April 6, 2012 by THE VOICE.

Ron Johnson’s breaking news article, “The UNTOLD STORY” provides the full background information about the 2010 Henderson false arrest of Tim Stebbins and Bob Frank previously reported in the Las Vegas SUN in this article:
Patrick Coolican’s Article About The Henderson False Arrest

It is a “must read” factual report that names the names and describes the background story that the newspaper would not publish. 

It is important to this community as it indicates evidence of potential serious misconduct by certain past and current directors as well as Henderson employees.

For your convenience, here is a PDF version:  theuntoldstory.pdf

and here is a the link to the online article:
http://www.scaview.org/pages/Today%27sAnthView.htm

Posted in Operations | Print | No Comments »

March 25, 2012 by THE VOICE.

After 2 LONG, politically-charged years the City of Henderson has finally dismissed its criminal misdemeanor charges of filing a false police report against Anthem VOICE Founders Robert Frank and Tim Stebbins.

The dismissal was quietly implemented without a court hearing and without prior notice to the defendants or their attorneys.  It just popped up by surprise on the Henderson web site, and the Anthem Journal blog owner somehow learned of it first.

Many members have been asking for more information about the case, and we have posted many of the basic records and supporting evidence on AnthemVOICE (the web site). 

If you take the time to read some or all of those documents, you will discover some truths about the following:

1.   What Frank & Stebbins filed with the Henderson Police Department in November 2009 was TOTALLY accurate, and the original question has yet to be professionally investigated.

2.  Reasonable people with access to the evidence seen on the AV web site could not have fairly concluded that Frank and Stebbins were filing a “knowingly false police report”.

3.  The evidence shows that Frank and Stebbins did not willfully lie to the Police.  That suggests certain SCA board members and their professional advisers have deceived the Police Department for the past two years.

4.  The Henderson Police Department investigation was woefully incomplete, unprofessional, and seriously biased in favor of SCA board members.  The conclusion in the original investigation is now discredited.  

5.  We do not know if those who willfully deceived and knowingly manipulated the City of Henderson leadership in 2009-2012 will be treated in the same way that was so viciously meted out to Frank and Stebbins for such a misdemeanor.  We must wonder if there will be equal justice under the law?   Or, did Frank and Stebbins receive a special version of police and City abuse reserved for political targets?

6.  The Henderson Police Department, City Attorney and the involved Municipal Court Judge can be seen to have seriously failed their public duties.  While most of them have been dismissed, forced to resign or retire or otherwise be replaced in the past year, accountability for such gross misbehavior remains in laps of the elected members of the Henderson City Council who were kept aware of what their subordinates were doing.

7.  The evidence proves there was no “probable cause” for issuing the arrest warrant, requiring bail, and allowing the HPD to strip search, perp-walk, confine in jail for 4 hours handcuffed with arms behind their backs, and otherwise totally humiliate and intimidate Frank and Stebbins.  That abusive behavior authorized by certain individual may be considered criminal violations of state and federal laws by the Attorney General, District Attorney and/or FBI.

8.  Accountability for this case of police brutality and local government abuse of power rests squarely on the shoulders of the Henderson City Council, the staff and a certain Municipal Court Judge that authorized the false arrest warrant.   Few, if any, of the City Council Members will be able to plead a “Pontius Pilate” defense on this case.  Every one in authority at all levels in Henderson knew what was being done was ethically, morally and legally wrong, but no one had the courage to step up and demand it be stopped.

9.  So, the question is,  How do Bob Frank and Tim Stebbins get their good names restored?   And, what accountability will there be in Sun City Anthem for the massive, hateful political actions taken by so many postings on the Anthem Journal   during the past 2 years that materially skewed the board elections and destroy the honest, ethical, lifetime reputations of Bob Frank and Tim Stebbins?   Will the 7,144 members of the SCA community act quickly to help them restore their honor?

10.  And, what about consequences for those dozens of hateful, political attacks by anonymous names posting on Anthem Journal against the many SCA members who dared to admit they were friends (or used to be friends) of the Franks and Stebbins?   Should those anonymous Anthem Journal posters be allowed to remain secret? 

11.  And, perhaps most importantly, should the owner/operator of David’s Anthem Journal escape with no consequences for his thousands of lines of personal attacks that can now be seen to be solely intended to vainly try to protect his spouse from criminal investigations?

Posted in Ann_Small, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Operations, News! | Print | No Comments »

January 24, 2012 by THE VOICE.

SCA Directors have been told they are solely responsible and individually accountable for the corporate decisions and errors concerning the funds collected from and managed on behalf of SCA members since the 2005 transition from developer control. 

But, by hiding behind the “so-called” Business Judgement Rule (BJR), HOA directors are told they can get away with almost anything (short of flagrant embezzlement) and not be held personally accountable.

So say association attorneys John Leach & Ed Song, auditor/tax preparer Gary Lein, community management company contractor RMI (headed by CEO Kevin Wallace), Nevada Real Estate Division Administrator Gail Anderson, and the NV Commission for Common Interest Communities and Condominiums (7 members appointed by the Governor from the HOA trade association (CAI) including 3 with obvious Sun City Anthem board conflicts of interest–auditor Gary Lein, Del Webb/Pulte executive Randolph Watkins and 6-year SCA Board Treasurer/President Favil West).

However, while directors are expected to consult “professionals” when making their board decisions,
the NV Attorney General has notified directors that corporate laws prohibit them from blaming the professionals for providing poor and/or illegal advice.

The obvious conclusion is that individual Sun City Anthem Directors are personally responsible for their past mistakes and toleration of financial misconduct, law violations, income tax fraud, community property losses, contractor failures and over-charges, and cruel abuses of community members without justification and without following due process rules. 

It is truly illegal and immoral for current directors to refuse to deal with past gross financial errors which can be corrected  on behalf of our members.

Special accountability for fraud and abuse rests on the backs of SCA Presidents since 2005.   The SCA contract with RMI grants exclusive/sole authority to the SCA board president to direct all RMI employee and related contractor actions. 

In other words, board presidents are the first persons to be held personally accountable for board wrong-doing and gross negligence.  Second in the accountability chain under corporate law would be the Board Treasurers and Secretaries   Actions to enforce accountability should start with those officers.

But, what can be done?  Have any of them committed real crimes as described in Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 205?   Read the laws for yourself from this online record and see what you think.
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-205.html

It is clear that if the evidence showed a director used a lethal weapon (such as a gun or knife) to threaten one or more SCA members to give up hundreds of their dollars, such a director could be charged and convicted under felony crimes for armed robbery and theft.

