Way Off Topic, But Critically Important To All Americans
Category Archives: Fraud
We’re Winning!
Time was, you couldn’t get a journalist anywhere to listen to your rants about crooked HOAs. Calling the local TV station or newspaper was a loser’s game. The average person just didn’t have the clout to get a story out there.
Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Internet. Traditional media used to spit and hiss when they thought of all those “pajama-clad bloggers” out there mucking up the sewer pipes of information distribution. Now those journalists who wouldn’t listen to the hoi paloi are spitting into the wind as we just blow them away like so much dry chaff. Now, more people are reading websites like ours than are reading many big-city newspapers.
This link from a well-respected media outlet called “Scambusters” is pretty fun to read. We’re making an impact folks!
Oh Lordy, I Do Love My Readers!
How the heck do you keep finding such wonderful stories?!? I’m only a pajama-clad blogger sitting in my bedroom at night trying to find stories here and there that might amuse you. But you folks are so much better than I.
Wow!
A Statue of Liberty with glowing eyes!
An embarrassed and angry HOA!
And a new round of stupidity for the terminally stupid.
Lon Neuville, homeowner in the Debary Plantation HOA got permission from his HOA to put up a replica of the Statue of Liberty. “Whatever,” the HOA said.
Well, boy howdy, if this statute didn’t jolt a few dim bulbs loose from their sockets. “Permission to put up the statue, denied!” the Florida HOA board said.
“Not so fast, ya dingbats,” DeBary said. “You gave me permission and now you’re saying you didn’t?”
“Well, we had no idea your Statue of Liberty was going to have those electrical glowing eyes!”
What a hoot! Now, both sides are hunkering down with lawyers. And the lawyers, ever the crocs in this bug-infested swamp, plan on taking a big financial bite out of both sides.
Chomp, chomp!
Pity the Boss Man
You know, you’ve gotta start feeling a little sorry for Las Vegas crime boss Leon Benzer right about now. Gosh, dang! Another four of his co-conspirators have now pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering and conspiring to steal massive amounts of money from Las Vegas homeowners. But Bobo Benzer hasn’t been able to keep his organized crime mob together. Gone are the days when a spaghetti-eating garlic-spitter could fire a .32 shell into the face of an adversary to shut him up. These days, you just can’t get good help.
Benzer is now just one of a tiny handful of crooks still accused of decimating Homeowners Associations in the Valley by putting ‘straw men’ into office as HOA board members and voting to divert millions of dollars in insurance mitigation work to his minions of willing wonks. (Actually, I was going to say ‘Wops’ but thought better of it. Besides, his name is Benzer, not Benzini). Sure, the first handful of people fingered in the HOA investigation ‘committed suicide.’ But in the old days a suicide really meant something, didn’t it? Suicide was a rite of passage, an honor befitting a snitch’s snitch. One couldn’t be an effective Capo without a few suicides scattered here and there around the landscape.
But, dang! Every time a ‘suicide’ happened in the feds’ Las Vegas HOA investigation, more rats started squealing. This wasn’t just a few rodents trying to find a wooden plank, this was swarms of rats diving off the decks of the Titanic.
Yep, it must be a lonesome time for Leon Benzer. Poor Babee!
Trustworthy and Tamper-Proof HOA/Condo Board Elections?
guest blog by Bob Frank (Air Force Col. Retired)
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.
And, I claim that any board election that can not be auditable as trustworthy should be invalid. Why would government officials and trade association professionals be allowed to tolerate potentially corrupt board elections?
Should the trade association adopt the following or similar terms and require that all HOA/Condo board elections follow such definitions and implement “trustworthy board elections” capable of being audited by 3rd party professionals?
Or, should board elections be taken away from CID boards and management companies and that there be a new licensed and bonded, “Independent Trusted Elections Professional” be required on a part time basis by state statutes as auditors and attorney are?
Am I on the right track for this topic? Do you agree it is likely possible to conduct such improvements in CID elections at reasonable costs? If you wish, I can explain how I would design such a system using hard-copy and/or electronic processes.
Bob Frank
The following is being posted on a dozen of the most active LinkedIn military and veterans groups with a combined total of over 50,000 readers. But, much more social media exposure is needed by those more expert than I.
As one (like many others in the military) who have been tasked to turn around failed units (in my case, logistics and procurement units), I am quite aware of how difficult it will be to turn around or significantly restructure the giant VA department.
It will require very accomplished leadership with a well-documented “war plan” containing very clear objectives and measures of merit for the conversion and the resulting organizational components. Repeating the past half-baked actions will fail again.
Many decades ago, this nation simultaneously entered the losing wars in Europe and Asia and made the difference in totally turning the wars around and achieving total victory in about 3 years. Do we have such gifted and selfless leaders today to deal with the VA problems? If we fail, millions of veterans lives are at risk.
Of course, the leadership challenge to “fix” the VA is much less daunting for making military, reserve, guard and veterans healthcare services “acceptable”. But, unless serious efforts are taken by legislatures at both the federal and state levels and by highly experienced industry leaders to ensure the leadership and resources are provided to repair the broken systems for all veterans, the nation will fail again. And, our ability to continue to man the all-volunteer force with the highest quality people is likely to fail.
If “we” allow that to happen, it will be a monumental failure by our citizens and our veterans organizations. The obvious conclusions is that our military, veterans and their families must become activists for change. Regrettably, we can no longer wait patiently and trust that the “country” will “do the right things” for our people.
I would like to ask all that read this to send personal mail and call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to act NOW to pass the bill allowing the VA Secretary to deal precisely and promptly with failed VA civilians. That is a CRITICAL element in beginning to change the failed VA culture. It must be allowed to pass immediately.