The CotoBuzz Journal : In Laguna Woods, How Do I Annoy Thee, Let me Count the Ways

How do I annoy thee? Let me count the ways.
I annoy thee to the depth and breadth and height
My ATM, which you fund, can reach,

I annoy thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I annoy thee freely, as men strive for PortoLet;

I annoy thee purely, as $96K can express.

I annoy thee with the passion put to use

In my old dementia, and with my childhood's mess.

I annoy thee with my vote which doesn’t count

With my bought for lawyers, which you fund

Smiles, tears, of all my life!-and, if the IRS chooses

I shall but annoy thee better after death.

Apologies to Elizabeth Barret Browing

LETTER

Laguna Woods Village, CA - Straziuso’s thinking is so archaic it is painful to watch him flounder. Silva’s message below is a measured and honest discussion of corporate life. It is also an accurate depiction of the behavior of the crews who literally mash their way through our lives and homes all day, every day. I find it particularly appalling that on two separate occasions while I have been in the “back yard” I have been subjected to the lack of concern by PCM workers as they have come to relieve themselves on the wall of the building thinking that the bushes would hide them from view. Perhaps from the front of the building!

They drag a freaking PORT O LET around on a truck! USE IT!!!! This behavior doesn’t just offend…it also pollutes. Joe Silva is right…the comments are loud, intrusive and unwarranted. I must say I have been forced to enjoy several of their rather off color remarks about a certain neighbor and her sartorial splendor…. Then there is the out and out foul and gross. All the while they are tossing equipment anywhere and everywhere which they leave. There is so much noise here most days that one wonders if we are living in Midtown Manhattan with the windows wide open all the time. The boards are operating on the belief that there is unending money at their disposal. They count on the fact that people will not rise up and object to their behavior. How many are afraid to speak their minds because of the fear of retribution?

The present boards and their members have just lost it completely. Go to the websites of the mutual. READ the agendas, minutes, notes. What is this that United is planning….a “restatement” of the governing documents. What is that? People who ask for the agenda in advance of the meeting, as they are allowed and supposedly encouraged to do, don’t get the entire agenda package so they have to guess what will transpire in that meeting. Why is it that we now see lawyers at every single board meeting? What are our REAL legal expenses? What does it cost to have Sandra Gottlieb and/or Kelly Richardson sit at a board meeting all day? Even Bill Hart doesn’t go that far.

How many of you have read the report from Paul Hastings, LLP about the trust? Did you notice that any information was filtered through Hart King and Coldren and then the report was again filtered through that less than esteemed firm when “reported” to the community?

How many of you realize that we had to buy back our own asset from Connexion to the tune of $850,000.00 thanks to the antics of the GRF board. They can sit up there and whine that THEY weren’t on the board at the time the Connexion debacle took place, but I can guarantee you that the members sitting on that board today were on the housing boards and those are the people RESPONSIBLE for electing GRF board members. Just exactly when did Connexion become the PARENT COMPANY of Broadband? It’s not in the contract I’ve seen. Lloyd Foster can whine all he wants.

Let’s talk about Patrick Murphy saying his vote made no difference when he voted to allow the $96,000.00 party fund for PCM. HIS VOTE MADE NO DIFFERENCE and that is the same thing that Erwin, the patriot, Levy said. So, two out of four votes MADE NO DIFFERENCE yet it was a split vote and Murphy broke the tie by voting for the money.

Who are they kidding? Marv Rosenhaft sat there and wandered all over the map with his opinion about how this was not legal to vote down…..when did he become a lawyer? I am personally sick to death of every tom dick and harry on any stinking board handing out legal opinions as though it were tissue paper. People!!! If you aren’t a member of the California Bar, YOU AREN’T ALLOWED TO PRACTICE LAW IN THIS STATE! Knock it the hell off! MAYBE, just maybe if you had some of your meetings in the sunshine instead of hiding behind closed doors for EVERYTHING you wouldn’t be excoriated quite so often.

So, we have $96,000.00 for a party fund for PCM. We have $850,000.00 for our own broadband and Russ Ridgeway is still employed here. We have who-knows-what-kinds of shenanigans being pulled by United this coming Tuesday….PEOPLE, WAKE UP! Hold these people responsible for their actions! My goodness, we even have LINDA WILSON on the TRAFFIC COMMITTEE!!!!! LINDA WILSON! This woman sits in judgment of drivers. She has no right. NONE. The reason is public record. Go read it. Lloyd Foster told a member he didn’t know what he was talking about when referring to electrical codes because he “used to enforce those codes.” Well, Mr. Foster, the man you were addressing WROTE THOSE CODES! It would behoove all of you to shut your faces and LISTEN for once. Mike Straziuso goes off like the fireworks in San Diego this 4^th of July….all at once, all fuss and fury and leaving absolutely nothing behind but a burned smell. He is one of the group elected in the past two elections who are just doing what they are told and don’t realize, apparently, that while “you don’t even have to think” because you are being good puppets for your masters, YOU will be held personally liable for your actions. Personally, Straz. Maybe you should listen to your doctor.

ANY fool who thinks the IRS comes in, takes a sniff around, revokes a tax status and then leaves…..never to have any interest again…..is barking mad. GRF should accept that the IRS is their new, best friend and they had better pay attention. The IRS is and so are several other government agencies. The boards can deny all they want but they should also read news reports, understand connections to other places and similarities in problems and re-enter the world of now. What do you suppose the IRS is going to think of the party fund? How about Connexion becoming oh, so silently, the PARENT of Broadband? Ever heard of excess benefit?

