This is Phil Chapman. I am currently on the Board of the Providence Master Association and am running for re-election this cycle. I write only for myself here.

There are six candidates running for the two available seats this election: 

Kristin Huth, me, Michelle Tagata, Shauna Turner, Vince Loving, and Duane Bickmore. 

Based on their candidate statements and things some have said, here are the most significant differences in the candidates’ positions as I understand them to be:  

SECURITY PATROL: Michelle and Shauna have both stated that they want to bring back roving security patrols throughout Providence. Kristin and I do not. A roving security patrol at the level we previously had would add at least $1,000,000 to our annual expenses, and probably more. That would necessitate a substantial increase in assessments, from the current $150 per quarter to $194 - $200 per quarter or more. In addition to being enormously expensive, the roving security patrol is demonstrably ineffective. Skye Canyon, our neighboring community to the north, has roving, armed security and their crime rates, as reported by LVMPD, have been comparable to Providence’s both when we had roving patrol and since we eliminated it. Vince and Duane have not stated a position on this issue as far as I am aware.

SURPLUS FUNDS: Nevada Law, NRS 116.3114, and our CC&Rs, Section 8.1, require that any funds left over after all expenses are paid must be either put in our reserve fund or credited back to the homeowners. We currently have over $1,000,000 of operating funds in a CD that does not mature until the end of December, 2024. All of that money will be surplus funds as of Jan 1, 2025. There is enough surplus money in that CD to credit every homeowner with one quarter ($150) of assessments and bring the reserves up to 100% funded as of Dec 31, 2024. At the October Board Meeting, I proposed doing that. Shauna, along with Tim Gregart and Ed Stergar, voted against it. Both Shauna and Michelle have said that they would consider returning the surplus to the homeowners at the end of 2025. Kristin and I would return the surplus funds at the earliest opportunity. Vince and Duane have not stated a position on this issue as far as I am aware.

TRANSPARENCY: In the past, all meetings of committees of the Providence Master Association were open to the members. Homeowners could attend in-person or Zoom meetings to observe committee discussions. When we re-established the finance and social committees, I proposed that we continue that policy. Shauna, along with Tim Gregart and Ed Stergar, voted not to do so. They have not provided a reasonable explanation for their desire for secret committee meetings. Kristin agrees that committee meetings should be open to the members. As far as I know, Michelle, Vince, and Duane have not stated positions on this issue. They may not even be aware that it is an issue. 

EVENTS: This is one issue on which most of the candidates seem to be converging on a consensus. I have always said that I am not opposed to events, just to spending association funds on them. Shauna and Michelle both seem to support the idea that there can be successful community events without funding from the Association. Duane says that he wants to “expand events,” but he has not addressed Association funding as far as I am aware. I do not know Vince’s position on events. 

Since the fall of 2020, when Katie Hedlind and Phil Chapman were elected to the Board of Directors, and especially after the election of Christia Clayton, Joe Van Dyke, and Anthony Fox in 2021, the Providence Master Homeowners Association made great progress in reducing unnecessary expenses and restoring the Association to a sound financial position. The 2023 budget reduced expenses by over $1.7 million dollars compared to the 2020 budget, which allowed the Board to lower assessments from $180 per quarter to $150 per quarter. The 2024 budget maintained those savings, covering all necessary expenses without raising assessments. 

During that period, the Board also accelerated the completion of the irrigation replacement, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in wasted water from leaks. In addition, the Board, for the first time, addressed its responsibility to repair and maintain the perimeter walls by hiring an engineering firm to conduct a survey of the walls and budgeting sufficient money for needed repairs.  

The Association’s finances are now in good shape. Our revenues are enough (without raising assessments) to fulfill all of our core responsibilities for maintenance, repair of infrastructure, and enforcement of the Governing Documents. Barring any unforeseen emergency, our reserve account will be funded at over 90% at the end of 2024. 

However, in the 2023 election, member complacency resulted in the election of three out of five Board members who are not as committed to fiscal responsibility as Joe Van Dyke and Phil Chapman. There is now increasing pressure to resume some of the wasteful, profligate spending on non-essential activities that got the Association into financial peril prior to 2020 — spending on things like social events and entertainment, which are not authorized, let alone required by the Governing Documents, and full security or “courtesy” patrol. The Board recently approved a limited security patrol, consisting of only one patrolman and limiting the area patrolled to the parks and Promenade. That limited patrol will cost around $260,000 per year. Bringing back the same patrol coverage we used to have would cost well over $1,300,000. That would necessitate raising assessments to at least $200 per quarter, and probably more. 

Two of the five Board seats are up for election this November: Phil Chapman’s and Shauna Turner’s. Please read each Board candidate’s information statement carefully to ensure that you vote to elect candidates whose views represent your own. Ballots and candidate information statements should be mailed out around the middle of October. The annual meeting of members at which the votes will be counted is scheduled for November 20 at 5:00 PM.