Paul Lavigne Running for the Board of Directors
Commitment to Financial Transparency
The Board and its Committees do an outstanding job managing the Association's finances while doing their best to meet our expectations for the kind of community where we want to live. All required financial reports are approved and distributed to all homeowners on time. Our HOA always has a “clean” audit, one with no exceptions. And it maintains appropriate operating and capital reserves. Having served on the Finance Committee in 2021, I can attest to the diligence of Committee members. Other Board Committees and management are equally diligent in their responsibilities.
I answered the question, Why Do You Want to Serve on the Board? in my Candidate Statement as follows: "I want to reverse annual HOA losses, $134,221 in 2024 and $125,379.45 in 2025, achieve the 2026 Budget’s Net Income (Loss) of $0, and increase transparency in the conduct of Board decision making, particularly with respect to HOA finances".
I raised the same matter in the Open Board Meeting on February 26, 2026. I asked Cliff, our Treasurer, to explain the losses I alleged. Cliff did, saying "it all depends on how you look at it." He further explained, but I did not understand his explanation. If the Annual Budget has a $0 Net Income (Loss) and the December Financial Statements show the numbers I stated, it's a loss.
It seems that homeowners' major interest in our HOA’s finances is the monthly fee we must pay and the annual increases in that fee. We seem to trust, and for good reason, that the processes in place yield a positive and usually good result, an affordable fee. The processes and available reports may be somewhat overwhelming and difficult for many to understand. Why bother if others are taking care of things? That’s great as long as things are going well.
However, the Board limits the amount of information provided to us about its decision-making process, unlike the other two nearby Four Seasons communities, Murrieta and Beaumont. The boards at those communities ask their Finance Committees to present a brief report at each Open Board Meeting. Our Open Board Meeting agenda includes a Financial Report, which is usually very brief, but our Finance Committee, even with a new Charter just approved, is not expected to provide a report.
The Open Board Meeting agenda is almost exclusively about spending items, either on the Consent Agenda, or New Business. 99.9% of the time these items are approved with a motion, a second, and a vote which is unanimous; there is rarely any discussion. I suppose the Board believes this is being transparent. What would be more transparent is a discussion of the financial results for the monthly financial statement being approved.
We and the other two local Four Seasons communities develop and distribute a monthly magazine or newsletter to its homeowners. Beaumont and Murrieta include articles from all of their committees, including their Finance Committee. Our Hemet Herald includes articles submitted by every committee EXCEPT our Finance Committee. Our HOA Board President and HOA Manager have an article in every monthly Herald; they rarely say anything about our finances.
If elected to the Board, I will advocate for the Finance Committee to report at every monthly Open Board Meeting and submit an article for every month’s Hemet Herald. I would expect both to provide an accurate assessment of our HOA’s financial performance. I will ask the Board President and HOA Manager to comment periodically in their Herald articles about the status of our finances and any issues of concerns.
I elected, I will advocate for the Board to identify the YTD Net income (loss) at each Open Board Meeting and to provide a great deal more explanation and discussion of our HOA’s financial status as the year goes along.
The Board approves the Annual Audit and the monthly Financial Statements as part of the Consent Agenda and the Annual Budget as an agenda item. The Board very rarely says anything about these reports. The approved Annual Audits and Annual Budgets are mailed to all homeowners. The monthly financial statements are posted on our HOA’s website, https://portal.connectresident.com.
I believe these additions to our Board’s practices will educate residents about our finances throughout the year with very little time or effort, identify any potential issues in revenue or expenses at the time, and better prepare us for the inevitable annual monthly fee increase.