But, if the same director exploited HOA rules and hid behind the BJR to force members to pay exorbitant annual dues so the money could be wasted on untrustworthy sub-contractors where board members might receive hidden benefits or kickbacks for themselves, could they not also be held accountable by law enforcement agencies for what seems to be similar felony crimes?

We have hundreds of highly experienced members of this SCA community including some currently elected to positions as Clark County and Henderson Judges. 

No doubt such expertise could be used to find ways to enforce accountability–if such professionals would do their duty and stop looking the other way while crime flourishes all around us.  

If you know of such professionals in the financial, legal, and law enforcement businesess, please approach them and ask them to get involved–for their own sake as well as the whole community’s lifestyle and financial future. 

And, in the process, remind them that ignoring such crimes only encourages more of the same….

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

December 30, 2011 by THE VOICE.

Anthem VOICE was founded in part upon some fundamental concerns that Nevada HOA laws, rules and regulations appeared to contain serious violations of US and NV Constitutional provisions for citizen property owners, and that certain SCA directors were being shielded by government officials from being held personally accountable for financial misconduct.

Our initial concerns have been validated.  Some HOA statutes and regulations clearly deny constitutional rights to property owners/share holder members of homeowner associations.  The evidence suggests that such violations and statute defects have been crafted by the state and local government agencies and trade association to enable both the government agencies and the HOA business interests to obscenely benefit from their controls of HOA boards. 

As a result, there are no “fair dispute resolution” processes available from the NV Judicial Branch.  The HOA situation is a case of a decade of truly shameful actions by the Executive and Legislative Branches, and shameful neglect by the Judicial Branch.

Anthem VOICE has documented many examples of such misconduct over the years, and more cases will be reported on in the near future. 

Meanwhile, the following article by George Staropoli in AZ is one of many available at his site showing how tens of millions of trusting and apathetic HOA members have been allowing themselves to be “farmed/milked” of their hard-earned savings, retirement funds and American freedoms.

Evan McKenzie is another nationally-recognized author reporting on the shocking losses of constitutional rights and democratic practices due to unfair/dictatorial HOA laws and regulations.  (http://www.evanmckenzie.com/)   His list of current major HOA problems and necessary actions are quoted here:   Dr Evan McKenzie Quote

———-QUOTE———

Link to this Article & Website:  http://pvtgov.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/2783/

“HOA-Land — the failure to democratize

QUOTE

Note: The following is an excerpt from my paper, “Are the American people rejecting democracy at the local level?”

HOA-Land — the failure to democratize

Will the acceptance of authoritarian private local governments in the US result in a weakening of democracy in America, and destroy “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”?  

“Democratization” describes the processes underlying “the emergence, the deepening, and survival of democracy” in a society.  Democratization is also concerned with the forces that affect the sustainability of a democracy.  And that’s the issue before us:  Has the First American Experiment with representative democracy succumbed to the “emergence and acceptance of a quiet innovation in housing,” the Second American Experiment? This New America of HOA-Land?[i] 

In his “Theories of Democratization”,[ii] Christian Welzel presents a case well applicable to HOA societies.  Welzel believes that, “Democratization is sustainable to the extent to which it advances in response to pressures from within a society.”  It appears that HOA-Land dwellers feel no need to pressure for change, just like Mayer discovered with his interviews after WW II.

People power is institutionalized through civic freedoms that entitle people to govern their lives, allowing them to follow their personal preferences in governing their private lives and to make their political preferences count in governing public life.

Since democracy is about people power, it originates in conditions that place resources of power in the hands of wider parts of the populace, such that authorities cannot access these resources without making concessions to their beholders. But when rulers gain access to a source of revenue they can bring under their control without anyone’s consent, they have the means to finance tools of coercion.

 The above amply defines the dynamics of political machines and power cliques that operate, more or less, within all HOAs from benevolent dictatorships to rogue boards. And with respect to voting as the sole indicator of a democracy, it is well known that HOAs are woefully deficient in fair and just elections, with no “fair elections” laws in effect. Welzel goes on to say,

Many new democracies have successfully installed competitive electoral regimes but their elites are corrupt and lack a commitment to the rule of law that is needed to enforce the civic freedoms that define democracy. These deficiencies render democracy ineffective. The installation of electoral democracy can be triggered by external forces and incentives. But whether electoral democracy becomes effective in respecting and protecting people’s civic freedoms depends on domestic factors. Democracies have become effective only where the masses put the elites under pressure to respect their freedoms.

 Once again we are told that there’s a need for pressure from within, from those living in HOAs, to uphold their Constitutional protections.  Even if state governments decide to enforce constitutional protections and the equal application of state laws, it remains with the HOA-Land residents to defend our system of government.  Welzel reaffirms this essential requirement, “It is only when people come to find appeal in the freedoms that define democracy that they begin to consider dictatorial powers as illegitimate.”

 Welzel offers a path to victory to stop this erosion of democracy within America that is highly applicable to the social movement for HOA reforms.

 As social movement research has shown, powerful mass movements do not simply emerge from growing resources among the population. Social movements must be inspired by a common cause that motivates their supporters to take costly and risky actions. This requires ideological ‘frames’ that create meaning and grant legitimacy to a common cause so that people follow it with inner conviction.

This is why values are important. To advance democracy, people have not only to be capable to struggle for its advancement; they also have to be willing to do so. And for this to happen, they must value the freedoms that define democracy. This is not always a given, and is subject to changes in the process of value transformation.

 And what about our elected officials?

However, although Welzel writes that “elites [those in power, the cliques] concede democracy even in the absence of mass pressures”, it is only “when these elites depend on the will of external powers and when these powers are pushing for democracy.”   But, with respect to HOA regimes, Americans cannot accept this state of affairs by state legislatures, especially not with respect to these fundamental issues of democratic governance — the very soul of this country.  The absence of legislative support, sua sponte (on their own), for HOA reforms throughout the country is inexcusable! 

UNQUOTE

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

December 11, 2011 by THE VOICE.

The Ray Grant Show

on KDWN, AM 720, Sunday evenings from 7:30 to 8 PM has continued to feature HOA Issues and Solutions Program as moderated by Anthem VOICE’s Bob Frank during the past few months.

