Fallen Leaf Lake board members resign
To Fallen Leaf Lake Community Members,
After a lengthy conversation with David Livingston {El Dorado County counsel], it became very clear that I am unable to legally participate in the voting process at Fallen Leaf Lake. Per the Fallen Leaf Lake Community Services District “By-Laws” [see below], I must be registered to vote within the district in order to serve as a board member. Because I am unable to legally do so, I am resigning from the Fallen Leaf Lake Community Services District Board.
In parting, I would like to make a couple of comments. Fallen Leaf Lake has always been a very big part of my life. My family has been present at the lake since 1926 and we have always felt privileged to be ableto enjoy such a beautiful and wonderful place. Many, many of the people I have known over the years at Fallen Leaf Lake have been quite special to my family and myself. In order to preserve the beauty of Fallen Leaf Lake I spent countless hours and several hundred dollars of my own money to establish the first and only mandatory boat wash system and program in the state of California. I did this to ensure the physical beauty of Fallen Leaf Lake is kept intact for future generations.
Over the past two years, I have experienced a side of Fallen Leaf Lake that I am truly disheartened about.
It was my feeling that by simply being a member of our community the people at the lake had a special bond. Apparently this is not the case. Our community is divided, it is my belief that there is a portion of our community that wishes to control the community area for selfish reasons. This group does not seem to have the entire community, the CSD’s financial interests, and/or the public at large in mind. The fact that the board had accomplished so much in such a short time while being constantly criticized and even threatened is disturbing to stay the least. Within the last 1½ years we have seen the resignation of our interim General Manager Lee Vestal, our board President Dana Clark, our concessionaire Rick Firkins, our board Vice President Terri Thomas, and as recently as this morning our Secretary Treasurer Patsy Miller.
You can ask any of these people about their time involved with the CSD board and they will tell you that the criticism, harassment, and threats they received were if not the entire reason for their resignation at least part of their reason. There have been many people that have treated myself and others with disrespect, arrogance, aggression, and they have shown a sense of entitlement that would be unflattering to anyone.
This has been an organized assault on the board and people supporting the boards decision regarding our new concessionaire, the meetings, petitions, straw votes, letters, and emails [with no recipient list so the CSD was unable to reply to recipients] were circulated trying diligently to regain control of the community area. Many of these email and correspondences included inaccurate, false, and misleading information in order to sway the recipient’s views on issues. On several occasions these actions were done disrespectfully and even in unethical ways.
I have lost friends that I have known for years based on rumors and correspondences that have been circulated about me with no fact to back them up. These rumors and correspondences were circulated with the intent to discredit me personally.
As I have said in the past, the community area is not for controlling it is for sharing with everyone, this includes the entire community and the public at large. I wish our community and the public luck in being able to share and enjoy Fallen Leaf Lake in harmony with each other, at this time I am unsure if this is possible.
Sincerely,
Mike Kraft, CSD president
Good letter, Mike. The unfortunate thing is that I believe this devisiveness that has ruined FLL is just a microcosm of what we face in all our political arenas. If we cannot work out our differences in a friendly way on this very local level, what hope do we have as a country?
You have done a great job – hooray for the boat wash. Thank you, thank you!
Fll will miss your dedication!
Gay Havens
It is my belief that Mike Kraft resigned because he realized he would be recalled in the election this August 31st. Mike has continually ignored the will of the majority of the Fallen Leaf Lake Residents commencing with the unilateral decision to not renew the concession agreement with Fallen Leaf Landing. Mike says that decision was a financial one, but one may wonder why the current concessionaire agreement is not for the amount that he required Fallen Leaf Landing to meet. Other requests by the electorate have gone on deaf ears and the only recourse was to commence recall proceedings and remove him from office. Happily he removed himself by resigning and I am confident that the election results will support my belief.
