June 7, 2021:
UPDATE TO ZOOM BOARD MEETING EXPULSION STORY
We have an update to our story concerning the Zoom operator who tossed a resident (your Editor) permanently out of a Zoom Board meeting on the evening of June 2, 2021. To complete that story, we bring you the following update.
On June 7, 2021, Board member Jeff D. Green approached your Roving Reporter at the sports center to claim that Board member Harvey Ginsberg didn’t do it. Thereafter, and based on that comment, we did additional investigation.
It was confirmed that there were three people capable of controlling that function. At first, we were advised that it was Harvey and that is why we published what we did. Now, two Zoom operators have taken responsibility for the mistake and they both apologized. One apologized because that Zoom operator was in charge, and the other apologized for actually doing it. Neither of them was Harvey Ginsberg.
Therefore, notwithstanding the initial information that it was Harvey, the record now reflects that Harvey did not do it.
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06/02/21 BOD MEETING: SYNOPSIS AND COMMENTARY BY VICKI ROBERTS WITH ASSISTANCE FROM ARTHUR ANDELSON
Posted June 4, 2021. Your Editor provides the following synopsis of the June 2, 2021 Board meeting, with assistance from your Roving Reporter, and with commentary and satire indicated in bold blue and pictures.
Editor’s Opening Monologue:
This edition is entitled “Canine Contemplations and A (Guinea) Pig”
PART I: CANINE CONTEMPLATIONS
Ever wonder what your dog thinks about you and what you do during the day? I mean from his or her perspective, is what you’re doing wise? Sensible? Demonstrably productive? And what about them? How do they view their free time? How do they view their responsibilities? I thought I would ask a few members of the canine persuasion to see what I could learn.
The first thing I learned is that some dogs focus more on other animals than humans. And regardless of their focus, they have incredibly keen hearing.
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Another thing I learned is that sometimes they just move right into your space and no one is the wiser.
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The great thing about dogs is that they are fairly easy to train.
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And dogs are incredibly smart.
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A cat, meanwhile, observes the relationship between humans and dogs somewhat differently.
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In sum, a dog provides comfort, companionship, and therapy, although sometimes it helps to discover what’s bothering them when they seem a little bit off.
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Finally, I leave you with this concluding thought: if it’s loyalty that you seek, look no further than your canine companion.
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And now on to that dog-eat-dog world of HOA politics, also known as the Board meeting.
II. A (GUINEA) PIG
Board Meeting: Audio and Video Up and Running; Zoom meeting online starts at 7:00pm.
[Editor’s note: a few minutes before the meeting began, your Editor joined the Zoom meeting. There were only a few people in the meeting at that point: 7 Board members, the property manager, your Editor, the Zoom operator, his assistant, and two other residents.
Upon seeing your Editor’s name on the screen, president Jeff stated, “Vicki Roberts is here.” (Translation: warning, watch what you say.) Your Editor then said “hi.” At that point, from what was later determined after a review of the matter, Board member Harvey Ginsberg, as a co-host of the meeting, threw your Editor out of the meeting by hitting a key on his keyboard expelling your Editor permanently from the meeting. By doing so, he prevented your Editor from returning to the meeting even with the passcode.
[SEE JUNE 7, 2021 UPDATE ABOVE]
Harvey was incensed that your Editor was in the meeting before the meeting started. He could not contain his rage. He usurped the Zoom administrator’s job, Mike Blackman, and hit the key on his computer that removes people from Zoom meetings permanently. This key is right next to the one to put people back into the Zoom waiting room. However, once he hit the key kicking out your Editor, the program does not allow that individual’s computer back into the meeting; it is a permanent bar and even the passcode will not allow re-entry into the meeting.
Your Editor then joined the meeting via her cell phone, but that had limitations, such as not allowing your Editor to track the number of people in the meeting or to see who else was in the meeting while it was going on live without jeopardizing the ability to hear the live meeting and transcribe it for this synopsis.
Now why did Harvey do this? Simple: Harvey has been in a rage against your Editor since we published our October 7, 2020 synopsis and commentary entitled Three Dog Night, wherein we exposed what the community has come to call “fence/gate.” Three Dog Night was one of our finest efforts for which we are most proud and if you haven’t read it or haven’t read it in a while, it is well worth a read or a reread. It was and is by far our most widely read synopsis according to our Google Analytics and has lots of funny cartoons and commentary.
