January 28, 2010 by THE VOICE.

Director Carl Weinstein has posted on AnthemToday as follows:

 ”There were several occasions when I felt that what the Board was going to do was not in the best interests of the residents and I voted “no”. I was accused of not “cooperating” and of “confrontation” with the other Board members. After I made my case at meetings so that the residents were informed, I ALWAYS ended up supporting the majority Board opinion–that is the democratic way we live.  Other former Board members who were in the minority at voting time did everything to “torpedo” the Board’s decisions. That is NOT my style.”

This helps to clarify one of the many fundamental failings of the so-called Unity Party board members and its followers who intimidate its sponsored board members into ALWAYS going along with the board majority decision.

Contrary to Mr. Weinstein’s statement, it is anti-democratic/potentially illegal to willfully go along with apparently illegal board decisions.  A director is lawfully bound to aggressively oppose and challenge unlawful board behavior.  The majority opinion of any board can not be always correct!  Honest mistakes and deliberate corruption are potential risks facing every board.

Here are some Wikipedia symptoms of groupthink we see regularly promoted by Unity Party participants:

1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
2. Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group’s assumptions.
3. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
4. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.
5. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of “disloyalty”.
6. Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
7. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
8. Mind guards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.

A director who knowingly goes along with a board decision that violates statutes or criminal laws can be accused/prosecuted for being an “accessory” or “accomplice” to crimes. 

In addition, here is a review of some potential consequences for a director who initially objects to a board decision, and then goes along with law violations (such as stated by Mr. Weinstein and other previous directors).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessory_%28legal_term%29

In general, SCA members can not trust those who have been elected by the unity party and have routinely practiced unity’s mantra of “cooperation–not confrontation“.  This unity party policy has been distorted into meaning that they never look back on/evaluate the previous board’s financial decisions–regardless of the consequences.

Directors such as Carl Weinstein and Dan Forgeron and Attorney Ann Small who have gone along with so many alleged law/statute violations are vulnerable for being charged with being “accessories” or “accomplices” to the alleged violations and/or crimes.

They should be considered untrustworthy for continuing to serve in SCA board and/or committee positions.  And, directors not up for re-election at this time must stop following the group think practices, or be considered eligible for removal.

Posted in Veterans Affairs, 2010 Campaign, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Laws & Rules, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

January 27, 2010 by admin.

Nelson Orth has posted an excellent analysis of the failure of RMI and the Board President to collect about $20,000 due from Tirzo’s Bistro (the company who signed the Trumpets lease).
http://www.anthemtoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1393&start=0

But, Nelson did not include the best option for dealing with the company’s failure to pay–REMOVE the lessee’s access to the premises until full payment is RECEIVED. That was true for the S&D Cafe situation, and it is still true today.  Imagine how quick he would pay if he was told to pay up or move out.

SCA owns the property and it is not required to allow property access if a lessee fails to honor its contract. Before the board contemplates eviction, it is required to enforce the lease–on a month-by-month basis.

Removing access to the premises is a reasonable first step for the board to take. Only after the lessee refuses to do what is required to regain access would the board be justified in moving to declare the contract as fatally breached.

And, NEVER would the board be justified in extending loans, credit or grants to such a lessee! Only by a vote of the membership might that be considered. After all of the complaints about the sole source contracting procedure used for this lease, the directors know it would be impossible to convince the membership to do anything except to agree SCA had to fully enforce the lease.

If the lessee will/can not pay its monthly bills, that is a breach of contract and grounds for termination.  We must have someone on contract who can afford to lease our property!

Posted in Truth Squad, Ann_Small, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations | Print | No Comments »

January 26, 2010 by Marty Winger.

In My Humble Opinion–Winging It by Marty Winger:

Well here it is folks, once again I beg the question, “what purpose does the SCA patrol serve?”  I always get the same answer, “they bring a presence to the community.”  So again I ask, “what does the presence do to provide a reliable sense of security to the community?”

Oh sure, I can keep on asking more questions and dig deeper and more revealing questions and surely, every time I do that (and have done that) “they” just get angry with me or just think I’m prying into some fiefdom that is so sacrosanct I don’t dare going into.

Let’s face it, they have never, that I can recall EVER proven to be effective.  Let’s take the real example of the “Tree Killer,” where it took a retired police officer to see and understand what he was seeing to confront the situation, use his training, and make an intelligent decision that something was wrong.  HE CONFRONTED, the perpetrator, something that the patrol cannot do, in fact wouldn’t do, or would they understand if they should do, even to stay on the site-given that they were lucky enough to be present to observe-and immediately have called or even made the attempt to have police respond to the situation.

