Saturday, July 31, 2021

COMPLIANCE OFFICER...sends violation letter

Darryl Groner... Initial friendly reminder?

The members voted for a tree violation moratorium at the Annual Meeting, yet they continue.  Many or most of us have never seen or had a covenant violation letter.  These people seem targeted because of their opposition to procedure violations and support for change with newly elected Board Trustees.  This is a prime example of why members are afraid to speak out publicly.  What a shame.

Section 4 of the employee standards of conduct state:
#5  PUBLIC IMAGE
A professional appearance is important anytime that you come in contact with members or potential members.  Employees should be well groomed and dressed appropriately for all business operations and specifically for their position and job responsibilities. 

Not only is this officer in violation of those standards, but also the Labor & Industries (L&I) for working in a public right of way. (Oysterville Road)  I am also sure that our insurance would not cover us if hit by a car.  Maybe it was declared a casual day.  If you look out your window and see this looking back at you, expect a "friendly" letter. 


 

Violation letter, 2 pages...click on each to enlarge:






77 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a joke! Time to get serious with these jokers.

On a side note, are you sure that tree is within your four corners? Looks like it might be a County tree from the picture, not that it matters because WE VOTED.

Anonymous said...

Sure does look like a county tree from the picture. My pegs are about 2-3 feet in from the utility boxes most pegs are. You will notice some real short driveways because many builders will not pour past the property line. Some people have driveways in the right of way and will have to absorb the cost should it ever need to be torn up. Check around for your property pegs. This one might be on them!

Anonymous said...

There's something very seriously wrong with this BOT. Is it in the air? The water? Or are they really just some basic ignoramuses?

Steven Wallace said...

Seems to me the Location of the tree is irrelevant. We voted not to get harassed regarding trees, Period. For any reason.

Anonymous said...

Ric sent an email to someone earlier stating no letters or fines were going out... guess Tracy decided to target someone , again!

Anonymous said...

This is the main reason I dislike this place. These bast@%&s have NO HONOR! ZERO, NONE. Their word is trash!

Steve Cox said...

The Board as a whole has not made any decisions about anything since the Annual Meeting. The Board President has not followed through with haulting enforcement. He did not commit to it in his statement in the Weekender, instead offered no clear position, or status of the moratorium.

It seems unlikely Ric would excuse one owner's tree compliance status rather than issue a moratorium letter to be sent to all that are considered in violation.

Tracy isn't likely to be sending non-compliance letters without the permission of Ric Minich. We assume she is aware that members understand a moratorium on cutting is in place.




Anonymous said...

The only violation I see is that the compliance officer is violating L&I safety requirements. We can make a simple on line complaint to Labor and Industries.

Anonymous said...

Neither of them knows what they are doing. It's a big shitshow

JoAnne said...

Well interesting you should mention violation! Perhaps the $6000 or so software should have been checked for accuracy to our covenants! I’ll say no more, pull out your covenants and compare!

Anonymous said...

You can buy the best software there is, but if they are not trained or qualified, it is not used properly. That should be a requirement for a business manager. Time after time and program after program have failed. They keep blaming it on the software. Thousands of dollars have been spent and the result is failure after failure. They, the board, need to terminate the so call IT specialist. Just more wasted member money.

Anonymous said...

Any employee should be carrying picture ID. It's a no brainer! How about business cards for him? Leave one so people know you have been there. Also a no brainer!

Anonymous said...

856 - I spoke to the IT specialist at the annual meeting.
Why don't you try to work for a schizophrenic Board? She's been pulled in multiple directions, with inconsistent direction and shifting priorities. I liked her initial design of the revamped website, and her proposed direction.

Let's give her a chance with a stable Board. I only speak from 40 years or so experience in the IT business.

Anonymous said...

I am virtually positive the J Placers are spinning in the background, with their usual threats & bullying. It will NOT prevail!

I hope this Board will see it for what it is, and Ric will get in line with the will of the membership. That will was pretty clear at the annual Meeting.

Anonymous said...

It would be nice if the BM would stream the meeting and make it available to all the community, but I understand she is done streaming. She is clearly not for all the members

Anonymous said...

If we have the power to remove him. Let's do it!

Anonymous said...

which him?

Anonymous said...

Ric

Anonymous said...

