PINE MOUNTAIN CLUB, Calif. (KERO) — After serving 18 months, the general manager of the Pine Mountain Club Property Owners Association is resigning. With his departure, what’s in store for the future of the POA?
- After one and a half years as general manager of the Pine Mountain Club Property Owners Association, Todd Greison has decided to step down.
- Now that the position will be opening up, what does this mean for the POA?
- Greison’s last day is on December 13, which will later be followed up by an application for those wanting to fill the role.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
In late November, Todd Greison, general manager and COO of the Pine Mountain Club Property Owners Association released his letter of resignation.
The letter says in part, “This has been a difficult decision. I'm greatly saddened because this is such a beautiful place with so many wonderful people living here. I will miss both. What I won’t miss, and why I've been driven to find another home and workplace, is the underlying ugliness of staff mistreatment by a few individuals.”
“This is a very different board than the one that hired me,” said Greison. “We have three year term limits for each board member and there’s only three board members remaining that were among the board members that hired me.”
But as Greison steps down, what happens to the role?
Well for Greison, he found the job posting through the Community Association Institute (CAI) an organization that works with property and homeowners associations.
That’s where the Pine Mountain Club board of directors found him.
“We’ll fill out an application there and if the board chooses to speak to that person, it would be the board of directors here who would hire just like the previous board of directors hired me,” said Greison.
From there, it’s the board’s decision.
As for when the role will be filled, that varies. Greison said it took about two years to be hired, but it may not take that long.
“People in my position are in pretty high demand and because… Pine Mountain Club is kind of remote and not everybody wants to move here,” said Greison. “They might have trouble, it might take them a while.”
But in the meantime, the board steps up to fill the duties.
“Temporarily, the board chairperson will be just kind of overseeing things as if she were the general manager and just making sure the operations continue without me here,” said Greison.
Here is the full statement from Todd Greison’s resignation letter:
"To Pine Mountain Club board of directors & members,
Please consider this my resignation as General Manager & COO of Pine Mountain Club POA, effective December 13, 2024.
This has been a difficult decision. I’m greatly saddened because this is such a beautiful place with so many wonderful people living here. I will miss both. What I won’t miss, and why I’ve been driven to find another home and workplace, is the underlying ugliness of staff mistreatment by a few individuals. PMC has lost staff and others have gone out on medical leave due to the hostile work environment created from some directors and members, making my job to keep operations functioning unnecessarily difficult. Morale among remaining staff, the most valuable asset you have, is very low.
I have done my best to protect them from this hostile work environment, especially found on social media. It is a very toxic space being created with some pages and groups using the name of Pine Mountain Club or PMC inappropriately and causing immeasurable damage to its name and home property values. Some of the hostility has been directed at me. I can accept some criticism as GM which comes with this or any other leadership position. But the criticism has become personal, attacking my reputation and character using words such as “insane” and falsely accusing me of having an extramarital affair, which affects my family, too. To protect my reputation, which includes the digital footprint of social media posts, I’ve lost my desire to be associated with this community.
I have tried to work with this newer board, only three of whom remain from the board that hired me in late 2022. As a group, the current board with limited overall association management experience, is very different than the one who hired me. This one is unprofessional, divisive, and arguably dysfunctional because of their inexperience and inability to work together as a team. An example of their inexperience is demonstrated by some voting against resolutions and motions supported by expert legal opinions, which goes against best practices of the HOA industry. To go against legal or other professional opinion puts the POA at unnecessary risk. The board has been advised from legal counsel on multiple occasions that this hostile work environment is exposing PMC to legal action, potentially causing great financial harm to the association. Yet the advice seems to be ignored, as the behavior continues.
Other professional opinions include the need to make the clubhouse a safe place to work and visit. PMC’s financial risk increases by delaying the remodeling the clubhouse. The most famous example of a board’s inaction to make engineer-recommended repairs was at a condo association in Surfside Florida, where Champlain Tower’s partial collapse killed 98 people in 2021. I’ve made some minor improvements to the clubhouse, within my spending limit. But there are dangerous conditions beyond my authority to repair, where many of your staff are employed and many members and guests visit. Unlike individual members, boards of directors have fiduciary responsibility to maintain and, when needed, replace association facilities.
It’s become clear that some among the board do not trust or respect me – two essential elements in any work or personal relationship to succeed. Recently, I was told by the board chair that my PMC contract may or may not be renewed in May when it expires. With that message, I no longer have trust or respect for them and was compelled to search for another GM position elsewhere. Thankfully, in my career field, there is plenty of demand for managers with my experience and knowledge. I have found a GM position in another beautiful mountain community, whose experienced directors have shown that they will trust, respect, and appreciate the value I will bring to them.
I hope the many fine members who live, and work here will take a stand against this hostile work environment and damage created by a few. I truly wish the best to Pine Mountain Club POA."
Greison’s last day is on December 13, which will later be followed up by an application for those wanting to fill the role.
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:
