Did You Know? (According to TAJ By-Laws)

Did you know that according to the TAJ By-Laws, the Secretary (not the property manager) is to "keep the minutes?" Did you also know that for the past few years the property manager (not the secretary) has been taking the minutes at meetings and later typing them for the BOD? (not since Janet Rickenbacker was doing it years ago was a BOD member taking and typing the minutes) Did you know that keeping the minutes can be a time-consuming task that requires revisions, corrections, and confirmations? (not to mention typing skills)

We have always had a problem getting meeting minutes posted on the web in a timely manner. If you look on the TAJ website you will see that there is only one set of meeting minutes in 2008. Now that the BOD membership has been changed, it would also be a great time to change some BOD traditions. The three newly elected Directors each touted the need for improved communications between the BOD and the community. This is an opportunity to put those words into real action. If BOD members are willing to take on the responsibility to do the work, the minutes could be taken and published more quickly than has been happening in the past (thereby keeping the community more informed more quickly). What is more, now that the BOD is bilingual, the minutes could be published in both English and Spanish (helping to provide information to the non-English speaking Spanish speakers).

What do you say, Board of Directors? Is anyone willing to step up and take on the hard work of fulfilling campaign promises? Is anyone willing to take on the duties of Secretary as outlined in the By-Laws?

¿Sabías? (Según ordenanzas municipales de TAJ)

Sabías que según las ordenanzas municipales de TAJ, la secretaria (no el encargado de característica) está al " ¿guardar los minutos? " ¿También sabías que por los últimos años el encargado de característica (no la secretaria) ha estado tardando los minutos en las reuniones y las ha estado mecanografiando más adelante para el TÍO? ¿(no puesto que Janet que Rickenbacker lo hacía hace años era un miembro del TÍO que tardaba y que mecanografiaba los minutos) sabías eso que guardaba los minutos puedes ser una tarea desperdiciadora de tiempo que requiere revisiones, correcciones, y confirmaciones? (sin mencionar habilidades que mecanografían)

Hemos tenido siempre un problema el conseguir de minutos de reunión fijados en la tela a tiempo. Si miras en el Web site de TAJ verás que hay solamente un sistema de minutos de reunión en 2008. Ahora que se ha cambiado la calidad de miembro del TÍO, también sería un gran rato de cambiar algunas tradiciones del TÍO. Los tres directores nuevamente elegidos cada uno importunaron la necesidad de las comunicaciones mejoradas entre el TÍO y la comunidad. Esto es una oportunidad de poner esas palabras en la acción verdadera. Si los miembros del TÍO están dispuestos a adquirir la responsabilidad de hacer el trabajo, los minutos se podrían llevar y publicaron más rápidamente que ha estado sucediendo en el pasado (de tal modo la custodia de la comunidad informó más más rápidamente). Por otra parte, ahora que el TÍO es bilingüe, los minutos se podrían publicar en inglés y español (ayudando a proporcionar la información a los altavoces españoles no hispanohablantes).

¿Qué dices, junta directiva? ¿Está cualquier persona dispuesto a intensificar y a adquirir el trabajo duro de las promesas satisfacientes de la campaña? ¿Está cualquier persona dispuesto a adquirir los deberes de secretaria conforme a las ordenanzas municipales?

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BY - LAWS OF THE TOWNHOUSES AT JACARANDA CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION INC.

6.4 The Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Board and the Membership, which minutes shall be kept in a businesslike manner and available for inspection by Members and Directors at all reasonable times. He shall have custody of the seal of the Association and affix the same to instruments requiring a seal when duly signed. He shall keep time records of the Association, except those of the Treasurer, and shall perform all of the duties incident to the office of Secretary of the Association as may be required by the Board or the President. The Assistant Secretary, if any, shall perform the duties of the Secretary when the Secretary is absent and shall assist the Secretary.

(You can find the TAJ By-Laws and other important documents on the official TAJ website. There is a link to the website on this blog in the left column.)

ORDENANZAS MUNICIPALES DE LAS CASAS URBANAS EN JACARANDA CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION INC.

6.4 La secretaria guardará los minutos de todas las reuniones del tablero y la calidad de miembro, que minuta será mantenida una manera seria y disponible para la inspección por Members y los directores en todas las veces razonables. Él tendrá custodia del sello de la asociación y puso iguales a los instrumentos que requieren un sello cuando debido está firmado. Él guardará los expedientes de tiempo de la asociación, a menos que los del tesorero, y realizará todo el incidente de los deberes a la oficina de la secretaria de la asociación como puede ser requerido por el tablero o el presidente. La secretaria auxiliar, eventualmente, realizará los deberes de la secretaria cuando la secretaria es ausente y asistirá a la secretaria.