So what does the patrol do beside burn gas in new expensive vehicles and create a very expensive carbon footprint.  I’m surprised that environmentalists in the community don’t inquire of a success rate to say the patrol is or is not an effective tool.  The patrol does not even get a reliable source of people to offer their “free” time to patrolling.

I might also need to add that while it has been a rare time that I needed the patrol they just were not there, and they also sure had the worse excuses not to come by.  My reason was during a Christmas time when home invasion robberies are the highest an incident occurs and they could have “nipped it” in the bud, but didn’t.  Another time I had a guest stay with me and they parked their boat in my driveway which did not protrude out into the street but got a warning ticket.  I immediately went to the office and they said the individual exceeded his/her responsibility.

Try this one…am I looking at the figures at what the Christmas party cost the community?  What club gets a “vig” like this (looking at the SCA website and the logs of the patrol)?  I have not seen any “logs” on actual events, but merely how much gas has been consumed.

Here are my issues:

We all need to take responsibility.  If this means getting a security system, get it.  Sure, you can read the Spirit to get some insights on what you need to do for your home security (in this case), but you can do all this and more from any number of resources including the police department and security professionals that has to do this type of work everyday, and even more importantly, for a lot of years.

Do you feel more comfortable that the patrol comes and checks your doors-maybe hours after an event might have occurred?  Please!

Now the magic question…who am I to say any and all of this?  I am 2nd a generation security professional, my son is 3rd.  My family started in the security industry in 1928.  Credibility, you bet!  I have given seminars for many years and still consult.  My backround includes having a security company in the Los Angeles, Ca area and prior to that working for the largest security companies in the world in DOD and Fortune 500 applications.  So over a period of 45 years I can speak with at least a background to communicate security that provides residential, commercial, industrial, and in all the fields.

Maybe, just maybe there are alternative resources in electronics that serve the general public of the community better than the chance of actually/maybe being lucky enough to save the loss.  If anyone would be interested I could provide resources that offer solutions and open the window to a better awareness.

IMHO, Marty Winger

Posted in IMHO -- "Winging It" | Print | 1 Comment »

January 24, 2010 by admin.

Nelson Orth has posted a very useful, updated report on AnthemToday about the outrageous mismanagement of the Liberty Center program as follows:
http://anthemtoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1362#p1951

In addition, other SCA members with extensive construction expertise have reported the board is not hiring a licensed  Inspector to provide a detailed report on all of the construction defects in Liberty Center PRIOR to accepting the building from Pulte.

This failure is a repeat of the board’s failure during acceptance of Rec. Ctr. 2.  It is guaranteed to cost our members hundreds of thousands of dollars in the future.

In case you missed them, Nelson’s article is in addition to these 2008/2009 AV articles/documents:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2010/01/03/board-failed-to-collect-1375-million-from-pulte/
http://www.anthemvoice.org/c-gen_issue.html
http://www.anthemvoice.org/resources/Revised+Co-Gen_RecCtr3+Agrmt.pdf
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2009/12/06/failure-to-answer-questions-proves-board-coverups/
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2008/10/20/let%E2%80%99s-make-a-deal/
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2008/10/06/questions-about-co-gen-recctr-3-for-board-meeting/

This long record of apparent gross negligence started in 2005 with board presidents David Weil and continued on with Favil West, Mike Dixon, Roz Berman and Jack Troia.

We do not know what benefits any directors might have received in return for such apparent waste and abuse of homeowner funds.  But, it remains true that:

1. SCA boards in 2005, 2006 and 2007 failed to collect the $1.4 million Co-Gen funds owed by the developer in 2005.
2. SCA’s Board, Community Manager, Finance Committee (under Jack Troia) and Auditor failed to legally account for the $1.4 million payment due into SCA Reserve Fund in 2005 and 2006.  Instead they used surplus assessments to fill up the reserves, and forgave the debt owed by Pulte.
3. Past boards refused to require the developer to build Rec. Ctr. 3 on-time in 2006 using only developer funds.  Instead, the board conducted a bogus survey in 2006-2007 that served to allow the developer to delay construction start by 2 years and saved the developer hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.
4. Homeowner agreement was never obtained to spend a million dollars of reserves funds to “green” the 3rd Rec. Ctr.  And, the claimed “Return On Investment” for greening was bogus.  These failures could be shown to be important law violations.
5. None of the involved/culpable board officers since 2005 will reveal the secrets about why they acted as they did in 2005 and 2006.  And, the so-called “unity party” group has fought viciously to help them keep the secrets.  The unity group’s mantra of “cooperation–not confrontation” has been shown to protect the corrupt secrets of their board and committee buddies.

