Merry Christmas!

On behalf of the International Village Board of Directors, I’d like to wish all unit owners a very merry and blessed Christmas.  We have much to celebrate as we look back on 2015, including new efficient washers and dryers, improved landscaping, important legal victories, and continued progress on our building renovations – all in a year in which we saved about half a million dollars and lowered maintenance fees for an unprecedented second year in a row.

But our shared successes are in reality because of you, and we thank you the owners and all the volunteers serving on our various committees for all your support and encouragement over the last year. Let's continue working together in 2016 to build on these successes, and may God fill your new year with love, health, peace, and all the joy the year can bring.

P.S. The office continues to receive inquiries from unit owners interested in paying off their Hurricane Wilma special assessment early to save hundreds of dollars in interest. Just remember this discount is only available until Dec. 30. Check out the flyer HERE for more information.

With warmest regards,

John Labriola

International Village President

Lower maintenance fees and more savings opportunities

International Village unit owners will be getting a maintenance fee reduction for an unprecedented second year in a row. Of the more than 320 owners who submitted their proxies before our budget meeting this Tuesday (for which we thank you), about 96 percent of you voted “Yes” to paying a little less in maintenance starting in January, my colleagues and I on the Board of Directors were very pleased to vote for a budget that will make that happen. 

The budget we approved not only continues to build on the savings and efficiencies of the last two years, but it also provides funding to complete the building renovations begun this year – a top Board priority.  Thanks to a more proactive approach to recovering fees from delinquent accounts, as well as the increasing number of owners who are deciding to pay off their Hurricane Wilma special assessment early to save on interest, we also look forward to continuing to make steady progress toward paying down our 2007 Wilma loan ahead of schedule.

As I previously announced, owners who are still paying their monthly Wilma assessment can now take advantage of hundreds of dollars in savings by paying off the balance this month.  By making a lump sum payment no later than December 30, 2015, a one-bedroom unit owner could save about $350, while a two-bedroom owner could save well over $500 in interest by paying it off approximately three years early. The amount of the lump sum payment required will vary depending on the size of your unit – from about $1,000 for a small studio to about $3,000 for a two-bedroom. To find out your exact payoff figure, send an email to manager@intlvillage.com with the subject line “Wilma Payoff” and include your name, phone and unit number in the email. Be sure to act by December 30 to take advantage of these savings.

Thank you,

John Labriola
International Village President

Happy Thanksgiving / Send in your Budget Proxy

On behalf of International Village and the Board of Directors, I’d like to wish all unit owners a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving. As we approach the end of 2015, I’m thankful for a great year of being able to serve you as president. As a community, we have a lot to be grateful for this year – including continued progress on our building renovations, new efficient washers and dryers, improved landscaping, and saving more than $400,000 on the third and final phase of our 40-year certification. And to top off a fantastic year, International Village unit owners can now look forward to lower maintenance fees for an unprecedented second year in a row!   

If you haven’t already done so, please return the budget proxy you received in the mail. If you want maintenance fees to go down, you must vote YES to waive reserves and mail back your proxy or drop it off at the association office as soon as possible. If you never received the proxy, you can download and print one HERE. For detailed instructions on how to complete the proxy, click HERE.

In addition to saving more on maintenance, many unit owners will have the opportunity to save hundreds of dollars on Hurricane Wilma special assessment payments by paying off the balance before the end of 2015. By making a lump sum payment no later than December 30, 2015, a one-bedroom unit owner can save about $350, while a two-bedroom unit owner could save well over $500.  To find out your exact payoff amount, visit or call the association office at 954-484-9106, or send an email to manager@intlvillage.com with the subject line “Wilma Payoff” and include your name, phone and unit number in the email. Be sure to act before the end of December to take advantage of these savings.

Once again, happy Thanksgiving! 

John Labriola

International Village President

Our deepest sympathies

On behalf of International Village and the Board of Directors, I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to all those with family or friends in Paris in the wake of Friday's horrific terrorist attacks. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France as the world stands in solidarity with them against the threat of radical Islam. God bless France, and God bless America.

John Labriola

International Village President

Welcome back, snowbirds! / 2016 Budget Preview

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome all the snowbirds back to International Village. I hope you’re enjoying our warm South Florida weather as well as some of the improvements we made while you were away.  As you can tell, we’ve been pretty busy, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to recap just a few of our accomplishments over the last several months:

- First, we continue to make significant progress on the building renovations, as residents in the Orleans, Grenoble and Zurich buildings can attest – all, as promised, without a special assessment.

- Second, our newly installed Maytag washers and dryers are saving money by operating better and more efficiently – without the need to put your clothes through a second dry cycle. And because we decided to purchase the machines instead of leasing them, we’ve more than doubled our laundry revenues every single month. 

- Third, I’m sure you’ve noticed the improvements to our landscaping, thanks to the hiring of an excellent new lawn company, which also restored the ficus hedges at our entrance and throughout the property by treating them for whitefly, and did a very thorough job of trimming overgrown trees throughout the property. 

