MAIN CLUBHOUSE ISLAND CLOSURE - JULY 3, 2012

PSA - PBC CLERK OF COURT - SHARON BOCK

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Thanks to Ed  Black for the video.

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Dave Israel

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What? You Must Be Kidding

Sometimes you hear things so bizarre that you have to do a double-take. This week’s craziness has to do with a rumor that a petition is circulating for the recall of the UCO president. What? Are we copycatting Wisconsin? If so, be reminded that that recall effort failed.  

It gets better. People (the usual suspects) want to remove a President that was duly elected and is still in the beginning phases of a second 24-month term. They are unhappy with the budget, they are unhappy with paving contract issues (already being addressed), they are unhappy with everything associated with current leadership. They claim budget irregularities, even though their imagined discrepancies have been explained away many times. They cry “failure” while issues are still being resolved. They quibble about numbers of invoices, punch lists and the inevitable issues that come up with major projects.

It just may be that what’s really upsetting these people is the fact that Dave Israel was re- elected in the first place. They have only one goal: obfuscate, throw out allegations, criticize every move and force the sitting President to spend time fighting every charge imaginable to take time and energy away from his work. In effect, bring him down.

The frustrating thing is that these hostile, angry people could contribute a great deal to the betterment of the Village. Instead, they’ve chosen to hold their private “President’s” meetings (a little wishful thinking?), whipping up their charges, drawing up their petitions,  and never inviting the people they attack to explain their actions in a reasonable exchange of ideas.

For now, let’s remember that this UCO President and his team have produced savings for residents and run the Village responsibly. It may be irrelevant to those who care less about demonstrable results than they do about being the center of negative attention. What a waste. But residents won’t be fooled. They’ll see this for what it is: a naked power grab based on resentment and jealousy, not on facts.

UCO REPORTER JULY 2012 - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE

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Hi all,

I am pleased to announce that the July, 2012 edition of the UCO Reporter is herewith live in Cyberspace, follow the link:

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http://goo.gl/RqRZJ

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The current edition of the Reporter may also be accessed from the sidebar, along with many other editions. Enjoy the latest edition

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Dave Israel

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Bid & Contract Monitoring Committee

In recent UCO Officer Mtg minutes - “A new committee Bid & Contract Monitoring Committee has been formed and Dom Guarnagia has accepted chairperson position if elected. Vote was unanimous. David explained that this committee will work closely with the Bid Committee. Rodger Carver will be part of committee and is still responsible for obtaining bids, but UCO officer will be head of this committee.”

I thought Rembaum's Roundup had an excellent article in the June 13 issue.

http://www.condonewsonline.com/rembaum_roundup.htm

“Is Your Association Remodeling? Are You? If You Don’t Mind Paying Twice, Then Don’t Read This!“

* I hope the new committee will have a thorough understanding of the necessary steps re contractors and sub-contractors in this article.  

New! Entrance to Southampton

Click for larger view

A wayward truck broke into CV early this morning, caused damage that needed 5 FPL trucks. And who did we have for on-the-spot organization in the rain, the indispensable, competent Ed. Thank you Ed Black (Security Chair). No doubt it will all be repaired by the time most people are on the move.

MY BROTHER'S ESCAPE

For Anita and debgeller, who expressed interest in our July 4 bonfire escapades, the following is from my brother Arthur, who was far more involved than I had realized. My apologies to others for taking up so much Blog space.

Lanny Howe

Lanny—

As you requested, more details on escaping bullets in the Readville railroad car yards. This may be far too long but I just had fun rattling on. Edit this as you wish. It was fun remembering. —Artie

Six to eight of us from Dedham, followed our fearless leader, in a nighttime caper across some distant fields to a railroad yard in Readville (Boston), MA where a multitude of tracks and stored cars were kept and maintained for Boston and local service. The "brilliant" plan was to steal a car of some sort for our traditional 4th of July bonfire in the middle of Oakdale Square. For the life of me then, and still today, I couldn't imagine how about 8 mindless boys expected to steal a heavy railroad car in the middle of the night. But since our leader was two years older and we presumed experienced with 4th of July thievery, we followed.

We sneaked quietly a quarter of a mile or so onto the railroad property and into the midst of several brick buildings where we assumed our leader had spotted the ideal car to take. Dark was settling over the yard, giving me a very creepy feeling as we worked our way past big freight cars and over tracks into what appeared to be a courtyard. Huge black oil storage tanks lined the right side, dwarfing our little band of thieves. I felt my first rather alarming sense that I was not dressed properly for the occasion, as I still had on my white baseball uniform from the afternoon. My wariness about the whole caper was increasing with every uneasy step we took. I should add here that I was always a good boy, never one to even steal a candy bar from the local spa as most of my friends did regularly. What was I thinking?