Simply put: At the time back in 2020, Harvey got caught in what many have termed as an alleged conflict of interest in pushing for a fence (and gate) at the front entrance with your money which would have benefited him personally by enclosing his backyard which abutted the south side fence area. He failed to disclose this at any time before the Board voted on that contract. Only after our report did the Board rescind that vote after a community-wide outrage.
Also, at times he had five dogs in his possession (his two and his former neighbor’s three) and he tried to protect that neighbor’s menagerie of dogs even though having more than two dogs is not allowed by the HOA’s governing documents. Our satire also included a reference to this proposed fence being a convenient enclosure for a doggy-day care/kennel in his backyard. One of those dogs purportedly bit the next-door neighbor and from that incident we uncovered the story. Harvey was exposed and furious about it. Ever since then, he has been in a rage against your Editor.
Harvey has used his bully pulpit as a Board member to personally call out your Editor and your Roving Reporter by name at official board meetings and has claimed, falsely, that this News Site and what we report is false and bogus. Those statements were and are false and defamatory and he made them as part of an official board meeting of this HOA. This was an additional abuse of power each and every time he did this.
Now back to this latest incident. This time, he was only too happy to throw your Editor, a member of this HOA to whom he owes a fiduciary duty, out of the official Board meeting. Upon information and belief, the next day, Thursday, June 3, 2021, the entire Board was informed of this incident. It is incumbent upon each and every one of them to affirmatively disavow this abhorrent behavior of their colleague. As an aside, he also had no business usurping the job of the Zoom operator, who was doing a great job operating the meeting.
It must be noted that he did not remove from the meeting the other two residents who were already in the meeting when your Editor joined. His action was specifically aimed at your Editor alone.
Whether he meant to hit the waiting room key which is next to the permanent removal key or not is frankly irrelevant, because he singled out your Editor for this action and at no time was he in charge of running the meeting. The meeting was run by the president as the HOA documents require. The Zoom operator was Mike Blackman. Harvey Ginsberg had no business touching any keys to affect the presence of any resident at all.
Later in the meeting, as you shall read below, Harvey told everyone that he was a “guinea pig” for the Moderna COVID19 vaccine trials; those were his exact words, not ours. Hence, we named this portion of the synopsis, “A (Guinea) Pig” and we note a moral to the story: never underestimate the importance of parentheses.
And now on to the meeting, as reported as best as possible given the limitations described above.
Board Members Present:
Jeff D. Green (Board member and office of President)
Harvey (Three Dog Night) Ginsberg (Board member and office of Vice-President)
Richard Greene (Board member and office of Treasurer)
Alan Silver (Board member and office of Secretary)
Linda Arbeit (Board member)
Bob Dingee (Board member)
Sue Schmer (Board member)
Call to Order: Jeff D. Green.
Pledge of Allegiance: led by Jeff Green.
Jeff’s Opening Remarks and Announcements:
[Editor’s note: Jeff noted the “great pool party” and made other general announcements which are found in community-wide email blasts from the property manager. Once again, Jeff conducted a great meeting, except he let Harvey drone on too much at the end during Harvey’s presentation of the last item under New Business. Otherwise, he kept the meeting streamlined and moving, and his leadership skills in that regard are appreciated.]
First Residents’ Input Session:
Now remember, when you’re in a Board meeting, anything you say will be recorded.
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1. Richard’s iPad: …road project, did you evaluate drainage swales that are cracking and fracturing? Deborah: I’d be glad to bring it to their attention. Richard: can’t they look at the entire swale, walk through the community, look at the seams and edges…corners are crumbling and fracturing and the seams are cracking…should be addressed… Deborah: give me one area.
2. Ray Schechtel: …in front of my house; you were advised of this…the gutters…
3. Vicki Roberts: [Editor’s note: your Editor noted that she was kicked out of the meeting on her computer and was permanently barred from the meeting from that device; the passcode was ineffective. Your Editor asked how many devices were online; at that point Mike Blackman, our resident Zoom operator extraordinaire, stated there were 78.]
