Election Interference

Election Interference by Carmona and Westcom, a Repetition of what Horizon Management Previously Did for the Board Majority

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” -George Santayana

My Fellow Homeowners:

First, you probably have already received the Anonymous Poison Pen Letter that criticized and defamed the Board Minority (Frida Dilonell, Leemon McHenry, and myself). Evidently, the Anonymous Homeowner who mailed the Poison Pen Letter to all Members of our community had a very strong interest in making sure that the Board Minority was not reelected to the Board of Directors. As is plainly evident, the Anonymous Homeowner did not have the character and courage to sign her or his name to the Poison Pen Letter.

Some members of the Board Majority have even represented that they “never received” the Poison Pen Letter and furthermore, that they had “never even heard" about the Poison Pen Letter. Such statements are both doubtful and dubious. Now, here comes Mr. Carmona, the next batter at the plate, looking to criticize and defame the Board Minority. The two paragraphs below put this most recent Election Interference in context of past Election Interference at Windsor Fountains (“WF”).

In 2020, blatant Election Interference occurred when Horizon Management allowed the Board Majority an advance look at the Election Statements submitted by Ms. Dilonell and Mr. McHenry. This allowed the opposing Candidates to add a lengthy Rebuttal Section to their Candidate Statements. The excuse used was that Ms. Dilonell and Mr. McHenry had purportedly defamed the other Candidates. When asked to point out any alleged instance of defamation, there was complete silence. No instance of defamation could even be pointed to. Of course, Ms. Dilonell and Mr. McHenry had no such right of Rebuttal.

The then Board Members (Judit Maull, Jessica Lee, and Amy Rosenstein) had no right, ahead of all other Homeowners, to view the Candidates Statements submitted by Ms. Dilonell and Mr. McHenry. They also had no right to obtain legal argument from our HOA attorney (paid for by all Homeowners) in a failed attempt to justify their Election Interference.

In 2023, in order to prevent Election Interference from happening again, Ms. Dilonell promptly objected when Mr. Carmona asserted that he was WF’s “Inspector of Elections.” Mr. Carmona planned to have the Statements sent to him, and upon receipt, he asserted that he had the authority to review and approve them. Upon Ms. Dilonell’s objection that Mr. Carmona’s plans were unlawful, Mr. Carmona was forced to abandon his plan. Mr. Carmona finally informed the Candidates that the true Inspector of Election was not Mr. Carmona, but instead The Ballot Box, a company that specializes in conducting HOA elections.

On May 15th, however, Mr. Carmona accomplished his mission of Election Interference -- he sent an email to all Homeowners, urging them not to vote for Frida Dilonell, Leemon McHenry, and myself. The notion that we have somehow failed to adhere to the “rules” is FALSE! In fact, we were careful to comply with the Windsor Fountains Governing Documents (i.e. WF Election Rules) and ALL applicable Civil Codes, including Civil Code 5105(a) (1). Notably, none of our Candidacy Statements refer to any Candidate by name.

Accordingly, the so-called Rebuttal is another blatant example of Election Interference where Association funds are used for self-serving purposes. In reality, the so called Rebuttal is just another form of campaigning! To make sure that every Homeowner got his message, Mr. Carmona’s email was also mailed out via U.S. mail (a huge waste of Association funds).

In the face of the unprecedented and orchestrated campaigning against Frida Dilonell, Leemon McHenry, and myself, I urge you to see that the integrity of the Election Process has been again seriously compromised. CONTRARY to Civil Code 5105(a) (1), that clearly states Candidates are allowed to advocate a “point of view,” Mr. Carmona asserts that “candidate statements are intended to be a personal bio in regard to a candidate’s qualifications and should not contain any campaign tactics.” As you can simply see, a cursory review of the Candidates’ Statements demonstrates that the other Candidates went BEYOND stating their “qualifications” only!

Lastly, the “CANDIDACY STATEMENT” FORM submitted by Mr. Carmona, has been unilaterally altered without the approval of the Board and without Notice to the Membership and is therefore invalid. Mr. Carmona’s accusations have no basis in fact and are not supported by any California law. Mr. Carmona’s accusations can fairly be viewed as defamatory.

PLEASE DON’T BE FOOLED BY THIS ELECTION INTERFERENCE

VOTE FOR CHANGE BEFORE THE DEADLINE PASSES!

Sincerely,

David Hayen, Esq.

WF Board Member