Article Courtesy of The Ocala Star-Banner

By MILLARD K. IVES
Published September 12, 2005

OCALA - A group of Majestic Oaks residents are calling for the ouster of the leaders of their homeowners association who brought national attention on the community by refusing to allow residents to take in victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Cliff Daley, a former vice president of the Majestic Oaks Homeowners Association, delivered notices with other residents Saturday to the community's 500 plus homes asking residents to pressure board members to apologize and resign.

Daley, who resigned his board position a while back after disputes with the president, said Sunday, if he gets enough interest from the community, he will ask for a special meeting at which residents could force a recall vote.

"They can tell us what we can have in our yards and our homes, but they can't tell us what we can have in our hearts," said Daley, who also is a member of Cyber Citizens For Justice, a statewide watchdog of homeowners associations.

He said at least 30 percent of the community's homeowners would have to be in attendance at the special meeting and at least 51 percent of those in attendance would have to vote for the recall for it to succeed.

The controversy arose last week when members of the Majestic Oaks Homeowners Association board circulated notices advising residents that "our covenants and bylaws prohibit additional families in family homes." Backlash against the notices was swift and heated, and the controversy drew attention from national media outlets.

The president and vice president of the homeowners association, who circulated the notices, could not be reached Sunday about the call for their resignations. Vice president Audrey Andrews said in an earlier interview that the board encourages residents to make donations or charitable contributions to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. But, she added, the board thought it needed to prevent any sudden influx of evacuees in the single-family homes.

President Bob Watson also said earlier that he could not bend the covenants. Watson said he has received a number of complaints about the notices and was told by one resident that the board's stance was discriminatory.

A number of community residents have protested the homeowners association's stance against Katrina victims, and many of them made their displeasure known at a volatile community meeting Tuesday.

"This is nothing more than a slap in the face to the hurricane victims," said Deanna Hellis, who recently moved from Majestic Oaks to a home in Silver Springs so she could take in Katrina victims.

Jan Bergemann, president of Cyber Citizens For Justice, said a Lake Worth attorney has agreed to work pro-bono for any Majestic Oaks resident who wanted to provide shelter to evacuees.

Two members of the seven-member homeowners association board, Christine Beers and Lou Colaianni, resigned last week in protest after the board failed to rescind the notices.

At least one property owner in Majestic Oaks, Triple Crown Homes, wants to turn one of its model homes into a refuge for a family displaced by Katrina.