Condo's whopping ads
a big headache
Nancy Levy sent this story about an enterprising condo association:

A Rego Park condo is exploiting a loophole that allows it to transform its residential tower into a gigantic billboard - pocketing thousands of dollars - while the city is powerless to do much about it. When two racy lingerie ads were recently mounted on scaffolding on both sides of Queens Blvd. Tower - a 16-story building overlooking the Long Island Expressway - the condo's management was given five citations and ordered to remove the ads within 35 days. It complied just before an Oct. 13 deadline. But shortly afterward, another 100-foot-tall sign popped up on the west side of the building, this time promoting the upcoming "Harry Potter" movie.

Iowa Town Has Tough Time Finding Eligible Voters
Sounds like an HOA election, but it is a municipality of sorts.

ANAMOSA, IA. (AP) -- Anamosa, Iowa, has found out how difficult it can be to fill a vacant city council seat -- especially when most of the residents are behind bars. The city's Ward Two includes the Anamosa State Penitentiary. That left just 58 non-inmates in the district. Even though the city has grown, Ward Two only had 65 registered voters in Tuesday's election. In Tuesday's election there were only three votes, all of them write-ins.

Privatize Fannie and Freddie

Here's a commentary from National Review Online:

Confronted by a real problem related to the semi-governmental status of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Congress is opting for strict new regulations that amount to a de facto nationalization of these government-sponsored enterprises. The best solution would be precisely the opposite — full privatization. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were they to go private, would be normal, private companies in all respects, no longer receiving any special government benefits nor subject to special regulatory restraints.

New law creates changes for homeowner associations

North Carolina joins the HOA reform parade with this bill, news of which is sent from Fred Pilot:

A new law will create some big changes for homeowner associations across the state. The number of homeowner associations has exploded in the last five years. More than half of all homeowners in North Carolina now belong to an association. The law puts a cap on fines and fees the association can charge.

Escaped pit bulls attack six people, terrorize neighborhood; child critically injured

This horrible event happened in an HOA not far from where we live. I was arguing with a couple of animal-lovers a few weeks ago about pit pulls. I think they should be banned because they are unpredicable. Of course the dog lovers cling to the notion that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners. But this story is one of many where the pit bulls were being treated well and went nuts anyway. Go ahead, pit bull lovers. Send me your hate mail. I think they should be outlawed. If I had my way you'd have to switch to Rottweillers.


CARY, Ill. ? A 10-year-old boy was in critical condition Sunday after three pit bulls escaped from a home and went on a rampage, attacking six people before police shot and killed dogs, authorities said.

San Francisco Examiner:Mullin: Home groups need more oversight

Fred Pilot sent this along:

SAN MATEO ? Concerned that homeowners associations are wielding too much unchecked power over the residents they regulate, Assemblyman Gene Mullin is sponsoring legislation calling for more state regulation on common interest developments. Mullin scheduled a hearing for 6 p.m. tonight in San Mateo City Council Chambers on a bill to establish a state ombudsman to help association officers and residents better understand the rules that govern the developments, which account for one-quarter of the state?s housing stock. ?There is no oversight of these organizations, which wield considerable power over people?s lives and homes,? Mullin said in a prepared statement.

Residents of Paris Suburbs at Gangs' Mercy
This is quite an indictment of the French version of suburbanization. Maybe building huge public housing complexes in the suburbs and filling them up with welfare-dependent and unassimilated Muslim immigrants isn't such a good idea.

Whatever their motivation, youths leading the violence that in 10 nights has spread across France sow fear, anger and frustration among their fellow residents of "Les Cites" — grim, public housing estates on the outskirts of French cities heavily populated by poor Arab and black Africans. Some officials suspect the unrest that reached into Paris proper early Sunday has in part been instigated by gangs hoping to turn their neighborhoods into no-go zones for police so drug trafficking and racketeering can thrive.

Mayor Takes Government 'Into the Neighborhood' With New Outreach Team

Nancy Levy sent this "wonderful day in the neighborhood," Mr. Rogers-esque piece from Louisville, Kentucky. I guess condos and hoas aren't just for Florida and California anymore...



LOUISVILLE) -- Mayor Jerry Abramson has announced that citizens can be more connected to government through a new team created within the Louisville Metro Department of Neighborhoods. Called Neighborhood Outreach Liaisons, the five-person team will empower neighborhoods with an array of community-building tools...The Neighborhood Liaisons’ primary purpose is to connect the community with government and make government more accessible. Outreach programs include:

Assisting residents to start or rejuvenate neighborhood, homeowner or condominium associations

Heading for DC
I'm off to DC tomorrow (Thursday) for two events. I'm on a panel at The Urban Institute where we will be discussing Bob Nelson's book Private Neighborhoods, along with Bob himself, Tom Skiba from CAI, and others. Saturday Bob and I and Lee Fennell and others are on a panel at the meeting of the Association for Public Policy and Management. I think the focus of both will be Bob's controversial proposal to replace existing neighborhoods with HOAs, and let them replace municipalities.

Click2Houston.com - News - Condo Complex Sues To Evict Dying Dog
Nancy Levy sent along this story about a condo association with a heart of lead.

HOUSTON -- Most pet owners would do just about anything to protect their four-legged friend. A Houston-area man is taking his condo complex to court in an effort to keep his dying dog at home, the KPRC Troubleshooters reported Monday. 12-year-old Monty is a golden retriever with a good life. "His main job is sleeping. He sleeps a whole lot and then I take him for a walk three times a day," owner John McKiski said. But the council at Monty's Clear Lake condominium complex wants him gone. "No dogs over 30 pounds (are allowed)," McKiski said.

Becker & Poliakoff Urges South Florida Cities to Follow New FEMA Debris Removal Guidelines for Gated Communities

Fred Pilot sent this link to a press release from big HOA law firm...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., a diversified commercial law firm based in Ft. Lauderdale and a leader in community association law statewide, has urged more than 200 municipal officials throughout ten South Florida counties impacted by Hurricane Wilma to follow new guidelines of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and remove debris from gated communities in their cities.

Tiny Vegas home sits at center of housing craze--
His property in demand, former waiter raises asking price to $1.2 million
...and no HOA, either!

Radburn board told to install democratic rule; State orders open meetings, votes for homeowners group


From Don Nordeen comes this major event regarding the granddaddy of American HOAs, developed in 1928, the community of Radburn in New Jersey...

FAIR LAWN - The board of trustees that runs the historic Radburn community must adopt open meetings and elections, and provide an appeals process for resolving disputes, according to state officials who have gotten involved in a battle between the board and a group of homeowners. The Radburn Association, the non-profit corporation that governs the community, must provide residents with "the statutory rights afforded all owners in homeowners associations," according to a letter sent to the association in August by Edward Hannaman, the head of the Association Regulation unit of the state Department of Community Affairs.

Homeowner groups have got the power
Nancy Levy sent along this blunt acknowledgement of the facts of life in Florida.

Village Leaders Contemplate Assessment Increase

Nancy Levy found this example of public/private government line-blurring. Looks like the munical government operates out of office space owned by the association--if I'm reading it right.

BELLA VISTA -- Audience members applauded Thursday when the Property Owners Association's Board of Directors voted to move forward with the renovation of the Bella Vista Country Club building.The clubhouse, which closed to regular business Aug. 1, 2002, will be converted into administrative offices, a small restaurant and common area with seating.General Manager Tommy Bailey hopes the work will be completed by January 2007. The building will serve as offices for several administrative departments, freeing Town Center office space for the Bella Vista Fire Department and the Bella Vista Division of the Benton County Sheriff's Office.

Man killed by deer in one of the ritziest gated communities on Earth
A Fairbanks Ranch man died this week after a violent encounter with a buck that was roaming the exclusive gated neighborhood. On Sept. 25, Ron Dudek went into his back yard to pick tomatoes when he unexpectedly came upon a 6-foot-tall deer next to his house. The buck hit him with its antlers in the face, tearing a hole in his cheek and shoving the bony antler into his mouth.

10ft snake popped out of lavatories at block of flats

How inhospitable of these residents. The poor snake was no doubt just trying to get warm. :-)
WHEN residents in a block of flats saw a 10ft boa constrictor slithering from their lavatory bowls, their claims were treated with scepticism. They resorted to placing bricks on lavatory lids after the snake put in several surprise appearances. Now the flat-owners have been vindicated: one brave resident trapped the giant reptile during a night-time confrontation in his bathroom. He managed to coax the snake, named Keith, into a bin, ending a two-month reign of terror at the flats in West Didsbury, Manchester.

Private school teacher fired for refusing to display flag
Here's a switch. Private HOAs ban flag display, get bad press. Private school mandates flag display, gets bad press.

"I had come to the end of all the procedures of appeal available to me," [Stephen] Kobasa, 57, said Friday. He said his deep-seated religious belief, not un-American sentiments, was at the core of his opposition to having the flag in the classroom. "The crucifix cancels all flags," said Kobasa, a longtime peace activist. "Christ speaks of compassion without boundaries. ...Flags are about separation, assertions of superiority and aggression. The whole notion that loyalty to country is connected to one's religious faith is totally bizarre and unjustified."

Edmund N. Bacon, city planner, dies at 95

Bacon was a pretty aggressive planner who had few qualms about advocating major urban redevelopment in Philadelphia, even when it required knocking down a lot of existing buildings. These days people with ambitious plans like that encounter organized preservationists who are determined to keep the old buildings because of their alleged historical significance or because they are deemed essential to the identity existing neighborhoods. Or something.

PHILADELPHIA --Edmund N. Bacon, a renowned city planner whose vision transformed postwar Philadelphia and whose influence continued to shape the look and feel of the nation's fifth-largest city, died Friday. He was 95. Bacon, whose children include actor Kevin Bacon, died of natural causes at his home in Philadelphia, according to a statement from the family.

Auditor: City of Detroit may go broke
This keeps things in perspective, doesn't it? In other news, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick appeared in public recently without his diamond ear stud.

With a dwindling tax base, a recalcitrant union work force, and pension and health care benefits it cannot afford, Detroit is running out of money and will not be able to pay its bills if major changes aren't made, according to a report released Thursday by Detroit Auditor General Joe Harris. "The truth is that Detroit's treasury is hemorrhaging," said Harris, whose 10-year term as an independent city auditor appointed by the City Council ends in November. "Insolvency is certain. The only question is the timing."

Let's put that Kelo decision in perspective...
I've been critical of the USSC decision in Kelo v. City of New London that allowed the use of eminent domain for increasing tax revenue...but this link sent by Nancy Levy shows you eminent domain Russian style. Kind of makes you glad we live in the USA...

Unrelenting in his resolution to purge the banks of the Moskva River of deluxe country houses erected, as he claims, without construction permits, top Natural Resources official Oleg Mitvol has come up with a new plan, no less controversial than his earlier initiatives. He has suggested the developments be washed away by artificially induced floods.

California Association of Realtors Common Interest Development Committee
Fred Pilot ran across this meeting agenda. Did you know the CAR had a CID committee? Look at the detail pertaining to CIDs in California and the recent legislation.

WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY :: Condo Residents Stop Paying Fees To Protest Poor Living Conditions
Nancy Levy sent this amazing example of an assessment strike. I haven't seen one of these in some time.

(LOUISVILLE) -- People living in one Kentuckiana condominium say their homes are falling apart, and basic services being cut off. They blame it all on the property managers. But as WAVE 3 Investigator Eric Flack reports, their way of protesting may be the problem...more than half of Shadowood residents have stopped paying their condo fees in protest. The delinquency list is at $56,000 and counting.

"Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Benefit Senior Citizens and Veterans"...but we know it was about HOAs!
The ever-alert Fred Pilot ran across this interesting political spin on the HOA legislation signed by Der Governator last week.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today he has signed legislation that will benefit California's senior citizens and veterans by strengthening the rights of residents in retirement communities, increasing the ability of veterans to buy homes and promoting greater transparency and fairness in homeowners associations.

Record low for home affordability in California
I just got back from southern California, which is why I haven't been posting since last week. Housing prices and commuting times are both insane.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Soaring prices in California's housing market have shut out a record 86 percent of households from buying a typical home with a traditional down-payment, according to a study released on Thursday. Home prices across California have more than doubled since late 2001, increasing pressure on home buyers, who needed a minimum household income of $133,800 to buy a home at the August median price of $568,890, the California Association of Realtors said in its report.

Acrappleface: President Hints at Alan Greenspan Replacement

"I can't give you a name," Mr. Bush told the White House press corps, "but let me just say that I've known her personally for more than 20 years, and have first-hand knowledge of her philosophy on fiscal policy. I've actually watched her balance a checkbook at the kitchen table. She'll make a swell Fed chairman."

Governance of Property Owners Associations
Here is Don Nordeen's new weblog on this topic.

Governor signs bills protecting members of homeowner associations
Fred Pilot passed this along. A big event in the Golden State...

Homeowner associations will be required to use secret ballots when electing board members or imposing levy increases, under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill, authored by Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, stemmed from complaints from homeowners who said some associations require identification in elections that can lead to unwanted lobbying or even intimidation by fellow members. Homeowner associations will be required to make financial and other important records available to members under legislation from Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, that was also signed by the governor. Finally, the governor signed a bill from Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, that prevents homeowners' associations from using foreclosure when a homeowner owes less than $1,800 in assessments.

The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity--by Carlo M. Cipolla, Professor of Economics, UC Berkeley
I found this on FARK while taking a short break from grading papers and decided that it is required reading for everybody interested in HOAs.

HOAs lose popularity contest...
Fred Pilot sent this link to a straw poll in Phoenix, AZ.

More states have enacted construction-defect statutes that can benefit you...
...if you are a developer or contractor--if you are an owner...well, maybe you might feel differently about these laws. Thanks to Nancy Levy for this article from a roofers publication.

During the past three years, about half the U.S. states have enacted so-called "construction-defect" or "right-to-cure" statutes. These statutes, which apply almost exclusively to residential construction (with Colorado and Tennessee being exceptions), are intended to try to reduce the amount of construction litigation by providing contractors with notice and a right to correct alleged construction defects before homeowners or condominium associations file suit.

