Support democracy at International Village

Democracy is on the line at International Village.

The Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse to decide how to fill the vacancy created by the recent resignation of former Board member Sharon Treppicione. In the past, these vacancies on the Board have been filled by appointment, with often bad results, as can be expected from a process that replaces the will of the majority of unit owners with the will of a majority of Board members. But it doesn't have to be that way.

First solution: Schedule an election to fill the vacancy instead.

According to Florida statutes and our property manager, we have the option to go the election route Wednesday night. All it takes is for a motion for an election to be made, seconded and approved by the majority of the Board at the start of the meeting. Then YOU, the unit owners, will have the power to decide who represents you on the Board. Some may object to the cost of a special election, but it’s a small price to pay compared to what unsatisfactory appointments have cost us in the past. Furthermore, a group of concerned owners has offered to fund such a special election if the Board feels the Association can't afford to fund an election at this time.

Second solution: Appoint the first runner-up.

Should the election option be rejected, the next most democratic option is to appoint the person who received the next most votes in the last election. That candidate has already been vetted by the office, and the unit owners have already had the opportunity to express their support for the candidate with their ballots. It’s a simple solution that still respects the democratic process and keeps the power in the hands of the unit owners.

Please be sure to attend Wednesday night's meeting to support the idea of democracy at International Village. The person who represents you on the Board of Directors should be YOUR choice, not ours. I also encourage you, as always, to let us know how you feel about this before the meeting by emailing the Board using the contact list found on this blog.

P.S. Our Association Attorney Dennis Eisenger yesterday apologized to our property manager for the letter I received from his office by certified mail on Saturday, which threatened to sue me over my blog. By Mr. Eisenger’s account, the letter was sent in error by a temp secretary who didn’t know what she was doing. I’m glad that Mr. Eisenger acknowledges the letter was a mistake, but I believe the $185 it cost the Association in attorney fees to produce the letter, plus the postage, should be reimbursed to the Association. We also need to establish some checks and balances to rein in unnecessary legal fees going forward. Our Board President Marvin Tow, and future Presidents, should not have carte-blanche to spend our Association’s money on attorney time and fees to pursue a personal agenda or threaten fellow Board members with lawsuits, especially absurd unconstitutional lawsuits designed to intimidate and restrict the freedom of speech. It’s an outrageous use of our money and brings to mind three words: abuse of power.

Free speech under attack at International Village

It’s bad enough to have your free speech rights attacked, but being forced to pay for that war on free expression is even worse. Unfortunately, such a war seems to be taking place at your expense at International Village.

On Saturday, I received a certified mail letter from our Association Attorney Dennis Eisinger threatening to sue me for running my blog, VillageViewpoints.blogspot.com.  Since I started the blog just six weeks ago as part of my effort to fulfill of my campaign promise to provide transparency, the blog has received thousands of visits and many words of thanks and praise from unit owners who appreciate the easy access to information that it provides. Owners have been using it to stay informed about the issues by watching videos of Board meetings and checking out meeting minutes, budget numbers and descriptions of various proposed projects. Some of you also have been using this online open forum to post comments and concerns about various issues affecting the Village.

But I guess all this transparency and openness is too much for some Board members, who would prefer to never be called out on their demonstrably bad decisions, well documented wasteful spending and relentless pursuit of more crippling special assessments.

This censorship effort smacks of intimidation, which unfortunately appears to be the real motivation behind the letter. The majority of the Board feels threatened by the blog because it is an effective tool for you, the unit owner, to stay informed and mobilize to defend your rights and investments as owners. The blog stands in the way of their agenda to special-assess us to death. So they are trying to scare me, hoping to convince me to cease operating the blog out of sheer terror. Let me make it perfectly clear that I have no intention of doing so.

I happen to know this attorney letter was produced at the behest of Board President Marvin Tow. What I would like to know is how much the association paid in attorney time and fees to produce this letter, and I will be requesting this information in writing. It’s scandalous that after spending about $400,000 in legal fees last year, this Board majority under Mr. Tow is now threatening to pursue another costly, unconstitutional lawsuit against another Board member for exercising his free speech rights and providing a platform for you, the unit owners, to express yourselves while staying informed about the issues.

