FHGC Board Installs New Officers

Election of Officers for 2026 Board:

• Bruce Eaton - President
• Deb Dillingham - Vice President
• Kayur Patel - Co-treasurer
• Brett Sharoni - Co-treasurer
• Sue Gregg - Secretary

Message from FHGC President Bruce Eaton

With the new Board in place, it is time for us to all work together to keep this community the world-class neighborhood it is.  We may not agree on how to do this, but there is a clear mandate to do some things differently.

I write on the heels of a truly historic election with likely the highest participation rate in the history of our neighborhood.  While some of you were happy with the result, I appreciate that others were likely disappointed and have concerns about how this new Board will proceed.  I hope you will find some comfort knowing that I am not new to this, having served 4 terms as President from 2006 to 2009.  I worked with great cohorts of people on those Boards, and am thrilled to have several of those long-standing members of our community back on the Board now. Perhaps you can think of me, and many of us serving on the Board, as old comfortable shoes you can rely on who have joined with the new members who bring great energy and drive.  I think everyone should also remember that at some point, even the longest standing board members were once new to the Board as well.  You can rest assured, that our decisions will always support the best interests of The Gardens. 

One of our immediate goals is broader participation within our committees to have more points of view heard on the Board.  We have an incredible amount of talent in our community, and our goal is to revitalize our committees to channel that knowledge.  Another primary focus is to focus on good governance and best practices, which I am certain will lead to well-considered decisions and positive results.  With a younger generation of new Board members, there is also a new focus on using modern technology to better deliver services to our members.  I’m confident that these are the types of changes that will lead to better results for our neighborhood.

I also want to be clear that these changes will take some time, and there may be some growing pains along the way.  That being said, I’m confident and excited about this group.

Finally, we remain steadfast in our mission to use all means available to find a fair and reasonable resolution concerning the ongoing and increasingly expensive litigation.  While we have a renewed focus on negotiation, we are prepared to move forward with litigation if an appropriate settlement can’t be made.   There are many great reasons to own and live in The Gardens and we will protect and preserve our Covenants.

FY’26 First Quarter Financial Report

The FHGC operates on an October through September fiscal year, thus we have now completed our first fiscal quarter.   Most of our revenue comes from maintenance payments made during the first four months of the fiscal year while expenses are spread throughout.  Note that the 2025 Board of Directors managed our finances in the first fiscal quarter with the 2026 board transitioning to manage them starting in January.

Revenues:  Overall revenue is $1.245M for the first three months of the fiscal year, representing 52% of our total revenue budget.   Approximately 2/3rds of the residential maintenance has been paid to date; it is expected that most of the outstanding maintenance will be paid in January in conjunction with parking decal purchases

Expenses:  Overall, $896K has been spent so far this fiscal year, which is 38% of our budget. Budget outliers include:

• Insurance – the insurance budget for the year is already over by 11% with umbrella liability premiums higher than planned (note that most of the insurance budget is spent in Q1)
• Legal – $182K has been spent on legal expenses during the first fiscal quarter, which represents 62% of its annual budget.   This includes $129K for concert litigation and $41K for corporate governance related to the annual election.