Eventually, the truth will come out on this and other board actions that resulted in the developer gaining millions of dollars of benefits to the detriment of our unit owners.  As we systematically follow the money trail, more and more facts are emerging and law enforcement departments are paying attention to the reports.  It is just a matter of time.   2010 may be the year for stopping such misconduct.

Posted in 2010 Campaign, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

January 24, 2010 by Mark Cook.

This is a photo of our new Rec Center 3, taken from my backyard.  The building looks rather odd to me, how about you? 

Notice those very large steel trusses that are clearly visible, especially so because they have been painted white.  All during the construction I wondered when they were going to put the roof on the building!  

Also notice the three deep slots cut into the top of the wall; the sky is visible through those slots.  Yep, no doubt about it, the roof is missing.  What you see is what you get…I’ll bet the architect is still laughing. 

Posted in IMHO -- "Winging It" | Print | No Comments »

January 23, 2010 by admin.

Sun City Anthem homeowner Marty Winger has asked to post personal opinions under an area called “Winging It” under our IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) Category.

Visitors to this blog are invited to read and (after opening up a user account with your real name) to comment on his articles.

Good luck Marty!

AV Administration

Posted in 2010 Campaign, IMHO -- "Winging It", Community Affairs, Clubs & SIGs, Operations, Lifestyle | Print | No Comments »

January 23, 2010 by admin.

For clarification, there are 7 candidates for 3 open positions this year and they are grouped below by those with independent commitments to residents vs. those with political party commitments.

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES:
1. Kay Frank (Former IRS Auditor, Financial Manager, and National Archives staff member)
2. Kathleen Hicks (Retired Nevada Administrative Law Judge)
3. Lyndall Ruiz (Retired CA Attorney, 2005 SCA Director and former school teacher)

“UNITY PARTY” Candidates:
4. Celeste Bove’
5. Dan Forgeron (incumbent)
6. Jerome Gardberg
7. Carl Weinstein (incumbent)

Our SCA members are blessed with a clear choice this year with 3 exceptionally outstanding women who are willing to make sincere and believable commitments to independently serving both the interests of SCA homeowners and the interests of the community association board.

This promises to be a spirited board campaign that offers unambiguous choices for whether the policies of the past are to be perpetuated, or whether openness, honesty, and ethics are truly implemented by the SCA Boards of the future.

When (not if) the politics of personal destruction are once again implemented by the unity group, the lessons learned from the recent Senate election in MA will prevail.

Posted in 2010 Campaign, SCA Board, Community Affairs | Print | No Comments »

January 15, 2010 by THE VOICE.

During the January 14, 2010 Special Board Meeting, the SCA Board of Directors violated numerous Nevada Statutes.

Since Director Ann Small is a NV attorney and part time judge, her personal participation in the flagrant law violations are highlighted in the attached article by Anthem VOICE authors/founders Tim Stebbins, Bob Frank and Kay Frank.  We believe she should be held accountable for her behavior.

Contrary to the Unity Cult’s Sponsored Web Site operated by David Berman, we welcome and will gladly post any responses or rebuttals received from Director/Judge Ann Small.

We seek the truth, and if the attached article is wrong, we welcome being corrected.

Anthem VOICE

Director Small Ignores Statutes

Posted in Truth Squad, 2010 Campaign, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations | Print | No Comments »

January 11, 2010 by admin.

Unfortunately, Mr. Weinstein has once again shown evidence of “foot-in-mouth-disease” when he said:

     “We are mincing words here. It does not change the fact, whichever word you like better, that it is up to the Board to determine whether or not it is “practicable” to attempt to obtain three bids.”

Carl is clearly wrong. The Real Estate Division has confirmed that “practicable” and “practical” do NOT mean the same thing. As a result of Sonny’s appeal to the Division Administrator (with copies to the Nevada Commission for Common Interest Communities and Condominiums) the Division has re-opened Sonny’s previous cases, and it has begun to investigate Sonny’s serious allegations of law violations by the SCA Board and RMI.  The SCA board has been informed.