Approval of Minutes: May 5, 2021 Board meeting: Alan Silver:
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Alan: Motion to approve the Minutes of the May 5, 2021 Board meeting. Jeff: seconded by Linda. All in favor? Unanimous.
Treasurer’s Report: [Editor’s note: the report was emailed to all members and is self-explanatory. Bob seconded the report; the vote to accept it was unanimous.]
Property Manager’s Report:
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Deborah Balka: …Palm Beach Broward will be mowing four times this month: 3 and 4, 10 to 11, 17 to 18, and 25 and 28 (of June).
[Editor’s note: there was a lot of information given by Deborah; most of it is provided to the community via email blasts from the property manager’s office.]
Committee Reports:
1. CIT: Mike Blackman: [Community Information Technology]: we had two meetings…consulting committee…that has a technical component to it…Alan Silver created a survey/Jot forms to collect skills to build a skills database… another member, Steve Kleinman, built a skills database application…quite a sophisticated application… Fitness Center registration application, Sign Up Genius was used for that… Zoom team, trained on Zoom, includes Anita Goodman, Arnie Green, Harvey Ginsberg…and talked about sharing of use of Zoom for Committees… where we store all the documents…looking at Cloud-based technology…
2. Landscaping: Linda Arbeit: Chaired by Shelly Andreas and Barry Gordon, there hasn’t been a meeting but planning sessions every Tuesday…because there’s not enough rain, watering is at a premium…things are drying up…people understand, Palm Beach Broward will take care of anything that dies… there will be a meeting this Thursday. Board decision – mahogany trees in the parking lot have to be removed before the asphalt is changed and fixed… [roots] pulling up the asphalt.
Inspector, permits, not getting back to Yuri [PBB head honcho] – we have to make a decision – remove trees before permit…Yuri said would be a slap on the wrist. Putting in smaller trees… we are not getting any response from the inspector at Palm Beach County…
3. Welcoming and Caring Committee: Linda Arbeit: Nancy Rowe is the Chair…three meetings to introduce new people who volunteered to be on the Committee. Suggestion, almost 200 new residents, have a fare, clubs and committees can come into the ballroom and take a table, have brochures, and explain what each club does and the same with the committees…
[Editor’s note: can we get a table for this News Site?]
Linda: And a member of the Board could meet with Deborah and new residents so they can meet a Board member…
[Editor’s note: this is backwards; it’s not so they can meet a Board member, it’s so a Board member can meet them. The Board member represents them and has a fiduciary duty to them, not the other way around. It’s not a privilege to meet a Board member, but it ought to be a privilege for a Board member to meet a new resident.]
4. CLERT: Richard Levy: [Cascade Lakes Emergency Response Team]: CLERT had a leadership meeting of the iPod captains [Editor’s note: that’s what he said; we think he meant the pod captains]. Went over our manual and mission statement…continue our committee education by inviting the entire team to have in the ballroom video, lecture, and CPR education program… and we need a list of phone numbers of residents. Abe Banke [COP Advisory Group] also needs this…
Many times we come to a home and there is no hanging sign and we have to call… on the master list there are no phone numbers…other alternative, walk around with a directory and look up the phone number but things have changed so much, really obsolete… we need phone numbers to see if they’re ok… Sue: we’re updating the telephone directory and we can only use information from the residents… Jeff: I’ll meet with you and Deb.
5. Entertainment: Diane Fiorillo-Green:
[Editor’s note: Diane Fiorillo-Green reported that the May 30th pool party was a huge success, there are food trucks per community email blasts, and that many more events are in the works.
6. Recreation: Jeff F. Green [Diane Fiorillo-Green’s husband, not the HOA president of the same first and last name]: Recreation committee partnered with the Entertainment committee; I want to thank Linda Bennis for arranging water volleyball. Recreation and Entertainment will continue to partner. Great ideas… with related clubs and Board approval.
Alan Silver: request committee reports, anything written down, send them to me…will put them on file.
Old Business:
[Editor’s note: These items are still being ignored. Details are found on our page entitled “Agenda Items.”]
