I have been very reluctant to comment on the recent letters to the editor concerning the Clear Lake Riviera Community Association. However, Mr. Gary Champagne”s letter (Record-Bee, March 29) prompts me to try to clear up some commonly-held misconceptions.
Security: At about mid-year of 2002 the then board of directors, of which I was not a part, dismissed what was left of our security force and hired an outside contractor to perform security for the community. Their contractor”s performance confirmed the suspicions of many, that security “just drove around and did little”.
At that time, I received reports of at least one of their employees sleeping on the job. We had no such complaints with our own security force. They, the outside contractor, performed this at great cost to the association.
In July 2003, a new board, of which I was a part, was seated. At that time, the board was informed by our then management company “Community Management Connection”, that the former board had approved a letter to the members concerning security. After reviewing that letter, I, and the seated board members asked the manager not to mail that letter.
We felt that it was slanted toward discontinuing the security patrol, and not neutral as it should have been. We were informed that the letters had already been mailed. This letter was mailed to all of our members and contained a return request to vote to keep or discontinue the security patrol. The vast majority of the respondents voted to discontinue the service.
At this point, the new board had few choices. We could find another outside contractor or re-establish our own force. To do the latter, we would have to overcome the problems with maintaining our own security force. There was the cost of maintaining two trucks, and the sudden jump in the cost of Workman”s Compensation. To make matters worse, we had previously been having a great deal of trouble hiring and retaining quality employees.
We could not afford to pay a competitive wage to retain good dedicated personnel. It was a difficult choice, but based on the problems and expenses we faced and the results of the community poll, we voted to “suspend” not end the security force.
The door was left open to re-establish security if it became affordable. So, Mr. Champagne, the members were indeed polled, and their response was to discontinue the service. I also must ask: What do you expect for $86.00 per year or 23.8 cents per day? To put it an other way, less than the cost of this newspaper?
Facilities: As has been stated in this column before, the homeowners association (HOA) had no control, nor was it asked, for it”s input on the sale of either the golf course or the marina. The board of the (HOA) had to find out the way everyone else did about the sale of both properties, from the newspaper. Those properties are privately held. The association has no more say in their sale than that of say Riviera shopping center.
The Davis-Sterling Act, a portion of the California Business Code, states that a (HOA) cannot raise dues more than 20 percent per annum without the approval of its members, except under emergency conditions.
The CC&R”s (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions) of the Clear Lake Riviera Community Association require a fifty-one percent affirmative vote to levy any assessment beyond that. To my knowledge there has never been a fifty-one percent response to ballots overall. That would also indicate that there would not be a fifty-one percent vote yea or nay for that or any other proposal.
Roadway Assessment: I could not agree more with Mr. Champagne on the special assessment for roadway improvement. We do, indeed, already pay for that with our property taxes, drivers and vehicle license fees, fuel taxes, etc. There are still many in this community on fixed incomes as well as others with limited incomes that would find this “tax” a burden. I would encourage the board of our (HOA) to look beyond what they think they can personally afford, and consider the possible plight of others. Please reject this additional tax on the homeowners of this community.
Jim Trout is a past president of the Clear Lake Riviera Home Owners Association and resident of Kelseyville. All guest commentaries published by the Record-Bee represent the writer”s own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lake County Record-Bee or its staff.
