Homeowners hire attorney to obtain information from GIL Board

Although winter is not yet over and the drop in evening temperatures can still fall below freezing, things sure seem to be heating up here at Glen Iris Lofts.

The Blog has recently learned that a group of Glen Iris Lofts homeowners have hired Atlanta law firm Lipshutz Greenblatt, LLC in an effort to enforce compliance on the part of the GIL Board to provide access to information the homeowners claim they have a legal right to review, following the Board's latest denial of their request for information. 

According to a letter sent to the Association this week by the group's attorney, Mr. Randall M. Lipshutz, Esq., (a copy of the letter obtained by the Blog has been included with this post, below) the homeowners have requested; to review all ballots, proxies and other material related to the most recent election of Board members in December; to view the emails that evidence proper Board approval of the 2012 budget, given that the budget was not approved at a Board meeting where minutes were taken; all maintenance contracts maintained by the Association in excess of $25,000; all documents related to the Board's decision to seek a loan to pay for exterior stucco work and window repairs (the so-called 'mega-loan').

This is not the first time Mr. Lipshutz has been involved in the legal affairs of Glen Iris Lofts.  Most notably, he was the attorney that drafted the Association's By-Laws, Articles of Incorporation and filed the initial Declaration of Condominium.  In their selection of legal counsel, the homeowner group could probably not have found someone with greater knowledge and familiarity with the governing documents of our Association.

The Blog sent an e-mail to the GIL Board seeking comment on the homeowner group's action, but did not receive a reply.

The Blog will keep our readers abreast of any new developments that pertain to this story as details emerge...stay tuned!


Copy of letter sent to the GIL Board from Randall M. Lipshutz, Esq., the homeowner group's attorney, can be viewed, below.  Note that if you are unable to view the letter in-line on this Web page, simply click the link below to open the letter in a new browser window.

Document Inspection Letter

There’s a thief in our midst

All of the brouhaha that has followed 'Cart-Gate' has certainly brought one question in particular more sharply into focus for everyone living here at Glen Iris Lofts.

AND THAT QUESTION IS by what authority is Kit Sutherland running about investigating key finders on carts, authoring ‘community announcements’ in the name of the Glen Iris Lofts Board of Directors (in that headmaster tone like only Kit can do) summoning the Atlanta Police Department to ‘investigate’ delusions of ‘compromised security’ on GIL property, authorizing billable time by Association attorneys and, unbelievably, having the audacity to confiscate utility carts when they are in short supply and desperately needed, when she hasn’t even been elected to serve on our Board for more than three years now? (Continued...)

Election fraud bombshell: 2003 rental cap amendment FAILED

For anyone that still harbors the quaint illusion that GIL elections are fair, honest and accurate, prepare yourself.  The Blog recently obtained a folder that contained the ballots from the February 13, 2003 Annual Homeowners’ Meeting, at which homeowners voted on whether or not to amend the By-Laws to include, among other things, a 25% rental cap.

But an audit of the vote count reveals a startling discovery - the amendment actually failed.  (Continued...)

High cost of free counsel: Stuart Sutherland's cost us $200K

The following is an intriguing timeline of events that surround Kit and Stuart Sutherland’s acquisition of the unit adjacent to their own that curiously unfolded at precisely the same time GIL homeowners found themselves the only ones left at the dinner table when the nearly $200,000 tab was delivered for a construction defect that no one – not even the developer – argued they should have to pay for.  No one, except Stuart Sutherland, that is.

HOW IT CAME TO BE

02/19/01

Kit and Stuart Sutherland purchase 660 Glen Iris Dr, NE, Unit 409 (their primary unit) for $342,000, of which $273,600 was financed via a conventional mortgage obtained from First Union Mortgage Corp.²⁹

05/30/02

While the Glen Iris Board was still under developer control, Jerrold Miller, of Miller-Gallman Developers – the developer of Glen Iris Lofts – appoints Kit Sutherland to the GIL Board of Directors publicly at a Glen Iris Lofts homeowners meeting.  The Board then consisted solely of Jerrold Miller, W. Bruce Gallman and Kit Sutherland. 

