Utopia

u·to·pi·a /yo͞oˈtōpēə/ noun

An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.

When we moved to Big Canoe, all those years ago, it was not because it was advertised as a state of Utopia. On the contrary, it was a little off the grid, away from the congestion, craziness and “toxicity” of more densely populated areas. We’re not criticizing cities or the city life – they’re just not for us.

Nearly every city, town, county, and state across this great country of ours has its issues. No one has cornered the market on Utopia. DeKalb county could have its own news station for all the craziness that happens there (no offense to the folks who live in or are from DeKalb county.)

Unfortunately, the mudslinging within our community, our Big Canoe, has reached a high and the bullying associated with it is not in the spirit of this place we have come to love and to call our home.

By all appearances, the individuals associate with “Focus on Big Canoe” and “The Mountains Voice” (by the way, it should be ‘Mountains’ Voice or ‘Mountain’s Voice’ – but we digress) started with a noble cause – uncover irregularities associated with the land purchase made in 2016. Fair enough, Mr. David H. Hopkins raised to our attention some concerns. Unfortunately, in our opinion, that voice has taken its concerns to a level that is not productive, healthy, or constructive.

We would ask that you consider the following:

• Mr. Hopkins became a property owner in Big Canoe in 2017 and currently owns a lot within Big Canoe but not a home. The purchase was made in 2017 for $4500. (source = qPublic.Net for Dawson County, GA.) From everything we can gather, he was not even a property owner when the "controversial" land purchase occurred.

• In an early communication, when questioned about why he was not in the Big Canoe Directory, he shared he has chosen not to be. Fair enough – but consider this - emails from “Focus on Big Canoe” state, at the bottom: “You are receiving this email because you either opted in at our website or you are a Big Canoe Property Owner/Resident.” Could it be that Mr. Hopkins has used the directory he has chosen not to be a part of to collect email addresses and send unsolicited emails??

• His recent “Public Service Announcement” on FaceBook states: “The US Dollar will be gone in less than 2 years.” We would be happy to take any of those obsolete dollars off his hands in two years. He is also the mastermind behind the www.BitcoinIscoming.com and www.BeastIsComing.com billboards we see in the area.

We don’t agree with everything that happens in Big Canoe or the actions of our leadership and we have written about those things. We highlighted concerns, took action, got involved and then moved on. It’s quite simple - be part of the solution!!

We commend those individuals who have raised concerns and then volunteered to be a part of the solution! Volunteered to get involved in making things better!

What started as helpful information and thoughtful, thorough research has evolved to the toxicity we intentionally left behind when we moved to Big Canoe. We happen to agree with one neighbor when they compared it to “the rant of a madman.”

As residents of Big Canoe, we have not elected Mr. Hopkins as our voice or our conscious. We, The Muckrackers, have opted to “MUTE” this voice and encourage you to do the same – until which time as actually he gets involved in making improvements or volunteers to make something right.

We applaud the host of volunteers who serve this community and strive to make it better. We appreciate Big Canoe’s leadership for listening and taking action. They’re not perfect but neither are we. We do not believe they wake up each morning thinking “how can we take advantage of (a.k.a "screw") the people of Big Canoe?” Our POA Board and the leaders of Big Canoe are never going to make 100% of the people happy 100% of the time. That is a fact of life. We’re not always happy but we’re committed being respectful and being a part of the solution.

Like many of you, our blood pressure immediately goes down as we drive through the gates. The Mountain’s Voice we most appreciate is the sound of nature – man’s voice silenced so that the beauty of this place we call home is heard in all its God given glory.

Mr. Hopkins - there is one very, very simple solution to this – if Big Canoe is such a hot mess, so mis-managed, leadership so corrupt that it has become unbearable…. then…..MOVE!! Oh…but wait you’re not a home owner here…. In fact, public records seems to indicate you live in Dawsonville on an Audubon Court….hmmmm….Perhaps you should start working on the issues in Dawsonville and let the home owners of Big Canoe be…

Until next time…

For the record...