The December program will be tonight, December 11, 2011 at 7:30 to 8 PM.  Ray Grant and Bob Frank will be interviewing
Nevada Assemblyman Lynn Stewart (District 22) 

and Nevada State Director of  Business and Industry Terry Johnson

Assemblyman Stewart has earned great respect from Nevada homeowners as a champion in support of legislation and services to help protect HOA unit owner property rights.

Director Johnson was appointed by Governor Sandoval to lead the Business and Industry Department.  One of his major responsibilities is to directs the activities of the Real Estate Division, led by Administrator Gail Anderson, where all NV Homeowner Association policies, procedures and justice processes are managed.

During tonight’s December 11th program, the focus will be on matters of concern to Nevada HOA unit owners and what improvements can be envisioned for the future.   Discussions will focus on the increasing numbers of HOA board abuses of authority and the many concerns raised by the FBI’s 4-year investigations into Nevada HOA fraud and abuse.

KDWN is at AM 720 and live streams over the Internet at this link:
http://www.kdwn.com/streamer/

Sound clips of the December 11 program will be mounted on this site in the near future.

————–previous info—————-

The October 9, 2011 program featured Sun City Anthem HOA unit owner Tim Stebbins and Calico Ridge HOA unit owner Dr. Gary Soloman, PhD.   

Tim Stebbins responded to questions about critical HOA management problems and reported on his experiences with Nevada Real Estate Division failures to provide fair and balanced support services to both HOA unit owners and HOA board members.

Dr.  Soloman reported on his professional research and experiences concerning health problems caused by abusive, dictatorial HOA Boards and explained his rationale for putting up billboards on the freeways around Las Vegas such as illustrated below.

See the previous Anthem VOICE article for more details.
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/31/could-living-in-an-hoa-be-hazadorus-to-your-health/

In November, Bruce Baxter from a HOA North of Las Vegas and Bob Frank were interviewed by Ray Grant on topics that elaborated on the points made during the October program.   11 sound clips in MP3 format from the November 13, 2011 program are attached at the end of this article.

—————-

Here are the sound clips in MP3 format from the November 13th program.

1-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
2-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
3-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
4-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
5-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
6-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
7-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
8-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
9-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
10-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
11-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3

Posted in Truth Squad, Community Questions, SCA Board, Laws & Rules, Lifestyle, Operations, News! | Print | No Comments »

October 13, 2011 by THE VOICE.

For the past two decades, more and more homeowners living in HOAs in Nevada and across the nation have been providing hard evidence that the “homeowner association system” is not designed to provide the “utopia” claimed by the developers at time of property sale.  

Instead, the HOA system appears to be intended to provide high profits to certain businesses in return for supporting and protecting financial mismanagement, flagrant violations of contract law and constitutional rights, fascist behavior, and systematic corruption of American principles of justice.  

Find that difficult to accept?   Check out some of the evidence in this regard found at “Citizens For Constitutional Local Government” by George K.Staropoli.

After over a decade of fighting and carefully documenting the issues and results of the struggles on behalf of HOA homeowners in Arizona, it will take one more than a week to read all that he has documented on his web site.  But, a few items can be called to our reader’s attention as a start.   For example:

1.  10 Myths About HOAs

2.  HOA History

3.  “New American of HOA-Lands”

4.  Proposed:  truth_in_hoas_act.pdf

5.  Videos of Legislative Actions

6.  A Quote from Mr. Staropoli’s latest article:  
http://pvtgov.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/legal-academic-aristocrat-advocate-exchange-on-hoa-bad-faith-conduct/

“I ask the legislators, the public interest organizations and policy makers to consider the following questions:

1. Is it proper for the state to create, permit, encourage, support or defend a form of local government of a community of people, whether that form of government is established as a municipal corporation or as a private organization that is not compatible with our American system of government?

2. Is it proper for the state to permit the existence of private quasi-governments with contractual “constitutions” that regulate and control the behavior of citizens without the same due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment; that do not conform to the state’s municipal charter or incorporation requirements; or do not provide for the same compliance with the state’s Constitution, statutes or administrative code as required by public local government entities?

3. When did “whatever the people privately contract” dominate the protections of the US Constitution? The New Jersey Appeals Court didn’t think so. Does “constructive notice”, the “nailing to the wall”, the medieval method of notice, measure up to the requisite level of notice and informed consent to permit the loss of Constitutional protections?

4. Please state what, if any, are the government’s interests in supporting HOAs that deny the people their constitutional rights?”

In the future, AV will be reporting on more and more of the massive numbers of web sites reporting on the facts concerning how HOA laws and regulations serve and protect facist/bully board behavior all over the nation. 

We will be participating in a new “HomeOwnerCoalition.Org” organization being established to help homeowners who are willing to fight for their rights and for the quiet enjoyment of their HOA units as promised in their governing documents.

And, we will be working with members of all three Branches of NV government to identify the proper language for a proposed “Truth In HOAs Act” for Nevada.

 —————————

WARNING:  Reading and understanding the above articles may enable you to more effectively debunk the lies and distortions heard at your homeowner association meetings and the propaganda  called “news” in your monthly association newsletter or magazine and emails!  

Your pro and con thoughts and comments are encouraged.   We only ask that you identify your true self when registering, be civil, and respect the rights of others in the fight against TYRANNY within the HOA system.

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

September 1, 2011 by THE VOICE.

Suspended attorney (since 1991), former Sun City Anthem (SCA) Board Vice President, and self-appointed “spokesman/public relations director” for the SCA directors, David Berman said on his blog concerning law violations prosecuted by the Deputy Attorney General against his spouse:

“There is no excuse for allowing complaints of any nature to gather dust for more than three years as this one did, or for matters that can be resolved through discussion, letters of instruction, etc., to be treated as quasi-criminal matters. ”

Right! 

So, why DID the board-president-spouse of a convicted forger/defrocked attorney FAIL for over 3 YEARS to follow the laws and protect the rights of every one of our SCA homeowners?   Did she ignore her spouse’s advice?

After being clearly told and officially opposed by a fellow board member in March 2008, as well as by homeowner Tim Stebbins in May 2008 of her  violations BEFORE she voted (on both occasions), why did Roz Berman willfully act wrongfully?   During the recent hearing, the Senior Deputy Attorney General (DAG) told the Common Interest Communities Commission (CICC) and those in the hearing room that board members can not blame their failures to comply with statutes on bad advice from their “professional advisers”.  The DAG said each director is personally responsible for their bad actions.

