Developers, Elected Officials, Residents, Wannabes…Bring Us BS, And We’ll Sniff You Out
NO BS #1 – ‘Check Your Inbox’
“For everyone stating they didn’t receive emails – whether it’s about surveys, registering for RFID, anything really – it is YOUR responsibility to be sure that the HOA website and May Management have your correct information AND to be sure that emails don’t go to spam or junk. No one can do that for you. It is more important than ever that your contact information is accurate and that you subscribe to emails. We changed HOA websites a few months ago, so you must re-register on the new one. We are also sending out updates on the MPI sale via email. Surveys are sent from Election Buddy through May Management via email. Actual votes will be either emailed or mailed, depending on your opt-in preferences in May Management. The Board encourages everyone to consider the electronic voting opt-in.” – Posted by a board member on Nextdoor on 8/’7/2026, and a kinder and gentler version of the original.
No one can argue that maintaining accurate records in the hoa database isn’t of utmost importance, but for an organization that puts such heavy emphasis on email as their principal means of communication with us, the residents, their policies and practices are sorely lacking, subject to legal scrutiny, and surely not immunce to challenge. Take, for instance, that the hoa maintains NO archive of emails, or any means by which a resident can consult a message they may or may not have received. The suggestion that this is ‘OK’ is the subject of this ‘NO BS’ challenge.
202Emails Recently Sent –
Please Check Your
Inbox
2026-08-07 August 10 Meeting Correction
2026-08-07 August 10 Board Meeting
2026-07-24 RFID Update
2026-07-21 MPI Sale Update #5
2026-07-13 MPI Sale Update #4
Florida Statute 720.303 states that hoa emails that relate to the ‘operation, business, governance, contracts, financial decisions, or violations of the HOA are treated as official written records and fall under the 7-year retention rule’.
In our own ‘Records Retention and Inspection Policy’, we state: “Record” means any writing or data, regardless of form (paper, electronic, audio, or other medium), that is created, received, or maintained in connection with Association business, including correspondence (including emails).”
Shown above is the offending box on magpt.org that lists the ‘Recent Emails’. The highlighted entries actually go to the individual emails. WE did that, for demonstration purposes. Go ahead, try them. (The ‘unlinked’ entries get you what you get now on magpt: squat! LIVE LINKS TO LIVE DOCUMENTS, conveniently located, easy to get at. THAT’S what we’re after. But when I pointed this out to the board member who posted the message above on Nextdoor, the gates of hell opened, and I was admonished for not acknowledging that she had ‘no control’ over the website. Even though she was speaking on behalf of the board. So, the board has ‘no control’ over the website? How about the email system in question. Is that another mission-critical cloud-based platform over which we have no control, either. What else don’t we have control over?
BTW, this board member, while head of SPC, railed mightily against a ‘single point of failure’ and the cult of ‘webmaster hegemonry’ we seem to promote in magpt web operations. It was the ‘Magpt Website Redesign’ project that she recruited me to her committee for, and many of my recommendations made it into the final proposal to the board. And yes, NONE of which were ever implemented, but rather than the ‘animus’ I’m accused of harboring over that, I resigned long before I had any inclination to nurse a grudge.
We’re reminded of emails we may have missed, owing to our own slovenly ’email maintence’ habits, but in normal operation (NOT that shown on the left), these are just descriptions of the emails. They are NOT links, as anyone would expect.
We’re told ‘the website doesn’t do that’, as an explanation as to why there is no archive of these, in the board’s own pronouncement, ‘critical’ communications. Which is true; and it’s not ‘the website’ that’s at fault, you might think to blame Constant Contact, our email service, because they don’t, in fact, automatically archive sent emails for access by client users. No, WE have to do that, ourselves. And what does that take?
On the Constant Contact Dashoard, once an email is sent, there’s an option to, wait for it…’SAVE AS A PDF’. So, the thoughtful ‘Email Master’ would select that. Then upload to their website and plop it in an email list for access by users.
You would think. But we don’t do that on magpt.com. Is it more work? Yeah, about a gnat’s ass worth. A few seconds. Okay, maybe 30. We’ve tested this on client sites running WordPress and using Constant Contact for email. Is it too much to ask?
For not treating emails with the prominence they require, and for suggesting it’s entirely the residents’ fault, and for not fielding AND regular, supportinve guidance other than the occasional, offhanded ‘reminder’ to keep one’s contact creds updated, we rate this:
Corrections, amplifications, suggestions accepted. If you want to blow smoke up our ass, don’t bother. For 23 years we’ve welcomed contructive, helpful and fair-minded contributions to this site, and for that, and your support through the years, we remain humbled, and grateful. -davepetraglia@gmail.com