Water Totally-Out, then Back, Then Hot Water Goes out AGAIN!

This morning we were without any water at all.
Surprisingly, it wasn't due to Board or property manager incompetence!
It was a water-main break wodn the block, which the Municipal Water Management Department fixed within six hours!

Good luck was not to last, however.
This afternoon, while doing laundry, I discovered the hot water was out, again!

It's probably as simple as hitting the "reset" button on the hot water heater.
But, since only the Twit has a key to the Boiler Room, and he's not here...

I'm not that concerned about myself or the missus, we can go to the gym and shower there.
But there are at least three families in the complex with newborns or toddlers who need to be bathed and both dishes and clothes washed (in hot water) to maintain sanitation.
I fear for them.

Updates as they occur...
4:00 pm Twit is home, but the hot water is still off.
Either he's not going out for New Year's or he takes cold showers as a matter of course.

8:00pm Hot water is back on, finally.

Hot Water Out...Back Working...Then Goes Out Again!

We awoke at 6am to discover there was no hot water.
Since the Twit is the only one with a key to the Boiler Room, there was nothing we could do about restoring service.
(Plus, since he's probably used to taking cold showers, the Twit would be unaware that there is a problem.)
The hot water came back on around 11am.
However, when I tried to take a shower at 1pm, the hot water was non-functional again.
(It's been running for over 20 minutes now, and the water is still cold.)

It's probably as simple as hitting the "reset" button on the hot water heater.
But, since only the Twit has a key to the Boiler Room...

I'm not that concerned about myself or the missus, we can go to the gym and shower there.
But there are at least three families in the complex with newborns or toddlers who need to be bathed and both dishes and clothes washed (in hot water) to maintain sanitation.
I fear for them.

Updates as they occur...
Returned home at 7pm to find hot water back on.
Whether it stays on or not remains to be seen.

Assessment Bill Late AGAIN and Still NO Minutes!

The assessment bill arrived on Christmas Eve...without Board meeting minutes from either September or December!
(BTW, it was posted on December 22nd, two days after it was supposed to be here!
Another desperate attempt by the Twat to generate late fees by sending bills well within ten days of deadline.)
As to why there's no meeting minutes...either the Twit is totally-incapable of writing a couple of coherent paragraphs, or he's afraid to put anything on paper because he knows he'll be called out on any lies he presents.
It's certainly not due to lack of time on his hands, since he's apparently underemployed judging from the amount of times I see him here in the afternoon.

Property Manager and Board...Scrooge Cubed

Since the Board members and Property Manager are all apparently going to be alone during this holiday season, I thought we'd look at someone who reminds me of them...Ebenezer Scrooge, and how he was also alone at Christmastime.
Two of Board seem to have no significant other or any nearby relatives.
The third appears to have a son by a previous relationship, but no romantic involvement currently.
And the Property Manager had stated she'd be alone during the holidays, but didn't elaborate on how this came about.

As a group, they are very much like Scrooge, who also had no significant other.
But once he did!
One woman gave her heart to him...was engaged to him...and had her heart broken by him!
Her name was Belle!

She appears twice in A Christmas Carol, during Scrooge's journey with the Ghost of Christmas Past.
First, we see how the young Scrooge choose between his love of money and love of her.
Second, we see how, after the breakup, she married a good man and together they raised a loving family, giving Scrooge a look at what "might have been" had he chosen to remain with her!

Almost every adaptation shows the first incident, but omits the second scene (usually due to running time or page count constraints), thus many people have never known how Belle's life turned out after Scrooge left her!