“Kit Sutherland of Phase I was appointed to the current Board of Directors by Jerry Miller and Bruce Gallman”¹

At the same homeowners’ meeting that Miller announced Kit’s appointment to the first homeowner Board, Miller acknowledges responsibility of the slope stabilization project when he responds to a homeowner question on the subject.

“Homeowner question for Jerry Miller:

3. What are we doing about the landscape at the rear of the building that washes away when it rains?

The landscape architects have been assigned to examine the erosion and give a plan of correction to us.”¹

10/02/02

In a meeting with the GIL Board of Directors, developer Jerry Miller again openly acknowledges responsibility for correcting the slope stabilization problem behind the Phase II building.²¹

02/11/03

At the Annual Meeting, held at 7:00 PM, Stuart Sutherland voted by proxy for Ellen Hines - the owner of the unit adjacent to their own that they would buy the following year.

06/04/03

Sandy Jones, the first President of the homeowner-controlled GIL Board, sends an e-mail requesting Gary Caruso, an engineer with Criterium-Caruso Engineers, to perform a forensic study of the failed retaining wall to determine if the developer should have taken steps to shore up rear retaining wall.²

06/12/03

In a noteworthy halt to the momentum to build the case that the Miller-Gallman should be held accountable for correcting the failed retaining wall, the GIL Board minutes note that it has decided to take the Erosion Engineering Control Study off the table for the time being.

“Bid for Erosion Control and Next Steps (Kit and Sandy) Kit will you please bring the letter from Craig Howell?

Erosion Engineering Control study is taken off the table”³

GIL Board votes to approve a special assessment to fund the slope stabilization project, although the amount of the assessment will later prove to be only about one-tenth the amount eventually required to remedy the problem.³ (Continued...)

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...)

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.

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...)

BREAKING NEWS: We’re broke.

2012 should be a year to celebrate – our Association will have its 10^th 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...)

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...)

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...)

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...)

Suther-spam: Part 2 - Deaf ears and hot air cost homeowners $10,000

This is the second post of a four part fact-checking series brought to you by the Glen Iris Blog.

WHY FACT CHECK?
It doesn't exactly take the observational skills of Angela Lansbury for one to put together pretty quickly that Stuart Sutherland is a man that is seldom wrong about anything.

In fact, Stuart comes across as so right about everything, some might even label him a bit of a Renaissance man - well versed in everything from the nuts and bolts of commercial construction to the nitty-gritty nuances of accounting and business math. So, the Glen Iris Blog thought it might be educational to take several statements and claims made by Stuart Sutherland at our Annual Meeting and do a little fact checking to see if, in fact, he is as knowledgeable as he would have us believe.

DISINFORMATION  At the recent Annual Meeting, one homeowner proposed turning down or off the electric space heaters that dot the stairwells of both the 660 and 640 buildings.  I don't recall the exact dollar figure that the homeowner maintained could be saved annually by this proposed cost cutting measure, but I believe it was on the order of $4,000.

Upon hearing this suggestion, I was awestruck by how quickly and firmly the money saving suggestion was discarded out of hand by Stuart Sutherland.  What was even more telling, to me anyway, was the certainty with which Stuart announced that no money could be saved by the homeowner's suggestion whatsoever.  And if I've learned one thing about Stuart Sutherland, it's that the more adamantly certain he sounds, the more likely it is that what he's saying is pulled straight out of his arse and highly unlikely to have much, if any, truth to it whatsoever.

But, admittedly, that's just my opinion.  So, in an effort to add a measure of empiricism to the debate, the Glen Iris Blog decided to take an independent look at both the claims made by the homeowner and the claims made by Stuart.

FACT   Using actual Georgia Power usage and cost data provided to the Blog by CMA, it turns out that the homeowner and Stuart were both wrong.  In fact, electric space heaters (one of the few things consuming electricity only when it's cold, apart from heat strips to prevent pipes from freezing, however they are only drawing power when the temperature drops below freezing) are almost certainly adding significantly to electricity usage during the winter months. (Continued...)