Yes, he needs to go. Maybe his fellow board members will remove him as president. We won't reelect him next year. He is just another Gary Williams. Maybe worse.

Anonymous said...

He won't run next year

Anonymous said...

Good, he can resign right now too so we can get an honorable person as president.

Anonymous said...

I'm virtually positive you don't know what you are talking about 10:46 and making undocumented accusations.

Anonymous said...

321 - the history of this HOA for the last decade proves me out. Evidence the facts that more members voted and proposed motions designed to take our association back.

Now who is it that doesn't know what they are talking about?

Ronda F said...

@5:07 we need all the support we can get at the board meeting August 21st. There are a few in the group saying these motions were not legal. Let's be heard again.

Anonymous said...

What time do we need to be there Ronda?

Anonymous said...

Not legal? They better have the attorney on the phone on Aug 21st. There's some explaining to do.

Anonymous said...

Despicable!

Do these few people have names? We need to be sure to NEVER vote for the despicable few! Literally makes me SICK TO MY STOMACH to be treated this way. When are we hiring counsel? I'm ready to stop this crap.

Ronda F said...

9am August 21st at the HOA office

Anonymous said...

I can tell you it's not the new group claiming it's not legal. Look at Ric and Tracy for starters

Anonymous said...

Based on the job description for our business manager, the position is no more than a glorified secretary. Which is obviously what the BOT wants, the qualifications required would barely get you an entry level job in any multi-million dollar business. Why as an HOA should we be paying this person that can’t keep a job elsewhere, upwards of 60K per year?

Anonymous said...

You know what irritates me the most? Is these posts are started and then all we end up with is a bunch of shout outs and no real information is provided to those of us who are on the same side.

Is Surfside United planning on sending another mailer to residents so we know what is happening and how we can help?

I don't find this blog very helpful and frankly, the verbal fodder is causing too much stress and is making me feel like just throwing my hands up in surrender.

Why post something and then not answer questions people ask? We know nothing, nada, except someone got a letter on July 30th. Are we still chopping down the landscape? What is happening and WHY? are we being ignored?

Just being told to 'show up' at the August meeting is not helpful and if numbers are needed, another mailer is the only way to get it. I just can't waste another Saturday if I can't be given an objective and one that will actually stick.

Hopefully you will understand my frustration. We heard, we came, we spoke and now are getting a big nose thumbing?

What the hell is the point of covenants, guidelines, rules and regulations if the only ones enforced are cherry picked out of the manuals by a few arrogant people?

Really, something other than this blog needs to happen to relieve my ambivalence. This is just not enough......

Steve Cox said...

Why would you think there is an elaborate system waiting for your inquiry ? It should have been clear that the status-quo folks of which Olds, deLeest, Williams, Minich, are all aligned would certainly play the legal reprisal threat card. Complete b.s. in this case. The membership has the right to change covenants and alter policy, no matter how much these folks try and deny our rights.

There IS NO matter for the legal system to hammer out here, as this is legal exercise of our rights to change or eliminate any given covenant. This may take some work, and a few groups of folks are working on it. Different people have made different contributions. a work in progress.

Steven Wallace said...

Good Point 10:31, I asked the question and no one seems to have an answer : "How many mandatory tree compliance letters were sent after the July meeting thru July 30?' Even with names redacted we should have access to this stat.

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding me? There are 5 pages of tree complaints on record. The people on J who pushed this whole enforcement issue at no expense to themselves. Now have a board President who lives on J Place. He should recluse himself from the tree covenant issue. If this new President was honest and fair why not put the tree covenant to a vote of the membership. He will not because it is not in his best interest.

JoAnne said...

We aren’t talking about previous complaints, only the ones since July 10th. That information is easily obtainable on the new computer software system. Please publish

Ronda F said...

@ Joanne, I just emailed the entire board and included Daryl asking this question. If..IF I get an answer we all will know.

JoAnne said...

We’ll see! Thank you!

Ronda F said...

34 proactive tree complaints since July 10th, per Tracy

Steve Cox said...

This shows how obsessed the HOA has become with continuing this madness. The primary function of this intensive enforcement is to keep the majority of the members in fear of the might of the HOA. It has nothing to do with rational thinking, and certainly NOTHING to do with views.

