Board tempest roils Raleigh suburb

Homeowners group in spat

RALEIGH -- Last fall, a member of the Harrington Grove homeowners association board collected enough votes from his neighbors to kick two members off the board.

Now the board member, Dutch Dasanaike, is trying to hold onto his own seat in a fight that includes allegations of improperly collected proxy votes, an anonymous Web site and a YouTube video with scenes from an emotional board meeting. Dasanaike says he has done nothing wrong.

The rift at Harrington Grove, a 1,241-home community in northwest Raleigh, is an extreme example of how wrong things can go with homeowner boards, private organizations that often serve as unofficial forms of local government.

"No matter who did what, this particular scenario does not serve the needs of the community," said Sara Stubbins, executive director of the North Carolina chapter of the Community Associations Institute, which represents property managers and homeowners associations.

"If their energy is being expended around personal agendas or personality differences on the board, then no one is serving the needs of the community."

The ouster of two longtime public officials from a city or county board would get a lot of notice. But the dealings of a homeowners association often reach no further than the handful of people who regularly attend the meetings.

A mini-government

Homeowners associations take money, sometimes hundreds of dollars a month, and they control the biggest investment many people make -- their home.

With the growing authority of homeowners associations over the daily lives of North Carolinians, state lawmakers have taken notice and proposed studying the protection and participation of individual homeowners in these organizations.

Most homeowners pay little attention to the boards until they are cited for a wrong-color fence or grass that's too high. The rift in Harrington Grove is one reason why they should, experts say.

Local lawyers who represent homeowners associations say the problems among board members like the one in Harrington Grove aren't unusual.

In 2006, homeowners in west Cary's Parkway subdivision voted off the association's entire board after the board's manager began rigorously enforcing the neighborhood's rules.

"Some of them fight to the end," said Roger Knight, a Raleigh lawyer who represents associations. "Some of them resign rather than get removed."

Suburban soap opera

In Harrington Grove, board members' attempts to broker Dasanaike's resignation have failed.

"This is not an issue of whether or not he's technically broken the law, but it's an issue of integrity and honor," said April Hutson, board vice president.

A 44-year-old technology consultant, Dasanaike decided last year there needed to be a change on the board. He was concerned, for instance, that some issues were debated and decided through e-mail instead of at the board's monthly meetings.

So Dasanaike and several others, including his wife, went door to door, collecting proxy votes from homeowners in Dasanaike's name. He used the votes collected to oust board president Herb Hernandez and board member Chuck Pringle at the board's annual meeting in October.

However, Dasanaike's attempt to install himself as the board's president failed. Another longtime board member was chosen.

Emotions have escalated since then. The YouTube video, from a board meeting last month, shows Dasanaike declaring he won't resign under a "cloud of suspicion." Someone created an anonymous Web site that includes detailed descriptions of the conflict, cloaked by fake names given to various board members, including Dasanaike.