Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Why all the secrecy? The Blog investigates this central question

It is a widely known fact that our Board, under Sutherland control, has gone through extraordinary lengths to deny homeowners access to Association records. The rights of inspection spelled out in our By-Laws have been largely ignored - even flouted - for years, as repeated attempts by a parade of former and current homeowners seeking to exercise their rights of inspection were - almost without exception - summarily stonewalled. 

There is a relatively straight forward way around that brick wall – although it is costly. Given the clear rights of inspection that are due members of the Association, not only as guaranteed by our By-Laws, but by the Georgia Non-Profit Corporation Code (O.P.G.A. 14-3-101) – state law by which our Association is governed – an aggrieved homeowner can obtain judicial enforcement of their rights without having to leap any extraordinary legal hurdles. But the mere fact that our Board forces the issue itself creates an extraordinary hurdle – because the only way to bring the power of judicial enforcement to bear is for the homeowner to sue their own Association. And, given that the costs of bringing such legal action must, almost invariably, be underwritten by a single member, that cost is usually sufficient to discourage any casual interest that homeowner may have in reviewing Association records.

Of course, there is one homeowner among us who has been pulling the levers of power on the Glen Iris Lofts Board of Directors since its inception, and who knows better than anyone - by virtue of being an attorney - that the cost of suing one's own Association will nearly always trump that member's interest in reviewing records, and that person is Stuart Sutherland.  This, despite the fact that professional codes of conduct and the ethical requirements of his profession would appear to demand that he demonstrate a greater respect for the law. But, for some reason, he doesn't.  And this apparent willingness to simply disregard what the law would require - knowing that the eventual cost for doing so could be professional censorship or even possible disbarment from practicing law in the State of Georgia – raises a number of interesting questions. (Continued...)

Monday, January 30, 2012

Our broken election process: Ripe for proxy abuse

GIL ELECTION PROXY FORMS ARE NOT CERTIFIED   Given that substantially greater than half of all votes cast in elections since the inception of our Association have been by proxy, the fact that proxies are not certified as the valid instrument of those that purportedly signed them represents a serious challenge to the legitimacy of election results.

Without a process of certification, there is very little way to know if a proxy is legitimate or fraudulent. It wouldn’t take much for someone with an interest in a certain outcome to identify those who perennially fail to vote and whose non-attendance at the annual meeting is all but certain and to use that information to fraudulently vote on behalf of those members.  And if any ballots so produced were cast by mail and sent to CMA, the chances of getting caught doing it are nil. (Continued...)

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Dun & Bradstreet Credit Reporting also notes a Sutherland/Miller-Gallman affiliation

Last Monday, the Blog posted a copy of the Hoover's Business Report that noted the alleged affiliation between Kit Sutherland and Miller-Gallman Developers.  We have since been able to obtain a copy of the Dun & Bradstreet Comprehensive Credit Report for "Miller Gallman Developers", that, like the Hoover's report, supports an apparent affiliation between Kit and Miller-Gallman Developers.  Note: The Dun & Bradstreet report is included at the end of this post.

As with the Hoover's report, we wondered why no other executives (namely Jerrold Miller) were listed as having an affiliation with the company.  Upon further investigation, (Continued...)

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Sutherlands bounce check to Association

No one is particularly thrilled about the prospect of having their lesser moments made public, and that's even truer when those that would make them public would do so with the apparent objective merely to embarrass or discredit. Worse still are the occasions when lesser moments are fabricated out of whole cloth for the same purpose. One wouldn't have to walk too far down either direction of any hallway here at GIL to find a homeowner that will claim to be a victim of this sort of demagoguery at the hands of the Sutherlands. And I personally have witnessed people that have found themselves caught up in a Sutherland gossip and discredit campaign that was either a dramatic embellishment of facts or that had absolutely no basis in fact at all.

This 'sort of behavior' - to borrow a phrase from Kit Sutherland - is dangerous politics, because with each successive engagement, the retail price of hypocrisy is ratcheted upward, should one ever find one's self at the cash register paying retail for their own lesser moment. But knowing this doesn't require any special insight; admonishment that reportedly came from Jesus' own mouth more than two millennia ago has served to better advise those that would 'cast the first stone'.

That's why I think it would be surprising for many to learn that Kit and Stuart have bounced a check to our Association at least once. It's true (documentation included and follows post conclusion).  Of course, (Continued...)

Friday, January 27, 2012

Next time around, election ballots will list all the names of those wishing to serve

GIL BALLOTS DO NOT LIST THE NAMES OF ALL CANDIDATES  The fact that the those currently on the Board would not add Scott Reno’s name to the ballot in the most recent election – and, in fact, have never placed anyone on the ballot other than those recommended by an incumbent Board, represents an egregious assault on the democratic process and the rights of GIL homeowners.

When buying their home, every member of our Association agrees to bind themselves to the decisions and actions of the GIL Board, and in exchange, homeowners are supposed to have the right to fully and genuinely participate in the governance and affairs of their Association. At GIL, homeowners only get half of that bargain. They become bound by the actions and decisions of the Board but, ultimately, their rights of full and genuine participation in those actions and decisions are not forthcoming.

In future elections, the Board can keep their 'ballot' and save us the $.20 a page CMA copy fee.

WE WILL BRING OUR OWN BALLOTS - ONES THAT FAIRLY LIST ALL THE NAMES OF THOSE WISHING TO SERVE.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Remember: Rules best serve those who make them

OUR BALLOTS ARE NOT SECRET  When the ballot on which you are asked to cast your vote requires your name, unit and building number and contains a written admonishment that ballots that lack such information are ‘invalid’ and will be ‘discarded’, that’s generally a sign that your vote is not secret.

Worse, your secret-to-everyone-but-the-Sutherlands ballot then serves as an excellent tool to accurately determine whom among us is a ‘good resident’ and who needs ‘re-education’ - lest they become an object of scorn, gossip and retribution.

Our By-Laws mandate ‘secret ballots’.  AND SECRET BALLOTS ARE WHAT WE WILL HAVE.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The $3.4 million hayride

According to information presented by the Board of Directors at the most recent Annual Meeting, our Association ended 2011 with $214,035 and it expects to collect $46,106 in reserve additions from assessments over the coming year.  Those two numbers total $260,141 – which doesn’t sound like we would be doing too badly at the end of 2012, does it?

But in order to leave homeowners with that false sense of financial security, the Board had to perform the budgeting equivalent of moon walking – the act of appearing to make forward motion, when in fact, we will be going backwards.  The only difference being that they arguably did it better than the late Michael Jackson ever hoped to do as we will be going backward over the coming year by about three full stage lengths.  How so, you ask?  Because they skillfully left $400,000 that they plan to spend over the next twelve months out of the budget.
  
The Board stated that the more than $400,000 that they expect to spend off budget in the coming year will be for stucco and window repairs.  This trick is not new.  The Federal Government has been doing it for nearly a decade in the way it accounts for war spending, the only distinction being that (Continued...)

Monday, January 23, 2012

Hoover's Company Report: Mary Sutherland is Secretary of Miller-Gallman

The Blog was finally able to get a copy of the Hoover's Company Report for Miller-Gallman developers that, does indeed, list Mary C. Sutherland as Secretary of the company (see below).  We wondered why no other executives (namely Jerrold Miller) were listed in the report.  Upon further investigation, the Blog discovered that information is contained in the company report for "Miller-Gallman Developers" (with a "-" in between the words "Miller" and "Gallman"), whereas the company report that mentions Kit was filed with the company "Miller Gallman Developers" (note the absence of the "-" between "Miller" and "Gallman").  If you combine the two reports, you would have the complete company information, at least as far as Hoover's is concerned.

You can judge for yourself, but in the Blog's opinion, it doesn't look necessarily like a "telephone marketing" roundup of random names.  Hoover's is a name that's well respected in the business world as a reliable source for corporate information, and there is no reason to believe that they simply concocted the information out of thin air.

At the very least, I think most would agree that it's a situation that certainly warrants a statement from Kit herself as to whether or not the information is accurate.  To-date, Kit has not denied the allegations that she has financial ties to the developer of Glen Iris LoftsDoesn't it make you wonder why she hasn't?

Join your neighbors in support of change by sending an e-mail to gil@go.to with the simple subject line ‘Count me in’ – and be a part of where Glen Iris Lofts is going.

Note: If you see the message "Sorry, embedding multiple documents..." below instead of the file contents, simply click the link below and open or save the file to your computer.
Hoovers Company Report









What's my share? A unit-level detail view of assessments from 2003-2012

WHATS MY SHARE?
Courtesy of: Chris Gordon (Ph II, 611)
A unit level breakdown of every budget line item for 2012, your unit's assessments for all years 2003-2012 and the total assessments paid by your unit since 2003. For readers who are into numbers or just curious, this is the file for you!

