09/27/2026
A Message to the Mountain Shadows Membership
I wanted to personally provide everyone with an update following our September 24th Board meeting and share a few words about the changes in leadership moving forward.
As many of you heard during the meeting, I made the decision to relinquish my position as President of Mountain Shadows Association. This was not a decision I made lightly. I was asked to join the Board in September 2023, initially stepped into the Vice President role, and have had the privilege of serving as President for the past two years.
Over the past several years, I have devoted a tremendous amount of my time and energy to Mountain Shadows. As the responsibilities of the Association have continued to grow, particularly throughout the wastewater situation, there have been many times when my private practice, family time, and personal life have taken a back seat.
I am not someone who gives up on my commitments, which made this an extremely difficult decision for me. However, I have had to restructure my priorities and recognize that, in the best interest of my family, my personal life, and my growing practice, stepping away from the President role was necessary.
I do want to make one thing very clear: I did not resign from the Board, and I am not stepping away from Mountain Shadows.
I remain an elected Director of Mountain Shadows Association and will continue serving as MSA's representative to the Mountain Lakes Water & Sewer Authority Board of Directors. I also intend to remain very involved with our wastewater and infrastructure projects and the work necessary to see those projects through.
Changes in Officers
There were several officer changes made during Thursday's meeting that I want to clarify for everyone.
Hal Brickell also stepped down from his executive officer position as Secretary. Like me, Hal did not resign from the Board of Directors. He remains an elected Director and continues to have voting authority in that capacity.
Following these transitions, the Board unanimously appointed:
Holly Walker – President
Debbie Jenkins – Secretary
Kelly Thornley – Treasurer
I think it is important to clarify the distinction between our elected Directors and executive officers, particularly as it relates to voting.
Under MSA's structure, the President, Secretary, and Treasurer serve as non-voting executive officers. Debbie and Kelly were appointed to their respective officer positions and were not appointed as Directors; therefore, neither has voting authority on matters before the Board.
Holly was previously serving as an elected Director. With her appointment as President, she now serves in the non-voting executive President role and does not cast a Board vote while serving in that position.
Hal and I both relinquished our executive officer positions—Hal as Secretary and me as President—but neither of us resigned from the Board of Directors. We remain elected Directors and continue to vote in that capacity.
These changes were made to better distribute the significant workload and responsibilities of the Association. They were not intended to add additional voting members to the Board or change who was elected by the membership.
Moving Forward
This is a transition in leadership, but it is not a disruption in the work already underway.
We have made significant progress over the last several months, particularly with the wastewater situation. There is still a tremendous amount of work ahead of us, but we are finally receiving some of the answers and direction we have been waiting for from EPD. Our engineers are actively moving the project forward, and we continue working closely with our environmental attorney and the other parties involved.
I remain committed to seeing that work through.
Serving as President of Mountain Shadows has certainly had its challenges, but it has also given me the opportunity to work alongside some incredibly dedicated people and to get to know many of our property owners much better. I am incredibly grateful to those of you who have reached out, offered encouragement, volunteered your time, asked thoughtful questions, or simply recognized the amount of work that has gone on behind the scenes.
I also want to thank my fellow Board members. Regardless of whether we have agreed on every issue along the way, each of us has given a significant amount of our personal time to this community.
I sincerely hope no one views my decision as walking away or giving up on the commitments I have made to Mountain Shadows. I'm still here, still serving, and still committed. I just needed to find a better balance and serve the Association from a different seat.
Please join me in welcoming Holly into her new role as President and Debbie and Kelly into their new officer positions. I look forward to continuing to serve alongside them and the rest of our Board as we keep moving Mountain Shadows forward.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve as your President, and more importantly, thank you for your continued support as we move forward.
Kristin Sinopoli
Director, Mountain Shadows Association
MSA Representative to the Mountain Lakes Water & Sewer Authority Board of Directors
