The Nobel Peace Prize and Coto de Caza Budget Process
October 22, 2006
Just over one week ago, Muhammad Yanus won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work making small loans to poor people with big dreams. Something he started to do in his native Bangladesh some 30-plus years ago.
Several Web sites have sprung up in the last few years to let individuals give or lend small amounts to others, who post their funding needs. According to the October 21/22 2006 issue of the WSJ, “the investment group of eBay founder Pierre Omidyr has funded many of the services and borrows liberally from the auction site’s open-market model”
If you are a donor:
donorschoose.org – public school teachers post wish lists for supplies and resources their budget will not cover:
ModestNeeds.org - Modest Needs works to stop the cycle of poverty before it starts for low-income workers struggling to afford emergency expenses like those we've all encountered before: the unexpected auto repair, the unanticipated trip to the doctor, the unusually large winter heating bill.
For BreakEveners:
Kiva.org – The loan does not interest and defaults could be possible, though none have registered so far.
For MoneyMakers:
Proposer. Com
For a chart of who gets your loot according to the WSJ, click here:
For Coto de Caza Handouts:
Now, if you want money from the Coto de Caza board of directors, the process is much easier. For example, say your exquisite manor needs to be gated so that Coto de Caza intruders do not vandalize your prized possessions – who do you go to, to subsidize your lifestyle for free? The Coto de Caza board of directors.
What if you want to promote your real estate business and need to differentiate yourself via premium ad placements? You simple lobby your spouse in the Coto de Caza board of directors to subsidize a “newspaper” to help those with exquisite manors get exclusive gates.
What if your children do not have playtime at your local city’s park? Easy, you get the Coto de Caza board of directors to subsidize the park and pre-empt Coto resident’s children.
What if you are a city with a landscaping renovation project and want to get rid of mature sycamore trees? You go to the Coto de Caza board of directors for “free” $45,000.00 charge.
Likewise, if you are a guest registration service who is hungry for business. You simply go to the Coto de Caza board of directors and offer them a “free” service and you end up getting over $125,000/year!
What if you are a fledgling private security company (or landscaping)company for that matter – you now know the drill!
I know what you are thinking. I can understand micro financing for the dis-advantaged, but what about those who simple want a handout. Who does the financing? According to the Coto de Caza board of directors, it is a perception issue.
The October 20, 2006 issue of the Orange County Register quotes a member of the Coto de Caza board of directors saying: “It’s a foregone conclusion that to bring the community up to our standards that there is going to be a dues increase,” – Apparently “our standards” mean the standards of those who get a hand out from the Coto de Caza residents, including those who own exquisite manors – otherwise, what standards would those be?
Oh, oh, and what about public safety within Coto de Caza, you may ask? According to the Coto de Caza board of directors, and consistent with the welfare system already mentioned, the gardener and the private security guard need to be paid, before the California Highway Patrol is even considered!
Move over Janus – we can see a Nobel Peace Price coming to the Varo/Mezger- led Coto de Caza board of directors!
From: Marc
Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 4:36 PM
To:CotoBuzz@yahoogroup s.com
Cc: 'Mark Eades'
Subject: RE: Varo/Mezger & CZ Board - PROVE YOURSELVES!
I firmly believe that the Board has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a dues increase is necessary. Although our CC&R’s provide for the Board to raise dues within the allowed percentage increase without general member approval, I find it abhorrent that this is being done without showing what the Board has done or can do to prevent such an increase. If our reserve position is as strong as Mr. Mezger has suggested in previous emails then there must and I’m sure that there exists other ways to continue to beef up our reserves position and prop up our budget allotments in other area’s without raising dues. My G-D, you guys just raised our dues 2 years ago! Exactly what the hell are you doing to fiscally manage our revenues in order to prevent a dues increase? It is readily apparent Messrs. Varo, Mezger and other Board members that you are falling back on a safe position because you don’t have to account for a decision to raise dues. Prove to the members at large that you can reduce costs, increase revenues and manage our overall community properly over the course of the next six months. Then and only then, if a dues increase is warranted, by all means you have the proof to do so. By not “taxing” the owners that reside in the Village and Los Rancho’s Estates for using all of Coto’s infrastructure is simply folly. They benefit from this kind of arrangement and we experience any number of costs. Similar to any other leech. What about surcharging the user’s of the sport’s park at a higher rate? Or cease from subsidizing COTOCAN? I understand about the $45,000 free tree issue but others have made comments that show that for the money, we could have received a lot more in return over a much larger area within Coto for the money spent. So far, I see concrete/stone infills on Coto drive. This is not a bucolic experience. Maybe a cost cutting feature. But at what expense? Why not keep costs down until we can afford all that concrete, materials and labor and find another way to deal with not having to water the boulevard grass area’s? Prove to us that you, our Board, are spending our money wisely and I’ll be glad to ante up when you ask for an increase in dues. Until then, I protest what you have done, what you propose to do to us that have to pay for your mismanagement and what you continue to do until you do something outside of the box! - Mark