A. Rescinding illegal “Take Away Your Transponder If You Have An Estate Sale” vote. –THIS RULE HAS BEING EXPANDED TO INCLUDE SECOND VIOLATIONS; THERE IS AN APPARENT OBSESSION WITH TRANSPONDERS.
B. Rescission of the improper banning of Alex from the community
C. Improper use of HOA funds
D. Improper expansion of Presidential powers
E. Disabling of the Zoom meeting Chat function
F. Clubs and Their Asinine Rules -- HANDLED; CLUB RULES NEUTERED; AWAITING NOTICE TO COMMUNITY, NEW RULES TO BE EMAILED TO ALL RESIDENTS, REMOVAL OF BOGUS PICKLEBALL CLUB RULES FROM HOA WEBSITE
G. Two incident reports
H. All incident reports are to immediately go to all Board members
I. Weekly email blasts; News & Views dedicated page for president; president assuming too many liaison positions that target communication and final decisions
J. Eliminate Liaisons To Vendors; Property Manager and HOA Attorney To Report To All Board Members
K. Expenditures That Are Not Revealed To The Community Need to Be Openly Disclosed; Where Does Your Money Go?
L. Message Board Suspensions
M. Webmasters Making Board Decisions
NEW ENTRIES ON THE LIST:
[none at this time.]
[Editor’s note: as many of you know, on May 13, 2021 the property manager’s office sent out a notice that the May 19, 2021 Board meeting was cancelled “due to the lack of substantial items for the agenda.” Apparently, none of the above items is considered significant by the individual(s) who determined such and cancelled the Board meeting.
Furthermore, as shall be shown below, apparently there was a very important issue to be addressed, to wit, allowing guests in the pool and on the pool deck, but the Board decided to do that on its own, without the required 48-hour notice and without the required residents’ input session.]
Old Business:
1. Update of road contract- Bob Dingee
Bob: in process, review and approvals and lawyer who’s checking the questions for us…
[Editor’s note: your Editor, as the purported contract specialist in the Legal Advisory Group, was asked to and reviewed the proposed contract, red-lined it, and returned the red-lined version to liaison/president Jeff Green and property manager Deborah Balka per their request.
Your Editor was not contacted for any follow up or to review what, if anything, the vendor came back with directly or through its attorney. It appears from Bob’s statement that the contract may have been given to the HOA’s attorneys; are they well-versed in contract drafting and negotiating or are we spending a lot of HOA money on mediocre legal personnel with questionable expertise? I don’t know: I’m just asking as a concerned resident.]
2. Updated plans and proposed timeline for reopening clubhouse- Harvey (Three Dog Night) Ginsberg.
[Editor’s note: Harvey (Three Dog Night) Ginsberg went on a lengthy recitation of proposals to reopen the Clubhouse and the Fitness Center; he made a motion to adopt the new rules subject to CDC guidelines and Linda seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously; the community will be advised as to the details and timeline.]
3. Committee/Board Interaction Workshop-Alan Silver: Review guidelines established by workshop.
Alan: workshop…to clarify expectations of the committees and the Board and develop guidelines for both… [Editor’s note: Alan went into some detail about this.] Alan: Motion to approve guidelines and implement. Second: Sue. Jeff: All in favor? Unanimous.
4. Unanimous Consent – As of May 24 - Vaccinated guests
Jeff: On May 20, 2021, we made a decision, unanimous, to open the outside amenities to guests…because if you just let people 12 and over use, if the kid is really less than 12, you couldn’t ask him for proof…I don’t know if we have to vote on it. Sue: No, we don’t.
[Editor’s note: the Board voted secretly (by "unanimous consent") to allow vaccinated guests into the pool and deck area, although by law no one is allowed to ask anyone if they have been vaccinated due to medical privacy laws, so right away you know this is a farce. But aside from that, this vote occurred in private, which was a complete violation of the open meeting laws, and it was a complete and total corruption of the emergency powers rule.
So before some of you gleefully break out the champagne in celebration of the new guest policy…
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…or siphon out the last few drops if you’ve already imbibed…
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…we bring you the following:
Whether or not to allow guests to use the facilities is not an emergency regardless of how much one stretches the use of the word “emergency.” Therefore, which Board member(s) had guests coming in for the weekend and wanted them to play in the pool?