- Speaking of landscaping, you’ve probably also noticed the beautiful new bougainvilleas along the Inverrary Boulevard wall courtesy of the Inverrary Master Association. These attractive plantings, which came at no cost to International Village, were the result of significant lobbying by former property manager David Friedman, and they’re not only increasing our curb appeal but also improving safety by deterring wall jumpers. 

- As I announced recently, we’ve also had significant success on the legal front, including securing $71,000 in settlement money from our insurance carriers after we sued them for wrongly denying us coverage in a lawsuit filed by Ilan Weiss. 

- And finally and most importantly, I’m pleased to announce that just last month we passed the third and final phase of our 40-year certification by completing the inspection and certification of our last two buildings at a cost of about $4,000. That’s a savings of over $400,000 compared to what it would have cost us if we had gone along with the now infamous Criterium Report recommended by AMG, which called for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary repairs. Let me repeat that: the association saved over $400,000 on the third and final phase of our 40-year certification by getting an honest second opinion. Combined with the approximately $800,000 we saved on the first two phases completed last year, that brings our total savings on the 40-year certification to more than $1.2 million!!! 

The bottom line is we’ve been keeping our promise to save money by doing a lot more with a lot less. We also recently finished crunching the numbers for the 2016 budget, and I’m happy to report that thanks to all the savings, International Village unit owners can look forward to a modest cut in maintenance fees for an unprecedented second year in a row! 

Check your mail in the coming days for your 2016 budget and proxy. Be sure to vote Yes in favor of waiving reserves and mail back your proxy or drop it off at the association office as soon as possible, because we’ll need it to approve the maintenance fee reduction.

John Labriola
International Village President

Legal victory!

I’m happy to announce that International Village has reached a settlement with its insurance carriers in the case we filed against them for wrongfully denying coverage in one of the lawsuits filed by Ilan Weiss (the so-called “defamation” lawsuit he filed against me as a Director). The carriers have agreed to pay the association $60,000 as well as provide us with legal defense going forward, which means the insurance company will pay all our attorney fees going forward to defend against the Weiss lawsuit. The $60,000 settlement reimburses the association for all of the fees and costs the association incurred in suing the insurance carriers and also reimburses the association for its fees and costs while defending against the original lawsuit filed by Mr. Weiss. In a separate agreement, the association will receive an additional $11,000 from our insurer to reimburse us for our legal fees and costs in defending against several other cases filed by Mr. Weiss and his attorney F. Blane Carneal.  Most of those cases have now been dismissed.

We’re very pleased we were able to achieve a very satisfying settlement with the insurance carriers that not only makes the association whole, but also helps ensure that this Board of Directors and future Board members are protected against malicious and meritless lawsuits by Mr. Weiss in the future. If it was Mr. Weiss’ intention to bankrupt the association or this board member with his groundless lawsuits, he has clearly failed. There is no question that this outcome is a great victory over Ilan Weiss, and it calls for celebration.

In other news, the Board of Directors recently appointed unit owner Murat Kizikli to fill a seat left vacant by a former director. Mr. Kizikli is a professional engineer who owns the engineering company that saved the association nearly $1 million on our 40-year certification last year by providing an honest second opinion after an earlier engineering report commissioned by AMG called for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary spending. Mr. Kizikli, who fell in love with our beautiful community and recently decided to purchase a unit here, is an exceptional asset to International Village, and we’re thrilled he has agreed to volunteer his time and talents to the Board of Directors. Please join me in welcoming him aboard.

John Labriola

International Village President

Disappointing behavior by a Board member

As you may recall, some months ago the International Village Board of Directors exercised its right of first refusal to purchase a two-bedroom unit in the Bordeaux building for $50,000, for the dual purpose of keeping up our comp values and earning additional income for the association by reinvesting the profits of its resale in the ongoing building renovations and other projects.

After a few months of inactivity and one offer that fell through, the association received a second offer of $76,500 this spring, but a couple of months later the prospective buyers backed out of the deal, and the association is now considering a third offer. However, while the contract with the second set of prospective buyers was being prepared in May, Board member Hayden T. Joseph, who uses the email hayden49@aol.com, sent me the email below, in which he proposed to match the buyers' offer and purchase the unit himself. In exchange, Mr. Joseph, who lives in Miami, demanded a contractual agreement from the Board to pay him at least $15,600 per year to live in the unit, presumably so he could be appointed as Treasurer, since the owners recently voted in favor of a provision that executive officers must be resident owners. Mr. Joseph also demanded that the association purchase him a desk, an executive chair and a side chair.

This outlandish proposal, which would be illegal if approved since state law prohibits compensation for association board members, made me very uncomfortable, and I chose to ignore it (though I later reported it to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation), and I went ahead and authorized the sale of the unit to the prospective buyers who had made the original offer of $76,500. Mr. Joseph was angered by my decision and let me know, and this has led to considerable tension between him and the Board of Directors ever since, which recently deteriorated into a series of disturbing actions by Mr. Joseph to settle scores with the association by feeding International Village’s arch-enemy Ilan Weiss confidential information (and in many cases, misinformation) about ongoing legal matters to help Mr. Weiss with his many current lawsuits against us.