Here's the section about Belle's post-Scrooge life from A Christmas Carol's Stave Two...
For again Scrooge saw himself.
He was older now; a man in the prime of life.
His face had not the harsh and rigid lines of later years; but it had begun to wear the signs of care and avarice.
There was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall.
He was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young girl in a mourning-dress: in whose eyes there were tears, which sparkled in the light that shone out of the Ghost of Christmas Past.
“It matters little,” she said, softly. “To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause to grieve.”
“What Idol has displaced you?” he rejoined.
“A golden one.”
“This is the even-handed dealing of the world!” he said.
“There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth!”
“You fear the world too much,” she answered, gently.
“All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, engrosses you. Have I not?”
“What then?” he retorted. “Even if I have grown so much wiser, what then? I am not changed towards you.”
She shook her head.
“Am I?”
“Our contract is an old one. 
It was made when we were both poor and content to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry. 
You are changed. 
When it was made, you were another man.”
“I was a boy,” he said impatiently.
“Your own feeling tells you that you were not what you are,” she returned.
“I am.
That which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two.
How often and how keenly I have thought of this, I will not say.
It is enough that I have thought of it, and can release you.”
“Have I ever sought release?”
“In words. No. Never.”
“In what, then?”
“In a changed nature; in an altered spirit; in another atmosphere of life; another Hope as its great end.
In everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight.
If this had never been between us,” said the girl, looking mildly, but with steadiness, upon him; “tell me, would you seek me out and try to win me now? 
Ah, no!”
He seemed to yield to the justice of this supposition, in spite of himself.
But he said with a struggle, “You think not.”
“I would gladly think otherwise if I could,” she answered, “Heaven knows! When I have learned a Truth like this, I know how strong and irresistible it must be.
But if you were free to-day, to-morrow, yesterday, can even I believe that you would choose a dowerless girl—you who, in your very confidence with her, weigh everything by Gain: or, choosing her, if for a moment you were false enough to your one guiding principle to do so, do I not know that your repentance and regret would surely follow?
I do; and I release you.
With a full heart, for the love of him you once were.”
He was about to speak; but with her head turned from him, she resumed.
“You may—the memory of what is past half makes me hope you will—have pain in this.
A very, very brief time, and you will dismiss the recollection of it, gladly, as an unprofitable dream, from which it happened well that you awoke.
May you be happy in the life you have chosen!”
She left him, and they parted.
“Spirit!” said Scrooge, “show me no more!
Conduct me home. Why do you delight to torture me?”
“One shadow more!” exclaimed the Ghost.
“No more!” cried Scrooge.
“No more. I don’t wish to see it. Show me no more!”
But the relentless Ghost pinioned him in both his arms, and forced him to observe what happened next.
They were in another scene and place; a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort.
Near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl, so like that last that Scrooge believed it was the same, until he saw her, now a comely matron, sitting opposite her daughter.
The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, for there were more children there, than Scrooge in his agitated state of mind could count; and, unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves like one, but every child was conducting itself like forty.
The consequences were uproarious beyond belief; but no one seemed to care; on the contrary, the mother and daughter laughed heartily, and enjoyed it very much; and the latter, soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the young brigands most ruthlessly.
What would I not have given to be one of them!
Though I never could have been so rude, no, no! I wouldn’t for the wealth of all the world have crushed that braided hair, and torn it down; and for the precious little shoe, I wouldn’t have plucked it off, God bless my soul! to save my life.
As to measuring her waist in sport, as they did, bold young brood, I couldn’t have done it; I should have expected my arm to have grown round it for a punishment, and never come straight again.
And yet I should have dearly liked, I own, to have touched her lips; to have questioned her, that she might have opened them; to have looked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes, and never raised a blush; to have let loose waves of hair, an inch of which would be a keepsake beyond price: in short, I should have liked, I do confess, to have had the lightest licence of a child, and yet to have been man enough to know its value.
But now a knocking at the door was heard, and such a rush immediately ensued that she with laughing face and plundered dress was borne towards it the centre of a flushed and boisterous group, just in time to greet the father, who came home attended by a man laden with Christmas toys and presents.
Then the shouting and the struggling, and the onslaught that was made on the defenceless porter! The scaling him with chairs for ladders to dive into his pockets, despoil him of brown-paper parcels, hold on tight by his cravat, hug him round his neck, pommel his back, and kick his legs in irrepressible affection!
The shouts of wonder and delight with which the development of every package was received!
The terrible announcement that the baby had been taken in the act of putting a doll’s frying-pan into his mouth, and was more than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious turkey, glued on a wooden platter!
The immense relief of finding this a false alarm!
The joy, and gratitude, and ecstasy!
They are all indescribable alike.
It is enough that by degrees the children and their emotions got out of the parlour, and by one stair at a time, up to the top of the house; where they went to bed, and so subsided.
And now Scrooge looked on more attentively than ever, when the master of the house, having his daughter leaning fondly on him, sat down with her and her mother at his own fireside; and when he thought that such another creature, quite as graceful and as full of promise, might have called him father, and been a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life, his sight grew very dim indeed.
“Belle,” said the husband, turning to his wife with a smile, “I saw an old friend of yours this afternoon.”
“Who was it?”
“Guess!”
“How can I? Tut, don’t I know?” she added in the same breath, laughing as he laughed. “Mr. Scrooge.”
“Mr. Scrooge it was.
I passed his office window; and as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside, I could scarcely help seeing him.
His partner lies upon the point of death, I hear; and there he sat alone.
Quite alone in the world, I do believe.”
“Spirit!” said Scrooge in a broken voice, “remove me from this place.”
“I told you these were shadows of the things that have been,” said the Ghost. 
“That they are what they are, do not blame me!”
“Remove me!” Scrooge exclaimed, “I cannot bear it!”
He turned upon the Ghost, and seeing that it looked upon him with a face, in which in some strange way there were fragments of all the faces it had shown him, wrestled with it.
“Leave me! Take me back. Haunt me no longer!” 