Carl is also ignoring and/or disguising the fact that the Real Estate Division’s Chief of Compliance Section has recently RETRACTED a previous letter denying Sonny Sonnenfeld’s original affidavits. The Compliance Chief has admitted his initial ruling was NOT correct.  A new, legally-enforceable letter of instruction from the Division has been promised to be delivered this week. This updated direction should make it clear the board can NOT arbitrarily avoid obtaining three or more qualified bids on major acquisitions.

So, contrary to Mr. Weinstein’s claims, Sonny appears to have proven that Nevada laws really do intend to prevent the kind of “blank-check/grossly wasteful purchasing practices” often used by SCA.  And, regardless of the final outcome of the affidavits, the Board’s current plan to arbitrarily sole source the contract for the extension of the SCA CAM agreement could be in serious trouble.

Why did Carl say what he did?  We don’t know, but he might be worried that he has been so personally involved with so much of SCA funds that have been wasted for the past few years. He has been serving on the Property & Grounds Committee and/or the board during all of the alleged law violations. Maybe he could be found more culpable of the violations than some of the others involved?

See these 2 files for relevant information:

Appeal to Real Estate Division

Retraction Letter From Real Estate Division

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, News! | Print | 1 Comment »

January 10, 2010 by admin.

Wrong–as usual?

David Berman said, and quoted Director Carl Weinstein, on his blog that the “Ombudsman Rules on Multiple-Bid Requirement” and “…the Real Estate Division’s Ombudsman’s Office has dismissed a complaint filed by a resident alleging that in a particular case there was a failure to secure at least three bids.”

The report also stated “…the notification from the Ombudsman’s chief investigator said the determination of whether obtaining multiple bids is “practical” is solely within the authority of the Board of Directors.”

Finally, Berman said “I was under the impression that “practical” and “practicable” are synonymous, in fact they do not mean the same thing.”

So why is this important to SCA residents? Because the entire report is bogus/wrong from the beginning to the end, and the outcome of this issue of requirements for competitive contracting is HIGHLY significant to HOA policies throughout Nevada.  However, by reading Berman’s blog and Weinstein’s bogus report, one could not learn anything factual or useful.

Bottom line:

1. The Ombudsman Office was NOT the source of any relevant information. It was not involved in any way with the issue.

2. The Real Estate Division’s Compliance Section made a very serous error in failing to accurately interpret the NV law on requiring competitive bidding on HOA contracts.  The statute says “15.  Obtain, when practicable, at least three bids for any capital improvement project for the association” and the Investigator wrongly substituted and interpreted the word “practical“.  Berman indicated he knew the report was wrong, but he did not have the ethical courage to say so.

3. Thanks to Sonny Sonnennfeld and AV member’s expert knowledge, their persistence to not accept something they knew was fundamentally wrong, and their personal courage, Sonny and his associates were successful in appealing the wrong ruling and proving that the Real Estate Division’s Chief Investigator was wrong.  Last week, Sonny received a letter (copied to the SCA Board) admitting the error from Bruce Alitt, Chief of the Nevada Real Estate Compliance Section.  But, you have not heard a retraction or correction from Carl Weinstein or Jack Troia.

4. So, what have we learned?  HOA boards are REQUIRED to get competitive bids (and quotes) on contracts/purchases whenever “practicable“.  That means for MOST cases for purchases and contracts where alternative sources exist.

Carl Weinstein and David Berman were completely wrong about their source of information. wrong about the basic facts, and wrong on their judgments on what the ethical policy should be concerning using competitive practices to protect homeowner assessment funds.  In addition, their old buddy Frank Blaha, who had automatically rubber-stamped all of their serious errors, was also dead wrong.  That is important because Blaha is a member of the Planning and Processing Committee and supposed to be promoting better contracting policies and purchasing rules for SCA.

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations | Print | 1 Comment »

January 9, 2010 by admin.

 On Jan 9, 2010, at 9:16 AM, Mark Howard wrote:

Hi All,

We live in Black Mountain Village.

We had quite a scare last night. Cristina arrived home alone from work at 8:40PM. I was at South Coast Casino which is about 17 miles away with my son Chris and grandson Chris Junior watching a motorcycle race. Cristina drove up to the house and saw a suspicious car with two occupants parked with the engine running sitting in front of our house.

