Thanks for posting this. I can't believe how out of control this board is!

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https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/howard-county/residents-want-recall-of-columbia-association-board-members-4TAWAA67XBA4BMR3QP3PVHCENI/

HOWARD COUNTY

Some residents want recall of Columbia Association board members

Liz BowieJanuary 2, 2023 at 12:12 PM EST

A public argument over the direction of Maryland’s second largest city erupted Monday as a group of residents called for the recall of Columbia Association board members to prevent them from ousting the association’s top paid staff member.

The board has not commented on speculation that it is about to remove association president, Lakey Boyd, who believes the heart of the issue is the tension between old and new in a growing community of 104,000 residents. Two board members reached Monday declined to comment. Dick Boulton, who represents the neighborhoods of Dorsey’s Search, said he was prohibited from commenting on what is happening in closed door meetings.

Residents said that Boyd has brought an agenda of openness and transparency to the association, listening to communities that for too long have not had power — something they don’t believe everyone likes.

They are calling for residents in five villages to sign a petition asking the village councils to recall their elected leaders immediately. Standing in front of Lake Kitamaqundi in downtownColumbia, they held signs with QR codes for the villages of Dorsey’s Search, Oakland Mills, Harper’s Choice, River Hill and Town Center. They asked residents to use the QR codes to sign the petitions.

The 10-member Columbia Association board has a representative from each village elected by the residents of that area. Seven of the seats could turn over during an April election, but Boyd’s supporters are concerned that she will be removed before the election.

Erika Strauss Chavarria, executive director of Columbia Community Care and a Wilde Lake resident, is one of those calling for the community to take action to intervene. She said the current board, which is entirely white, does not represent the diversity of Columbia.

“The fact that the board does not in any way, shape or form represent the rich diversity or demographics of the residents they serve is unacceptable. The current CA board does not understand nor do they have interest in the true needs of the community that they serve,” Chavarria said. “This unrepresentative system perpetuates inequities and leads to community disengagement.” In contrast, she said, Boyd is attempting to create an equitable Columbia Association.

Ashley Vaughan, a Harper’s Choice resident and former CA board member, said she believes the current board is acting fiscally irresponsibly by spending $40,000 to hire outside legal counsel to advise them. Buying out the remainder of Boyd,’s contract, she said, would cost the Columbia Association $500,000, an expenditure that the community can’t afford.

Boyd has said she believes her job may be at risk as tensions between her and the board have grown.

In an interview with The Banner last month, she said that she is an outsider and they are unhappy with her efforts to engage with previously overlooked parts of the community, which is increasingly diverse.

”We have opened the doors, we’ve invited people to the table and I’m doing my best to take out the table and set it up at the lakefront for people to show up,” Boyd said.

Larry Walker of Howard County holds a sign while speakers speak during a press conference in Downtown Columbia Lakefront. (Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner)

She said she believes some people are saying that the Columbia Association — a massive homeowners association that is the closest thing Columbia has to a city government — “is not doing what I’m used to it doing.”

”And my answer is I think we’re here to serve everyone in the community the best we can, and not any specific subset of the community,” she added.

Boyd quickly made it a priority to focus on equity, diversity and inclusion and to forge connections with parts of the community that had been disconnected from the Columbia Association, which has a $70 million budget and provides a variety of amenities and services, including day care, athletic facilities, recreational trails and arts programming.

Howard County provides other essential services — such as police and fire service, and schools — to the unincorporated community.

Laura Bacon, an Oakland Mills resident, said at the Monday press conference that Boyd has made the Columbia Association more accessible and community-oriented. In addition, she said, she “has turned a budget process that was once convoluted and secretive into one that is interactive and transparent.”

She wants Boyd to stay in her position, despite the conflict with the association’s board, which has grown increasingly full of friction at public meetings.

Chavarria said the board has held numerous meetings in secret to discuss personnel issues.

Boyd could not be reached for comment on Monday, but Dannika Rynes, the senior media relations manager for the association, said “the outpouring of support from the Columbia community is continuous proof that our organization is moving in the right direction under Lakey’s leadership … Community only lives up to its fullest potential when people are involved and feel heard.”

Rynes said the board spent $42,000 for three months between September and November on the outside counsel. The board has not said what the counsel was hired to do, but she said at a meeting Boyd attended with the attorney, that she was given a document that said she cannot appeal her job evaluation.

liz.bowie@thebaltimorebanner.com

Can we petition to get rid of CA in general? It’s a private company that acts like a government agency and has no input from the public. As much as I hate to say it, it’s time to make Columbia a city

You’re really making two separate suggestions: 1 - dissolve CA and 2 - incorporate Columbia. Both are technically possible but not plausible.

You’re definitely not the only person to express this opinion so my apologies in advance if the following seems an over-the-top reply - it’s a reaction to what I see as a cynical response that proposes an impractical solution to a problem we don’t have.

