Update 11.21.07 - DHL says no to BelmontNA membership

The DHL has rejected the Belmont Neighborhood Association's application for membership.

The letter is posted here as a PDF, but has not been converted into text for posting on the website.

The DHL rejection only pertains to membership within the DHL. It does not mean that BelmontNA must cease to exist or cease any activities in the community. The BelmontNA is determined to work to improve the quality of life for its neighbors and nearly 200 members in the Lower Greenville area, including Resident Parking Only programs.

The BelmontNA board will review the letter and post a reply after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Update 11.12.07

The hearing in re BelmontNA's application for DHL membership (and LGNA's protest of the membership) took place on Monday evening, November 12, 2007. The hearing lasted for nearly two hours.

The BelmontNA was capably represented by Diana Souza, Avi S. Adelman and Stephen Melendi.

Due to the voluminous amount of reading materials presented by LGNA, the six members of the DHL Board who were present did not make a final decision on our application.

The DHL informed us that both groups will get an email informing us of the decision at the same time.

The BelmontNA board will post that email just as soon as we get it.

DHL calls for membership hearing between LGNA and BelmontNA

The BelmontNA applied for membership in the Dallas Homeowners League on March 1, 2007. Due to our overlapping boundaries with the Lower Greenville NA, we knew our application would trigger a hearing in front of the DHL Board between the two associations.

The DHL did not respond to our application, nor any letters from our Board of Directors or association attorney, until we were invited to participate in the DHL Boot Camp in mid-August.

On October 14, 2007, DHL President Jeri Arbuckle hand-delivered a letter to BelmontNA's officers, outlining the hearing requirements and process in detail, plus asking BelmontNA to select dates for a hearing in the first two weeks of November.

All correspondence between the DHL, LGNA and BelmontNA will be posted on this website.

Click here to see a detailed comparison of the Lower Greenville NA and BelmontNA, based on Quality of Life factors such as crime incidents, alcoholic beverage sales, size and populations.

Letter to BelmontNA and LGNA 10.12.07 (outline of hearing requirements)

• A PDF copy of the letter has been posted to our website at this link.
• A text-only version of the document can be found here.

Letter to DHL from BelmontNA, replying to letter of 10.12.07 (questions and requests)

• A PDF copy of the letter has been posted to our website at this link.
• A text-only version of the document can be found here.

Letter to BelmontNA from DHL, 11.2.07, replying to letter of 10.15.07 and confirming hearing date

• A PDF copy of the letter has been posted to our website at this link.
• A text-only version of the document can be found here.

Letter to DHL from BelmontNA, 11.3.07, replying to letter of 11.2.07 and re-submitting questions not answered in letter

• A PDF copy of the letter has been posted to our website at this link.
• A text-only version of the document can be found here.

Email to BelmontNA from DHL, 11.3.07, demanding that BelmontNA not leave letters at DHL officer's homes

• A PDF copy of the letter has been posted to our website at this link.
• A text-only version of the document can be found here.

Email to DHL's Jeri Arbuckle from BelmontNA's Avi Adelman, 11.3.07, reminding Jeri that she hand-delivered a letter to BelmontNA's Diana Souza's house

• A PDF copy of the letter has been posted to our website at this link.
• A text-only version of the document can be found here.

Email to DHL's Jeri Arbuckle from BelmontNA's Avi Adelman, 11.4.07, after he receives a copy of the DHL's hearing announcement to its membership

• A PDF copy of the letter has been posted to our website at this link.
• A text-only version of the document can be found here.

 

11.4.07 - BelmontNA letter to DHL re hearing announcement sent to DHL membership, 10:30am

Jeri Good Morning -

A DHL member has forwarded a copy of your message to the DHL membership regarding the upcoming hearing (see attached PDF, identification information removed).

It continues to amaze me how you are doing everything possible to minimize the ability of BelmontNA to tell their side of the story - starting from "Why we created an association?", all the way to "What we have accomplished in just a few years, despite LGNA's fighting us?"

