Camera meeting postponed – again!

For the second time, a planned special meeting to consider a proposed $150,000 camera surveillance system has been postponed. International Village Board of Directors President and chief camera project proponent Marvin Tow decided to reschedule the meeting from Nov. 4 to Nov. 11 after two Board members whose votes he was counting on informed him they would not be able to attend on the 4th. The meeting had originally been scheduled for Oct. 14, but that date was scrapped after many of you complained about the rush to hold a meeting at a time when three Board members were out of town.

Hopefully, this delay will allow more returning snowbirds and other seasonal occupants to attend. The Monday, Nov. 11 meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse. As I mentioned in my last e-mail/blog post, at the request of many of you I am preparing a petition to challenge the $150,000 camera project if the Board unwisely decides to approve it without putting the issue to a vote of unit owners as required by Florida law and affirmed in a recent ruling of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

I must say I am surprised by Mr. Tow's latest mass e-mail to owners attacking me (which he failed to copy me on), in which he so strenuously objects to the idea of letting owners vote on the camera issue, since he has repeatedly and emphatically claimed that his views on cameras represent the opinion of the overwhelming majority of unit owners. I would have thought that he would welcome the opportunity to prove his case with a referendum on the project, especially since it won't cost us anything if we combine it with our upcoming Board of Directors election in January.

If you would like to sign the petition demanding a vote on cameras, let me know, or meet me at the Halloween costume party/potluck dinner this Saturday, Nov. 2, from 5 to 9 p.m. in the clubhouse, as I will have copies of the petition with me. I will be wearing a privateer’s hat to signify my dislike for Big Brother-style schemes to invade our privacy with cameras galore which, speaking of Halloween, I find rather creepy.

But most of all, come to the party this Saturday to have fun with your neighbors. Our social activities committee chairman John Henderson has been working hard to organize this event for everybody’s enjoyment, so plan on being there and having a good time!

Cameras? Let the people decide!

For weeks, proponents of a $150,000 project to install almost 300 "security" cameras throughout International Village have declined to consider the option of letting the owners decide by putting the issue to a vote.

Now they may be forced to do so.

Earlier this month, an arbitrator with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) – the agency that regulates condos – ruled that the installation of cameras by a condo association constitutes a "material alteration," which under Florida law requires the approval of unit owners.

The ruling was in response to a petition by a group of owners of the West Coast Vista Condo Association near Tampa, who complained that their association’s Board of Directors had failed to get owners' approval before installing cameras in the condo's pool area. The arbitrator sided with the petitioners, rejecting the Board’s argument that the cameras were an emergency "security" measure, since they don't actually prevent incidents from happening (the deterrent effect being purely speculative). The association has been ordered to schedule a vote on the cameras and – if the owners decide not to approve them – to remove them within 30 days after the vote.

I have been in touch with the lead petitioner in this case, and he's eager to offer his assistance to ensure that proper procedure is followed in our case. He also informed me that the DBPR was so helpful in guiding him through the process that he didn't even have to spend any money hiring an attorney. On the other hand, the West Coast Vista Association spent about $1,800 in attorney fees in its unsuccessful attempt to defend its actions.

We don't have to make the same mistake, needlessly wasting $150,000 on a camera system we would later have to remove, along with associated litigation expenses. We can handle this the right way by simply agreeing to hold a vote. This will cost us nothing if we combine it with the mailing of ballots for our upcoming Board of Directors election in January (thus saving about $500 in additional mailing expenses). Let the owners decide if they want a massive surveillance system paid for by either a $200-per-unit special assessment or a permanent increase in maintenance fees – which would be on top of another potential special assessment to pay for about $1 million in various other "priority projects" discussed at our last Board meeting, in which the Board ironically approved new procedures for the installation of personal security cameras by individual owners in front of their units. (See the 10/21/13 VIDEO.)

A special Board of Directors meeting to discuss and vote on the $150,000 camera proposal has been scheduled for next Monday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse. I, with the support of many like-minded unit owners, am putting the International Village Condominium Association and Board of Directors on notice that if the proposed camera installation project is approved without the required vote of unit owners, we will file a petition with the DBPR and the Florida ombudsman for arbitration to challenge the illegal move.

Please encourage all members of the Board of Directors to do the right thing. E-mail them HERE now to let them know how you feel, and be sure to attend our Nov. 4 meeting to make your voices heard. When enough of you have complained in the past, it's made a difference. Here's your opportunity to turn things around once again!

Thank you.

Camera meeting postponed!

You complained, they listened. The special meeting to consider a $150,000 surveillance camera system, originally scheduled for tonight (Monday, Oct. 14) has been postponed until Nov. 4 after a majority of Board members agreed that the rush to hold a meeting while three Board members were out of town was unjustified.

Thanks for all your emails to Board members. Apparently, when enough of you complain, you get results. But the battle isn't over, so keep up the pressure, continue emailing Board members HERE, and be sure to show up at the Nov. 4 meeting, as well as our regular Board meeting coming up next Monday, Oct. 21.

Thanks again!!

You really want a $200 special assessment for cameras?

Some Board of Directors members think you’re rich. They claim to speak not only for themselves but for all International Village owners when they say that you wouldn’t mind paying a $200 special assessment to install 26 “security” cameras in each of the Village’s 11 residential buildings, at a total cost of about $150,000. They say you want these cameras now, privacy be damned, and you’re ready to write a check today to get them.

Big Brother could be coming to your building.

Does this sound like you? I didn’t think so. But that isn’t stopping certain Board members from convincing themselves that their views are those of all unit owners, because they surround themselves by the echo chamber that is their small clique of well-to-do friends. To them, you don’t exist. They haven’t seen the many emails you’ve sent me telling me how strongly you oppose this project because you don’t want Big Brother watching you all the time, because cameras have proven ineffective in the clubhouse, and most of all, because you simply CANNOT afford another special assessment.

This Monday, you have a chance to let them know you exist.

International Village Board of Directors President Marvin Tow, an enthusiastic advocate for cameras everywhere, is calling a special meeting of the Board of Directors on Monday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse to consider his $150,000 proposal, even though at least three out of seven Board members will be out of town and able to participate only by phone. In doing so, he’s ignoring calls from other Board members to at least first consider a demonstration project to prove they can work in the clubhouse – or in the Zurich building where cameras were installed at building owners’ expense a few years ago – before going whole-hog on this massive project.

Bottom line, we can't afford this. According to our property manager, there isn't enough money left in the fund from the last special assessment in 2012-13 to pay for this project and still have enough emergency reserves left over. That's why another special assessment is being proposed. In fact, even if the Board were to approve the project on Monday, another meeting would have to be held to actually pay for it. Because Florida law requires condo associations to mail all unit owners a notice of intent to special assess at least 14 days before a meeting approving a special assessment. So add the $500 cost of the mass mailing to the cost of the project. Yes, you'd be picking up the tab for both of course.

That’s why you need to show up and speak up at Monday's meeting, and start emailing Board members before the meeting HERE to let them know how you feel. Otherwise you will continue not to exist for them... Except when it comes to making you cough up another $200 in special assessment money.