The Board has made repeated attempts to reason with Mr. Joseph privately in the hopes of convincing him to either change his destructive behavior or resign, but our efforts so far have been to no avail. Therefore, we have been left with no choice but to bring his conduct to the attention of the unit owners, and we will be discussing this matter at the Board meeting this Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 7:15 p.m. in the clubhouse. 

Thank you, and may God protect International Village from malicious people.

John Labriola
International Village President
VillageViewpoints.blogspot.com

Unit for sale

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hayden49@aol.com <hayden49@aol.com>	Fri, May 29, 2015 at 9:33 AM
To: John Labriola <jflabriola@gmail.com>
I am considering making an offer equal to the most recent price offered. In doing so I will be acquiring a property which will generate no income but will incur an obligation for maintenance, taxes, phone and electricity. I will therefore require a commitment in the form of a contract where I will be paid for services that exceed my duties as a board member. Such payments should not be less than $1300 per month or $15,600 per year. I would probably need a desk, an executive chair, and a side chair as well. Thanks. www.htjosephcpa.com For Taxation and Accounting Services This electronic mail transmission may contain confidential or privileged information. If you believe that you have received this message in error, please notify the sender by reply transmission and delete the message without copying or disclosing it. Advice contained in this written or electronic communication, including any attachments or enclosures, is not intended or written to be used and it cannot be used by any person or entity for the purpose of (i) avoiding any tax penalties that may be imposed by the Internal Revenue Service or any other U.S. Federal taxing authority or agency or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

Legal update

It’s not often that I discuss association legal issues in a public forum, because as Board members we are usually advised to keep information about ongoing litigation confidential. But since the person responsible for most of that litigation has been using his extensive email distribution list to spread misinformation about these cases, some unit owners have asked me to help them sort out the facts.

Most of you know Ilan Weiss as the vulgar, vicious author of the unending barrage of slanderous blast emails he has been directing against the association and members of its Board of Directors for the past several years. What you may not know is that over the last year alone, he has caused the association to spend tens of thousands of dollars in litigation expenses as a result of the many frivolous and malicious lawsuits and complaints he has filed. Mr. Weiss and his lawyer Blane Carneal currently have no fewer than six cases pending against the association or members of the Board of Directors. That means that association funds that could otherwise be going toward speeding up improvements to the property or further reducing maintenance fees are instead being spent on legal fees thanks to the insatiable greed and spitefulness of Mr. Weiss and his attorney. 

In one of these cases, Mr. Weiss sued me for accurately calling him “dishonest” in an email/blog post in which I refuted some of his many false accusations regarding the association. All owners, especially anyone who may be considering joining the Board of Directors, should know that the association’s governing documents and insurance policy indemnify Board members and provide insurance coverage against lawsuits arising from the performance of their duties as Directors. Without such coverage, members of the Board of Directors – and our entire association – would be at the mercy of lawsuit-happy bullies like Mr. Weiss, who has often stated his desire to bankrupt any Board member or association volunteer he dislikes or disagrees with by dragging them to court. But last year a former board member, in an email in which she claimed to be speaking for the association, urged the insurance carrier to deny me coverage as a Director. When the rest of the Board found out about her conduct, she resigned from the Board along with two other board members who may have been involved in the scheme. But their resignations came too late: the insurance company decided to use that email as an excuse to deny coverage, which forced the association to sue the company for breach of contract. It’s important to note that under Florida law, when an insurance carrier is successfully sued for improperly denying coverage, the carrier must pay all the plaintiff’s attorney fees in the case. And several weeks ago, in a very positive development in the case, the judge entered a preliminary order essentially stating that the insurance company was wrong to deny coverage. That means the association can expect to get all its money back in one of two ways: either as a result of the judge’s final ruling in the case, or from a pre-trial settlement in which the carrier opts to avoid trial by agreeing to reimburse us for all our fees.

Regarding board member Wendy E. Hernandez, she is currently under criminal prosecution for physically assaulting a fellow board member last year. Mr. Weiss’ claim that the association is paying for this prosecution is just another example of his extreme dishonesty and ignorance of the law. As any fifth-grade social studies student could probably explain to him, criminal prosecutions are paid for by the state, not by any private individual or entity such as a condo association. The state attorney’s office decided to prosecute based on the facts and evidence in the case, not because I or anyone on the Board asked them to. Their decision had nothing to do with the association, and International Village is not involved in the case in any way, shape or form.  Mr. Weiss’ idiotic and defamatory claim that our association attorney Elaine Gatsos represented me at a deposition in that case just demonstrates what a contemptible liar he is. I have forwarded Mr. Weiss’ email to the state attorney since there may be criminal and/or civil penalties for interfering with, obstructing, or deliberately disseminating misinformation about an ongoing criminal prosecution.  A few years ago, Mr. Weiss was sued for defamation by a former board member and lost. He may have to be sued and/or prosecuted again to learn his lesson.

John Labriola
International Village President

Welcome International Village’s new property manager

The Board of Directors last week voted to hire Gilbert Martinez as International Village’s new property manager.