Note: If you see the message "Sorry, embedding multiple documents..." below instead of the file contents, simply click the link below and open or save the file to your computer.
Whats My Share



Sunday, January 22, 2012

Change is coming to Glen Iris Lofts…

No one who reads the Glen Iris Board meeting minutes is going to walk away with anything other the clear and sobering assessment that our Board leadership isn’t much interested in change of any kind.  Precious little time is spent on discussion of how things may be improved – unless of course one counts the time the Board leadership spends shooting down suggestions for improvements.

The list of resident demands for change that have gone unheeded is long and distinguished.  Whether it’s the enclosure of the lower Phase II car park that the homeowners who park there were willing to pay for themselves, the constant clamor for the installation of security cameras on the property to do something – anything – to address the serious property crime problem we have struggled with from day one and still continue to struggle with nearly ten years later and whose rate of occurrence hasn’t decreased at all, or whether it’s a guest parking policy that doesn’t really match the ‘needs curve’ of guest parking accommodation by homeowners.  And there are countless other issues or ‘hot buttons’ that various homeowners have that fail to be addressed – or even considered – year after year.  Most who are knowledgeable about the political realities here at Glen Iris will tell you the simple truth: it doesn’t really matter what you or any other homeowner wants, if Kit doesn’t want it, it ain’t gonna happen.
But, finally, there is some good news for everyone that calls Glen Iris Lofts 'home'.  Although the (Continued...)

In her own words: An e-mail from Kit Sutherland

There are some who claim that Kit Sutherland is simply misunderstood - and that she isn't caddy, nosey, conniving and always up to something nefarious, as many have alleged.
So the Blog decided to let you decide for yourself.  In an e-mail (see below) recently obtained by the Blog that was sent by Kit Sutherland to then Board President Sandy Jones, Kit trashes a GIL homeowner and one of her closest neighbors - a person who has been, by any account, an outstanding neighbor and a reliable pillar of support for our Association - Frank Lynch, the owner of Cactus Car Wash.
"Apparently, Frank's inability to sell or lease his investment property is not hurting his cash flow. His Jeep Cherokee, which was fairly late model(ed) and in good condition, was replaced this week with a massive, brand new Range Rover. I expect to see it parked soon in the center of the driveway in front of the elevator, where he parks regularly when he is unloading groceries, dry cleaning, etc. Can't wait to get a management company that can supply pre-printed "courtesy" warnings about this sort of behavior..." -Kit Sutherland
The e-mail also reveals the shocking revelation that, beyond harboring ill will toward GIL resident Lynch, Kit and Stuart Sutherland were even milling over what they could do with the Glen Iris Lofts commercial space that Lynch owned at the time, should the Association find a way to wrest it out from under him by way of playing hardball in resolving a technical error made in the drafting of an easement agreement granted to Decker Car Wash (d/b/a Cactus Car Wash) the year prior.
"Speaking of Frank, Stuart and I keep pondering what we (i.e. the association) might be able to do with the ground-floor level of #206, if it became an element in re-negotiating the easement situation..."      -Kit Sutherland
But she didn't stop there, no.  The e-mail goes on to reveal that Kit was also plotting to pull a fast one on her BFF, Jerry Miller, by trying to (Continued...)

SAFETY ALERT! Many GIL lofts at risk for fire

VERY REAL DANGER  Most GIL homeowners are probably blithely unaware that their loft has a serious construction defect that substantially increases the probability of having a potentially devastating house fire.  Although the Blog has not been able to determine how the Glen Iris developer, Miller-Gallman, was able to skirt the local building code and slide the defect past city building inspectors, the dryer venting assembly of every loft we inspected was found to be in substantial violation of the local building code. (Continued...)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Win a free $30 Cactus Car Wash gift card by solving the Glen Iris anagrams!


Solve the following Glen Iris anagrams and you could win a free $30 Cactus Car Wash gift card! 

1.  CREDIT USE BEGAN (2 words)                                             I                            E

2.  SCORN PIGPENS (2 words)                                            E                                    

3.  SLY DRAMA HUNTER (2 words)                                                                          

4.  BOD AT RISK (2 words)                                                                                         

5.  RECENT LOFT FICTIONS (3 words)                                                                     

6.  TRANSLATED HURTS US (2 words)                                                                    

7.  EACH COMING SIGN (3 words)                                                                          

Jot down the correctly unscrambled words in an e-mail and send to the Blog at gil@go.to by midnight, this Sunday (January 22) to win your free car wash.  If more than one correct (and complete) entry is received, the winner will be chosen at random from among the correct entries received.