The DHL website states your mission is:

The Dallas Homeowners League is a citywide alliance of neighborhoods working for neighborhood self-determination and empowerment

But the DHL board and LGNA consistently work to deny our association membership in this group.

Do you think we are naive enough to believe that the eight month delay between our application and the hearing was a simple paperwork error???

BelmontNA is being denied an opportunity to tell its side of the story to your membership while LGNA has unlimited opportunities to email, call or snailmail their friends.

Misinformation and lies about the BelmontNA, its officers and its accomplishments are spread by LGNA members and officers who have their own agendas to promote and turf to protect, while we are afforded no means to promote ourselves.

In light of the time constraints caused by the meeting being less than eight days away, the BelmontNA demands equal access to the DHL membership via its mailing list.

We will create a PDF file of the three pages of information previously referenced - a cover letter and comparison between LGNA and BelmontNA - that you will email to your list with a copy to us.

Since we obviously have friends within the DHL who support our efforts, they will provide a verification of delivery.

I look forward to a prompt and positive reply.

Avi S. Adelman
Vice President
Belmont Neighborhood Association

 

11.3.07 - DHL email to BelmontNA, 5:40pm

Jeri -

This is a joke and you are the only laughing - no one complained when you hand-delivered a letter to Diana's home nearly three weeks ago.

The letter was also emailed to the proper address earlier today.

In consideration of the time sensitive nature of the contents, please read the email and respond promptly.

Avi S. Adelman

 

11.3.07 - DHL email to BelmontNA, 5:30pm

Avi -

All mail to DHL or DHL Board of Directors should be addressed to the DHL Post Office Box below.  You have been previously advised of this.

All emails should be addressed to dhl@dallashomeownersleague.org.

Any mail delivered to any Board member's home or place of employment will not be read. This includes the letter that was delivered to my home address today.  Please mail it to the P.O. Box (address below).

Thank you for your consideration of the tireless volunteers who serve on the DHL Board of Directors.

-Jeri

 

11.3.07 - BelmontNA reply to DHL 11.2.07 letter, 3:13pm

This email (and hand-delivered) letter confirms our acceptance of the date of the DHL Membership Hearing (Lower Greenville NA v BelmontNA), to be held on November 12, 2007. However, your letter has left open the problems created by two previously announced conditions of the hearing.

The first regards the ability of local media to attend and cover the hearing. Your original letter of October 12, 2007 only referenced print press, yet no formal definition of that term exists in the common language. BelmontNA has been contacted by representatives of local media outlets and bloggers about their ability to cover this hearing.

Again, we question why only print media would be admitted, so long as no recordings of the hearing are made.

The events of this hearing will impact neighborhood associations all over Dallas. If the electronic media wishes to attend and possibly report on this hearing, then they should be allowed in the room as observers.

The BelmontNA believes this event should be open to media representatives of all types and affiliations. This invitation should not be limited to reporters for the Dallas Morning News or The Dallas Observer (the only print outlets covering the entire city).

On the subject of letters of support (or opposition) to BelmontNA’s membership from DHL member associations…

We appreciate your concern for keeping the DHL membership mailing list confidential and private. It was never our intent to use the list for multiple mailings to DHL members on any other topic.

Rather than secure the a copy of the DHL mailing list, we now offer an alternative means of communicating our position to the membership in time for the hearing, but still allow the DHL to keep the contents of the membership list private and confidential.

We are asking the DHL to mail – at BelmontNA’s expense – a letter to each member association this week. The envelope will contain the following materials …

- A cover letter from BelmontNA’s officers explaining the reason for the letter, and asking for their support

- A two-page document highlighting the differences between the BelmontNA and LGNA, an updated version of the materials passed out at the DHL Boot Camp

- A business card for BelmontNA vice-president Avi S. Adelman, with an offer to call and discuss the issue further by phone or email.

If the DHL will tell us how many envelopes and stamps are needed, we are prepared to deliver this material to you within two days.

You reserve the right to open randomly selected envelopes in order to inspect the contents before labeling. We will also provide you with additional envelopes to replace inspected envelopes.