P.S. I had a long meeting on Friday with Mr. Tow and our property manager Jason Levy regarding my blog post/email response to the letters that were emailed to many unit owners from Criterium Inspection Engineers. They have promised me that Criterium is not being considered as general contractor for any of the projects their engineering report recommends we complete, despite the company’s stated offer to “lock in prices” for us. (See letter.) Specifically, the letter, which is signed by Criterium Inspection Engineers President Douglas Mercado, states: “By selecting a contractor at this time, we can lock in all unit prices at the lowest levels seen in many years, thus saving the association a considerable amount (over $500,000 on the total package).” Mr. Levy gave me his assurances that the “we” in the sentence should actually have read “you,” and that he will ask Criterium to make that change and resend the letter. This is somewhat reassuring, but I will continue to insist that Criterium be kept completely out of the process of recommending any contractors for us. Messrs. Levy and Tow also gave me their word that they will in the future give ALL Board members 48 hours to review any emails or letters from the association before they are sent to the unit owners. This is a very positive development and hopefully will prevent similar alarm among unit owners in the future.

P.P.S. Don't forget to come to our special Board meeting to fill the Board vacancy this Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse.

Assessment Alarmism

I have been contacted by a number of residents regarding the letter from Property Manager Jason Levy (here) and the two letters from Criterium Inspection Engineers (here and here) that were email blasted to unit owners by our management team yesterday. First, let me make it perfectly clear that I did not approve these letters for distribution and I am disappointed that I was not given the opportunity to review them before they were sent to the unit owners.

I have several concerns about the letters which I have communicated to our property manager Jason Levy. I am particularly concerned about the alarm they seem to be creating that a special assessment is in the works. As I have said before, I do not believe any additional special assessments are needed to keep International Village structurally and financially sound. Just prior to my joining the Board of Directors, maintenance fees were raised by 18.5 percent, and a $1.3 million special assessment was collected over a four-month period, causing great financial stress on unit owners. Levying another special assessment at this time would drive many owners into foreclosure and lead to even more panic selling, which would further drive down property values in the Village. This is not a wise course of action.

I also question many of the estimates for roofs and other projects quoted in one of the letters from Criterium Engineers, which you may recall is the company that prepared our $22,000 engineering report in the summer of 2012. After being urged by me and a number of unit owners to search through our files for contracts, our property manager recently discovered a contract for the Marseilles roof, which Criterium had recommended for replacement at a cost of over $320,000. We now know that we do not have to spend this money because any necessary repairs will be covered by the current contract’s warranty. We need to continue to search through our files to make sure we locate all our roof contracts, as well as to hold past contractors accountable for any shoddy work they have done before we even consider hiring new roofers.

It’s also important to note that the city has not ordered us to begin the 40-year certification process, and there is no need to act hastily to complete these projects, despite Criterium’s alarmism about rising contractor prices. In fact, waiting already has saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars by giving us time to locate at least one of our existing roof contracts, although the majority of our current Board of Directors seemed content to not bother looking.

Our buildings may not all be in pristine condition, but they are generally in good shape, and the idea that we need to spend $120,000 to $150,000 in repairs per building as claimed in Criterium’s letter is preposterous.

Let me add that I am totally opposed to hiring Criterium Engineers as a general contractor for any of the work they are recommending be done in the Village. It would be an inherent conflict of interest, and I am offended that they are even offering to “lock in prices” for us. I don’t know if Criterium was ever told to expect to serve as a general contractor, but if they were, that would make me even less inclined to rely on their report. Moreover, the company’s false claim that every item in the report needs to be completed for 40-year certification is directly contradicted by the 40-year certification specialist we invited to our Town Hall meeting earlier this month. (See video.) Fitz Harris, a respected local engineer with many years of experience in the field, explained to us that Criterium’s report does not follow the county’s format for 40-year certification studies and that most of the report consists of cosmetic items that have nothing to do with safety -- which is supposed to be the sole concern of a 40-year certification. Why should we take Criterium Engineers’ word when they are proposing to be made the general contractor? I would be far more inclined to believe an experienced engineer who has no financial stake in the matter, especially since neither the Board-approved bid that Criterium submitted last year nor the cover page of the report itself even mentioned the words 40-year certification.

At this point, given my grave concerns about Criterium’s reliability, I will not support the hiring of any contractor to do any of the work in the report until we can have a more impartial engineer thoroughly review it and give us a fair and unbiased assessment of what really is and is not needed.

