BOD Retaliates against Jerry Mote

Jerry has been a Lake Royale property owner since 2014, and a resident since 2016. During his time here he has served on the Board of Directors as Vice President, the By-Laws and Covenants Committee as Chairman, committee member and Board Representative, and the Finance Committee. He is also a proud member of the AMVETS Post 201.

In 2021 Jerry ran, unsuccessfully, for a position on the Board of Directors. Then, when Lindsey Hesch resigned in mid-2022, Jerry was appointed to the Board to complete her term. In July of 2022 Jerry was elected, by his fellow Board members, as Vice-President of the Board, with Steve Ragaglia being President.

Jerry, as Vice-President, tried to work with the President of the Board but found it increasingly difficult to do so. After becoming aware of actions by Board members that he felt were, at best, unethical, Jerry tried to get the Board to address those issues. The board refused to even discuss them.

At the January 2023, Board meeting Directors Ray Grimes and Phil Ackler supported a motion to replace the Maintenance Department’s three diesel trucks with gas trucks, at a cost of approximately $180,000. Jerry questioned such an expenditure as being unnecessary and not fiduciarily responsible. As a result of Jerry’s opposition, the motion was withdrawn. Immediately after that meeting Jerry was verbally attacked by two Board members, saying, among other things, that Jerry had made “…them look like idiots.”  This was the last straw. Jerry resigned from the Board and went on social media explaining his reasons for doing so.

A few days later Steve Ragaglia and Noreen Gordon arrived at Jerry’s home with a letter. Steve explained that another letter had been mailed, but that Jerry should ignore it since it was being replaced by the one being delivered that day. The original letter, that Jerry received later, said that his resignation had not been accepted but that, by a majority vote of the Board, he was being removed from the Board, and being removed from the By-laws and Covenants Committee. The second, hand-delivered letter, said that his resignation had been accepted and that he was being removed from the By-laws and Covenants Committee. The reason given for removing him from the committee was that, in his social media post, he had violated the Code of Conduct by revealing confidential information.

In July 2023, Jerry reapplied to the By-Laws and Covenants Committee, was accepted, and was again voted in as Chairperson.

At the March 2024 Board Meeting, as a property owner, Jerry brought up the issue of the “lot swap” with First Choice Homes; a topic that had been addressed by another property owner in the February Board meeting and had been acknowledged by Board President Ragaglia. Jerry explained that this lot swap was in direct violation of the terms of the 1^st Choice Homes/LRPOA land purchase contract and, accordingly, had cost the Association approximately $55,000 when there was no legal, ethical, or moral requirement to do so. Jerry presented each Board member a copy of the applicable language in the contract and read it to the property owners in attendance. No one questioned the accuracy of what Jerry disclosed. The Board members only said that the information given was “confidential” and making it public was, somehow, a violation of something. What was revealed was a fully executed contract that, by NC state law and the Association’s documents, is available to any property owner upon request. This was not a confidential document since it had already been signed by all parties. It is only considered “confidential” while in the negotiation stage of the contract, not after it had been fully executed.

A week and a half later Board President Ragaglia, and Vice-President Bell, presented Jerry with a letter saying that, by a majority vote of the Board, he had been removed from the By-Laws and Covenants Committee, again! The reasons given? Not following instructions as Chairman of the By-laws and Covenants Committee and for disclosing a confidential document that he had no right to have.

It certainly appears that, in both instances outlined above, the Board of Directors has engaged in unwarranted retaliation against a property owner for daring to speak out and challenge the Board. How many others have been recipients of such action by the Board?