Just Saying...
The Weakender had an interesting picture of a mainline "break" What you saw was a classic pressure break caused by a pressure surge. It is not caused by old worn out pipe or used pipe failure. We can expect less of these kind of breaks, once the booster pump control panel is finished. That work is being done now and is the reason for the current low pressure.
It appears we will receiuve a 600.00 stimulus check just in time for the members to pay it all for another year of stupid spend. That should really help the economy. With another small business loan available, I expect the Treasurer Rudd will again apply for a hardship loan. Poor broke Surfside.
Hearing that the new Business Manager will noy be nominated as ms. personality of the year. Not very friendly, I am told. Poor Heidi and Kiber, have another to train. She gets the bid bucks and the office staff get the work and shaft.
If we didn't have so many tree complaints, written by a few, we would not have to waste money on a compliance officer. We need to require that the tree complaints and any oter, public, including the name of the member making the complaint. I bet the number of complaints would drop dramatically.
57 comments:
Please keep your new bizness manager up north. Took us a couple years to kick her out of Ilwaco, and we don't want to see her back. I feel sorry for who has to report to her as well as anyone's money she manages. Sounds like your Board got what they deserve.
what is up with our paid cop? no mention of him/her in the weekender, I miss Travis's updates
why is our Biz Mang. getting the bum's rush so soon?
With all the complaints being made, I assume that all the retired folks who get a check will be donating it like they did last time? Yeah, right.
They went through and notified all whose trees were above height so if there are any new complaints more than likely it is on properties who have been told they are out of compliance already.
And as someone who cannot handle confrontation, I find it odd that you would promote it.
God only knows what the clowns have been doing the last two months. Two months of no reports. Sure they are busy spending any funds if left. Bet the executive committee (Williams) has been throwing his weight around. Did the new BM get a bonus? Poor committee people, didn't get an appreciation dinner. Did they get a gift card? Maybe no news is better than fake news. Members, just pay up and shut up. Merry Christmas to us.
The Board had proclaimed December a break from enforcement letters. Whether or not they honored that is the question. But no question, the Tree enforcement is an obvious abuse of member's well-being during an impending economic depression. After 2 years of unemployment and lost wages, the Stock Market is a misleading marker of what may come to pass in the coming years. There's no wisdom in just doing the same thing as any year. Restrain stupid spending like the water wagon, and demonstrate that Trustees recognize that we have no clear markers as to where our economy may go in the next 2 years.
So applicability of the covenants should be based on the economy?
I have a plan: Let’s buy a food truck to go along with the WaterWagon so we can also supply food to the members! Imagine a Food Truck towing the Water Wagon up and down J place to feed and water the BOT members due to the Lowlanders property not being accessible and probably wiped out from the possible Tsunami in the next 20 years!
Word has it that the tree committee and the compliance lady will start issuing fines for the trees that have been trimmed, but the branches are on the ground still. Maybe they and the board need a refresher course. Tree limbs are inert material, they compost and break down, they are not solid waste. There is no code for fining someone having branches on their property. You are allowed to compost and this time of year it is not a fire hazard. Perhaps they need to be ready for a lawsuit on this. I know of 2 parties ready to get at them.
Surfside again, needs to get out of the compliance business and leave that to the county compliance officer, Travis!
What Surfside can do is, Clean up the debris that clogs the man made drainage ditch(Seabreeze Lake) and the other lakes and canals. I understand wildlife need shelter, but for the love of God, we do not need branches hanging into these bodies of water clogging it up.
Open the passage ways and let the water out, they are way over what they should be
Go pick on area 52 and get their solid waste and their shitholes cleaned up. Stop with the trees.
There is no problem with the waterways being clogged with branches. The problem is that the outfall pipes are to small to handle the needed flow between tides. The county has offered a solution and surgside has opposed it time and again. WHY? It;s that damn view again. The water run off from N Place stump patches has increased the run off water entering the canal and lake. WHY? Same damn reason of a selfish view.
I mean J Place run off, especially from the Olds stump patch.
The Tree restrictions are unnecessary. The HOA needs to give it a break, for a couple of years, and in so doing, take pressure off of owners to fund thi silly wasteful expense. This is a very expensive requirement that has served to make the community look ridiculous, most of the trees near death and flat on top. Tree enforcrment is T least 90% of the enforcement/Legal expenses annually.
@Steve Cox - your opinion, not all agree.
Covenants should be enforced. We all agreed to them. The economy does not dictate HOA enforcement. 75% of this community is second homes, no one is hurting if second homes are still being purchased in the HOA.