(Puedes encontrar las ordenanzas municipales de TAJ y otros documentos importantes en el Web site del funcionario TAJ. Hay un acoplamiento al Web site en este blog en la columna izquierda.)

BOD Member's Response To A Campaign Flyer

There is a flyer circulating from WH claiming some items as “facts” which are not true. If Ms. Hill is not going to check her facts for the election, can we trust her when she is on the Board? And who is deceptive here –

Did Ms. Hill tell any of you that she was from Building 1? And that 2 other Board Members are from Building 1 – including one who never shows up? Isn’t that deceptive not to tell you?

Isn’t it interesting she chose to attack my wife – who has done nothing to her – through me? I am not running – why is she attacking me?

Isn’t it interesting she doesn’t dispute the items – like a typical politician she deflects, instead of answering – be careful when asking her a question, you won’t get a straight answer.

Just for the record, no I do not want Theresa Levy to be on the Board. John Lovell did tell me after the January meeting in front of his house while discussing the FPL lights that he was going to have her resign after the election, when he could appoint her replacement.

The only time Theresa has voted has been when John Lovell calls her on his cell phone regarding a Building 1 issue (see board meeting 2007 board meeting minutes to verify – they are online).

Just for the record, I have no interest on being on the board – as someone much more famous than I said: if nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve….but I do support my wife, as I would hope everyone here in the community would support their spouses or significant others. And like everyone else in the community, I hope you feel the same sense of outrage when someone attacks your spouse or significant other in the manner Ms. Hill, Ms. Johnson and Mr. Lovell have.

Ms Hill, the “facts” about delinquencies and foreclosures are scare tactics and unfortunately not true - you are misreading the reports, and as a real estate agent you should be ashamed of yourself. Are you making a profit by selling homes in here? Are you trying to get us to sell out faster and at lower prices for a reason? The last time a real estate agent worked here in the office they were getting sweetheart deals and owners felt obligated to use them – is that what we can expect too?

The wording and typos in the flyer indicate this was not written by Ms. Hill – the spelling of Valerie’s name as “Valery” has been previously done by a current Board Member also from Building 1. The unique capitalization of words is that person’s trademark style in all of his hyperbole and lies he spreads. By the way, Valerie DeRoy is both her maiden and married name – you can check her passport, our deed, her driver’s license. Valerie has never been known as Mrs. Bryan Sklar – and that is her preference, and I respect her for it. It is like saying you did not know Nicole Kidman was married to Tom Cruise – or Angelina Jolie with Brad Pitt – I mean, can you get any more petty Ms. Hill, Ms. Johnson and Mr. Lovell?

Just like WH is both your maiden and married name, even though you are married to Mr. Marlon Dunlop – are you Mrs. Dunlop or Ms. Hill???

Ms. Hill you are claiming assessments should be $10,000 - $15,000 per unit, similar to what your building paid back in 2001/2002. However, the assessments for Buildings 16, 20 and 26 were about $10,000 per unit owner (my building was $13,000 per owner including termite damage) – and only for the back of the building. Building 2 was about $10,000 per unit in 2001, and they had to have almost all of the work redone in 2007 that John Lovell approved, plus all the sun decks and most of the front done for about $20,000 per unit. Buildings 16 and 26 were about $10,000 per unit for just the back of the building, and all that material rotted because Mr. Lovell’s contractor never sealed the HardiePanel properly. Buildings 12, 13 and 18 were about $13,000 per unit to start, and by the time they were done they were at $25- $30.000 each.

If half a building costs $10,000 - $15,000 per unit then how much does a full building cost per unit? And if half a building cost that to do it wrong 5-7 years ago, what should it cost to do it right with a state licensed contractor on a sealed bid process, instead of a no-bid contract with an unlicensed contractor Mr. Lovell hired?

Tell us Ms. Hill, where are we bleeding cash? Perhaps if you look at Building 1 – which spent and extra $11,000 by their own choice that was unnecessary on their roof with three engineering firms, false statement made to the City of Plantation on forged Association letterhead by John Lovell which nearly cost one engineer his license – every person in this association knew your roof had to be replaced, and even your own roofing company (who only used subcontractors and never did the work himself) said our prices from Needham and Bange were better than he could give you.

