[COTO DE CAZA] United Protection Services Missing in Action
To: CotoBuzz@yahoogroups.com
CC keystonepacific, czmaster BOD, Ocregister.com
From:
BOB
Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 03:28:12 EDT
Subject: [COTO] United Protection Services (UPS) Missing in Action
Tonight (Saturday), shortly after 10PM, I was at my house in Hillsboro when I heard tires squealing and then a crash. I got up and walked down to the corner of San Miguel and Vista del Verde where an automobile accident had just occurred. Two young men, approximately 20 to 25 years old, had sped through the intersection headed East on San Miguel, and run the stop sign at full speed. Going too fast to navigate the turn, they went into the fence and ended up headed South on Vista del Verde after bouncing off the curb. Fortunately, no one else was traveling North on Vista del Verde or there would have been a bad head-on accident.
I began talking to two fireman who had come out of the station and put out flares to alert on coming traffic. I asked them if they had notified the Coto security(UPS) and one of them replied that he had called three times, talked to three different people, and been told that UPS was short-handed and could not send anyone to investigate the accident or direct traffic! The fireman also told me that UPS informed him that there was no roving security patrol in Coto tonight.
Exactly two weeks ago, I called UPS to report that a landscaping company truck had been left on Avondale overnight and requested that patrol come out and get the truck moved. Three hours later, I called the gate again to request something be done about the truck that had been left abandoned on the street, to sit there all weekend. Finally, the patrol officer got to the truck and arranged with the business owner to get the truck moved. After the patrol officer made contact with the truck's owner, he came to my house to let me know what had been done and informed me during his conversation that the UPS staff "had been cut to the bone" and that they were very short handed.
So Mr. Klug and Mr. Varo, please tell me again, about the "compelling offer" to hire UPS. The employees are telling the Fire Department and residents that they cannot respond to calls because their staff has been cut so much. Is this because UPS has hired a high-priced consultant and has no money to cover patrol hours? No patrol in Coto on a Saturday night with all the vandalism that is going on in Coto? I would just ask both of you, Mr. Klug and Mr. Varo, do either of you review the staffing assignments that certainly were contracted for when you brought in UPS? Were either of you consulted before UPS began reducing patrol hours and agreed to these reductions? If either of you were aware of the security manpower reduction in Coto and approved it, then shame on you. If you were not aware of the these reductions, and are allowing UPS to operate in Coto with no system of checks and balances, then double shame on you. One other point the fireman made to me tonight was that since no one from UPS came to the scene and took a report, then there would be no record on the incident sent to Coto management since it was a non-injury accident. His statement was that CHP does not file "non-injury" accident reports. I assume this to be true since it came from an on duty fireman. If this is the case, then perhaps CZ Master is not getting information on every accident or incident that occurs in Coto, and as a result the incident report that you receive is not a true indication of what is really happening here. If I was the community manger of Coto or head of the CZ Master Association, I think that I would demand an accounting to the last dollar of how my $1,504,819 Gate attendant/patrol services budget was being spent, what my weekly staffing schedule was, and how it could be possible for there to be no one on roving patrol in Coto de Caza on a Saturday night! To give UPS over $1,500,000 annually and have no roving patrol is a problem. Who is minding the store?I would be more than happy to discuss my conversations with the UPS employees that I quoted from two weeks ago or the fireman tonight if either Mr. Klug or Mr. Varo would like to verify what I was told.
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Bob Hi Bob: Thanks for the most excellent report! Too bad you are not a highly paid security consultant for Coto– because according to what one told the Orange County Register, “the reason vandalism, and crime is low in Coto, is because of the quick response from UPS”. Then Varo encourages Coto residents not to call UPS, because as Jerry Mezger said: “According to the Sheriff’s numbers for 2004 and 2005, our law enforcement calls by the Sheriff’s department run about ¼ the rate of other South Orange County communities on a per capita basis”- Jerry Mezger, April 28, 2006 – Code words for “we ain’t got people at UPS due to a compelling offer and program” - We have yet to see who the beneficiary of Varo's Compelling Program and Offer has been, other than Varo and UPS! What the consultants are telling the Orange Country Register, What the board is telling residents and what the Orange County Register reports is 180 degrees from what we have witnessed and reported, and very consistent with your experiences.
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Buzz, I am sending a letter to Cary Treff, CJ Klug, Harkins and Bob Varo requesting an audit of UPS. How is the $1,504,819 being expensed and why are services that certainly have been contracted for been reduced? Who authorized this reduction in services and do you think that the general population of Coto de Caza is in favor of reducing security services and is aware of this reduction? And more importantly where is the money going?
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Hi Bob: Good luck with the audit – if it takes place, we would be happy to join in. Remember that the audit to determine if due diligence was used when the board fired Securitas and brought in UPS, found no evidence of due diligence. Also, remember that according to the GM, the metrics used to determine if a service provider is doing its job is an contract. "If it is renewed, then the service provider is doing a good job" , according to the board. Also, remember that the $1,504,819 does not include the total “security expenses” – there are invoices for other items, such as those associated with GateWorks, gate maintenance, and last but not least, the Keystone overhead. Further, statistics show that a good percentage of the gate runners come from non-homeowners, who enjoy the Coto Lifestyle without paying a nickel, and are now members of good standing of the Coto Public Safety Committee. Total consumption by these none-homeowners, by our own estimates is roughly $600,000.00 year!
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
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