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?

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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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