Get to know the passionate individuals who lead our community initiatives, ensuring a vibrant and thriving environment for all property owners.
Our Leadership Team
POA Officers
Cliff Wiener
President
BIO
(352) 418-7372
cwiener@poa4us.com
Cliff Wiener has served on the POA board for the last 13 years and the last ten as president.
Since moving to the Villages in 2002, he has been a Guardian Ad Litem in Marion County, a member of the CIC, on the Architectual Review Committee (ARC) for 4 years (Chairman), and now serves as a District 4 board supervisor. He is a member of the Ohio Buckeye Club, Forest City Masonic Lodge #388 in Cleveland Ohio, Villages Masonic Lodge #394, Bahia Shrine, Villages Shrine Club, and the High Twelve Club of the Villages.
Before retirement he was a member of Local 38 IBEW and retired after 41 yrs as an electrician.
Dan Warren
Vice President
BIO
n 2022, Dan was elected by the voters living in CDD-9 to NSCUDD. NSCUDD is North Sumter County Utility Dependent District. It provides trash, water, wastewater, and non-potable irrigation water service for the homes located in CDDs 5-9.
Dan Warren is a University of Wisconsin registered professional Civil Engineer with an MBA in finance from DeVry University.
He has extensive experience in land development, construction, and project management of major stormwater, solid waste, water, and wastewater treatment systems. He is intimately familiar with all aspects of this infrastructure, such as planning, engineering, finance, construction, operation, maintenance, and regulatory compliance. A perfect fit for the NSCUDD board position.
Dan has attended numerous NSCUDD meetings over the years, providing citizen input. He most recently provided alternative suggestions for the process of the CSU purchase from the developer, solid waste conversion to the Waste-to-Energy disposal option, and changing water and irrigation meter readings from manual to automated. He is up to speed and ready for the challenge.
Dan was also dedicated to serving the public as commission president of the Waukesha Wisconsin Water Utility for 24 years and was elected to the Waukesha School Board for 21 years. He is a current member of The Villages Architectural Review Committee representing District #9.
Jerry Ferlisi
Treasurer
BIO
(352) 391-5261
In addition to being Vice President of the POA, Jerry is a Supervisor for CDD-5. He and his wife, Maureen, acquired their "Village" home in 2005 but became full-time residents in the Village of Poinciana, in May 2010, upon Jerry's retirement.
He was a member of The Villages CERT (Certified Emergency Response Team). He and his wife are trained responders for their block AED program. Jerry loves to bowl and golf, as well as attend various clubs. He is an avid member of SOSB (Seniors on a Spring Break). He is the proud father of two sons, with two daughters-in-law & two gorgeous granddaughters, and he has the pictures to prove it.
He's had a long and distinguished career in Finance. He holds a BS in Accounting from Long Island University. He was trained in Public Accounting (Pannel, Kerr Forster) and moved into Hospital Finance, where he served as Controller at St John's University, South Shore Division. He held senior positions at Staten Island University Hospital, including Controller, VP, Sr. VP, and CFO. He's held similar positions (CFO and Sr. Director) for the NYU Hospital For Joint Diseases. He has served on numerous Finance Committees, including the Hospital Association of NYS (HANYS) and Greater NY Hospital Association (GNYHA). Earlier in his career, he served as treasurer for the New Springville Civic Association (a not for Profit Civic Organization).
Reb Benson
Secretary
BIO
Richard (Reb) Benson has served as the POA Secretary since 2019. In addition, he is the lead person on the POA Membership Help Desk. In 2022, Reb was elected by the Residents of CDD-2 to the Amenity Authority Committee (AAC); the AAC is responsible for amenity services north of C.R. 466. Reb Benson moved from Virginia to The Villages in 2018 and lives in the village of Palo Alto with his wife, Vicki.
Mr. Benson retired from Air Force Civil Service as a GS-15 in February 2018 after 11 years of negotiating and implementing international arms control treaties and agreements.
