Camera Update! Mailbox Issue and wait, GATES?!

Joe posted this comment yesterday,

The F building mailbox panel appears to either have been not secured the postman or broken into. I reported the incident to the postal inspection service but due to the holiday I probably won't hear anything until later this week. The camera install got delayed toward the end of last week due to the rain, install will resume this week. I also have an appointment with a gate contractor this week.
-JoboCop

I was wondering why I hadn't seen any cameras up yet but it makes sense, electricity and water is no bueno! I'm a firm believer in gates, and would love to see that issue pushed.

WARNING,THE BITCH SESSION!!!

WOW!!! LET ME JUST START BY SAYING NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY, I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RE-CAPTURE THE EMOTION FROM WED NIGHTS MEETING!!! FOR THOSE WHO ATTENDED, WHAT A MAY LAY THAT WAS, FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT, IT WAS A GOOD ONE!!!

As I approached the clubhouse I saw a significant amount of people ready to enter the meeting, plenty of new faces I might add, as we walked into the clubhouse we were told that there would not be a meeting because we did not have a significant number of board members present. I was a little bit bothered, because I was missing the Laker game until Charity said that she would be taking Comments and Complaints individually and then we'd go home. The funny thing is that she said it like there weren't many complaints and we'd be out of there in a jiffy. Boy was she wrong, and I'm not sure she knew exactly what she was in for. She also informed everyone that Adriana was resigning as Chairman of the Social Committee and that she'd be looking for someone to fill her spot. She then decided to turn things over to us, but before any homeowners could start speaking, Sarah stepped in and said that since we have all of the committee Chairman present, we should at least hear from them.

First up was Joe from the Safety Committee. Joe told us that the cameras were on track to be completed next week and that we would probably hear people on our roofs during the day. He also mentioned that he brought in an ex-car thief to our community and had him do an assessment about our current vandalism situation. I was little surprised by this, and wondered how he was able to pull that one off, but I didn't bother asking questions as he seemed really into what he was saying. Joe told us that the ex-thief gave him some useful advice that he wants to relay to the community but needs some time to prepare it. (Joe, feel free to post it here or e-mail me.) Before he finished with his update Sarah brought up the idea of gating off the community and said that she and Joe would further explore the possibility of gates. Joe asked if anyone would like to step up and join the Safety Committee and one female resident proudly raised her hand and said that she would join the committee.

The female resident, whom I wasn't able to catch her name, began telling us that she was the one who had been the victim of the two home break-ins, here at the Monterey Villas. She highly backed the idea of the safety committee and said she would be more than happy to join. On another note she commended the Santa Ana Police Department for their quick response and attention in her matter, something that has not been said about them pertaining to other matters.

(I'm picking this part up on Monday afternoon, I made sure to get away for the weekend, you didn't really think all I did was blog about this place did you? Now let me tell you that it has been awhile since the meeting so some of details are going to be a little rough in my mind, if anyone has anything to add please do so.)

Things seemed to be flowing well at this point but then things started getting a little heated up. Danielle, a younger female resident from S building, was in attendance and decided to call out Charity. At first it seemed that she had a complaint about the increase in HOA fees, and her landscaping but soon after it was apparent that her frustration went beyond that. She straight up called Charity a liar, and said that she did not have a interest in our community. Danielle went off on her for a couple minutes, but all Charity could do is roll her eyes, and Danielle called her on that too. She told her that she shouldn't talk to us like children and believe me I hate when she does that shit too. At one point in all of this I thought Charity was going to cry, I'm sure that people feel sorry for her but a lot of times its easy to see that she just can't handle us as part of her job.

Sarah tried to play peacemaker in their argument but Charity had some very interesting words to say. She said that she understands people don't like her, and that words have been said about her publicly;I think she was talking about the blog. She proceeded to say that we are free to look for new landscapers, and what surprised me the most is when she said "YOU'RE EVEN FREE TO LOOK FOR A NEW MANAGEMENT COMPANY." Now I'm not the smartest person out there but doesn't that sound like a plea to get her out of that hole she's dug for herself?

Eventually Sarah had Adam speak on behalf of the Architectural and Rules and Regs. Committee and he told us that the parking permits will not be taking effect until the middle of next month. He will also be available June 11 and I believe June 14th to distribute permits for those who have not already received them. (Adam Please Confirm this date and reiterate what you said about the windows for the two bedrooms. I walked out to get some air and couldn't hear what you said about this.

Once Adam finished, Sarah told everyone that association dues were increased to compensate for the poorly thought out budget which was mimicked this past year. At this point, an asian male resident entered the meeting and interrupted everything. I know he had good intentions but his failure to show up on time almost took us back to the minute we entered the clubhouse. We found out that it was his first meeting in two years and he wanted us to conduct the meeting in an orderly manner. He was quick to hear from another resident that this was not an official meeting but rather a "Bitch Session." This seemed to keep him quiet for awhile, and he apologized for the interruption. Sarah tried to wrap up what she had to say but was constantly interrupted by residents. 

There were comments flying left and right, it even got to the point when one of the converters got right in face of a resident. Good thing the pool table was in the way or these two would have went at it. 

I wasn't too mad that I was missed some of the Laker game since Joe was giving us the score frequently,  but I had to leave the meeting before it ended to at least catch the fourth quarter. I'm sure the hiatus continued  throughout the night but someone else could add on to what I missed. The alcohol I consumed this weekend probably didn't help the second half or this post but hey I needed it. 

MONTHLY MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT!

Our monthly HOA meeting will be held tomorrow night @7pm in the clubhouse. Not sure if I'm going to be able to make it due to my new work schedule but I highly encourage everyone to voice their opinions at the meeting.

