Battle for the Beach Club
Tony WintonApril 15, 2019
Entrance sign at the Key Biscayne Beach Club, April 14, 2019. (Key News/Tony Winton)
UPDATE (4/16) — The leadership of one of Key Biscayne’s most iconic institutions remains in doubt tonight after another meeting produced another deadlock. A ballot count was delayed in order to hear a presentation from former Mayor Franklin Caplan about the historic organization’s governing documents.
Caplan noted that while the documents are conflicting, the board should work out some way to deal with declining membership and financial problems. But a motion to count ballots Tuesday night failed. Another meeting is set for April 24, but it’s not clear what will happen at that meeting.
Although some board members terms are ending, opinion remains divided on what happens next.
—Original Story Below—
Ballots to determine the leadership of the historic Key Biscayne Beach Club are under lock and key after a contentious meeting last week that split over who was eligible to vote for new directors. The election at the nearly 70-year-old island landmark has been bitterly fought, with disputes about how to best address declining membership, financial issues and aging facilities.
At the center of the voting dispute is whether associate members can vote, said Mark Fried, the club’s secretary. The board voted to postpone the tabulation of votes until hearing the advice of former Mayor Franklin Caplan, who said he will study the organization’s governing documents and advise the board on next steps. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Caplan is also the publisher of Key News.]
Fried says he hopes ballots will be counted Tuesday. Ron Erbel, who was among those asking for a delay, says he’s hoping for a clear path forward. “We don’t want to be a dysfunctional bunch of people. We have to work together,” he said.
The membership of the Beach Club has evolved as Key Biscayne’s population increased from the original residential development, known as the Mackle homes. Mackle properties conveyed a right to be a Beach Club member, but the club’s boards have expanded resident membership eligibility over the years.
The board decided to lock up the ballots already submitted in a box requiring two separate keys to open.
Charles Sherman contributed to this report
Responses
Charles Sherman
Apr 17
By Charles D. Sherman
Pressing to conclude the disputed election of a new Key Biscayne Beach Club board, Donna Rice, president of the club, announced to her fellow board members Wednesday that she and Club Secretary Mark Fried intend to tally the vote on April 19 over objections of a majority of the board.
Rice’s message followed a board vote Tuesday evening that turned down a motion by Rice to count the several hundred ballots that have been submitted over the last several weeks. A majority of the board argues that the vote was not properly held under the club’s bylaws and other governing documents. Many ballots were submitted by ineligible voters, board members contend. Privately, some board members worry because of the way the election was conducted that the ballot box has been stuffed.
In her note to her fellow board members, Rice said the board’s approval was not needed to count the ballots. To those who questioned the validity of the election, Rice wrote “since you announced you are not in agreement with counting said ballots, you are not obligated to participate.”
Late Wednesday, Ron Erbal, a long-serving board member, sent an email to all board members. “At this time, the ONLY remedy to this insane situation is to continue with the existing board and work together,” Erbal wrote. “We have to have a new election and move forward with valid members voting in accordance with the Bylaws and Charter.”
Board members opposed to Rice and Fried — Chris Mack, Andrew Garcia, Nelson Zambrano along with Erbal — view the president and the secretary as acting in a high-handed manner and in violation of the bylaws. Rice and Fried say their opponents have been derelict in guiding the club.
The election dispute is over who is a full or associate member of the Club, with only full members eligible to vote and serve on the board. Over the years, the issue has become murky because of poor record keeping as home sales and club transfers have clouded official membership. Full memberships are conveyed only to owners of certain properties on the island.
Board members expressed embarrassment that no one seems to know who the full members of the club are.
A near sense of panic was evident at the meeting Tuesday with some non-board members in attendance saying the club is threatened with insolvency within six months. Bill Stephens, who said it would take arduous research in county records to be sure he is a member eligible to vote, urged the board to immediately take steps to avert a financial crisis without worrying about who could vote.
