During this lull in posting activity the Blog Team would like to make a pitch to the membership. First of all we are pleased with the response to your Blog. Since its inception on August 25 there have been 16 posts and 78 comments. This amount of volume is far beyond our expectations, and we thank you for those contributions. It can be said with certainty that we have all learned a lot about issues that are of immense importance to the owners.
One of the purposes of the Blog is to have a dialog between the Board, the commercial owners, the condo staff, and the association membership. While some dialog has occurred, the tone and demeanor of some posts may be off-putting insofar as encouraging dialog is concerned. Let us not stoop to schoolyard bullying, name calling, or other offensive use of the Blog. If the Board President is consistently bombarded with insults, then don’t expect to see many (or any) responses to our questions and concerns. Keep in mind, too, that the Blog is available to the public. Too much negativity can be very bad - especially for those of you who have units listed for sale.
Of the 94 contributions to the blog only one was positive in their support of the changes and accomplishments made by this Board. Freedom of speech is encouraged here; however, rather than simply condemning the actions of the Board President, we all stand a better chance by attempting to work within the system. There is a pending law suit against the Board. In our society there is a presumption of innocence. If the facts presented by those bringing the suit are upheld in court, then the membership can react accordingly.
In the meantime we thought it would be useful to list some of the accomplishments of this Board of Directors:
Outside Painting
Inside Painting
New Carpeting
Upgrade Air Conditioning
Fire Compliance
Lobby Upgrades
Landscaping
Timely Repairs after Wilma
Improvements to Commercial Areas
Windows Replacement
On the other side of the coin here is a list of your main concerns as evidenced by your Blog contributions:
Double Assessments
The Unit Owner’s Lawsuit vs the Board
Lack of Accounting Audit
Loss of Owner’s Parking Spaces
General Bronze Lien Implications
Enforcement of the Pet Policy
Tiki Bar - Disruptive Events
Use of Common Areas
Hotel Program Abuses
Thank you again for your continued support of your Blog!
Posted by the OM Owner's Blog Team
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Dear Blog Team,
ReplyDelete"SMOKE and MIRROR'S"
Thank you for this forum as it has been an eye opener in many aspects.
Perhaps the reason that so many posts have had the negative vibe is because people need to vent and can't do so in person as they fear retribution.
Since the inception of The Blog, the Posts and Comments have been very fair in content and never did one Board member respond.
Have you, The Blog Team, ever tried to have an intelligent coversation with anyone of The Board members without getting the run around?
Have you, The Blog Team, really questioned the fact, as to why, that out of 94 contibutions ONLY 1 was complimentary?
Think it's because the membership has had enough?
Yes, there are some very ridiculous comments to posts, but there are some really good points made also.
If the President feels bullied, perhaps it is because he doesn't like the taste of his own medicine.
You cite OUTSIDE PAINTING. The buildng looks ridiculous as please note the Penthouse area is still pink as when our President
"negotiated" the painting of the building he didn't include that in the pricing according to the contractor, so they left that out and then The Board had our maintenance men start it and as usual never finish it so the builing is now how many colors?
Inside painting? Are we talking about the constant painting over and over of the unit doors as the numbskulls the hired off the street used latex instead of oil. And let's not forget that they didn't paint the emergency doors.
New carpeting?? It's hidious and filthy as it was bought as a closeout and just thrown down to make it look like something.
Upgraded A/C?? Then why is it still breaking down??
Updated Fire Compliance is the only thing we can seem to agree upon that was done in a forthright manner.
What Lobby upgrades?? Was that not done before The Board took over? Will they ever change the burned out bulbs in the chandelier adjacent to the front desk?
Landscaping? It had to be done as everything was destroyed by Wilma.
Timely repairs after Wilma? Shouldn't they have been timely due to the dire straights set forth by the storm?
Improvements to Commercial Area's? What the BIGGER Tiki bar that encroaches the Pool Area?
The Windows? Ah, yes the biggest scam of all.
Did you know that the President told the Membership that the windows were mandated by Broward County when in fact there NOT.
Go look at all the garbage kept around the builing, stairways, alleyway.
The garbage kept in back of the Tiki Bar. Trash cans, bins, carts, etc.
