These Douglas County, Colorado residents aren’t pilots but they are driving so fast they nearly ran over their neighbor, Diane Powers, twice in one night! One speeder wiped out a 30 foot tree and if he loses control on that curve again there’s a big rock in its place now.
Warning!!! This HOA is using camera-equipped radar and tickets will be issued to homeowners which will include any of their guests who are caught speeding. Oh yes! If the pizza delivery girl is trying to deliver it “hot and on time“…you could get hit with a fine for her misdeeds.
Homeowners, wonder what will be next? Well let’s see…how about breathalyzers, seat belt checks, texting, eating, sneezing, and talking-on-the-cell while driving? Brace yourselves for the “wannabe cops” patrolling the streets of Roxborough!
Speed bumps were removed because they interfered with snow removal and emergency response time.
If things don’t change, I suppose they could always require owners to park at the gate and walk from there.
Oh, my sides still hurt from the hilarity. Linked below you’ll see a very short and amazingly insightful video from an HOA critic who is, as yet, unknown. If I can learn his identity I intend to send that person an autographed copy of my book to show my appreciation.
This fellow obviously lives in an HOA, obviously has been hassled over his holiday decorations, and obviously keeps up with current news events.
And if one of you can figure out who this fellow is, I’ll also send you a book autographed to whoever you want, a neighbor, a Congressman, an HOA board member.
As a matter of fact, we need to keep the humor going. Anyone who sends me a photo or piece of video that needs to be circulated to followers of my website, please feel free to do so. If I end up using your video, you’ll also get a free copy of Neighbors At War in the mail!
In my new book, Neighbors at War, I delve deeply into the lust for power and how easy it is for seemingly normal homeowners to go crazy when they get their first taste of power over their neighbors. We’ve seen it among Nazi prison guards, we’ve seen it among those who guard our jails, we’ve seen it repeatedly in double-blind science experiments.
“Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Acton)
But Pennsylvanians, shattered by the recent “Cash for Kids” scandal are still trying to wrap their minds around this one. Two former judges, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, reportedly accepted millions of dollars in bribes from privately owned juvenile detention centers for sentencing thousands of juveniles to those institutions. “Good Lord!” you say. “Impossible!”
When you put someone into a position of power in your neighborhood, be very, very suspicious of that person. Never let down your guard. In our current system in HOA Amerika there are no checks and balances. None, whatsoever. There’s no court of last resort. There’s no Due Process. In the vast majority of Homeowners Associations there are few records, poor accounting, often no audits. Our board members have complete and total power over our lives. We try to pretend that board members are fiscally responsible for how they govern. But they really aren’t.
We’ve seen the stories: No mezuzah allowed on the doors of the Jewish. No angels standing in the rock garden in remembrance of the deceased. Now, it’s no Buddhist symbols or crosses in the flower garden for Chris Bumann who lives in the Covington Bridge HOA in Spring, Texas.
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution says the government cannot restrict our free exercise of religion. Yet, homeowners associations in Texas have a law that states they can regulate religious symbols at the homes of their members. EXCEPT, it also says they have to be in compliance with the Texas and United States Constitutions.
Of course, Chris can sue the HOA and take his case all the way to the Supreme Court per attorney Chris Tritico. That’s an option only if Mr. Bumann is willing to fund the legal battle. But even if he gets into court he will inevitably be told that when he signed his real estate papers he essentially agreed that the neighborhood’s covenants superseded his rights under either the state or federal Constitutions. At this point, though, he has 30 days to remove the statues he bought years ago. Or the HOA will get a court-order to remove them at his expense.
He feels bullied. I think he’s right.
Chris, you’ve gotten yourself on the radar screen of Covington Bridge! Selling out is the only way off. Say your prayers for a buyer to come along!
Finally, there may be a legitimate reason for a Homeowners Association! Some of my good friends will disagree, but it’s a free country. No, I take that back…it once was a free country.
Still, the story linked below might make you think some community rules might be needed, especially when former husbands and wives are feuding.
