2024-03-25 Letter From The RLCA Board

TO: All Reflection Lake Community Members,

Well folks, unfortunately, it seems we have a real “Donnybrook” going on at the lake right now, and we, as a majority of the board, feel that the record should be set straight.  As much as we all have a right to our own opinions, facts do matter, and to be thrown under the bus by the spreading of misinformation, biased opinions, and innuendo is not only unfair, but it’s dishonest and disingenuous to the entire community.

As to the merger confusion, the facts are quite simple;

Before the community voted to merge, the members were told there would be no responsibility or liability for the members who are not on the water system.  When we got the final merger document, it states that the whole RLCA community is 100% responsible and 100% liable for the Eastside water system. So the membership was misled about the facts of the merger.

The ballots were designed with the members’ names right next to their vote, not allowing their vote to be anonymous, which is contrary to state and federal ballots.  The bylaws that were needed for the merger to be valid did not pass.

The membership should have had the opportunity to see the final merger documents before voting to go ahead with the actual merger.  That did not happen.  So, a hold was put on the merger to try to sort it all out, and then the merger was filed incorrectly without the knowledge or approval of seven of the nine members of the RLCA board.  Consequently, as a move to right a wrong, seven notarized affidavits and a certificate of correction were filed with the Secretary of State to correct this action.

The filing by those who are reluctant to admit it violated State RCW Regulations.  As of this writing, the ruling by the Secretary of State has reversed the merger and both the RWA and the RLCA are back to the original status of being independent non-profit corporations. All of this information can be substantiated by calling the Secretary of State Corporation and Charities Division at (360) 725-0377 or access public information @ www.sos.wa.gov/corps.

There is also much talk of hiring a lake manager or even managers that claim to magically solve all of our problems with an unknown cost factor.  To be sure, we all have a right to our own opinions about this, but there may be serious ramifications if this were to take place.

Some proponents of this action appear to have not completed enough homework to establish claims about its cost and feasibility.  What is not answered, as well, is the impact it would have on the community as a whole.  Who among us can realistically afford a considerable increase to maintain the upkeep at our lake?  What impact would this have on the decades long volunteer effort that has sustained us for generations?  When we work together, we accomplish an incredible amount at a minimal cost.  And maybe most importantly, what becomes of our ability to govern ourselves by having an outside entity tell us what the rules are and how they should be administered?  Does this solve all of our problems or create new ones?

Finally, the lawsuit.  There is a complaint that the mediation agreement has not been addressed in a timely manner.  This lawsuit had been stayed for some time.  After the merger was filed, the lawsuit was reopened.  We continue to communicate and try to satisfy the demands of the plaintiff.  There is much work yet to be done.

It is unfortunate that litigation exists between members of such a small community.  We have really lost our way when we fail to communicate effectively, find compromise, or simply forgive.  Would it be wrong to suggest that we all chose to live here based on the intrinsic beauty, the low cost of dues, and the kindness and initiative of our community members?  And to be sure, we are all capable of doing good things, just as we are capable of making mistakes.

The message we hope to send to the community is this:  We are all in this together, despite our differences of opinions and our approaches to challenges.  We all have a voice and have a right to express ourselves, but we will always achieve more if we work together with patience, communication, and understanding.

We, as a board, value your input, suggestions, and feedback.  Please respond in a way that you are comfortable with on any of the above issues or others that have not been discussed here.  We greatly appreciate your time.