I also believe it may be time to form a Special Assessment Prevention Investigative Committee. Please email me if you are interested in starting such a committee and being part of it.

A victory for openness

You did it! Thanks to your many emails and calls, International Village Board of Directors President Marvin Tow has agreed to cancel the planned Thursday morning meeting to fill the vacancy created by Sunday’s resignation of former Board member Sharon Treppicione. The meeting has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. so that working unit owners who wish to attend may take part in the proceedings. I want to thank all of you who took the time to contact Board members to tell us how you feel. And I also want to give Marvin credit for listening and doing the right thing.

Now any unit owner who is interested in the position will have the opportunity to submit his or her name for consideration  by the Board, and Board members will have the time to interview candidates and make an informed decision. For the list of Board member emails, click here.

According to Florida statutes, the Board also has the option to schedule an election by the unit owners to fill the seat.

I would appreciate your feedback as to how you feel we should proceed.

Why the rush?

This Thursday, April 25, at 10:30 a.m., four International Village Board of Directors members plan to meet at the clubhouse to fill the Board vacancy created by Sunday’s resignation of Board member Sharon Treppicione. Board President Marvin Tow has insisted on holding the meeting Thursday morning despite the fact that I and fellow Board member Jerry Mirrow have informed him that we cannot attend. Our requests, and those of a number of unit owners, to reschedule the meeting for the evening when we and working unit owners can be there have been ignored. I don’t know who will be chosen to replace Mrs. Treppicione, but I believe that whoever it is deserves a process that is seen as fair and satisfactory to all Board members and unit owners who wish to participate or attend, which means holding it in the evening when it is convenient for people with working schedules.

A decision of such importance also should be one that we take our time on if we take our fiduciary responsibility as Board members seriously. We should be giving unit owners the opportunity to express to us their interest in the position, interviewing candidates and examining backgrounds and experience, as any corporation hiring an executive officer would do. All these things take time.

We have not even been given the courtesy of a satisfactory explanation as to why there is such a rush to fill this Board vacancy. Nothing in Florida statutes or in our bylaws requires us to fill a vacancy immediately upon the resignation of a Board member. As long as we have a quorum of four Board members, the association can continue to conduct its business. In fact, Mrs. Treppicione has not attended a regular Board meeting since before the last election, and we apparently have been getting along fine. On the other hand, if we choose to fill the vacancy, there is no reason why we couldn’t do it at our next regularly scheduled meeting on May 20 or at a special meeting held at a more convenient time in the evening. It’s ironic that at last week’s Board meeting, when I tried to make a motion to discuss how we would handle Mrs. Treppicione’s expected resignation, I was told that I couldn’t do so because it wasn’t an emergency. So why is it suddenly being treated as an emergency now?

There may still be time to get one or more Board members to change their minds about this. So far, besides Mr. Tow, three other Board members have said they plan on attending Thursday morning’s meeting: Marc Richman, Collette Goslin and Frances Mesirow. If any one of them decides not to attend, the meeting will lack a quorum and will have to be adjourned with no action being taken. I urge you to contact all Board members and ask them to do the right thing and not to act in a way that results in more acrimony and suspicion. (See Board member email contact list here.) We all deserve a process that is seen as fair, open and deliberative. And we especially owe it to whoever will be joining us on the Board so they do not have to come into this position under a cloud.

Board member resignation and more

We’ve had quite a busy week at International Village. First, the latest news: Board member Sharon Treppicione last night announced her resignation from the Board of Directors. I want to take this opportunity to thank Sharon for her service and to wish her good luck in her future endeavors. I have been informed that a special Board meeting will be called to discuss how to handle the vacancy. According to our property manager, we have the option of either appointing someone to fill the vacancy by majority vote of the Board or scheduling an election by the unit owners. I personally prefer letting the unit owners decide. The more democratic we can be, the better. Board President Marvin Tow is proposing we hold the meeting this Thursday, April 25 at 10:30 a.m., when most unit owners are at work. If you agree with me that the meeting should be held in the evening when it's convenient for working people to attend, please let him know how you feel by emailing him at ivmarvin@mac.com, and be sure to copy Board members Collette Goslin at colletteg@comcast.net, Marc Richman at mwrmd@yahoo.com and Frances Mesirow at fmkmbm@yahoo.com.