"No one is hurting"? What planet are you from? Plenty are hurting and many are dead. You need to get your head out of the sand, or where ever.
12:19. No the economy doesn’t dictate enforcement, but common sense should! A lot of these homes are retired people and it is their primary home. There is no valid reason to continue this covenant right now. Just because it’s currently a covenant doesn’t make it right! Covenants can be changed. At the next membership meeting there will be a motion to change the by-laws to control the covenants by the members, not just the 9 on the BOT! I will make sure this comes to pass so we can truly find out how the members feel!
Good luck 1:03 you need half the membership to change articles or bylaws
That shouldn’t be hard to do now that we can vote by mail!
Right all 300 votes for 2020 really give me hope. There's over 2000 members its not going to happen
Sit back and watch! You must be a board member to be so negative and not recognize there is a problem!
Buy the mailing list for $100, then send out a mass letter explaining, though sure the BOT will do the same, but they can snag the list for free. Start a gofundme account and post the info here for the list, printing, labels, etc. I'll commit $50 under anonymous NOMOREBOT.
This smugness about the Trée restrictions is very telling. It is expected by the Tree enemies that this will continue in eternity. What is ignored by these same people is that the community doesn't have more than a dozen other compliance matters annually. Some compliance issues are easily corrected, often with no expense involved. The community would have no use for a compliance officer if there were no tree restrictions. In addition, trees grow at a constant rate, so this is not a matter that becomes worse. No one's rights are violated, there is no foul odor, no eyesore, no danger created, no County or State laws violated- and most significantly, no one's view eliminated by allowing a 2 year moratorium on tree topping.
Times change, communities change and grow, peoples needs and desires change, pretty much everything changes and the covenants do not meet the needs or wants of the community any longer. The covenants are antiquated and worked well back when this area was considered a vacation place. Covenants were only needed to serve a minority of residents. The covenants could use some serious revisions and updates to meet the changes of now more full time residency.
BTW- You can get anyone's mailing address from Pacific County property information for free, no need to buy a list.
The problem is the board. Plain and simple. They have no interest in what the embers want. I propose that they all be removed at the July annual meeting. The bylaws can be changed by a simple majority of the present and proxy members. We need a blank paper and make all new covenants that meet the needs and desire of the ENTIRE membership. ZLet's make 2021 a year of change.
6:26 the majority is not on this blog. How on earth do you know what the majority of the 2000+ members want? If the majority felt there were changes needed don't you think we would have seen a majority turn out at any voting event? Even the last members meeting there were only 150 so members, no where near a majority. This blog has about 20 people on it, its not a good representation of what the membership thinks.
So 9:17 exactly how do you know what the majority of the members want? How many members have you talked to? As we have no Avenue for dialogue for members and the BOT, there is no way for anyone to know how the members feel. I really don’t get it that Surfside doesn’t have a method for us to express our feelings and ask questions! And I don’t mean the email questions to the BOT, that’s not open or transparent! Maybe the board could at least think about a questionnaire mailer to all members to obtain a true opinion on the covenants, by-laws and general concerns?
@ 9:39
That would mean that the BOT actually cared what the members thought, felt , or wanted! They have proven the only thing they care about is their little elitist group and spending as much money as they can on stupid sh!t.
The only thing standing in the way of a survey of opinions is for the Board to agree to it. The cost of mailing is too much for individual members to shoulder, but it's small change (so to speak) for the HOA. This has been requested repeatedly and the Board ignores it. The HOA has no clue what the members want overall, and they are fearful that the Tree restrictions will be eliminated if made a community choice.
Well said Steve! Maybe with three new members, they can encourage the others that the wants and needs of the members must be addressed!
Despite all the negative press about the Board you need to keep in mind that they only meet once a month. This is regulated by the state of WA and is the same as we have here in AZ. It is up to the paid staff to do the day to day operations. I'm assuming Heidi still pays the bills and manages the dues while Kimber handles the public and does the secretary stuff. That leaves the Business Manager/Office Manager to do the heavy lifting. Board members don't write checks or balance accounts or anything else. What can anyone accomplish in a 2-4 hour session once a month? What's wrong with board members having coffee sessions to work for the good of SHOA (or my hoa for that matter). The whole system is flawed. Add in the volunteer status and it's even worse. You could find the brightest people on the planet and it just won't work under current laws. Add in that it's a thankless job no matter what.
What is this nonsense 12:19? I've been a member of Surfside for 5 years, and have never seen a survey of any kind. Part of the Board's responsibilities is to set and review policy. The only way to get an accurate read on community opinion is to send out a survey by mail, setting a required number of responses as the goal and signal an end to the response period. An intial date could be set as a goal also, but could be extended. As this is unprecedented, it may take a while to get a target number of responses. It could set an excellent precedent.
