Special to the Insider
The election of new board members for the Seven Lakes Landowners Association (SLLA) is underway. Ballots were sent to residents on Feb. 19. Candidate meet and greets were held on Jan. 25 and Feb. 22 in the North Club House.
Ballots must be returned by March 22 at 5 p.m., and election results will be announced on March 23 at the 9:30 a.m. SLLA annual meeting.
Residents can return their ballots by mail or by dropping them off in the SLLA office.
Four candidates are running for three open board seats. All candidates were invited by the Seven Lakes Insider to submit profiles, including candidate statements of under 150 words. This unofficial forum supplements the election processes. The candidates’ submitted statements were only edited for clarity.
The candidates running for the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association (SLWLA) were featured in the February issue.
SLLA candidates include:
Bob Hayes
Residency
My wife and I moved from our farm in Illinois to North Carolina in 2021. We wanted to be close to our daughters in Pinehurst and only a day trip to our other children. Our \Realtor showed us many areas but we decided Seven Lakes checked all our boxes.
Occupation
I retired after 46 years of retail executive management, having worked in various departments and store management with Melville Shoes, A&S, Burdines and Macy’s.
Community Service
I would be well suited to serve the community with my many years of employee relations, customer service and problem solving. I also have a background as an officer in an extremely large volunteer fire department serving a village of 46,000 residents.
In addition, I was a first responder and chairman of an emergency ambulance service. I am a person who listens to and respects the concerns of my neighbors.
Candidate Statement
In my opinion, Seven Lakes is probably the best kept secret of gated community living. It offers privacy, beauty, places to exercise and play, as well as having great neighbors. Presently, I serve on the Architectural Review Board inspecting the requests of our residents. While interacting with Seven Lakes homeowners regarding their ARB requests, I am often questioned on our Rules and Regulations. With that in the back of my mind, my hopes for the community is a reasonably quick resolution of the dam, road and other issues that come before the board. I would also like to see the Board create a well rounded six- to eight-person committee of residents only to analyze the rules and regulations and to see what might need updating. And then, in conjunction with the board, residents’ concerns could be resolved. And finally, I ask the residents of Seven Lakes for their vote.
Amber Johnson
Residency
I’ve lived in Seven Lakes for almost 10 years. I grew up a few miles from here so, this is essentially “home” for me.
Occupation
I currently work for a fintech software company where I oversee our platform migration strategy.
Community Service
I am an accountant and have worked in various accounting and audit functions. I have managed and led groups of varying sizes for over twenty years. In addition, I am currently the treasurer for SLLA and have previously served on various committees.
Candidate statement
My interest is in preserving this community and all it has to offer. I believe sustainability is the most critical issue to be addressed over the next few years. We are a 100 percent self-funded community. As prices go up, so does the cost to maintain our community and all our wonderful amenities. I’d like to see property values continue to increase as the surrounding areas grow and demand for real estate remains high. I’d like to avoid detrimental impacts that can result from a lack of community engagement, sense of responsibility, personal investment, and fiscal responsibility.
Debbie Kelly
Residency
My husband and I moved here from Ohio in March 2020. We bought a house here in Seven Lakes after searching for over two years. We settled on Seven Lakes because it was golf cart friendly, it had the amenities we sought and obviously is a beautiful lake community.
Occupation
I am retired from 30 years in the finance and banking industry as well as owning and operating a small tire shop and multiple rental properties.
Community Service
After being recently retired, I found I had large amounts of time on my hands and decided to become involved in the community. I joined various activities and then committees, met all kinds of new friends and like minded persons. I enjoy learning how the community has evolved and wish to offer my life experiences in making this a well run and volunteer active community.
Candidate Statement
After serving on several committees, there are key identifiers that would be ideal areas of improvement, such as having more volunteers and better communications; clearer paths for committees to accomplish goals; improved interaction between committees and the board; improved accountability and transparency. Volunteers often give up due to inability to understand how to work within the board and office management setting as well as state HOA laws. It feels as if there are more roadblocks than necessary. A documented path to succeed would aid in participation and free up time for the committees to become more productive. Navigating the protocols and having board approved policies and procedures lessen the time spent trying to figure out how to do and enable more time in getting things done. In addition, we need checks-and-balances on our income and expenses and a higher focus on getting comparable bids on large contracts versus auto renewing.
Jeff Nieter
Residency
My wife, Bethann, and I moved here just over three years ago after retiring in Connecticut. We had looked for a southeastern community with lakes, golf, and a rural, natural environment to live for our retirement, and found exactly that in Seven Lakes.
Occupation
I retired after 34 years as a mechanical engineer working at United Technologies Research Center in Connecticut.
Community Service
After settling into our new life in Seven Lakes North, I started volunteering my time serving on the Security and Safety committee in 2023, where I helped put the radar speed sign back into service and get the new Proptia security software operational. From compiling the radar sign data, I’ve documented the speeding problem we have in Seven Lakes North and South. I’ve also helped the community learn how to use the new Proptia software.
Candidate Statement
I am interested in serving on the board in general to help improve and maintain our infrastructure and processes that contribute to keeping this community a wonderful place to live. I think the main priorities to accomplish are the following: Reduce speeding on our community roads so our residents can safely enjoy activities outdoors on and near our roads; further improve gate entry integrity and security cameras functionality to provide the level of security we expect from a gated community; and determine the best, cost effective option for our community, and effectively execute a plan, to complete the bottom drain required by our state at Sequoia Lake. We enjoy a great community here in Seven Lakes. We need to ensure our board focuses on safety, security, and maintaining our infrastructure so we can continue to enjoy life here.