Reminds me of the emotionally-barren lives of the Twit, the Twat, the Tart, and the Eunuch.
Is it too late for them to see the light and reform, much like Ebenezer did?
Probably...

Observations about the Board Meeting

Held, as usual, over a mile away from the condo, at a local library.
M and I were the only non-Board/property manager humans present.
The Board and property manager were limited in their vitriol due to being located in the main room of the library, instead of a side room.
The Twat complained about being abandoned by her family during the holidays.
(Does this mean her husband has left her for a woman?)
Because we were sitting behind the Twit and the Eunuch, we had a clear look at both of their rapidly-expanding bald spots.
Oddly, though the Eunuch is younger, his "moon roof" is bigger.
The Eunuch commented that the Twit is growing his hair longer (probably to do a comb-over of his "chrome dome").
The Tart sat mute through most of the meeting, looking depressed.

Interesting note: the condo's official Christmas bonus for the mailcarrier is only $10.
M and I give him a $20 gift card (the maximum under the law), so we again prove our moral superiority to the Board and property manager.
(No surprise there...)

M brought up the fact that the Board and property manager failed (as usual) to keep their word.
They had no intelligent response and mumbled something to the effect that "it'll be taken care of"
We'll see.

Though the matter was "tabled" at the last meeting, no mention was made of the security camera farce, so I think it's safe to assume that the matter is finally dead.

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Property Manager and Board Fail to Provide Timely Notice

Sometime between midnight and 6am today, a member of the Board crept in and posted a notice regarding a meeting tonight about adapting a new budget for the year 2013.
The mailed notice was over two months ago, and no update was received with last month's (late as usual) assessment billing.

This is in violation of the state's condo code, specifically...

(765 ILCS 605/18.5) (from Ch. 30, par. 318.5)
(c) Meetings and finances.
       (3) Each unit owner of a condominium subject to the authority of the board of the master association shall receive written notice mailed or delivered no less than 10 and no more than 30 days prior to any meeting of the board of the master association concerning the adoption of the proposed annual budget or any increase in the budget, or establishment of an assessment.

Plus...

Notice of meetings shall be mailed or delivered at least 48 hours prior thereto, unless a written waiver of such notice is signed by the persons entitled to notice before the meeting is convened.
Copies of notices of meetings of the board of the master association shall be posted in entranceways, elevators, or other conspicuous places in the condominium at least 48 hours prior to the meeting of the board of the master association.

Where there is no common entranceway for 7 or more units, the board of the master association may designate one or more locations in the proximity of these units where the notices of meetings shall be posted.