Face it, if board wanted our opinion, oh, never mind, forgot where i was,lol
Nice try Larry but the pied piper of Surfside (Cox) has spoken!
1:28......We all know that. With no public meetings the BOT is insulated against any questions they want to ignore. This is a discussion blog - we don't set policy.
The pandemic excuse will cease to prevent interaction with members in a few months. But apathy seems to be a convenience worth the cost for the majority of members. That doesn't change the fact that there ARE things that can be done, and change is necessary in the workings of any organization. A survey would be a great and worthy effort, however long it might take. It would be a good point from which to review policies and our covenants.
Most of this stuff (covenants) is standard to all HOAs, but the same special interest group has been running the show for far too long. Many have applicable skills, but the system has been exploited to maintain the Tree restrictions at all cost, and avoid ANY significant changes in policy of any kind. The HOA is in need of an overhaul, and it's worth discussing how to go about it.
@SteveCox - please explain who has made repeated requests for the board to survey the membership. Were there formal requests that were ignored, requests made via this blog, or is this your opinion? How do you know the board is fearful the tree restrictions will be eliminated as opposed to representing all of the membership desires? As has been pointed out for both sides, this blog only represents a portion of the membership. If the majority wanted change I imagine there would be much more an uproar then the folks coming on this blog, Nextdoor, or via word of mouth through Patrick or any other of you.
"This has been requested repeatedly and the Board ignores it. The HOA has no clue what the members want overall, and they are fearful that the Tree restrictions will be eliminated if made a community choice."
How do I know the Board is fearful of change, public opinion, transparency ? If you are a Board member you are prooving it right now by refusing to identify yourself, while defending the Board. At the same time, if you are a Board member, even you know that the Board is unwilling to survey the membership, unwilling to answer member questions submitted long in advance of meetings, secretive about legal spending, and are preoccupied with tge misconception that there is widespread non-compliance. That is baloney. Want further proof. Identify yourself so you can be addressed appropriately. You demand evidence, but offer no integrity to go with it.
I don’t know why the reluctance to a membership opinion poll? As we haven’t been able to attend meetings nor voice any concerns for almost a year, what can it hurt? I do know from experience before the new proposed lighting covenant change that there are lots of concerns out there among the members. As an active member passing out information about said hearing, I encountered only concerns about our HOA. Almost everyone I gave printed information to, did not even know what I as talking about. Sorry that’s just the way it is! You will of course say it’s up to members to be informed, but reality isn’t that simple! Most people just want to live their lives and not get involved.
@SteveCox - I simply asked you to validate your statements or say if they are your opinion. You came back with I must be a board member. I'm not nor is there anything in my post that "defends" the board.
@JoAnne - other than Mr. Cox's blog post, what makes you think there is reluctance? Not sure if the fact that there hasn't been a survey equates with reluctance.
Back to my original questions.
I don't have anything to prove to anyone who can't even identify themselves. There's nothing to dispute about my statements. An objective of establishing online voting for Surfside was to also enable occasional surveys. Gary Williams dissolved the committee shortly after it established a site. The project wasn't ever taken seriously by the Board, and not given a chance to do a damn thing. The Board clearly did not want online voting to expand the voting base, and didn't want any surveys of community opinion. Tell us why the Board has no interest in what owners want ? We can spend $8000 on a f*ing water tank on wheels, but the HOA will not spend the money to send a survey to the community.
I don't have any reason to tell you anything based solely on your opinion and ability to not answer simple question but deflect to other subjects. Your deflection and shtick is tired.
Can’t spend the money on a stupid survey, we are looking for a $20,000 food truck to go along with the Water Wagon!
Oh, you need your answers don't you. No reason to assume you are a Surfside member, is there ? Nope.
6 comments in less than 12 hrs Cox?
I guess you are really in the need of your therapy today. Lucky us.
There is no way anyone can say with certainty that online voting would have expanded the voting base in a significant amount. Look at the last election where there was mail in voting. Was there a larger response, no. So to say making it online would be different hasn't any basis in fact.
Since the tech committee was brought up, a reminder. They sent out a questionnaire to all of the members asking for input with the boards backing. It was flawed because it allowed people to submit more than one response. Even with this flaw you still had about the same percentage of the membership involvement as you do now answering it and the results didn't show that the majority of the membership wanted online voting. Yet many of the same people on here keep parroting the same unsubstantiated claims that the majority of the membership agrees with them. Unfortunately, the facts tell a different story.
