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