None of these clearly-stated rules was followed, legally-invalidating any decisions made at tonight's meeting.
But then, the property manager and Board tend to ignore such legal niceties when it doesn't suit their purposes!
In addition, we have yet to receive the minutes from the September meeting.
What is the Board hiding?
And why, during the  incredibly-busy holiday season, did the property manager and Board fail to provide timely notice?
It's like they didn't want unit owners to attend...

We have another function to be at tonight, but may cancel to be sure we cover (and record) the open part of the meeting as permitted by the state's Condo Code...

(765 ILCS 605/18.5)(from Ch. 30, par. 318.5)(c)(4)(C)
Any unit owner may record the proceedings at meetings required to be open by this Act by tape, film or other means; the board may prescribe reasonable rules and regulations to govern the right to make such recordings.

There's currently nothing in the condo declaration or rules/regulation prohibiting our doing so.
They may attempt to pass a new rule prohibiting recording, but it wouldn't take effect until the new rule/regulation is passed by majority vote and published/distributed to all unit owners.
If the Board or property manager attempt to strong-arm us, we'll call the police (the police station is only a block away from the off-site meeting location.) and file charges.

Addendum:
While there is a late notice in the lobby of '60, there is none in the lobby of '58!
It's as if they don't want the residents of '58 to attend...

Posted at our blog and distributed via hardcopy to subscribers and non-Board unit owners.

Did You Know...?

Both The Twit and The Eunuch are balding at a most remarkable rate?
But I, despite being older than one of them and younger than the other, still have a lovely full head of hair?

Property Manager's Vendor Requests Assistance Part 2

This morning, Jeffrey Kratowicz of Jeffrey's Plumbing buzzed me and requested I aid him in getting access to the buildings.
I did so and informed him that I would be billing the Management company for my services that he specifically-requested.
It's the second time in a month that I've been requested by the management company's vendors to aid them in carrying out their duties.
(The first time was HERE.)

Oddly, Kratowicz was not here on a plumbing matter, but to aid contractors who are replacing hallway windows get access to the building!

Considering the considerable sum management presently owes me for services (plus late fees, which are still accruing) dating back to 2008, you'd think they'd be a bit more cautious in requesting my aid, since they're well aware I'll bill them for it!

Assessment arrives Late, NO Board meeting Minutes enclosed, yet again...

We received the latest assessment (late as usual) and, surprise, surprise, there's no Board Meeting minutes included in the envelope!
The Twit, the Twat, the Tart, and the Eunuch have failed in their responsibilities...again!

One way to avoid telling an embarrassing truth is to say nothing at all.
That seems to be the policy of the Property Manager and Board.
As you remember, both the Board and Property Manager stated they would correct the inaccurate statement in previous Minutes that there was a rodent infestation in our unit when it was, in fact, 2E (In the same "line" of units, but two floors higher) that had visits by rodents.
(We've had none to date!)
Yet, here we are, three assessment mailings later, and there's no Board meeting Minutes included in the (as usual) late-arriving assessment billing. (It was postmarked November 21st, a day after it should have arrived!)
Interpret as you will...

Invasion of the Roaches?

There's a new notice in the lobby.
It states that it's "mandatory" that an exterminator be allowed in on November 17th to spray.
There are two items of interest in the notice.
One is that it specifically-mentions roaches.
We have not seen a single roach in our 7+ years here!
We have glue traps down to catch the occasional spider or millipede that does crawl around, but no roaches...
The other is that the exterminator listed in the flyer, Aerex, is different from the one the Board has used as long as we've been here...AND Exterminators!
Why the change?
Did the property manager not pay her bill to AND Exterminators?
Or, like her role-model Mitt Romney, she "...likes being able to fire people who provide services to me!"?
We'll give you a report (probably with video) after the new exterminator's visit.

Is Our Property Manager Modeling herself after Mitt Romney?

