As homeowners of the Coal Creek Ranch neighborhood, we are all aware of the devastation that our neighborhood sustained in the Marshall Fire on December 30th, 2021. Approximately one third of our community’s homes were completely destroyed, with many more damaged, and we are only beginning the recovery and rebuilding process. 

On January 11th, 2022 the Coal Creek Ranch Homeowners Association (HOA) hosted a "Community Open Forum" on Zoom, presumably to allow neighborhood residents to ask questions and share concerns about the impact of the fire on their residences and HOA memberships. Instead of hosting a productive discussion, Board Member Gil Saenz, Jr. and Board President Earl Hauserman demonstrated egregious conduct and re-traumatized our community. In response, this petition is calling to immediately remove Gil Saenz, Jr. and Earl Hauserman from the Board of Directors. 

Gil Saenz, Jr. and Earl Hauserman neglected to act upon respectful requests from residents to record the meeting, thus denying potentially critical information from neighbors who were unable to join live. Repeated requests to record the proceedings were made by residents during the meeting - via chat and direct verbal communication with these board members - all of which were completely unacknowledged. Pg. 13 Section 8.1 of the HOA Bylaws states all HOA Board meetings must be available to all members. This could have been easily accommodated by recording the meeting, as requested by Members. The refusal of these two Board Members to make this easy accommodation, and their unawareness of this Section 8.1 rule, calls into question their competency to continue as Board Members. 

(Pg. 13 Section 8.1 Meeting Location and Open Meetings: All Board meetings will be open to attendance by Members or their designated representatives, as provided by Colorado law. All Board meetings will be held at the Association’s principal office, or at another location within or convenient to the Community as may be fixed by the Board of Directors. Meetings may also be held by conference call or electronic means, if necessary, provided that Members have the opportunity to access the conference call or electronic means.) 

When asked directly, both Gil Saenz, Jr. and Earl Hauserman either could not or would not answer the following questions:

1. What is the Board doing to reduce HOA costs?
2. What insurance coverage is active to cover fire damage to HOA property?
3. What are HOA dues being used for in 2022?
4. What section of the HOA covenants prevents recording meetings?

Instead of admitting he did not yet know how to answer, Gil Saenz, Jr. responded by dismissing reasonable questions and accusing the enquirers of not formulating well-thought out questions. His defensiveness and hostility was apparent to all present, and wholly inappropriate for the situation. Earl Hauserman, as President, had a responsibility to address and correct this egregious behavior and advocate for the residents he purports to serve. He chose not to acknowledge Gil Saenz, Jr.’s inappropriate comments, saying nothing during or after Gil Saenz, Jr. verbally abused a fellow neighbor who just lost their home.

With an opportunity to facilitate community discussion and allow their invited guests (the Boulder County Commissioner and the Mayor Pro-Tem of Louisville) to answer questions, Gil Saenz, Jr. and Earl Hauserman instead chose to spend an inordinate amount of time talking about HOA amenities – none of which 160+ displaced households have access to. Our neighbors need a place to live, not a place to swim.

Furthermore, rather than a one-off aberration, Earl Hauserman has displayed a pattern of behavior which suggests he is unfit for office, as evidenced by: 

• The week following the fire, he spent his time in political machinations to take over as Board President rather than reaching out to his hurting community.
• A lack of urgency in responding to the crisis after the Board election.
• Repeatedly attempting to bypass the democratic process and unilaterally make decisions without the Board. For example, he attempted to undemocratically appoint friends as new Committee Members and Committee Chairs.
• An ongoing display of unprofessionalism including inviting city officials to the HOA meeting, not giving them a chance to speak, and then asserting that any hurdles rebuilding residents face will be due to the city council. This is not the way to respectfully build bridges with critical partners in the rebuild process. 

Hosting a “Community Open Forum” and then refusing to answer, and belittle questions from the community, demonstrates that Gil Sanez, Jr. and Earl Hauserman appear to care more about their own personal interests as homeowners in Coal Creek Ranch than they do about their neighbors, families that lost everything in the fire. They care more about their own properties, a clubhouse, tennis courts, and pool chairs than they do about supporting their neighbors rebuilding their homes. Pg. 18 Section 11.1 of the HOA Bylaws state that each Director will perform their duties in good faith and in the best interests of the neighborhood. Gil Sanez, Jr. and Earl Hauserman have repeatedly failed to meet this standard of conduct. 

(Pg. 18 Section 11.1 Standard of Conduct for Directors and Officers: Each director and officer will perform his duties in good faith, in a manner the director or officer reasonably believes to be in the Association’s best interests, and with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances.)

As homeowners of the Coal Creek Ranch neighborhood, we deserve effective leadership on our HOA Board of Directors which requires new leadership. In accordance with Sections 7.2(g), 7.5, 8.1, 9.2(e), and 11.1 of the Homeowner Association Bylaws, we are calling to immediately remove Gil Sanez, Jr. and Earl Hauserman from the Board of Directors. Please sign the petition below if you agree and would like our community to collectively move forward with recovery and rebuilding our neighborhood. 

Due to HOA Bylaws, please only sign this petition if you are a homeowner in Coal Creek Ranch.