The Smarter Way to Manage Tellico Village

Three passionate residents of Tellico Village running for the board.

Last update: Saturday, November 1, 2025

An Election Message from Mike Lackey and Joel Reed

As voting for the POA Board begins, we’re reaching out to all Village voters and especially the thousands of you who voted for us last year. If you support the POA reforms we ran to begin, we ask you to vote for Cary Brown, David Taylor, and Larry Godwin in this election. We know and trust them. They’ve worked for months to prepare for the issues the POA faces at this crucial point in its history. Contrary to what a few who don’t know them would have you believe, they are independent thinkers who don’t always agree with us or with each other. We believe the Board needs Carey’s background in facilities management, maintenance, and construction, David’s extensive legal and oversight expertise, and Larry’s experience overseeing large budgets and complex operations at city and state levels. Along with us and with Carla and Ed, they will give you a well-rounded Board able to openly debate issues from various perspectives and reach thoughtful, balanced decisions. They share our commitment to saving you money, ending the recent tax-and-spend approach, improving communication with you, and giving you POA government in the sunshine. This election matters, and your vote matters. We hope every Villager will vote – and we hope you will vote for Carey, David, and Larry.

Thank you!

We want to thank you all for your support. We’re excited to uphold our commitments to accountability and transparency.

Tellico Smart Candidates Platform

Carey, David, and Larry are running on the Tellico Smart ticket to build on what Mike and Joel have begun. Here is what we will do for you if you elect us.

GOVERN IN THE SUNSHINE

  1. Hold open Board meetings and limit closed-door sessions, open all workshops

  2. Provide accurate customer satisfaction surveys via resident online channel

  3. Ban Board voting of POA lots

  4. Limit NDAs to only individual personnel matters and discussion of actual legal proceedings

  5. Follow governing documents, update to post-Cooper 21st century to ensure authority

  6. Train Board annually re fiduciary duties and responsibilities

PUT RESIDENTS FIRST

  1. Listen before deciding – Board attends Town Hall before every Board meeting

  2. Maintain the Tellico Village we moved here for (not Wind River or Rarity Bay)

  3. Keep residents’ costs down to the fullest extent possible

  4. Foster POA culture of customer service and respect for residents

RESTORE FINANCIAL PRUDENCE

  1. Implement TAP 2.0, Mike and Joel’s water/sewer plan costing $7-10 million

  2. Permanently eliminate the $80 water/sewer fee

  3. Bill water at LUB/TASS cost, plus a limited amount actually needed for future

  4. Budget for needs not wants, avoid tax-and-spend approach

  5. Base all budgeting on relevant data

  6. Use best practices for competitive procurement and follow related Village rules

  7. Conduct regular financial audits

MAINTAIN RELIABLE INFRASTRUCTURE

  1. Establish preventive maintenance program

  2. Keep segregated reserve accounts

  3. Periodically assess reserve needs and assumptions

  4. Consider possible capital expenditure needs, such as Kahite fire service

FOSTER CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT, LEARNING, GROWTH

  1. Manage POA using Balanced Scorecard, using data to look to our future as well as our past

  2. Find and make efficiency improvements

  3. Increase non-assessment revenue and prudently reduce subsidies

  4. Periodically review Advisory Committee structure and member expertise

  5. Implement staff training to enhance employee skills, personal growth, and customer focus

Tellico Q&A

Carey Brown, David Taylor, & Larry Godwin

We’re running for election to the Tellico Village Board. We believe that we can bring some new and less expensive solutions to our Village.