It was there, in the courtyard, when it first occurred to me that our fearless leader had no idea where the car was we were about to steal! This was a valuable lesson for me, proving that age and wisdom do not necessarily go hand in hand. Before we could formulate Plan B, which might have been "Let's get out of here!" two police cars with blue lights flashing and sirens screaming came rushing toward us. Quite sure that we were in a courtyard, when all of my thieving partners bolted straight ahead away from the police, I instantly assumed they would be trapped inside the brick courtyard walls. I ran to the right and hid in amongst the big black oil storage tanks as several policemen ran past me toward the others. I heard gunshots and saw sparks as bullets ricocheted off the brick wall at the end of the courtyard. They were shooting at them and I was terrified.

I clung against the side of one tank and the night stood still. I waited. There were shouts and a few shots but they were some distance away. By now, I knew I had been mistaken about the courtyard. Somewhere ahead there was an opening where brick walls didn't come together. It seemed all my friends had likely escaped and I was left alone, white against black, frozen in place. A policeman came back, perhaps knowing one of us had turned off. He scouted around the very area I was in, but as he got close, I slithered around the big tanks and remained unseen.  He eventually left, and I edged my way along the brick walls, away from the parked cruisers, and found the opening at the end of the courtyard. A field was ahead of me and I could hear the officers about 50 yards ahead and to my left as I dropped to the ground and crawled slowly across the open field. Although I could see their shapes, and could hear them not very far away, I continued slowly, belly to the ground. After what felt like forever, to my dismay I saw a tall steel fence ahead of me. Unable to restrain myself any longer, I stood up and ran full speed ahead, leaped on the fence and scrambled to the top. It made enough of a racket to provoke shots that rang out while I ascended the fence, adding to my terror. I scrambled mindlessly over some barbed wire at the top and jumped down, about to set new speed records. Utterly exhausted, I arrived back home to meet my friends, with my uniform torn and ripped and bloodied from the barbed wire.

The era of wagon burning in Oakdale Square was about over at this time. Perhaps this adventure was a message for those of us about to carry on the tradition... that the time had come to give it up. Times had changed, wooden wagons were too hard to find, and we were desperate enough, and foolish enough, to venture into Boston for—RAILROAD CARS?

It's 50 years later now, and I am running our class high school reunion. Charlie Collins, a funny fellow and one of the small gang of thieves, wrote the following on a questionnaire that was sent to classmates asked to list one great lesson learned in life. Imagine—some 50 years later he wrote: "Never wear white baseball uniforms when stealing wagons at night." True enough.

WASHOUT AT BATH AND BORDEN - DIG WE MUST FOR A BETTER CV

 

                 Photo credit..... Elaine Brown.
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What started as a small hole in the road, has been found to require a major repair. The photo above shows the collapse of a 48 inch corregated drain pipe, emerging from a concrete catch basin, the pipe runs some 1000 feet to the main lake.
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Water flowing through the pipe washed out the sandy soil overlaying the pipe, thus causing the hole in the asphalt roadway.
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Full diagnosis of the pipe has yet to occur, so that the best repair strategy may be selected. Information will be provided as it becomes available.
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Dave Israel
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She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her granddaughter, as she'd done so many times before. After she applied her lipstick, and started to leave, the little girl said, "But Grandma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper goodbye!" I will probably never again put on lipstick without thinking about kissing the toilet paper goodbye.  Thanks Sam.

Question

In the powers that be can someone say what is going on with the road on Bath & Borden? It is all dug up, looks like something wrong there. Thank you

BEWARE OF LEAVING VALUABLES UNATTENDED BESIDE A DUMPSTER!

As you probably know, there are those who tour the Village streets in a pickup truck collecting things being discarded in the vicinity of the dumpsters. As long as they pick up items we want to get rid of, they may be a convenience.

Several people, including myself, have left items on the ground by a dumpster temporarily that we did NOT want to discard, and have had these items scooped up before we knew it. I lost a box of tools for the car I kept in the car trunk this way. I parked by the dumpster because it was a convenient place for transferring some concrete blocks from the trunk to the back of our condo unit. To get the blocks out I had to remove the box of tools, which I left on the ground. I went around back with two of the blocks, dropped them, and returned to the car to get the other two, only to find the box of tools had disappeared. Luckily, my best wrenches were not in the box.

