Board Recall Meeting Canceled due to Fires

Director Cathy McVey was just spotted putting up signs around the mailboxes saying that today’s Board Recall meeting has been canceled due to the Jewish Community Center closing because of the widespread fires in San Diego County.

Be safe.

Board Recall Meeting this Monday, October 22

The special meeting to vote on (1) the recall of the entire Board, and (2) the introduction of term limits for Board directors is being held this Monday. The meeting will take place at the Jewish Community Center located on 4126 Executive Drive (see map). Owner registration starts at 5:30pm, with the actual meeting beginning at 6pm.

There will be a post reporting what happened at the meeting late tomorrow night.

Board Recall Issues Revisited

There have been (at least) two more mailers that went out to owners in the last week that talk about the Board recall meeting scheduled for next Monday. Interestingly, both fliers support the recall and both include proxy forms. That’s where the similarities end. The flier from the recall organizers focuses on the fiscal situation of the Association and the role of inflation versus dues and assets. It also presents five new Board candidates — i.e. the three new people who ran in June, as well as Danette Hoffert and recall organizer Daniele Pelessone, both long-timer owners in Playmor Terrace.

The second mailer was sent out by Harvey Amster and addresses the concerns of the absentee owners (i.e. the owners who rent out their units). Its main message is that the value of their investments is at stake, so at least some Board turnover would be helpful to bring in new ideas. What makes this mailer stand apart is that Mr. Amster was the driving force behind the last Board recall effort in Playmor Terrace. Following this recall, he also served on the Board for several years.

Finally, we want to point interested readers at several posts in the California Condo Guru’s blog as they relate to “out of control” interactions between owners and Board members: i.e. “Members Out of Control“, “Board Members Out of Control??“, and “What Board Conduct is Acceptable?“.

October Board Meeting Report

Wednesday’s monthly Board meeting was a relatively pleasant affair, with only a few instances of drama throughout. The highlight in this regard was secretary Cathy McVey storming out halfway through the meeting because she felt she couldn’t be in the same room as director Marius Ardeleanu. Her open dislike for him and the issues he raises has been mentioned here before. McVey’s exit left president Marilyn Dupree, treasurer Glenn Lyons, and Ardeleanu to vote on the remaining issues. (Vice-president Sam Goldberg was absent.) Also in attendance were Stratus Management community manager Sue Besek, as well as about 15 owners. Items of note include the following:

• There was praise for the new HOA newsletter that was mailed out and its information about the CAPP program (Community Assisted Party Plan; see this CAPP city document for details). As the recent discussion here among residents made clear, it is to be hoped that the program won’t be abused.

• The financial situation of the Association appears to have improved somewhat over the last month as the treasurer asked the community manager to move some funds from the operating account to the reserves. Still, there are some bills that apparently haven’t been transfered from the previous management company so it’s unclear what the current assets exactly are. The legal expenses for September exceeded $6,000 (or $35 per unit), so this is an area that will hopefully see improvement.

• In the management report, Sue Besek stated that they are coming up to speed with the maintenance needs of our units. Contractors will be out to give estimates for repairs to e.g. roofs, balconies and lights. The gutters will be cleaned in the near future and some sprinkler controllers will be replaced to prevent excessive watering. Please continue to report any problems to the management company via phone or email.

• With respect to the recall meeting on October 22, the room for the meeting will be posted at the entrance of the Jewish Community Center. (From a separate source, we have also heard that reasonable proxy forms will be accepted by the Inspectors of Election.)

There have also been some site updates: this month’s newsletter is now available from the Newsletters page; the meeting minutes for the August meeting are available from the Minutes page, as are the minutes of numerous Board meetings from 1996, 1997 and 2000. Some of the names in these minutes will be familiar to newer owners as well: e.g. Marilyn Dupree and Sam Goldberg.

Today’s Board Meeting Starts at 6:30pm

The start time for today’s monthly Board meeting has moved to 6:30pm, i.e. half an hour later than usual.

Board Meeting on Wednesday 10/10

The regular monthly Board meeting will take place this Wednesday at the regular location (Doyle Recreation Center on Regents Road) and time (6pm). One can only hope that the discussion will be less heated than last month.

As most owners may have noticed in their mail, the current Board of Directors (minus Marius Ardeleanu) and their supporters have been on the offensive in the last two weeks. There have been several mailers that have attacked the “distressed” group of owners who have organized the recall. As the attacks are personal in nature, they don’t deserve discussion here.