Northoftampa: Carrollwood: Standards officer to police neighborhood
Fred Pilot sent this along. He noted the reference to "dirty work." How did that song go? "I don't wanna do your dirty no more."
CARROLLWOOD - Homeowners in the Country Place subdivision will no longer have to volunteer to cruise the streets and cite other neighbors for deed violations.
Board members recently hired a person who lives outside the neighborhood to do the dirty work.
[more]
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Florida's new condo ombudsman finds phone is already ringing
Oh, yes indeed. I think we can safely assume that he will not have to drum up business. But the reporter is wrong--Rizzo is not "the nation's first condominium ombudsman." He is the third. Mary Lynn Ashworth was the first, for the state of Nevada, with jurisdication over all forms of common interest housing including condos, and she took the job in 1998 and held the job until Eldon Hardy took over from her and became number two, in (I think) 2001. I receive a wonderful Christmas card from Mary Lynn this year. Thanks again, Mary Lynn.
He doesn't have an office yet or even a business phone number, but already angry condo owners are tracking down Virgil R. Rizzo at his Fort Lauderdale apartment and bending his ear.
"It's been unending. I've been getting calls at home all day long starting at 8 a.m.," said Rizzo, the nation's first condominium ombudsman. "People have legitimate complaints but they, unbelievably, expect me to resolve them immediately."
[more]
Oh, yes indeed. I think we can safely assume that he will not have to drum up business. But the reporter is wrong--Rizzo is not "the nation's first condominium ombudsman." He is the third. Mary Lynn Ashworth was the first, for the state of Nevada, with jurisdication over all forms of common interest housing including condos, and she took the job in 1998 and held the job until Eldon Hardy took over from her and became number two, in (I think) 2001. I receive a wonderful Christmas card from Mary Lynn this year. Thanks again, Mary Lynn.
He doesn't have an office yet or even a business phone number, but already angry condo owners are tracking down Virgil R. Rizzo at his Fort Lauderdale apartment and bending his ear.
"It's been unending. I've been getting calls at home all day long starting at 8 a.m.," said Rizzo, the nation's first condominium ombudsman. "People have legitimate complaints but they, unbelievably, expect me to resolve them immediately."
[more]
NEWS.com.au | Take that, property owner!
A MELBOURNE man is seeking an apology from energy company TXU after it sent him a letter addressed to "Paranoid Fool". Hawthorn photographer Albert Comper was shocked and appalled yesterday when he received the letter, which began "Dear Paranoid". Mr Comper, 28, had telephoned TXU and other energy companies last month seeking the best deal for his newly acquired rental property.
[more, but still a mystery]
(December 11, 2004)
A MELBOURNE man is seeking an apology from energy company TXU after it sent him a letter addressed to "Paranoid Fool". Hawthorn photographer Albert Comper was shocked and appalled yesterday when he received the letter, which began "Dear Paranoid". Mr Comper, 28, had telephoned TXU and other energy companies last month seeking the best deal for his newly acquired rental property.
[more, but still a mystery]
Talking House / New radio service adds to real estate saturation in our lives
How's this for a real estate sales technique? There is now...
...a technology called Talking House, by giving a house its own radio channel transmitted from a box in the garage to anyone within 300 feet of the home, allows you to tune into a detailed description of a house without even getting out of your car. I noticed my first Talking House last month at 473 Andover St., in Bernal Heights, when I spotted a rather goofy-looking sign reading "Talking House: Tune into 1670 AM." Outside, the dwelling looked like a plain-Jane Marina-style, two-bedroom home over a one-car garage. But the Talking House set me straight: Encompassing 2,300 square feet on a double lot, the house boasts two more bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs behind the garage and a giant rumpus room that opens out onto a deck and the L-shaped yard. "If you like country living, then this home's for you," said the recording by listing agent Monique Wong-Lee. "It's a dog lover's dream."
[more]
How's this for a real estate sales technique? There is now...