Is our property manager the Mitt Romney of Claremont Condos?
Like the Republican presidential candidate, she obfuscates her so-called achievements, failing to provide specifics when asked.
Like Romney's famous unreleased taxes, she refuses to release detailed information about the condo's finances.
(Compare the financial release several years ago [9 pages] to the current [2 page] financial statement.)
What's she hiding?
And, like the Republicans, she's attempted to block properly-conducted elections for our condo board.
Of course, if she's the Mitt Romney of Claremont, that would make the Whistleblower the Barack Obama of our little complex.
Makes sense.

Assessment arrives Late, NO Board meeting Minutes enclosed...

One way to avoid telling an embarassing truth is to say nothing at all.
That seems to be the policy of the Property Manager and Board.
As you remember, both the Board and Property Manager stated they would correct the inaccurate statement in previous Minutes that there was a rodent infestation in our unit when it was, in fact, in 2E (In the same "line" of units, but two floors higher) that had visits by rodents.
(We've had none to date!)
Yet, here we are, two assessment mailings later, and there's no Board meeting Minutes included in the (as usual) late-arriving assessment billing. (It was postmarked October 22nd, two days after it should have arrived!)
Interpret as you will...

Property Manager's Vendor Requests Assistance

While working at home on my Internet business, there was a knock at my unit's door at about 12:30.
It was the guy from Enterprise Building Services, who do basic maintenance on the premises every Monday.
He requested my aid in finding and resetting the circuit breakers for the outside lights.
I did so, and will bill our property manager (who EBS works for) for my time and services.
Note that our property manager is over four years in arrears on my previous bill from 2008, and the late fees on her defaulted bill are enormous!
In fact, the total is now over $1,000,000!
(The late fee is 1%, cumulative, per workday dating back to September of 2008.)

Board Meeting & the Post-Meeting Confrontation with a Fool!

Well, the Board meeting was interesting.
The only ones besides the Board and property manager were M and myself.
However, our lobbying campaign did produce results.
The majority of responses to the questionnaire (including, surprisingly, a Board member) were negative.
The Board was forced to table the matter of the "security camera assessment" at least until the next meeting.
So, no ridiculous multi-month assessment for now.

M asked the Board to retract the erroneous listing in the past two Board meeting minutes about our unit being infested with rodents (when it was, in fact, 2E that had rats).
While they promised to do so, we've seen how little the word of the property manager and Board is worth, so I'll believe it when I see it.

When asked about the so-called "vandalism", they rattled off things like leaving newspapers on the table in the Laundry Room (which I do for others to read), leaving the lights on, and the Board member who constantly calls the cops blamed me for his black thumb and dying plants.
In other words, no actual vandalism!
Oh, and according to him, "people saw you (meaning me) doing those things."
Of course, when asked, he couldn't produce a single name or date, which zeros out his cred in these matters.
The fact I didn't do any of the things he accused me of is irrelevant.
In fact, I think he's doing it for two reasons...
1) To get a free computer, since the description of the "security system" would, for some reason, entail a board member receiving a state-of-the art computer.
(Which, BTW, is why they wouldn't install a far less-expensive system monitored by an outside firm!)
2) To keep his $10 a month basement living space by creating a boogy-man in the minds of the weak-minded Board members that they would never rent the space to, no matter how economically-advantageous it would be to the Condo.
M offered $150 a month for the space. He pays $10 a month. You do the math.
He also claims that I've been recording him, which is ridiculous, since his visage would shatter the lens on my camera.
And, it brings up an obvious question; if "people" actually saw me do things, why would they need cameras?

Speaking of that fool, while M and I were waiting after the off-site meeting for the last bus on the route, he passed by the bus stop, did a one-eighty, then approached us and began haranguing me.
I hadn't spoken to him outside of the Board meeting, and why he started ranting is beyond me.
Regrettably, M hates confrontation, especially with small rodent-like creatures (she has the same problem with Chihuahuas), so she tried to get me to ignore him.
However, I don't back down, and the whining fool continued to scream and squeak (appropriately like a demented Chihuahua), and followed us onto the bus, when he continued his ranting to the distress of others on the vehicle.
He got off a stop before us and I had hoped that we wouldn't have to put up with his juvenile antics for the rest of the evening.
But it was not to be...

