Let’s ask a question: Who actually controls Smoke Signals?
Yes, it’s a nonprofit. But nonprofits are typically controlled by a board . . . and every board makes decisions that exist to serve a public or community benefit.
In the case of Smoke Signals, those decisions seem curiously aligned with the POA’s version of reality.
For a paper that calls itself “totally independent,” it consistently avoids even mentioning any subject that might put the POA in an uncomfortable light.
Sadly, there’s not even a mention of these topics in Smoke Signals:
- Rising dues and growing financial strain
- The General Manager’s qualifications and performance
- The loss of our BigCanoe.com domain
- The nearly $500,000 paid to regain partial name control from Big Canoe Realty
- Employee litigation against the POA has risen sharply under Scott Auer
These are important topics and real issues for property owners and residents, yet you won’t find a mention -let alone unbiased coverage- of these POA problems in Smoke Signals. In fact, the POA is rarely mentioned at all—except when the content comes directly from them, or when the paper recaps a one-sided version of a board meeting without context or follow-up. Sadly, only one side is presented and represented.
Why?
One possible reason is the historical overlap between Smoke Signals leadership and the POA, and POA-affiliated individuals. Former POA board members have gone on to hold positions on Smoke Signals’ board. Those relationships are the most minor of infractions compared to what the legal history and facts say.
That may be allowable—but it raises fair questions about editorial independence, especially when combined with a clear reluctance to cover the numerous POA controversies.
And while Smoke Signals operates as a 501(c)(3), that alone doesn’t ensure transparency. Nonprofits are only as independent and accountable as the people who run them.
So it’s fair to ask: Who own’s and controls the Smoke Signals non-profit now? Who funds it? And most importantly, who decides what gets published—and what doesn’t, and why?
Those are the kinds of questions a true “community news” outlet would normally ask of others. But in this case, it’s up to us—as property owners and residents—to ask them of Smoke Signals itself.
We’re not suggesting malicious intent. But what appears to be clear avoidance on issues that matter deeply to this community is hard to ignore. And it makes the claim of independence ring hollow.
Independence isn’t declared. It’s demonstrated—consistently, and publicly.
Smoke Signals can continue to highlight park openings and garden club updates on their front pages but until Smoke Signals is willing to even acknowledge serious matters and cover these issues objectively (and ask questions of our elected officials when necessary)—their claim of independence will remain difficult to believe.
We hope that changes. Because Big Canoe deserves journalism that informs, questions, and holds our elected POA Board members accountable.
“The press is the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man, and improving him as a rational, moral, and social being.” — Thomas Jefferson
With Respect, A Growing Group of Concerned Property Owners & Residents
