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?

THE 2008 DOWNTOWN MIXER! (04/03)

Passing It Along!

Delilah Snell, owner of the eco-friendly Road Less Traveled Store, and Board Chair of the the Downtown Santa Ana Business Council asked me to pass along this invite to residents and friends of the Santiago Street Lofts.

This is an invitation to the Downtown Santa Ana Business and Neighborhood Mixer. Come and meet the many people who make Santa Ana a great place to live and work. Bring information about your business to share and sample delectable appetizers from Jason's Downtown Restaurant and Wine Cellar complimentary of the Downtown Santa Ana Business Council.

• see upcoming branding and marketing images for the area


• interactive website launching


• receive a copy of the area's new map for visitors


• view a list of 2008/09 events


• share your thoughts with business owners, community leaders and residents
  

When: April 3rd from 5-8pm

Where: Jason's Downtown, 416 West 4th Street (across from the Ronald Regan Courthouse)

Who: you and others that you know, please pass this along!

Contact: Delilah Snell, 714.836.8727 for more information.

BEWARE!!! MAIL THIEF!!!

It saddens me to have to post information like this but this is a huge issues which residents need to be made aware of, I received this e-mail today from Joe of the Safety Committee :

Cyrus,

Could you please inform the Monterey Villa residents that we may be victims of mail theft. Yesterday Maria, our cleaning woman and resident, informed me that on Monday afternoon, a female resident observed an older man standing near the mailboxes for an unusual amount of time. The resident was in the laundry room so she decided to step outside to have a better look, as she walked outside she noticed numerous mailboxes open and the man stuffing envelopes into his jacket. She immediately realized that he was not a postman so she asked him what he was doing and he replied, "I'm changing the keys and locks on these mailboxes." The woman, who had been at the recent board meeting, knew nothing of the locks being changed so she went to find help. When she returned with one of the landscapers the man was gone.

Maria knew where the witness lived so I tried to contact her for an interview but she was not home. Today I contacted the United States Postal Inspection Service to report the incident. I was given an incident report number of CO36968270, and told that I would be contacted by either the USPIS or the FBI within a day to further investigate the issue. I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime I would encourage all residents to check their mail and contact me if anything is suspected missing. I can be contacted by e-mail at jegiese@ocsd.org.

Joe
Safety Committee

If you notice anything or anyone suspicious please call 911.

URGENT!!! THIS WILL SAVE YOU MONEY!

ATTENTION, DON'T PAY MORE THAN YOU HAVE TO, FILLING OUT THIS FORM WILL SAVE YOU A BUNCH OF MONEY. ITS SAD TO SAY BUT OUR PROPERTY VALUE HAS DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY, HAVE YOUR PROPERTY REASSESSED SO THAT YOU PAY TAXES ON THE CURRENT VALUE.

Click here to view and print the Informal Property Tax Review Form, fill it out and postmark it by April 30th.

The form is a request for a reassessment of your property value. When you purchased your condo, the county reassessed your home at the purchase price. Your property taxes are a percentage of that assessed value. Now that values have dropped so dramatically, a reassessment would benefit you by resetting the value of your home to better match market conditions. The county tax rate will remain the same, so the same percentage of a lower assessed value means a smaller total tax burden for you.
-Pumkin828

As an FYI, the form asks for comp sales in the area, but you do not need to fill that out since the information is not readily available. I was told by the Assessors Office to put "Not Available" and that they would pull it up on their own. They have the information, but we do not since the auction prices were not identified by the converter in the grant deeds.

-Sarah

Kudos to Sarah for presenting this information at our March meeting. Tell your fellow neighbors about this ASAP. Also don't forget to spread the news about the BLOG. It is the best form of communication we have.

High Tech Pizza!

I should have posted this sooner but I forgot, the pizza delivery war has gone high tech. Domino's Pizza now lets you track your order online. Its as if your pizza has a built in GPS as soon as you place your order, select locations of course. But guess what, our Domino's does offer it. I usually order online from Domino's because it has become such a pain in the ass to understand some of the people who work there. So the other night I order the usual online and when I checked out, I notice this pizza tracker icon telling me to put in my phone number to track the order.

As soon as I entered my number I noticed the ticker saying "Luis is making your pizza." Seconds later it said, "Luis has placed your pizza in the oven." It went on telling me that my pizza left the store and even the drivers name. I must say that I was pretty amazed. It even lets you rate how well each person did in making your pizza. No encouragement to order something tonight but the next time you do be sure to track it.

Obama Sweeps Saturday, Must See Video

Obama's speech on atheist and faith may be the most important pronouncement by a Democrat on faith and politics since John F. Kennedy's Houston speech in 1960 declaring his independence from the Vatican. Obama offers the first faith testimony I have heard from any politician that speaks honestly about the uncertainties of belief.

It Never Hurts to Ask...

Around noon today I noticed a group of three males walking around our complex, every so often they would stop, point at the buildings and talk to each other. My first instinct told me that these guys were thieves casing the area seeing who was home during the day. But, as I got a better view of them I recognized one of the guys from the association meetings. I decided to approach him and asked if anything was wrong. He said "No," and explained to me that he is a member of our newly formed Safety Committee and was doing a walk-through with a security camera company. I thought, sweet we're getting cameras installed. But, he explained to me that he was simply getting a bid from the company and hopes to have three bids ready for this months meeting.

I have a better feeling knowing that some action is finally being taken. I guess its just going to be up to us and the board to approve it. Hopefully those bids are ready for our next meeting or we're going to be waiting on a decision like the laundry contract. I remember the new contract was first brought up at our November meeting and still no decision.

Super Tuesday!

Democrats

Republicans

Time to Vote everyone. Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, and its becoming a real race. Above are those candidates which are still in the running for 2008. Do you need to know where the nearest voting station is, or what the wait time is to vote? Just click here OC VOTE. OC Vote has all the in depth info on what you'll need to get you through Super Tuesday.

Superbowl 42 Champs, NY Giants! 18-1 Means Nothing!

A Superbowl Sunday to remember, the underdog New York Football Giants prevail over the once perfect New England Patriots 17-14. I must admit that I loved the outcome. Sure my team wasn't playing in the big game, but I did not want to see the Patriots go undefeated.

I took a quick walk around the complex just after halftime and noticed that there were some other football fans around MV watching the game and having get togethers. I could tell there were some sure football fans between buildings P and Q, and I didn't get over to the clubhouse but from my understanding one of the first clubhouse rentals took place for Superbowl Sunday. I would love to hear how that went, and I'm sure others would too.

If you hosted or attended the clubhouse party let us know how it went. How did your guest react to the MV? I've been in the clubhouse for the association meetings but have yet to really explore it. Give us your input on what you liked, or disliked about the clubhouse. Maybe there is something you can recommend to other would be renters. We would also like some input from homeowners in A and D, was it nice to finally see the clubhouse put to use? Or, was the party too loud?

Don't wait till the next association meeting to have your opinion heard, let your voice be heard today. Leave a comment, Thanks GMAN I look forward to your contributions as well.