So, why did Roz Berman and Mike Dixon FAIL to act to correct their known law violations in 2008 and 2009 after being notified by the State of Nevada in late 2008 that they were being formally charged with violating the laws?

After such a State notification the proper, moral, and legal action would have been to revoke the changed by-laws and CC&Rs and to ask the association attorney for a refund and/or future cash credits.   Instead, the boards played “chicken” with the State and we must presume this was upon advice of the (conflicted) association attorney who had profited handsomely from the whole affair.

Unfortunately, the “victory” celebrations by the accused may have been premature.   The matter may NOT be “over”.   The CIC Commission “decision” may be subject to review and reversal. 

But, as of today, it is clear the NV government Executive Branch Agencies responsible for ensuring HOA justice have universally failed the citizens of this State.  

The indicted board members, the equally complicit/uncharged SCA board members from 2007, the association attorney who advocated and profited by at least $30,000 from the law violation, and the community management company that failed to provide competent “professional” advice may be subject to future indictments/charges from the Real Estate Division and Attorney General. 

The State agencies are not “done” until THEY say they are, and growing public pressure for justice may force this matter to be continued until it is properly resolved.

The facts are that NONE of the involved individuals have ever been properly charged/indicted, and that is why the CICC could not complete its hearing.  A proper hearing still needs to be conducted to determine the guilt or innocence of the alleged violators–as required by NV Statutes. 

The Deputy Attorney General and Real Estate Division are confident they can prove certain SCA directors willfully violated the NRS116 statutes.  And, where there is government will, there are likely ways for those State Agencies to complete their duties.

Furthermore, the four CIC Commissioners who voted in favor of dismissing the case “with prejudice” (without  hearing any of the evidence) could find themselves charged with negligence.  If so, they could be asked to resign by the appointing authority. 

The apparent negligence and toleration of corruption by the CICC on this case taints the credibility of the CIC Commission, the Real Estate Division and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.  The future on this matter is murky, and the involved board members  and their “professional advisers” since 2007 should not be resting easy.

For additional details, see this prior Anthem Voice Posting:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/06/18/attorney-general-office-removed-bob-frank-from-sca-board-indictment/

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

April 10, 2011 by THE VOICE.

 Last week, the board’s blog (normally called “David’s Anthem Journal”)  announced that the golf course owners were in DEFAULT on their loans. 

     — But, we heard NOTHING from the unity directors.

Then, the board’s blog (and 8th board member) reported that things were much worse than originally reported–but not to worry.

     — But, still NO WORD from the unity directors.

Few things could cut our property values and destroy our hoped-for lifestyles more than if the golf courses fail!  Every SCA homeowner (and even all homes in the Anthem community) could be directly affected by the health and future of the SCA-adjoining golf courses. 

All of our properties (not just those adjoining the courses) are significantly valued based on the open space and beauty of our resort-styled community designed around the two golf courses in the valleys.

Unity directors (particularly Ann Small and Jack Troia) have previously said that since the golf courses are not part of our common property, they have no board responsibilities, and have no direct interest or responsibilities for what happens to the golf courses that go through SCA. 

Many members remember that 2 years ago, Dr. Ron Morse, PhD, alerted us to the impending financial problems with the golf courses when he was a board candidate.  But, the “Great Oracle of All Things” (David Berman) and others in his unity group attacked Ron for daring to tell the truth, and most people ignored the obvious.

Worse than that, when a couple of board members tried to find ways to work with the course owners in 2008-2009 to help promote use of the golf courses, former director and Dell Webb/Pulte associate, Favil West, interfered with the action, and successfully blocked the initiatives.  

So, why must our board and members insist on being involved in the future of the courses running amongst us?  Some real estate professionals have said that if/when the golf courses go bankrupt, the most likely benefactor could be a developer.  The developer would most likely pick up the property for peanuts and fill up the land with a few hundred low-cost/highly profitable homes.   What could be worse for SCA?

The Board attitude is what we call GROSS NEGLIGENCE.  It is legal EVIDENCE of DIRECTOR FAILURE to honor their fiduciary duties on behalf of our community association.  

Failure of the golf courses would make previous board failures look small in comparison.  The current Board’s actions to ignore this obvious disastrous problem for our community and lifestyle is reason alone to reject all carry-over directors and all candidates who show disdain and disregard for this major problem.  

While solutions to this complex problem are not easy to formulate, FAILURE TO DO ANYTHING must be considered GROSS NEGLIGENCE by the unity crowd!

Posted in Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Operations, Community Affairs, News! | Print | No Comments »

March 17, 2011 by THE VOICE.

An Anthem VOICE founder, Tim Stebbins, has grave concerns over the tone and substance of many of the proposed law changes concerning homeowner associations, and has written about his concerns to all Senate Judiciary Committee Members as quoted below, and in the attached file.

Tim Stebbins To Senate Judiciary Committee

“TO: Senate Committee on Judiciary                                                                            March 17, 2011

NRS 116 contains uncodified language stating the basic principles of democracy found in the US Constitution are to be followed.  I believe this is very important when considering legislation concerning HOAs.

Fundamental principles of the US Constitution include the three branches of government - legislative, executive and judicial - AND, very important, the separation of powers as a check and balance to protect the people.

HOAs do not have three branches of governance; they only have one - the executive board.  Some might see that as similar to an oligarchy.

Without the protections created by the three government branches, the state is obligated to assure proper safeguard of the people, the units’ owners in the case of a HOA.

I believe protections are critical when matters concerning the power of the executive board to impose punishments on units’ owners are considered and written into NRS 116.  Such powers must be carefully evaluated and appropriately limited to assure the rights of units’ owners are adequately protected.

There are no qualifications for board members concerning education, training, experience, skills, or anything else.  Their ability to fairly and properly determine the guilt or innocence of anyone is dubious at best.  Such determinations should be limited to matters of fact such as did or did not the units’ owner pay their assessments, did or did not the units’ owner landscape their property, etc.

When issues go beyond simple matters of fact I hope you will be very careful to protect the rights of units’ owners.  Please keep in mind penalties can be very severe involving thousands of dollars and even the loss of the units’ owner’s property.

When matters of law, determinations of the meaning of the law, and judgments concerning violation of the law are involved such as “Misconduct”, “Willful misconduct”, “Negligence”, Gross negligence”, etc. the average board is not qualified.  The State should provide, through NRS, for reasonable venues beyond the executive board to consider such matters in order to assure both the rights of individual units’ owners and the rights of the association are honored. 

