Star-Telegram.com | 06/15/2007 | Three barred from trailer homes
There's a headline you don't see every day. It takes some serious dysfunction to get tossed out of a trailer park.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Kibort met with complaints at first meeting - Glendale Heights, IL - Glendale Heights Press
The reception for Glendale Heights’ newest Village Board member during his first board meeting was hardly a warm one. While some fireworks were expected on the board in light of longtime village critic Scott Kibort’s election last month to the District 3 trustee seat, the bulk of the action last Thursday came not from him or his fellow trustees, but from residents. Shortly after officially assuming his seat, Kibort was met with complaints from residents who accused him of spreading lies in an attempt to drum up support to disband a local homeowner’s association.
The reception for Glendale Heights’ newest Village Board member during his first board meeting was hardly a warm one. While some fireworks were expected on the board in light of longtime village critic Scott Kibort’s election last month to the District 3 trustee seat, the bulk of the action last Thursday came not from him or his fellow trustees, but from residents. Shortly after officially assuming his seat, Kibort was met with complaints from residents who accused him of spreading lies in an attempt to drum up support to disband a local homeowner’s association.
Couple denied parking space receives $7,000
KIHEI – Following a finding of discrimination by a condominium manager, a couple involved in a dispute over their need for a wheelchair-accessible parking space have received $7,000 in compensatory damages in a settlement with the Menehune Shores Condominium.
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One of the great joys of condo living is having your BOD expose you to unnecessary liability.
KIHEI – Following a finding of discrimination by a condominium manager, a couple involved in a dispute over their need for a wheelchair-accessible parking space have received $7,000 in compensatory damages in a settlement with the Menehune Shores Condominium.
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One of the great joys of condo living is having your BOD expose you to unnecessary liability.
TCPalm: Real Estate:Views vary on legislative and homeowner and condo association bills
That headline shows a genius for understatement.
That headline shows a genius for understatement.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Zen and the art of management - Los Angeles Times
Life increasingly begins to resemble a Dave Barry column:
The Los Angeles Housing Department has paid thousands of dollars to a Zen Buddhist priest from Hawaii for management training that includes teaching breathing with sphincter control, learning "how to stand" and playing with wooden sticks. Norma Wong, a former Hawaii state legislator and leadership consultant, has been paid $18,819 since 2005 to conduct at least four training sessions for executives and other staff. The most recent one was last week. Mercedes Marquez, the general manager of the department, said the training was designed to help "center" Housing Department managers and teach them to react nimbly to problems such as the city's housing shortage
Life increasingly begins to resemble a Dave Barry column:
The Los Angeles Housing Department has paid thousands of dollars to a Zen Buddhist priest from Hawaii for management training that includes teaching breathing with sphincter control, learning "how to stand" and playing with wooden sticks. Norma Wong, a former Hawaii state legislator and leadership consultant, has been paid $18,819 since 2005 to conduct at least four training sessions for executives and other staff. The most recent one was last week. Mercedes Marquez, the general manager of the department, said the training was designed to help "center" Housing Department managers and teach them to react nimbly to problems such as the city's housing shortage
Allstate to stop insuring Calif. homes - Yahoo! News
More good news for California homeowners, to go with the falling prices, bad schools, high taxes, HOA assessments, and loss of the traditional perks of ownership.
More good news for California homeowners, to go with the falling prices, bad schools, high taxes, HOA assessments, and loss of the traditional perks of ownership.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Pasco: Homeowner groups and county clash over lawns
There's a drought on. Watering is allowed just once a week. So the homeowners are being told they'd better water their lawns - and they'd better not. "It's a Catch-22," Dick Ortiz, the county's code enforcement director, said on Friday. "Either we write them a ticket for watering or the association writes them a ticket for not watering. So what do they do?"
There's a drought on. Watering is allowed just once a week. So the homeowners are being told they'd better water their lawns - and they'd better not. "It's a Catch-22," Dick Ortiz, the county's code enforcement director, said on Friday. "Either we write them a ticket for watering or the association writes them a ticket for not watering. So what do they do?"
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Around globe, walls spring up to divide neighbors | In Depth | Reuters.com
Looks like the world is turning into a patchwork quilt of gated communities.
Looks like the world is turning into a patchwork quilt of gated communities.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Circulation at the Top 20 Newspapers: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
This is amazing. Of the 20 largest newspapers, only two show an increase in circulation--USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. The rest are in serious decline. The LA Times circulation is down 4.2% in the last six months, in one of the fastest growing regions of the nation.
PS: I'm backlogged with posting here despite having a load of great things sent to me by many people. I am struggling with end of the academic year logjam, which happens every year. I'll get caught up tomorrow or Wednesday with a little luck.
This is amazing. Of the 20 largest newspapers, only two show an increase in circulation--USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. The rest are in serious decline. The LA Times circulation is down 4.2% in the last six months, in one of the fastest growing regions of the nation.