Martinez has served as a property manager at a number of associations in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He has also worked as an accounting manager in the airline industry and served 20 years on his own condo association board.

John Labriola

International Village President

Village update

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July weekend.

I’d like to take this opportunity to once again thank all the unit owners who took advantage of last month’s Wilma Special Assessment Early Payoff Bonus offer. More than 20 unit owners reaped hundreds of dollars in interest savings by paying off their Hurricane Wilma special assessment balance three years early. In all, the association collected more than $60,000 in special assessment payoff checks during the month of June, which will go toward reducing our debt with Wells Fargo. If you happened to miss the June 30 deadline, your next opportunity to save money by paying off your Wilma assessment balance early will be in December. Although the savings won’t be quite as large as they were in June, they will still be significant. The association will be posting reminders as we get closer to that time.

On a sad note, I'm sorry to report that David Friedman, our property manager for the past year, had to step down last week for health reasons. David was one of the most hard-working, trustworthy, dedicated managers we’ve ever had at International Village, and he will be deeply missed. Not only was he an excellent manager, but I also came to regard him as a good and trusted friend. A search for a new manager is currently underway. Please keep David in your prayers as we wish him a full and speedy recovery. Our doors here at International Village will always be open for him.

John Labriola

International Village President

2 comments:

1. 
   Sandra OxleyJuly 6, 2015 at 11:19 PM

   Very sad to hear David had to step down for health reasons. The insults and the pressure on him these last months would have made anyone sick. He recently had bypass surgery. And since his return he has repeatedly been bad mouthed and insulted and attacked by Mr Weiss and others relentlessly. Thru numerous e-mails and many many phone calls. David is a nice man. Did not have a mean bone in his body. I have never seen or heard him be disrespectful to anyone. I hope he can move on to a property that can appreciate him. A place where there is not so much hatred And mean spirited people. He knows his profession inside out. And will be asset to a decent kind community. I wish him well. I am so ashamed of the way some people in this community behave. And the nasty inflammatory environment here. But I do believe in Karma.
   My name is SANDRA LEE OXLEY AND I SIGN MY NAME HAPPILY
   Replies
   

   
   
   
   
   John LabriolaJuly 6, 2015 at 11:38 PM
   Thank you Sandra. I hope our next property manager will not have to put up with the type of relentless abuse and slander that David handled with such dignity even while battling significant health issues. Nobody should have to be subjected to that kind of mental and emotional harassment. I also believe in a just God and that the dishonest and pitiless attacker you mention by name will soon get what he has coming.
   
   John Labriola
   International Village President

Wilma Special Assessment Early Payoff Bonus Reminder

I’d like to thank all the International Village unit owners who have contacted the property manager in the last few weeks regarding the Wilma Special Assessment Early Payoff Bonus.  The office has received about 50 inquiries so far from unit owners interested in paying off their Hurricane Wilma special assessment balance, and a number of owners – including myself – have already reaped the substantial savings available during the month of June. In the case of my one-bedroom unit, I’ll be saving about $436. Two-bedroom unit owners will save well over $600.

By paying off your special assessment three years early, you are not only saving yourself hundreds of dollars, but you are helping the association reduce its debt with Wells Fargo, for which we thank you.

For those of you who haven’t taken advantage of this opportunity yet, there’s still time, but you must act by June 30. Just visit the association office, call 954-484-9106, or send an email to manager@intlvillage.com with the subject line “Wilma Payoff” and include your name, phone and unit number. You will be told how much you owe and how much you can save by paying off the balance this month.

Thank you,

John Labriola
International Village President

Wilma special assessment early payoff bonus!

Did you know you could save a lot of money by paying off your Hurricane Wilma special assessment this month?

As announced at the May 26 Board of Directors meeting, International Village unit owners can now take advantage of hundreds of dollars in savings by paying off the balance of their Wilma assessment during the month of June 2015.  

By making a lump sum payment no later than June 30, 2015, a one-bedroom unit owner can save about $450, while a two-bedroom unit owner could save well over $600. The discount would come from interest saved by paying off the assessment – which started in 2007 – three years early.

The amount of the lump sum payment required to pay off your assessment will vary depending on the size of your unit (from about $1,300 for a small studio to about $5,000 for a four-bedroom, according to this breakdown).

Please visit or call the association office at 954-484-9106 for details, or send an email to manager@intlvillage.com with the subject line “Wilma Payoff” and include your name, phone and unit number in the email.

Be sure to act by June 30 to take advantage of these savings.

John Labriola
International Village President

New laundry machines, landscaping company and cameras

Has it been taking more than an hour to dry your clothes lately? Relief is coming soon.

International Village will be replacing its aging washers and driers with brand-new machines over the next several weeks as its eight-year lease contract with Aaxon has come to an end. Rather than renewing the contract – which was based on a 50/50 revenue-sharing arrangement under which the association and Aaxon each collected approximately $4,500 in laundry revenue per month – the Board of Directors last month opted to purchase new Maytag machines from Mesmen Inc. at a cost of approximately $127,000.