Cristina pulled into the driveway but did not get out or enter the garage and sat watching. It was a small burgundy colored sedan. She was only able to get a number “3″ and the letters VGB. It was a Nevada plate. She called me on my cellular but it was extremely hard to hear her because of the motorcycle race. The car did not move for minutes.

I told her to drive away and call the police. Even though it is a “bedroom community” there have been a few incidents in the neighborhood since the economic crisis, mostly caused by the construction workers who work in the area but live elsewhere. 

I was rushing out of the arena and remained on the phone with her. She said the car was pulling away making u-turn and drove away heading North. I continued through the casino to the parking lot to return   home. I had purposely left some extra lights on in the house knowing Cristina was coming home from work after dark.

She parked the car in the garage and entered the house. She called me back to tell me everything was OK and just then screamed and screamed at the top of her lungs. I couldn’t hear what she was saying. I was sprinting to the car and she was screaming something. I was able to get “someone is in here.” I told her to run and call 911 over and over again as she screamed.

I hung up and dialed 911 as I ran. My car was parked way, way up on the 5Th level and way, way back in the farthest corner of the parking structure and the parking structure at a large casino is huge (understand, it’s a new Porsche so I parked it in the “north forty’. Thank God I didn’t valet it for a change. My son and grandson were rushing to their car too.

The 911 operator was Metro Police and I had to be transferred to Henderson PD. I rushed home while on the line with 911. The operator mentioned they had Cristina on 911 too. I arrived and Henderson PD had the house surrounded.

The suspect fled and got away before their arrival. She could only describe him as a dark man. It was too dark outside and too light inside. The occupants in the vehicle were hard to see because the windows were tinted and it was at night.

Once the police left, my son and I checked our house very carefully and check the neighbor’s house since we knew they were out for the night. Everything was OK.

Our homes are all so private by design, no one in the neighborhood realized there were 5 police cars surrounding our house for over 20 minutes. Here’s a bit more….

When Cristina saw the man at the window behind the house attempting to get in, she screamed. He stared for a brief moment looking directly at her. The female Boxer tore out the doggy   door and the male Boxer remained at her side. The Chihuahua peed on Cristina. No blood so I guess he got lucky.

Cristina did exactly as planned. She rushed to the Master Bath and locked herself in. There are no windows and only one way in. It’s a door that opens out and to kick it in would require a bit more force since the door is framed on the inside. She got on 911 and remained on the phone with them until the police arrived and she could be convinced to meet them at the door.

I have a pistol stashed in that bathroom just for this sort of thing. Cristina is trained to use it but today we are going shooting for some practical drills and familiarity. 

I do not know your position on gun ownership but I will never surrender my guns and I will fight to keep our Second Amendment Rights. 

By the way, the Porsche doesn’t go 177 mph as advertised. My last glance at the speedometer was at 184 mph. I feel a little sorry for anyone southbound on the I-15 last night. Actually, it was empty. I only   passed three cars from South Point to St Rose which is about a 5 mile stretch.

I’ll be driving the construction sites and neighborhood looking for that car. I know they will be back. It’s the 2nd time they were here in two weeks. Two weeks ago I found some pool cleaning equipment tossed over the gate along the side of the house. I told Cristina to double check and keep the doors locked. 

I am canceling next week’s travel to Chicago. I will not leave Cristina here alone.

Mark

Mark Howard
California Wine & Spirits Company
10624 S. Eastern Avenue, Suite A-299
Henderson, Nevada 89052
U.S.A.
Tel: (702) 614-2807
Fax: (702) 947-2637

Posted in Safety, Operations, News! | Print | 3 Comments »

January 8, 2010 by bobfrank.

Some of David Berman’s recent comments on his blog can be used to help members to better understand what the 8 various SCA web sites and blogs are trying to do, and/or not do.  Each one is significantly different from the others.  All are free to use, and each one has some restrictions on how posting is to be allowed.

For example, in response to David’s personal attacks on SCA members who disagree with him, a member said: “Enough, please. We are not in High School and who cares for the constant negatives on these blogs.”

David Bermans replied:  “As the owner of the blog, I respect my readers and try to maintain most of my focus on sharing useful and interesting community information with them. But it is ultimately my decision on what to post, and I do not force anyone -yourself included- to read the blog if they are uncomfortable doing so.  You might want to try some of the other blogs to see what you think of them as an information source in comparison to mine. If you think there are too many negatives on THIS blog, you may find that the next several months have more negatives than you would want to see, depending on who decides to run for election to the Board.”

