Vote

2025 Board of Directors Election & KICA Covenant Amendments Vote

Voting Open Jan. 13 at 12 p.m. through Feb. 13, 2025 at 12 p.m.

Cast your ballot to elect two new board of directors representatives, vote whether to adopt five vital amendments to KICA’s Covenants, and assign your Annual Meeting proxy to help KICA reach the quorum requirement. All members who complete their ballot before the voting deadline will be automatically entered to win a $500 annual assessment refund.

Each Kiawah Island property receives one ballot, provided to the primary contact of the managing household.

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Ballot: Part 1

Director Election

The Kiawah Island Community Association’s Board of Directors is comprised of six elected representatives serving three-year terms and a developer-appointed director. The 2025 election will fill the two seats of outgoing member directors David DeStefano and Lisa Mascolo. Three candidates are running for the two open seats. The elected directors will be seated on March 20, 2025, immediately following the KICA Annual Meeting.

2025 Board of Directors Candidates

Tim Hazel Image

Tim Hazel

Statement  |  Video Interview
Bran Petranovic Image

Bran Petranovic

Statement  |  Video Interview
Phil Walpole Image

Phil Walpole

Statement  |  Video Interview

Quorum Requirement

The minimum participation requirement for a director election is 51% of the total vote of Kiawah residential and commercial properties.

Board members are your island representatives. Their goal is to enhance your quality of life and your property’s value through strategic planning and leadership.

Your property type will determine the number of votes you have. An undeveloped residential property receives one vote per available board seat (1 vote x 2 seats = total of 2 votes) and a developed residential property receives two votes per available board seat (2 votes x 2 seats = total of 4 votes). You may cast all of your votes for one candidate, or divide your votes (in whole numbers), not to exceed your total number of votes, among the official candidates or a write-in candidate. The two board candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in the election will serve a three-year term (2025-2028).


Candidate Events & Videos

KICA Board Candidate Live Session

KICA Board Candidate Q&A Session
Friday, Jan 3, 2025
View Video

Virtual Board Candidate Forums

Tim Hazel's Virtual Forum
Thursday, Jan 2, 2025
View Video

Phil Walpole's Virtual Forum
Thursday, Jan 2, 2025
View Video

Virtual Forum with Candidate Bran Petranovic
Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025
View Video


Ballot: Part 2

KICA Covenant Amendments

The Kiawah Island Community Association Covenants outline the functions and the authority of the community association and the rights of its Members. The board recommends five amendments and believes they are essential and pertinent. Any change to the KICA Covenants requires a membership vote of approval.

Quorum Requirements

The minimum participation requirement for covenant amendments is 60% of the total base vote of Kiawah residential and commercial properties. 75% of the non-abstaining votes must vote in favor of an amendment for it to pass. This is a very high participation rate and will be challenging to achieve. We encourage all member households to participate!

You will have the opportunity to vote in favor or against each amendment, or you can abstain from casting a vote, but your participation will count toward quorum.


Amendment 1

Developer’s Board Seat and Type E Member

View the Amendment

If approved, the right of the developer to appoint a seat on the KICA board will be removed. The developer seat will convert to an elected community member seat, so all seven KICA board members will be elected.

The KICA Board of Directors is currently composed of six community member directors typically serving three-year terms and one director appointed by the developer, Kiawah Partners, with no term limit. When the covenants were written in the late 1970s, the developer (aka Type E Member) was the largest land-owning member in the association, warranting their board seats. Now that the developer has sold most of their residential property, and is nearing the end of its primary development, it is felt that holding one of the seven board seats is no longer appropriate.


Amendment 2

Architectural Control Authority

View the Amendment

If approved, this amendment will grant KICA broad authority to operate an architectural control authority.

In late 2023, the developer announced the intention to transition Kiawah’s architectural control to the community association, so it is crucial to empower the association to execute these responsibilities.

It is important to note that the amendment grants KICA the foundational authority to operate architectural review functions, but the plan for how and when the responsibilities will be transitioned and operationally executed is underway (view the transition plan) by the ARB Work Group, in collaboration with Kiawah Partners. A transition agreement with the developer will be pursued and will require approval by the KICA board.


Amendment 3

Rules, Regulations and Enforcement

View the Amendment

If approved, this amendment carefully protects members' quality of life by asserting the authority of the board to modify or establish community rules and enforcement procedures.

The original covenants mention little about KICA’s responsibility to oversee and enforce island rules. This amendment clearly asserts the association’s essential function to establish and enforce community rules, through the Rules and Regulations document.


Amendment 4

Administrative and Notices

View the Amendment

If approved, this set of miscellaneous administrative updates to the covenants will provide more clarity and accuracy. These changes do not directly impact core governance.

Some of the existing nomenclature is out of date (e.g. the Town of Kiawah Island is not mentioned, as it didn’t exist in 1976 when the covenants were recorded) and the notice provisions require updating and clarification.

This amendment also stipulates that if any conflict exists between the KICA Covenants and relevant South Carolina law, the SC law will control.


Amendment 5

Board of Director Qualifications

View the Amendment

If approved, this new amendment will address a legacy flaw in the KICA Covenants that fails to recognize the various modern forms of property ownership.

The current covenants require that only property owners can be members and eligible to serve on the KICA board of directors. However, many homes are owned by LLCS or other legal entity structures, which prohibits these members from serving on board. This amendment fixes this flaw, creating a clear and practical path for such owners to serve as KICA Board members


People Meeting

Ballot: Part 3

Annual Meeting Attendance Proxy

KICA’s governing documents require 51% of households to be in attendance at the Annual Meeting on March 20, 2025 at 10 a.m. Since most of our community members live part-time on Kiawah and cannot physically attend the Annual Meeting, quorum must be met in advance by assigning a proxy within the ballot to the KICA board secretary, so that the meeting can be held. This is only an attendance proxy. No voting occurs at the Annual Meeting so you are not forfeiting any voting rights. All members are encouraged to assign their proxy, even if they plan to attend the meeting.


Voting

Cast Your Ballot

Find Your Emailed Ballot and Voter Registration Code

Your ballot will be provided on Jan. 13, 2025 by KICA’s third-party voting processor, Vote-Now. Your ballot and unique voter registration code will be sent by email to the primary contact of your property’s managing household (check your Spam folder if you don’t see the email). Click the ballot link within the email and your voter registration code should auto-populate, allowing you to enter your ballot. If we do not have an email address on file for you, a paper ballot will be mailed to your address.

Vote Online

Voting is open from Monday, Jan. 13 at 12 p.m. through Thursday, Feb. 13 at 12 p.m. Once your vote has been cast, it cannot be revoked. Please vote promptly to help ensure the quorum requirements are met. All participating households will be entered to win a $500 annual assessment refund.

Need Assistance?

Contact us at [email protected] for questions about your voter registration code.


Key Dates

Dec. 4, 2024: Property Owners as of this Date of Record Receive a 2025 Ballot
Jan. 13, 2025: Voting Opens at 12 p.m.
Feb. 13, 2025: Voting Closes at 12 p.m.
Feb. 14, 2025: Election & Covenant Amendment Vote Results Announced
March 20, 2025: Directors-Elect Begins Term after the Annual Meeting