I urge you to review and consider Amendments V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and XVI to the US Constitution.  I urge you to work with the sponsors of proposed legislation and the LCB to assure language in any bill relating to HOAs considers the rights and protections guaranteed by the US Constitution.  For example, wording such as when a fine may imposed vs. when an assessment may be imposed can be critical concerning the jeopardy of the unit’s owner.

If a matter is serious enough for the board to pursue, it should be done in a manner that respects the rights and protections guaranteed to every US citizen and resident.

Thank you for your consideration of my comments,

Tim Stebbins
2106 Alyssa Jade Drive
Henderson, NV 89052
(702) 492-1024
tstebbins1@cox.net”

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Ann_Small, SCA Board, Community Affairs, News! | Print | No Comments »

November 24, 2010 by THE VOICE.

Since the Board terminated the SCA-HOA message board resource this week, Anthem VOICE has activated a “Community Questions” blog category for member convenience.  Hopefully the other blogs will activate similar services, and all readers will be well-served.

Any SCA member can send an email to anthemvoice@cox.net with a request to post a question of your interest and we will put it up under “Community Questions” with your name.

Other members can then respond and/or comment on the posted questions and comments as they wish.  We will moderate the postings and responses so the new service category is  a useful place to find non-political homeowner-focused questions and answers.

Please feel free to send us email recommendations on how else we can serve homeowner interests.

Posted in Community Questions | Print | No Comments »

November 24, 2010 by THE VOICE.

SUN interview of RMI CEO Wallace reveals interesting facts, and stimulates many comments and questions from those of us in SCA.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/nov/19/q-kevin-wallace/

“What will HOAs look like in 10 years?

I still think we’ll have homeowners associations. There’s more good that bad that comes out of them. I think there will be more active adult associations as the population changes and more age-restricted communities are created. That’s a trend that’s still viable. I think some projects will evolve. Not all the condos may survive but it will be difficult to unwind.”

Agree.  Even the detractors of HOAs can agree that the “bad” that comes from HOA management is directly from the insensitive, uncaring, arrogant and dictatorial (often referred to in the industry as “Nazi-like or Gestapo-like”)  management behavior of some elected directors.  (Even members of our own NV Legislature have used such terms to describe the need for statutes to anticipate and prevent dictatorial HOA board misconduct.)

It sounds like Kevin Wallace sees the handwriting on the wall.  He knows better than most in the industry that community leaders (such as those in SCA who have opposed the frequent misconduct of our boards) will eventually be successful.

There is a (slowly) growing recognition that for HOAs to prosper in the future, the system must improve the abilities of HOAs to clean house when finding themselves burdened by directors who fail to place the homeowner interests ahead outside interests and the director’s personal interests.

Some even believe the unprecedented success of the 2010 grassroots, “Tea Party” movement in the US has begun to wake up the citizenry to be less afraid of questioning authority, and to be more willing to demand that elected officials serve the community and not themselves.  If this takes hold within the HOA markets, people like Kevin Wallace will see much faster progress than expected.

Every day of a senior’s life is especially valuable, and misbehaving directors can be considered stealing valuable days from the homeowners they claim to represent.  Senior HOA unit owners often try to ignore board misconduct while they are trying to enjoy their retirements.  But, eventually, they discover it is smarter to quickly purge the misbehaving directors than to tolerate them for untold months or years.

Because the boards of large HOAs are able to totally control the information (propaganda) flows to members (except the really bad news that gets into the public news channels), HOAs such as SCA take longer to deal with their management problems.  But, history shows it is impossible to fool most of the members–forever.

By the way, a few questions we wish could have been asked in the interview are:

1. Has RMI partnered with Del Webb/Pulte (largest USA developer) on a multi-State basis to accomplish its rapid expansion?
2. Why does RMI send less than fully qualified Community Managers to SCA and they wind up leaving in less than 2 years?  Is SCA a “training site” for RMI’s rapid development plans?  How much does SCA save by accepting provisionally-licensed CAMs who are in on-the-job training status for up to a year?
3. Why are RMI’s community managers so often charged with violating Nevada Statutes and Administrative Code?  Are they not properly trained, or is the RMI management policy to ignore the Statutes if directed by a Board President?
4. Why does RMI market its unique capabilities to manage an association’s records using all-digital capabilities when its largest (and RMI’s most profitable) customer (SCA) is still paper-bound and often unable to find records in less than 2 weeks?  Is this a case of false RMI advertising, or is it the SCA Board’s policy to stay with higher-cost paper records that are easily lost while withholding information from unit owners?

Perhaps our AV readers can think of other questions they would like to ask CEO Wallace?

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Laws & Rules, News! | Print | No Comments »

September 3, 2010 by THE VOICE.

Since other blogs are discouraging political comments about the local, state and national government elections, Anthem VOICE Blog has elected to encourage such partisan and non-partisan exchanges among Sun City Anthem members.

The initial rules will be:

1. Anonymous posting will not be permitted.
2. Any Sun City Anthem homeowner can post–after registering using their real name and related “nickname”.  Each  registration will be validated for accuracy of name and email before an original post is released to the blog.
3. The focus will be on the facts and individual opinions about local, state and national issues and candidates.
4. Comments about SCA and other HOA political issues and board candidates will be moved to other categories.
5. Vulgar, obscene, defamatory language, unsubstantiated allegations, and personal attacks will not be released for viewing.
6. Verbatim re-posting of other persons opinions and obvious copyright violations will be blocked, but open links to supporting web site materials will be allowed.

These rules will be updated as needed in the future.

Posted in SCA Board, Truth Squad, Outside Politics, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, News!, Operations, Other | Print | No Comments »

May 6, 2010 by THE VOICE.

By Kay and Bob Frank:

On May 1, 2010 Kay submitted the attached letter to the Sun City Anthem Board of Directors and the SCA Election Committee.    kf_ltr2bod_election_1may10.pdf

Regrettably, Kay did not receive a response.  So, we were forced to submit an Emergency Intervention Affidavit to the Nevada Real Estate Division to request action to investigate the legality of the current board election. This request has been accepted and a determination is expected before the end of next week.

If one or more of our many serious allegations of gross negligence and other statute violations are sustained, the Sun City Anthem Board may be directed to terminate the current election process, and to do it over–from the beginning.  On the other hand, if the unfair/illegal board election process is not stopped before it is completed, the community faces a long and nasty process to deal with the results.