Study: Sun's Changes to Blame for Part of Global Warming
Somebody tell Al Gore about this...

Increased output from the Sun might be to blame for 10 to 30 percent of global warming that has been measured in the past 20 years, according to a new report. Increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases still play a role, the scientists say. But climate models of global warming should be corrected to better account for changes in solar activity, according to Nicola Scafetta and Bruce West of Duke University.

New Orleans returnees face health risks--Contaminated water, mold among problems

Contaminated water, mold and the dusty sediment left behind when the city was pumped dry are some of the key health threats facing residents, according to Dr. Frederick Cerise, the head of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

local6.com - News - Cemetery Plots Are Orlando's Newest Land Rush
A little irony noted by Nancy Levy in this headline and the subhead, which reads, "Plots Selling Faster Than Downtown Condos."

SOUTH FLORIDA: Condo ombudsman opens office in Broward County
From Fred Pilot by way of Patrick's HOA News comes this story about Virgil Rizzo setting up shop in condo-heavy Broward County, Florida. Are there any hanging chads involved?

Florida's condominium ombudsman now has an office in South Florida, home to more condos than any other area in the state. And for the first time, Virgil Rizzo also has a Broward County phone number, 954-202-3234, so callers no longer have to call Tallahassee to reach him, something many owners were reluctant to do.

Citizens tout neighborhood bill of rights
Nancy Levy sent this piece along, and it makes for fascinating reading.

A proposed “neighborhood bill of rights” is getting a warm reception from Santa Fe residents fed up with what they say are unanticipated developments, unwarranted infill and “rogue commerce” in their neighborhoods . The Public Works Committee on Monday endorsed the proposal after a dozen people, many of them officers in local neighborhood associations, spoke in favor of it... This resolution, sponsored by four of the eight councilors, says each neighborhood has a right to: Determine its own character and quality of life. Be a safe, healthy place to live and raise families. Have an equitable share of city services and capital improvements. Have adequate notice and timely information on decisions affecting it. Have input into city decisions affecting it. Have the city protect residents’ fiscal and “emotional” investments. The resolution would direct city staff to ensure neighborhoods and developers get equal consideration in the development-review process, to assist neighborhoods in developing plans, to determine their character and needs, and to enforce all sections of city code that protect residents against hazards and nuisances.

Monster Mold Threatens Health in the South
This is a huge problem in the best of conditions. Imagine it in the aftermath of two monster hurricanes.

Mold now forms an interior version of kudzu in the soggy South, posing health dangers that will make many homes tear-downs and will force schools and hospitals to do expensive repairs. It's a problem that any homeowner who has ever had a flooded basement or a leaky roof has faced. But the magnitude of this problem leaves many storm victims prey to unscrupulous or incompetent remediators. Home test kits for mold, for example, are worthless, experts say.

Existing home sales rise in August


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of existing U.S. homes rose 2 percent in August to the second highest level on record, a trade group said on Monday. Sales of previously owned homes increased to a seasonally adjusted 7.29 million unit annual rate last month from July's downwardly revised 7.15 million unit pace, the National Association of Realtors said. That figure includes both single-family homes and condominiums.

Ruckus over tape recordings disrupt homeowners association
Nancy Levy sent this slice of HOA life, about a man who was arrested for having the temerity to audiotape an HOA meeting. To those folks who keep asking me how an HOA is any different than a normal city, I reply: show me one guy who got arrested for taping a city council meeting. Why on earth any municipal police department would do the bidding of these HOA mucky-mucks I'll never know. Read the justification given for this ridiculous policy and then tell me we don't need major reform of this institution.

Feel free to take notes at Phoenix Pointe South Mountain Residential Association meetings, but be advised that recording them could have consequences. It did for board member Mike Harris, who says he was arrested. At the association's July 11 meeting, board members took the unusual step of calling Pointe South Mountain Resort security after one of their own ­ Harris. A board member for the past two years, Harris was removed from the premises after he refused to turn off his tape recorder just before the meeting began. The security in turn dispatched a Phoenix police officer who asked Harris to turn off the tape recorder. Still refusing to shut it off, Harris said he was placed under arrest and handcuffed...Association board vice president Jane Karkosky said she objects to being tape recorded out of fear that board members will have to spend time reviewing tapes of lengthy meetings and be weighed down by minutiae.

Fire Marshal's Office Completes Investigation Of Downtown Condo
Interesting situation, sent on by Nancy Levy. The article has links to previous items on the matter...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The State Fire Marshall's Office completed its investigation into fire suppression water lines at The Grande condominiums in downtown Orlando.The investigation report found no reason to believe the underground water lines at the property were compromised during the building process. They also found that allegedly forged documents were not intentionally doctored to pass fire inspections. A former city inspector is currently suing the city of Orlando claiming she was fired for blowing the whistle on questionable fire inspections at the condos.

It's Bush's fault!!
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Police found cases of food, clothing and tools intended for hurricane victims at the home of the chief administrative officer for a New Orleans suburb, authorities said Wednesday.Officers searched Cedric Floyd's home because of complaints that city workers were helping themselves to donations for hurricane victims. Floyd, who runs the day-to-day operations in the suburb of Kenner, was in charge of distributing the goods.

Real estate prices force Aspen Board of Realtors to move their office out of Aspen

I think this is one of the signs of the Apocalypse. And no, I didn't get this from The Onion.

ASPEN, Colo. --Sky high real estate prices in this resort city in the mountains have driven yet another business out of town: The Aspen Board of Realtors.The board was renting an office at the Aspen airport because of the cost of real estate in the city, where even a small house can cost $1 million. Now, the board has purchased a spacious office in Basalt, 10 miles from Aspen, said Brynne Kristan, executive vice president of the board. Kristan said the board had hoped to own its own office in Aspen: "We thought we'd be real estate owners ourselves," Kristan said.

Guardian: Hurricane aid used 'to test out rightwing social policies'
President Bush's multi-billion dollar reconstruction plans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina are being used as "a vast laboratory" for conservative social polices, administration critics claim. The White House strategy involves the suspension of a series of regulations guaranteeing the going local wage and affirmative action for minorities, while offering tax incentives for businesses in the affected region. Education aid for displaced children will include $500m (£276m) in vouchers for private schools, while a senior Republican has also proposed a new law permitting a wide-ranging waiver of environmental regulations.


---------------------
Add to that a homeownership initiative that will involve zillions of condo and townhome units, all with private governments run by poor people with no education. Just what New Orleans needs.

We are looking at an effort to transform an entire city. I think the rhetoric is that they are taking probably the worst city-sized example of failed welfare state policies and using ideas from the Republican playbook to make it into a success. If this works, we will have a new paradigm for urban renewal. If it doesn't work--and I can think of one other Bush administration transformative effort that isn't going according to plan--then what? I suppose we will hear that having started we can't stop or even talk about stopping or changing course, because that will only embolden the terrorists. Oops. That's the other example.

Proposed subdivision sparks debate
Nancy Levy sends this interesting public/private controversy with lots of juicy details...

Homeowners up in arms over HOA: HOA say rules are to improve neighborhood
From Nancy Levy comes this saga of disgruntled HOA residents who say their HOA is turning them into Stepford people...

Kathy Krueger is fed up. The Sun City West resident says the Home Owners Association Board is turning her Sonora neighborhood of 182 homes into a "Stepford" enclave with clipboard-wielding monitors who check weekly for violators. "Our president and vice president keep imposing stricter covenants," said Ms. Krueger, who moved into her Maya Court home in 2002. "They are arbitrarily changing the rules." The Sonora HOA president, Ken Foley, denied the charges.

Critics Fear Trailer 'Ghettos': Right, Left Target FEMA Initiative
On the sprawling, dusty grounds of Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant and Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Tex., the recreational vehicles and mobile homes are arriving at a rate of 100 a day before being shipped out to the fringes of Hurricane Katrina's disaster zone. Those trailers, among 300,000 to be purchased with nearly $5 billion of federal money, have become a focal point of criticism of the Bush administration's early rebuilding efforts.

----------------
With another hurricane bearing down on the region, putting people in trailers doesn't seem like a real great idea. In the long term, watch for the rebuilding of New Orleans to be a huge boon to developers who specialize in common interest housing. Condos, townhomes, HOPE VI-type mixed income developments--the sort of thing that the feds did to replace public housing projects in Chicago such as Cabrini Green.

ScrappleFace: HUD Unveils New Orleans Housing Concept
As part of a White House PR offensive to refute charges that President George Bush doesn't care about poor black people, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today unveiled a plan for rebuilding public housing in New Orleans that will ensure near-total evacuation of low-income residents in advance of future emergencies. An artist's rendering of the proposed new public housing complex shows what appears to be a vast train yard, with thousands of Amtrak cars refitted as charming family residences. At the end of each column of railcar-homes, the sketch shows several engines. "When the evacuation order comes," an unnamed HUD spokesman said, "the conductor hollers 'All aboard'. People get into their homes, and off we go." The HUD source said the idea was proposed by Mr. Bush himself. "Since the president takes the blame when people ignore evacuation orders, we're making it tougher to ignore them," said the spokesman. "Now, if you want to stay, that's fine...but your home is going to Chicago." Amtrak is a quasi-governmental agency whose mission is to transport taxpayer dollars out of federal coffers to an undisclosed location.

Too Stupid To Stay Out of Prison

Clayton Cramer has this entertaining item.

Is 1 head better than 4? Highlands Ranch weighs board merger

Nancy Levy sends this link to a Denver Post story on a large subdivision that is taking steps to consolidate its governance, moving closer to becoming a city:

Highlands Ranch - Leaders of the state's largest subdivision will consider asking residents whether to consolidate four governing boards into one. If voters approved such a proposal, the number of elected positions would be reduced from five for each of the four metro districts to a single entity of seven that would oversee the entire development of 81,000. The four Highlands Ranch boards will meet Sept. 27 to decide whether to begin the process that would lead to a public vote, possibly in May or November of next year. Each metro district is a quasi- government entity that can borrow money and oversee an array of public services - from road maintenance to fire protection - for its designated area.

No end to row over BF gates - INQ7.net
Here is a fascinating story Fred Pilot found about government efforts to open the gates of a gated community in the Phillipines. Seems as though a city ordinance requires opening the gates but a court issued an injunction preventing enforcement of the ordinance, so the city is asking the court to reconsider the injunction.

THE PARAÑAQUE CITY GOVERNMENT has asked the court to allow it to fully execute the ordinance that authorized the opening of the main gates of BF Homes to the public.

Another crumbling old CID...
I keep harping on the time bomb issue, meaning that aging HOAs are going to increasingly find themselves facing some major life cycle problems. Things wear out, it costs a lot to fix them, and there is nobody but the owners to pay for it. Result: problems, conflicts, and financial challenges facing owners. Fred Pilot sent this story along:

Crystal Falls Lake is covered with algae. The subdivision's stables and clubhouse are run down with dry rot, bad roofs and chipping paint. Most property owners agree that the more than 50-year-old subdivision's amenities are in dire need of repair. What repairs to do first and how to pay for them, however, are the subject of an intensifying fight.

After their "let them eat cake" attitude made national news, Ocala HOA apologizes for scrooge-like prohibition on taking in hurricane evacuees
Thanks to Fred Pilot for this follow-up. I always say there is nothing like bad press to make some HOA boards of directors improve their behavior, at least until the coverage dies down.

Finally, some good new with the President in New Orleans
:-)

Suburban police blocked evacuees, witnesses say
Must be Bush's fault. Or, we could consider the increasingly obvious possibility that southern Louisiana has some of the worst local government officials on the planet Earth.

Police agencies to the south of New Orleans were so fearful of the crowds attempting to leave the city after Hurricane Katrina that they sealed a crucial bridge over the Mississippi River and turned back hundreds of desperate evacuees, according to two paramedics who were in the crowd. The paramedics and two other witnesses said officers sometimes shot guns over the heads of fleeing people, who, instead of complying immediately with orders to leave the bridge, pleaded to be let through, according to the paramedics and two other witnesses. The witnesses said that they had been told by New Orleans police to cross this same bridge because buses were waiting for them there. Instead, a suburban police officer angrily ordered about 200 people to abandon an encampment between the highways near the bridge. The officer then confiscated their food and water, the four witnesses said. The incidents took place in the first days after the storm last week, they said

Guilty plea made in housing case
From Nancy Levy--major crime in Privatopia...

Former real estate agent Phil Benson pleaded guilty Wednesday to 24 counts of mail and wire fraud in connection with the illegal conversion of apartments to condominiums in Huntington Beach. Benson, 73, of Hayden, Idaho, will be sentenced Feb. 6 along with former Mayor Pam Houchen and two others who also pleaded guilty to fraud last week. They were among eight real estate professionals and investors indicted by a federal grand jury in December for their involvement in a scheme to convert apartment buildings to condos using forged documents.

Attorney general weighs in on nixing Columbia Council
Interesting interaction between public and private government, forwarded by Nancy Levy. I am impressed that a public official took the time to opine on this issue, because I see so many examples of a hands-off approach that leaves associations to their own devices.

Doing away with the Columbia Council will not make it more difficult for elected Columbia Association officials to communicate with residents, according to a letter of advice from the office of Maryland's attorney general. The Aug. 18 letter from Robert A. Zarnoch, Maryland's assistant attorney general, addresses a Columbia Association board of directors' proposal to eliminate its role as the council. "In my view, the proposed elimination of the Columbia Council would not prevent the free exchange of views between CA directors and village residents," Zarnoch wrote in his letter. "Nor would it alter the directors' existing duty of loyalty to CA, their trustee responsibility with respect to CA members, or their obligation with respect to nondisclosure of confidential information."

Marion County HOA Neighborhood Won't Allow Hurricane Evacuees
Fred Pilot sent along this story about your friendly neighborhood HOA that using the CC&Rs to squelch any outpouring of generosity on the part of its residents:

Deeds aren't the only thing restricted in one Southwest Marion County community, as residents learned over the weekend that they won't be able to house hurricane evacuees who fled from the Gulf Coast. Citizens at each home in Majestic Oaks subdivision near Ocala received flyers on Saturday reminding them of the community's by-laws, which also explained that housing evacuees would be a violation of those rules. The flyers were distributed by the community's Homeowners Association Board of Directors after its members learned that a minister who lives in the neighborhood planned on housing families from the Gulf Coast.

Housing Slowdown Could Spell Trouble
Oh, yes...it could. For a lot of folks with interest-only and variable-rate loans.

WASHINGTON - The nation's red-hot housing market may finally be nearing its peak, meaning the end of double-digit annual percentage price gains for homeowners and potential trouble for more recent purchasers who stretched to buy... In July, sales of existing homes fell by 2.6 percent even though the nationwide median price rose to a record $218,000. Homes in some areas are staying on the market longer before they sell and the Mortgage Bankers Association reports that its index of demand for home mortgages now stands 11 percent below a June peak.

Yahoo! News Photo: aerial view of buses not used to evacuate poor folks in New Orleans by Mayor who blames it all on Bush
Somewhere along the line I'd like to see if we could get a straight answer as to why some 500 municipal and school buses were not use to evacuate people who did not have private transportation in advance of the hurricane. Just asking...

An aerial view of flooded school buses in a lot, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005, in New Orleans, LA. The flood is a result of Hurricane Katrina that passed through the area last Monday.(AP Photo/Phil Coale)

Vanished, Under Force of Time and an Inconstant Earth

This one gets pretty close to profound...
Nothing lasts forever. Just ask Ozymandias, or Nate Fisher. Only the wind inhabits the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in Colorado, birds and vines the pyramids of the Maya. Sand and silence have swallowed the clamors of frankincense traders and camels in the old desert center of Ubar. Troy was buried for centuries before it was uncovered. Parts of the Great Library of Alexandria, center of learning in the ancient world, might be sleeping with the fishes, off Egypt's coast in the Mediterranean. "Cities rise and fall depending on what made them go in the first place," said Peirce Lewis, an expert on the history of New Orleans and an emeritus professor of geography at Pennsylvania State University.

Katrina could prompt new black "great migration" - Yahoo! News
HOUSTON (Reuters) - If refugees end up building new lives away from New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina may prompt the largest U.S. black resettlement since the 20th century's Great Migration lured southern blacks to the North in a search for jobs and better lives. Interviews with refugees in Houston, which is expecting many thousands of evacuees to remain, suggest that thousands of blacks who lost everything and had no insurance will end up living in Texas or other U.S. states.

Katrina's wrath spares some, not all the affluent
From Fred Pilot, who notes that Privatopia took a hit. When I was at a gated communities conference at the University of New Orleans last year, we toured a couple of such places. One was called something like English Retreat, and the other was in or near Metairie.
METAIRIE, Louisiana (Reuters) - While the poor black neighborhoods of New Orleans suffered the most visible destruction from Hurricane Katrina, even affluent suburbs did not escape the wrath of the storm. Metairie, about 10 miles east of New Orleans on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, has a predominantly white, middle and upper crust population living in spacious, comfortable homes. While parts of the suburb escaped major damage, other areas of Metairie remained under three to four feet of flood waters on Monday. Some residents said they expected their homes to be a complete loss.

Justices (except Souter) pay tribute to Rehnquist
(CNN) -- The Supreme Court released statements by seven Supreme Court justices who paid tribute to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died Saturday. A statement from Justice David Souter is not expected, the court said.


---------------
I wonder why Souter is tongue-tied. It shouldn't be hard to say something on an occasion like this. Stevens, Ginsburg, and Breyer made gracious statements. Why not the other liberal as well?

Homeowners Groups Fight to Stay Afloat
Tremendous piece of reporting from the Washington Post, sent by Fred Pilot.

When communities such as Hidden Lake were built, a homeowners association seemed like a great idea: Residents would chip in for the upkeep of what then was a summer community. Today, however, Hidden Lake is a full-fledged Washington suburb, with residents too busy to volunteer and facing problems beyond their expertise. The community's governing documents have expired -- jeopardizing its authority -- and the neighborhood is at war over what could be a $500,000 bill to repair the community dam. Hidden Lake's problems mirror those cropping up at first-generation, association-run communities across the country as they deal with aging infrastructure and outdated or poorly written covenants that make it impossible to enforce rules, increase dues to cover rising costs or resolve disputes.

City Councilman Unearths Magical Zoning Amulet

Mystery Reader sends this post from The Onion that just about says it all about zoning. I just got back from the American Political Science Association annual meeting in Washington, DC, which is why I haven't been posting. There were 7000 people waiting to use about six computers. I'm co-charing the urban politics sections panels for next year's conference in Philadelphia. Think there will be one on homeowner associations? Book it.

ROCHESTER, NY—After years spent poring over mysterious and arcane plat sheets and deciphering long-forgotten building codes, city councilmember Mike LaMere unearthed the mysterious City Zoning Amulet Friday. "Behold!" LaMere said, holding aloft the solid-gold amulet, which is emblazoned with the Ever-Evaluating Eye of Surr-Vey, Lord Of Demarcation, He Who Measures And Assesses. "With this sigil, the power of zoning comes. Through me, the power of zoning flows! All will behold my power, and I shall bow to no man when designating matter-of-right developments for major retail and office spaces to a maximum lot occupancy of 75 percent for residential use!"

US heading for house price crash, Greenspan tells buyers

Thanks for finally saying what has been obvious for the last year or so. Do you think the folks who are still buying $600,000 condos with interest only loans are listening?

WALL STREET shuddered yesterday after Alan Greenspan, the United States’ central banker, warned American homebuyers that they risk a crash if they continue to drive property prices higher. He said that the US house-price spiral had become an economic imbalance, threatening stability like the country’s trade gap or its budget deficit.

Gated Summerlin community is shocked by armed robbery

Fred Pilot sent this link.

With gated neighborhoods already numerous around the valley, and more going up all the time, recent developments in the posh Siena golf course community in Summerlin might serve as a reality check. A man who stepped out of his Siena house on Cerotto Lane a little before 3 p.m. on Aug. 9 was robbed at gunpoint while walking to his mailbox. The victim and investigators surmised that the robber must have gotten into Siena by following a resident through one of the unguarded mechanical gates.

White House Deed Up for Auction.
Canadian Writer Discovers Original White House Deed Never Signed
From Fred Pilot, who is always on the lookout for a bargain. The deed is now for sale on EBay.

While doing research for his new book Night of the Realtors , Vancouver novelist David Jenneson discovered that the U.S. Government has no deed recording the property ownership for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – perhaps it never existed Jenneson's exhaustive inquiry revealed any valid transfer should have been signed and recorded in the early 1790s when George Washington himself ordered the purchase of the parcel from David Burnes, the farmer whom Washington personally referred to as the “obstinate Mr. Burnes.” A written request to the U.S. National Archives, the repository for records of that time, revealed startling results. After a thorough search, the National Archives could not find the deed for the White House!

