Sovereign Socialists HOAs of Coto de Caza
Posted By CotoBlogzz May 20, 2012
Coto de Caza – If you follow the rhetoric and deeds of the CZ Master Association,the largest homeowners association in Coto de Caza, board of directors over the last decade, we cannot find any other plausible explanation , other than it thinks it is a sovereign HOA state and has little to regard for state and or federal law.
The local CZ Master association’s Politburo, can be highly generous with its supporters at the tune of over $3 million/year insubsidies. On the other hand, if you are a dissident, the Politburo will go to just about any length to try to silence you.
The CZ Politburo
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Trying to Silence the CotoBuzz Journal
For example, taking exception to our satire published in a 2005 issue of the CotoBuzz Journal, the CZ politburo aided and abetted by legal counsel J. Harkins, attempted to intimidate us. See example of attempt at censoring The CotoBuzz Journal by the CZ board of directors.
It may be hard to blame the CZ Politburo. After all, when it decided to fire the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in 2003, it left the community without pro-active traffic patrol, which directly led to a significant increase in traffic accidents and two eventual fatalities within a three-month period! At the time, the CotoBuzz Journal led the charge to eventually coerce the Politburo into rehiring the CHP – although the Politburo continued to view the CHP as the enemy, even calling CHP management “extortionists” during open board meetings.
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It did not stop there. In the September 2005 issue of the CZ Master Association Letter, the Keystone general manager writes “The Internet has become a fast and simple way to communicate. Anyone can create web pages and mass email lists to inform or to spread rumors, half-truths and negativism.... In the case of CZ Master, don’t accept unsolicited information at face value, but check other sources, call or email the office or attend regular business meetings of the Board or Committees and see for yourself” – From the Community Manager, August 15, 2005: The message was a not too subtle swing at the CotoBuzz Journal – Ironic, since The Keystone maintained website still listed Paul Young as the Chairman of the Delegate & Others Group, even though Mr. Young was never a Coto de Caza homeowner, but that is yet another CZ tangled web. - September 06, 2005.
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As covered by the CotoBuzz Journal
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Our response to the attempted smear as published in the September 2005 issue of the CotoBuzz Journal read: “CotoBuzz readers know that anything of substance, they first find out directly from CotoBuzz Journal and or the Coto Discussion Forum and NOT from any Board of Directors Meeting, Keystone employees or directly from the Board. Examples include EXACT prediction of election results during the last three elections, the selection of Lyle Schlieder to replace Sean Larkin in a Hit and Run, as Mr. Larkin resigned a few hours after he was re-elected to second term, effectively denying the post to the only independent candidate during the 2005 CZ BOD elections. Most recently CotoBuzz reported the firing of the largest security company in the world, Securitas as the security services provider for the association, and replaced by Universal Protection Services, one of the smallest security company in the region, to provide a reduced level of service. This action was soon followed by a midnight raid of Securitas employees by the new security company”
The CZ Politburo’s attempt at shutting down the CotoBuzz Journal did not work then, and has not worked since. As a result of this and other actions, we were forced to file one of many complaints with the California Bar against James Harkins.
Why the CZ Politburo hates Records Inspection Requests – Universal Protection Services Contract
As the CotoBuzz Journal and former CZ board member Joseph Morabito looked into how the CZ politburo decided to change security companies to Universal Protection Services (UPS) it was immediately obvious that there was absolutely no due diligence on a contract valued at close to $1.8 million/year – no statement or work was available. . No contract was produced. Three bids were not available. The only thing we were able to see were glossy UPS brochures.
The Audacity of the CZ Politburo's Irrationality - as chronicled by the CotoBuzz Journal
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When Truth Hurts, its best not to get it through email
CZ Politburo Knows no Geometry - Least expensive route between two parties is Email, not the US Post Office - a HOA legal mind, a terrible thing to waste:
Why the CZ Politburo hates Records Inspection Requests – dwellingLIVE Contract
In June 2006, in a piece titled Review of Agreement between CZ Master Association and dwellingLIVE we wrote in part: “A definitive conclusion from a cursory review of the Agreement between CZ Master Association and dwelingLIVE clearly is that the agreements reflects poorly on everyone involved including Keystone, legal counsel and the CZ Master board of directors. … The description of work is so poorly done, that it clearly fails to address California’s Information Practices Act, for example”
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State Law? We ARE the Law!
Aided and abetted by Harkins, the CZ Politburo created a Shut Up Rule, as a pre-condition for any further inspection of records. The smoke and mirrors used by Harkins and the CZ politburo's argument is that unless the Shut Up Rule is signed, the CotoBuzz Journal may publish rocket science trade secrets, or perhaps put at at risk personal information - of course, this is just a ruse.
