Unofficial Independence Newsletter—Vol. 1, Issue 3: 10/13/2026

Hello, everyone.

My goal for this newsletter is to send it out only when I think it is necessary. I am not interested in bogging you down with information that you don't want, nor hearing myself talk; I just want to shine light on significant news so that I don't forget about it later. I've gone months before without sending one of these out, but lately things have gotten a little dicey.

There have been some dramatic events that have taken place recently that concern how the government at Independence will function in the near future, as a small group of residents are trying to destabilize things. Although I cannot speak to their motives, I noticed that the number of duped and manipulated folks is less than 40 people, in part due to a toxic Facebook group.

I do not use Facebook (I think it is a cesspool), so some things surprised me when I learned about them. I can summarize by saying that there is currently a war for narratives going on, and the folks leading the public charge may not be the ones who invented the narratives—they might just be well-meaning folks who don't know any better. After all, most people think they are too smart to be fooled, especially by silly things in an HOA or Special District setting (like at Independence). So, let me provide you with a different perspective from the one you may be getting.

For starters, I will inform you that my dream of uniting residents at Independence under a common culture of rules compliance is coming to an end (hopefully only temporarily). It is being replaced with what I call "HOA culture." Basically, the direction is turning toward favoritism and self-interest, with the biggest egos leading the way. At times, I have felt embarrassed for some of these folks, as they say or believe some of the silliest things imaginable.

The Resident Review Committee (RRC) that was formed this year has had a major setback, particularly because I could not find good leadership for it. My thought is that perhaps we formed this committee too soon within the timeframe of the development, whereby our candidate pool was not large enough, as not all Independence districts have been populated yet. Also, the goal was to have objectively minded committee members who could withstand the pressures of peer politics and work to bring about full rules compliance in our covenant-controlled community. However, I have lost confidence in the majority on this committee as it sits right now, as it seems to have become a popularity contest for some of them and they are not focused on preserving or increasing property values. Some committee members are openly supporting abusive subculture. I have even witnessed multiple instances of specific RRC members catering to specific individuals rather than to the community at large, thus violating the mission of this committee; and also instances of using their position on the committee in improper ways. I will therefore be communicating this with the board of directors and seeking changes.

The Resident Review Committee held a meeting on Thursday, 10/15. Usually, no one from the public attends these things; and this particular meeting had a very simple agenda that should have taken about a half-hour to go through. But nine audience members showed up this time, which included a small contingent from the toxic Facebook group. This contingent were individuals that the RRC Chairperson communicates with frequently, even on Facebook, I learned. She even recommended the homemade woodcrafting services of one of them (whom I later found out was the one scaring people about their 2027 water bills at Independence) at the beginning of the meeting.

When I saw these five or six people in the corner, they reminded me of people who were duped into buying timeshares, or into some Ponzi scheme, or something like that. I kind of felt bad for them. Throughout the meeting, they offered strange advice to the committee, and some of it was nonsense: like allowing residents to install artificial turf putting greens in their frontyards; or having the District's architect firm donate 92% of its income to schoolchildren; or that if they violated rules at Independence without others knowing for one year, then they could never be punished. They also asked questions that the committee chairperson sometimes answered dishonestly. I was constantly being interrupted by the chairperson when I tried to offer corrections, even though I sit on this committee! She had her back to me the entire time that she did this. It was unusual and disrespectful, so I could tell that something was up.

At the end of the business portion, an open forum took place, where this small contingent from the toxic Facebook group destroyed the decorum of the meeting. This was fully enabled by their friend, the committee chairperson, who seemingly knew in advance what these people wanted to do—she looked right them, in particular, as if to commence their plan. As they began to berate me, I asked this small toxic group if they had come to this meeting to confront me personally. They responded with "Yes" and "100%." When I informed them that that was not the purpose of this meeting, they said they didn't care—and no one from the RRC tried to stop them. The woodcrafting friend of the RRC Chair wanted to get physically violent with me, as he was yelling at me, insulting me, calling me names, and trying to stoke a fistfight as I was walking out of the meeting.

It was embarrassing for this toxic little group as they humiliated themselves. They stalked me and tried to intimidate, berate, and bully me. It seemed like they were even willing to commit crimes and risk going to jail for their beliefs. Their behavior was very odd, and they fed off of each other. I have not seen something like this before in my 20 years of experience with Common Interest Developments (CID) and the hundreds of board and committee meetings that I have attended.

These toxic Facebook folks should truly be ashamed of themselves. Their misconduct was against everything that the majority of us stand for at Independence. It was a travesty that the Resident Review Committee (and especially its chairperson) would enable, allow, welcome, not try to prevent, and even defend afterward such a thing to happen at Independence. It was beyond the pale.

The next day, the chairperson of the RRC sent me a long e-mail. In it, she stated that I deserved the take-down attempt and bullying from her friends. She also accused me of supporting rape—yes, actual rape—and compared me to a character from her favorite show, "The Handmaid's Tale," which I know nothing about. She sent this e-mail to everyone in the Resident Review Committee, and a majority (but not all) of them actually responded with total favor for this chairperson, if you can believe it—the majority of committee members still want her to continue leading them.

In closing, I just wanted you to know these things. They happened, and this small group of toxic people are also preying upon our Independence government right now and are trying to take advantage of our community manager, developer, and attorney's office. They do not represent even a smidgeon of the majority of folks at Independence. I am calling on you to become more active so that you can see these things for yourself and work with people like me who will shut it down. Right now, the abusers and haters are making their rounds. It would be in our best interest to meet these people and try to change their minds. They are truly misled and have lost their way.

In the meantime, may God continue to bless us, Independence, Elizabeth, Elbert County, Colorado, and America.