Purchasing the washers and driers instead of entering into a lease agreement will allow the association to collect 100 percent of the revenue from the machines once they are installed, instead of just 50 percent. At that rate, the machines will not only pay for themselves in about a year’s time, but over the long run they will result in a significant net revenue gain that hopefully will enable the association to continue reducing maintenance fees.

The new Maytag washers and driers will utilize a new smart card system and new card-reloading machines that will soon be set up in the clubhouse so residents can familiarize themselves with them before the new laundry machines are installed.

In other actions last month, the Board:

• Approved a new lawn maintenance contract with Davey Commercial Grounds Management (formerly known as Lawn Logic) following the expiration of the association’s one-year contract with Smart Choice. The switch came after months of complaints regarding the previous vendor’s failure to adequately pick up leaves. The new contract specifically requires leaf pickup, and compliments regarding the superior landscape work have already been pouring in.
• Approved purchasing a new security camera system for the association’s residential buildings following the recent membership vote in favor of installing cameras in the common areas. The system will consist of 12 cameras per building. Although I have not been an enthusiastic supporter of security cameras, my main objections to the camera plan advanced in 2013 by AMG (which I’m happy I was able to stop) were its massive $150,000 proposed price tag and the attempt to push the project through without the required membership vote. By doing things the right way and rejecting AMG's preferred vendor, we have not only respected the democratic process, but we will be spending a tiny fraction of what AMG and the 2013 Board were saying was needed. The total cost of equipment and installation will be an estimated $10,000. That’s a total savings of about $140,000!

John Labriola

International Village President

A Weiss special assessment?

In the last two Board of Directors elections, International Village unit owners have made it abundantly clear that they want to spend LESS, not more. This year, when one candidate ran on a platform of higher spending, higher maintenance fees and more special assessments, he barely received 20 percent of the vote.  Your overwhelming rejection of his agenda, however, hasn't stopped him from trying to achieve it through his incessant bogus lawsuits, collusion, sabotage, and outright bribery. 

Last night, a number of you received a “blast” email from that failed candidate – Ilan Weiss – in which he revealed his seedy financial arrangement with disgraced board member Wendy Hernandez. (For those of you who may not be aware, Miss Hernandez is currently under criminal prosecution for battery, and she is still looking to “get back” at the Board for rejecting her outrageous demands last year to put her on the association's payroll, grant her access to all unit owner files and accounts, and fire virtually all our employees.) In exchange for Mr. Weiss’ promise to pay her legal bills (which he openly admits and even brags about), Miss Hernandez has been acting as his personal stooge by busily doing Mr. Weiss’ bidding – including violating board member confidentiality by feeding him sensitive information about ongoing legal matters; engaging in defamatory and false accusations against the association, its employees, Board members, and other unit owners; and even contacting the association's insurance carriers to urge them to NOT cover us after AMG – the company that gave us convicted embezzler Jason Levy as property manager – vindictively sued us for firing them. 

Most recently – again at Mr. Weiss’ behest – Miss Hernandez, joined by another disgruntled resident and Weiss follower, invited the City of Lauderhill’s code enforcement department to visit International Village to look for violations of the City’s aesthetics code. (This from a city which – with the exception of Inverrary – is best known for its blighted conditions and elevated crime rates). Bureaucrats being what they are, the code enforcement officer was more than happy to oblige Miss Hernandez and issued the association a violation notice, instructing us to re-paint the building outside walls and address a number of other cosmetic issues with the building exteriors.

It’s important to note that as part of last year’s 40-year inspections, the City certified that all 10 of the buildings that were inspected by the engineer are structurally safe and sound. That means the only issues the City could technically cite us for on those buildings would have to do with aesthetics (despite the irony of being cited for cosmetic issues by the City of Lauderhill). But to address all these aesthetic issues at one time on a tight City-mandated schedule – instead of in order of priority and within the framework of the budget – would not only require a substantial special assessment (Mr. Weiss’ number one goal), but it would also force the Board to cancel or postpone the renovations currently underway in the interiors of the buildings. (So if your building hasn't been renovated yet, and if this latest trick forces us to divert our resources to other projects, you can thank Mr. Weiss and Miss Hernandez for their vindictiveness.)

So we are faced with a choice: We can either fight the City over its ridiculous selective enforcement of its aesthetic codes, or we can allow Mr. Weiss and Miss Hernandez to get away with their malicious scheme to make us dig deeper into our pockets to cough up another special assessment.

How do YOU think we should proceed? And what if anything should be done about Miss Hernandez’s repeated and blatant breaches of her fiduciary duties as a board member? 

The best way to let us know is to show up and speak up at our Board meeting tonight (Tuesday, April 28) at 7:15 p.m. in the clubhouse. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please share your thoughts by replying to this email and copying the Board of Directors. We need to know how you feel!

Thank you,

John Labriola
International Village President
Villageviewpoints.blogspot.com

Condo doc amendments vote results

I hope everyone enjoyed a blessed Easter and Passover with their friends and families this past weekend. My thanks also to all the unit owners who took the time to participate by proxy or in person in last week’s reconvened Special Membership Meeting on the proposed amendments to the association’s governing documents. The number of proxies collected was well above the quorum requirement. To view the results of the vote, click HERE.