Please be sure to include one of the following methods to receive your gift card, should you be the winner: your mailing address (if you would like your gift card sent to you via U.S. Mail); your parking space number at Glen Iris Lofts (your gift card will be left under your windshield wiper blade).

Also, be sure to indicate if we have your permission to use your name when we announce the winner or, if you would prefer that we use a screen name to identify you as the winner.  Either way, just let us know :-)

*One Cactus Car Wash gift card in the amount of $30.00 will be mailed to or left on the winner's car on Monday, January 23, 2012.

Enjoy!

the Blog

The solution to this anagram puzzle can be viewed on the continuing page. (Continued...)

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

BREAKING NEWS: We’re broke.

2012 should be a year to celebrate – our Association will have its 10th birthday.  But the guests to that party will have to bring their own kazoos, ice cream and cake – because, after nearly a decade of Sutherland control and domination of Board operation, we are, effectively, broke.  Yes, you read correctly, broke.  You could say that we are an island surrounded by a sea of Sutherland red ink.

We ended 2011 with total assets of $214,035 that are expected to be augmented by an additional $46,106 in reserve fund additions over the coming 12 months, for a projected total of $260,141. However, we also have repairs that have been identified and determined to be necessary expenditures (Continued...)

Monday, January 16, 2012

The $3,064 phone call...

Given that we pay nearly $25,000 a year for the services of a professional management company and given that we have a treasurer on our Board, who, presumably is given the freedom to do her job by her supervisor (which is doubtful, so I would remind folks to be careful and not lay too much blame at Jennifer Keir's doorstep), it's vexing that one can hardly turn around in our budget without bumping face-first into wasteful and unnecessary spending or instances where costs are higher than they would be if we weren't paying a 'stupid tax'.

Although the Blog shouldn't have to tell our Board and professional management company about it, we are on the wrong rate plan with Georgia Power.  Pick up the phone, call 888-660-5890 and tell them that you want to switch from the 'Small Power and Light Plan' to the plain old 'Standard Residential Service' plan.  We'll save 8.63% on our electricity costs by doing so.  And with this year's expected spend of $35,500 on electricity, that comes out to about $3,064.

Look into it.  Do the math.  You'll see.  We could have $3,064 more in our pocket at the end of the year without having to give anything up in return.  It's free money.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Whomever is baking all the cookies ought to share!

Not that the Blog would presume to do the Board's job - because certainly they are capable of doing that themselves. Or, are they? Natural gas usage - which only our stoves are supposed to be consuming -  has increased steadily between the 2003 to 2012 budget years - partly due to errant under billing by the gas company that went undiscovered for a time and partly due to rate and usage increases.  The Board carved out $15,500 for natural gas costs in 2012, a modest increase over the prior year, because, according to Stuart Sutherland, 'gas prices are going up'.

But has Stuart or anyone else on the Board stopped for a moment long enough to do a reality check? At the current price of natural gas, to consume $15,500 worth, every single unit at Glen Iris Lofts would have to have their stove top burners going all out for eight hours of every day for the entire year! And I mean all 110 units...8 hours...every day, seven days a week.

Perhaps there are units that have installed gas water heaters or gas heating appliances? Who knows, but the Board needs to wake up and pay attention to business and get to the bottom of this issue, rather than have the hand-off of thier out of control spending to homeowners every year continue to serve as the poor substitute for the management of our Association's affairs that it is.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The Glen Iris Lofts Neighbor Map (Download)

The Blog would like to thank Chris Gordon (Ph II, 611) for creating the Glen Iris Lofts Neighbor Map and sharing it with everyone!  It's an easy way to get an idea of who lives down the hall or across the way!

Note: If you see the message "Sorry, embedding multiple documents..." below instead of the file contents, simply click the link below and open or save the file to your computer.
Glen Iris Lofts Neighbor Map

Exciting news and an open letter from the founding author of the Blog...

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE FOUNDING AUTHOR OF THE BLOG


TO THE BLOG’S MANY SUPPORTERS
The generosity of your loyal readership, comments, e-mails and offers of support has been truly amazing, and I thank you.  Apart from making the countless hours required by this endeavor more rewarding, your support has provided incontrovertible evidence that a new day is dawning for our shared community. Your overwhelming support is witness to the well spring of interest, concern and desire to participate that exists in the hearts and minds of everyone here at Glen Iris Lofts. (Continued...)

