New leadership team at International Village

International Village has a new leadership team. At our organizational meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 26 to appoint new officers following last week’s landmark Board election, the Board named Marcio Jaspan as President, Duv Wolff as Vice President, John Labriola as Treasurer and Wendy Hernandez as Secretary. (The video is available here.)

I’m honored to be part of this fine team, all of whose members campaigned on a promise of restoring fiscal discipline. As Treasurer, I will work closely with our new President as he performs a top-to-bottom review of our entire operation to identify any inefficiencies that need to be eliminated, and I commend him for taking the symbolic first step of turning down an association-paid cell phone. I’m also looking forward to working with the rest of the team to review spending priorities, reduce unnecessary expenses and set clear cost-cutting targets to bring our budget under control. 

While the three remaining Board members will not be serving in an officer capacity, I invite them to join us in our efforts to become better stewards of your money. I think it’s time to put aside the rancor of the campaign and work together for the benefit of you, the owners. I believe you expect no less of us. 

In other business, the Board voted to change its monthly meeting schedule. Instead of the third Monday, Board  meetings will now be held on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. to accommodate all members' schedules. That means our next regular meeting will take place on March 25. See you then!

Victory!

Congratulations to Marcio Jaspan, Wendy Hernandez and Duv Wolff on their landslide victory in the Feb. 18 Board of Directors election. (See video of election results announcement HERE and official tally sheet HERE.) Each of these three candidates earned well over 200 votes to win their seats by an unprecedented margin of victory. Coming in fourth place at 155 votes was Marc Richman, which will also secure him a seat on the Board. My congratulations to him as well, and I hope that he and the remaining Board members who were not up for reelection this year will heed the voters’ clear mandate for change and work with the new majority to restore fiscal discipline and prioritize spending.

I also would like to thank Marvin Tow and Sandra Best for their service on the Board, and I wish them luck in their future endeavors. But especially, I want to thank all the owners who showed they cared by participating in this election in impressive numbers. I encourage all of you to stay involved, come to meetings and share your ideas on how we can make International Village an even better place.

Now let’s get to work!

The Record...The Choice

The moment of truth has arrived.  On Feb. 18, International Village will have the opportunity to say goodbye to the last two years of wasteful spending, runaway increases in maintenance fees and special assessments, and astonishing abuse of power by the current Board of Directors.

The results of this year’s Board election will be announced following the counting of ballots this Tuesday night in the clubhouse main card room, which is open to any unit owner who wishes to observe the proceedings. The top four vote-getters will serve a two-year term on the Board.

If you haven’t voted yet, you must get your ballots in by 7 p.m. on Tuesday. But before you do, let’s briefly review the record of the current Board, which began its reign of error two years ago:

• A $1.3 million special assessment imposed over four months after the Board ended its first year with a deficit of more than $800,000. 
• A 27 percent maintenance fee increase over two years: nearly 20 percent the first year and another 7 percent the second year – a rate of spending that is well over 10 times the inflation rate.
• A series of behind-the-scenes deals that have cost you money while reducing your power as an owner – including approving outrageous settlement awards to well-connected cronies in secret meetings, bypassing the democratic process to fill a Board vacancy with an individual of questionable credentials, and running up legal and other fees by unethically using our association attorney to go after political opponents on several occasions.

Despite this dismal record, Board President Marvin Tow and Board members Sandra Best and Marc Richman are asking you to give them two more years so they can give you more of the same (including plans for another $1.4 million special assessment they've already hatched up).  But it's time to say “enough is enough!”  We can’t afford another two years of Mr. Tow, Mrs. Best and Mr. Richman. Just from an investment standpoint, if our maintenance fees continue to rise at these hyper-inflationary rates to support runaway irresponsible spending, our property values will soon begin to plummet, leaving our homes virtually worthless.

But fortunately, this election gives us the opportunity to change track by choosing new people for the Board.  Duv Wolff, Wendy Hernandez and Marcio Jaspan are all committed to bringing fiscal discipline to International Village by prioritizing spending, setting clear cost-cutting targets and implementing operational efficiencies that will finally bring our budget under control. Their fresh ideas, youthful energy and solid professional backgrounds in small business, accounting and engineering are just what we need to ensure that International Village can continue to be called the “Jewel of Inverrary.”

