Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Conversation with Coto de Caza BOD Candidates: Steven Zipperman

Coto de Caza is indeed fortunate to have most qualified candidates like Xochitl Yocham, and Steven Zipperman.

Steven is a self-described professional fighter, assuring he comes with a clean slate and has expressed a strong desire to legitimately and honorably serve the community to the best of his ability. And he reasons that surely “…the current Board has done something right. I never see any Board member get any ataboys, only criticism. And not constructive criticism either. Most of the comments are not intended to make things better – they are merely the venting of a few malcontents who will never be happy, regardless of what is done on their behalf”.

He does think that the board has done a good job managing reserves and that “…reserves have increased substantially, so that all of our community is more safe, and our properties are more saleable”. He also initially questioned the wisdom of hiring a General Manager, but he thinks that in retrospect “I think hiring this General Manager was a good idea, since the Board members are not always available to get the business of the Association done. So far, it appears that C.J. has done a pretty good job of doing a responsible job on our behalf..”

Public safety appears to be one of this top priorities and believes that the recent spate of accidents cannot be blamed on the board of directors. He support and applaud the hiring of a retired Sheriff to research and set up an emergency program. “I have seen him at a Board meeting, and he seems to be the right man for the job. This is a positive thing. In the future, each Delegate may have an emergency hand-held radio, with pre-determined places to go and things to do in the event of a fire, earthquake, or plane crash”

With regards to was the Safety Committee Fiasco, he believes both sides mangled it: The board and the committee members. “ First, the Board should have thought about what they were doing before just reacting to the circumstances. The committee should have been formally appointed, with directions as to what it was supposed to accomplish, and what, if any limitations were expected of those who served on the committee.”

Again, just like Xochitl, Steven is well qualified and willing to do right by Coto. Steven does wonder if being too too opinionated and politically incorrect could exclude him from consideration for the Board. “I truly hope to do some good”

A drawback may be that Steven does not have the benefit of the institutional memory previous board president John Zarian has spoken to. Paraphrasing the old adage “failing to study our history assures us of repeating the same errors…” An example, is that Steven is running as a delegate and for the board at the same time, and has not seen any of the various security proposals floating around.

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