The Tree Comm. chair is chompin at the bit, I'm sure. gotta get back to cuttin and sendin notices ! The Shorepines grow about a foot a year, if they still have enough life in them to grow. The community can wait while a moratorium is put in place as mandated by the members.

Anonymous said...

Well this is certainly a slap in the face to all the members who clearly voted for change. There is no question as to the message that was sent at the July 10th meeting. Very disturbing that message is being ignored. However, I have great confidence that the new board will do the right thing and get a moratorium in place at the August 21st meeting. Those 34 members should not take any action until after the August 21st meeting.

Anonymous said...

Many of us need this blog to get any information available regarding this runaway BOT. I implore people to stop using an alienating tone in your comments. We are coming from some of the most stressful life situations ever experienced and now have to add an insubordinate HOA BOT and staff and this is disturbing to say the least. Many people are at their peak of complete frustration, confusion, sadness, and despair. We come here to try and gain some semblance of control in our worlds but are finding even this, simple HOA membership, is a complete sham riddled with disrespect and chaos, with no regard for rules set forth in the member meeting bylaws.

I know some will feel compelled to launch a defense response, possibly with additional demeaning sentences, but just save it. Honestly, we all know some people have no insight into this flaw. Just help people, that's it, save the snide comments.

Anonymous said...

Good advice @11:24. A response is only as healthy as the recipients mental state at the time of reading. It's always best to recognize the tone of the subject and leave any double meaning remarks out of a response. Read and reread and edit before sending is my motto. Many misunderstandings happen when the subject matter is sensitive.

Anonymous said...

Does this Tree committee and the management realize that they are leaving the organization open to litigation by deliberately ignoring the will of the membership?

JoAnne said...

Well we had a nice surprise for us today at the post office! Certified letter from Surfside HOA notifying us of the tree violation they say we have! So much for the members vote on July 10th! I’m unable to put a copy here.

Anonymous said...

Jo-Ann's response shows clearly that the organization continues to ignore the will of its membership. I hope they enjoy litigation, cuz it will be coming hard and fast.

Anonymous said...

daryl must not have liked that oh so unattractive picture of himself so he worked overtime to get an official letter mailed.

daryl, just assume you are ALWAYS ON CAMERA. What a fool. We DID NOT authorize the hiring of your position. We DO NOT want to pay for someone to harass us. There's plenty of great paying jobs around right now. Unless you are a glutton for punishment, You should probably quit while you're ahead.

Ronda F said...

Well.... I have copied and pasted part of an email from Ric to myself...seems people cannot tell the truth..
Under my oath as a Trustee and President, the Business Manager is following my instructions to "enforce the By-Laws and Restrictive Covenants of Surfside HOA". By dispatching the Surfside BOT compliance officer, she is doing her job. No letters to members are being sent, no fines to members are being issued. In that regard there is compassion, the will of a few of the people has been heard.

Anonymous said...

So Ric said "no letters are being sent" but yet they are???? He also said
"In that regard there is compassion, the will of a few of the people has been heard." It was not the "will of a few". It was the decision of the majority. The August 21st meeting can't come soon enough. I fear a lot of damage will be done in the next 3 weeks. Hope I'm wrong.

Anonymous said...

Just curious. Are all of the new 34 proactive tree complaints from Section 2 - Ocean Woods & Division 16? According to the HOA as noted below.......

We will be starting our new routine compliance routes. The HOA has been divided up into 10 Sections, which contain the Surfside Divisions.

The route was randomly drawn and will be done in the following order:

• Section 2 – Ocean Woods & Division 16

There shouldn't have been any new complaints given the fact that the membership wants a moratorium and review of the covenant first. But given the fact that it seems they are going ahead in spite of that fact, are they following their own documented procedure?

Anonymous said...

Will of the few? Ha, this being my first member meeting, I am told this was record breaking numbers in attendance. With that being said, when member attendance was lesser in previous years, were motions denied and not carried out? We are dealing with unethical, uneducated, traitors.

Anonymous said...

No safety reflective vest being worn. L&I violation.

Anonymous said...

Rhonda F,

So in reading Ric’s email that you copied and pasted, I take this as the current President is telling the members to kiss his A## and he will do as he pleases.

Also that the BM who is an employee of the Surfside HOA and is employed by the members and not a member of said HOA is disregarding the vote of the membership.

I hope come 8-21 when we have the first meeting of the new BOT that the members will show up and stand up for our rights!