PS: I'm backlogged with posting here despite having a load of great things sent to me by many people. I am struggling with end of the academic year logjam, which happens every year. I'll get caught up tomorrow or Wednesday with a little luck.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB1878
This bill just passed the Illinois House of Representatives today by an overwhelming vote. It is called "The Bill of Rights for the Homeless Act."
No person's rights, privileges, or access to public services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and privileges as any other citizen of this State.
Then it goes on to list all the rights and privileges. It goes on forever. It includes the right to refuse medication and, of course, the right to keep all the details of their lives confidential.
This bill just passed the Illinois House of Representatives today by an overwhelming vote. It is called "The Bill of Rights for the Homeless Act."
No person's rights, privileges, or access to public services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and privileges as any other citizen of this State.
Then it goes on to list all the rights and privileges. It goes on forever. It includes the right to refuse medication and, of course, the right to keep all the details of their lives confidential.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Man No Longer Allowed To Hunt For Food...in his back yard
This is like something Ernest Hemingway would have done.
A judge in Easton yesterday ordered a couple to stop shooting in the backyard of their Lower Saucon Township home. The preliminary injunction prevents the two die-hard hunters from firing at targets or pigeons or whatever. And why did the neighbors seek an injunction against the backyard hunters? "How would you like to have a picnic at your home and have this guy shooting 18 feet away?" But things aren't all odd quotes designed to elicit a "I wouldn't like it" response. Township police filed 19 gun charges against the hunter, Richard Seruga, but 17 of them were thrown out since he didn't violate any local gun laws. The township responded by banning shooting within 450 feet of any residence. Sergua is, naturally, claiming conspiracy and has filed a lawsuit. Ain't this country grand?
This is like something Ernest Hemingway would have done.
A judge in Easton yesterday ordered a couple to stop shooting in the backyard of their Lower Saucon Township home. The preliminary injunction prevents the two die-hard hunters from firing at targets or pigeons or whatever. And why did the neighbors seek an injunction against the backyard hunters? "How would you like to have a picnic at your home and have this guy shooting 18 feet away?" But things aren't all odd quotes designed to elicit a "I wouldn't like it" response. Township police filed 19 gun charges against the hunter, Richard Seruga, but 17 of them were thrown out since he didn't violate any local gun laws. The township responded by banning shooting within 450 feet of any residence. Sergua is, naturally, claiming conspiracy and has filed a lawsuit. Ain't this country grand?
Monday, April 16, 2007
Lindenhurst Choice 070415 PRESS RELEASE: Betustak supporters steal opposition signs
Bystander catches thievery on camera;
DeAngelis boasts of taking signs
You may recall that I posted a while back about a contentious election in Lindenhurst, IL, where the incumbents are being taken to task by a slate of challengers over the (mis)handling of a major real estate development proposal, and the incumbents proposed a mutual ban on yard signs. That would have benefited the incumbents, of course, so the challengers refused to do it. Well, check this out. The incumbents' supporters seem to be taking down the challengers' signs. The article has a neat photo showing one of the culprits walking down the street with a sign under his arm.
(Lindenhurst, IL)—After attempting, in vain, to get the Lindenhurst Choice Party to refrain from using signs in its campaign against incumbent Mayor Jim Bestustak, members of his Lindenhurst Community Party have found another way to achieve their goal. At least two of Betustak’s supporters have taken about 60 Lindenhurst Choice opposition campaign signs from county and village locations.
Bystander catches thievery on camera;
DeAngelis boasts of taking signs
You may recall that I posted a while back about a contentious election in Lindenhurst, IL, where the incumbents are being taken to task by a slate of challengers over the (mis)handling of a major real estate development proposal, and the incumbents proposed a mutual ban on yard signs. That would have benefited the incumbents, of course, so the challengers refused to do it. Well, check this out. The incumbents' supporters seem to be taking down the challengers' signs. The article has a neat photo showing one of the culprits walking down the street with a sign under his arm.
(Lindenhurst, IL)—After attempting, in vain, to get the Lindenhurst Choice Party to refrain from using signs in its campaign against incumbent Mayor Jim Bestustak, members of his Lindenhurst Community Party have found another way to achieve their goal. At least two of Betustak’s supporters have taken about 60 Lindenhurst Choice opposition campaign signs from county and village locations.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The Nonprofit Industrial Complex
Here is something to make you think. It's by Gerard Alexander and is in the Weekly Standard. He focuses on universities and foundations, but he could have added in almost 300,000 residential private governments.
Western countries have already been transformed by industrialization, the rise of the service sector, and the growth of big government. The result has been wealthy economies, middle-class societies, and vast bureaucracies. Our country might now be transformed again by the spread of what Richard Cornuelle dubbed the "independent sector." The growth of nonprofits--from the Getty Museum to Seattle's Children's Hospital, Emory University, and your aunt's country club--has created the world's largest sector that is neither business fish nor government fowl. It has the private sector's diversity and independence but the government's lack of a profit motive. It is a different way of doing business. It may be a different way of making a country. But is it a wholesome one?
