CAI – the Community Associations Institute – REALLY wants
AB1799 to get voted off the Assembly floor on Thursday.
Today it issued a CALL TO ACTION asking CAI members to
“fight the opponents of AB1799.
”
Homeowners need to push back on this bill with their own
CALL TO ACTION!
Why does CAI want this bill so much…?
Because the legislation would give boards the power to
decide (1) who can vote and (2) who can run for office and
(3) to cancel elections altogether.
CAI and the property managers (CACM) have “framed”
AB1799/Mayes as legislation that will save associations
money.
The two trade groups HIDE the fact that the bill
actually gives INCUMBENT boards total control over
elections.
This is like giving a city council or county supervisors –
or the California Legislature – the power to decide who
can vote and who can succeed them in office.
This is the THIRD ASSAULT that CAI and CACM have made on
the “Fairness and Integrity in HOA Elections Statutes”
(Civil Code §§5100 et seq. The other two assaults were in
20013 and 2014.)
Yes, CAI – the same organization whose lawyers fought the
Wittenberg decision all the way to the California Supreme
Court.
Homeowners will remember Wittenberg: this was the 2013
California Appeals Court ruling that associations SHALL
give dissenting homeowners equal access to association
media (newsletters, bulletin boards, website, dedicated
cable channel, etc) to present their opposing views.
In Wittenberg, the association wouldn’t even let the
homeowners RENT MEETING space to discuss their opinions.
[The election was later invalidated by the lower courts.]
CAI’s Adams Kessler and 20 other law firms – who are all
members of CAI — petitioned the California Supreme Court
to overturn the Wittenberg ruling. [The Supreme Court
refused.]
The Adams Kessler petition is posted on the CCHAL website
here:
http://www.calhomelaw.org/PDF/Adams%20Kessler%20petition%20to%20Sup%20Ct%20re%20Wittenberg.pdf
The letter signed by the 20 association law firms is
posted here: http://www.calhomelaw.org/doc.asp?id=1593
[Read the list to see if your association’s lawyers
signed the petition to overturn Wittenberg.]AB1799 is a bad bill. So says advocates for homeowner
rights:• the Rutgers Constitutional Law Center;
• the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA);
• the Center for California HOA Law (CCHAL.)
A homeowner’s RIGHT TO VOTE is created the moment s/he
buys an association home just as a new citizen acquires
voting rights the moment they’re sworn in as a new
American.
Don’t let CAI and CACM get this bill off the Assembly
floor.
CALL YOUR ASSEMBLY MEMBER AND URGE A ‘NO’ VOTE ON AB1799
WHEN IT IS VOTED ON THURSDAY ON THE ASSEMBLY FLOOR.
Don’t know who your Assembly Member is?
Go here to find out:
http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
PHONE THE SACRAMENTO OFFICE (NOT THE DISTRICT OFFICE) AND
IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS A VOTER IN THE DISTRICT AND URGE A
‘NO’ VOTE ON AB1799.
