May 10, 2011 by admin.

Is “neighborly love” a “possible dream” within homeowner associations?

Are those members on the David Berman Blog who play “whack a mole” against so-called “malcontent” members believing they are ADDING to the chances of harmony in Sun City Anthem?  Why would an “adult” homeowner posting on that site believe that hateful attacks and ordering fellow homeowners to “shut up or move” could produce any positive effects?

Unfortunately, “neighborly love” is rapidly being lost in Sun City Anthem due to increasingly dictatorial board behavior and mismanagement.   The trend shows the problem is getting worse and the “malcontent” members are striking back through public media channels because SCA boards are doing nothing to resolve disputes.

How bad does it have to get before the directors finally learn that following the bad advice from the Del Webb/Pulte-appointed association law firm is the primary source of the ongoing disputes?   It it obvious that keeping that firm is only making the attorneys wealthy while our lifestyle gets destroyed by the never-ending disputes?

While considering possible solutions for SCA, the paper posted on May 9th (10-hoa-myths.pdf) by George K. Staropolis provides important insights.  In addition, Mr. Staropolis’ article posted today, and quoted below, provides valuable insights into common HOA problems. 

http://pvtgov.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/want-more-neighborly-love-in-an-hoa/

    “I submitted the following comment to the shreveporttimes.com article, “A sign that we need more neighborly love.”

    HOAs were never really about neighborly love.  They were promoted as such a fellowship of people with a common goal, “building better communities” and “fostering vibrant, harmonious communities” by the national lobbying organization.

    But, in reality, they are highly divisive and adversarial because strict enforcement of often arbitrary and capricious rules abound, enforced by the “protection agency”, the HOA, whose directors are reminded that they can be sued for not enforcing the CC&RS or declaration.

    Couple that with aggressive HOA lawyers whose income is not based on contentment and neighborly love, but on adversity that leads to the courtroom. It’s in their best interests to preserve the HOA in its current form.

    This authoritarian form of government, backed by pro-HOA laws to inflict severe penalties on homeowner offenders but give a slap on the wrist to HOA offenders, make an excellent environment for the power seekers and misguided true believers who believe that they  are part of a grand and glorious new America. And for the profit-seeking developers, HOA vendors and lawyers.

    IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, HOW ELSE CAN IT BE?  No country, no community has ever obtained strict compliance to rules that are aimed to preserve the state, like Nazi Germany  Communist Russia, without imposing restrictions on the rights and freedoms of its inhabitants  “in the name of the state.”

    Its corporate form of government is no different from any other business where there are the managers who control and the people who are to obey.  HOA directors are in the “management” class and homeowners are in the “employee” class, even though the “employees” may also be owners of the corporation.  And we all know that management does not have the 100% whole–hearted agreement and support of its people.

     Yet, the courts and state legislatures truly believe that the board speaks for the members on all matters, great and small. That the HOA is imbued with public government attributes and, ignoring the reality of a contract, by merely living and remaining subject to the HOA the “employee” surrenders all his rights and freedoms contrary to constitutional law.

    But, as we all know, how many people, employees, work and remain at a business for valid reasons other then that they fully consent to be governed by the corporation? The public officials have adopted this “remaining within the HOA” argument not because it is valid, but because it offers a plausible defense for their actions.

     Want more neighborly love?  Hold HOA boards accountable for their actions, and provide protections for the rights and freedoms on the owners.

    Forget the “we don’t want government” and get to “we want the same government protections as all others.”

So, what do we do about the SCA situation with rapidly increasing dissatisfaction and opposition to poor board behavior?   Well, one thing we don’t do.   We don’t lay back and “give the new directors a break” and see if they do any better than the last failed board.

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

May 9, 2011 by Norman McCullough.

Well – the election for SCA Board of Directors is finally over, and the results were as expected.

There is in this community one BLOG owner who (despite his character flaws) continues to exert his enormous influence in every election that we have undergone ever since the governance of Sun City Anthem was turned over to the residents from the developer.