Here’s what happened: the regularly scheduled Board meeting of May 23rd was cancelled, presumably by the president, who is charged with overseeing Board meetings, and instead of calendaring a special meeting for this issue which would have only required 48 hours’ notice, and which would have allowed for the required residents’ input on the issue, the entire Board decided to dispense with the legalities, abuse their power, and act privately. This act was an illegal in camera (closed) meeting of the Board.
This was not only improper; this was laziness and arrogance as well, and it was also disrespectful to the entire community because it did not allow for the mandatory residents’ input session on the issue.
A simple 48 hours’ notice and a simple quorum of the Board for five to ten minutes on Zoom would have accomplished the same result. Whether or not the result would have been the same at a duly noticed board meeting with required resident input is irrelevant; you could use that argument on most of the items on any given agenda.
Make no mistake about it: this is not about whether or not to have guests in the pool or on the pool deck. This is about a complete and total disregard of the statutes and rules that govern HOAs. It sets a very bad precedent moving forward on all future issues. Why not dispense with Board meetings altogether and just tell the members what the Board’s edicts are? What’s the difference?
If any Board member or resident takes issue with this criticism, our response is: review the facts and then tell us where we’re wrong. Explain to us how deciding whether or not to allow guests in the pool area and in the pool was an emergency that justified foregoing the mandatory 48-hour notice to the community and the required community input. Put it in writing and let all of us know your purported justification.
And now a word about this so-called “unanimous consent.” It does not exist in our governing documents or in any statute we could find applicable to HOAs. So, who made it up? Furthermore, the statute that we found that refers to emergencies is Florida Statute 720.316 and nowhere therein does it provide for a “unanimous consent” protocol.
Also, subsection (2) of that statute specifically states:
“The authority granted under subsection (1) is limited to that time reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the association and the parcel owners and their family members, tenants, guests, agents, or invitees, and to mitigate further damage and make emergency repairs.”
How is expanding the availability and use of the facilities consistent with the protection of anyone’s health, safety, and welfare? It is arguably the opposite, because it increases the risk of infection, so it clearly does not protect anyone, but rather potentially exposes owners to increased health issues.
Additionally, the statute still requires notice to the community before the vote is taken. There is no provision in the statute for the apparently made-up concept of “unanimous consent” where the Board bypasses the required notice and mandatory resident input session before making its decision.
We invite anyone to provide to us the authority for such a procedure. It appears to us that this HOA’s Boards have been using this made-up procedure to justify a lot of different decisions made behind closed doors. This is the first time this Board has done so that we are aware of. It’s time to end this improper and illegal maneuver.]
5. Lobby A/C - $19,450 – Jeff Green
Jeff: includes a crane charge. Near the Arts & Crafts area. Add $1,600 and put the Halo systems in to get better air circulation. Motion to accept Island Air’s proposal, $19,450 plus $1,600 equals $21,050. Second? Harvey. Deborah: Halo’s will come separately billed. Jeff: all in favor? Unanimous.
[Editor’s note: the REME-HALO® System, which we just had installed for our home, is supposed to render most viruses 99.9% ineffective and specifically the COVID19 virus, according to their literature and a purported third-party study commissioned by the RGF Environment Group, Inc. out of Riviera Beach, Florida (the RGF Environmental Group, Inc. also has its name on the equipment which is now part of our air conditioning unit as you can see below in the photo taken in our garage).
It is marketed as an air purification system designed to clean the air and kill bacteria and viruses and it purportedly uses UV technology. We paid $1,417.80 and had it installed on April 15, 2021.
Note: when the air conditioning shuts off, it is important that the thermostat is programmed to keep the fan on to circulate the air through the REME-HALO® System to keep the air purified.]
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6. Resident Phone Directory – Binder or Spiral – Sue Schmer
[Editor’s note: Sue moved to rescind the previous Board ruling to use the small spiral notebooks so that she could make a motion to use a larger loose-leaf binder type. Instead, she withdrew the motion to rescind and instead it was decided to add an additional 100 books of the original smaller spiral notebooks to the 700 already ordered. Jeff seconded the motion. Sue noted the cost as less than $700.