The choice is clear:  Please vote for Duv Wolff, Wendy Hernandez and Marcio Jaspan. 

Candidates Night winners and losers

Congratulations to Duv Wolff and Wendy Hernandez for winning the debate at Candidates Night this past week. (See video HERE.) These two impressive candidates scored the most points on substance and logic. They made a convincing case for why we need new people and new thinking on the Board of Directors to prioritize spending, exercise fiscal discipline and implement innovative programs that will save money by increasing efficiency. Just from the volume of the applause in the room, it’s clear that Duv Wolff and Wendy Hernandez have won the hearts and minds of International Village owners. Marcio Jaspan also did a convincing job of establishing his credentials as an engineer who can help us explore ways to bring down our large annual water bill, as well as someone who will listen to what the owners want before spending their money.

On the other hand, I was very disappointed in Marvin Tow, Sandra Best and Marc Richman and their disingenuous, dishonest, and sometimes downright insulting answers to owners’ questions. But more on that later…

Duv Wolff, a small business owner and active member of the community, discussed his plans for bringing International Village into the 21^st century with a forward-looking energy efficiency program that will shave about 40 percent off our annual $200,000 electricity bill by installing motion detectors at strategic locations to reduce the use of lights when they’re not being used. In return for a nominal initial investment, this environmentally responsible program will pay for itself many times over in just months’ time through major energy savings. These savings, along with his other ideas for reducing wasteful spending, would allow us to reverse most or all of the 7 percent maintenance fee increase approved last year.

Wendy Hernandez, who has a strong accounting background, advocated setting clear cost-cutting targets and reducing our reliance on expensive outside contractors for projects that could be done much more economically by our qualified in-house maintenance staff, such as painting and completing the remodeling of the buildings. Combined with prioritizing spending by delaying or canceling unnecessary projects (such as the proposed massive camera surveillance scheme and electronic key access system), implementing these proposals will eliminate the need for a special assessment of the magnitude of the recently proposed $1.4 million assessment. 

Marcio Jaspan, a licensed engineer, pledged to tackle our $600,000 yearly water bill by examining metering options. If successful, this would result in a significant reduction in the monthly maintenance fees and would especially reward unit owners who do a better job of conserving water. He also proposed an online portal to allow unit owners to register their approval or opposition to proposed spending projects before the Board votes on them. I would be interested to learn how this idea would be implemented, but I certainly welcome his obvious willingness to listen to how owners want their money spent before spending it. It's a refreshing change from the current Board.

And now for the losers...

Marvin Tow gave a very unsatisfactory and rambling answer to my question about why he spent 47 minutes on his association-paid phone with Mr. Ilan Weiss of New York just a month before voting in a closed (secret) Board meeting on April 25, 2013 to award Mr. Weiss an outrageous $56,500 settlement in his most recent lawsuit against the association. The questions still remain: Why was Mr. Tow speaking privately to a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the association without consulting the rest of the Board? What did Mr. Tow get from Mr. Weiss in exchange for his vote for this obscene settlement award (other than Mr. Weiss’ enthusiastic endorsement in the current Board election)? As I reported last week, Mr. Tow had flown up to New York the year before to testify on behalf of Mr. Weiss in a related lawsuit between Mr. Weiss and a former Board member (it was a libel suit in which Mr. Weiss was the defendant). Mr. Tow is now claiming, incredibly, that he paid his own way. I have spoken to two former Board members who are prepared to testify that Mr. Tow and Mr. Weiss told them at the time that Mr. Weiss paid for Mr. Tow’s plane ticket. If what Mr. Tow is saying now about purchasing his own ticket is true (which would almost be worse since it would reveal an inordinate fondness for Mr. Weiss), he could easily prove it by providing his flight receipt. Why hasn't he done so? In any event, his prior relationship with Mr. Weiss clearly created a conflict of interest that should have led him to recuse himself (abstain) from voting for the shameful settlement.