I’ve talked with several people who have lost valuables like this. In one instance the item was left outside a considerable distance from the dumpster.

The lesson is to BEWARE, and not leave anything of value unattended for even a minute.

CLUBHOUSE THEATER SHOW SCHEDULE - 2012 - 2013 PRESS KIT - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE

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Hi all,

Thanks to Abbie Koffler, WPRF, we have 100 color graphics describing the acts to appear during the 2012 - 2013 show season.

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We have uploaded these to the Cloud. You may download them and have a look. Follow the link:

http://goo.gl/AEc97

This is a big file, almost 78Mbyte, so be patient and wait for the download.

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Dave Israel

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CV FAQ - But do you catch anything?

FisherwomanTerry weightlifting a Bigmouth Bass she caught tonight at the North Bridge CV (or Largemouth Bass).

Angry Birds

Even the birds argue in CV, ruffled feathers (and its not a Delegate meeting). Every day both the Great Blue Heron and the Anhinga want the same spot on a wall, even tho' there is a similar wall close by. The Anhinga always wins – I think the heron is still young.  Click on photo to enlarge.

Stolen Art from the Century Clubhouse wall.

This is my very first post. I'm not at all happy why I have to do it.And also angry.

 We at Century have a good life. No where can you get the entertainment, recreation, service, security for the price that we have it here. We do have our issues. the one I am going to write about is unconscionable.

We have a wonderful Art committee that hangs the art of our talented residents. the art is seen for several weeks before it is changed. It is hung on the walls of the clubhouse on both floors.

Near the end of May,2012 , my wife, Connie Kurtz, the artist and quilter, was going to the quilting room to work when she saw that one of her hung fabric art was missing. Not missing STOLEN. STOLEN by one of our own, whether an owner, renter, visiter, worker. We put up a note to return or buy. No questions asked. and we received no takers.
Connie and I appreciate those friends and residents  that shared their disappointment that this could happen. A Police report was made . WPRF and security are aware of the ROBBERY.

We ask your help in getting the art returned. Again, no questions asked.

Dorchester Pool

This morning on my walk past Dorchester Pool I noticed that the new gate area had been paved over. I wonder whose bright idea that was to waste money. Last week a WPRF worker was painting the lines around the area where no cars should park with the crisscross line design. The gate is supposed to be wheel chair friendly although the gate around the corner is okay for wheel chairs as well as that is what was used before a new gate was put in. I am sure that Monday or Tuesday the same worker will come back to re paint the lines that were painted last week. I think the money should have been better spent to repair some of the lounges that are starting to fray at the edges. Whomever decided on this project should be thrown off whatever committee it is that made this decision. If it was Eva, the money should come out of her salary. The re paving was not warranted!

HOW TO STOP GATE CRASHERS - FAIL SAFE SECURITY

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Simply a matter of money!

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Dave Israel

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THE BURNING OF THE WAGONS

An Illegal Independence Day Tradition

             I have written a serious article on Independence Day, which may appear in the July UCO Reporter. Having thus done my due diligence to the day and our forefathers, I feel excused to share what was an illegal tradition for years in the part of Dedham, Mass. where we lived as kids and which, though a bit shameful, I have to admit we gloried in, kids and grownups alike.

            This was the burning-of-the-wagons bonfire in Oakdale Square on the night of July 3, Independence Day eve. 

            Five streets—which had many streets branching off them—led like spokes of a wheel into Oakdale Square, where there were a church, drugstore, grocery store, beauty salon, community “spa,” small meat market and, offset to one side, the wooden schoolhouse where we went to first and second grade. These were arranged in a ring around the large, open square, which had a single traffic light in the middle.

            During the year a coterie of teenage boys (few knew exactly who they were) mysteriously acquired wooden wagons and big wooden carts, and hid them in safe places. “Acquired” is the polite word—everyone knew that many of the wagons had been stolen, often in the dead of the night, from neighboring farms as many as ten miles away in other towns.

            They filled the wagons with old boards and other wooden combustibles, moving them nearer and nearer to Oakdale Square during the year, so they could be set afire and rolled into the Square on the night of July 3.

            You never knew on which street a wagon would come rolling into the Square, which kept the police, who were never out in full force, off balance. They were also hindered because having doused a wagon with kerosene, the boys would set it ablaze a block or two before it reached the Square. Tree branches often extended over the streets, so if a wagon were stopped after it had been set on fire, the trees and possibly even houses might catch fire.