In recent days and weeks, some of you have attempted to identify / accused residents of our community of being The Muckraker.

For the record:

• We are the LAST person you would suspect;

• We are NOT running for an open POA position, married to someone is, or otherwise involved with a candidate;

• We have NEVER been approached by anyone asking us if we are The Muckraker.

You have seen us at The Chapel and we’ve exchanged pleasantries. You’ve also seen us at The Club House, the Postal Facility, on the trails, in the Fitness Center, on the Bocce Courts, and at the IGA.

This website was created to shed light on two specific things – the heavily orchestrated election process within Big Canoe and the antics of one of our Board Members.

Each of our current board members has, at one time or another, professed being a “Fiscal Conservative” and yet we seem to be living in a time of “spend and assess.” This is very similar to the “spend and tax” philosophy of many politicians of a certain party. It must stop; we cannot afford or sustain this philosophy over the long term.

No one can argue that WWW has volunteered many hours at a variety of Big Canoe events and has, we dare say, made more posts on Facebook than any other board member or perhaps all board members combined. Some of the posts are informative; some have threatened to sue Big Canoe; some are edited or altogether removed; some are emotional and accusatory; some are “cut and paste” from other Big Canoe resources / communications; some contradict previous posts he wrote /made . Our point is that posting and volunteering to flip burgers are not the equivalent to a productive, effective POA Board Member.

Our ideal board members are passionate about Big Canoe but not emotional. They are open to listening to different perspectives and ideas but have the discernment to determine what is right for Big Canoe over the long term. They stand by their values and why they were elected rather than flip flopping at a moment’s notice to do what is popular or will make them look good. They hold one another and the leaders of Big Canoe accountable while maintaining a long-term strategic view.

Based upon our knowledge of the four candidates, we believe two are indeed fiscal conservatives who will help to reign in the spending. They have many of the characteristics listed above and, we believe, will focus on preserving / improving all that we love about Big Canoe.

Until next time….

What a week it has been!

It would appear that the drama from last week is starting to quiet down. Before closing out this most recent chapter we wanted to share a few final details…

Thanks to our readers for sharing:

“Couple of casual observations.

1. This weepy, heart broken community of ours seems ready and willing to unanimously elect a guy as Pres of our POA, who 5 minutes ago was ready and willing to sue us into bankruptcy over his poor, mistreated girlfriend. That’s just who we need on the board.

2. I’m just speculating here, but how many conversations between Yaz and Dana do you think went like this:

Yaz: Dana, I need you to go do such and such.

Dana: I don’t think I’ll do that. In fact, WWW told me I don’t have to do anything you tell me.

Can also be dismissed for insubordination.

3. In WWW’s non-resignation post, he stated Dana woke him at “4 am” to say she decided to save BC from ruin and not sue. WWW messed up his posting and later stated that’s what he gets for posting at “2 am”. Oops.

4. In WWW’s non-resignation letter, he does take the time to lay out his election platform and all his “ideas” to make BC better. His platform which BTW contains all the ideas of the other candidates (one in particular) which he has now hijacked as his own.“

Another reader wrote:

“So, Dana came to her senses and realized there was no grounds for a lawsuit. Hmmm – you would think WWW, the seasoned ‘trial lawyer’ he is, would have realized that as well before his public tantrum / posting idle threats. What a pathetic sight - “glad-handing” at the Club House Thursday night! It pains me see people fall for their theatrics when just hours before he threatened to sue us!!”

To close this week out…

This website was started because, we believe, the rules of Big Canoe elections prevent total vetting of candidates.

Our goal is to work to ensure that the leaders of our POA are level-headed, strategic leaders able to navigate complex issues, and are focused on ensuring the long-term growth and viability of Big Canoe.

We fear too many residents are lulled into believing that WWW’s 24/7 personal PR campaign equates to a highly competent POA Board member. That could not be farther from the truth. Reflect for a moment on his antics this week and forget about how many burgers he’s flipped or how may F/B postings he’s made.

Until next time….