Existing Home Sales Decline As Rates Rise
Pop?

WASHINGTON - Sales of previously owned homes fell in July as some house hunters were put off by galloping prices, but the pace of sales was still the third-highest ever, suggesting the red-hot market isn't cooling much. The latest snapshot of activity in the housing market released by the National Association of Realtors on Tuesday showed that July sales of existing homes — including single-family, town homes and condominiums — totaled 7.16 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. That represented a 2.6 percent decline from June's record-high pace of 7.35 million units. Soaring home prices and to a lesser extent rising mortgage rates played a role in July's drop in sales — making it harder for some house hunters to take the leap into home ownership, analysts said.

Castle Holds Monty Python Jamboree
This must be one of the more fun-loving medieval gated communities. Do you smell elderberries?

Coconut shells have been a fixture behind the castle reception desk for a number of years, props for the legions of Monty Python fans who visit Doune, a key location for the film Monty Python And The Holy Grail...Last year, Historic Scotland bowed to the inevitable and staged Doune's first ever Monty Python Day, an event that attracted about 1,500 fans from all over the UK, and some from overseas, including a hen party from New York. The event was so successful that it is being repeated on September 4. Numbers have had to be limited to 500, however, after problems last year shepherding so many fans around such a confined space.

San Francisco Shuns Retired USS Iowa
This has nothing to do with HOAs. I just think it is such a supremely disgraceful action by the San Francisco city supervisors that it deserves to be publicized and condemned. Who do these creeps think they are, to sit in their little leftist enclave and pass a petty, nasty little judgment like this on the United States military? Maybe it's time that professional organizations planning conventions started boycotting San Francisco.

The USS Iowa joined in battles from World War II to Korea to the Persian Gulf. It carried President Franklin Roosevelt home from the Teheran conference of allied leaders, and four decades later, suffered one of the nation's most deadly military accidents. Veterans groups and history buffs had hoped that tourists in San Francisco could walk the same teak decks where sailors dodged Japanese machine-gun fire and fired 16-inch guns that helped win battles across the South Pacific. Instead, it appears that the retired battleship is headed about 80 miles inland, to Stockton, a gritty agricultural port town on the San Joaquin River and home of California's annual asparagus festival. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a former San Francisco mayor, helped secure $3 million to tow the Iowa from Rhode Island to the Bay Area in 2001 in hopes of making touristy Fisherman's Wharf its new home. But city supervisors voted 8-3 last month to oppose taking in the ship, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays, among other things.

With SB 137, making changes to HOAs

Marjorie Murray wrote this article on an important piece of legislation pending in Sacramento. It was published in the Sacramento Bee. She asked me to publish this so all you activists out there can keep track of this bill and do what is needed to get it passed.

SB 137 would leash homeowner associations that leap to use foreclosure to collect trivial amounts of late assessments owed homeowner associations (HOAs). The proposed law is long overdue.
Sen. Denise Ducheny's legislation would lay out a set of legal tools that HOAs, collection agencies, management companies and law firms could use to collect the dues assessed the 8 million California homeowners living in common interest developments such as condominiums. The tools would include going to small claims court, securing the debt with a lien or invoking dispute resolution. SB 137 is linked to AB 619, which would let homeowners pay a late bill in installments. Current law lets HOAs - without giving a reason - reject a homeowner's petition to pay arrearages on a monthly schedule. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 2598, last year's attempt to curb HOA foreclosure abuse. But his veto message made plain he thinks this issue needs to be resolved. Ducheny and the California Alliance for Retired Americans, sponsor of SB 137, have been working with the governor's office to do just that.

Rampant mismanagement plagues condo boards, report finds

You can just imagine how shocked I was--shocked, I tell you--to read this. Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.

Did I mention that I was shocked?

Most of the 4,000 queries received by the state's new condo ombudsman between April 1 and June 30 involved directors of associations, according to a newly released report. Half concerned mismanagement and about a quarter alleged abuse of residents by directors. "The major problem continues to be the incapability and inability of boards' members to properly manage the operation of the association," said Dr. Virgil Rizzo of Fort Lauderdale, who was appointed in December and who released the quarterly report this week. "Many directors lack the knowledge to effectively and successfully operate a corporation of residential units."

From David Bernstein at the Volokh Conspiracy...
...comes this short, pithy, and alarming analysis of the housing bubble in California.

OK, I'll have my light sabre now, if you please
A team of researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has successfully demonstrated, for the first time, that it is possible to control the speed of light – both slowing it down and speeding it up – in an optical fiber, using off-the-shelf instrumentation in normal environmental conditions. Their results, to be published in the August 22 issue of Applied Physics Letters, could have implications that range from optical computing to the fiber-optic telecommunications industry.

Re/Max Site to Show All U.S. Listings
The implications of this are mind-boggling. Buying and selling real estate has always been based on local markets. This is the end of all that. Brave New World time.

The nation's second-largest real estate brokerage is expected to announce today a plan to pool all U.S. residential property listings on its website, a move that would create a formidable national competitor to industry-backed Realtor.com. The move by Re/Max International Inc. also could eventually help reduce consumers' costs of buying and selling homes, as competition with other Web-based brokerages heats up.Online real estate companies and consumer advocates have long complained about the real estate industry's efforts to limit access to property listings on the Internet. They see it as an attempt to thwart competition from Web-based upstarts, which typically charge lower commissions or charge referral fees. The issue has attracted the attention of federal antitrust officials, who have been investigating the online policy of the industry's powerful trade group, the National Assn. of Realtors, which gives its members the right to withhold their listings from online brokerages. But Re/Max, which has supported the trade group's policy, will announce today that it will compete head-on with online companies and create a national database that would include any property listing, whether it is a Re/Max listing or not.

Pasco: Hudson man cited for size of profane sign
This is a Florida story. Nice to see the city government acting like an HOA in this case.
HUDSON - A 43-year-old man was cited Tuesday for painting a sign that reads "Die you miserable bitch" on a house he owns, Pasco County sheriff's deputies said. A neighbor dying of cancer, 73-year-old Carol Hastrich, is believed by her family to be the subject of the message, deputies said. The words were spray-painted in black on the side of the house facing Hastrich's front yard. But it was not the meaning of the message that led to Derick Cooper's citation. Deputies told Hastrich's family the message did not violate any laws, her daughter Dea Albertson said Wednesday. Instead, Cooper was cited for an illegal sign because the wording exceeded the permitted size for a sign in a residential area, Pasco Code Enforcement Officer Patrick Phillips said.

Rockin' the suburbs:
Homeowners associations have the power of government--but what about the accountability?
I didn't write that headline. The newspaper did. This is a story sent on by Marjorie Murray, the legislative advocate on CID housing issues for the California Alliance for Retired Americans. She adds, "Evan -- please post this on your blog. Our two pieces of legislation described in this story -- SB 137 and AB 1098
-- will shortly be sent to the floor for a vote. Don
Chaney's court hearing is August 26th in Auburn, CA
(Placer County.)"