            The “show” began about 10:00 p.m., after it was dark, and lasted about two hours. A number of wagons entered the square on Sanderson Avenue, because it was downhill, but others came in on the more level streets, and I remember once when everyone was surprised as a wagon was pushed up the steep River Street hill into the Square.

            A number of the adults disapproved of the tradition because it involved the theft of the wagons, was not a sanctioned activity, and made a mess of the asphalt in the Square. But most of the same disapproving adults gathered in the Square to watch the spectacle. Some were afraid the huge bonfire would crack the surrounding store windows, but it never did. People, after all, were watching from in front of the stores, so it wasn’t that hot at that distance. Strangely, it never seemed to affect the traffic light, which was nearby.

            I moved from Dedham, and some years later I learned that the police had finally put a stop to the burning of the wagons. It had gone on for  decades. I guess it was a good thing. Someone could have been hurt or killed, and it certainly was not right for the poor farmers to lose their wagons. It was an era many of us will never forget. 

WINDSHIELD CRACKED DURING HIGH SPEED EXIT

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Hi all,

The vehicle shown hitting the gate-arm, left the Village at high speed, and as you will see in the video, made no attempt to slow down at all. His speed was sufficient to do significant damage to his windshield.

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Is it worth the expense, please slow down when entering or leaving CV. Click on box at lower right corner to go to full screen,

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Thanks to Maj. Jeff for the video clip.

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Dave Israel

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WPRF SUMMER CLASSES

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Dave Israel

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HELLO

Summer Truckin'

For the Northerners: 

You thought we were watching the grass grow in the summertime CV. 

UCO is working hard and big trucks are all over the village. Biggest is the bleach tanker for the reclaimed water facility, how it gets around our corners is remarkable. The cable-laying combination is almost as long.

Plumeria

What could be better than pottering in the garden in Florida sunshine, 6am +. Also planting stick in the ground and having it grow, and then flower. Plumeria (common name Frangipani) are shrubs and small trees. Red ones are deciduous, white ones are not (I am told). There are more in the village, enough for a lei?

Got Trinette

I used to trek to Lake Worth to get good plants at AAA Garden Ctr. Now they have opened a branch on 45th where Palmieri's was. They have all 3-gallon plants for $5 ea. I had to have the Tibouchina bush (purple) better than a bouquet of cut flowers. Thx to Ivy.

Flat Screen Air Conditioners

Well actually Duct Free Air Conditioners, they look like art work or mirrors, if you want to know more you will have to dig in. The outside portion also looks slimmer than the usual village box.

Very suave.

http://www.lg-dfs.com/art-cool-gallery.aspx

http://www.lg-dfs.com/engineering-resources.aspx

KARAOKE - DON'T MISS IT - CV CLUBHOUSE

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Dave Israel

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PREVIEW THE 2012 -2013 CENTURY VILLAGE THEATER SEASON

 

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Dave Israel
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“Do You Have IFI ?"

Do you get all the notices and minutes of meetings from UCO President Dave Israel, IFI (Information Forward Initiative)?  Just send him your email to be on his list of about 600 resident emails. Although this service is often touched on I do not know if all Bloggers have taken advantage of this.

I get notices to post on our bulletin board. I get minutes of committee meetings which is great because I cannot attend all meetings. (Good if I have Summer laziness too).

Send a request, subject line IFI, to ucopresident@gmail.com 

*And most important - it is the front line of accurate info against spreaders of ridiculous and malicious misinformation.

CARTHAGE MUST BE DESTROYED - GO TO DEFCON ZERO

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Well, the County mandated re-striping has begun, this is what it is all about; blowing the whistle to bring the power of the County Government down upon our Senior Citizens over a matter of inches between parking lot stripes:

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A real Casas Belli if I ever saw one!!

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Dave Israel

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UCO OPEN MEETINGS - JULY 2012

Subject to Change

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Dave Israel

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Purchasing an American flag for July 4.

How can I obtain one?

AMVETS site http://www.amvetsnsf.org/
Our most popular type is an 3'X5' all-weather nylon flag with double-stitched stripes and embroidered stars. They are a nice way to show your patriotism. We have several clients who return again and again for flags as wedding or Christmas gifts. This flag is available to you in exchange of a $30 minimum donation.

Mail a check payable to AMVETS National Service Foundation 4647 Forbes Boulevard, Lanham, MD 20706.

