Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Monday, September 28, 2015
Friday, September 25, 2015
VERDENIA BAKER TO SPEAK AT DELEGATE ASSEMBLY - OCTOBER 2, 2015
-
Do not miss the article in the October edition of the UCO Reporter (at the top of the BLOG) on page A-6. The title is "Reflection Bay update By: Donald Foster". Of particular note is that on Friday, October 2, 2015, Commissioner Paulette Burdick, will be accompanied by Verdenia Baker, newly appointed Palm Beach County Administrator.
-
They will provide the latest factual information on the Reflection Bay project, and perhaps other data of interest to our Residents.
-
Dave Israel
-
Thursday, September 24, 2015
FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING - SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE
-
-
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
ON COMPROMISE
Let
me suggest something about compromise and coming to consensus, which I recommended in another post. This
is probably not possible with all matters (although I know a top college board
of managers who operate this way—by "sense of the meeting"). But even
with us mortals, there are surely SOME matters on which we can compromise.
Why
not seek these out? You never can tell—purposely compromising on some matters
may imbue us with a new spirit carrying over into other issues. Harmony might breed more harmony.
You
compromise not because you think the other fellow's position is better, but
because you believe it is more important to show him or her some respect as a
person than to doggedly insist on every point in your position. And because
things get done through compromise. And
finally—dare I say it?—because you just might come to realize in time that your
thinking was a little flawed.
A fourth reason is because of respect for the position of a large minority. When a motion passes by only one or two votes, it should give us all pause. Were we too hasty in calling for a vote? Maybe there should have been a straw vote to determine how the wind was blowing. Perhaps the matter should have been set aside for more thought and input. To have a general consensus is almost always best. To have a mandate is ideal.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
LICENSE AND CERTIFICATION LOOKUP
-
From time to time, questions come up regarding a Professional persons licensing status. For Example, is that contractor you are considering licensed, how about that new Physician you are considering; and are there any complaints on file..., the possibilities are endless. Below, you will find a number of research portals wherein you may lookup a broad array of Professions.
-
Please give it a try, and tell me what you think.
..................................................
FCC Amateur Radio License Search:
……………………………………………………
Department
of Financial Services (DFS) License Search:
……………………………………………………
Florida
Department of business and professional Regulation (DBPR) License Search.
……………………………………………………
Florida Department of Education
(FLDOE)
Educator Certification Lookup
………………………………………………………..
Florida Department of Health
(FLDOH)
Medical Quality Assurance Services
– License Verification
………………………………………………………………
MALCONTENTS MOVE TO INFLATE UCO BUDGET
-
MALCONTENTS STRIVE TO
INFLATE UCO BUDGET BY SIX DOLLARS PER MONTH PER UNIT. FINANCE COMMITTEE RESISTS
FOR THE MOST PART.
-
A small group of core
Malcontents, wistfully yearning for the bygone days of cigar box accounting,
turned to their stock in trade panic mongering about the Village paving. They put
the hard sell on the Finance Committee in an attempt to massively inflate
treasurer Howard O’Brien’s zero increase budget presentation.
-
Ultimately, the
Committee voted for an increase of a bit over two dollars per month per unit.
It is my sincere hope that this budget draft will be restored to a zero
increase, as originally proposed by the Treasurer. The budget draft will be
presented to our Officers Committee on Thursday, 24 September, 2015
-
Dave
Israel
-
Monday, September 21, 2015
Sunday, September 20, 2015
RED BUTTONS ADVERTISES CENTURY VILLAGE - A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Roll forward to about 1 minute to see Red Buttons. Thanks to Fred Hadley CV Boca Raton for the research on this clip. -
Dave Israel
-
Saturday, September 19, 2015
A FOOLISH RULE?
Is
it true that the UCO bylaws do not allow, except in an emergency or if it's a
budgeted item, the UCO president to authorize payment for anything over $1000
without the approval of the delegate assembly?
If
so, I can hardly imagine anything so unworkable. $1000 in the context of the
workings of a small town, which we are, is peanuts. Worst of all, it requires
not the approval of a small committee (say the UCO officers) or even a large
committee (say the Executive Board), but a humongous committee of 300, which
meets regularly only once a month! The arrangement we have, if I understand it
correctly, is almost laughable to me.
No
matter who was the current UCO president, I would be in favor of first increasing
this maximum, then requiring approval of the officers or the Executive Board for a
higher outlay, and finally requiring approval of the delegate assembly only for very
large outlays.
It
wouldn't surprise me then if there were fewer instances of making more than one
payment to a vendor when one would have sufficed or if there were fewer times
when "it's an emergency" were cited.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
OPINION BY GEORGE PITTELL
-
Decision of an Issue Ending with the Executive Board – and more
-
Let me first establish I have not supported Term Limits as
I feel a person doing a good job should be allowed to continue to serve. A
person not serving well can be voted out. I am a member of the Advisory Board
and the Executive Board. I was out of town when the Advisory Board met to
consider the Amendments to our Bylaws. Therefore I can only rely on what I have
heard about what was said there. I did attend the Officers Committee Meeting as
an observer. The Officers voted down all the proposed amendments. At the
Executive Board meeting I listened and considered the positions for and against
the motions. I concluded as above to not support Term Limits. I also did not
vote for the other proposed amendments as the points made for and against could
not allow me to conclude support for either position over the other. Perhaps I
could have abstained.