The 8 SCA web sites and blogs/message boards are as follows:

1.  SCA Official Web site for activities, documents, and official records:
http://www.sca-hoa.org/inside_home.asp
2.  SCA blog/message board to enable board-approved comments:
http://www.sca-hoa.org/thread_list.asp

3.  Ron Johnson’s Anthem-View Web Site:
http://www.scaview.org/pages/Today%27sAnthView.htm
4.  Ron Johnson’s Anthem-View OP-ED blog:
http://www.scaview.org/todays-op-ed-column-/2007/09/welcome-to-our-oped-column.html

5.  Anthem VOICE Web Site/Library of Document & Opinions
http://www.anthemvoice.org/1.html
6.  Anthem VOICE Blog:
http://www.blog.anthemvoice.org/

7.  Anthem Today Forum Administered by Rana Goodman with regular contributors Nelson Orth and Dick Arendt
http://www.anthemtoday.com/forum/index.php

8.  David’s Anthem Journal by David Berman
http://anthemjournal.typepad.com/davids_anthem_journal/

By visiting each site and reviewing their contents a member can gain the complete picture of what is happening in SCA.  Unfortunately, that takes too much time for most people, and they wind up checking only one or two sites and they miss a lot of important information.

In addition to the list of SCA web and blog sites, I have been asked to provide some summary info on them:

Sites 1 & 2:  SCA’s official sites hold a great deal of useful information, but it is usually very difficult to find what you are seeking.  This is the only site to require a login with account and password-issued by the SCA Board.  Its structure is so confusing that it can take many hours to discover how to find even basic information.

Since no site training or viable online help is offered by the Board on how to navigate the site or how to communicate with the Board, not many members find it very useful.

While the SCA “message board” can have some useful information posted when by other members, SCA Directors have a policy of removing items placed by members who dare to post items critical of board decisions or RMI operations.

Because the official web site is so difficult to use, and because the board severely restricts member opinion about its/RMI’s operations, the other web sites and blogs have been created to fill those vital informational gaps.

Site 3 & 4.  Ron Johnson had the first SCA web site starting about 7 years ago.  Most members find Ron Johnson’s journalistic reports, current interest items, and personal opinion articles to be well researched and well documented.  Ron does not post very often; but, when he does, it is usually a major event for the community.  Ron’s blog is called “OP-ED” and he recently began allowing other SCA members to publish opinion articles in a new area called “Point Of View”.

Site 5 & 6.  Anthem VOICE (AV) is operated by about a dozen of SCA members with extensive business experience.  AV is focused entirely on unit owner interests.  The articles and opinion pieces are homeowner-focused on SCA Board and RMI mistakes, misconduct, and apparent statute violations.

AV is the SCA group that “walks the walk” by working to aggressively hold past and current directors accountable for apparent fraud and abuse and other misconduct.  AV is the site for facts and figures about important disputes between homeowners and the Board.  On the other hand, the AV blog is where individual opinions are expressed about all types of SCA matters.  SCA members can submit an article for consideration on the web site or the blog, and most get published.

Site 7.  Anthem Today contains a very wide variety of topics and is probably the most diverse of all the sites.  Navigating around the site can take some time, but the effort is worth it.  Most of the articles on Anthem Today are unique and topical, and the opinions are usually very well explained and documented.

Site 8.  David’s Anthem Journal promotes its owner-operator.  Unlike the others, David Berman’s site contains a large personal photo and a link to his (selected) personal history.  The site starts off with a prominent warning that readers are agreeing to accept the fact that he will be posting political opinions from time-to-time.  And, there can be no doubt the main purpose of Mr. Berman’s site is to freely express his political opinions, and to launch political attacks against those who disagree with him or the board.

While claiming to try to be the go-to place for SCA activities information, a review of past postings since 2006 shows that his main purpose has been to serve as the surrogate representative for all complaints against the board, RMI, and the committees.  Board members almost never respond to public complaints, but Mr. Berman always has something to say that is false or obviously deceptive, or he attacks someone, or he changes the subject.  Even though he knows the truth (because he or his spouse have been on the board since 2005) Mr. Berman never provides the complete and factual information to questions about the board’s financial losses of millions of dollars.

Civil discourse can often seem to be present on this blog, but that is because David summarily removes the strongest objections to his posts.  Facts are rarely provided on David’s Anthem Journal.  Instead, personal, political attacks are his preferred type of response.  Such attacks are usually launched against members who dare to question or criticize him or any board or RMI action.  But, in some cases, he goes on for years with sustained, truly hateful attacks against certain individuals he considers long-term political opponents.