The letters will be labeled with our return address and logo, and the postage will be included as a sheet of stamps. You would simply print and affix the DHL mailing labels, affix the postage, and put the packets in the mail.

Without the opportunity to present our message, it seems inherently unfair that DHL would permit comment by member organizations when only LGNA has access to the names and contacts for these organizations.

We believe that this will give LGNA an unfair advantage in this process which, as you stated, LGNA bears the burden to show why our application should be denied.

Again, we strongly object to BelmontNA being denied a platform to present our views while LGNA has carte blanche access to this membership list, allowing them to contact member associations and seek their support at their convenience.

It is obvious that BelmontNA is being denied any similar measure of fairness to explain and promote our association and its reason for existence, let alone seek the support of DHL member associations.

This impacts not only the upcoming hearing, but discussions and lobbying that will inevitably take place after the hearing but before a vote on our membership is finally called.

We believe this proposal will bring the playing field of public discourse to a more manageable and equitable level.

Due to the time-sensitive nature of this issue, we are seeking an answer to these questions no later than Monday afternoon, November 5, 2007.

With best regards,

Avi S. Adelman, Vice-President
Belmont Neighborhood Association

 

11.2.07 - DHL replies to BelmontNA letter, sets hearing date

The hearing requested by the Lower Greenville Neighborhood Association (LGNA) on the application for membership received by the Dallas Homeowners League from the Belmont Neighborhood (BelmontNA) is scheduled for Monday, November 12, 2007, 7pm in the meeting room at 4411 Skillman Avenue, Dallas, Texas (CampFire USA Building).

DHL policy does not allow contact information to be provided to non-members.

Please note: DHL Board member Patricia Carr from LGNA has recused herself from all discussion of this application, and will not participate as a member of the DHL Board for the purpose of the BNA hearing or determination of membership.

It may take longer than the night of the hearing to arrive at a decision. The parties will be informed when the decision is reached.

Please reference DHL letter of October 12, 2007, for specifics regarding the hearing.

Sincerely,

Jeri Arbuckle, President
Dallas Homeowners League

 

10.27.07 - BelmontNA reminder to DHL President Jeri Arbuckle

On October 17, 2007, a letter was sent to your attention in reply to the DHL's letter of October 10, 2007.

The letter was sent by USPS to the DHL post office box, and emailed to you and LGNA's Kathryn Willison.

This letter replied to three issues in your letter of October 10th (not including the proposed hearing dates)

• The presence of news media at the hearing, not just 'print press' (sic)
• Securing a copy of the DHL mailing list so BelmontNA can fairly present its case to the membership and secure a letter of support
• The recusal of DHL Board Member Patricia Carr during the hearing and discussion process due to a conflict of interest

We asked that you reply to this letter within five business days, or no later than October 24th, 2007.

As of this morning's writing, October 27th, we have not received a reply from you by email or USPS.

The proposed hearing date is just over two weeks away. While we appreciate your efforts to schedule this hearing after nearly eight months since our application, your letter raised issues that require further explanation.

Now is not the time to delay answering what our Board sincerely believes are very important issues in this matter.

I look forward to hearing from you very soon.

Regards,

Avi S. Adelman
Vice-President
BelmontNA

 

10.17.07 - BelmontNA reply to DHL letter of 10.12.07

Dear Ms. Arbuckle:

This letter is in response to yours of October 12, 2007 directed to Diana Souza, our President, and Avi Adelman, our Vice-President. Please direct further correspondence to my attention.

I apologize in advance for the disjointed nature of this letter, but I believe it necessary to respond to several of your points.

In response to your request for dates, we propose November 15 or 16, 2007 after 7 p.m. or on November 17, 2007, a Saturday, in the afternoon. If none of these dates are compatible with the board, please let me know and I will endeavor to find additional dates.

We acknowledge your statements about media being admitted, but that no recording of any type will be allowed. We question why only print media would be admitted, so long as no recordings are made. We request that all media be permitted to attend, so long as they agree to not record any portion of the proceedings. We will ensure that all media invited to attend by us will not engage in any recording of the proceedings.