Please read the following letter and attached documents and check out the statute references and allegations yourself.  An online version of the homeowner laws are found at the following links.  If you use your browser search tools when you get to a site, you can quickly find the referenced statute sections, read them, and make your own conclusions about what is right and what is wrong.
Homeowner Laws:     http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-116.html
Homeowner Regulations:  http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nac/NAC-116.html
Nonprofit Corporation Law:  http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-082.html

If you actually do the above, you will be doing more work to learn the truth than most of your current directors and candidates for the board.  Few invest any real effort into understanding the law they are required to implement.

Ask your directors and board candidates what they really think about the allegations of statute violations in this election, ask them to show you the paragraph in the statute that proves their opinion, and they are most likely unable to do so.  They are most likely to say they are depending entirely on the verbal advice of the association attorney. Even the lawyer/former judge on the board does not really know the appropriate statutes.  That is obvious since she does not question anything the board does that violates the statutes.

Considering the possible consequences to this community and to directors and committee members who refuse to know the truth about such allegations, you have the right to challenge their actions to deny the obvious.

We are a nation of laws, and our board does not have the right to flagrantly violate them.  So, why do some people prefer to look away and ignore the growing storm?

References:
1. This was the new flyer that the Board/Election Committee illegally refused to distribute with the new ballot package:
kay_frank_flyer_16apr2010.pdf

2.  Letter to the Board/Election Committee requesting to replace Kay’s flyer for the 2nd ballot package:
16april10_kayfrankltr2board.pdf

3. Kay’s proposed 1-page “Candidate Information Sheet” for inclusion in the 2nd ballot package as specifically allowed by the NV Statutes:
kf-ltr2members_16apr10.pdf

Posted in 2010 Campaign, kay_frank, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Laws & Rules, News! | Print | No Comments »

May 5, 2010 by THE VOICE.

George Meese’s exciting announcement of Senator Reid’s introduction of a bill to close the do-nut hole mining authorization near Anthem is GREAT news, indeed! By pulling together in a coordinated plan to put maximum pressure on all sides of the political process, we have achieved a critical milestone with this bill’s introduction.

Bob and Kay Frank

Attached are Senator Reid’s announcement and another article to remind us that Senator Reid is the mining industry’s best friend in Congress.  So, we must once again “trust, but verify!”

harryreid_announcement.pdf

Harry Reid–Mining’s Best Friend

Posted in kay_frank, 2010 Campaign, SCA Board, News! | Print | No Comments »

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 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 »

December 18, 2009 by THE VOICE.

David Berman has reported the following concerning the perceived need to paint some of the USPS mailboxes in SCA neighborhoods:

“…Sun City Anthem is coming to the rescue with a proposal –accepted by the Postal Service- to clean up and paint mailboxes that are in need of rehabilitation. As discussed at the most recent meeting of the Property & Grounds Committee, SCA would buy the paint and contract for the work to be done, subject to consultation and final approval from the Postal Service.”

Since the mailboxes in our community are NOT owned by the SCA CAI, and since the funds available to the SCA Board are legally restricted to being spent ONLY to manage, repair, maintain, replace or augment COMMUNITY property, there is serious doubt on the accuracy of what Berman has reported.

It sounds like the Property & Grounds Committee and its board member liaison have failed to do their homework.  It also seems that David Berman has forgotten much of his claimed law education.

Even if the USPS agreed to reimburse SCA CAI for the total costs of repairing and painting the USPS mailbox property, such board expenditures would be obviously illegal.  If the board were to try to do what Berman has reported, the action could be quickly blocked through state and local statute enforcement channels.

On the other hand, if a homeowner group in the villages wanted to spend some private money to paint a few mailboxes–according to USPS specifications and after receiving approval of the USPS management–that may be a way to handle the situation.

In the meantime, if someone wants to argue that we are mistaken in our opinions, we would have to ask to see a written legal opinion from the association attorney that confirms the legality of the proposal.

Posted in SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations | Print | 3 Comments »

November 29, 2009 by THE VOICE.

In case you missed it, there was a recent LV SUN article describing how 3 directors on our Anthem Coventry Homes Board who admitted to flagrantly violating Nevada Statutes by awarding profitable landscaping contracts to themselves.  3 Anthem Coventry Directors Admit Guilt

See this link for more details:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oct/13/henderson-hoa-ante-board-members-conflict-interest/

The  outrage of this event was the unanimous failure by the Nevada State Authorities to punish the self-admitted, guilty directors!  Instead, they unanimously agreed to the homeowners association paying the fines!  The outrage was not so much about the money lost as it was that the guilty parties escaped with no negative information on their personal records!

Anthem VOICE had two members present at that Commission Meeting, and we were stunned at the outrage!  Even though three of five Anthem Coventry Homes Board Members admitted to committing self-dealing and fraud, the Nevada Deputy Attorney General, Ms. Nancy Savage, and the Nevada Commission for Common Interest Communities, and the Nevada Real Estate Division agreed UNANIMOUSLY to require the Coventry HOA to pay the fines assessed for the personal law violations!  The perpetrators got off without being punished!  Not one of them was removed or barred from serving as a HOA director in the future.

Perhaps we should not be surprised at the injustice?  Three of the seven Governor-appointed CIC Commission members include the Sun City Anthem infamous (1) Favil West, (2) auditor/tax preparer Gary Lein, and (3) Anthem Council/Del Webb Community Management Chief Executive Randolph Watkins.  The chair of the CIC Commission is Attorney Michael Buckley, a long-time associate of SCA attorney John Leach.

With that flawed team in control of Homeowner compliance at the Nevada State level, what kind of results should we expect in Sun City Anthem?  Is it any wonder so many of our current and past directors and the DW/RMI CAM members feel safe from being held accountable for their massive financial misconduct involving millions of dollars of loses?  Accountability through the law enforcement channels is clearly our only hope for justice.

Posted in SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations, News! | Print | No Comments »

June 10, 2009 by THE VOICE.

For those members who have better things to do with their lives instead of read David A. Berman’s blog, you may have
missed hearing that he has focused all of his nasty personality on the SCA Woodchips Club.

See this link to read the abuse: 
http://anthemjournal.typepad.com/davids_anthem_journal/2009/06/board-approves-several-major-expenditures.html

If it has been taken down or cleaned up, here is a file capture of that topic as of Jun 11.)  DAB’s blog as of 11jun09

So, what do you think?  Do the honest and loyal and compassionate members of the SCA Woodchips Club deserve such
public criticism?  Do you think there is any chance that Board President Roz Berman disagrees with her spouse on this
unjustified political attack?

