Coto de Caza’ Redistribution of Wealth: From Seniors to Dogs

Coto de Caza, CA- You cannot make this up:  The Coto de Caza local governance, aka the CZ Master Association, has decided to proceed to build a dog park.  Not a problem, particularly when you paraphrase Karl Marx’s  1875 Critique of the Gotha Program “From Coto de Caza seniors according to their means, to dogs, according to their owner’s whims” 

Whereas Marx’s phrase summarizes the principles that, under a communist system, every person should contribute to society to the best of his or her ability and consume from society in proportion to his or her needs, regardless of how much  he or she has contributed, in Coto’s system, this refers to taking from seniors according to their means and building a dog park, according to a small vocal minority's whims.

For years, former CZ Master Association director  Joseph Morabito has warned about the community’s changing demographics and subsequent needs. “Maybe the land designated for a dog park could be better used for walking trails and my bocce court and or other amenities designed for us old geezers; kind of like a low impact exercise yard for seniors since the Sports Park is dominated by outsiders and a few hundred other CZ Members”, he writes.

Instead, the board decides to build a dog park.

The community not only has miles of horse trails already,  used exclusively by a very small minority in the % range, plus others who pay nothing, zero, nada,  for the maintenance.  Then, if dog owners use the trails, the owners must clean up after their pets.  Horse riders get a free ride, literally.  Then there is the Sports Park mentioned by Mr. Morabito.

Further, the community’s crime and vandalism is at an all time high, yet the local governance has failed to be proactive anent public safety.

Are you still with me?

Now consider that the community’s  reserves are at less than 30% when these should be at around 70%, while the association doles out subsidies at the tune of more than $3 million/year

There is not a reasonable, compelling argument to develop the land under the current economic climate and the looming financial tsunami it faces, of its own making,  other than a small vocal minority deciding that a dog park was a good idea. If the objective is to develop the land, in the face of a financial tsunami created by gross mismanagement, then we reason, Mr. Morabito’s  idea is excellent. The alternative reads more like what happened to AIG and GM after the government bailout – they simply spent a large portion lobbying the government for more money.   Both entities want more help from the government.

Likewise, a dog park tailored to a small minority of Coto  residents, not unlike the original horse trail design and the recent additions, will just add recurring maintenance costs and very soon, the same group will be coming back for more money.

Mr, Morabito is not only right when he writes “Whatever we do, we don’t need more of our common area committed to animals when we have the horse trails.  That is ENOUGH.  When the dogs in the community start paying CZ dues, they can have their own dog park.  Until then, I am still waiting for a multi-generational park that meets the needs of a growing senior demographic.”, but with the aforementioned fiscal tsunami, the local governance has proven once again its fiscal irresponsibility.