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Cozy Developer Do-It-Yourself Kit

There may be a few - as in, maybe five - homeowners out there who haven't figured out by now that the developer has a lot to thank his friends Kit and Stuart for. And to those blind, remaining few, I invite you to do a little test yourself to see just how cozy the Sutherlands are with Jerrold Miller.

The next time you see Stu-Kit, just ask them this simple question: What is the Board doing to actively pursue the more than $5,000 in unpaid assessments that Jerry Miller owes our Association? They will tell you one of three things - none of which will be a straight answer. They will:

1. Hide behind a claim that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits them from disclosing that information - which it does not. So, if that's what they tell you, consider yourself lied to (but you would be in good company, since that's what one reader told the Blog that's the garbage he got when he asked).

2. Tell you that once his unit is sold, the Association 'may' receive some funds. If this is the baloney you are given, repeat the part about asking when we will get the more than $5,000 he owes our Association? You still won't get a straight answer, I assure you...you'll see.

3. Barring an answer similar to either of the above, you will then get a nuanced version of 'there's not much we, as an association, can do - which is absolutely untrue.  Our Association can pursue (Continued...)

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Tech-No: Zero Web presence is a cinderblock around the ankle of GIL home values


WE’RE A DINOSAUR   Nearly every loft development in Atlanta maintains a public-facing Web page where prospective home buyers and others interested in learning more about a particular loft community, can see which units are currently on the market and 'for sale', learn what sets thier community apart from others, the available amenities, etc.  But ours does not – even though the Blog couldn’t find a single instance of a loft development our size that didn’t. And, as anyone that knows anything about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) could tell you, our domain name (glenirislofts.com) would all but guarantee a top – if not the top - ranking in Google’s search results for the search term ‘glen iris lofts’...if there were a publicly accessible page at that address with any meaningful content.

In this wired age, missing an opportunity to appear on page one of a Google search is a major fumble that should be addressed immediately. And it’s not just the homeowners with units currently for sale that would benefit, either. Greater exposure attracts more interest and more potential buyers, a fact that could only positively impact resale prices, and resale prices directly and profoundly impact the value of everyone else’s unit in the development. (Continued...)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Glen Iris Farm, Pt. 2: Napoleon gets an attorney

It was always the pigs who put forward the resolutions. The other animals understood how to vote, but could never think of any resolutions of their own.
-George Orwell, The Animal Farm, Chapter 3


THE PROBLEM (Oink)  The only problem with giving people the right to vote is that, all too often, they don’t vote correctly.


THE BACKROOM DEAL  Although the By-Laws specifically state owners are to write the names of those for whom they are voting, what we pigs must do is help them be better Comrades and voters by writing down only the very best choices for them, so they don’t become hopelessly confused and make the wrong choices.

‘But then what shall the purpose of voting be?’ squealed one pig, after pondering the scheme for a moment. ‘So there’s voting!’ boomed Napoleon. ‘And so that people have the opportunity to vote for my wise choices’, he added.  And, then, with a watery snort that misted the air a full three feet in front of his snout, he turned his attention back to the hushed and ominously intense conversation he had been having on the urgent matter of his continued Stewardship of the animals with a very sinister looking pig with nervous, darting eyes and whose eerie ability to move about a room unnoticed reminded everyone of a pig they had known many years ago but whom had not been seen since the day Jones left the farm and it was decided that one pig would go to the city to learn how to read laws and make resolutions and things.

A VIDEO PRIMER  The Blog created this video to help better explain exactly how homeowners were duped into a system where there is voting, but no choice.


THE BARNYARD SCOREBOARD  Pigs 2, Homeowners 0!
 
As long as people continue to accept the Board’s ‘ballots’ as though they are the only 'true' ballot, when, in reality, they are only an artifice specifically designed to ensure that homeowners actually (Continued...)

Monday, January 09, 2012

Glen Iris Farm, Pt. 1: The rise of Napoleon and the Stewardship of pigs

They had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes.
-George Orwell, The Animal Farm, Chapter 7


PROBLEM (Oink!) Too many homeowners participate in the Annual Meeting in February and, to make matters worse, they are watching their money more closely, after having over-spent during the holidays.  This untenable situation simply creates too much unnecessary risk to our eternal Stewardship of the poor animals – and they need us!