Do enjoy your Sunday, People, the PCM work crews will be back first thing in the morning making as much noise as they possibly can, literally soaking residents while “testing” sprinklers, peeing on buildings, while actually accomplishing very little. Wasn’t that an old prison camp trick? Maybe they are building an escape tunnel.

Katherine McDaniel

From: Joe

To: don tibbetts ; ken hammer ; Linda Wilson ; lloyd foster ; lynne dvorak ; Marv Rosenhaft ; Maxine McIntosh ; Pat Feeney ; Patrick ; ray gros ;CarolM ; Carol S ; Dominic ; John P ; K Fresh ; Lucy S ; Mike Struzio ; D Palmer ; Connie ; Katie McDaniel ; Kevin ; Pamela ; Paul Hutchins

Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2012 3:18 PM

Subject: Employee “appreciation” gifts and events

Hi everyone,

As a current IBM employee I’d like to share my thoughts on this comment, “Personally Connie, given your long-term employment with a large employer such as IBM, whose formalized employee appreciation opportunities are almost legendary,…”

My experience is that “formalized employee appreciation opportunities” at most large corporations are now, indeed, a legend. A legend, according to merriam-webster.com, is a :a story coming down from the past . The operative word here is past. During my early years in the corporate world (the 80s and 90s) many large companies, including my employer then, ATT, shared a number of perks with rank and file employees. We had tuition assistance, holiday gatherings and sporting events sponsored by the company, subsidized cafeterias, free gyms located at most large corporate buildings, etc. The elimination of these perks seemed to start at about the year 2000 or so. No more gyms, no more tuition aid, no more holiday gatherings paid for by the company, etc. By the time I was outsourced to IBM in 2007 there was little left in the way of “employee appreciation opportunities”. In my current organization, the only perk of this nature is a quarterly or so ‘pizza’ gathering at limited locations around the country. IBM is still a fantastic place to work but the reality is that the nature of employment in the private and public sector has changed. The new ‘normal’ for the rank and file is job insecurity ( I and most corporate employees are always at risk of having our positions ‘offshored’…I’ve said farewell to many friends and co-workers over the last few years who lost their jobs to India and Brazil), stagnant salaries and increased work loads.

If we want to emulate today’s corporate model, then we should expect PCM to reduce headcount and reduce expenses WHILE improving service. Today, most corporate service contracts are renewed only after finding a company that can provide better service atreduced costs. Additionally, if service levels are not maintained there are severe monetary penalties that kick in. Also becoming common; salary DECREASES. I went through one of these a couple of years ago.

As for showing “appreciation”, this concept is a two way street. In the nearly three years that I’ve lived in LWV my experience with the office personnel has been quite pleasant. Nearly everyone I’ve dealt with there has been friendly, helpful and respectful. They seem to understand and appreciate the fact that we pay the bills. I have no problem with showing them some ‘appreciation’.

On the other hand, the folks who always seem to be underfoot around the manors , the landscapers, the painters, the trimmers, etc., strike me as being, for the most part, poorly trained, poorly supervised and ill mannered. The actual work they perform is adequate. However, the way in which they perform it leaves me shaking my head. I’ve lived in various condo environments for decades and these guys are by far the loudest, least professional most annoying crews I’ve ever encountered. They whistle, sing, laugh, shout at each other from across the street (just casual greetings…I know, I’m from Mexico and understand what they are saying). They swear without restraint (I also know about swearing, I spent 4 years in the US Army) and assume, although we are in Southern California, that no one understands what they are saying (or maybe they just don’t care). Besides the swearing, they make inappropriate comments about us, the residents. I once heard them saying about my friend, from inside my condo, “Hay viene la Chinita”. This means, “Here comes the little Chinese lady.” Yes, they had been leering as she still had her tennis skirt on…the same thing happens at the paddle ball courts if the lawn crews are around. It’s so obvious that it makes ME feel uneasy. As I’ve said, I’m from Mexico originally and know that this type of behavior is much more acceptable there. But OUR employees need to be trained that they are no longer in Mexico and that they should behave accordingly.

Another practice that I can’t believe has developed here and is allowed is that of having their lunches and breaks on our front lawns or in our carports. I’ve even seen them cooking their lunch over sterno on front lawns. I did yard work every summer, all summer, from the time I was 10 until I was 18 years old. I did this in the Imperial County , without the benefit of riding mowers and leaf blowers. I pushed my mower all around town from sun up till sun down. Not once did I plop myself on my employer’s porch for lunch, not once did I set up a grill on their lawn to cook my meal, I never played my favorite tunes on a portable radio. Yet all of these activities are somehow acceptable in a retirement community? We are surrounded by nearby parks, open spaces and eateries. These areas are far more appropriate places for lunches and breaks.

In summary, if we are seeking to follow the corporate model we need to recognize that the current model is one of austerity. Corporations, like IBM, are cutting benefits, cutting headcount and cutting perks while increasing productivity. We are doing more with less. As for us showing appreciation to our employees, I would feel better about appreciation expenditures if I felt that ALL employees (not just the office staff) respected and appreciated us as residents and employers.

Finally, I’m pretty sure that we all have the same objectives: To provide and maintain the best Village possible while keeping costs from rising and under control. I think we just have different ideas on how to achieve those goals. By maintaining an open dialog and working together we can achieve those goals.

Cheers to all and a big thanks to those of you on the board; we all know you work hard and you are appreciated.

Joe Silva

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