Forward as One Community

Serving as president of an organization the size of International Village is no small job, but it’s a lot less daunting when your predecessor has done most of the heavy lifting. As I begin my term as President of International Village, I feel very fortunate, not to mention honored, to follow in the footsteps of Marcio Jaspan, who nominated me to serve as his successor last week due to his increasingly busy work schedule. Marcio, who led International Village successfully through one of its most challenging and transformative years, has paved a path of progress that will make the journey forward that much easier, and I look forward to continue working with him in his new role as Treasurer, as well as with Duv Wolff as Vice President, Carl Simmonds as Secretary, Hayden Joseph as Assistant Treasurer and Luis Jimenez as our newest Board member, to keep International Village moving in the right direction. 

My number one goal as President, as it has been as Treasurer, will be to keep saving money so we can continue reducing maintenance fees while making the necessary investments to improve our property values and quality of life. An equally important though less tangible goal is to continue to foster a sense of unity. As President, my job is to represent all the owners, not just the 80 percent who voted for me in last month’s election. This is one community, and we all have a vested interest in seeing it prosper, so let’s work together with a renewed sense of cooperation to make International Village the best place it can be. 

On a somewhat related note, as I mentioned last month we are still accepting proxies from unit owners who have not yet voted on the proposed amendments to the association's governing documents. The new deadline for submitting your three-page pink proxy is Tuesday, March 31. (If you already turned it in, there is no need to obtain or submit another one.)

I look forward to your continued involvement and suggestions.

John Labriola

International Village President

Victory for Progress!

A very big "Thank You" to the unit owners of International Village for overwhelmingly voting to stay on the path of continued progress in this Tuesday’s Board of Directors election. By a staggering 4 to 1 margin, you elected the team that has pledged to keep saving money and reducing maintenance fees while investing in important improvements to our community. (See the official results announcement HERE.) I am humbled and honored by the confidence you have placed in me, along with Luis Jimenez and Colbert “Carl” Simmonds, and I look forward to another term of working with a great group of people to continue improving our quality of life and property values. I also want to thank God for letting justice prevail over the forces of evil and the enemies of truth and righteousness.

By voting to remain on the right track, you also rejected the politics of hate, smear, innuendo and disgusting personal attacks represented by one of our soundly defeated opponents and his dwindling number of supporters. Let’s hope he takes a hint from this overwhelming rejection of everything he stands for and learns to keep his bile to himself. 

Regarding the proposed amendments to the association's governing documents, the number of pink proxies received fell about 30 votes short of the quorum requirement, so the results of that vote could not be officially tabulated. That means that if you did not mail in or drop off your 15-question proxy, you can still do so. We will let you know the new deadline for submitting your proxy once the Board has agreed on a date.

Stay tuned, and thanks again for showing you care about the future of International Village. Together we can make the “Jewel of Inverrary” shine even brighter.

John Labriola

International Village Board of Directors

Vote for continued progress and savings

Only one day remains until the Feb. 24 International Village annual meeting and Board of Directors election. If you have not already done so, this is your last chance to choose between continuing to move forward and returning to the shady past. 

The three candidates who represent continued progress are Colbert “Carl” Simmonds, Luis Jimenez and myself, John Labriola. Each of us wants to continue saving money in order to keep lowering maintenance fees while investing in improvements like the building renovations that are now under way. With last year’s $1 million in savings and historic maintenance fee reduction, we've proven it can be done. 

The other two candidates – Ilan Weiss and Petrina Smith, who appear to be running as a team despite claims to the contrary – have made no promise to cut spending or maintenance fees. In fact, Ilan Weiss – best known for repeatedly filing frivolous and malicious lawsuits against the association – is running on a platform of defending the record of the association’s former management company AMG, which engineered a $1.3 million special assessment and 27 percent maintenance fee increase in 2012-13 and gave us a convicted felon, Jason Levy, as property manager before AMG and Mr. Levy were fired last year. Incredibly, Mr. Weiss is now claiming that Mr. Levy was “framed.”  That will certainly come as a shock to Mr. Levy, since he pleaded guilty in November to first-degree felony grand theft and money laundering in the face of the overwhelming proof of his guilt. It’s now obvious that Mr. Weiss wants to be on the board to undermine our current efforts to get our money back as we continue working with the authorities and our legal counsel to go after these crooks. 

Let’s continue moving forward, not backward to the crooked dealings of the past. For continued progress, please vote for John Labriola, Colbert “Carl” Simmonds and Luis Jimenez. Please drop off your ballot at the International Village office today, as it is too late to mail it in.

John Labriola
International Village Treasurer

Progress vs. Gangsterism

The International Village Board of Directors election and annual meeting is just a week away, and the choice couldn't be any clearer. It’s a choice between continued progress and savings on the one hand – and a return to the high maintenance fees, special assessments and shady dealings of the past on the other.

Only three candidates – Colbert “Carl” Simmonds, Luis Jimenez and myself, John Labriola – have pledged to continue cutting spending to reduce maintenance fees. All three of us want to build on the successes of the last year, during which more than $1 million was saved, maintenance fees were reduced for the first time in decades, and the building renovations were resumed with no special assessment.

