Judge reinstates homeowners directors

A move to unseat the Lake Charleston board is thwarted,

but the community remains divided.

The specter of the 2000 presidential election nightmare hung over a Palm Beach County courtroom Thursday.

However, in this case, instead of George Bush, the victor was Bailey Conaway. And instead of gaining the right to be the leader of the free world, Conaway won the right to lead the deeply divided 2,400-home Lake Charleston community in western Boynton Beach.

"Truth prevailed," said David Midolo, a county firefighter who also was swept back onto the community's board of directors when Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull refused to allow votes to be counted that opponents claimed would have swung the outcome the other way.

Conaway, Midolo and another board member, Jane Early, got their seats back with the help of attorney Steven Meyer. Four years ago, Meyer was the opposite side of a similar — albeit more far-reaching — battle as part of the legal team representing failed presidential candidate Al Gore.

And while the landmark presidential election recount case, Gore vs. Harris, was cited during this week's three-day trial, Meyer argued that the behavior that cost his clients their posts was neither presidential nor American.

"It was like a Third World country," he said of the February overthrow. "It was like a hostile coup. They took over the TV station, the media. They changed the locks. They took over the bank account and then they bad-mouthed the former leadership."

Barkdull agreed, blasting the group for taking the law into their own hands.

Petitions the new board circulated to seize power didn't contain a sufficient number of signatures to remove the old board, he said.

Further, Barkdull said, it was improper to count affidavits signed after the new group took over, particularly when it appeared some were altered to make it appear they were signed before they actually were.

In addition, he said he found that testimony of Desi Larmer, one of the coup leaders, suffered from "a complete lack of credibility."

But in reinstating the old board, Barkdull warned that their fight was far from over.

"There's a lot of homeowners in Lake Charleston who don't agree with what you're doing," he said. "Now that you're reinstated, you have to live together as neighbors, and it's clear you have a deeply divided community."

Those involved say there are other practical, and potentially expensive, matters to address.

A playground project that was altered by the now-defrocked leaders will have to be redone, lawyer Meyer said.

The current management company probably will be dismissed, and a new one — headed by a woman who was fired when she refused to work with the new board — will be hired.

There is also the matter of who will pay the legal fees.

Meyer said he will go after the coup leaders. However, their attorney, Janeen Richard, said they can't be held personally liable.

While she declined to say how much her legal bill would be, Meyer estimated his in the $50,000 to $75,000 range.

If those who staged the coup don't pay, it is possible that homeowners or the association's insurer will.

Richard declined to say whether she would appeal Barkdull's ruling.

None of the members of the new board — Larmer, Lester Kotok or Don Miller — could be reached.

The judge ordered the two sides to settle their remaining differences in mediation. If the two sides can't agree, Barkdull said, he will see them back in court.

Attorneys on both sides agreed the case is an unusual one. Typically, drives to unseat homeowner association board members fizzle, or the members resign.

Further, they said, a new law that will go into effect Oct. 1 will clearly spell out the steps that should be taken to remove board members of homeowner associations.