November 2006

Fall is finally here. I hope everyone had a wonderful summer. Now the leaves are turning and mornings are getting a bit chilly. The hurricane season is nearly over. These are all part of the natural cycles that we experience every year.

The fall also brings another event.. elections. Every November, in addition to county, state, and federal elections, we have an election in our community. In alternate years we elect board members and officers. This year it’s officers. We will elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary for two year terms. The current officers are all running for re-election. The Secretary position is currently unfilled but Molly McDermott has stepped up to run. Molly has been very active in community issues. She recently participated in the “Let’s Talk” program where county and city residents had conversations with Annapolis city officials on quality of life issues that affect all of us. Even though there is only one candidate for each office it is still important that you cast your vote. If you support the candidates on the ballot, then vote for them. You can always write in another name if you’d rather vote for someone else. No matter how you feel, please vote! The ballot is published in this Sea Breeze along with instructions for voting. You can mail it in, give it to someone to bring to the election meeting, or (better yet) bring it to the meeting yourself. Remember, if you don’t vote in person then you must sign the ballot in order for it to be validated.

The HSIA election will be held on November 9th at our General Meeting. The meeting will be at the Key School at 7pm. Besides the election, we have other very important business to discuss. We will be presenting the proposed 2008 FY budget for your feedback. This will be your only chance to have your suggestions and concerns about the Special Tax budget considered. By the time the new budget is formally presented at the January meeting it is too late to make any changes. The new budget includes significant improvements and repairs to the community beach. Please plan on attending the meeting to let the board know how you feel.

The board had considered adding a new playground next to the pool. The cost would have been between $40,000 to $55,000. The budget committee decided not to recommend this expenditure at this time because of the high cost of the beach improvements and repairs.

The beach strip lawsuit is progressing. The hearing on all the outstanding motions will be held on Monday, October 30th at 9:00 am at Anne Arundel County Circuit Court on Church Circle in downtown Annapolis. As a defendant you have the right to attend. However, you are not required to be there. We will have the results of the hearing posted on our web site. There have been a series of letters to the editor published in the Capital attacking HSIA and me personally. I know of several letters that have been written supporting HSIA. However, only one of them was published. If you support the efforts of the HSIA board to defend your community property then think about writing a letter to the editor. The Capital has presented a very skewed image of how our community feels about this issue.

Finally, I want to thank everyone for their support. Your letters and emails mean a lot to all of the HSIA board members. The best thing you can do now is vote. Believe me, it’s worth the effort. See you at the November General Meeting!

-Bill Shuman
President, Hillsmere Shores Improvement Association