It’s often said “You get what you pay for”, and in Sun City Anthem it’s obvious that we did not pay enough attention to the details, and instead we paid too much attention to the current “Unity” board members and their self appointed “PR man”. It has not gone unnoticed that almost every elected candidate still choose only one BLOG site to “thank the voters”.

Almost every one of the elected candidates have uttered words to the effect;

“I am confident you will find a more open, more resident friendly, and more participatory Board.”

Only time will tell if they really mean it.  I sincerely hope so.

I think Ron Johnson said it best on April 5, 2011.  Here is part of what he said then:

“We are in need of a change in direction, more—not less transparency, greater honesty and integrity, demonstrated community support, independence and proven leadership qualities. What we do not need are candidates who cloak themselves with endorsements from those who have disappointed us in the past as such candidates are more likely than not to adopt similar past practices.”

And here is a copy of Ron’s full editorial:  RJ Election Recommendations

Norman McCullough

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

May 9, 2011 by admin.

Many SCA Members get confused when AnthemVOICE agrees with those who claim that Sun City Anthem is DESIGNED by the developer to be a retiree “Paradise”, but the SCA GOVERNANCE SYSTEM is an incompatible  dictatorship system that ignores and/or nullifies citizen rights granted by the US and NV Constitutions. (See attached “10 HOA Myths” for more details:   10-hoa-myths.pdf)

This deception (some consider it fraud) has been invented during the past few decades by the nation-wide CAI (Community Association Institute) which is the trade association of companies dominating the selling of goods and services to HOA Boards. 

CAI is controlled by the companies providing the lobbying funds that have corrupted local, state and federal legislation to provide HOA Board powers to nullify unit owner US Constitutional rights.

The following quote from national HOA expert, George K. Staropoli sums it up clearly.

“If we are to make progress, we must distinguish the concept of a
planned community, which is a real estate “package” of homes,
landscaping, amenities, and rules, from that of the HOA, which is the
undemocratic governing body of the planned community.”

. …. George K. Staropoli 

Members of SCA (and all other homeowner associations) are hostage to the personal ethics, compassion and good will of the directors we elect.  

The only recourse to stopping bad behavior by directors is to remove them at the annual election or through a special “removal election” called via a petition by at least 10% of the membership.

For more of Mr. George Staropoli’s unique reporting on the “truth” about HOAs see:
http://pvtgov.org/pvtgov/

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

May 9, 2011 by admin.

SCA Member and AnthemVOICE Founder Tim Stebbins advised the new, 2011 SCA Board Members at their special meeting on May 9, 2011 that the 2010 SCA Board was considered by the Nevada Real Estate Division to be the worst of Nevada’s 3,000 HOA Boards.

Tim Stebbins included other comments for the record/attached to the Minutes as quoted below:

“My name is Tim Stebbins, Arroyo Vista Village.  I will supply a copy of these remarks for inclusion in the minutes of this meeting.  I wish to address Agenda item V, election of officers.

I congratulate the 4 new members of our board and I wish all board members success over the coming year.

As you elect new officers for the next year, those officers and all other directors have a real opportunity to set a new direction for our community.

Nevada state officials have observed the just past board was the worst in the entire state – out of about 3,000 boards.  That is something we should all be ashamed of.

Even though we retain 3 members from that board I hope a new spirit of leadership will change both the operations and the image of our board into one of professionalism, competence and cooperation.

We seem to be off to a good start.  Mr. Terry has already taken it upon himself to attend some of the excellent training classes offered by the Ombudsman.  I believe this shows a sincere desire to learn what must be done to be a good director under the laws of Nevada and how to do it in a professional way. 

I congratulate Mr. Terry for his attitude and dedication.  Of course from now on Mr. Terry will be required to disclose his attendance in all future courses under NAC116.484.  I am sure he will be proud to do that.

I hope all board members will follow the lead of Mr. Terry and gain the benefits of professional training and guidance.