With regard to the fact that DHL member organizations will be permitted to submit one page statements regarding support or opposition of the BNA application for membership, we request that you provide us with a contact person with each DHL member organization within the next five days so that we may be presented the opportunity to present our views to the DHL membership. Without this opportunity, it seems inherently unfair that DHL would permit comment by member organizations when only LGNA has access to the names and contacts for these organizations. We believe that this will give LGNA an unfair advantage in this process which, as you stated, LGNA bears the burden to show why our application should be denied.

Finally, we have one issue which was not raised in your letter. We hereby request that one of your board members, Patricia Carr, recuse herself entirely from this hearing, and refrain from commenting on this application. The basis for our request is her connection to LGNA. This is not to say that we do not believe Mrs. Carr to be fit to serve on the DHL Board. I know that she knows many members of BNA, I personally enjoyed meeting her at the DHL Boot Camp a few months ago, and I am sure that she serves DHL well and look forward to working with her in the future. However, the appearance of impropriety is simply too great. Mrs. Carr is a member of LGNA and currently serves as an officer of LGNA. The presence of an officer of the association seeking to block the BNA application in the executive session where the membership decision will be made is inappropriate, and we trust that you will ensure that Mrs. Carr will not be present.

We look forward to the opportunity to defend our application and become a member of DHL.

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this matter further, do not hesitate to contact myself or Avi S. Adelman.

My email address is Stephen@BelmontNA.org.

The association’s fax number is 214-292-9761.

Sincerely,

Stephen A. Melendi

 

10.12.07 - Dallas Homeowners League letter to BelmontNA and Lower Greenville NA in re membership hearing

The hearing requested by the Lower Greenville Neighborhood Association (LGNA) on the application for membership received by the Dallas Homeowners League from the Belmont Neighborhood Assocation (BelmontNA) will be scheduled at the earliest possible date when the parties and the DHL Board are available.

The format will be...

BelmontNA	5 minutes to present its application
LGNA	15 minutes
BelmontNA	15 minutes
[Reserved for questions from DHL Board]
LGNA	15 minutes
BelmontNA	10 minutes
[Reserved for questions from DHL Board]

Questions from the DHL Board will be reserved for the period prior to LGNA's final presentation, and after all presentations are concluded.

Each organization may be represented by up to four speakers.

Members of the print press (sic) and up to two representatives of DHL member organizations will be admitted to the hearing.

Recording of any type will not be permitted.

DHL reserves the right to close the hearing at any time at its sole discretion.

Only speakers from LGNA and BelmontNA will be heard.

DHL member organizations may submit a maximum one page written comment, support or opposition to the BelmontNA application for membership prior to the hearing for consideration by the DHL Board.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the representatives of both organizations and all attendees will be dismissed and the Board will go into executive session to render a decision.

As with all membership applications, an affirmative vote of 2/3 of those directors present at the hearing will be required to admit BelmontNA. As President, I will communicate the decision to both parties.

The criteria adopted by the League prior the 1986 hearing requested by the previous Belmont Neighborhood Association application and employed in that process will be used at the current hearing.

They are:

1. The focus is to be on the basis of the objection to the group's membership; the challenging party bears the burden of proof to justify rejection of the application.
2. The key criterion of the group's consonance with the League, ie the compatibility of its values, goals and activities with the values, goals and activities of the league.
3. The evidence at a Board hearing on a contested application should be directed toward the functions, activities and structure of the prospective member.
4. The purpose, motivation, and goals of the leaders and founders of the prospective member are relevant, but only insofar as they shed light on whether or not the other critieria are satisfied.

Please provide by noon, Friday October 19, 2007, the dates your group will be available for a hearing during the remainder of October and first two weeks of November.

DHL will attempt to schedule a hearing at a time that is identified by both groups and that will allow maximum participation of the DHL Board.

If no such date is evident, DHL will set a hearing date and time with a minimum of 5 days notice to each of your group.

Sincerely,

Jeri Arbuckle, President
Dallas Homeowners League