27th, during Lake Royale’s open Board Meeting, many were confused when Tammy S. raised concerns about a growing beehive on her neighbor’s property. Tammy, who is highly allergic to bees, had formally complained to the POA office on May 14th, May 21st, and June 5th, only to be told the issue was out of their hands and needed to be addressed by the property owner. This property owner is none other than current board member Noreen Gordon. Urged by the POA office to voice her concern at the Board meeting, Tammy voiced her concerns and was unaware of a much larger controversy.
Despite Tammy’s multiple complaints, the beehive issue remained unresolved as of the June 27th meeting. What many were unaware of is that Tammy’s initial visit to the POA office on June 5th had spiraled into an incident linked to the termination of Chief Fanara, our previous police chief.
The Incident on June 5th
Tammy’s visit to the POA office on June 5th took a dramatic turn. Allegedly threatened, POA staff contacted the Lake Royale Police Department (LRPD). The details of that day are as follows:
- 11:52 AM: Chief Fanara received a text message from General Manager Grace Noonan on his personal cell phone: “We need an officer”. Tiffany F. also texted: “Hey it’s Tiffany can you come to the office please”.
- 2:35 PM: Board President Steve Ragaglia called Chief Fanara, putting him on speaker with Grace Noonan. Steve, raising his voice, demanded to know if Fanara had been checking his phone. Steve described an incident that took place earlier in the day at the POA Office where an irate resident barged into the office and barricaded herself in Jennifers Office. It took POA staff to force their way into the office because they feared for Jennifers life. Grace couldn’t get a hold of an officer, and there was no LRPD response.
Chief Fanara, who had the day off and was attending a District Attorney’s meeting and had his phone off from 10:30am to 1pm, pointed out that in life-threatening situations, 911 should be called immediately. The POA office has silent alarm buttons that alert the 911 Dispatch Center, but these were not activated. Instead, Grace opted to send texts and call the LRPD office phone.
The LRPD Report
The LRPD report painted a different picture. The officer reviewed camera footage, which showed the individual entering the office, walking to Jennifer’s office, and leaving without any visible confrontation. Both officers attempted to speak with the General Manager and Board President, but they both refused, stating they were not involved in the incident.
Please note Noreen Gordon is referred to as Mrs. Smith in the report.
Tammy’s Statement
Tammy explained that June 5th was the third time that she had been to the POA office to complain about the bees; she is highly allergic too.
- May 14th: Tammy just spoke to Jennifer who said that she would email the owner.
- May 21st: Jennifer and Jason said that there was nothing that they could do about the bees.
- June 5th: According to Tammy – “I did not threaten anyone in the POA office. I was just yelling my head off at them about the situation even one of the secretaries came in and told me to lower my voice because there are people in the office. I said I really could care less and then they said that if I didn’t lower my voice they would have me removed from the office so I left.” When Tammy first went into Jennifer’s office, she closed the door but Jennifer said “no, no no the door is to stay open.” so Tammy opened it. Then Jason walked in and closed the door and Tammy said that Jennifer said to leave it open. Jason said that since she was talking so loud, it should stay closed.
The Termination of Chief Fanara
In Chief Fanara’s termination letter dated June 13th, signed by President, Steve Ragaglia and board member Noreen Gordon, one of the reasons for termination was ”…failing to respond to a disturbance on POA premises after being instructed to do so.”
This raises several questions:
- Why was Fanara expected to respond to an emergency via text while in a District Attorney’s meeting and on his day off?
- Why wasn’t 911 called or the POA office silent alarm activated if there was an imminent threat?
- Why was this incident a reason for Chief Fanara’s termination?
- Why do the stories not add up?
Conversation from June 7th Meeting with Fanara, Ragaglia, Gordon, and Noonan regarding the June 5th POA incident
Grace: “Can I ask a question? So, you talked to Lorraine R.?”
Gabe: “I have, yes, I have.”
Grace: “And so, my question is why would you share that with her?”
Gabe: “… so, because of everything that has been going on, I was so sick and tired of always having the finger pointed at me, my police officers, the police department, we can’t do anything right, nobody’s ever doing anything and then that whole situation at the POA [office], my officers investigated, they watched the security camera footage and the story that was fed to us was that Jason had to pry in, when, when the lady opens the door and Jason walks right in .. it, it just didn’t add up!… but all we are ever doing is we are always being accused. And I feel like if you as the President truly had our back, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Steve: “Grace, you were here during the entire conversation that happened in that office. I called him and asked him simply why was your text, or whatever, not returned in 3 hours. And he gave, you heard it it was on speaker so you can tell she [Grace] heard all of it you [Gabe] continuously reiterated well you guys should have called 911. That was a dire emergency you should have called 911. Understood your point. Then I asked you could you please send the officers here to take a statement on this. I repeated, you heard it I told him, I repeated what you [Grace] told me, you all were in fear, you all thought you were going to get killed. But he is making it out to be that it was anywhere as big as this.”
Grace: “Well, and… because it was… I mean… I guess…like… who determines, my question is, who determines what’s a threat to us? You know, if we felt … I mean… she [Tammy] her hands were shaking, she was out of control, slamming the desk, she slammed Jennifer’s door when Jennifer told her to open the door… so Tiffany tried to call, we didn’t know that you [Fanara] were in court. She called … I think she called the main number here and didn’t get anybody, I sent you a text … but um… we didn’t, we didn’t know that we should call 911 because we thought that if you called 911 that’s the county, if the womans going to do something by the time anybody gets here, the damage is done. So… but from now on everybody in the office knows if we feel any way threatened, that we’re going to call, we’re going to push the panic button. But, um, but yeah we…”
Steve: “But here’s, here’s what my point is and, take this presidency thing, crap, right off the line, you [Grace] were there, did I overreact on what I was told happened?”
Grace N. “No.”
The Now Resolved Beehive Issue
Back at the Board meeting, Tammy S. expressed her frustration over the lack of action regarding the beehive. Thankfully due to her actions, board member Noreen Gordon has since addressed the issue and removed the bee infested trailer from the property. Board members, Noreen, Steve, and Grace, have not provided any comment at the time of publishing this article.
As this investigation unfolds, the Lake Royale community is left questioning the handling of both the POA incident on June 5th and the incident leading to Chief Fanara’s dismissal. The lack of transparency and conflicting accounts demand answers from our POA leadership.
Stay tuned as we dig deeper into these pressing issues.
Loraine Ryan
Investigative Reporter – BODWatch
Addendum: The Hive of Controversy
A brave POA member who witnessed the POA incident on June 5th spoke up on social media. Here is her account of the events:
Her comment was mysteriously removed from the thread, along with other posts about “The Hive of Controversy: Unraveling the POA Office Incident and Chief Fanara’s Termination.” Despite the recent surge in censorship, our community should continue to ask questions and share insights.
Ellen Kirkland provided no further comment.