It is worthy to note there seems to be no record of the mandatory disclosure of attending any approved classes by any member of the just past board.  With apparently no interest in gaining professional guidance on how to be a good director that might be one of the reasons that board was so bad.

I offer this suggestion:  At every board meeting we have a presidents report, a managers report and member comment periods.  The agenda for every meeting could also include a directors comment period.

Any director could comment on anything they wish including attendance at approved classes (as required by NAC116.484), attendance at meetings of the Commission, attendance at meetings of the Henderson City Council, or any other meetings or activities of interest to our community along with any comments they desire about what they gained from that participation.

This is done at every meeting of the CICCH Commission with a Commissioners Comments agenda item.  I see no reason why this board should not follow their lead.  Everyone would benefit.”

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

May 7, 2011 by admin.

Senate Bill 254 (written and sponsored by certain CAI and Common Interest Community Commission members) has called for (among other things) major increases in fines and punishments for homeowners who are determined by the State authorities to have filed false or frivolous complaints. 

But, SB254 failed to specify equal fines and punishments for HOA bully boards, attorneys and other CAI members who could also be found guilty of such things as false and frivolous RESPONSES to valid homeowner complaints.

Sun City Anthem Member and AnthemVOICE Founding Member, Tim Stebbins, notified the Nevada Assembly Judicial Committee on May 6, 2011 that Senate Bill 254 that had previously been passed by the Senate and heavily promoted by leading CAI leaders (HOA business association) was clearly UNCONSTITUTIONAL. 

Mr. Stebbins pointed out that SB254 violated the US Constitution’s XIV Amendment requiring “equal protection” under the laws.   He also emphasized that SB254 must be amended to ensure there are EQUAL consequences under the NV Statutes when individuals on EITHER side of HOA disputes refused to participate in good faith in State-sponsored mediation sessions. 

Although Mr. Stebbins had previously made his statements about the many serious flaws in SB254 during March Senate Judiciary Committee Meetings, his comments had been totally ignored by the Senate majority who voted in favor of the bill.   But, Stebbins’ similar statements given to the Assembly Judiciary Committee seemed to finally get some serious attention. 

Clearly, some of the lawmakers and involved lawyers from the majority party were finally beginning to understand that a valid constitutional challenge to the proposed changes to NRS116 would be possible, and that something had to be done.

Senate Judiciary Committee Sponsor of SB254, Senator Allison Copening (employee of Del Webb/Pulte), and Common Interest Communities  Commission Chairman/Attorney Michael Buckley (Jones-Vargas Law Firm Stockholder), were forced to publicly admit that Mr. Stebbins was CORRECT, and that the bill’s language would HAVE to be changed to comply with Constitutional provisions. 

But, without those word changes immediately available for consideration by the Assembly, how could SB254 be voted upon?  Such changes would significantly change the nature, purpose and intent of the proposed law, and must be considered by both the Senate and Assembly.

An excerpt of Mr. Stebbins’ testimony follows.  His entire statement about SB254 is attached below.

“There seems to be major emphasis on punishments for a party filing a bad faith, false, fraudulent or frivolous claim.  Fair enough.  But there are almost no penalties for any party filing bad faith, false, fraudulent or frivolous response to the claim.

This seems to indicate an extreme bias on the part of who ever authored those sections of the bill.

It has been my experience the response to a claim is more likely to contain bad faith, false, fraudulent or frivolous statements than the claim itself.

If my observations are valid, the authors of such language should be ashamed of themselves.

The XIV Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees equal treatment for all parties involved. All parties are guaranteed equal protection under the law.  The current wording in several sections of SB 254 does not provide that protection.”

Tim Stebbins’ Testimony About Senate Bill 254:

 Stebbins Comments on Constitutional Flaws in SB254

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

May 6, 2011 by admin.

AZ Passes 7 New Homeowner Rights Laws To Counter CAI-sponsored Bully Boards!  Effective July 20, 2011!