...a technology called Talking House, by giving a house its own radio channel transmitted from a box in the garage to anyone within 300 feet of the home, allows you to tune into a detailed description of a house without even getting out of your car. I noticed my first Talking House last month at 473 Andover St., in Bernal Heights, when I spotted a rather goofy-looking sign reading "Talking House: Tune into 1670 AM." Outside, the dwelling looked like a plain-Jane Marina-style, two-bedroom home over a one-car garage. But the Talking House set me straight: Encompassing 2,300 square feet on a double lot, the house boasts two more bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs behind the garage and a giant rumpus room that opens out onto a deck and the L-shaped yard. "If you like country living, then this home's for you," said the recording by listing agent Monique Wong-Lee. "It's a dog lover's dream."
[more]
Did Kerik withdraw because of condo dispute?
NEWSWEEK/MSNBC:
President Bush chose Bernard Kerik, former NYC Police Commissioner, to succeed Tom Ridge as Secretary of Homeland Security. Kerik just withdrew his nomination, saying he had a nanny problem. But there may be more to it than the "hired an illegal alien and didn't pay the taxes" thing. Maybe the real problem is that he didn't pay his condo assessments:
just five years ago he was in financial trouble over a condominium he owned in New Jersey. More serious trouble than anyone realized: NEWSWEEK has discovered that a New Jersey judge in 1998 had issued an arrest warrant as part of a convoluted series of lawsuits relating to unpaid bills on his condo...The lawsuit relating to Kerik’s apartment stems from his failure to pay maintenance fees. A court found that Kerik owed about $5,000 on the unit. When Kerik failed to comply with a subpoena related to the unpaid bill, a judge on Aug. 24, 1998 issued a warrant for Kerik’s arrest. It is unclear whether the warrant was ever served or withdrawn. Court computer records indicate that the lawsuit remains open, but there was some confusion on Friday over the location of the full record.
NEWSWEEK/MSNBC:
President Bush chose Bernard Kerik, former NYC Police Commissioner, to succeed Tom Ridge as Secretary of Homeland Security. Kerik just withdrew his nomination, saying he had a nanny problem. But there may be more to it than the "hired an illegal alien and didn't pay the taxes" thing. Maybe the real problem is that he didn't pay his condo assessments:
just five years ago he was in financial trouble over a condominium he owned in New Jersey. More serious trouble than anyone realized: NEWSWEEK has discovered that a New Jersey judge in 1998 had issued an arrest warrant as part of a convoluted series of lawsuits relating to unpaid bills on his condo...The lawsuit relating to Kerik’s apartment stems from his failure to pay maintenance fees. A court found that Kerik owed about $5,000 on the unit. When Kerik failed to comply with a subpoena related to the unpaid bill, a judge on Aug. 24, 1998 issued a warrant for Kerik’s arrest. It is unclear whether the warrant was ever served or withdrawn. Court computer records indicate that the lawsuit remains open, but there was some confusion on Friday over the location of the full record.
The Polarization Express (washingtonpost.com)
I have argued that the spread of HOAs could contribute to political polarization because of niche marketing and the different relationship to public government. Here is a conference devoted to answering whether America is, in fact, becoming more politically polarized. The consensus, it seems, is "yes."
PRINCETON, N.J. -- The title of the conference held here last weekend, appropriately enough, included a question mark: "The Polarization of American Politics: Myth or Reality?" The 45 academics, politicians and journalists who gathered at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Democratic Politics never reached a vote, but all the evidence pointed toward the second alternative... James Gimpel of the University of Maryland and Bill Bishop of the Austin American-Statesman showed that "red" and "blue" voters are increasingly living in separate enclaves, with distinctive lifestyles, attitudes and partisan leanings shared among neighbors. To that extent, most of the conferees agreed, polarization is not just a phenomenon affecting politicians but something rooted in deeper social changes. Especially as sophisticated line-drawing for new congressional districts combines with the emerging pattern of like-minded voters living in geographical clusters, the latent divisions in American culture are made explicit on Election Day.
I have argued that the spread of HOAs could contribute to political polarization because of niche marketing and the different relationship to public government. Here is a conference devoted to answering whether America is, in fact, becoming more politically polarized. The consensus, it seems, is "yes."