Now to recap last week’s Board meeting (video here). First, a small victory for free speech: After being omitted from the posted meeting notice, the “Good and Welfare” portion of the meeting, where individual owners have the opportunity to speak about any issue, was restored to the agenda, although it was placed at the end of the meeting. I would have preferred keeping it at the beginning of the meeting as has been the tradition for many years, but something is better than nothing.

We also had some good news about our roofs. As many of you know, the $22,000 engineering report that the Board commissioned last year recommends replacing the roofs of four of our residential buildings, plus the clubhouse roof, at a cost of over $1.4 million. After several unit owners and I insisted that we look for the existing contracts for those roofs, our property manager found several roof contracts including one for the Marseilles building. The bad news is that the warranty on that roof expired this February, about six months after the engineering report recommended its replacement at a cost of $321,000. The good news is that the roofing company is willing to extend the warranty for $5,000. Nonetheless, Jerry Mirrow and I have asked our property manager to use the engineering report as proof that the old warranty should cover any repairs and/or replacement since it shows that the problems existed before February.

In a related matter, our property manager has prepared a maintenance schedule to address many of the issues raised in the engineering report. This also is good news because handling these projects in-house will save us a lot of money versus hiring a contractor.

And in another money-saving action, the Board unanimously agreed to reverse last month’s decision to install a $3,500 button-operated handicap-accessible door in the rear of the Marseilles building. As I said in a previous post, after last month’s vote I did some research that showed that condo associations are not responsible for the cost of handicap accessibility modifications. Our Board attorney (who had previously advised us that the Americans with Disabilities Act required the door's installation) agreed to look into the matter, and after confirming my findings he recommended we rescind our previous vote. While I definitely feel for the handicapped, as Directors we have a fiduciary responsibility to be careful stewards of unit owners' money, and considering we have 11 residential buildings with two rear doors each, this reversal has potentially saved us over $77,000. At the same time, I believe we should make every effort to refer the owner to the proper agencies for assistance with this expense.

Finally, I was appointed chairman of two new committees: the Village Beautification Committee, to spruce up buildings and common areas using volunteer time and resources; and the Social Activities Committee, to help revitalize the Village by organizing more events, parties, etc. Both committees will be meeting soon to begin planning. I look forward to helping guide those efforts. Stay tuned.

Town Hall meeting recap

Kudos to all the unit owners who showed up to share their ideas and concerns at this week’s Town Hall meeting. (See video here.) We had a very good turnout, and Jerry Mirrow did a great job of taking questions. I took notes and will be following up on the different concerns you brought up. I also will be getting back to those of you who left your names and contact information on our signup sheet and expressed your interest in forming a Social Activities Committee to plan events and a Village Beautification Committee to volunteer your time and efforts to help spruce up our community. 

A very special thanks to Fitz Harris of AFH Consulting Engineers, a specialist in 40-year re-certifications who was kind enough to come to our meeting to explain that many of the proposed improvements described in our $22,000 engineering report are strictly aesthetic and do not need to be done as part of any 40-year certification. As I announced at the meeting, Criterium Engineers has agreed in writing to update the report at no cost over the next five years if the city requires us to begin the certification process during that time. Hopefully, the updated report will be in the proper format and include only the required safety-related items.

To those of you who were offended by the behavior of one of our attending Board members, Jerry and I felt that it was important to give him the opportunity to address the owners, although we regret the manner in which he did so. We look forward to smoother relations among all Board members so we can work together to address the community’s needs, as unit owners expect of us.

Please be sure to attend our next regular meeting of the Board of Directors this coming Monday, April 15 at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse. There are many important issues on our plate, and your continued participation and input is needed to help us make the right decisions!

International Village Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, April 9

International Village Board of Directors member Jerry Mirrow, myself and Concerned Unit Owners of International Village cordially invite all unit owners to a Town Hall meeting next Tuesday, April 9 at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse. There are many issues to discuss, and we want to give you, the unit owners, the opportunity to voice your concerns and share your ideas with us in an informal open forum. We have some important announcements as well and would like to update you on a few critical issues. 

 

I also invite everyone to check out my blog’s expanded video collection and documents library. I spent the last week posting a number of additional meeting videos, minutes, budget data and other important information that I hope you find useful. This is a work in progress as I still have quite a few older meeting videos to post, so please check back frequently. I also changed the blog’s settings to enable you to post comments more easily, so feel free to comment away! 

 

See you April 9!