Here is something to make you think. It's by Gerard Alexander and is in the Weekly Standard. He focuses on universities and foundations, but he could have added in almost 300,000 residential private governments.
Western countries have already been transformed by industrialization, the rise of the service sector, and the growth of big government. The result has been wealthy economies, middle-class societies, and vast bureaucracies. Our country might now be transformed again by the spread of what Richard Cornuelle dubbed the "independent sector." The growth of nonprofits--from the Getty Museum to Seattle's Children's Hospital, Emory University, and your aunt's country club--has created the world's largest sector that is neither business fish nor government fowl. It has the private sector's diversity and independence but the government's lack of a profit motive. It is a different way of doing business. It may be a different way of making a country. But is it a wholesome one?
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Homeowners association loses bid to keep $60,000 trucks under wraps
Fred Pilot sent this along. Man, would I love to have that truck in my driveway. How can a luxury vehicle hurt property values? And what a ridiculous rule, anyway.
PALM CITY — For two years, Mark Kirk and his 2002 Cadillac Escalade EXT lived the perfect suburban life. Kirk swung the luxury sport utility truck in and out of his driveway in his gated community with little more than compliments from neighbors and friends. But in 2005, on the heels of a leadership change in his community's homeowners association, Kirk and another Escalade owner received messages from community leaders. Because the cargo areas on their $60,000 trucks made them look like pickups, association leaders said, they would be able to keep their vehicles only if they stashed them as far out of public view as possible. Association leaders took their battle against the Escalade owners to court, asking a judge in September to grant an injunction forcing Kirk and another homeowner, Darrell Willson, either to shove their 19-foot trucks into their 20-foot garages or get rid of them. The dispute culminated in a weeklong trial before Circuit Judge Robert Makemson last year. An attorney for the Preserve at Hammock Creek homeowners association argued that the Escalade owners violated association rules against "boats, trailers ... motor homes, golf carts, motorcycles, pickup trucks or recreational or commercial vehicles" in any area visible to passersby outside the home. Stuart attorney Bill Ponsoldt, representing Kirk and Willson, brought in documents from General Motors and local dealers who classified the vehicles as either a sport utility vehicle or a sport utility truck. On Friday, Makemson issued ruling in chambers siding with Ponsoldt and the Escalade owners, saying that if the makers of the EXTs don't classify the cars as pickups, neither should the homeowners association.
Fred Pilot sent this along. Man, would I love to have that truck in my driveway. How can a luxury vehicle hurt property values? And what a ridiculous rule, anyway.
PALM CITY — For two years, Mark Kirk and his 2002 Cadillac Escalade EXT lived the perfect suburban life. Kirk swung the luxury sport utility truck in and out of his driveway in his gated community with little more than compliments from neighbors and friends. But in 2005, on the heels of a leadership change in his community's homeowners association, Kirk and another Escalade owner received messages from community leaders. Because the cargo areas on their $60,000 trucks made them look like pickups, association leaders said, they would be able to keep their vehicles only if they stashed them as far out of public view as possible. Association leaders took their battle against the Escalade owners to court, asking a judge in September to grant an injunction forcing Kirk and another homeowner, Darrell Willson, either to shove their 19-foot trucks into their 20-foot garages or get rid of them. The dispute culminated in a weeklong trial before Circuit Judge Robert Makemson last year. An attorney for the Preserve at Hammock Creek homeowners association argued that the Escalade owners violated association rules against "boats, trailers ... motor homes, golf carts, motorcycles, pickup trucks or recreational or commercial vehicles" in any area visible to passersby outside the home. Stuart attorney Bill Ponsoldt, representing Kirk and Willson, brought in documents from General Motors and local dealers who classified the vehicles as either a sport utility vehicle or a sport utility truck. On Friday, Makemson issued ruling in chambers siding with Ponsoldt and the Escalade owners, saying that if the makers of the EXTs don't classify the cars as pickups, neither should the homeowners association.
SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Business -- March home sales down, but prices go up
San Diego got hit hard by the real estate slump. Here's some mixed news, which is better than all bad news. But take a look at the little snippet on HOA dues at a place called "Bridgeview." Does $180 a month seem low?
March home sales turned in their biggest year-over-year decline since 1995, but the region's median sale price rebounded to $490,000 in a possible sign that San Diego County's housing slump is easing...The overall median price of $490,000 was up $10,000 from February, but still 4.9 percent below the median a year earlier...The monthly homeowner association dues [at Bridgeview], relatively low at about $180, also are considered a plus.
San Diego got hit hard by the real estate slump. Here's some mixed news, which is better than all bad news. But take a look at the little snippet on HOA dues at a place called "Bridgeview." Does $180 a month seem low?
March home sales turned in their biggest year-over-year decline since 1995, but the region's median sale price rebounded to $490,000 in a possible sign that San Diego County's housing slump is easing...The overall median price of $490,000 was up $10,000 from February, but still 4.9 percent below the median a year earlier...The monthly homeowner association dues [at Bridgeview], relatively low at about $180, also are considered a plus.
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