It is true that Mr. Berman works hard to populate his blog with reports on SCA activities and Channel 99 programs that are never found on the SCA official site.  But, we have learned he is not doing this to be a good SCA neighbor.   No, he does this so-called “public service” to lure unsuspecting SCA members into his site and cause them to also read his hateful personal/political attacks.

However, this tactic would fail if SCA’s board (including David Berman’s spouse, Roz Berman) would provide an adequate web site with similar or better information.  Few SCA members would then read the hateful, political attacks found on the Berman Blog.  And the other blogs could concentrate on their desires to offer a variety of public services.

Finally, if elected board members in the future had the strength to tolerate respectful and factual public comments on SCA’s critical issues, most of the other blogs would likely fade away.  In other words, we simply must elect directors who are truly committed to serving our unit owners in the future.

Posted in SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations, News! | Print | 1 Comment »

January 3, 2010 by bobfrank.

On his blog, claimed law school graduate and former IRS employee David Berman has re-opened the festering sore of the $1.375 Million owed by (but not collected from) Del Webb/Pulte in 2005-2007 by saying:

“Don’t believe the phony issue that some have raised about SCA being entitled to the money, or at least interest on the money, at an earlier date. The promise to give SCA a specific some of money simply did not confer ownership of those funds upon SCA, and certainly did not confer the right to receive interest on those funds.”

That bogus/deceptive claim continues Berman’s massive efforts to hide his, other prior directors, prior Finance Committee members, and CAMs culpabilities on this sordid matter.

Try to imagine why all of the directors in 2005 (Including David Berman, Bob Berman, Bob Sansing, Favil West, David Weil, Pulte VP Dea McDonald and Attorney Lyndal Ruiz) would knowingly fail to require the developer to pay $1.375 million into our seriously underfunded reserves in 2005!

Now try to imagine why the reasons for such an indefensible action are still a huge secret.  There are absolutely no lawful justifications to be keeping such a secret.  Even the close friends of theirs should be demanding public release of the truth!

Pulte had already agreed in writing in 2003 to pay, and all the board had to do was to request prompt payment–as agreed. See page 3 in this link to the agreement:
http://www.anthemvoice.org/resources/DelWebb_14jul03_ltr-agrmt.pdf

As a board member in October 2008, I believed the Co-Gen/Rec Ctr 3 settlement negotiated by Roz Berman was a fraud, and I said so in writing.  Attorney Ed Song (law firm partner with SCA attorney John Leach) confirmed I made valid points in my statement; but, he recommended the board disregard them and proceed with approval of the Pulte agreement.  That was a typical, developer-oriented position from from John Leach, who was originally selected to control SCA by Del Webb over a decade ago.

For some of the background facts on this matter, and my statement see the following links:
Overview: http://www.anthemvoice.org/c-gen_issue.html
Fraud Allegation: http://www.anthemvoice.org/resources/Revised+Co-Gen_RecCtr3+Agrmt.pdf

So, when comparing the factual history of this Co-Gen/Rec. Ctr. 3 matter with David Berman’s deceptions, we see once again that his words and judgment can never be trusted.

The culpable directors always refuse to self-incriminate and answer truthfully about our millions of lost homeowner funds, and David Berman appears to be the designated spin master to continually try to distort and confuse SCA members on every matter of major dispute.

Ethical leadership can only be achieved in the future by cleaning house and electing honorable directors who insist on operating independently from the unity party cabal-political machine.

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | 1 Comment »

January 2, 2010 by admin.

Southridge Village:

The Burrell’s at 1854 Morganton Drive had our house burglarized on New Years Eve. 

We left the house with friends around 7:00 PM and arrived home at approximately 1:15 AM to find our garage door open and our Lexus gone.  Our back door was broken and appeared to be kicked in.  The closets and/or cupboards were left open and the master bedroom was in disarray with jewelry boxes and contents spread on the bed.  The Henderson Police Dept. arrived and a theft report was submitted as well as attempts to get finger prints on handled objects.  We also notified our Security Patrol to alert them of the break-in and theft.  At this point we are still assessing our losses.

We wanted to let you know of this incident as a reminder to be more cautious.  Please share this information with other neighbors who may not have received this notice.  Thanks.

Dick & Barb Burrell

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