PRINCETON, N.J. -- The title of the conference held here last weekend, appropriately enough, included a question mark: "The Polarization of American Politics: Myth or Reality?" The 45 academics, politicians and journalists who gathered at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Democratic Politics never reached a vote, but all the evidence pointed toward the second alternative... James Gimpel of the University of Maryland and Bill Bishop of the Austin American-Statesman showed that "red" and "blue" voters are increasingly living in separate enclaves, with distinctive lifestyles, attitudes and partisan leanings shared among neighbors. To that extent, most of the conferees agreed, polarization is not just a phenomenon affecting politicians but something rooted in deeper social changes. Especially as sophisticated line-drawing for new congressional districts combines with the emerging pattern of like-minded voters living in geographical clusters, the latent divisions in American culture are made explicit on Election Day.
Friday, December 10, 2004
The Australian: Scrapbook: Battle for free-market agenda is only half won [December 10, 2004]
From the Dean of the Free Market, 92-year-old Milton Friedman himself:
After World War II, opinion was socialist while practice was free market; currently, opinion is free market while practice is heavily socialist. We have largely won the battle of ideas; we have succeeded in stalling the progress of socialism, but we have not succeeded in reversing its course. We are still far from bringing practice into conformity with opinion. That is the overriding non-defence task for the second Bush term. It will not be an easy task, particularly with Iraq threatening to consume Bush's political capital.
------------------
True--it would not be easy, but then President Bush has shown no real indication of wanting to "reverse the course" of this trend to make the federal government ever-larger.
From the Dean of the Free Market, 92-year-old Milton Friedman himself:
After World War II, opinion was socialist while practice was free market; currently, opinion is free market while practice is heavily socialist. We have largely won the battle of ideas; we have succeeded in stalling the progress of socialism, but we have not succeeded in reversing its course. We are still far from bringing practice into conformity with opinion. That is the overriding non-defence task for the second Bush term. It will not be an easy task, particularly with Iraq threatening to consume Bush's political capital.
------------------
True--it would not be easy, but then President Bush has shown no real indication of wanting to "reverse the course" of this trend to make the federal government ever-larger.
USATODAY.com - Neighborhood rules on the line
Interesting story forwarded by Fred Pilot that draws the obvious but often ignored parallel between municipal codes and HOA rules.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Poppy Madden has emerged as an unlikely hero in a campaign known as the "Laundry Wars." She has triumphed — twice — at City Hall for the right to hang her wash in the hot Florida sun.
"I'm still hanging my purple panties," Madden says. Her clothesline is protected from neighbors' complaints by a state law that encourages solar power — in this case, using the sun rather than a clothes dryer.
"Seeing clean laundry hanging in a yard is a lot less of a problem than having someone's loose dog leave a deposit on your lawn, she says."
The clothesline battle in this waterfront city is the latest chapter in a familiar story about the balance between personal freedom and community standards. Such disputes can stem from city codes, which was the case with Madden's clothesline, or from restrictions set by homeowners associations.
[more]
Interesting story forwarded by Fred Pilot that draws the obvious but often ignored parallel between municipal codes and HOA rules.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Poppy Madden has emerged as an unlikely hero in a campaign known as the "Laundry Wars." She has triumphed — twice — at City Hall for the right to hang her wash in the hot Florida sun.
"I'm still hanging my purple panties," Madden says. Her clothesline is protected from neighbors' complaints by a state law that encourages solar power — in this case, using the sun rather than a clothes dryer.
"Seeing clean laundry hanging in a yard is a lot less of a problem than having someone's loose dog leave a deposit on your lawn, she says."
The clothesline battle in this waterfront city is the latest chapter in a familiar story about the balance between personal freedom and community standards. Such disputes can stem from city codes, which was the case with Madden's clothesline, or from restrictions set by homeowners associations.
[more]
Eminent Domain Watch
Thanks to John Ryskamp for sending me this link to a blog on eminent domain, with loads of links on the Kelo case. And the author has the good taste to use the same format I do.
Thanks to John Ryskamp for sending me this link to a blog on eminent domain, with loads of links on the Kelo case. And the author has the good taste to use the same format I do.
