The How and Why of Our Organization

By Sandy Mott – VHA President 1992-1994

First the why.

In the summer and fall of 1990, the expansion of The Villages^®  community west of Highway 27/441 was bringing hundreds of new residents to our community every month. These new Villagers, along with those already living here, saw a need for a homeowner’s association organization that would represent all the homes in The Villages^® Community.

Then the how the VHA began.

Such an undertaking would require leadership. A conversation among a group of friends on a bowling team provided the answer. One of that group was Yvonne Knudson who was well known in the area and was active in Lady Lake government.  This was a case of the right person being in the right place at the right time. After much discussion, Yvonne agreed to an exploratory meeting to test the interest of residents in forming a new homeowner’s association group to serve all the current and future residents of The Villages^®.

In early December 1990, Yvonne invited her bowling team friends and several other interested residents to a meeting at her house. Present at that meeting were Sue and Jim Hartman, Jean and Jim Underwood, Frank and Marie O’Brien, Clara and Mat Streicher, and Bill and Jeanette Lawton.

As the plans for a new homeowners’ association evolved, the group who were to be the founders of The VHA agreed on some important principles. The association would be a constructive, positive-thinking organization open to all homeowners in The Villages^®. 

The group established some immediate goals — to enhance the quality of our retirement lifestyle, to approach and solve problems in a positive manner, and to foster constructive communication between residents and the developer.

A notice was sent to all residents requesting responses from those interested in this proposed organization. When the number of positive responses quickly reached about 2,000, all doubt about the need for a new homeowners’ association vanished.

With Yvonne as temporary chairman, the group set about satisfying the legal requirements of the State of Florida to become a bona fide homeowners association. The charter was applied for and was received, with Frank O’Brien named the Agent of Record.

One final task remained before the group would be ready for their first public meeting. For this planned homeowner’s association to be successful, they needed an agreement from the developer to meet with the organization’s representatives on a regular basis to discuss ideas and suggestions and to solve problems.

At that time, Yvonne Knudson was serving as a member of the Lady Lake Town Commission. As a commissioner, she had met and worked with the developer on various occasions.  This made her the obvious choice to talk with the developer. She made an appointment with Gary Morseto tell him about the forming of a new homeowners’ association and to secure his consent to meet with the board of the new organization on a regular basis.

Yvonne emphasized to Gary Morse that the association was to represent all Villages homeowners and would be a constructive organization pledged to approach their work in a positive manner. She pledged that this would be a homeowners association committed to negotiating rather than demanding and would be rational and reasonable in matters to be discussed.

When her meeting with him ended, Mr. Morse had agreed to meet with the board of the new homeowner’s association on a trial basis. If meetings with the organization proved to be constructive and business-like, the developers would continue meeting with us.

Properly chartered with the state and with the developer’s agreement to meet with the new homeowner’s association, the first public meeting was held on February 12, 1991. Several hundred Villagers gathered in the Carmen Miranda Room of the Paradise Recreation Center. By the end of that meeting, the Villages Homeowners Association had elected officers, and many attendees had volunteered as Villages Representatives.

It was a unanimous decision that Yvonne Knudson should become the first president of the VHA. Other officers and directors were: Marvin Mitchell, vice president; Sue Hartman, secretary; Clara Streicher, treasurer; Frank O’Brien, director; Lewis Berry, director; and John Hlubb, director.

I became a charter member of the VHA and the representative for the Village of Del Mar. And that was the way it was. I was there — a part of the beginning of the Villages Homeowners Association.

There have been attempts to rewrite (falsify) the history of the VHA. But facts are facts, and attempting to change history cannot alter those facts.

Yvonne Knudson and others of the founding group are gone now, but their legacy lives on. The VHA continues to be that constructive, positive-thinking organization, committed to enhancing our Villages lifestyle just as our founders envisioned.

Through the years, The VHA has complied a long and varied list of accomplishments — far too many for a complete listing.

The VHA is now known as The Villages Homeowners Advocates

Please also see the timeline of Our History of accomplishments.