What about the other board members and CAM?  Are they afraid of dressing down DAB for his unfair and unjustified
attacks?  After all of the great things Woodchips has done for this community, will anyone among the unity party stand
up for the outstanding members of Woodchips and openly tell DAB what a stupid and unfair mistake he has made?
Or, is he still above reproach?

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs | Print | No Comments »

May 25, 2009 by THE VOICE.

A long-time resident/member of Sun City Summerlin has published the following 4 observations
about how its board is operating and suggests these are standard procedures as intended by the
Legislature, Real Estate Board, CAI and participating attorneys.

“1. Board meetings. Keep tight control and discourage attendance. Have private meetings that skirt the rules.
Let the homeowner speak but pay no attention. Never let the Executive Director or any Director to be cross
examined. No debate, canned responses, little transparency and no accountability.”

“2. Committees. Control all groups by stuffing the Committees and Organizations with like minded residents
who do not ask and will not tell. Unofficially delegate all powers reserving only the right to rubber stamp what
the Board wants.”

“3. Communications. Board sponsored or controlled private chat line, Community Organization, newsletters,
Web Site and email completely sponsored and moderated to make sure elections and any information allowed
to go out of the inner circle is controlled and filtered.”

“4. Administration. Encourage and support the Executive Director to limit information to the homeowners.
Discourage any accountability for losing millions every year. Prevent any effort to allow open disclosure.
Make sure the Executive Director Operates and Administers the Association as a Country Club.”

See any parallels with how the SCA Board is ruling?

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

May 6, 2009 by THE VOICE.

Many opinions are floating around on why the SCA Town Halls failed to achieve their objectives.  A more detailed analysis will have to come later, but here is an initial list of possible causes:

1.  The goals, objectives and operating rules for Town Halls were never fully defined, written, and implemented.  Town Halls were originally intended to be a place where member concerns, questions and/or issues could be openly discussed and resolved with board members in friendly and cooperative ways.  While Town Halls started in that direction in 2007, the intended results were not achieved.
2. Things were going smoothly until September 2007 when the Board majority (led by Mike Dixon, Roz Berman and the association attorney) tried to force Director Frank off the board by filing 110 pages of false statute violations against him with the State of Nevada, and by arbitrarily removing him as Vice President without due process and without justification.  In both cases the board majority refused to allow Director Frank to defend himself against the (subsequently proven false) allegations.  That sequence of unfair and unethical actions by the 2007 board set the negative tone for the subsequent 18 months for both Town Halls and Board Meetings.
3. Long-standing disputes between board members and some residents over statute violations were not resolved to mutual satisfaction, and the frustrations spilled over into Town Hall and Board Member Meeting Comment periods.  Relationships became much worse when the 2009 Board had so many member complaints filed against Directors that the board majority voted to eliminate SCA Code of Conduct enforcement procedures.  Adding fuel to the fire, some directors began urging dissatisfied members to file complaints with the Nevada Real Estate Division.   This tactic began to backfire in 2008-2009 when the Division found the SCA board in violation of important laws.
4. The Nevada Real Estate Division added to the increasing levels of contentiousness in 2007 and 2008 by being extremely slow to respond to member complaints, and by allowing itself to be influenced by association attorney Leach against the member concerns.  Members found themselves with no effective channels to resolve disputes without paying personal cash for attorneys, and then see the association attorney being paid by member dues to represent the board against them.  It is no wonder that the environments in Town Halls and Board Meetings have turned really negative.  The 2007 and 2008 boards poisoned the atmospheres with their arrogant and dictatorial behavior.

So, what needs to be done?  The 2009 Board must resolve the long-standing, open disputes to mutual satisfaction.  To get to the facts, SCA needs to implement a fair dispute resolution process between members and the board that involves 3rd party facilitators and public hearings.  Members must be able to get open and fair resolutions to serious disagreements without having to go to outside agencies and/or retaining attorneys to achieve mutual satisfaction.  Without that fair and balanced approach, the disputes will simply continue to escalate through the public media.

While Directors must be allowed to do the jobs proscribed by statutes and governing rules, the board majority can not be granted absolute/dictatorial/unquestioned powers over SCA members and finances.

In our opinion, failing to recognize this problem, and failing to seek a balanced procedure that fairly recognizes member rights, will lead to more and more disputes.  Campaign promises for cooperation with members, not conflict, must become real in 2009, or the negative trends and public animosity will increase.

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

April 28, 2009 by THE VOICE.

George Meese has asked that the following be posted:

-----------

From: Shonna_Dooman@blm.gov [mailto:Shonna_Dooman@blm.gov]
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 4:01 PM
To: George E Meese
Cc: sloanhillseis@blm.gov
Subject: Re: Cemex/Service Rock Project

Dear Mr. Meese,

Thank you for your interest in the Sloan Hills Competitive Mineral Material Sales
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  I appreciate your efforts to ensure letters
and comments are as easy as possibly to receive.

Since the scoping period that was open from June 11, 2007 through January 4, 2008,
the EIS has changed. We now anticipate that the Draft EIS will be available for
public comment beginning mid-October 2009 with public meetings held in November 2009.
Generally, the most effective times to comment are during the scoping period (in this
case June 11, 2007 through January 4, 2008) and the Draft EIS comment period (estimated
from mid-October through late December 2009.)  That being said, BLM will accept
comments at any point during the process.

No matter when comments are submitted, the following tips should help in providing
effective comments: To be most effective, comments should be specific and factual.
Comments should focus on the range of alternatives, including any recommended alternative,
resource or human communities most likely to be affected by the proposal and the kinds
of impacts to the environment that should be evaluated Sloan Hills Competitive Mineral
Material Sales Environmental Impact Statement.

Please note that petitions and form letters are only counted as one comment.

The format you choose is up to you. Comment forms are available, but not required. You
don’t need to type your comments as long as they are easy to read.

   • Be brief so the reviewer won’t miss the point of your comment.
   • Be specific so the reviewer clearly understands your concerns. Say, “I am concerned
     about how this will affect…” rather than just saying, “Don’t do this.”
   • Know your subject so that your comments are both focused and accurate.
   • State the facts and back them up where possible. Be sure to reveal your sources of
     information to help make your point.
   • Be honest and realistic. Distortions of facts or misstatements may cause the reviewer
     to question the accuracy of your other statements. Requests that are not legal or
     feasible also reduce the credibility of your comments.
   • Be polite. Even though you may be upset about a proposal, try to state your opinion
     objectively. Communication is increased by extending the same courtesies to agency
     staff that you expect from them.