May Art Walk

Tomorrow night marks the third Saturday of the month and you know what that means–The Santiago Art District Art Walk!

Visit the Santiago Art District website for more information and links to the gallery websites.

Photo of Studio 904 courtesy of Costea Photography.

Dumpster Overfill?

Can someone shed some light on what happened here? Was the dumpster overfilled, or did Waste Management miss a few things? This went down behind "R" building.

Apparently the dumpster area was full of trash and the dumpster had been pushed into the road way. Waste Management was called but the dumpster was just pushed back into its enclosure with all the trash still in there. I theorize that a homeowner pushed the dumpster back to avoid an accident but we're not sure. Can someone give some info?
Photo Courtesy of Aaron.

WARNING!!! NO WATER!!!

THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY WILL BE WITHOUT WATER FROM 9AM-3PM TOMORROW, MAY 13,

thanks to Footballrules for this one,

Alert!!! No Water. I have it on good authority that the water to the entire community will be turned off on Tuesday May 13, 2008 at 9:00 am for an emergency plumbing repair. The water is supposed to be off until 3:00pm.

I just got back from a business trip, more post to come later tonight.

BATTER UP!

This one comes courtesy of Miss Behaven:

What is wrong with people in the world!! On Sunday night a car near the M building on the Williams side was being attempted to have their catilatic converter stolen. If not for the great watch of a resident in building L, who came out with a bat and confronted the guys trying to steal. And this was at around midnight! Our neighbor was unable to get any more info other than a silver older model Hyundai with no license plate, which now has a broken glass(our resident hit them as they were driving away!)Please be on the lookout and thank you to our great neighbor for stopping these scums of the earth from vandalizing our hard earned personal property!

Finally some vengeance, I'm trying to get a better description of the vehicle so that we can post up a similar picture here so that residents will know what to look out for.

Joe, not to bug but any news on the cameras? In the meantime can you relay any of this information to our security guard?

GREAT PARTY

First off I would just like to say thanks to the Social Committee for putting on a great event. I didn't stay too late but I but my wife and I enjoyed it. I especially liked the signature game, you had to ask other resident's questions and get their signatures in order to win. It was like a scavenger hunt. We didn't win but it was fun. The tacos were great and so was the music. I was glad to see the turn out, I'd say a total of about 75 people were there when my wife and I stopped by and that was around 6pm. The kids were enjoying the pool, candy and Pinatas, we even sang Happy Birthday to one of our resident teenagers, Benny. I made sure to get in a couple games of pool being that the clubhouse isn't open too often. All in all it looked like everyone in attendance had a great time, to bad other people missed out. Once again thanks to everyone who went to the effort of putting the party together we need more of you here. SO WHEN'S THE NEXT ONE?

If anyone has pictures or videos from the party please email them to me: cyrusthevirus12@gmail.com

Bubbles of Troubles

The following is from an e-mail which I received from a resident:

Cyrus,

First I want to thank you taking the time to keep this blog up!!! It is much appreciated. I wanted to share an issue with you. Below is a copy of the email that I sent to Charity tonight.

I was out at the pool this evening and disturbed to see bubbles foaming up past the hand rail in the hot tub. There were 4 children playing in the hot tub, 2 women sitting at a table watching them. I asked the little boy (about 6 yrs old) "Did you put the bubbles in the hot tub?" He said said he did with a big smile on his face. The mom then jumped up and said, "No, it was here before we got here." I had been at the pool for about 15 - 20 minutes when I noticed the bubbles. I had walked right by the hot tub when I entered the pool area and did not see any bubbles. I have to believe the little boy was telling the truth. To make matters worse they also had a small dog at the table in the pool area. I told them that dogs were not allowed at the pool. They proceeded to ask "were does it say that?" I told them that it is in their CC&R's. We really do need signs posted!

Can you please have the pool guy come out again to clean this up? I'm worried this may cause more issues with pump.

I also wanted to mention that the rules for dog owners are not in the current newsletter. We are experiencing constant problems with dog owners who are not following association rules in regards to animal care. Can this please added to the next months newsletter. This was requested 2 months ago at the association meeting.

I remember us being told by Charity that signs were on the way but like everything else she just forgets about it and it never gets done until its too late. Well here is another instance. No signs of the signs or Charity.

I'VE HAD IT WITH HER!!!!

Has anyone heard from Charity in the last couple days? According to e-mails which I received this morning no one has been able to contact Charity. I'm sure this doesn't come to any big surprise being that this has become common practice here at the Monterey Villas. I know that we only have till November to deal with the converters, but how much longer do we have to deal with Charity, and Beacon Property Management? I'm pretty reasonable when it comes to giving someone the benefit of the doubt but this instance has surpassed that.

Charity, its obvious that you are overworked and don't have time for us, be straight up with us, yourself and your company and just say it; you can not manage our property. No had feelings, just stop dicking us around already. It may just be a job to you but this is our home. Believe me you're not the only person that works hard and gets stressed out. I'm sure that 80% of the people who live here have to deal with more shit and stress at work than you do. I'm not sure how often you read this blog, or if one of your puppets will send this to you but I'm sure you'll just roll your eyes like you do at our meetings. I'm sure anyone who's ever been in attendance at the meetings knows the look I'm talking about.

Feels much better now that I got that out. Time for a Cerveza hope to have some more manana.

TRES DE MAYO = CINCO DE MAYO

I'm sure you've all heard by now that our social committee is hosting a Cinco de Mayo Party tomorrow evening. All residents are encouraged to attend. I've been informed that the social committee is just about ready to kick things off. Anyone who is willing to lend a hand would be most appreciated. If you'd like to participate please meet the social committee out by the pool around 3pm. Take a look at the flyer to the left of the page.