What is distressing about Mike Kraft’s letter of resignation is his continual denial of the fact that the vast majority of the Fallen Leaf Community has opposed the way he and the Board were attempting to lead the community. At Board meetings over at least 18 months, large numbers of community members would raise objections to leadership issues, proposals for management changes, budget issues and other important community matters. The Board would respond to none of the concerns. Last spring, over 350 people asked board members to resign. Recently, over 500 voiced objections to a board decision to favor a liquor license allowing alcohol service at the community store. All to no avail.
It is because of the intransigence and nonresponsiveness on the part of Mike and other Board members to the concerns of the community, repeatedly expressed, that the community has found it necessary to resort to the painful and expensive recourse of a recall election, scheduled for August 31.
Allen L Dobbins
What is distressing about Mike Kraft’s letter of resignation is his c denial of the fact that the vast majority of the Fallen Leaf Community has opposed the way he and the Board were attempting to lead the community. At Board meetings over at least 18 months, large numbers of community members raised objections to leadership issues, proposals for management changes, budget issues and other important community matters. The Board would respond to none of the concerns. Last spring, over 350 people asked board members to resign. Recently, over 500 voiced objected to a board decision to favor a liquor license allowing alcohol service at the community store. All to no avail.
It is because of nonresponsiveness on the part of Mike and other Board members to the concerns of the community, repeatedly expressed, that the community has found it necessary to resort to the painful and expensive recourse of a recall election, scheduled for August 31. Allen L. Dobbins
Jeff & Al,
First of all, Fallen Leaf Landings (John & Ruth) offer for a minimum payment ($75,000 per year) was far less then Fallen Leaf Resorts (Rob & Sandy)minimum payment ($110,000 per year), Fallen Leaf Landings offer was $35,000 less. Fallen Leaf Resort also offered open books so the CSD could work with them financially. Fallen Leaf Landing refused to meet he minimum payment and open book agreement. DO THE MATH!!!
The CSD spent thousands of dollars to repair the facility because of the poor condition it was left in by Fallen Leaf Landing. The CSD was unable to hold any of Fallen Leaf Landings deposit because of the way the contract was written. The Fire Alarm was disconnected, the grease fan in the kitchen had not been cleaned for years, The kitchen was covered in grease, the counter leg was broken and repaired with a 2 X 4, there was no finish left on the counter tops (bare wood), the hot water high pressure hose reel was spraying 180 degree water when being used (a new one was purchased for less then $300.00 and Fallen Leaf Landing was the only one profiting from the boat wash, the CSD wanted to provide the service for free but Fallen Leaf Landing refused and agreed to provide the service for a charge)etc, etc… The contract stated that Fallen Leaf Landing was to take care of any maintenence items under $500.00. all of these issues could have been corrected for less then $500.00.
The so called majority’s e-mail’s and correspondences that were sent out to the community included inaccurate, false, and misleading information in order to sway the recipient’s views on issues. Many people in our community relied on this information rather then dig for the truth. Also the group pushing this was very intimidating, that’s why we saw the resignation of our Interim General Manager Lee Vestal, our board President Dana Clark, our concessionaire Rick Firkins, our board Vice President Terri Thomas, and our Secretary Treasurer Patsy Miller.
Al, don’t you live in Oregon? Arn’t you related to John & Ruth (Fallen Leaf Landing)?
Jeff, don’t you live in Monterey? Arn’t you related to Jennifer Hall Thorton – Board director?
I suppose you guys also think you are above the law, and will be voting. Good luck with that.
Per my letter “it is my belief that there is a portion of our community that wishes to control the community area for selfish reasons”.
Also, the loudest does not mean the majority, 9 times out of 10 the loudest is the minority. Try listening to your neighbors, you might actually learn something new.
Fallen Leaf Lake is for everyone to enjoy, that includes the ENTIRE community and the PUBLIC at large. That means everyone, even early morning fishermen and visitors from other places.
Recall Election Results
Voting In Favor Of Recalling Kraft 252
Voting Not To Recall Kraft 60
81% In Favor Of Recall Even After Kraft’s Resignation
Voting To Recall Thaden 253
Voting Not To Recall Thaden 58
81% In Favor Of Recall