“The Club is burning $29,000 a month with five months left [to cover the rest of the year],” Stephens wrote on the Nextdoor.com, a local social media site. “Just count the votes using same procedures done last year and move on to financial triage before the Club is lost.”
Club membership has dramatically declined in recent years for several reasons, but in part because of increased use by island residents of the Village’s free adjacent Beach Park. Club members have also faced sharply rising dues to make up for budget shortfalls and some have declined to renew in favor of the Beach Park access. Club dues now stand at $695 a year.
In the ongoing debate, board member Garcia, who opposes Rice’s effort to count the ballots, wrote on Nextdoor.com: “As a current board member, I chose to abstain from counting the ballots [Tuesday] night. I still feel that the way the ballets were sent out and returned could have associate members inside the ballot box which in my opinion means a re-vote is necessary.”
Garcia and other board member contend the ballot as sent lists associate members as candidates for the board. Moreover they say associate members also voted in violation of the Club’s lease.
Except for Fried and Rice, all board members’ terms are due to expire on April 24 when a new board was expected to be announced. It remains unclear whether the vote will be regarded as valid or whether the old board members will continue to serve until the ballot and memberships issues are resolved.
As of Wednesday, the ballots remain locked in a box that requires two separate keys to open.
Charles Sherman
Apr 18
The War inside the Beach Club Board
By Charles D. Sherman
Reputations have been damaged, long-running friendships ended and hurt feelings have risen like a spring tide In a bitter fight over the future of Key Biscayne’s historic Beach Club.
Facing a financial precipice because of plunging membership, a majority of the board appears to be on the losing end of what they regard as a coup by Club President Donna Rice and Secretary Mark Fried.
The complete takeover could be complete this Friday with Rice vowing to count the ballots in a disputed election for new club directors. Many on the old board feel the recent vote by the membership violated the Club bylaws and may have even been tampered with, in a move akin to what goes in countries like Venezuela. But a showdown looms over how and whether the votes are counted.
In a major salvo which made the dissension public, Fried wrote a widely distributed letter last month harshly blaming fellow board members Chris Mack, Ron Erbel, Andrew Garcia, Nelson Zambrano, Geno Marron for being derelict in safeguarding the club. Over their many years in charge, Fried said the club had fallen into disrepair and had been poorly managed. According to one long-serving member, Fried told the incumbents at a meeting: “I cannot work with you. I’m going to get rid of every single one of you.”
According to several board members, concern rose before the election when Rice with no consultation selectively picked a nominating committee for candidates to the new board. According to the bylaws, the incumbents say, several of the nominees appear ineligible to serve as board members.
Fried cited the bylaws in moving to disqualify Marron, an incumbent board member who was not living in the property linked with his membership. For years, the club struggled to find volunteers willing to serve on the board. When Rice and Fried came on the scene, they decided change was needed to save the club. The election would be their main tool with the bylaws used as an expediency where needed and ignored as necessary.
Rice and Fried now run the risk of violating the same bylaws they defended in trying to gain full power over the board. According to the bylaws and founding documents, the election itself is rife with irregularities from how the ballot was distributed, to who is actually entitled to vote and to how the votes were collected. Allegations are widespread that the voting box may have been stuffed. Fried acknowledge at a board meeting this week that he had collected a number of filled out ballots and delivered them to a large plastic box with a slit in the top.
Will the election be regarded as fair? That’s what’s foremost on the minds of the incumbents.
The organization of the club has been hampered by poor record keeping. A complete and verifiable membership list of those eligible to vote appears not to exist. Rice and Fried say they will count what ballots they have in hand, making efforts to identify qualified voters before tallying the ballots. One board questioned whether there were ballots submitted by renters, whi cannot be qualified voters.
The ballots now sit in a strong box with two separate locks and keys. One key is in the hands of Donna Rice and the other is held by Ron Erbel. A source close to the imbroglio observed: “The box may not get opened and a break-in would be illegal.”
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