I would like to change the subject to Vote NO on YC Referendum!  Here is my viewpoint which was also sent as a letter to the Editors of our local newspapers.  After last week's editions, I will be pleasantly surprised and the newspapers would regain some of my respect if this is published.

Norm

Did you get the referendum promotional letter, with frequently asked questions? How gullible does the Board think we are? Do they really think we believe the malarkey that the only choice for the Yacht Club is a new $4.3 million building or an “unsatisfactory rehab”? Our Board of Directors and our General Manager has spent thousands of our dollars on multiple town meetings, customized letters, advertisements and tours with that misinformation.

When pinned down by a question from an OPA member during the public hearing on the Yacht Club referendum, “What happens if the referendum fails?” the answer given by a Board member was “We start all over again”. That does not mean “a no vote will leave the community with its current facility”.

There are many reasons I believe we need a new Yacht Club. A threatened “unsatisfactory rehab” is not one of them. But I will vote NO for the referendum for a $4.3 million Yacht Club, because I do believe we should and can “start all over again” and be none the worse for it.

Why build an up sized replica of what has given us decades of losses and will only perpetuate those losses? Ask yourself, would you run your own business that way? Would you continue to run your own household above your means?

Restaurant industry standards define” Prime Costs” as food, beverage and labor and it dictates a profitable restaurant should operate with a prime cost of 63% to 68% of revenue. The prime cost for the Yacht Club operation for the last 4 years averaged 80.7%. That’s including the “important financial element” of catering that supposedly gives a boost to our food services.

Do we need catering as stated by our General Manager and Board? No, because it only misleads and distracts us, and disguises and enables mismanagement. Do we really need to spend the extra millions of dollars for a second story on the Yacht Club to accommodate catering? I think not. I can’t even venture a guess how long it would take the income derived from catering to amortize the extra millions of dollars the second story will cost us.

Do we have the money to spend? Maybe, but let’s not spend it frivolously just because it is burning a hole in our pocket.

The Yacht Club is a just another area restaurant and lounge that has been unable to compete. Some of the others have already closed down. As an HOA we need not make a profit like the others, but we must stop the bleeding. Don’t allow yourself to be duped by misinformation, hype and spin. Do the right thing and vote no so we can go forward with a down sized seasonal building and a down sized manageable business. Let’s permanently remove the financial yoke from around our necks.