Contrast the Harkins/CZ Politburo Shut Up Rule to the California Freedom of Information Act, also known as code section 6250 California's Public Records Act, largely enacted because the legislature recognized that access to information concerning the conduct of government employees is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state. The legislature, further declares that information means any handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, photocopying, transmitting by electronic mail or facsimile, and every other means of recording upon any tangible thing any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combinations thereof, and any record thereby created, regardless of the manner in which the record has been stored. No requirement for signing a Harkins/CZ Master association Shut Up Rule.
As to information related to a common interest development such as the CZ Master association, “a member's request to inspect records must be for a proper purpose reasonably related to his or her interests as a member of the association. Civ. Code §1365.2(e), Corp. Code §8330, Corp. Code §8333. The association must produce records within time frames established by the Davis-Stirling Act. If the association refuses to produce records, which members have a right to review, the requesting member can go into court for an order that records be produced.
For reference, the CotoBuzz Journal has issued more than 80 information requests to the CHP and 50 to the Orange County Sheriffs Department in a ten-year period in addition to hundreds of other requests to a number of local, state and federal agencies. All have been responsive , signing a Harkins/CZ Master association Shut Up Rule has not been a requirement and no certified mail has not been required.
It can be argued from the Cotobuzz Journal's body of work that it provides a public service, while the CZ board continues to put resident's private information at risk when it encourages residents to use dewellingLIVE website without taking any precautions and or providing resident's mailing lists to third parties.
We recently reviewed a Scripps Howard News Service study of non-profit federal tax records released this month shows that 41% of nonprofit groups that collected at least $1 million according to their most recent report to the Internal Revenue Service, made ridiculous claims about revenue versus expenses. So we asked the CZ Politburo to let us inspect the association's IRS 990 forms. Keep in mind that according to the IRS, these forms are supposed to be available to the general public.
Predictably, we received the Harkins/CZ Shut Up Rule preconditions in essence saying, The CZ Politburo does not care about federal law - We ARE the law. Consider that combined, we have spent close to $200 in certified US Mail plus whatever Harkins is charging the association. However, since IRS form 990s are not only supposed to be available for public review, but the association itself has made the information public and we have now obtained copies – for free and without having to sing the CZ's Shut Up Rule - what is wrong with this picture?
Predictably, we received the Harkins/CZ Shut Up Rule preconditions in essence saying, The CZ Politburo does not care about federal law - We ARE the law. Consider that combined, we have spent close to $200 in certified US Mail plus whatever Harkins is charging the association. However, since IRS form 990s are not only supposed to be available for public review, but the association itself has made the information public and we have now obtained copies – for free and without having to sing the CZ's Shut Up Rule - what is wrong with this picture?
Federal Law? But Wait, there is more: Aided and Abetted by Harkins, the CZ Politburo continues to use a CNN's Soledad O'brien's argument, to misrepresent having sole rights to the stylized CZ® mark.
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Harkins confirmed that the information passed on to N2 Publishing's Duane Hixon above, by the CZ Politburo was correct, Here is where the CNN Soledad O'Brien's argument comes in. Just because you say your are right, does not necessarily make it so. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO.) WE own the CZ® mark. So, if you are an advertiser in the N2 Pubs Publication below, you are aiding and abetting the infringement of valid, un-revoked federally registered trademarks!
Aiding and abetting in the infringement of the CZ® mark
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What Harkins and the CZ Politburo are saying is that they are not subject to USPTO jurisdiction and that they
The facts are that Harkins/CZ Politburo had multiple opportunities to challenge the registration of the mark, when it hired the largest intellectual property law firm in Southern California to come and fight us circa 1997.
If the CZ Politburo believed then that based on the intellectual property law firm's advice, it was the sole owner of the mark, it could have appealed to the USPTO at the time, and if the challenge had any merit, the USPTO would have promptly informed us and we would have promptly withdrawn the application. The CZ Politburo cannot claim ignorance of the process. Heck, the whole nation knew about the registration of the mark, thanks to the article titled Coto resident trademarks community names, authored by the Orange County Register’s Mark Eades, in collaboration with at least one CZ Master Association board member, in violation of attorney-client privilege.
Recently, I renewed the mark and the CZ Politburo had yet another shot at challenging ownership of the mark. It failed to do so. Why?
Since Harkins and the CZ Politburo continue to make false representations that it is the sole owner of the CZ® mark I have challenged both to come up with a plausible legal argument that in support of the CZ Politburo's position, other than "because we say so".
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Our research over close to ten years indicate that whether a community is safe or not, is primarily a function of residents and local governance, not law enforcement. Consider that when a city in Orange County is deemed the safest city, what about the other 11 cities or the unincorporated areas? What about Coto de Caza with the highest crime rate in history in early 2010. After all, only common denominator is that the OCSD is the law enforcement agency. What does the OCSD do differently in the safest city, as opposed to the least safe city under its watch?
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While Incident Rate Lower, Still at Critical Levels
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