Legends South Hosts Meeting to Recall Officers

Eureka resident Tina Siebenman addressed at Tuesday's board meeting to announce a special meeting will be held Thursday evening with the goal of recalling the entire slate of officers for the Legends South Community Services Organization (LSCSO) homeowners association. She then asked the aldermen with assistance for designating interim board representatives, per the homeowner's covenant.

Siebenman said the recall meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the House No. 1, located at 4849 Highway 109 in Eureka.

Thursday morning, Siebenman declined to confirm with Patch what exact issues led to some of the Legends South homeowners taking this action. Alderman Don Beckerle, who has the subdivision in his city ward, said he would summarize the issue as "general mistrust on how trustees have been running the affairs of the subdivision." 

Beckerle said controversy seemed to start a couple of years ago when the original indentures or bylaws needed to be changed and updated, and resulting legal fees raised questions. After collecting perceived high homeowners' fees and being overbudget for the subdivision's finances, he said some residents said they began to wonder about the strategic, future direction of the subdivision.

As a 15-year resident of the subdivision, Siebenman said a 20 percent quorum of the 715 homes there would be needed to recall the officers.

LSCSO is the neighborhood association that has oversight of the following Eureka-based subdivisions: Grand View, Palisades, Southern Hills, The Bluffs, Villas and Manors at the Bluffs, and Vista Glen. LSCSO is managed by Diana Rothbarth at Rodemyer Christel, Inc.

LSCSO is part of the larger neighborhood association, The Legends, which has a separate board of directors and covenants. The Legends' board is responsible for the entrance to the subdivision and the parkway.

The set annual meeting for LSCSO is April 5 at 7 p.m., at which two of the trustees' slots were to be voted on. However, Siebenman said if Thursday's meeting is successful, homeowners will be without a board for a short period. She said their homeowners' convenant indicated they can appeal to Eureka city officials to appoint interim board members.

How many temporary representatives would be needed by LSCSO to act lawfully in the interim became the question at Tuesday night's meeting. Eureka city attorney Kathy Butler suggested that three designees would be a safe approach.

Alderman Shannon Britt, whose government representation also covers LSCSO, recommended keeping the interim designees separate from those homeowners planning to run for offices in April's election.

Beckerle recommended that Siebenman secure a list of interested individuals for the temporary board.

Assuming the recall outcome that Siebenman seeks occurs, she said she hoped the city could appoint designees on Friday so someone would be in place to direct Rothbarth at Rodemyer Christel to pay bills. But the aldermen said they would have to wait until their next board meeting on March 6 to consider any action, if the recall voting indicates action is required.

According to the LSCSO website, the annual meeting for 2011 was held on Dec. 13. The terms of Nick Grapsas and Tim Branson expired, but they decided not to run for re-election. The site indicates the board "felt the two remaining directors, Gary Koeneker and Bruce Bay, will be able to effectively handle the board’s responsibilities."