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Old Tricks by the Board and Property Manager

In 2005, the Board (with the Property Manager's approval) passed a Special Assessment to repair a section of concrete in the back of the building.
in 2006, the Board (with the Property Manager's approval) passed a Special Assessment to repair a section of concrete in the back of the building.
(The very same section as a matter of fact!
It had not been repaired in 2005!)
In 2007, the concrete was finally repaired, at a cost far less than either of the assessments!
What happened to the rest of the money collected for both of the Special Assessments?
If you're not a Board member, you don't know, and the Board and property manager won't let you see the books to find out!
(Note: the assessments were raised in 2007.)

It's said that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
The Board and the property manager are about to prove it...again, unless I stop them.
But I can't stop them alone.
If the usual unit owner antipathy holds, they'll get away with it.
Let's see what happens tonight.

The Truth Will Be Presented...Tomorrow!

As we pointed out HERE, the desperate Board moved the meeting up to tomorrow.
What they don't realize is that the unit owners have been alerted to their deception in claiming that the enormous Special Assessment is a blind to the truth.
When they fail to present any evidence of actual vandalism (pix, insurance claims, police reports, et al), they'll be forced to acknowledge publicly, why they really need the money!
They also don't know who'll be there...

Who Watches the Watcher?

I find the idea of a never-married, middle-aged/elderly guy, living in a lonely apartment with no significant other, using cameras mounted all over the condo complex to watch men and women (almost all considerably younger than him) and their pre-pubescent children, more than a bit creepy.
Makes you wonder if he'll be manipulating the controls one-handed...
Mind you, this is a guy who called the cops and claimed I was stalking him while I was sitting in my own unit!
(That's just one of the recent examples of his...unusual...behavior.)
Plus, he's paranoid about himself being photographed, but apparently doesn't give a damn about the rights of others.

In addition, after a couple of weeks, he'll have the timing down for everybody's movements.
This odd duck will know when people are home...and when they're not.
It would be an easy step after that to access units under the pretext of repairs and install more cameras in bedrooms or bathrooms.

It begs the question: Who watches the watcher?

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Board Desperate for Cash, Moves Meeting Date Up to Bill Sooner!

Remember when we told you about the insane demand for a special assessment for unneeded "security cameras"?
Well, here's an interesting twist... The Board and Property Manager have moved up the meeting!
Originally, it was scheduled for September 26th.
But, it's been moved up to September 5th!

Why, you may ask?
Simple!
If it was held on the 26th, they wouldn't be able to include the Special Assessment in billing until bills are sent out after October 20th!
But, if it's held on the 5th, they can include it in the bills sent after September 20th!
They must really be desperate for the cash infusion if they actually move up the date!

Screening and Financial EDiocy at Claremont

Remember when we told you about the stupidity of a Board member who forced workers to climb a ladder three stories to repair window screens that could easily have been removed and repaired from the inside of his unit?
Well, we can add another layer of EDiocy to his credit.

Late last week, his neighbor on the third floor, in the unit adjacent to his, had all her windows replaced!
Ironically, what was the first thing the workers removed when demolishing the old windows?
The screens...which were intact and undamaged!

The Board member was obviously aware of the window replacement, since he had to vote to approve the financial allocation to pay for it.
So, why didn't he simply wait until his neighbor's windows were replaced, then use the discarded screens to replace his damaged screens?
It would've saved any and all repair costs, much less the extra charges imposed for climbing three stories, removing the screens, repairing them, then climbing three stories again to re-install them!

And then he has the gall to demand $10,000 for unneeded "security cameras"? Subscribers will read the details on the daily uncensored feed tomorrow.

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Who's Stalking Whom? Part 3

Another encounter with a Board member who believes I'm somehow stalking him...while I'm holding the door open for him!

The police, summoned to uphold law and order, again, laughed and guffawed

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$5000 for security cameras...when there's NO vandalism?

Along with the late assessment bill was a standalone memo...

