Posted October 31, 2026

Thank you to everyone who voted in the 2026 Board of Directors election, and to the three members who volunteered to stand as candidates: Kitch Walker, Stephanie Spencer, and Kate Crego. Thank you also to Erin Much of Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry & Hoven, P.C. (BKBH), who served as Election Inspector.

The Board certified the results of the 2026 Board of Directors election at a special meeting held by telephone on October 28, 2026.

Kitch Walker is elected to the open seat for a three-year term. Quorum (21 Lots) was met.

Results

How the vote was run

Voting ran by written ballot in ElectionBuddy from May 18 through 11:59 PM MDT on June 8, 2026, for one of the Board's three elected seats. Each Lot has one vote.

Ms. Much served as Election Inspector. She is a paralegal with the firm that serves as the Association's legal counsel. She is not an Owner or a candidate and has no interest in the outcome. She had monitoring access to the platform during voting, and she verified the determinations and the tally before the Board certified the results. Directors Mandee Arnold (Secretary) and Linda Racicot (Treasurer) voted to certify. Kitch Walker (President) abstained.

How a ballot counts

A ballot counts when the Lot is in Good Standing at the close of voting and the person who cast it had authority to vote the Lot. The ballot instructions stated both conditions.

On October 21, 2026, the Board adopted standing election rules for member votes (October 21, 2026 Board Meeting, Item A). These are not new requirements. As the Board's resolution states, each requirement applied to a 2026 ballot "was in force when the ballot was cast and was stated in or required by the Declaration, the Bylaws, Montana law and the ballot solicitation." The rules write down how the Board determines those requirements, and apply that method the same way to every Lot.

Why the result took until October

Before any result was announced, every ballot was checked against the recorded owner of its Lot, the signer's authority and the Lot's Good Standing, under one set of written rules, and the checks were verified by an independent Election Inspector. For most Lots, no single record held those answers. The owner of record, and who could sign, was identified for every Lot from thousands of recorded documents and Secretary of State filings. Account and violation records for every Lot were reviewed under one written standard. The Board consulted the Association's legal counsel throughout. That care took time, and it means every Lot was treated the same way.

Before the next election

These steps help a Lot's ballot count. The full report has more detail, including trusts and condominium Lots.

• Keep your contact details current. Ballot links are sent to the email addresses on file in each Lot's PayHOA account.

  
  

• Co-owned and company-owned Lots. Tell the Secretary in writing who votes the Lot. A designation stays in effect until the Owner changes it, so it needs to be filed only once.

  
  

• Good Standing. Good Standing is judged as of the date the ballot states. Pay any balance or cure any open violation, and tell the Board before that date so the cure can be verified.

The full report

Members can read the full 2026 Board of Directors Election Report in PayHOA under Documents. It covers the timeline, how the vote was run, why the result took until October, the election rules the Board adopted, answers to questions members have asked, and steps Owners can take now to be ready for the next election.

Questions: Contact Us.

Board of Directors, West Winds HOA