CA doesn’t act like a government (nor should it). CA doesn’t pass or enforce laws nor provide utilities, emergency response, schools, maintain roads, sewer service, etc. Instead, it provides a bunch of amenities and services to make the community a better place to live and owns and manages a bunch of property towards that end as well. It is governed by a board of directors chosen from the community who should be representing all of their neighbors to provide the needed input from the community. It also has several advisory committees where the community can engage directly with CA staff without going through the board of directors.

I believe a major part of the community’s problem is people thinking CA acts (or should act) like a government. This perception results in board members that don’t understand their role nor the role of CA, creates unrealistic expectations of CA, diverts attention away from holding the actual local government (Howard county) accountable, and confuses issues in a way that drives informed participation down.

Instead of advocating for an impractical pipe dream (Columbia should be a city), please just have an informed opinion on the amenities and services you think CA should (and shouldn’t) provide, vote in your village elections, and politely encourage your neighbors to do the same.

It’s up to voters to get the board back under control!

I live nearby so I don't have any direct skin in this game besides using and really enjoying Columbia's recreational facilities. I'm hoping to learn something by attempting to understand and clarify the arguments being made here.

It's difficult to accept that the CA is not a government; it acts a lot like one. Its annual charges -- required payments for properties within the CA boundary -- appear to be property taxes with a different name. Its village associations pass and enforce laws in the form of restrictive covenants and create master plans -- basically a very careful department of planning and zoning. Each village has an elected representative. It's not possible to leave the association without moving out of Columbia proper.

As a result, the CA appears to be a layer of local government on top of Howard County. As I understand it, the argument to dissolve the CA and incorporate Columbia advocates for flattening the layers and potentially increasing the accountability of the association's administration to its members. What would be bad about Columbia being governed as an independent city rather than an unincorporated part of Howard County?

So I don't think there really is an argument to dissolve CA and replace it with a city government. My sense is that when people say they "want Columbia to be an incorporated city" it's really just an expression of exasperation with CA and an expression of pride in Columbia as Maryland's second largest city with a unique heritage (both of which I appreciate). They aren't actually outlining an affirmative vision nor executable plan to do something different. So without a coherent plan to do achieve incorporation, it's impossible to have the type of coherent counterargument that you are asking for.

I'm not trying to dodge a comprehensive response here… just saying the burden of proof really needs to be on the people who support incorporation to develop a concrete plan instead of asking people who are skeptical of nebulous idea to explain their point of view. I can say that divorcing the a hypothetical city from the services the county provides (fire, water, sewer, schools, roads, etc.) sounds like something that would inevitably end up worse for both Columbia and non-Columbia residents.

But I also I want to respond to one specific thing you said - that incorporating Columbia would "flatten the layers of government and increase accountability." This demonstrates a common - and harmful - view that CA and/or the villages currently exists as a layer in between the county and people living in Columbia. This is absolutely not true but way too many people act as if it is. People who live in Columbia that have an issue with roads, schools, utilities, etc. can and should go directly to their county representative, BOE representative, and/or appropriate government agency. The fact that many people go to CA or their village on these issues - who have zero authority over these issues - instead of their county representatives is a self-inflicted problem based on a misconception of responsibility. Even worse is when CA or village representatives themselves pretend like they have some authority over those issues - it’s a major disservice to the community for the representatives to LARP like they can fix those issues but it regularly happens.

I should note that many CA/village representatives do the right thing when a resident comes to them regarding a county issue and simply serve as a knowledgeable source of information and point their neighbors people in the right direction towards the appropriate county point of contact… but way too many of them start LARPing like they have power and authority they don't actually have. This is a disservice to everyone.

PS - Glad to hear you like CA's facilities! Me too!

Yeah I don't see what is a "pipedream" about Columbia being a city. Columbia has around 100k residents, about 1/3 of Howard county, and CA has a budget of around $70m. Columbia could absolutely support itself as a small city with that budget. I admit I don't know anything about how MD laws relate to "cities". I feel like it should be possible to have a "city" and a "mayor" and a "council" and still be part of the larger county... but maybe I'm wrong and there's something odd in MD law that prevents that (lots of those states have that without having the cities be independent). It think that would be much better than the current setup.

If it was to be "independent" (from Howard County) then I can see how that would be problematic. I think, tax and size wise, the city could support itself. But removing it from Howard County would probably fairly well eviscerate the county so there would be little political support from basically any politicians in the entire state.

As a point of reference, Annapolis is an incorporated city. It has less then half the population of Columbia (40k) while its annual budget is about 6.5 times CA's budget.

The responsibility and power you would want the city, mayor, and council to have; and how those responsibilities and powers would be funded can't be afterthoughts - those questions are the fundamental thing that you would need to answer before making the case to incorporate as a city. I call it a "pipedream" (genuinely sorry if that comes off as dismissive) because I've never heard those aspects defined in any detail nor an explanation of how that would result in a better quality of life for residents. But, despite the lack of rigor, "becoming a city" is treated like a panacea that would solve all Columbia's problems... meanwhile people aren't taking the readily available actions that would improve the status quo: stay informed about CA and vote in village elections.

Thanks so much for this careful explanation!