In response to another question by retired Board member Jerry Mirrow, Mr. Tow announced that his decision last year to ban Board members from all committees (except for his ally Frances Mesirow on the Sales & Lease Committee) was because of my election to the Board. Other than being another sign of his vindictiveness and lack of respect for the democratic process, this arbitrary decision essentially allowed Mr. Tow to act as dictator by handpicking only his supporters to be on important committees such as the Budget Committee, which incidentally signed off on the budget that resulted in a 7 percent maintenance fee increase this year, with obviously no input from opposing Board members. Now you know whom to blame.

Sandra Best, as she did in her now notorious Dec. 26 email blast message in which she cast herself as a struggling widow, again claimed to be someone who will watch spending because she is on a fixed income and knows what it means to have to pinch pennies. It’s worth noting that Mrs. Best voted to fully fund reserves in 2014, which would have resulted in a 34 percent maintenance increase this year instead of the 7 percent hike we experienced. (This would have meant about $100 extra per month for the average one-bedroom unit owner and $130 more monthly for the owner of the average two-bedroom unit.) Does this sound like the action of a penny-pinching widow? Mrs. Best, nobody begrudges you your wealth, and I’m happy that you can afford to own three gorgeous homes, drive the latest-model Cadillac and cruise the world as you did in 2012, but please don’t insult our intelligence by claiming to be an impoverished widow on a fixed income who knows how to be economical.

But Mrs. Best’s most revealing moment came in her answer to my question about what she considers her three main accomplishments as a Board member. See it for yourself HERE.

Marc Richman, as expected, claimed to be the only person in the world capable of saving International Village from financial ruin, but he couldn't adequately explain why he thought it was OK for him to profit to the tune of $21,300, while on the Board, from his deal to finance former Board President Charles Fitzpatrick’s purchase of a unit in the St. Moritz building. He also refused to answer a unit owner’s question about how he would be transparent, accountable and stable, and he even appeared to mock her question to make her feel bad. Not very nice, Mr. Richman.

There you have it. The choice couldn't be clearer. It's time for change in International Village. Vote for Duv Wolff, Wendy Hernandez and Marcio Jaspan.

Marvin Tow has much to answer for

Up to now, as you have probably noticed, I have chosen to ignore the many innuendo-filled, infantile and deceptive emails of Mr. Ilan Weiss of New York, a dishonest and in my opinion disreputable individual best known for filing frivolous lawsuits against International Village to milk us out of money. But with the Feb. 18 Board of Directors election less than two weeks away, and with Mr. Weiss now acting as the incumbent candidates’ official spokesman and campaign manager (a role they have apparently assigned him), I feel I must address Mr. Weiss’ relationship with the incumbent Board members running for reelection, particularly Board President Marvin Tow.

Owners should be aware of the fact that in May 2012, Mr. Weiss had Mr. Tow flown up to New York – all expenses and accommodations paid – so Mr. Tow could testify on Mr. Weiss’ behalf in a libel suit against Mr. Weiss by former International Village Board member Edwin Kaufman. Mr. Tow was actually heard saying at the time that he was thrilled at the opportunity to get a free trip to New York.

Less than a year later, on April 25, 2013, Mr. Tow, as Board President, called a closed meeting of the Board of Directors to award his personal benefactor Mr. Weiss a $56,500 settlement award in Mr. Weiss’ related lawsuit against the association, which Mr. Weiss had refused to drop even though the Board members he was accusing of misconduct had been off the Board for already well over a year. The meeting was closed to unit owners, which means you the owners were not allowed to attend or even know what the meeting was about (nor was I allowed to discuss it). At the time, the Board consisted of only six members because former member Sharon Trepiccione had just resigned and her replacement had not yet been appointed. Board member Jerry Mirrow and I refused to attend or participate in this $56,500 giveaway, so all four remaining Board members were needed to make quorum (a sufficient number to conduct business). Instead of recusing himself (abstaining from voting) as he should have due to his obvious conflict of interest, Mr. Tow not only called the secret meeting into session but also voted in favor of this obscene settlement award, along with Board members Marc Richman, Frances Mesirow and Collette Goslin.