Welcome to gated-cities.com
Here is the excellent site put together by Chris Webster of Cardiff University, Wales, and Georg Glasze of the University of Mainz, Germany.
Here is the excellent site put together by Chris Webster of Cardiff University, Wales, and Georg Glasze of the University of Mainz, Germany.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Boston.com / News / Nation / Hawks evicted from Fifth Ave.
Most of the stories about common interest communities deal with condominium or homeowner associations. Ocasionally I run across one that deals with the housing cooperatives. Most of those stories deal with co-op boards rejecting famous would-be buyers. Here's a new issue:
NEW YORK -- They can't go home again, but two well-known red-tail hawks evicted from their nest atop a posh Fifth Avenue building were trying to do just that yesterday...The urban drama began to unfold Tuesday, in the rain, when workmen raised a scaffold to the top of the building and tore out the nest that lay over an arched cornice. The nest was anchored by spikes originally intended to keep pigeons from depositing their droppings. The workers removed the spikes too. or the past nine years, thousands of bird lovers have come to see to the nest on the 12th-floor ledge that's been home to Pale Male, so named for his plumage. There, he fathered 25 chicks with a succession of mates -- the last three fledglings in June.
The hawks gained fame through television specials and a book, ''Red-Tails in Love."..Brown Harris Stevens Property Management Services issued a statement yesterday saying that they do not own the property and had acted ''on behalf of the cooperative building owners in a management capacity. . . . The building researched and carried out the removal of the nest during an inactive period as a safety precaution." ''What strikes me is the selfishness of a small group of residents who are scarcely affected, but have robbed thousands of people, including children, of the pleasure of these magnificent birds, right by Central Park," Matthiessen said. ''These animals are a wonderful show of how nature can exist in the city. This was a violent, disruptive act."
[more]
----------------
But I'll bet the local pigeons were cheering. They were probably tired of being lunch.
Most of the stories about common interest communities deal with condominium or homeowner associations. Ocasionally I run across one that deals with the housing cooperatives. Most of those stories deal with co-op boards rejecting famous would-be buyers. Here's a new issue:
NEW YORK -- They can't go home again, but two well-known red-tail hawks evicted from their nest atop a posh Fifth Avenue building were trying to do just that yesterday...The urban drama began to unfold Tuesday, in the rain, when workmen raised a scaffold to the top of the building and tore out the nest that lay over an arched cornice. The nest was anchored by spikes originally intended to keep pigeons from depositing their droppings. The workers removed the spikes too. or the past nine years, thousands of bird lovers have come to see to the nest on the 12th-floor ledge that's been home to Pale Male, so named for his plumage. There, he fathered 25 chicks with a succession of mates -- the last three fledglings in June.
The hawks gained fame through television specials and a book, ''Red-Tails in Love."..Brown Harris Stevens Property Management Services issued a statement yesterday saying that they do not own the property and had acted ''on behalf of the cooperative building owners in a management capacity. . . . The building researched and carried out the removal of the nest during an inactive period as a safety precaution." ''What strikes me is the selfishness of a small group of residents who are scarcely affected, but have robbed thousands of people, including children, of the pleasure of these magnificent birds, right by Central Park," Matthiessen said. ''These animals are a wonderful show of how nature can exist in the city. This was a violent, disruptive act."
[more]
----------------
But I'll bet the local pigeons were cheering. They were probably tired of being lunch.
California, U.S. in a Housing 'Bubble,' UCLA Forecast Says
Economists at UCLA have invoked the B-word again. In an outlook to be formally released today, forecasters say California and the nation are beset by a housing "bubble" that will depress construction next year, slowing the nation's economic recovery.Yet the fallout from the bubble in California won't be devastating, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. Indeed, the Golden State's economy will expand at a faster clip than the nation's in 2005, thanks in part to a recovering Bay Area, the widely watched forecast says. ..
Outside of California, overbuilding is viewed as the main problem by UCLA. One telling statistic: The nation has added one new residential unit for every adult added to the population over the last two years. The historical average is one unit for every 1.7 new adults.The bottom line: Today's pace of construction can't be sustained, Leamer said. Housing starts nationwide are expected to slow to 1.8 million units next year from 1.94 million this year.