The article describes Don Chaney's lawsuit, which is significant in itself, but then goes on to talk about pending reform legislation, and the larger context of HOAs generally. It's well worth reading.


...two proposed laws making their way to floor votes in the Legislature would do much the same thing. An Assembly bill, sponsored by Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, outlines more clearly what kinds of financial documents homeowners associations would be required to cough up if a member requests them, and also specifies that a homeowner can take an association to small-claims court rather than the more costly Superior Court. A second effort, by Senator Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, seeks to restrict how homeowners associations are able to foreclose on a home. The proposed changes to state law, which would affect some 9 million Californians, were spearheaded by an unlikely group: retirees.

Supreme Court upholds convictions, sentences of Richard Glassel
Fred Pilot sent this link. Richard Glassel received the death sentence in Arizona for killing two people in an HOA-related dispute. His conviction and death sentence have now been affirmed by the Arizona Supreme Court. Some people have tried to argue that his BOD is to blame for driving him nuts, which I don't buy.

Residents facing light woes:Burden of funding light bill falls to parish homeowners

I think this is from Louisiana. Fred Pilot sent it. I have no idea how he finds this stuff.

SLIDELL-Though the street lights are burning bright now, residents moving to new subdivisions in St. Tammany will have to decide whether its worth paying the electric bill to keep them on. That's the problem currently facing Ashton Oaks subdivision, located in the Slidell-area, St. Tammany Parish Councilman Barry Bagert said. With three phases up and a fourth almost finished, developers will soon turn electric payments for street lamps over to a homeowner's association that does not have enough members to cover costs.

Cost for Bahia dredging now tops $16 million
Assessments push price tag higher for homeowners

Fred Pilot sent this tale of woe from Marin County.
Stuck in bureaucratic limbo, residents of the Bahia neighborhood in northwest Novato are watching the price tag of a court-ordered dredging project continue to climb. Homeowners recently learned the cost of the project had more than doubled. Now, the estimated cost has jumped another $1.2 million - to $16.7 million. The new figure comes from a $90,000 assessment for households directly on the lagoon, and $45,000 for property owners off the lagoon.

The Volokh Conspiracy - Ken Karst on John Roberts-
Ken Karst was one of my constitutional law professors way back when dinosaurs ruled the earth. I will always remember him as a brilliant teacher and distinguished scholar (not unusual at UCLA Law School), a very liberal fellow politically (also not unusual there) and one of the kindest folks you will ever meet (highly unusual at UCLA Law School). Here, from the Volokh Conspiracy, is his take on Judge John Roberts. Follow the link and read it all if you have time.

I am one of those liberal law academics whom Justice Scalia sometimes blames for the Supreme Court's straying from the True Path. Even so, I believe the Senate should confirm Judge Roberts's nomination.

All Eyes on Home Market in San Diego - Yahoo! News
Did I hear a "pop" just now?

Once Southern California's hottest real estate market, San Diego is feeling a real estate slowdown. It's a trend also starting to be seen in other regions, such as Las Vegas, Denver, Boston and Washington, D.C. Dramatic rises in home prices, particularly on the West and East coasts, have sparked a nationwide debate about whether the housing market is engulfed in a bubble that is about to burst. San Diego has become a focal point of that discussion. Those who believe the market is about to implode say San Diego's cooling could be among the first signs of a pronounced downturn or even a possible crash in California. But housing industry leaders say the slowing in San Diego reflects the normal damping of a sizzling market that made millionaires out of many homeowners and investors. Because San Diego was the region's hottest market, it's not surprising that it's one of the first to simmer down and return to more normal conditions, they say.

Moose carcass reek disturbs Abbot woman
I just included this story so you would have some context for the one below. Now you know I wasn't fooling.

Developer has resort plan for Brownville - Diana Bowley
That would be Brownville, Maine. Right down the road from Brownville Jct., Maine, pop. 900, where yours truly lived as a little boy. When I saw this headline I thought for a minute that it was some sort of wicked parody. The idea of a California developer being interested in a tiny hamlet in the Great North Woods of Maine is hard for me to grasp. But I'm all for it. A while back I was reading that if the Canadian Pacific Railroad closed the spur that runs through Brownville Jct., the town would disappear. Now maybe it has a new lease on life.

BROWNVILLE - Could it be that Brownville will become home to a 550-room, four-star hotel, 45,000-square-foot convention center, spa facility, 25,000-square-foot conference center, golf course, golf school and clubhouse, three restaurants and 400 time-share units? That's the concept plan that a California developer has for a 3,500-acre parcel near Norton Pond in this Piscataquis County community. Jim Dennehy of Palm Springs, Calif., doing business as WHG Development, envisions building a premier destination resort called The Reserve at Norton Pond. The majority of its patrons would arrive via passenger rail at a proposed train station.

Granite City About To Ban Indoor Furniture From Outdoor Sight

I think this is the answer to one of those "you know you're a redneck when..." jokes.

GRANITE CITY, Ill. (AP) -- Furniture meant for indoors shouldn't be used outdoors. That's the view anyway of Granite City, Illinois, officials who are backing a new law that would ban the use of upholstered chairs and couches on porches and in yards.

Condo arson
From Fred Pilot comes this tale of arson, inspired by animosity toward...you guessed it: the alleged perpetrator's condo association.
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A dozen condominiums were damaged or destroyed by flames after a resident, apparently angry with the homeowners' association, allegedly set fire to his condo.

Razor blades in the sand at gated community
Fred Pilot sent this along. So much for being safe because there are no strangers allowed.

NEWPORT BEACH — Thirteen X-Acto blades were found in the sand at a gated Newport Beach community's park after a boy injured his foot while stepping on one over the weekend, officials said Monday. Four blades were found Saturday after 5-year-old Freddy Bloom's foot was pricked inside a Bonita Canyon gated community, Newport Beach police Sgt. Mark Everton said. The child encountered the blade between two coiled rocking horses in the playground, where nothing else of its kind had been reported previously, according to news reports.

Home lost over $1,380 dues:
Venice woman's plight shows need for new laws, activists say

But the industry says this never happens...Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.

Ananova - Christopher Lee to sing at heavy metal festival
I posted this for two reasons. First, it is the strangest headline I have ever read. Second, I have been a Christopher Lee fan since he and Peter Cushing were doing the B movies for Hammer Films. I would love to hear old Saruman doing Heavy Metal.

Octogenarian actor Christopher Lee is reportedly performing at a heavy metal festival in Germany. The 82-year-old Lord of the Rings star is taking part in the Earthshaker Festival in Geiselwind, Bavaria. He will sing with two bands, Manowar and Rhapsody, according to concert organisers. Lee will be accompanied by a live orchestra and a choir and will perform alongside heavy metal bands such as Grave Digger, Dragonlord and Forces of Evil.

Ananova - Thief 'drinks' work of art
I would say that this fellow privatized a public work of "art." Or maybe it was a form of art criticism.