BACKROOM DEAL  Move the Annual Meeting from the middle of February, as the By-Laws clearly appoint as the time for the Annual Meeting, to the middle of December. ‘But people are so busy around the holidays!’ squealed one pig. ‘Oink, that’s the point’, grumbled another.

COVER STORY  By moving the meeting to December, you also make the new year's budget official starting January 1, as opposed to March.  As a result, the the new monthly assessment amount can be collected on a schedule that's more closely aligned with the budget and our fiscal year.

COVER STORY FACT CHECK  From a budgeting perspective, there's nothing more ‘magical’ about January than December.  If the two months present different levels of expense or income, then you plan for that - that's the purpose of a budget!  Contracts with vendors expire at staggered periods throughout the year, depending on the month they were first signed, so it isn't like our expenses are all radically different in January than they were the month prior.  And even with a December budget adoption, the marginal increase in revenue (this assumes every budget is bigger than the last because, I think everyone would agree that's the pretty much the norm anymore) comes only one month sooner than it would have otherwise – and we have sufficient working capital to cover well beyond the incremental new revenue represented by just one month’s assessment increase.  As for alignment with the fiscal year, whats so difficult about budgeting January and February with what you know will be the revenue and then budgeting the remaining ten months with what the new revenue number will be?

A change in the budget process that would make more sense than bumping forward its approval would be to construct it in an orthodox manner where 'pine straw' isn't its own budget category, but, rather, is included in a 'Landscape Maintenance' category. (Continued...)

Friday, January 06, 2012

Are you sure loft living is right for you?

While it's true that I have had no formal schooling in psychology and will readily confess that people’s true motivations have been successfully (and sometimes, disastrously) hidden from me numerous times, I am comfortable in saying that I have been able to figure people out way many more times than not.  And I have an insight I’d like to share with you.

No one living here at Glen Iris Lofts would need much of a ‘sixth sense’ to readily see the iron wall that immediately goes up around Kit and Stuart Sutherland when they’re told something could be improved or is less than perfect the way it is.  Their reaction is quick and it's almost visceral.  Frankly, the speed and degree to which they so frequently take offense when others are merely  trying to earnestly, and with good intention, participate in the improvement of our shared community, has always struck me as just plain weird.  And, while I wish I could report that I had those two all figured out, all I can say is that I am confident that I have identified at least part of the problem and what may, at least, partially explain why they seem to rub so many people the wrong way.

As is true with anyone, the key to making sense of someone’s behavior lies in recognizing that you have to try to understand where people are coming from, first.  And, up until recently, I would have told you that I hadn’t even a micro-clue on where those two are coming from – and not for want of thought or contemplation on my part, either. (Continued...)

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Let's take it back!

Tired of backroom deals, half-truths and feeling like what's really being managed around here is you?
Change is coming.  Be a part of it.

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Suther-spam: Part 3 – Stuart’s watered down truth hoses homeowners

As anyone in attendance at the Annual Meeting can attest, there was a lively discussion about water.  All that seemed to be flying around the room there for a while was water: prior water billing, water meters, water conservation, water budgeting, current water billing, water, water and more water.


And no wonder - 13% of the 15% increase in dues for 2012 is directly linked to the Board's budgeted item of $70,000 to pay for water and sewer service for the coming year.
But what was also flying around the room, as it turns out, was a lot of bullshit about water, too. So, if you left the meeting a little bewildered by all the assertions, proposals, claims and counter-claims going around that evening, you're not alone.  Many homeowners had difficulty making sense of it all.  So, in an effort to help homeowners separate the water from the bullshit about water (Continued...)

Monday, January 02, 2012

Queen for a day: What would you change about GIL if you were Kit forjust one day?

The Blog wants to hear what's been on your mind when it comes to things you would change about life here at GIL. Just imagine that you were the Queen of Glen Iris Lofts for just one day. What would you instruct your Board to do?

The edicts don't have to be grand and they don't have to be whatever you think has any reasonable probability of coming about, either. Remember, you're Kit for a day, so what you desire will be!

Share your items with your neighbors by way of posting comment(s) to this post. You may do so anonymously if you wish and you may make as many comments as you would like.

*One request, if I may...please don't post that what you would change is that you could be Queen for all time. Someone's already giving that wish all they got.
And please let's keep the queen jokes to a minimum - I'm aware that there are many queens here at GIL, but I'm not talking about 'queen' like fabulous...I'm talking about 'queen' as in 'off with their heads!'