[more]
--------------------
I wouldn't mind a slowdown in new housing construction. I think there is a lot of over-building going on, concentrated in "hot" areas that in a few years will be practically unliveable. The traffic congestion on feeder roads will cost you two hours just to get from home to the expressway. The schools will be over-capacity with kids in trailers, and the voter/taxpayers will refuse to pay more. And sooner or later--especially in California--people will say "no thanks" to mediocre tract homes with HOAs, located in the middle of nowhere, that cost $500,000. That's the cure for "sprawl." Not a dictatorial regional planning board, a la Portland. Failure of demand. Works every time.
Economists at UCLA have invoked the B-word again. In an outlook to be formally released today, forecasters say California and the nation are beset by a housing "bubble" that will depress construction next year, slowing the nation's economic recovery.Yet the fallout from the bubble in California won't be devastating, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. Indeed, the Golden State's economy will expand at a faster clip than the nation's in 2005, thanks in part to a recovering Bay Area, the widely watched forecast says. ..
Outside of California, overbuilding is viewed as the main problem by UCLA. One telling statistic: The nation has added one new residential unit for every adult added to the population over the last two years. The historical average is one unit for every 1.7 new adults.The bottom line: Today's pace of construction can't be sustained, Leamer said. Housing starts nationwide are expected to slow to 1.8 million units next year from 1.94 million this year.
[more]
--------------------
I wouldn't mind a slowdown in new housing construction. I think there is a lot of over-building going on, concentrated in "hot" areas that in a few years will be practically unliveable. The traffic congestion on feeder roads will cost you two hours just to get from home to the expressway. The schools will be over-capacity with kids in trailers, and the voter/taxpayers will refuse to pay more. And sooner or later--especially in California--people will say "no thanks" to mediocre tract homes with HOAs, located in the middle of nowhere, that cost $500,000. That's the cure for "sprawl." Not a dictatorial regional planning board, a la Portland. Failure of demand. Works every time.
Judge orders vet to remove Marine flag - 12/7/04
Follow-up to post of a few days ago. As usual the trial court rules against the homeowner. A deal is a deal, a rule is a rule. Next stop: the state legislature? That's what happened with armed forces flags in Illinois--allowed, per the State Legislature.
Follow-up to post of a few days ago. As usual the trial court rules against the homeowner. A deal is a deal, a rule is a rule. Next stop: the state legislature? That's what happened with armed forces flags in Illinois--allowed, per the State Legislature.
CEO Insights - November/December 2004: CAI to comment on proposed assessment escrow rule
If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you can see that CAI is requesting comments on this rule. Perhaps some readers of this weblog have comments:
If you would like to provide input on this proposal, please contact Molly Foley-Healy, CAI’s vice president of government and public affairs, at mfoley-healy@caionline.org or (703) 797-6266.
If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you can see that CAI is requesting comments on this rule. Perhaps some readers of this weblog have comments:
If you would like to provide input on this proposal, please contact Molly Foley-Healy, CAI’s vice president of government and public affairs, at mfoley-healy@caionline.org or (703) 797-6266.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
HUD proposes rule requiring lenders to escrow HOA and condo assessments
Here's the text of the proposed rule in .pdf format. Read it for yourself. This is potentially a major bombshell. Imagine there's no assessment collection lawyers...it's easy if you try...no assessment striking owners...no more listening to them cry...
Sorry...I was channelling John Lennon there for a minute. I'm fine now.
What does this mean? How about...that the federal government considers the assessment stream important enough to the public weal to require escrowing like property taxes? How does that square with the "HOAs are private" litany?
Here's the text of the proposed rule in .pdf format. Read it for yourself. This is potentially a major bombshell. Imagine there's no assessment collection lawyers...it's easy if you try...no assessment striking owners...no more listening to them cry...
Sorry...I was channelling John Lennon there for a minute. I'm fine now.
What does this mean? How about...that the federal government considers the assessment stream important enough to the public weal to require escrowing like property taxes? How does that square with the "HOAs are private" litany?