CELEBRATE JULY 4th AT THE MAIN CLUBHOUSE

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Thanks to Elisha at the Clubhouse for the Flyer

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Dave Israel

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THANK YOU COURTNEY

Dear Courtney - It has been a great pleasure to work with you on all things clubs, classes, room scheduling at the WPRF ticket office. 
Congratulations and Best of Luck on your promotion, we will miss you. 
Now all the items that were “call Courtney Olsen” will go to Elisha Maldonado. Welcome Elisha. 
From UCO Bloggers.

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE - IS IT TIME FOR A PERP WALK

Hi all

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On December 11, 2008, Attorney David St. John presented a talk in our theater titled:

Successful Community Association Leadership Including:

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Parlimentary Procedures

and

How to deal with difficult people.

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Mindful of the incredible disruption being caused by a few at some of our UCO meetings, I am extracting the "How to deal with difficult people" section below:

...........................................

So, I ask you all, is it time to spend your money and mine to have a PBSO Deputy at every meeting of the Executive Board and the Delegate Assembly???

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Dave Israel

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DELEGATE ASSEMBLY DRAMA - GET THE FACTS HERE - AGAIN

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The Delegate Assembly meeting had another Question raised!

Another “one” queried the $ 25,000.00 in the minutes claiming the Transportation “alleged shortfall” was $ 250,000.00.
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The reality is that this was an item discussed between the Treasurer and the former Treasurer to clearly explain that the Transportation shortfall was only $ 3,235.00. The whole process of the “sky is falling” approach citing “Chicken Little” is to alarm everyone.
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In fact, the Treasurer, at the May Delegate Assembly meeting, stated the Transportation shortfall was actually $ 27,500.00 and it too was totally unnecessary, as I tried to explain to the Delegates and the Treasurer.
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To understand budget is to expect certain misunderstandings between “PROPOSED” billing and “ACTUAL” billing which could only be compared after receiving our first bill February 2012, well after the Budget would have been approved. Accordingly, The Finance Committee provided $ 20,950.00 surplus to the Budget for just such a possibility.
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The budget shortfall is one good example of how budgets should be “spot on” in projecting expenses not overwhelmingly OVER BUDGETED creating surplus that UCO takes instead of allowing that money to remain in your budget that YOUR Association may well need.
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Years of UCO's OVER BUDGETING for Surplus should cease. After two Hurricanes in 2004, UCO spent some $ 60,000.00 to recover and had no need for the nearly $ 3,000,000.00 surplus it has held.
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Even the Auditing Firm has recommended that one months surplus (about $ 510,000.00) is sufficient. The financial report shows us with $ 1,576,821.67. Clearly over $ 1,000,000.00 Surplus money on hand!

Those reports showing year to date spending reflect:

Revenues to date       Budget to date

       51.40%                    50%             Revenues exceed projections

Expenses to date       Budgeted to Date

       35.41%                  41.66%         Expenses are lower than budgeted

This is “SPOT ON” budgeting as you should expect!
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MRE EBM

MRE - Meals Ready To Eat

EBM - Emergency Backup Meal

Do you have hurricane prep fatigue yet! The following is not at Publix

How about emergency prep stuff – this site has 3-day or more kits of MRE emergency food (no water or heat required to prepare).

http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_KX%20M003_A_name_E_3-Day+MRE+%28Meal+Ready+to+Eat%29+Food+Supply

check them out, see if there is anything you would like to have on hand.

See salt warning in comments.  Thanks Phyllis

WPTV Hurricane Survival Guide 2012

The WPTV Hurricane Survival Guide 2012 pdf is now available on the sidebar under Health & Weather section, or you may pick up a paper copy at Publix (when they do not run out).

Or here http://media2.wptv.com/documents/hurricaneguide2012.pdf  

Normal Rainfall

Did you think you lived under a waterfall some nights last week! This is only our normal rainfall. More – Miami is the wet one.   http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mfl/?n=cliplot

testing

DELEGATE ASSEMBLY - JUNE 1, 2012 - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE

Hi all,

View the June 1, 2012 edition of our Century Village Delegate Assembly.

Now live in Cyberspace. Follow the link:

http://goo.gl/FGhXl

Dave Israel

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DELEGATE ASSEMBLY DRAMA - GET THE FACTS HERE

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A question was raised by “one” who alleged President Israel signed for the 2010 Audit “showing the estimated repaving cost of $ 4,000,000.00 while knowing full well that the bid/contract was $ 5,000,000.00”!