At the Board of Directors' Meeting on July 5, 2012, the Board discussed the continued vandalism that is occurring at the Association.
There continues (sic) to be random acts of vandalism to the courtyard gate, landscaping, laundry room equipment and storage areas.
The Board of Director's (sic) is considering installing security cameras in each laundry room and the front and back courtyards.
The Board has conducted preliminary research and anticipates the cost of the project to range between $5,000 and $10,000 (on average $400 to $800 per unit.)
The project would be funded as a special assessment.
The Board of Directors will discuss and approve the special assessment at the next scheduled meeting, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 (at an off-site location over a mile away).

As soon as we received the notice, we went to our local Police District Station.
We enquired as to reports of vandalism at '58-'60 for the past several years.
We were told there were NO reports of ANY crimes at '58-'60! (Note: in order to file and collect on an insurance claim for vandalism, you must file a police report!)
In fact, there's only five crime reports for our whole block from 2010 to 2012!
Why haven't the "random acts of vandalism" been reported to police?
And what ARE the "random acts of vandalism"?
There's NO sign of any problems around here!
Certainly not $5,000 to $10,000 worth of damage!
Hell, not even $1.99 worth of damage!

So why are the Board and property manager asking for a $5,000-$10,000 Special Assessment at $400-$800 per unit...the equivalent of several months' assessments?
Consider that, pre-Recession, there were months when 6 out of 13 units failed to pay assessments!
And that was pre-Recession!
What do you think the percentage is now?
(Note: We have never missed an assessment payment!)

Here's a bit of speculation...
What if the whole "security system" premise is a sham, and the property manager and Board are using it to mask acquiring a desperately-needed $5,000-$10,000 operating cash infusion without explaining the true reasons?
Makes more sense than a special assessment for an un-needed security system...that will probably never be purchased, and the money will go to cover shortfalls caused by a variety of reasons our subscribers will see in the unexpurgated version of this post or, if you're not already a subscriber (as several unit owners and residents are) by sending a request to claremontwhistleblower at gmailpants.com, and change "at" to "@" and take off "pants". (We do this to avoid spammers and EDiots.)

Who's Stalking Whom? Part 2

Another encounter with a Board member who believes I'm somehow stalking him...while I'm standing in the condo's garden smoking a cigar and he's in his basement living space!

Sort of the reverse of what happened last time, eh?

The police, summoned to uphold law and order, again, laughed.

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Board Meeting Minutes with Inaccuracies, as Usual

The assessment bill arrived on Saturday, late as usual.

The amusingly-inaccurate Board Meeting minutes from the delayed meeting on July 5th were included.

One glaring inaccuracy, continuing from the previous Minutes, was...

The plumbing and masonry work if the '60 GE unit has been completed to resolve plumbing leaks and rodent infestation.

The earlier Minutes read...

Rodent infestation; '60 G renovation work to begin, need to coordinate with vendor AND to inspect for rodent infestation and eradication.

There is/was no rodent infestation in '60 GE.

The infestation was in '60 2E, two floors above us, on the same "line".

Rodents were coming in thru a hole in the building's foundation adjacent to kitchen and bathroom drainpipes and traveling thru the walls via those pipes up to 2E, and entering that unit, where the owners' large dog and the exterminators handled the rodents.

Since we're a garden (basement) unit, the access point for the rodents was on a level with our flooring, inside the walls.

Those drainpipes, and the space behind the walls (where the rodents were) are Common Elements, and not part of the unit, as anybody who lives in a condo will tell you.

At no time in the past or present were there rodents actually in GE, only in 2E.

We residents of '60 GE did not encounter any rodents in our unit!

We heard them in the walls and ceiling, but did not see any holes in our walls or any signs of rodents in our unit.

You'd hope the writer of the Minutes could write with a bit more clarity and accuracy.

We also note the statement...

Delinquencies discussed.

That's "delinquencies"...plural.

Perhaps that explains the interesting Special Assessment notice in the envelope, which we'll be going into in our next posting...

One other note: only two of the three Board members were in attendance.

Is there a split going on?

As always, subscribers have access to the daily unexpurgated postings with many more details.