In addition, Mr. Benson is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with 23 years of distinguished service in space and missile operations, serving as a crew commander, staff officer, and strategic planner. He commanded a Recruiting Squadron and served in various staff assignments for Strategic Air Command and Headquarters, Air Force.
Mr. Benson was also a Program Manager and Senior Analyst for Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC); currently, he is a SAIC Senior Consultant.
Reb is a Golf Ambassador at The Villages Tierra Del Sol golf course. He enjoys playing golf and flying radio-controlled airplanes. He is a Deacon at First Baptist Church at The Villages.
POA Board of Directors
Tita Dumagsa
Director
BIO
(352) 391-4828
Bulletin Advertising Coordinator
A brand resident of the Village of Fenney, originally from Cebu, Philippines, and a resident of Northern Virginia before moving to The Villages in 2016, Theresita "Tita" Dumagsa is a Dietitian by education. She was Valedictorian of her high school class and is a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila, Philippines, Cum Laude. Shy of a thesis, Tita completed her Masters's graduate studies in Food Services Administration at the Rutgers State University of NJ. Her professional career was as a Food Service Director Chief Dietitian and a Nutrition College Professor and Training Dietitian in various hospitals and nursing homes in New Jersey and Virginia. Tita was the Editor-in-Chief of her high school and college papers. After retiring from Dietetics, Tita worked with United Airlines as a Human Resources Representative. She currently serves as the President of the United Airlines Retiree Group in The Villages, aka the Citrus Groupers.
In 2017, Tita received the prestigious Most Influential Woman in the World award from the Filipina Women's Network (Global FWN 100) in the "Behind the Scenes Leader" category, which recognizes 100 women of Philippine ancestry in the world who are changing the face of leadership in the global workplace. They have each reached status for outstanding work in their respective fields and are recognized for their achievements and contributions to society, mentorship, and legacy, and they are a driving force behind the success of a social cause or life issue, a community organization's project, or initiative.
Her life's work has been to advocate for those who need a voice to help lift people from poverty in the Philippines through grant proposals she's written that provided for education, livelihood, and infrastructure projects, particularly when the deadly and devastating super typhoon Haiyan that killed over 10,000 people hit the Philippines in 2013. Tita is a member of the Fil-AM Club and the Filipino Karaoke Club of The Villages.
Tita sees her involvement with the POA as a means of "giving back" to the community for the blessings she has received since moving to The Villages. It also fulfills her personal philosophy of "In service to others above self for the greater good," which she believes the POA is all about.
Ken Knodel
Membership
BIO
POA membership functions.
(330) 388-2308
kknodel@poa4us.org
Ken Knodel was elected to the board in 2022 and has been a Villages resident since 2017, living in Dist 1.
Ken resided in Summit County, Ohio, for approximately 51 years, being employed by the County Government for the last 20 years of my employment. He started out as a member of the Board of Review, hearing property tax appeals, and then spent 18 years as an Administrator in the Community and Economic Development, overseeing various State and Federal Programs. In the last three years, He transferred to the County Fiscal Office being promoted to Director of the Services Division.
Ken also was elected to serve the residents of the City of Green, serving as Vice President and President during his term of service. He was elected chairman of the committee that reviewed and implemented the living stream of all City Meetings and special events.
Gary Search
Director
BIO
gsearch@poa4us.org
BIO Information Pending
Karen O'Farrell
Director
BIO
(317) 407-7151
koferrell@poa4us.org
Karen has resided in The Villages since 2018 and was elected to the POA Board in 2025. Before moving to Florida and the Village of Piedmont, she was a resident of West Lafayette, Indiana.
Karen is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She worked in a medical environment for over 35 years as support staff to many departments in a large multi-hospital organization, including several years in the Quality Assurance Department of a 350-bed hospital.
Additionally, Karen served on the West Lafayette Community School Board and was active in the local community. She has always been interested in the activities of local government, and that interest remains and is evidenced by regular attendance at POA meetings, the Amenity Authority Committee meetings, and her local District 4 meetings.