Harvey suggested the opposite – to decrease the amount because he believes that more and more people are not using the books and they can just use the website. We don’t believe that is true at all. We believe that most people use the books. Jeff called the motion and it passed unanimously.]
New Business:
1. Umbrellas – Crank umbrellas for tables $1,671.69 – Jeff Green
[Editor’s note: Jeff moved to purchase five additional nine-foot acrylic umbrellas at $295 each plus shipping and tax for the pool deck. He moved to accept Rising Casuals’ contract; Sue seconded. It passed unanimously.]
2. Resurfacing tennis courts 1-6– $32,650 Jeff Green
Jeff: we do this every five years… Lee got proposals from three different companies, including Fast Dry that did it last year. Recommend only six tennis courts and not the pickleball court this time, it’s only a little over a year old and you don’t want a lot of clay down there. Proposal, $31,850, it’s a reserve item plus $700 to bring in a twenty yard container/dumpster… total cost is $100 less than what is on the Agenda, $32,550. Motion to hire Fast Dry, will be done in September or October… Second: Linda: Jeff: all in favor? Unanimous.
3. AT&I proposal for gate access- $5200-13,300- Harvey (Three Dog Night) Ginsberg
[Editor’s note: this guy loves to hear himself talk. His presentation was so overly long, technical, repetitive, and overbearing that all it did was instill stress and concern and panic for some residents as well as eat up a ton of time while he droned on. He had two proposals.
The first one was to switch from ISN to AT&I (the vendor who manages gate access). It was seconded by Jeff. It passed unanimously.
The second proposal was for a “virtual guard” which would eliminate the overnight guard at the shack and replace the guard with a remote guard (a live person at a remote location) and video cameras from 11pm to 7am (overnight). It is being offered on a 90-day free trial basis. The Board voted unanimously to try it out.
No other HOAs have used this system to date, at which point Harvey told everyone that he was a “guinea pig” for the Moderna COVID19 vaccine trials. I guess he wants you all to be the guinea pigs for this little experiment, the difference being that he had a choice, and you don’t.]
Harvey: motion for a 90-day free trial for Virtual Guard. Linda: second. Harvey: motion to re-evaluate before the 90 days are up… Richard: The reason we’re getting 90 days is because they’re not into HOAs… Deborah: 90 days to work out the quirks… Harvey: if nobody was a guinea pig, we wouldn’t have the vaccines…I was a guinea pig for the Moderna trials…
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A number of residents are upset because they reported that one of the specific reasons that they bought into this community was because there was a live guard at the entrance 24/7. This was a major reason for their decision to purchase their homes in this specific community, noting that most communities do not have a 24/7 live guard.
Harvey (Three Dog Night) aka (Guinea) Pig Ginsberg believes that the overnight guard is unnecessary because more often than not the guard is asleep while on duty. Sometimes the guard is asleep; this is true, and that’s wrong, and when it is discovered, it should be reported and remedied by insisting on the use of a different guard. The guard is paid to, at the very least, remain conscious overnight. We believe that that is an implied material term of the contract.
Another part of the presentation was to get an App for your smart phone called Gate Key Plus to open the access gates. There will be Zoom meetings to teach residents how to use it.
Jeff noted that they will keep the overnight guard for the first thirty days, and if there is any glitch, they will keep the guard. Linda seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Harvey made a point on more than one occasion to state that there would be no change to the resident side of the access gate and that it just concerns the guest entrance. During the Second Residents’ Input Session, Mike Blackman, the Zoom operator and the Chair of the Computer Information Technology Committee, took specific issue with Harvey’s claims as detailed below in the Second Residents’ Input Session. He unequivocally stated that Harvey’s claims are untrue, which, by the way, is the same as false.
Separately, this necessarily means that the “lose your transponder if you violate the estate sale prohibition” – see Old Business Agenda Items above, item A – is rendered moot and meaningless. If you can open the gate with an App, then disabling your car’s transponder as a punishment for violating HOA rules becomes somewhat irrelevant, don’t you think?]
Second Residents’ Input Session:
1. Richard Levy: need AED – [automated external defibrillator] I called the gatehouse, scooter, and apply, deliver AED. Are those protocols gone? Harvey: was moved to the tennis court about a year ago. Call 911. [Editor’s note: Harvey (Guinea) Pig Ginsberg is abrupt and nasty to a resident asking a legitimate question and this resident is the Chair of CLERT, Cascade Lakes Emergency Response Team, for which Harvey is the Board liaison.]