Clearly the Audit shows that the proposed budget for funding the “Road Reserves” for 2011 was $ 250,000.00 based on the assumption of a $ 4,000,000.00 total cost, down from the 2009 and 2008 proposed assumptions of $ 4,500,000.00. This is a part of the Budget proposed for the Delegate Assembly to approval in October each year. Each Audit addresses the History rather than the new information that may have been received many months after the audit details have been completed. This “information”, as is normally shown, is 'like' “minutes” as confirmed by the Auditor in his review of our records, for the Officers and Board of directors to read.

A review the “History of the Audits” shows the 2008 & 2009 estimates for repaving were $ 4,500,000.00.  Each year the Treasurer proposes to the Finance Committee and they recommend the approved “proposed budget” onto Officers Committee and Executive Board and finally to the Delegate Assembly for Approval.


This should not be hard to understand but, hopefully this will have made this CLEARER!

"ALL RISE!"

I thought it was a great idea—was it yours, Dave?— having the judges speak at the Delegates Meeting yesterday. When it comes time to vote, I never know which judges to vote for. This little "getting to know you" time really helps. I was especially impressed with Judge Evans (the first to speak). What a wealth of experience he has, to having been a trainer of other judges nationwide. 

THANKS MOLLIE

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Thanks to Mollie Marshall for her work at today's Delegate Assembly in the roll of Official Timekeeper.

Everyone obeyed the rules except for one person.

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Let's hope that additional legal remedies will not be necessary!

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Dave Israel

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CARTHAGO DELENDA EST - UCO MUST BE DESTROYED

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CARTHAGO DELENDA EST

At today's Delegate Assembly a unit owner, suggested that UCO President Dave Israel should "fall on his sword". This in the same breath of implying that the current state of conflict between himself and UCO was comparable in some way to the conflict between the ancient Roman Republic and the North African City State of Carthage during the Punic Wars; this person was heard to say, "Carthage must be Destroyed", no doubt some not so veiled threat to UCO! There was some mention of a threatened law suit, though this was not specified in any detail. Some comparison; talk about apples to watermelons!

Precisely what this "war" is about is not clear; there is endless re-hashing about paving and drainage contracts, invoices, monies in various categories; but very few accurate specifics as to the issues. Again as the disruption escalated, and as additional performers come to the microphone, Delegates simply walked out in disgust with the ongoing kabuki as they had at last month's Delegate Assembly which was disrupted by the same dramatis personae, and which was introduce at the Executive Board meeting a few days earlier by other actors performing act one, the financial panic mongering act; the performance was simply a repeat of earlier and numerous rehearsed meeting disruptions.

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It is recorded that, Roman Senator Cato the elder, ended every speech he made before the Roman Senate with the Phrase "Carthago Delenda Est" (Carthage must be destroyed.) Is this what all of you law suit advocates have in mind for UCO; simply charming; simply brilliant! Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it. Don't permit a few malcontents to drag the Village into a divisive litigation.

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The ruins of Roman Carthage
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Dave Israel
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WPRF NOTICE - KENT POOL CLOSING



Did the UCO Committee Bylaws Pass or Fail?

Any info?

Hooray for Harold!

I don’t know who you are, Harold, but thank you for asking for a round of applause for UCO officers at today’s Delegates Assembly. You said that you realized from experience how hard it is to manage a complex organization like UCO, and you made your comments following a barrage of hostile questions from Ed Grossman about the M&M paving contract that challenged everything right down to the exact numbers of invoices, items on the punch list, drain repairs and inspections.

Ed was accusing UCO of mismanagement without recognition of basic facts: major contracts are typically problematic, UCO officers are fully capable of handling the issues without constant micromanagement and distortion, and M&M costs and process have been open and communicated from the beginning. Ed may believe he cares about this community, but he is the one who put the Village at risk by reporting us for code violations, not because residents or properties were unsafe, but as a way of publicly and dramatically showcasing his complaints about M&M rather than addressing them responsibly.

Ed said at the end of his diatribes that David should “fall on his sword.” Good Grief! Does he think that the paving contract is some kind of epic, historic battle we're fighting with a live-or-die mentality? Where is his sense of proportion and reality? And his shouted reference to suing UCO? For a contract still in the process of being resolved by the people in charge who have done nothing but serve this Village with integrity? Who does Ed think would pay for such a foolish, unwarranted step? He put us at risk with his striping gimmick to get attention and now the threat of a lawsuit against UCO that residents would pay for. 

No wonder Harold felt compelled to speak out. We all still have to figure out how to let people have their say without letting their personal agenda disrupt the entire assembly. We’re not there yet. In the meantime, thank you, Harold. Your statement was a breath of fresh air.