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.