Wednesday, January 14, 2009

"Inside the City" News Article: "Association Criticized: Survey Shows Many Residents Don't Approve of Job it's Doing"

The January, 2009 issue of "Inside the City" Magazine includes an eye-opening story that reviews the results of a recent membership survey conducted by the Land Park Community Association. The lead-in states: "A significant number of Land Park residents don't approve of their neighborhood association's performance, according to a recent survey."

The article includes extensive comments gleaned from a detailed membership survey conducted by the LPCA this fall in which 176 Land Park residents responded. The article continues:

Survey respondents were invited to make comments. A common theme was that the LPCA does not represent or listen to resident's concerns. "The LPCA does not represent my concerns," one respondent wrote. "The association seems to involve itself in areas that do not always appear to concern [itself]."

Wrote another: "LPCA does not represent Land Park. It represents the view of [specific board members]. They are anti-improvement and the development of Land Park. They want to keep it in its current dumpy state."

A third said, "I feel that the members represent a small part of Land Park, not the area [where] I live in 'poor Land Park.'" Another complained about "being bullied and not listened to."

A number of residents commented on the association's general dysfunctionality, citing this as the reason why they were not more involved in the association. "I have attended meetings and found the infighting, favoritism, snide comments and dirty looks the board members exhibited to be embarrassing," one person wrote. Said another: "I want to be active, but given the ridiculous behavior and agenda robbery, it is a complete waste of time."

"There is a palpable level of frustration among our neighbors, who feel that the performance of the board has fallen short of what they'd like to see accomplished," said association's acting president, Scott Rose. "There can be no doubt that some of the tactics of the past and internal feuding have taken a toll."

The LPCA will hold a membership meeting on Wednesday, January 21st from 6:30 to 9 p.m. to discuss the survey results. The meeting will be at the Eskaton/Monroe Lodge at 3225 Freeport Boulevard.