Suther-spam: Fact checking the Sutherland disinformation machine

This is the first post of a four part fact-checking series brought to you by the Glen Iris Blog.

Suther-spam:  Part 1 - Shut up and pay up

It doesn't exactly take the observational skills of Angela Lansbury for one to put together pretty quickly that Stuart Sutherland is a man that is seldom wrong about anything.

In fact, Stuart comes across as so right about everything, some might even label him a bit of a Renaissance man - well versed in everything from the nuts and bolts of commercial construction to the nitty-gritty nuances of accounting and business math. So, the Glen Iris Blog thought it might be educational to take several statements and claims made by Stuart Sutherland at our Annual Meeting and do a little fact checking to see if, in fact, he is as knowledgeable as he would have us believe. 

*Note: Many homeowners may be unaware of the manner by which our Association adopts a budget.  It's not so much an 'approval process' as it is a 'dissapproval process' - whereby the budget is whatever the Board says it will be.  The only way around that is to have the budget disapproved by way of a procedurally improbable scenario whereby members may disapprove the budget predetermined by the Board at the Annual Meeting.  It would require a minimum of 56 members to be present, in person, at the meeting (not by proxy) and all of whom are in unanimous support of not supporting the budget for the coming year.  Sounds like an attorney's dream come true, doesn't it? It is.

DISINFORMATION   In introducing the 2012 budget, the Board Treasurer - oops, my bad - our Treasurer didn't present the budget to those in attendance at the Annual Meeting (I was momentarily confused because that's the way every other Association on the planet does it, but given the reality that our Board is, and has been for years, more or less a clever democratic-looking disguise for the Sutherlands and their dictatorial hold on our Association, Stuart naturally presented the 2012 budget rather than it being presented by Jennifer Keir, our Treasurer).  Let me try again.  In introducing the 2012 budget, the Board - i.e. Stuart - claimed that the 2012 budget 'holds the line on expenses' and even went as far as to make the claim that, with the exception of the budget item for water and sewer, the 2012 budget contains several items of expense decreases over 2011. (Continued...)

Letter to Georgia State Attorney General: Board’s refusal to provide financials at annual meeting violates State law

Refusal by the GIL Board of Directors to make Association financials available to members upon request is nothing new to homeowners at Glen Iris Lofts.  Despite the fact that such refusal violates provisions of the GIL By-Laws and despite the fact that such refusal appears to be a violation of State law, the Association’s balance sheet, income statement and other important documents detailing the financial health of the Association have, for years, been off-limits to homeowners.

Why the lack of transparency?  One can only speculate, but, according to a copy of a letter obtained by the Glen Iris Blog, it’s the subject of a complaint recently made to the office of Samuel Olens – the Attorney General for the State of Georgia.  The letter maintains that the Board’s long-standing refusal to make Association financials available to members – most recently at the Annual Meeting – is a violation of State law. The letter specifically cites Georgia Code Sec. 44-3-230 – a section of the Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act - that states:

“At the annual meeting, comprehensive reports on the affairs, finances, and budget projections of the association shall be made to the lot owners.”

-Georgia Code 44-3-230

The letter also raises the concern that such a long-standing and steadfast lack of transparency on the part of the Glen Iris Board may be the result of financial malfeasance or misappropriation of Association funds that could be on-going for nearly a decade – with possibly devastating financial repercussions for the 110 Georgians who call Glen Iris Lofts home.

Stay tuned, neighbors…

 

The Zero-Transparency Team strikes again!

Here's what I want to know...if our current water bill is estimated - like Stuart Sutherland claims - then why is every month's bill different?  They left that little detail out at the meeting, 'natch.

I bet you one of those yummy 'dinners for two to go' from Whole Foods that I know the answer!  Because like everything else they tell you, I think they make that shit up as they go along.  Hello.