The remaining two candidates have not only made no promise to cut maintenance fees, but at least one of them – Ilan Weiss – appears to be running on a platform of rehiring AMG, the management company that gave us a convicted felon, Jason Levy, as property manager and engineered a $1.3 million special assessment and 27 percent maintenance fee increase over its two-year tenure. Not only has Mr. Weiss continued to give AMG an “A” rating even after Mr. Levy’s conviction, but he has repeatedly made statements suggesting he has no interest in investigating how much Mr. Levy stole from International Village or in recovering that money for the association. Listen to his own words HERE.  Apparently, Mr. Weiss wants to be on the board to represent the interests of the people who stole from the association and to interfere with our current efforts to get our money back from them. That shouldn't surprise us considering he was able to enrich himself off the association during AMG's reign of corruption while the rest of us suffered. (Mr. Weiss received $70,000 from the association in 2012-13 to settle two bogus lawsuits. Contrary to his lies at last Tuesday’s Candidates Night forum, he never gave the association back a penny of that money, but used it to line his own pockets and bragged that he had “won the lottery” to sue the Board again, which he did last year to "punish" the Board for firing AMG and Mr. Levy.) The final candidate, Petrina Smith, denied being associated with Mr. Weiss even though he threw an exclusive “Candidates’ Party” on Feb. 9 in the Olde Village Tea Shop to which she was the only other candidate invited. Although she began her Candidates Night presentation fairly well, she displayed some embarrassingly unprofessional behavior during the question and answer session, when she attempted to shout down another candidate.

Finally, many of you have heard that my apartment door lock was sealed with superglue the day of Candidates Night and had to be replaced. Someone apparently acted on Mr. Weiss’ now-infamous blast email in which he gave out my unit number and encouraged people to commit various acts of vandalism to my property, including soiling my entrance with dog feces, splashing paint on the door, and other acts of criminal mischief. When the police came, I showed the officer Mr. Weiss’ email, and I intend to press charges over this thuggish attempt to intimidate me. (The officer found it interesting that Mr. Weiss, who lives year-round in New York, was on the property when this incident occurred, although he comes to International Village only one or two days per year at most.)

Send a message in this election that you reject this kind of gangster-style politics. For continued progress, decency, and further maintenance fee reductions, please vote for John Labriola, Colbert “Carl” Simmonds and Luis Jimenez. Your vote must be received by Feb. 24, so if you haven't done so already, please drop it off at the association office or mail it in immediately. For more instructions on voting, click here. 

John Labriola
International Village Treasurer

Meet the Candidates

The International Village Board of Directors election and annual meeting is just two weeks away. Owners who still have not made up their minds will have a chance to meet the candidates and ask questions at the Candidates Night forum tonight (Tuesday, Feb. 10) at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse.

Come listen to what the candidates have to say so you can make an informed choice, or read about the issues here.

John Labriola
International Village Treasurer

Vote for continued progress in International Village!

By now, you should have received your voting package for the Feb. 24 International Village election and annual meeting. In addition to choosing three candidates for the Board of Directors, you will have the chance to weigh in on over a dozen proposed amendments to our governing documents – including clarifying the income requirements for leasing and purchasing units and giving owners the option to receive notices electronically to save on postage. Owners also will have the opportunity to vote on whether they believe security cameras should be installed in the common areas.

Your vote, especially in the Board of Directors election, will help determine whether we can continue building on the successes of the last year, during which we saved over $1 million and cut maintenance fees for the first time in decades.  I’m running for reelection because I want International Village to keep moving in the right direction of reducing maintenance fees and saving money while investing in important projects like the building renovations that were recently resumed. But I’ll need the help of a good team, which is why I’m asking you to also cast your vote for two excellent candidates who share these goals: Colbert “Carl” Simmonds and Luis Jimenez.

Colbert “Carl” Simmonds joined the Board several months ago and has been serving as the association’s Secretary since September 2014. A retired database manager for Citibank, he brings a strong managerial background and capacity for teamwork as well as a commitment to honesty and cost savings to the Board.

Luis Jimenez is a systems engineer for Hewlett Packard in data center modernization, whose work focuses on minimizing costs by maximizing efficiency. He wants to use his professional talents to help International Village identify new and innovative ways to save money, and he’s looking forward to making a positive impact on the community.

As for me, John Labriola, I joined the Board of Directors two years ago and became the association’s Treasurer in February 2014, a position I accepted because I wanted to focus my efforts on saving money. I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and for the last two years I've used my reporting and writing skills to keep unit owners informed through emails and the VillageViewpoints.blogspot.com website.

I'm asking you to choose the team that will keep International Village moving forward. For continued progress, please vote for John Labriola, Colbert “Carl” Simmonds and Luis Jimenez.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR VOTING

For the Board of Directors election: Complete your ballot and place it inside the envelope marked “BALLOT.” Then place the sealed “BALLOT” envelope inside the envelope marked “Return Envelope for Board Election” and seal it. Print your name, address and unit number on the outer envelope, and be sure to sign it or it will not count. (If you own more than one unit, you must repeat this process for each unit.) Place sufficient postage on the envelope and mail it in or drop it off at the association office. Do not include your pink proxy or anything else inside either of the white envelopes. If you never received your voting materials, request a package at the office or contact the association at 954-484-9106. 

