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Westchase Board Member Ousted Amid Allegations

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By JASON GEARY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 12, 2007

WESTCHASE - WESTCHASE - After Gene McArthur, a member of the Westchase Community Association board, was removed from that post Tuesday amid allegations of bigoted remarks, the association board voted Thursday evening to remove him from any of the organization's community committee posts.

WCA President Ruben Collazo requested McArthur's removal from committee posts and the board voted unanimously to do so.

"With this, I hope we can close this unfortunate chapter in Westchase history,'' Collazo said.

There are more than 20 neighborhoods within the Westchase development, and each neighborhood has a voting member on the community's homeowner's association. The voting members elect WCA board members, whose duties include handling code violation appeals, setting budgets for the tennis and swim facilities in Westchase and overseeing a property management company.

On Tuesday, the homeowner association voting members removed McArthur from the WCA board.

According to the homeowner association's official newsletter, some voting members asserted that McArthur has made sexist and racist remarks. McArthur said the allegations were not true and called them "bunk.''

The removal of McArthur marks the second departure of a WCA board member in recent weeks. Last month, during a heated board meeting in which McArthur told a Westchase resident to "shut up,'' WCA board member Jim Mills abruptly resigned, citing acrimony on the board as a reason for leaving.

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