Boing Boing: Update on Louis Rossetto's mother's house
This was passed on to me by a reader. It is a detailed account from the weblog BoingBoing of a Landmark Preservation Committee in the People's Republic of Berkeley. Very interesting reading. This is so similar to the reactions people report about their HOA Architectural Review Committee that I think it merits consideration--even if you do away with HOAs, you are not free. There are layers of oversight lurking to waylay you. I'd thank the person by name but all I have is an e-mail address and I hate to give those out without permission--so, thanks!
Update on Louis Rossetto's mother's house--
A couple of days ago, I wrote about the problems Louis Rossetto's mother was having trying to get permission from the city to add a small addition to her house in Berkeley (Link). On Monday, Berkeley's Landmarks Preservation Commission held a meeting to decide whether to grant landmark status to the house. In short, his mother got permission to build the addition. Congratulations!
Here's Louis' report from the meeting:
A report from the front: the battle was lost - but the war won!
[the details of the meeting follow]
------------------
The author of the meeting narrative says he was...
...saddened to have witnessed first hand a truly arbitrary, philistine process that must be repeated ad nauseum across America, and that causes neighborhood wars, promotes mediocrity (if not worse), and can leave people emotionally and financially ruined without even protecting the alleged purposes of the landmark ordinances. As my mother wrote in her ad, this wasn't about preservation, this was about the local Soviet trying to assert its control over the block.
[more]
------------------
This was passed on to me by a reader. It is a detailed account from the weblog BoingBoing of a Landmark Preservation Committee in the People's Republic of Berkeley. Very interesting reading. This is so similar to the reactions people report about their HOA Architectural Review Committee that I think it merits consideration--even if you do away with HOAs, you are not free. There are layers of oversight lurking to waylay you. I'd thank the person by name but all I have is an e-mail address and I hate to give those out without permission--so, thanks!
Update on Louis Rossetto's mother's house--
A couple of days ago, I wrote about the problems Louis Rossetto's mother was having trying to get permission from the city to add a small addition to her house in Berkeley (Link). On Monday, Berkeley's Landmarks Preservation Commission held a meeting to decide whether to grant landmark status to the house. In short, his mother got permission to build the addition. Congratulations!
Here's Louis' report from the meeting:
A report from the front: the battle was lost - but the war won!
[the details of the meeting follow]
------------------
The author of the meeting narrative says he was...
...saddened to have witnessed first hand a truly arbitrary, philistine process that must be repeated ad nauseum across America, and that causes neighborhood wars, promotes mediocrity (if not worse), and can leave people emotionally and financially ruined without even protecting the alleged purposes of the landmark ordinances. As my mother wrote in her ad, this wasn't about preservation, this was about the local Soviet trying to assert its control over the block.
[more]
------------------
Yahoo! News - Parents Go on Strike, Move to Front Yard
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my 7 year old twins picket me with a special "Dad Unfair, Big Bad Bear!" sign. Now, at last, parents are striking back. Where do I go to join the picket line?
DELTONA, Fla. - Even though the dishes, garbage and dirty laundry were piling up, homeowners Cat and Harlan Barnard were getting no help from their two children. After begging and pleading with their 17-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter to help out around the house, the Barnards decided they were fed up. So they went on strike — and moved out to the front yard.
[more]
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my 7 year old twins picket me with a special "Dad Unfair, Big Bad Bear!" sign. Now, at last, parents are striking back. Where do I go to join the picket line?
DELTONA, Fla. - Even though the dishes, garbage and dirty laundry were piling up, homeowners Cat and Harlan Barnard were getting no help from their two children. After begging and pleading with their 17-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter to help out around the house, the Barnards decided they were fed up. So they went on strike — and moved out to the front yard.
[more]
Berkshire Eagle Online - Editorials--Coup and counter-coup in Becket, Mass.