An artist's latest work - a bottle of melted Antarctic ice - may have been stolen and drunk by a thirsty thief. Artist Wayne Hill filled a two-litre clear plastic bottle with melted ice to highlight global warming. But the artwork, valued at £42,500, went missing while on display at a literary festival, reports the Scotsman. Entitled Weapon of Mass Destruction, it vanished halfway through the Ways with Words festival at Dartington Hall, Devon.

A note from Marjorie Murray on the legislative situation in California
Evan -- thanks for posting the CID Homeowner Bill of Rights, sent to the California Law Revision Commission in 2001 by the CID Bill of Rights Coalition.

I just re-read the document on your website and am gratified to see how closely our Coalition has adhered to these basic principles when fighting for good legislation in Sacramento -- legislation that either creates new rights for homeowners or expands and protects existing rights.

This session, for example, the Coalition is sponsoring legislation
[SB 137/Ducheny] to restrain the use of foreclosure to collect assessments and legislation [AB 1098/Jones] to expand the rights of homeowners to inspect and copy financial records. The California Research Bureau reported in 2002 that California's 37,000 associations collect more than $207 million annually in homeowner assessments. However, HOAs either don't report at all how they spend this money or else they report it inaccurately. According to the insurance industry itself, up to 20% of all lawsuits filed by California homeowners against HOAs are for financial mismanagement -- or outright fraud.

The CID industry is fighting both SB 137 and AB 1098 tooth and claw through statewide campaigns.

Both bills will go to floor votes after the Legislature reconvenes from summer recess on August 15.

Please feel free to post this letter on your blog.

Best regards --

Marjorie Murray
Legislative Advocate/CID Housing
Chair, Bill of Rights Coalition
3758 Grand Avenue, Suite 35
Oakland, California 94610
510.272.9826
writzy@aol.com

'Hapless toad' case shows how court nominee Roberts thinks...or does it?
This somewhat hysterical column has some good information in it about USSC nominee John Roberts, based on a case decided right after he went to the DC Court of Appeals. But the writer falls for the spin placed on one of Roberts' opinions by environmentalists. Read it for yourself and see what you think.

It's only a "hapless toad,'' in John Roberts' words. But of all the cases in the Supreme Court nominee's career, a dispute over an endangered amphibian in the path of a California homebuilder may provide the best indication of his views on most any major issue likely to come before the court. The July 2003 opinion -- his first after President Bush appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. -- questioned an important legal rationale for the Endangered Species Act. The opinion also suggested that Roberts has a narrow interpretation of the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce, the basis for a wide range of laws... Commentators and advocates on all sides agree that Roberts' opinion stopped short of a definitive statement on either the Endangered Species Act or constitutional limits on federal authority. But Senate Democrats say they plan to make it a focus of Roberts' confirmation hearing.

USATODAY.com - Malibu's rich and famous fight to keep beach private
Mystery Reader points out that today's story about the Michigan Supreme Court mandating public access to the Great Lakes shoreline, across private property, is reminiscent of this blast from the recent past about the Hollywood/Malibu set trying to keep the great unwashed off their coastline.

MALIBU, Calif. — A tide of ordinary people is lapping at the secluded beaches of the rich and famous. Malibu, a 27-mile strip of spectacular coastline northwest of Los Angeles, has been resisting encroachment by average folks for decades. A retreat for Barbra Streisand, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Goldie Hawn, Pierce Brosnan and scores of other Hollywood stars, Malibu has come to connote entertainment royalty watching Pacific sunsets from exclusive sands. Privacy means a lot to celebrities, and they have achieved it by walling off luxurious oceanfront hideouts worth up to $15 million. Now, state officials are moving to assert the public's right to share Malibu's vistas.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Vegas heading for 'dry future'
The Las Vegas area is exploding with privately governed gated communities, and people are moving there in droves. One unanswered question remains: Where is the water for all these folks--and their lawns and golf courses and swimming pools--going to come from? I am very skeptical of any sentence that includes the words "environmentalists warn," because that is usually followed by an exaggerated or utterly groundles claim based on some bogus computer model. But in the case of Vegas, they may have a point. It is a desert, after all.

Las Vegas is world-renowned as a city of fantasy, flaunting its reputation for excess. It appears a green oasis of refrigerated plenty, set in a blazing desert. But environmentalists warn water supplies could run dry within the next 50 years; while urban sprawl is out of control and development is encroaching on protected areas.

Amendment would mandate water link for subdivision
Nancy Levy sends this interesting piece from Oregon about the intricate politics of water supply and real estate development.

SALEM — An amendment forcing the Medford Water Commission to treat and transmit water to a rural subdivision in Central Point was added to a plumber's certification bill Wednesday by a House-Senate conference committee. The so-called "stuff and gut" ploy — often used near the end of a legislative session — was engineered by Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point, who represents the Westwood Subdivision just off Ross Lane. The subdivision, several miles outside the Medford urban growth boundary, relies on wells. But they are going dry as a result of a declining water table and other problems. The enclave of some 60 homes repeatedly has asked the Medford Water Commission to treat and transmit water through a private service line near the subdivision. The line serves a naval reserve station that is on the Pentagon's list for closure.

Chicagoist: Dead People To Be Evicted For New O'Hare Expansion
Mystery Reader send along this Chicago piece about the FAA approval of Mayor Daley's proposal to expand the already humungous O'Hare Airport. Seems it will require digging up 1300 graves and relocating them. The unanswered question is, what voting precinct will these folks be in after they are relocated?

Public has right to walk along Great Lakes beaches, Michigan Supreme Court rules

Private property rights haven't been doing well in the courts this year. Here's another example:
People can stroll along Michigan's 3,200 miles of Great Lakes beaches whether owners of adjacent private property like it or not, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

Libertarians Propose Taking Breyer's Land - Yahoo! News
Why not get back in action with one from the "Sauce for the Goose" Department:

PLAINFIELD, N.H. - Libertarians upset about a Supreme Court ruling on land taking have proposed seizing a justice's vacation home and turning it into a park, echoing efforts aimed at another justice who lives in the state. Organizers are trying to collect enough signatures to go before the town next spring to ask to use Justice Stephen G. Breyer's 167-acre Plainfield property for a "Constitution Park" with stone monuments to commemorate the U.S. and New Hampshire constitutions. "In the spirit of the ruling, we're recreating the same use of eminent domain," said John Babiarz, the Libertarian Party's state chairman. The plot mirrors the party's ongoing effort to get the town of Weare, about 45 miles to the southeast, to seize Justice David Souter's home. Souter's property is also the focus of a proposal by a California man who suggested the town turn the farmhouse into a "Lost Liberty Hotel." The efforts are meant in protest of the high court's June ruling that let a Connecticut city take land by eminent domain and turn it over to a private developer. Breyer and Souter supported the decision.

Why haven't I updated this blog since July 15?
I've had a few people ask me that, and it's a good question. The answer is that I went off on vacation to French Lick, Indiana, on July 16. There I had practically zero access to the internet, and what little I had went to dealing with direct e-mails. When I got back home I had so many matters backlogged that I have been spending the week dealing with them and had no time to post anything. However, the good news is that I have a host of great links from many contributors and will be going through them and updating the blog over the weekend.