This blog is officially ending. Please go to
KnottyPineCircleNeighbors.blogspot.com.
All information has been transferred to that blog.
No new postings will be listed on this blog
Concerned neighbors and friends around the Knotty Pine Circle have set up this Blog. It is our hope that the community will use this as a source of information and help in keeping our community friendly, vibrant and thriving. Please join us in this effort.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
General Standards: for a condo board member- From Ray Gabell
From Board Candidate: Roy Gabell
General Standards: for a condo board member
Honesty – don’t violate the trust of other board members and owners; don’t misrepresent facts by withholding, distorting, twisting or making up information; don’t use Association funds for personal matters. Honesty really is the best policy. If a Higher Power were to have a seat on the Board, you wouldn’t want to fudge the facts, engage in creative explanations and omissions, or use OP’s* money for personal goodies. It would be downright embarrassing, or worse. So imagine that the H.P. is always there, and the rest will come easily. *Other People’s
Good Faith – (not the H.P. kind of faith) Make sure you think first about what’s best for the Association. This will help you avoid unpleasant events, such as residents marching on the Board with torches and pitchforks.
Diligence – work to best of your ability with a reasonable degree of care. You don’t have to be Super Person. Remember what your mother used to say: Just do your best, that’s all anyone can ask of you. That was great advice, and it still is. If you don’t, that’s just when something will come back to bite you, so it’s really a matter of self-preservation to do this.
Integrity – don’t accept bribes, kickbacks or condone acceptance of them by others. OK,
here’s where the H.P. comes back. When you’re tempted, imagine the H.P.’s right next to you. Don’t ask, don’t take. If you know someone’s asking and/or taking, look for help from a trusted person to get the situation under control.
Don’t be swayed by flattery, either. Unless you’re a former entrepreneur or used to making executive decisions and getting the experience that comes with it, you’re like most residents of associations; you’ve worked hard to get enough to retire on, and you’ve taken orders from lots of bosses along the way. So the offers you may get from vendors and others looking for an advantage with the Board will be tempting. Be prepared to be wooed, but don’t fall for it. They really won’t respect you in the morning!
General Standards: for a condo board member
Honesty – don’t violate the trust of other board members and owners; don’t misrepresent facts by withholding, distorting, twisting or making up information; don’t use Association funds for personal matters. Honesty really is the best policy. If a Higher Power were to have a seat on the Board, you wouldn’t want to fudge the facts, engage in creative explanations and omissions, or use OP’s* money for personal goodies. It would be downright embarrassing, or worse. So imagine that the H.P. is always there, and the rest will come easily. *Other People’s
Good Faith – (not the H.P. kind of faith) Make sure you think first about what’s best for the Association. This will help you avoid unpleasant events, such as residents marching on the Board with torches and pitchforks.
Diligence – work to best of your ability with a reasonable degree of care. You don’t have to be Super Person. Remember what your mother used to say: Just do your best, that’s all anyone can ask of you. That was great advice, and it still is. If you don’t, that’s just when something will come back to bite you, so it’s really a matter of self-preservation to do this.
Integrity – don’t accept bribes, kickbacks or condone acceptance of them by others. OK,
here’s where the H.P. comes back. When you’re tempted, imagine the H.P.’s right next to you. Don’t ask, don’t take. If you know someone’s asking and/or taking, look for help from a trusted person to get the situation under control.
Don’t be swayed by flattery, either. Unless you’re a former entrepreneur or used to making executive decisions and getting the experience that comes with it, you’re like most residents of associations; you’ve worked hard to get enough to retire on, and you’ve taken orders from lots of bosses along the way. So the offers you may get from vendors and others looking for an advantage with the Board will be tempting. Be prepared to be wooed, but don’t fall for it. They really won’t respect you in the morning!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Another person slips on pool deck
I was leaving the gallery when I got a call from one of our condo owners about our wonderful maintenance person, Scotty. He, today, became another victim of the slippery paint put down by "he who cannot be named." He slipped and fell on the pool deck banging his head hard, hurting his elbow and wrist. He has already called his lawyer. This is going to be the third law suit against us over the same issue. Will our insurance payments sky-rocket? Is the person responsible liable?