Fred Pilot once again reaches down into the boiling soup of HOA living and retrieves this amazing nugget:
There's always been something of the Wild West about Becket, and this latest donnybrook involving the Sherwood Forest Neighborhood Association is true to form. The SFNA was a sleepy little voluntary homeowners' association in the 600-acre subdivision created in one of the worst land-use decisions in the history of Berkshire County. But that was before a Dover attorney, Carl N. Edwards, got himself elected vice president last year in a stacked meeting and began working to create a sort of shadow town government. He changed the bylaws to preclude any challenges to his power, and began issuing tax bills to finance the expanded activities of the Neighborhood Association, which included the removal of unregistered pleasure boats. It's supposed to take an act of the Legislature to establish a government with the power to tax, but Mr. Edwards told anyone who questioned him that it was all legal under common law. Last Sunday afternoon, the neighbors mobilized to take back the Neighborhood Association. They decided to hire an attorney to represent them against the titular leadership of their organization, and to re-enfranchise themselves to participate in its deliberations. It's quite a to-do, even by Becket standards. Stay tuned.
------------------
I will. Stay tuned, that is.
------------------
Update: On December 15, 2007, I received a letter from the aforementioned attorney Carl N. Edwards of Dover, MA, along with a press release from the United Auto Workers announcing the end of the litigation and a CD full of supporting documentation. Mr. Edwards says that Harry Sykes "was a licensed contractor who had bought multiple lots in Sherwood Forest and had been issued a premit to build over a retention basin on a tiny portion of wetlands in violation of at least a dozen state and local laws, and contrary to the requirements of the Federal Rivers Act. Since the land was in running water, the local political road district attempted to help Sykes and the official who issued him the permit by digging a drainage trench. The trench, however, ran up hill; flooding the neighborhood and washing out a road. Bob Madore lived in the flooded neighborhood and joined abuttern in what became the high profile case known as Madore v. Sykes. Madore had led the unionization of the Berkshire Eagle in 1997, and would subsequently play key roles in union victories at other newspapers owned by the Eagle's parent corporation." Edwards' press release goes on to say that Syke's complaint about Madore was dismissed as lacking in credibility. He says that despite the Berkshire Eagle's support for Sykes in its coverage, Sykes did not prevail in court (I presume in the litigation over the flooding), and the building permit expired. Madore has been elected head of the Northeast District of the UAW, and for additional information (so says the press release), you can contact:
Joelyn Leon, United Auto Workers Region 9A, at jleon@uaw.net.
For my part, I have no opinion regarding what happened or who is right, other than there are two conflicting accounts and I am making them available.
Fred Pilot once again reaches down into the boiling soup of HOA living and retrieves this amazing nugget:
There's always been something of the Wild West about Becket, and this latest donnybrook involving the Sherwood Forest Neighborhood Association is true to form. The SFNA was a sleepy little voluntary homeowners' association in the 600-acre subdivision created in one of the worst land-use decisions in the history of Berkshire County. But that was before a Dover attorney, Carl N. Edwards, got himself elected vice president last year in a stacked meeting and began working to create a sort of shadow town government. He changed the bylaws to preclude any challenges to his power, and began issuing tax bills to finance the expanded activities of the Neighborhood Association, which included the removal of unregistered pleasure boats. It's supposed to take an act of the Legislature to establish a government with the power to tax, but Mr. Edwards told anyone who questioned him that it was all legal under common law. Last Sunday afternoon, the neighbors mobilized to take back the Neighborhood Association. They decided to hire an attorney to represent them against the titular leadership of their organization, and to re-enfranchise themselves to participate in its deliberations. It's quite a to-do, even by Becket standards. Stay tuned.
------------------
I will. Stay tuned, that is.
------------------
Update: On December 15, 2007, I received a letter from the aforementioned attorney Carl N. Edwards of Dover, MA, along with a press release from the United Auto Workers announcing the end of the litigation and a CD full of supporting documentation. Mr. Edwards says that Harry Sykes "was a licensed contractor who had bought multiple lots in Sherwood Forest and had been issued a premit to build over a retention basin on a tiny portion of wetlands in violation of at least a dozen state and local laws, and contrary to the requirements of the Federal Rivers Act. Since the land was in running water, the local political road district attempted to help Sykes and the official who issued him the permit by digging a drainage trench. The trench, however, ran up hill; flooding the neighborhood and washing out a road. Bob Madore lived in the flooded neighborhood and joined abuttern in what became the high profile case known as Madore v. Sykes. Madore had led the unionization of the Berkshire Eagle in 1997, and would subsequently play key roles in union victories at other newspapers owned by the Eagle's parent corporation." Edwards' press release goes on to say that Syke's complaint about Madore was dismissed as lacking in credibility. He says that despite the Berkshire Eagle's support for Sykes in its coverage, Sykes did not prevail in court (I presume in the litigation over the flooding), and the building permit expired. Madore has been elected head of the Northeast District of the UAW, and for additional information (so says the press release), you can contact:
Joelyn Leon, United Auto Workers Region 9A, at jleon@uaw.net.
