Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Notes to the HOA Board

I would like to call once more for more honesty in everything related to this conversion.  We are dealing with a very important part of people's lives.  It is not right or fair to deal in half-truths, innuendo, and distortions.

Did 9 Board Members sign the survey?  At the meeting on 9/10/2013, a rather big deal was made by the board about the fact that written documentation from the lawyers stated that "9 board members" had signed the survey.  Three board members stated that they had NOT signed the survey so it appeared to all that the lawyers were either wrong or had lied.

What was not mentioned ... and I have to assume the board knew this better than anyone ... was that three board members resigned during the time surrounding the survey.  Lara Castaneda assures me that she and Carmen turned in their survey.  We aren't sure about Jerry Schmidt but presumably he did also.

So, 9 board members AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY did sign the surveys.

UPDATE: I talked to Susy who reviewed the surveys and she thinks there was an error and only 8 of the original board members signed the survey. She provided the following overview:

   Two checked Non Support
   Three checked Support
   Three checked Decline To Respond At This Time

   Also interesting to note – not one Board member wrote any objection to the survey on the grounds  
   that they had not approved it (or any other objection).

Attorney David E. Loop Letter.  Jeff McAlister read a rather ominous attorney letter about a conversion in Long Beach and subsequently passed out copies.  It concerned me since I'm still looking for information so I called the park and talked to the assistant manager who was horrified at the things the letter said about the park.  She called the conversion "awesome" and said that they have already had 15 lot sale closings this month.  I wanted to know more so she gave me the name of a realtor who is active in after-conversion park sales.

I called him and he was very informative about what makes a conversion work for everyone.  I'm going to write a complete post about what I discovered but my conclusion is that the facts in this letter may be "true" but they are carefully used to craft a distorted view of the conversion.  The realtor I talked with has offered to come up and tell us the whole story of the conversion.  He's not the park owner nor a resident so he should have a relatively unbiased perspective.

SIDE NOTE: The park in question is exactly our size ... 304 lots ... and is a gated, 24-hour security guard park (part of life in Long Beach) with similar amenities to ours.  The HOA fees are $188 per month and the lot prices are right at $150,000.

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The following is an email sent to me by Ron Doan, a Mesa Dunes resident:

Hi Joyce,

Will you please add the below to your blog.  It's fine to use my name as the author.  I'm blog challenged!!

ATTENTION HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION BOARD MEMBERS:
PLEASE STOP TRYING TO PROTECT ME FROM THE EVILS OF CONVERSION!!!

I am an adult; I love it here; I can read and comprehend English, therefore I signed a legal lease to live here.  I and ONLY I am responsible for my actions.  Any homeowner who meets those basic requirements should not need nor want you to screw things up under the pretenses of trying to protect us.

Last night at the homeowners meeting I heard EVERY board member emphatically state, "we are not against the conversion".  Well, spin it anyway you like.  However, if you hire an attorney, encourage homeowners to renounce their surveys, petition Sacramento on an assembly bill, etc., etc.---your actions ARE AGAINST THE CONVERSION.

We live here willingly and pay rent to the party that OWNS the property.  The owner has taken a risk and invested heavily in capital to create a great place for us to live.  This land is his.  Last time I checked, this is still America.  The owner should have every right to do what
he wants with what he owns.  Just as we have every right to stay or leave.

Ron Doan