For the condo doc amendments: Complete the three-page pink proxy, place it in the pink envelope and mail it in with sufficient postage or drop it off at the office. Complete as many proxies as you have units.

If your unit is owned by more than one person and you have not already designated a voting representative for your unit, you must fill out this Voting Certificate and scan and email it to admin@intlvillage.com or fax it to 954-486-5677. If you don't have access to a scanner or fax machine, you may include the Voting Certificate in the pink envelope along with your pink proxy.

John Labriola
International Village Treasurer

Welcome back, David Friedman

I’m pleased to announce that International Village Property Manager David Friedman, who had to undergo heart surgery several weeks ago, has made a full recovery and is returning to his duties as manager today. 

We’re very happy and grateful that David is coming back healthy and strong to continue the great job he was doing. As we welcome David back, I also want to take this opportunity to thank our interim manager Richard Sayre for filling in for David during his recovery. We wish Richard good luck as he starts work at another property.

Former property manager Jason Levy in prison for grand theft

Former Manager Jason Levy

Former International Village Property Manager Jason J. Levy, who was fired by the Board of Directors last April for gross misconduct along with the association’s former management company American Management Group (AMG), has pleaded guilty to first-degree felony grand theft and money laundering charges for embezzling more than $1.5 million from Dezer Hotel Corporation, a Miami Beach-based hotel chain that he managed before coming to International Village.  Mr. Levy was booked into a Miami-Dade County jail last month and was transferred to a state prison facility on December 29. (See recent prison photo.)

The embezzlement scheme for which Mr. Levy was convicted was carried out over a four-year period from about 2005 to 2009, during which he created fraudulent company invoices for purchases or work that never took place and then pocketed the money for himself. After being fired and sued by Dezer Hotel and arrested and charged by the state, Mr. Levy filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to avoid paying back what he had stolen.

In 2012, despite being under criminal prosecution, and despite the overwhelming evidence of his guilt, Mr. Levy was hired by AMG and the previous Board of Directors to serve as International Village’s property manager. And unfortunately, though not surprisingly, Mr. Levy’s crooked habits continued unabated during his two years here.

But when the current Board of Directors fired Mr. Levy and AMG last April for the reasons I explained in my April 16, 2014 blog post, we had no idea just how far his fraudulent activities went. Since that time, our search and review of the association’s records has revealed that Mr. Levy, while managing International Village, engaged in an embezzlement scheme similar to what he was convicted for in the Dezer Hotel case, in addition to other misconduct designed to defraud the association of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Amazingly, some of these activities took place with the full knowledge and cooperation of at least one former Board member, which I will elaborate on in a future email/blog post. The Board of Directors has been in consultation with legal counsel about this serious matter and we are taking the appropriate steps.

Among the questions that need asking: Why was Mr. Levy hired by AMG despite being under felony prosecution for embezzlement? Why did the previous Board of Directors under former Board Presidents Marvin Tow and Charles Fitzpatrick hire AMG (in a secret March 2012 meeting that was improperly closed to unit owners) without conducting a simple background check on the company or its candidate for property manager, in gross violation of their fiduciary responsibilities? And how much did former Board members know about and participate in the fraud and misconduct that took place while AMG and Mr. Levy were managing International Village?

It is rumored that Mr. Tow, who was soundly defeated for reelection last year, has decided to run for the Board again this year, with the apparent goal of rehiring AMG. After all, bringing back AMG – despite their obvious wrongdoing – has been Mr. Tow’s mantra since the company’s contract was terminated. He even started a pro-AMG blog to praise the company and Mr. Levy (describing him as “exceptionally talented”) and to attack the current Board for firing them. When AMG vindictively sued me for doing my duty as a Director to expose the misconduct that led to their firing, Mr. Tow cheered and claimed that AMG’s bogus lawsuit (which it has since dropped) was “personal,” and just last week he repeated his defamatory lie that the association had paid for my “personal legal bills,” despite knowing that the association’s insurance carrier covered my defense in the case as it was obligated to do because it dealt with association matters.

Marvin Tow, let me make this perfectly clear: I’m proud of my role in helping International Village rid itself of AMG and Mr. Levy by blowing the whistle on their malfeasance. Getting rid of these crooks has saved the association more than a million dollars over the last year (as I have previously reported), and I would gladly do the same all over again – lawsuit or not. I’m not intimidated by AMG and its tiny but vocal corps of defenders, and I’m certainly not afraid of you.  Should you decide to run for the Board, let me also put you on notice that your unwavering support of a now convicted felon and the company that hired and continued to defend him to the bitter end will certainly be made an issue in this campaign. Your complicity and cooperation in some of the fraudulent activities that AMG and Mr. Levy engaged in while you served as Board President also will be an issue.

John Labriola

International Village Treasurer