Meet the Candidates

Name: Ross Cochran

How long have you lived in WWS? 11 months

What is your current occupation? Software Consultant

Do you serve or have you ever served on a Board of Directors? Yes

If yes, please specify: President of HOA 1995 to 2004 in Sanders Estates (https://www.neighborhoods.com/sanders-estates-bellville-tx).

Have you read and are you familiar with the WWS Bylaws? Yes

Have you read and are you familiar with the Whitewater Springs Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs)? Yes

Have you read and are you familiar with the Texas Property Code as it relates to POAs? Yes

If elected, do you commit to familiarizing yourself with these documents? Yes

MANAGEMENT: I was the President of The Parker Family Reunion (https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2012/07/22/parker-family-reunion-is-no-ordinary-family-gathering/) for 10 years. Yes, I am related to Quanah Parker.

COMPUTER SKILLS: I have been certified in several fields of Information Tecnology since 1977.

Currently I work with in Cybersecurity with teams such as the FBI and The Department of the Interior.

Community Goals: Bipartisanship – I believe all issues can be resolved through a cup of coffee at the kitchen table.

Unreasonableness – My goal in life is to be remembered as a reasonable guy.

Political Correctness – I approach things with a level-head without regard to the newest shiny-object of the day.

Name: Morgan Holmes

How long have you lived in WWS? 9 months

What is your current occupation? Accounting Manager

Do you serve or have you ever served on a Board of Directors? No

Have you read and are you familiar with the WWS Bylaws? Yes

Have you read and are you familiar with the Whitewater Springs Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs)? Yes

Have you read and are you familiar with the Texas Property Code as it relates to POAs? Yes

If elected, do you commit to familiarizing yourself with these documents? Yes

MANAGEMENT: I am currently employed as the G/L Accounting Manager with seven direct reports, mostly at senior levels. We have oversight of several areas that require coordination with other teams at varying levels of management and technical knowledge. To be successful in my work, I must first understand the rules and the goals of the organization and then have the ability to communicate any conflicts that arise and, ideally, I can help with coming up with solutions that achieve the underlying intent without breaking any rules. Occasionally, especially when the rules are self-imposed, this could mean exploring the rules themselves and proposing changes to the rules.

ACCOUNTING AND BOOKKEEPING: I graduated college with an accounting degree and my whole career (30+ years) thus far has been in the accounting field. I am a Certified Public Finance Office (CPFO) which required me to study and pass exams relating to governmental accounting financial presentation and areas including investment, debt and budget, especially as it relates to best practices – not so much as to recording transactions. I have spent the most recent 10+ years of my career in larger government-type organizations with robust budget and reporting considerations with requirements of open public access of information.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: I have experience with most general business communication activities. In my current professional role, I am more often the reviewer/approver of written activity such as procedure manuals prepared by staff; proposals for purposes such as when I am on a selection committee or for reviewing for accounting implications; other correspondence to internal and external parties written by staff to ensure that the issue and desired action is clearly communicated with professionalism. I do not directly interact with web content in my work, however, I do often send updates to large group chats and I administer a few Sharepoint sites (mostly document management and calendars).

COMPUTER SKILLS: I am proficient with Word for presentations, mail merges, procedure manuals. I am a very heavy user of Excel and I am very experienced with documenting formulas and tools used which may be new to other users. I am familiar with several accounting software systems and understand how inputs and outputs should ultimately interact. I have used various file sharing platforms such as Dropbox. My experience in mass-mailings pre-dated email distributions, so I used mail merge using Word and Excel tables of names and addresses; it is my understanding that MailChimp performs that function. I have not had direct contact with website platforms other than to provide content in .pdf format.

OTHER: I am highly analytical and I tend to be a fact-checker – I go back to source documents rather than relying on memory or feelings. I am a systems-thinker so I acknowledge many issues as a symptoms and I endeavor to identify and fix the root cause. While I look at causes and effects, it is not to find blame – it is to find solutions.

From the accounting perspective, I have legal, property management and construction management experience – mostly agreeing documentation to financial information and compliance issues including other documented requirements, such as those for tax, grants or bonds.

Community Goals :From recent meetings, it appears to me that there are some unresolved concerns stemming from prior board and ACC decisions and practices. Going forward, I hope to see the ACC and board working in tandem to develop documentation, reporting and improved communication with the residents at large.

I believe that planning is essential for future success in decision making, especially regarding financial matters. Having a 3 or 5 year plan ensures that longer term goals will inform how short term issues should be handled. In addition, this enables residents to be fully engaged proactively rather than feeling stuck with situations presented as “emergency” items that were always foreseeable. A longer term plan also allows for the possibility of investment management, with guidelines set by board.

I appreciate that this neighborhood is one which respects nature and strives to create a sense of true community. I believe that this shared value will allow me to work effectively with other residents, including the board.

