It is a fact that CID board elections are the ONLY way that members can actually influence the management of their common properties and finances. And, since candidates for boards and members of community management companies are not routinely cleared as trustworthy according to government standards, the election processes themselves MUST be provable as being “trustworthy/tamper-proof” by the association members.
Therefore, I submit it should be mandatory that secret ballot board elections implement (1) audit-trails, (2) use “tamper-proof” devices, (3) be certified as end-to-end trustworthy, and (4) be capable of independent auditing by licensed, trained professionals.
Seth Cohen arrived from New York with $1.5M to spend on a condo in South Florida. He impressed his neighbors with his swagger which won him enough votes to sit on the board as their president.
Looking around he decided Two Midtown Miami needed more of his “touch” in its decor. Even though the building was only five years old the elevators got a facelift and the pool furniture was pitched for something more expensive.
Next, on his list was the lobby renovation with some “Munsters” chairs and bookshelves that sent his neighbors out to the curb in protest. In typical COA dictatorship style, he called the police only to learn his neighbors were smarter than he thought because they had obtained a protesters permit.
Supporters started dropping like rocks and the “Fresh Prince of Two Midtown Miami” quickly earned the title of bully! His neighbors wanted to feed him lunch with their assessment letters. He was demanding $6,844.27 from each owner to cover the cost of his grandiose decorating plans until the uprising raised awareness to the point they were demanding he be removed from the board. I applaud them!!! based on my HOA experience, I’m wondering if seth Cohen is in the “decorating business?” Wash he slick enough to try and recoup his condo investment with some high-priced re-decorating?
This should be an eye-opener for all owners in HOAs or condos. Redecorating projects can quickly turn into an ATM for board members. If you don’t keep a close watch they will declare re-decorating as a “necessity” and use their power as president to funnel the money right into THEIR bank accounts. It’s called self-dealing and in most states it’s illegal. Take if from me, it’s also a “red flag” warning. Once accomplished they will try it again on something else. like selling advertising in the community newsletter and claiming to be in the publishing business!
This story sends chills down my spine. Shoddy electrical work that was done at this Hialeah, Florida condo complex swimming pool nearly cost some children and the adult rescuers their lives. City records indicate NO PERMITS WERE PULLED before this “electrical” work (should be called electrocution work) was done on the pool.
Once again, as we’ve heard thousands, probably tens of thousands of times, the HOA or condo board hired some “jack of all trades” (who actually knows little to nothing at all) to do a job that only a licensed contractor should have been performing. The risks are too high not to hire professionals! The consequences can be catastrophic and deadly.
My business experience has taught me over the past 50 years that if a process is designed to be as trustworthy as reasonably possible, EVERYONE benefits from being able to accept it as such.
But, if systems, such as board elections or controls of something like association credit/debit cards and checks, are allowed to be designed and implemented with very obvious loop holes in the audit trail, then no one can trust the system.