Events and Happenings Around the Community
Dear Friends:
In the last several days several of our residents have had some troubles within the community and we may be facing some law suits.
In the last several days several of our residents have had some troubles within the community and we may be facing some law suits.
- Two of our residents have been injured after slipping on painted pool surfaces that were not painted with non-skid paint.
- One of our owners who has been here for nearly 30 years and is quite ill has been harassed by board members because her 45 year old son has been staying at her property to fix it up for her. He has not been allowed a parking permit and has been threatened with towing.
- I walked the entire grounds the other night with two gentlemen who wanted to by a property here to live in. Many of our light were out making the grounds feel very unsafe at night. The grounds, through their eyes, were threadbare and unattractive. One of the men has a home in PR2North. He says that the grass there is well kept and it is abundant with flowers. He likes our layout better, but thinks out grounds look like a slum compared to where he is now.
The following letter will be delivered to the Management office today, Tuesday, August 30.
Joyce Brown
318 B-2 Knotty Pine Circle
Greenacres Florida 33463
215-205-9441 : JClay6@aol.com
PineRidge3South.blogspot.com
Allen A. Adams, Jr.
Controller
Landarama Realty, Inc.
4000 S. 57th Avenue
Suite 101
Lake Worth Florida 33463
Dear Mr. Adams:
My name is Joyce Brown and I represent 85 owners of condominium properties in the Pine Ridge 3 South community on Melaleuca Lane, Knotty Pine Circle. Our numbers grow every day. We have been attempting to get, as is our right as owners, copies of all financial documents pertaining to our association. I was told that I was allowed only one hour per session to copy the documents in the community office. I spoke to Tallahassee and they informed me that this was unreasonable and that I should be allowed the time necessary to make the copies we requested.
In the one hour allotted last week I was able to copy ¾ of an inch of nearly nine inches of documents. None of these address the needs our forensic accountant (volunteer) has requested or wants to see. It is my hope you will be able to transfer copies of the following documents, electronically, to the flash drive I will provide to you. If you need a disc instead, I will provide that as well.
We are looking for BANK STATEMENT, CHECK REGISTERS, CASH DISPERSEMENT JOURNALS AND COPIES OF CANCELLED CHECKS with bills that document them. We are interested in any checks that have been made out to Board members, payroll or otherwise.
Do you file 941’s or 1099’s. We are interested in copies of these. If officers of the Board do work, how do they get paid?
We are interested in the accounting statements for petty cash.
We would like to see the above records for at least 2010 and 2011. The recent journals for June, July and August are most important.
All of this information should be legally available to any and all homeowners of the association, without the obfuscation, threats, denial, run-arounds and obscenities thrown at us to deter us. This would all be unnecessary if we were treated with kindness and dignity.
We fully expect that after the next election and new Board of Directors will be in place. Until that time, we have the right to these documents and will be grateful to you to deliver them to us.
Sincerely
Joyce Brown
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
8-24-11 Today Theresa French and I (Joyce) exercised our rights to copy documents in the condo office. We asked for all financial documents from the last year as well as the minutes of the last four Board meetings. Only 2 sets of minutes were forthcoming. I have scanned them and hope to be able to put them into this blog. They are the minutes from 6-15-11 and 8-3-11. We then began the copying of the financial records. There was a stack 8-9 inches high. We were told that we had only one hour. I called Tallahassee for guidance on condo law and was told that, unless presented with documentation, they could not limit us to only one hour. Theresa and I held fast, but were made to leave at the end of the hour. Of the 9" of documents we were only able to copy 1/2". I spent the evening with a bookkeeper who found them useless. I will now ask for additional documentation and request the ability to copy that next week. I was told that the copying would be at their convenience alone, not at mine.
Minutes from 8-3-11 This is the covered area that they voted to keep for smokers only
All of my best efforts have not yet taught me how to format this so that it can be easily read. I will try my best to learn to give you better results in the future.
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