Ric Minnic needs to resign, Tracy needs fired without cause, ( meaning no severance or additional pay) Daryl needs fired as per Tracy.

It is time to look at all parts of this HOA and the legalities of their actions in the last 10 years to start!

Ronda F said...

Well it definetly is a case of what he says and does is two different things. Is this the kind of president we want?
I do not.

Icegoalie said...

As to information about quorums. Once a quorum is declared, all business under that Quorum is legal. If people leave, and total membership is perceived to be underneath that quorum limit, a point of order has to be raised with that issue. At that point a count could be made, and a decision on whether a quorum exists could be reached.

None of this happened until after the Motions were proposed, seconded, and passed. Therefore, any discussion of an illegal quorum is invalid.
This is straight out of Robert's Rules of Order, which was identified as the governing document for the meeting, at the outset, by the president.

I'm sure if our former board president had not been in a state of shock from his not being re-elected he would have dealt with this earlier. That didn't happen. Motions that were proposed and passed, including the moratorium on the tree committee, are valid.

JoAnne said...

Icegoalie you are correct! The 34 letters that have gone out since July 10th need an official followup letter telling the member to ignore! Think of the members who don’t follow this blog! And there are many! We have no communication from the office and we’re just supposed to accept this is being done above board!
These covenants need to be reviewed before being so strongly enforced! Item in point, the lots showing on the platt map that are allowed a higher height don’t exist! They are the driveway for the condos and the berm between us and the parking lot. The lot 20,21 and 22 (us) show 16 ft! This with a 40ft condo to the west of us! The covenants don’t follow common sense but are being enforced with a vengeance by those that want the trees out of their way!

Anonymous said...

It's unrealistic to use this antiquated method of in person 'quorum' for voting matters. This HOA doesn't behave like a legal government authority in it's entirety, therefore, this method should be abolished too. We are living in completely different times. Why are we leaving people out of the decision making? It's not realistic to believe all 2000+ members can attend nor does this HOA have space to accommodate such numbers. Voting on matters needs to be inclusive and changed to meet the times.

However,

If this is the method preferred and is chosen to continue it should rule as follows:

Don't attend the annual member meeting? You are handing over your power to those who do attend and VOTE ON MOTIONS. Don't attend, you are bowing to the power of the votes passed. If you don't attend, or don't mail in your ballot, you are going to live passively with the results of whatever happens.

I went, I stayed the ENTIRE TIME, I voted, and now you are trying say I didn't see or experience things correctly? Stop trying to rewrite history or force your alternate reality on people, I know what I saw, I know what I heard, and the trees won!

Time to remove some people from charge.

George Miller said...

Just my opinion on voting.
With around 500 members voting, that seems a pretty good representation. Yes, it would be great if everyone voted, but I would rather have less voting if they are not informed on the issues. Those who have made the effort to attend or even vote, seem to be those who care and are more informed. More transparency might help to bring more voting. It is a shame that more members seem to only vote when they are mad about something. Pretty negative, I would say. If you listen and are out and about the community, you can get a pretty good reading on how many members feel. Seems clear to me, without a survey, that the members are not happy with the present association.

The status quo group are trying to keep their power hold by challenging a quorum and anything they can to keep the member will from prevailing. The new Board has their work cut out for them. They need to make it clear at the first August Board meeting, the old ways of doing things are over. Their first action of electing Munich as President was a bad start. He is nothing more than a continuation of a Gary Williams. The members twice rejected Williams. I know it was a vote count strategy, but in my opinion, a bad strategy. He should be removed as Board President.

In my opinion, Larry Raymer should be elected Board President. He has the knowledge and experience to lead us through this mess and do it following the rules and procedures. He got 4 votes for President at the 9 Board meeting following the Annual Meeting.

Anonymous said...

Minich will have one shot. If he waffles on the Motions, the only question is who will get to the County recorder with their lawsuit first.

Anonymous said...

Even if Minich waffles on the motions, the trustees can make board motions. Hoping the majority of the board will proceed with what the members have put forth.

Anonymous said...

1134 - I spoke to the IT person after the meeting. Electronic balloting could easily be established through the new website. It would be easy, secure, and would give all members easy access to vote, not just the ones that are local.

Steven Wallace said...