For my part, I have no opinion regarding what happened or who is right, other than there are two conflicting accounts and I am making them available.
Small condo groups deal with their owners' quirks
Thanks to Fred Pilot for spotting this. Small condo developments are popping up all over the place. Chicago has zillions of them, and here is San Francisco with the same thing. People convert small apartment buildings to small condo buildings. Then instead of a landlord taking care of the place, you have a condo association. Fine in theory, but in practice a gene pool of four to ten owners isn't likely to yield enough people willing and able to run the building. So now what? Municipalities can either let many of these buildings go to pot (for you San Franciscans, I don't mean the herbal recreational kind) or do something to keep them afloat. But how about not allowing them to be set up in the first place?
here's a saying that the only thing harder to manage than a three- unit condominium is a two-unit one. While owners in large developments can rely on a professional management company, small building unit owners don't have this buffer. They are usually their own trustees and must persuade their fellow trustee-owners to agree to a new roof or paint job. Bad feelings can follow a negative vote, and just one obstructionist or irresponsible owner can turn the most elegant converted Victorian home into a battleground.
[more]
Thanks to Fred Pilot for spotting this. Small condo developments are popping up all over the place. Chicago has zillions of them, and here is San Francisco with the same thing. People convert small apartment buildings to small condo buildings. Then instead of a landlord taking care of the place, you have a condo association. Fine in theory, but in practice a gene pool of four to ten owners isn't likely to yield enough people willing and able to run the building. So now what? Municipalities can either let many of these buildings go to pot (for you San Franciscans, I don't mean the herbal recreational kind) or do something to keep them afloat. But how about not allowing them to be set up in the first place?
here's a saying that the only thing harder to manage than a three- unit condominium is a two-unit one. While owners in large developments can rely on a professional management company, small building unit owners don't have this buffer. They are usually their own trustees and must persuade their fellow trustee-owners to agree to a new roof or paint job. Bad feelings can follow a negative vote, and just one obstructionist or irresponsible owner can turn the most elegant converted Victorian home into a battleground.
[more]
CITIZEN-TIMES.com: Homeowners' associations able to bring out the best, the worst and the absurd in neighbors
At least, they seem to bring out the worst in the author of the article. "Poop free or die"? But he goes on to take a look at the bigger picture.
...when the notification came out that our homeowners' association (HOA) was seeking people to run for its board, I very seriously considered doing my part and taking a turn on the board. I even thought out my campaign strategy, as this is something you have to be elected to. I planned to rally the people in the neighborhood who walk their dogs in the greenspace without bothering with the plastic poop baggies. My campaign slogan, "Poop free or die," I would plaster all over the neighborhood on little plastic signs. I'd promise that, if elected, I would move to dump the clean-up-after-your-dog rule so that they would no longer feel guilty about not picking up after their dogs.
At least, they seem to bring out the worst in the author of the article. "Poop free or die"? But he goes on to take a look at the bigger picture.
...when the notification came out that our homeowners' association (HOA) was seeking people to run for its board, I very seriously considered doing my part and taking a turn on the board. I even thought out my campaign strategy, as this is something you have to be elected to. I planned to rally the people in the neighborhood who walk their dogs in the greenspace without bothering with the plastic poop baggies. My campaign slogan, "Poop free or die," I would plaster all over the neighborhood on little plastic signs. I'd promise that, if elected, I would move to dump the clean-up-after-your-dog rule so that they would no longer feel guilty about not picking up after their dogs.
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