Of course now Cox is going to come after me with his usual accusations of me being a board member like he did above with someone else. Along with that the good all standby about posting anonymous, something he always does when people give facts or opinions that differ from his. Funny how he doesn't feel about those anonymous comments from those few who do agree with him, isn't it?
There is no way that anything wortbwhile can be successful without actually trying. Online voting was enabled by the Tech Comm., ran a trial survey of no significance, just as a trial run, and was promptly dissolved because Prez Gary Williams was mad at the Comm. Chairman. An entire Comm. Met for months to set this up, and those Comm. members deserved more respect. There was no serious attempt to try online voting- none took place - and the Board had resisted approving the Comm. For many months. It isn't realistic to think that a single election would imstantly change member's participation. Only having that option along with mail-in for a couple of years or more will make a difference. Many folks do practically everything online, so it is really a no-brainer that this would catch on over time. There was nothing at stake in the last election, so it's ridiculous to use the mail-in total as an indicator of anything. My original point is valid, and you've offered no evidence otherwise. The Board has opposed online & mail-in voting, and avoids transparency wherever they can. There are obvious examples, legal ecpenses primary among them.
People are fine with covenants until the day they are the victim of the stupid. Whether it be trees or some other silly complaint from a bored person driving around looking to cause trouble and find things they don't like. Did you know, anything you want to do on your property below three feet high you don't need "permission" but if it's above three feet you have to file a "permission" slip? Yeah, things like that are stupid.
BTW- Steve has a right to defend himself. If you don't like what he has to say, scroll on by like the rest of us do.........Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, cheers
Anonymous 10:36, couldn’t agree more! Not a second thought was given by us in 2008 to buy here in a HOA as we were living in one and had already sold in another. Until we received that complaint in 2018 about our lights! Boy was that a wake up call! Never did we want to get so involved in the process of correcting and appealing a covenant, but we sure learned a lot of lessons. Number one being everyone isn’t treated the same under the very same covenants!
Also to the online voting, not everyone has or uses the internet, but everyone uses the US Mail. We have to start somewhere!
There has never been any intention of limting voting to online. Any attempt at changing policy tends to get this knee-jerk reaction of fear/paranoia. Look at what I said. "Online AND mail-in" voting. The point is to get more members to participate. Mail-in at least gets rid of the proxy nonsense. If you want to vote, do it yourself or forget it. The proposal 2 years ago was to set-up online voting, and send owners ballots as well. It isn't radical. Online is very common in HOAs nationwide.
Oh I didn’t mean only online. Reread your comments and yes without the proxy votes it will take some adjustment time. I do know my new neighbor doesn’t have internet and I’m sure there are others.
Like I stated previously, with three new members maybe there’s some interest into getting ideas and opinions from the members.
I didn't mean to come off so harsh. But specifics make a difference on this issue. The objective is to broaden participation community-wide, particularly in elections.
Just some more facts for those that are not aware.
The tech committee was dissolved by a board vote, not because of Williams alone. It was not unanimous. A couple trustees who Cox likes to complain about constantly voted against while one in particular he praises voted for.
Another fact. One of those committee members was Olds, who put it a bunch of his free time while the trustee who pushed for the committee didn't even show up for meetings.
Btw, were we not also voting for or against the budget proposal? You consider that nothing?
Your point may be valid in your mind but actual evidence says otherwise.
Forgot one last thing. The survey asked the community if they were interested in having online voting, something YOU are pushing for. How is that of no significance?
You have the right to complain but at least be consistent.
back @ 5:40 on Dec 22...Not sure when you last took a good look at any of the lakes, drainage ditches or canals, but many many over grown trees and brushes have branches hanging into the water. Trim the dang things! It makes no sense to have a tree height limit, yet exclude trees close to the water ways. total nonsense, but what can we expect when Peggy and Pam Harris are on the committee.
The survey was only a trial run of the newly set-up site. The project got a lot of crap from people on the blog, apparently Trustees or friends of. Very few members visited the site, nor answered the survey. Bottom line, no effort has been made to survey member opinions, and the HOA has no idea what the prevailing preferences of members are. It would need to be done by mail initially, but yes, I think it is essential that we establish a site for voting and occasional surveys of member opinion. Making voting easier would encourage more participation, as would a serious effort to hear member opinions through surveys.
Mr Cox pied piper, you need to take a break now! Please refrain from any more input, your broken record has played enough. Give us a break well into the new year, thanks concerned member who you have picked on many times!
Anonymous demands. That's funny. I'll comment whenever I choose. That's a promise little pooh.
Of course you will, just like Trump will always tweet. That's what you get when you deal with narcissistic blowhards.
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