Gary Kadow
Director
BIO
Phone: 352-430-0567
Cell: 352-446-1551
gkadow@poa4us.org
Gary H. Kadow currently serves as Chairman & Founder of Project SOS – Support Our Soldiers, Inc.,
which a non-for-profit 501(c) 3 corporation and State registered charity founded in 2010 and operating
here in Central Florida. During its initial years Project SOS worked in Iraq and Afghanistan, opening
22 US military operated clinics, and the building a ten bed children’s emergency hospital in Jalalabad,
Afghanistan. From 2012 to present Project SOS has provided 445 motorized wheelchairs to disabled
veterans in the tri-county area, and continues to provide food, water, clothing, shelter, and emergency
medical care to veterans and their families in the Ocala National Forest. In 2014 Project SOS launched
the U.S. Military Children’s College Scholarship Fund and has since awarded 194 fully paid college
scholarships to the children of military veterans who require financial assistant with college expenses.
Prior to his retirement in 1998, Mr. Kadow served as Executive Vice President of The Western New
York Savings Bank and later on as President of the financial institution’s subsidiary corporations.
After twenty years in the private sector, Mr. Kadow entered into public service as Administrator of the
U S Department of Housing and Urban Development in New York State and spent the last six years of
his career working in Washington, DC as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of HUD, and
subsequently as Special Assistant to the President of the United States, serving as a member of the
National Labor & Management Council, and the Presidents Management Excellence Team. Mr.
Kadow also has served as a Director of The Rotary Club of The Villages, is a Paul Harris Fellow, and
was elected Rotarian of the Year for 2010 and received the Rotary International Avenues of Service
Award in 2012. In 2014 was also awarded the National Vietnam Veterans Commendation Medal for
his service in assisting our nation’s veterans. He also served on the Board of Directors at The Villages
Regional Hospital, Chaplain to the Vietnam Veterans of America and is the elected Representative and
Chairman of the Villages Community Development 5th District in Florida.
As an ordained Episcopal Chaplain and Priest for over 40 years, he volunteered as Emergency
Chaplain to the first responders at Ground Zero and is the author of “Ten Days of Hell and Heroes, an
eyewitness account of September 11, 2001” published in 2002. He and his wife Barbara currently
reside in The Villages, Florida.
Patsy Oburn
Director
BIO
Phone: 540-903-6440
poburn@poa4us.org
Why I Serve
I joined the POA Board to protect the promise of The Villages. I’ve lived here for 13 years, and I’ve seen firsthand how resident voices can shape outcomes—when we step up, organize, research, and persist.
My Advocacy Journey
In 2020, I led a full-time grassroots effort to oppose the developer's mandated apartment complex, which was seemingly destined for the Hacienda Hills Country Club, that was demolished without notice. With over 300 residents, we built coalitions, held rallies, and created the Villages Promise Preservation Watch. Our work resulted in a major change: 25 villas instead of over 200 apartments. That victory proved that respectful, fact-based resistance works.
I’ve spoken at the AAC, served as a CDD1 Supervisor, and now advocate throughout The Villages to address increasing fees, aging infrastructure, and the need for skilled Board oversight.
My Professional Background
I have 31 years of federal service, including both military and civilian roles, with my career concluding at the Defense Contract Management Agency. There, I tackled complex challenges in contracting, manufacturing, business management, and human resources. I have built, trained, and led international teams to handle issues and initiatives such as human trafficking in war zones and contracting. I am internationally certified in project management and hold federal certifications in contracting, production, manufacturing, cost analysis, and Lean Six Sigma, which will add consistency, sustainability, and rigor to the POA. I have a bachelor’s degree in leadership and management from the University of Mary Washington, Virginia.
My Values
I prioritize facts. I challenge the status quo. I speak truth to power. I do not tolerate bullies. And I can outlast most others. I love living in The Villages and believe that residents must be involved to strike a balance between business interests and our lifestyle.
Let’s Work Together
If you share my concerns and appreciate my approach, join me. Let’s build systems that last. Let’s protect our legacy. Let’s get to work.