Name: Allen Palmer

How long have you lived in WWS? 23 years

What is your current occupation? retired

Do you serve or have you ever served on a Board of Directors? Yes

If yes, please specify below: WWS POA Board of Directors and Northeast Chemical Board of Directors

Have you read and are you familiar with the WWS Bylaws? Yes

Have you read and are you familiar with the Whitewater Springs Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs)? Yes

Have you read and are you familiar with the Texas Property Code as it relates to POAs? Yes

If elected, do you commit to familiarizing yourself with these documents? Yes

MANAGEMENT:

Personal:
Married with one son, one daughter, and 4 grandchildren.
Deacon at First Baptist Church Georgetown, TX. Active in foreign mission service to China, Ukraine, and Mexico. Involved with local Habitat for Humanity home building for underprivileged. Member of Texas Baptist Men Disaster Relief Organization.

Professional:
Retired from petrochemical business after 30 years combined service with Texaco, G.E., and Sterling Chemicals.
National Accounts Mgr. with G.E. for domestic sales of Styrene Monomer.

International Sales Director responsible for slightly less than $1.0 Billion in annual sales of Styrene Monomer and Acrylonitrile globally. Conducted business and travelled in most countries in the world excluding those in Africa.

Organizations: Past 2 term President of the SouthWest Chemical Association – Houston ,TX ; Board member of the Northeast Chemical Association – N.Y., N. Y.; Treasurer of the Styrene Information and Research Center –Washington, DC.; member National Accounts Managers; member National Association of Purchasing Managers.

ACCOUNTING AND BOOKKEEPING: Responsible for $300 million operating expense budget for Texaco Chemicals, Past President of Diamondback Camouflage overseeing purchasing, accounts receivable, and accounts payable. As a past Secretaruy for WWS POA I have a very firm understanding of the accounting and bookkeeping of the organization.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: As a 23 year resident I have served at different times on the Pool Committee, Road Committee, Wildlife Committee, Maintenance Committee, Nominating Committee, Firewise Committee, as well as the Board of Directors. All require keeping meeting notes, writing proposals, preparing budgets, and enlisting and encouraging volunteers.

COMPUTER SKILLS: Familiar with Word, Excel, Dropbox, and WordChimp

OTHER: I’ve had legal experience in negotiating and writing multimillion dollar deals in the US and globally with 28 different countries for natural gas liquids, petrochemicals, and on a retail basis as well.

Community Goals: My main concern is a lack of transparency and trust with our current management thus my reason for running for a Board position. I also have a concern with our property management company as for years now I have seen checks mailed to wrong companies or individuals. Bills paid late requiring Board members to follow up numerous times to get them paid. I personally have been reimbursed for the same expense twice. We need to look at other property management companies to evaluate the cost/benefits of possibly making a management company change. Lastly, I would like to encourage more folks to become an active participant in the community by constructing a community center at Cow Creek Park thereby making it more convenient for people to gather socially as well as for future Board meetings.

Name: Ron Peters

How long have you lived in WWS? 7 years 8 months

What is your current occupation? Retired

Do you serve or have you ever served on a Board of Directors? Yes

If yes, please specify. Texas Federation of Drug Stores and WSWSC Board

Have you read and are you familiar with the WWS Bylaws? Yes

Have you read and are you familiar with the Whitewater Springs Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs)? Yes

Have you read and are you familiar with the Texas Property Code as it relates to POAs? Yes

If elected, do you commit to familiarizing yourself with these documents? Yes

MANAGEMENT: I have held the position of Vice President of Pharmacy for two different companies. The most recent being Sobeys Food Stores in Canada. I had Directors and District Managers across Canada reporting up to me.

Historically I have been a director with parks and recreation, director of pharmacy systems, pharmacy district manager and director of pharmacy operations.

ACCOUNTING AND BOOKKEEPING: My experience was of course in retail settings. My responsibility was to submit an operations and profitability budget to the CFO each year and achieve those numbers. Those budgets were created in concert with input from my teams in each province. There were accounting associates assigned to my department at corporate who aided in creating those budgets.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: During my corporate life: I prepared presentations for senior management including the CEO of the company. Worked with human resources to address any issues with our associates. Communicated on a daily basis with representatives from multiple departments in the company including legal, advertising, human resources, accounting, procurement and others.

Basically I have experience in all of the above.

COMPUTER SKILLS: I am familiar with and have used Excel, Word, Dropbox and MailChimp. I would not claim to be an expert. My team and the accounting personnel assigned to me made my life easy.

Community Goals: I do not submit my candidacy with a specific agenda in mind. I believe that all of us in the community as members of the association should do our best to understand the purpose of our bylaws and our responsibilities as residents to help maintain our common areas and do our best to ensure the safety, welfare and enjoyment of all.

We have a budget and must stay within that budget as “income” is fairly finite. We may be able to come up with some innovative ideas for additional input of funds.

With the rapid growth of our community and the number of vehicles on our streets (construction or otherwise) we continue to have an excessive speed problem. We should discuss ideas to address this and determine the best solution.
I believe that the board should work very closely with the established committees for insight and to help determine what the top priorities are. Our roads will always be a focus.

This is a voluntary position and I believe that there must be a sense of accomplishment as a reward for doing it. I plan to achieve that sense of accomplishment by working closely with the board members as well as the committees and members of our association.