----- Original Message ----
From: "Morabito, Joe" <
To: CotoBuzz@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Mark Eades
Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 2:09:25 PM
Subject: [COTO] Varo/Mezger CZ Board - Tax and Spend Incompetent Liberals
Zipperman erroneously believes that because Coto is an upscale community and CZ Members have “high expectations” that the only way to meet those expectations is through another dues increase. Of course, perish the thought that Varo/Mezger CZ Board Members should meet our expectations by working smarter to generate revenues that legitimately belong to our Members and cutting expenses through competitive bidding. Zipperman must believe that CZ Members made our money by being stupid. Go figure. Let’s face it. The Varo/Mezger CZ Board is just too damn lazy and incompetent to do the heavy lifting and make the tough decisions necessary to avoid a dues increase in 2007. I have provided very specific suggestions that would absolutely prevent a dues increase without cutting monies going into core Association functions including more money for landscaping replacement and the CHP. Varo/Mezger CZ Board Members are tax and spend liberals and very poor managers who do not understand the concept of fiduciary responsibility. It really is that simple. We are seeing what will happen if the Democrats gain control of Congress. What is happening in CZ is just a preview of the show in Washington DC that will occur if Nancy Pelosi, that San Francisco left wing Democrat becomes the Speaker of the House and that crook Harry Reid from Nevada becomes the leader of the Senate. Joe Morabito
From: CotoBuzz@yahoogroup s.com [mailto:CotoBuzz@ yahoogroups. com]
Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 11:32 AM
To: cotobuzz@yahoogroup s.com
Cc: Mark Eades ,OCR>
Subject: [COTO] Re: CZ Needs Proper Procurement Procedures & Help from thhe OCR
Hi Joe:
Your proposals make a lot of sense. We have expressed some of our own, and even others in this discussion forum have expressed outrage at the way this board has handled the budget process in general, and public safety in particular. So why is it the the “community journalism” coming out of the Orange County Register is to simply parrot Stevie – “ “It’s a foregone conclusion that to bring the community up to our standards that there is going to be a dues increase,” said Zipperman.”: OCR October 20, 2006 – rather than ask the tough questions being asked in this forum?
"Morabito, Joe" < > wrote:
Hello All: A few weeks ago I offered Varo/Mezger CZ Board Members a booklet outlining proper supplier selection and contract management procedures. This booklet was primarily written by procurement managers from Fortune 1000 companies (not me) though the procedures indicated in this booklet are the very same procedures that I personally implemented as a billable consultant working with major companies and that we use today at my company to select and manage hundreds of suppliers around the world. The information in this booklet is really valuable. Yet not one CZ Board Member has contacted me for a copy.
After reviewing the materials, when I advised Varo/Mezger CZ Board Members that the process used to select Universal Security was not a proper due diligence process to give out a $1.5 million dollar contract, I provided that criticism not as Joe Morabito, not as a former CZ Board Member; but rather as a professional in business for 25 years who has managed many procurement projects to buy perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in goods and services.
Varo/Mezger CZ Board Members just don’t understand how to implement proper procurement procedures which is the reason I thought this booklet would be very illustrative and helpful. Varo/Mezger CZ Board Members think using proper procurement procedures is all about securing the lowest price. In fact, implementation of proper procurement procedures is really about buying the highest quality goods and services at the most competitive price. The most competitive price is not always the lowest price. However, the real issue is the need to implement a proper due diligence systematic process to buy goods and services so that other factors like who is having drinks at the country club is not a variable. Proper procurement processes get at what a supplier knows not who a supplier knows.
In the next few weeks, the Varo/Mezger CZ Board will announce the second dues increase in just two years that is the result of blatant fiscal mismanagement and stubbornness. I have been begging the Varo/Mezger CZ Board to appoint a Supplier Selection and Contract Management standing committee to properly select and manage suppliers in order to get CZ expenses under control. If Varo/Mezger CZ Board Members would just take an hour to review the booklet that I can provide they will immediately see the need to professionalize our procurement processes. However, if history is our teacher, Varo/Mezger CZ Board Members are just too smart to accept advice from anyone, unless they are paying for a high priced Consultant, even when that advice is just common sense and based on years of experience. Instead, Varo/Mezger CZ Board Members are going to raise dues again rather than just admit that they need help to avoid it. Joe Morabito
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