Owners have a right to ask if there was a quid pro quo involved in this outrageous settlement, which incidentally was the second settlement payment the association made to Mr. Weiss in two years. (In another closed Board meeting in 2012, the Board of Directors, including Mr. Tow, approved giving Mr. Weiss more than$12,000 to settle another frivolous lawsuit he had filed against the association for not receiving certain requested documents as quickly as he felt he should have.)

I recently requested and obtained Mr. Tow’s phone records for his association-provided cell phone. (These are official association records because, as I reported previously, our maintenance dollars are paying for Mr. Tow’s phone, so the association was required by law to provide them to me.) These phone records paint a disturbing picture about Mr. Tow’s relationship with Mr. Weiss. They show that on March 12, 2013, at 6:44 p.m., Mr. Tow called a number registered to Mr. Weiss in New York and spent 47 minutes on the phone with him. The next day, Mr. Tow called him two more times, spending another 15 minutes speaking with him on the phone.

Why was Mr. Tow being so chatty with Mr. Weiss while his lawsuit against International Village was still ongoing? Was the association's attorney in the case made aware of these long conversations taking place at such an apparently inappropriate time? What could they have been spending so much time talking about just a month before the settlement? Did Mr. Weiss agree to act as Mr. Tow’s official attack dog in exchange for securing his help in obtaining a juicy five-figure award for himself? (It’s interesting to note that Mr. Weiss’ relentless email diatribes against me started shortly after these phone conversations.) Or was some other quid pro quo discussed?  

Mr. Tow, what did you gain out of this settlement? What was in it for you? Was there a quid pro quo? And why didn't you recuse yourself given your clear conflict of interest? Finally, why are you so close to someone who has been such an enemy to International Village and is constantly working against the owners’ financial interests?

Owners will have the opportunity to ask Mr. Tow these and other questions at Candidates Night tonight (Wednesday, Feb. 5) at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse. Mr. Tow has a lot to answer for, and we deserve answers!

Marc Richman can’t keep his lies straight

Last week, I shared with you the mortgage documents  that showed that International Village Board Treasurer Marc Richman – contrary to his earlier public denial at a Board meeting – lent former Board President Charles Fitzpatrick $51,500 in June 2011 to purchase an apartment unit in the St. Moritz building and received $72,800 (a $21,300 profit) in October 2013 when the unit sold for $100,000, according to Broward property records. 

But in a foolish attempt to avoid taking responsibility for this shady deal, Mr. Richman is now making the incredible claim that he didn't make a dime on the transaction.

In her role as chief disseminator of disinformation for the incumbent Board candidates, Board member Frances Mesirow on Thursday forwarded to her email distribution list a message from Mr. Richman in which he claims that he spent his entire $21,300 profit on repairs and six months of maintenance fees on the unit (which would have amounted to about $2,100).

Does Mr. Richman honestly expect us to believe that he got nothing out of this deal while letting Mr. Fitzpatrick (who supposedly paid nothing in maintenance fees for half a year) pocket $27,000 profit on the unit’s sale? Does he really think we’re that stupid?

It’s worth noting that this is Mr. Richman’s third version of the story. His first reaction was to angrily deny that he had ever financed the unit purchase. Then, in a Jan. 27 email to the Board, after being confronted with the mortgage documents signed by him and Mr. Fitzpatrick, he described the unit as a foreclosure and claimed the $72,800 satisfaction of the loan was actually the sale price. Finally, when presented with the property appraiser’s records showing that the unit in fact sold for $100,000, Mr. Richman changed his story once again, saying it was a “for sale by owner” and that his entire $21,300 earned interest was supposedly lavished on Mr. Fitzpatrick as a gift in the form of maintenance fee payments and free unit repairs.  

Mr. Richman, stop lying and come clean already. The owners deserve the facts. If you can’t be trusted to tell the truth about how you unethically profited from your position as a Board member, how do you expect owners to trust you with our finances?

Enough is enough! It’s time to vote for change in International Village.