Don't believe me?  Then ask yourself why we're probably the only condo association members on the planet that never get a balance sheet at their annual meeting.  Now that I think about it, I don't think we have ever gotten one. By doing that, they are basically telling homeowners that "it's none of your business what we do with your money".  I'm sorry, but I think that's just shady - and hardly very 'neighborly'.  Would somebody please deliver us from the Sutherlands' 'generous' volunteerism before they take our Association over a cliff?

My friends, I think we are being managed, lied to and played for suckers.  Which is why I'm giving myself a consultation with an attorney for Christmas!  Maybe it will help, maybe not.  One thing's for sure - it certainly couldn't make our Board any less transparent than it already is!  Stay tuned...

Latest election of Board members not valid, according to GIL By-Laws

According to the GIL By-Laws (as amended, 2003), the latest election held to fill the number of vacant Board positions at the Annual Meeting was not valid as it violated several provisions governing elections set forth in section 4.07 'Procedure for Election' (Section 4.07 in its entirety included with this post, below).  Specifically, the recent election violated the By-Laws as follows:


1.  The By-Laws do not accommodate voting in advance of the meeting.  Accordingly, any ballots that were mailed to Maggie at CMA prior to the Annual Meeting are not valid.

"Election of Board of Directors shall be by secret written ballot, unless dispensed by unanimous consent, and at such election, members or their proxies may cast..."

Notice the By-Laws do not accommodate voting prior to such election. The votes for Board positions sent prior to the meeting to Maggie at CMA are invalid as they were not voted at the election.


In fact, advance voting is not possible under the current By-Laws as those casting votes are required to list the names of those for whom they wish to vote after the completion of the nomination process, which takes place, according to the By-Laws, at the annual meeting itself.  See issue two, below. (Continued...)

Board President left holding the bag...of bird shit

If, after nearly 10 years of what I believe to be the Sutherland’s stunts, dirty tricks, shenanigans and otherwise enrolling others in their favorite game – the one they excel at like no other – pitting one homeowner against another, there are any homeowners still naïve enough to think that the Sutherlands aren’t still fully in control of the Glen Iris Board - titles be damned - then one discussion in particular at the Annual Meeting would have surely convinced the last of the non-believers.  It was, of all things, the discussion about bird poop.  Yes, you read correctly, bird poop.

So, there everyone was at the meeting and the subject of the nasty bird nests in the ceilings of the Phase I and Phase II garages came up.  That’s when you saw Stuart slowly slink to the background and stand quietly by, allowing poor Yoel Bakas, the current Board President, to lead the discussion - and make a fool of himself by being only half-informed – just the way the Sutherlands like ‘em.

Here’s the 411 on the bird poop. (Continued...)

Way to hold down costs, Stuart!

Boy are we stupid! Stuart blamed the whopping 15% increase in HOA dues for next year on the ginormous increase in water and sewer charges...but did anyone notice that the budget for next year increased 2% without the extra $52,500 in water and sewer increases?  And that would be after the 11% increase in dues last year and the 7% increase the year prior to that.

Way to 'hold down costs', Stuart.  Great job.

Annual HOA Meeting Kabuki Theater...

Well, there we were again...Stuart pretending to listen and homeowners pretending that they are involved.  And what with Kit and her damned laptop?! She gets more abrasive every year.  By this time next year, she may even be as pompous and abrasive as her husband... Mmm....nah.  Not possible.

And, ah, show up an hour late, busy yourself with everything but what you're supposedly there for and then dart out the back door before anyone could ask you a question much?  She was no doubt late to another meeting...at 10:00 p.m.  And hasn't anyone noticed that Kit herself has said nothing on the subject of whether or not she is affiliated in any way with Miller-Gallman Developers?  Not a word.  In fact, she wrapped up her intrusive and disrespectful keyboarding session but fast once someone said that they would just ask her the questions about Miller-Gallman themselves rather than continue to pose them to Stuart.


All I know is that...I might be inclined to think that maybe her name popping up with Miller-Gallman is just some weird fluke - were it not for what seems to me as completely guilty behavior.