Then came the word that the proposed amendments would not
be brought before the Delegate Assembly. It was clearly explained that the
Bylaws state that only if a proposed amendment is approved by the Executive
Board does it go to the Delegate Assembly. Now I for one expected that the issue
would go to the Delegate Assembly, no matter the Executive Board vote. I believe
it has been so stated in the past. At today’s Delegate Assembly a number of
people walked out in protest. I heard it stated there were about 50 people who
left. Now with a quorum of 128 delegates, had a vote on the proposed amendments
been taken today it would have required 86 affirmative votes to pass. Perhaps
this can be seen as an enlightenment for those proposing the bylaw changes as to
how much support there is with the delegates.
and Now where does this leave us? Not very well off I am afraid. For those in opposition to today’s proceedings, they might now be described as being between a rock and a hard place. An obvious thing to do would be to get greater representation on what we may now see can be the all decisive Executive Board. They have been trying to do so with limited success. If anyone expects that planning an absence of delegates in order to block enactment of a motion it would likely fail as the Bylaws provide that in the absence of a quorum the vote of the Executive Board determines the issue with the exception of a conflict of Statutes or the Bylaws.
On another issue. At the Executive Board meeting it was
charged by some speakers that UCO elections are not conducted on “a level
playing field” They state the office holder has the advantage of being already
known to the residents while a challenger is not permitted to distribute
promotional flyers. When I came to live in C.V. and for a couple of years
candidates for UCO office were invited to present themselves to the residents at
the Kent pool. I am uncertain if this was done at other WPRF pools. This
practice was ended and no pool or other WPRF property can be used for election
candidates to meet and introduce themselves to our residents. I have heard it
said that this change was pressed for at the behest of office holders. I can’t
say anything about that. I can say that at what might have been our first
Operations Meeting with Eva Rachesky, that as I recall she stated she was ruling
out politics at the pools as this was how it was at C.V. Deerfield where she
felt it worked well.
For those who attend the Delegate Assemblies I believe they
know what to expect when Ed Grossman takes to the microphone. He will likely be
raising issues and questions of matters he finds troubling. These things are
sometimes delivered in a barrage of words and ends in being just that, without
any resolution. I believe it was at the August Assembly that he addressed
himself to Ed Black whose response was that if Mr. Grossman would ask one
question at a time he would try to answer them. Well Mr. Grossman then asked his
questions one at a time to which Mr. Black gave his answer. It seemed to me that
Mr. Grossman considered each answer and seemingly accepted it as at least
reasonable and may have even thanked Mr. Black.
Which brings us to the Delegate Assembly of 9/4/15. Here
again Mr. Grossman rose and addressing PBSO Captain Bruckner he delivered a
barrage of words. All that most of us know about a threatening email sent to
Esther Sutofsky is what we have read on a blog or heard from others. Surely I
denounce sending such emails and am concerned for her safety. It has been said
that the sheriff’s response to the email is that they do not consider it a
credible threat. While I don’t know all that PBSO knows I still find it
unfathomable. I suppose I would need to know what is their criteria for being
credible. Recently, I have received emails seemingly from people I know that
were determined not to have been sent by them. I have wondered who did send them
and if and how it is possible to find this out. We hear a great deal about
emails in today’s news reports and these suggest agencies like the FBI are able
to determine who sent an email. In his forceful presentation to Captain Bruckner
Mr. Grossman asked “did you press the button”? Seemingly it is his
understanding that doing so would somehow reveal who sent the email to Esther.
Along with his commentary on the threatening email Mr. Grossman spoke about the
report made to PBSO accusing Olga Wolkenstein of having a cache of guns in her
home which brought a visit of 2 deputies. I feel certain they determined that
the report was unfounded. In introducing this matter I feel Mr. Grossman
diverted focus from the email. Captain Bruckner having listened to all Mr.
Grossman had said simply responded he heard no question and moved on. Well there
was a question it was “did you press the button”? Which I feel was Mr. Grossmans
way of being cute as though that’s how simple it could have been to find out who
sent the email to Esther. Apparently Mr. Grossman lost sight of the exchange he
had with Mr. Black last month as to dealing directly with one thing at a time
without a lot of verbiage. Perhaps a better way of posing the question would
have been to first ask if identifying the sender of an email can be done and
then asking if so did PBSO do so?
Then again, who knows? Is it not possible that PBSO is
pursuing this matter and does not choose to reveal anything about it at this
time?
I will submit this to both David Israel and Gary Olman’s
blog as well as the UCO Reporter.
-
George R. Pittell
-
Thanks George for the well considered Post.
-
Dave Israel
-
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Friday, September 4, 2015
DELEGATE ASSEMBLY - SEPTEMBER 4, 2015 - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE
Delegate Assembly 9-4-2015 Part 1 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 9-4-2015 Part 2 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 9-4-2015 Part 3 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 9-4-2015 Part 4 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 9-4-2015 Part 2 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 9-4-2015 Part 3 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 9-4-2015 Part 4 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
NOTICE OF PASSING
-
-
-
UCO advises, with deep sadness, the passing of Mildred Levine in the early morning hours of September 4, 2015
-
Mildred was a dedicated volunteer for many years in UCO, and was loved by all.
-
She will be deeply missed!
-
Dave Israel
-
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