How about the hotel staff using shopping carts from Winn Dixie as maid carts? Or to transport sheets and towels?
And yes, let's talk about dog's STILL being allowed in the 5 star hotel.
It's just constant abuse
day in / day out and that's why Blog Team, there has been neagtive comments and name calling as the membership is fed up with Pesident's attitude.
Come on Blog Team, go to the building and tell us what you see.
Oh,and by the way, the consensus is, many will no longer participate in The Blog as they don't like the fact that you've remained anonymous.
If you really are trying to bridge the gap and really try to help, show the people who you are and maybe more thoughts and ways to improve things will be brought forth.
While I don't agree, many feel this Blog is a waste of time as they don't know who is behind it.
Thank You.
The Blog Team will remain anonymous. This in no way diminishes our committment to our fellow owners.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, we were "fishing" for more positive content, but rest assured that all posts and comments will be published - provided that they are not offensive - regardless of whether they be positive or negative ones.
We hope that the author of the "SMOKE and MIRRORS" comment, and others within his or her sphere of influence, will continue to contribute to the Blog.
Painting of the building inside and out what a joke, did you see the crew that the board hired? The guys name was Frankie Jr., his wife and daughter, it was so funny I came off the elevator one day and they were painting with no shoes on dipping the brush in the paint and walking 10- 15 feet away to paint the wall, how much did we pay for that job, supposedly, who knows. Also supposedly he got the carpet for the board so they can install in the hall ways which was used carpet. How do you let people work in the building that took money and never finished the job and they were paid in full for this job.
ReplyDeleteWe never received a budget, or financial statement for several years until all of a sudden when we are going to court they make one up on typing paper by Norman Roberts, what is wrong with this picture? Its a ugly picture. Gees where is the management company that they got rid of? and Susan to, shame on the board. The board wants you to think that they do so much in that building well guess what they use all smoke and mirrors to give us an illusion, remember in order to take money you have to make like you are spending it.
ReplyDeleteDo you call used carpeting an accomplishment to the OM come on lets be serious here. Where is the marble, it is bologna what the OM board has done and they have to be stopped immediately. Lets all get on board and get things right here, we have to live here don't we?
ReplyDeleteAgain I applaud the BLog Team and I thank them for the oportunity, for the owners to express their thoughts.It would be nice for the Board to respond to the owners thoughts,it can't be all bad..
ReplyDeleteI must admit that the teams list of Positives can be pulled apart pretty easily
the outside painting,the entire building has not been completed
The inside Painting, the cielings and doors were not painted.
The used carpeting has already been covered
Upgrade to the airconditioning?? When I do get a chance to visit it has not been working reliably.{i was afraid i was geting the gaslight treatment}
Fire Compliance, I was told that the company that was to do the upgrade, was let go halfway thru the project. The building hired the employees of Company {that was let go}to finish the project for cash.They had stopped for lack of payment, and the system is still not up to code.
Lobby upgrades, i too witnessed the barefoot tile instalation people, the install was atrocious. The product was cheap, and they cracked the mirror by the elevator, further enhancing our "ghetto"appeal.
The landscaping seems to be ok, it was a shame that the new palm trees by the pool, installed after wilma Died, what happpened to any warrenty onn them?
Improvement to the commercial areas seem to be self serving to Frank and Charlie.
Windows, thats a whole other post.
Again I am not there day in and day out. I count on my neighbors to supply me with info, or more aparently, I supply them a shoulder to cry on.Again I invite the Board to set me straight, and tell me where my neighbors have led me astray.
There is no positive in managment embezzlment ! ! !
ReplyDeleteSmoke and Mirrors
One of the most prevalent approaches to corporate accounting is to omit the bad and exaggerate the good. There are a number of subjective figures in any financial report that accountants can tweak. For example, a company may choose to exclude costs unrelated to its core operations when figuring its operating cash basis - say an acquisition of another company or purchasing investments - but will still include the revenue from the unrelated ventures when calculating their quarterly earnings. Fortunately, companies have to break down the figures, thus dispersing the smoke and mirrors, but if you don't look beyond a few main figures in a company's financials you won't catch it. (For more on this, see How Some Companies Abuse Cash Flow and Analyze Cash Flow The Easy Way.)