The New president described a "Honeymoon period", doesn't that require a beginning with some semblance of affection? Maybe a better term would be "Hostage Situation"??

Icegoalie said...

Steven, it's been that way for a decade now. We're only coming out from it now due to the efforts of people like George, who kept these issues in the limelight when people relentlessly tried to sweep them under the rug.

"Good guys win, every once in awhile..." Jimmy Buffett

Anonymous said...

Love it "Hostage situation" is EXACTLY the feeling!

Steve Cox said...

Keep in mind that the president does NOT vote except to break a tie. What is going on now is a temporary setback. Don't act rashly. Without a united majority like exists currently, nothing new can prevail. That's my view George. Yes, Larry can fill this role as president easily, but things may work better as they are. It's too soon to tell.

Anonymous said...

Get rid of Ric and Tracy

George Miller said...

It is not acting rashly to remove the Board President. There is nothing written in the documents on how the Board President will vote. Over the years I have seen it both ways and even combined as for the Presidents voting. I saw Williams only vote to break a tie and other times vote. My view is based on being on the Board and attending more Board meetings than the Board members. All but one that is. Chris Hanson, as I recall, never missed a meeting. The worst for missing meetings was Jim Flood.

It is time and the opportunity is there now to make decisive decisions with a "new and improved" Board. "More of the same" is no longer acceptable and that needs to be made clear from the start NOW!. That is my view and I have viewed it from every angle. "been there and done that".

I hear from a lot of different people here in Surfside. I have more trust than the Trustees. I am told things in confidence of who told me. I have never betrayed a confidence, and never will. It's a code of honor thing with me. Many people want me to know all that is going on. Many times I see it as a cry for help and frustration. That is one of the reasons I have this blog. If I say it, "You can take it to the bank".

I hear all the time, those who say I lie and not telling the truth. That is flat out not right. There are comments that are lies and comments made out of ignorance. Most comments are not lies.

The new Board President, right out of the gate, has shown disrespect for Board members, new and old. He has shown disrespect for the members also. He is an impediment to moving forward in a fair and respectful way. He does not get it, that we are a Board of 9. He lacks the ability to lead in a fair and impartial way. And for the record and threats. Telling the truth, is not slander.

He should resign as Board President, and if he won't do that, the honorable thing, he should be removed as President by the 8 remaining Board Trustees. I think he should not be removed from the Board, as he was duly elected.
If you see that as "rash", so be it. Everyone is entitled to their view, but not their own facts.

I may be wrong, but that's the way I see it.

Anonymous said...

You see it pretty clear George, everything sounds right on! I agree with everything said right there.

Icegoalie said...

Right on, George!

Anonymous said...

Minich is going to get one shot, one shot only to show he will follow the lawfully passed motions from the Annual meeting.

Any waffling from those motions, to pander to J placers, will be met with demands for immediate resignation. If he refuses and continues on that path, lawsuits will follow shortly.

Anonymous said...

umm, pretty clear he's already waffled. Letters have been received recently. Guess his one shot is done. Time for him to go bye bye........

Anonymous said...

"A new bloom sweeps cleanly" Get rid of the old ones. The recent violation tree letters are a deliberate decision to ignore the will of the members. I agree with bye bye...

Anonymous said...

So first our wonderful president tries to cheat us out of votes, now he lies and is sending letters.
Is this who we want running our HOA

Anonymous said...

First thing we need to do is fire Daryl. We never needed him anyway and it’s a waste of our money. The office manager used to handle complaints. Someone should notify L&I of all the violations that I see in this picture. He is not professional looking in my eyes, looks like a slob if you ask me. It’s rather obvious that JoAnne is being targeted and I suspect that tree is on county property not hers. Again our BOT is wasting our time and money since there is a moratorium on tree cutting.

As for myself, if this BOT ever sends me a letter they better be ready for a lawsuit. I will never be bullied into doing what they want and I could care less what it will cost me.

Anonymous said...

Anyone in a professional organization and works in the public carries ID. Our water guys should too.

Anonymous said...

918 - keep that thought in mind, and stay tuned. Tree committee meets at 1 p.m. In my opinion, an illegal meeting.

Icegoalie said...

915 - let's not fire an employee out of hand for simply following the directions of his management. The real problem is upstream.

Anonymous said...

There is a job for Daryl, up at the compactor. Haven't seen them hire anyone new yet.