* - If you provide written comments and wish to withhold your name or street address from
    public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state
    this prominently at the beginning of your written comment.  Such requests will be
    honored to the extent allowed by law.  All submissions from organizations and businesses
    and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives of officials of
    organizations will be available for public inspection in their entirety.  To ensure that
    comments get to the right place, I recommend addressing them this way:

Shonna Dooman
RE: Sloan Hills EIS
BLM Las Vegas Field Office
4701 North Torrey Pines
Las Vegas, Nevada  89130

The website for this project is up and running and it can be found by a link within the "In
the Spotlight Section" of the following page: www.nv.blm.gov/vegas. We've also set up an
e-mail address for comments, questions and concerns:  sloanhillseis@blm.gov.  I ask that
this email address be utilized as much as possible so that comments and questions regarding
this project do not get mixed up with emails concerning other aspects of my job. Hopefully
that will keep something from being lost.

Thank you again for your interest.

Shonna Dooman
BLM Las Vegas Field Offic

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

April 13, 2009 by THE VOICE.

On his website, Ron Johnson has continued his multi-year disagreement with Roz Berman, Mike Dixon, Jack Troia and others on the board and finance committee concerning the neighborhood reserves issues.

For your convenience, here are two of his latest editorials:

Fraud Against Neighborhoods
Do Not Vote For Deceit

Posted in 2009 Campaign, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations | Print | No Comments »

April 11, 2009 by THE VOICE.

An ANTHEM VOICE seminar attended by over 110 SCA homeowners was held in the Anthem Center on April 7 from 6:30—8:30 PM. It was arranged and hosted by Bob Frank, Ron Morse, Ken Anderson and Tim Stebbins.

This event covered a wide variety of issues of current concern to Sun City Anthem homeowners. The meeting room was rented by AV and made available free of charge to all SCA residents. AV seminars are offered so Sun City Anthem residents can have access to the latest information available on issues affecting their health, lifestyle, and home maintenance. Anthem Voice seminars draw upon the exceptional skills of SCA residents in combination with outside professionals. Invited professionals attend at no cost and no obligation. They are present to assist our SCA members with unique information. Useful handouts on most issues are made available to attendees.

After an introduction by Bob Frank, the 1st session focused on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) open pit mining project planned for 3 miles south of the community. Bob had made the Anthem VOICE arrangements with BLM to make the presentation. George Meese, SCA’s volunteer Committee Chair to Oppose the Mine, served as session moderator.

After some introductory remarks, Mark Chatterton, Assistant Field Manager for Nonrenewable Resources for the Las Vegas BLM Field Office, answered resident questions and instructed them how to best make their voices heard on the issue. He emphasized the need for sending individual letters to BLM and senior government officials that focused on health, air quality, traffic, and the expected extremely high water consumption concerns versus personal financial impacts. It was generally agreed that the session was exceptionally useful, and that many more such events were urgently needed.

See the attached files for more project details and for government contact info.
blm-project-contacts.pdf
kill-mine-project.pdf
april09_lvv_pg3.pdf

Session 2 was moderated by SCA homeowner Ken Anderson. Mark Cook assisted. This session focused on SCA homeowner construction defects. Expert presentations included information on yellow brass plumbing failures in Kitec, Rehau and Wirsbo systems, floor tile cracking, slab cracks in Del Webb Phase 1 homes, patio/flat roof drainage problems in DW Phase 1 homes, and Pulte sewer backup valve problems.

Speakers included construction defects special attorney Troy Isaacson from Robert Maddox & Associates who provided up-dates on SCA home construction defects issues.  Mr. Isaacson also included details on why homeowners should immediately get involved with strongly opposing Senate Bills 349 and 337. These bills are intended to radically modify construction defects laws to the great advantage of developers and builders.  For example:

·    SB 349 would allow builders to violate building codes without penalty and take away homeowner rights to legal fees when they are sold a defective home.

·    SB 337 cuts in half the amount of time a homeowner has to hold a builder accountable for construction defects and puts limits on homeowner rights–even when one is the victim of a fraudulent builder.

·    Immediately contact Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Terry Care (775-684-6503) and Vice Chair Valerie Wiener (775-684-1422) to find out more details and to express your strong objection to such legislation.  See this file for more contact information:  condef_bills.pdf

Session 3 was led by Gil Mars (SCA Resident and long-time home plumbing maintenance volunteer). Gil gave an exceptionally valuable presentation with many photos of problems and on how to double water heater effective lives from an average of 4 years to more than 8 years.  Even those in the audience well versed in such matters were overheard to remark about how valuable Gil’s recommendations were. This topic will need to receive much wider exposure in the future. Every Southern Nevada homeowner could benefit from Gil’s expert advice.  See PDF version of the slide show:  Water Heater Maintenance Slide Show

Considering the big turnout for the evening with such highly focused questions for over 2 hours, it was obvious that SCA residents are starved for specific information on how to cope with constantly changing construction defects issues, and how to deal with Nevada’s water corrosion problems. New and complex issues are frequently popping up. The full information is almost never available, solutions are rarely obvious, and results are usually expensive.

Many residents asked for regular meetings on these issues. It was clear the Board of Directors should be sponsoring these events. At least the board should not be charging $100 per room for the opportunity to put them on. Please send email to anthemvoice@cox.net with your opinions.

Posted in 2009 Campaign, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Special Events, Operations | Print | 1 Comment »

March 26, 2009 by THE VOICE.

Attached are PDF versions of the April 2009 The Vegas Voice issue containing Anthem VOICE’s second, pull-out supplement.

See pages 1-15, 2-16, 3-17 and 4-18 in the center section of the full publication.
Apr09 Vegas Voice Paper with Athem VOICE Supplement

Here is the 4-page supplement by itself.
Anthem VOICE April ‘09 Supplement

The Vegas Voice newspaper will be in Sun City Anthem mailboxes by the middle of next week.

Reminder:  Anthem VOICE Seminar on Tuesday, April 7, 2009.  Keynote topics are BLM Open Pit Mine and Construction Defects.  See this flyer for more details:

Seating is limited.  Send email RSVPs to anthemvoice@cox.net.   Attendance free to all SCA members.
Seminar Flyer for Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Posted in 2009 Campaign, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | 1 Comment »