2. Linda Bennis: umbrellas, consider, put some color back in the pool area, everything is bland…
3. Dorothy Waxman: how much is each household saving a year on this $14,000 virtual guard…glitches we have in Port Washington, Long Island… Harvey: divide the money by $600. [Editor’s note: Harvey (Guinea) Pig Ginsberg is abrupt and nasty to a resident asking a legitimate question again.] Jeff: find out the glitches. Dorothy: I’ll get back to you.
4. Murray Gellen: [Editor’s note: Murray appreciated listening to the entire meeting, and he appreciated Jeff’s leadership. He was concerned that he was very naïve about this new App for the gate access and had a bit of anxiety about it. Murray is not alone in that concern and anxiety. He reiterated his appreciation that at this meeting everyone was “prepared, articulate, and patient.”]
5. Mike Blackman: You need to be very careful, when you say there are no changes to residents. That is not true. The new App has a lot of changes. Software… when somebody says “no changes to the residents” you will see that that is not true.
[Editor’s note: this necessarily referred to Harvey’s statements that there would be no changes to the residents’ side of the gate because no other Board member made such claims. We’ll go with Mike Blackman’s representations any day of the week over those of Harvey (Guinea) Pig Ginsberg’s.]
6. Abe Banke: [COP Advisory Group] Meeting regarding the resident list…I’d appreciate being there…
7. Howard Silverstein: [Editor’s note: the Zoom operator called on him but there was no answer.]
8. Robin Schmierer: One of the reasons we bought here is because it had a manned gate community system… so many communities have virtual… we felt very strongly…manned gate…virtual guard can’t call 911 in an emergency… we’d love to see a community vote as opposed to a Board vote only.
[Editor’s note: we venture to say that this Board decision is extremely unpopular with the community at large. The Board should reconsider this decision, which it has the ability to do, because as we understand it, the trial period is free and there is no obligation thereafter, so pay attention Board members and don’t sign anything at this juncture that will bind you to any contractual obligation.]
9. Art Ritt: on the virtual, questions, emergency vehicles, any issues? Two people walk up at midnight, or 1:00am…sees them on virtual, they take off…now you call the police, by the time they get here, a lot of damage could be done and … out of the community… Harvey: the guard can’t come out of the guardhouse, they would call 911 the same as the virtual. Emergency vehicles, flip a switch, gate up… Art: what about Uber and taxis in the middle of the night. Jeff: they’re called, in, put license up to the license reader…
Jeff: to answer Robin’s question, it’s not gonna be unmanned…only between 11pm and 7am…and if the guard is sleeping, here, the camera picks it up and they see it, and it extends to both sidewalks…
10. Judie Delman: you have to have an Apple or apparatus to handle this? Harvey: no, only if you want to use the App. Judie: there are a number of people in this community that don’t have it…it leaves them out. Harvey: it’s not dependent on a cell phone; if you do, it’s a plus.
Round Table Discussion:
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[Editor’s note: thankfully, all Directors passed on the opportunity to speak, including, to our surprise, Harvey (Guinea) Pig Ginsberg (or HGPG for short). Then Jeff thanked the Zoom operators and announced that “we are adjourned.” Sue then asked for a motion to adjourn, which Alan made, and Bob seconded. Sue then asked, “all in favor?” and then stated that it was unanimous. The meeting was adjourned at 8:49pm.]
[Editor’s note: A big shout-out to Zoom operator Mike Blackman and his faithful assistant, Anita Goodman, for doing a great job administering the Zoom meeting. We thank them for their continued service and volunteerism. We also send our very good wishes to Arnie Green, whose pretty face we miss seeing in the Zoom board meetings.]
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And so concludes the Board meeting of June 2, 2021; next meeting: June 23, 2021 at 9:30am.
Thought for the Day:
It’s very important to exercise to the best of your ability. Exercise breathes life into your mind and body, releases endorphins, and helps manage stress. It is certainly healthier than coping with stress by overeating the good stuff, although we do find one thing to be a tad odd:
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