If you wish to be on the list, just e-mail claremontwhistleblower at gmailpants.com, change "at" to "@" and take off "pants".

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Who's Stalking Whom?

Another encounter with a Board member who believes I'm somehow stalking him...while I'm sitting in my own condo unit!

The police, summoned to uphold law and order, again, laughed.

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Screening...the Hard Way

This morning, contractors showed up to repair the window screens on one of the units...a unit owned by a Board member.

Typically, the contractors would enter the unit or have the unit owner/occupant take the screens down.
They'd repair the damaged screens, then they (or the unit owner) would re-insert the screens into the windows.
Simple.
Easy.
Not today.
According to the contractors, they spoke to the unit owner, who stuck his head out of the window and then refused them access and, in addition, refused to remove the screens himself and give them to the contractors (or even leave them in the building hallway).
So, in order for the contractors to do their job, they had to climb a ladder three stories to remove the screens from the outside, repair them, then re-insert the screens into the window frames from the outside...three stories up!
This begs several questions...
1) Why couldn't the Board member/unit owner just leave the screens outside the unit (in the hallway) to be repaired if he couldn't give the contractors access to his unit?
2) Why couldn't the Board member/unit owner give the repairmen access to his unit?
3) How much more does this "climb-repair-climb again" procedure cost than just repairing the screens and will the Board member/unit owner cover the difference or force the rest of the unit owners to pay for it?
Enquiring minds want to know.

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4th of July

 (several weeks

It's the 4th of July, and while we've not yet declared independence from the tyranny of Claremont, work is in progress to get us out of this gulag.

There will be a Board meeting tomorrow, at a location even further away from Claremont than the previous one.

It's the hottest 4th of July on record, and officials are recommending we check on the elderly and those who live alone.
Two of the Board members fit both those criteria, but we're not checking up on them.
In addition, the third Board member still doesn't have a air conditioner...and is the only person in the entire complex not to have one!

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Board Meeting Postponed...AGAIN!

For months, the June Board meeting was scheduled for June 20th,

Last week it was rescheduled for June 27th.

Late last night, early this morning, the fliers in the building lobbies listing the rescheduling had the date crossed out and, scrawled in shaky handwriting, the phrase "to be determined".

Subscribers will continue to receive daily updates and speculation regarding this turn of events.

Status Update May 2012

Though we've done nothing wrong and all our posts are non-libelous (truth being the best defense), we've taken the blog private (subscription only) for now due to unjustified legal threats.
If you're not a subscriber already, you missed out on today's hysterically-funny update involving me, a Board member, and the police.

E-mail any requests for access by passwords, or previous posts for which you may have found dead links to

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Fallen Idols

I used to respect, even admire, a certain condo law attorney.

His column on condominium law in our local paper was (repeat was) must-read material in our humble home on Sundays.
I thought he was the condo law equivalent of Perry Mason.
But, when your hero develops feet of clay and actually tells you in a very threatening letter that, according to him, you have "no standing or legal right to communicate...on any subject or issue." (emphasis mine), you wonder what happened to the guy you admired, not to mention his apparent lack of knowledge of the First Amendment.
You shake off your disillusionment, another idol shattered, and move on.
See you soon.
There will be a lot to talk about.

4/23 Assessment received late, as usual

Assessment bill, due on 4/20, arrived on 4/23, postmarked 4/21.
2011 Financials finally arrived, with only generic category listings like "general maintenance", no listings of specifics and no check listings, like Fox Management used to do.

Rebuilding...

Due to legal threats ("...we strongly suggest that Mr. B remove his blog from the Internet.") by a noted condo law attorney whom I once deeply admired and respected, this blog is being modified, but will not be deleted.
(BTW the italic emphasis is mine.)
All previous content, despite being perfectly legal (and non-defamatory), has been archived.

Any questions should be sent via e-mail at claremontwhistlebloweratpants.gmail.com !
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E-mail any requests for previous posts to

claremontwhistlebloweratpants.gmail.com

convert "at" to "@" and take pants off to send e-mail!