Tell us Ms. Hill…if you are spending an extra $11,000+ on your roof unnecessarily, when you fought for two years NOT to replace a leaky roof that every other owner in the community knew had to be replaced (your building had the worst roof here - 43 sheets of bad plywood compared to 5-10 for every other building and an eyesore on University Drive), when your roofing bill is $7,000 per unit and everyone else is $5,000 – how are YOU, Theresa and John going to stop the bleeding?

The claim that I received the lowest number of votes “in the history of the Association.” Is not true either. In 2003 John Lovell received the lowest number of votes that year (42), Prentis Johnson received 48 and I received 56. In 2004 Carol Hazan received 16 votes, Esther Leacock 19 votes – I received the 2^nd highest at 66 votes. I am not sure where Ms. Hill comes up with her facts, but these are numbers on the web page for the Association. While I may not have received the most votes in 2006 when I ran (those minutes are missing from the web page) it was not the lowest ever. Again, these were the same comments used by a Board Member from Building 1 on the records last year, which is on tape. If you can’t be honest, at least be original.

Anyone who spoke to me in 2006 when I ran knew I was running to keep one person OFF the board, and I did not campaign. This worked, and John Lovell – who had spent over 6 years on the Board in the past 10 years – was kept off the board. At least for a year. Good thing the State is imposing term limits on Board Members – why would anyone want to be running every single year like John did unless he has something to hide…or steal?

When the vacancy became open on the Board in 2006, two members of the Board asked me to fill the vacancy. I informed the Board that they had to put it out to the entire Association, and if no one else wanted to run I would, otherwise give it to someone else. No one else even put their name in for the post vacated by Darcy Williams. This can be verified with Janet Rickenbacker, Prentis Johnson, Steve Frahm and Ben Oderbralsky – there was even a meeting at Prentis Johnson’s house with Prentis, Steve and Janet who asked me to fill the vacancy.

HardiePanel was first used in 2001/2002 and was approved for us by John Lovell of Building 1 when he was in his 3^rd term in office as Vice President on the Board – specifically on Buildings 16, 19, 20 and 26. I would have hoped the Mr. Lovell – when he did a no-bid contract in violation of the Florida Statutes (see August 2002 meeting minutes) with a firm that was not licensed by the state – did his due diligence as other boards since have done. Two engineering firms and our association attorney gave their professional opinions to the Board that HardiePanel – while looking like T1-11 or stucco – was the better choice of material for our buildings. Ms. Hill needs to know her history better and get her “facts” right, especially when being coached by the puppet master who originally approved the product in the Association!!.

In Sterling Village Condominium, Inc. v. Breitenbach, 251 So. 2d 685, 687 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971), the court stated that "the term `material alteration or addition' means to palpably or perceptively vary or change the form, shape, elements or specifications of a building from its original design or plan, or existing condition, in such a manner as to appreciably affect or influence its function, use, or appearance." In addition, Ms. Hill as a Real Estate agent selling condos and looking for a seat on the board should be well aware the material changes are permitted, such as the change to brick pavers in 2001 by the Board. Actions taken by the board within the scope of its authority are presumptively correct, and a court generally will not substitute its judgment for that of the directors, absent a showing of mismanagement, fraud, or breach of trust. 8 Fla. Jur. 2d Business Relationship, Sections 290, 363; Lake Region Packing Association, Inc. v. Furze, 327 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 1976); International Insurance Co. v. Johns, 874 F. 2d 1447 (11th Cir. 1989); Yarnell Warehouse & Transfer, Inc. v. Three Ivory Bros. Moving Co., 226 So. 2d 887 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969). This deference given to the board is known as the “business judgment rule”.

Ms. Hill - I have put in financial controls to stop the bleeding of money. In fact, Building 1 had to have a special audit (August/Sept 2002 minutes) because Mr. Lovell had the unlicensed contractors perform work on his units…..which he billed back to the building! He had to repay $5,000 to the Association (September 2002 meeting minutes). In 2002 we were assessed $1,000 each because the Association was bankrupt – I put in the controls to reduce our delinquencies from almost $200,000 to under $100,000. I was the one who put in place two signatures on the checks, and other financial controls. In fact Ms. Hill, it was I who found your funds for your gutters from several, years ago, and insured that each building has the proper reserve funds in it.

Regards,

Bryan Sklar

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Editor's note: the initials WH were substituted by the editor as a measure to respond to certain reasonable requests.