……….Over the years I have served on a number of boards and have all too often made my presence known. I feel a great deal of responsibility when I am dealing with others money and the quality of their lives. I honestly cannot say that about all too many of those that I have served with over three decades. I have to say that some of things that I have seen, heard and experienced border on the most dishonest displays of behavior imaginable.

……….I have worked with people who refused to bring in legitimate written estimates for work scheduled to be completed. This board President had one willing ally who was / is more stupid than dangerous. That is not to imply that stupidity is not a very dangerous trait, it is! The President finally resigned and he couldn’t even cite the honest reasons for his leaving that position. The reasons he left were two fold; he despised what he might refer to as my interference and the fact that the owner / members would not give him complete control over all contracted work.

……….This guy is so feckless that he even has his wife write letters to me because he is concerned about the fallout from such lying drivel. The hopeless sap, on the other hand, also resigned between 8 and 10 months ago. I was never notified and only found out about it recently. The important is is that he was receiving a significant reduction in the cost of the service provided. Upon resigning, he was obligated to begin making payments. I heard nary a whimper, from either this guy or his wife. No payments for the return to current service were offered over all those many months. Not a very honest reaction to a move that they chose to make of their own free will.

……….After the dust has settled, I finally received a single monthly payment, that leaves their account somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 days (6 payments) past due. These people, the wife in particular, love to brag about professionalism and such. She even has the audacity to gossip about me and others like an uncapped toad. When you have to deal with the childish behaviors of such people, it truly takes a toll. This example is not isolated nor is it only relevant to my small community. People like these happen to be most everywhere. They never see themselves as dishonest because their quest for either power or acceptance is a very blinding experience.

……….For the locals, rather than attempting to figure out the identity of these people, make sure that your lives are not influenced, negatively, by their dishonest and inappropriate behaviors. Dollars are a scarce resource for any organization and we need officers and members dedicated to honestly serving the larger constituency.