Quoted from George K. Staropoli : http://pvtgov.org/pvtgo

New Arizona HOA laws for 2011 session — Thanks to the Legislators!

HOA laws for the 2011 session:

The 7 new  laws, out of 22 bills introduced, affect due process protections for homeowners that levels the “litigation playing field”;   homeowner meeting rights, including the right to record board meetings, as a check on abusive boards and attorneys; new restrictions on transfer fees;  free speech rights to fly flags and political signs; and restrictions on fees for leasing signs.

Thanks to the tenacity of several outspoken Arizona advocates, the laws become effective on July 20th.

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

May 3, 2011 by bobfrank.

The SCA Community Manager has reported that 1/3 of Sun City Anthem homeowners voted for Bob Frank (854 out of 2,853) during the 2011 Board Election.

THANK YOU for your support, and please continue to stay active in community governance affairs in the future.

We can be certain you knew who you were voting for, and what values and principles you wanted implemented by the Sun City Anthem Board of Directors.  You have made clear statements of your desires, and we can be conifident your voices will be heard in the future.   Even though all of your choices were not elected to the board this year, some of the policy and procedural changes you have requested may become feasible.

Rest assured, Kay and I, and the many other SCA neighbors supporting AnthemVOICE programs will continue to pursue mutual goals to defend and protect our homeowner rights and property interests.  With the sustained help from you and your friends, we will eventually persevere.

As we know from our national history, less than one-third of the American population was personally involved in winning the War of Independence from England.   And, we can have confidence that eventually, the SCA Board of Directors will finally implement the necessary balance between quality management of our common property and protection of the individual rights and private property interests of each unit owner.  Your sustained contributions and efforts will bring about those changes in this community.

Very Sincerely Yours,

Bob and Kay Frank

PS.   For your reference:  here are the results from SCA Board Elections since 2007:
2007-2011 Sun City Anthem Election Results

Posted in Bob Frank-2011, 2011 Campaign, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

May 1, 2011 by kayfrank.

David Berman has posted the following false claim:

“Commenting on the arrests of Bob Frank and Tim Stebbins on charges of filing a false police report, the newsletter says, “Imagine! Bob and Tim were arrested and jailed because the HOA board claimed they filed a false police report.” THAT, my friends, is a defamatory lie! Before, during and after the investigation that exonerated directors Roz Berman and Roger Cooper, no Board member took any steps to suggest to the police that they should arrest and charge Frank and Stebbins.”

“It was entirely the decision of the police to arrest and charge the two SCA residents. All the Board members told me they were surprised to learn of the arrests, as they all assumed the matter was over and done with upon receipt of the Police Chief’s exoneration letter.   I defy any member of the Friedrich/Frank/Stebbins/Goodman crowd to prove otherwise.    Posted by: David Berman | May 01, 2011 at 07:10 PM”

RESPONSE:  The following shows that Berman is once again guilty of self-serving lying:

1.  Berman is NOT a board member, and the newsletter is not close to being “defamatory”.   He could not have witnessed many, if any, conversations by directors with Henderson City officials–except for his spouse who was suspected of committing forgery.

      And, as a suspended attorney and self-acknowledged forger of a judge’s signature on official tax documents, he has been judged guilty of what in most areas of the Nation would be considered a felony criminal act of forgery.   His opinion is truly worthless.

2.  This “false arrest” case involved well-researched and well-documented support for allegations of suspected criminal violations by certain SCA Directors.  Of course, the board’s position was that the allegations were not true. 

      To the contrary, the allegations were recently confirmed to be accurate by the IRS Tax Audit of the 2007 Return that showed SCA owed $1.345 million in back taxes and penalties for just that one year.

3.  During the January 21, 2010 Board Meeting, a Henderson Police Chief letter was read that claimed the allegations were “unfounded”.  Contrary to Berman’s false claim, the individuals were NOT “exonerated” or found “free of all blame”.  The evidence seems clear  that the Henderson Investigation Division rushed to judgment under heavy political pressure from the SCA Board and its friends and failed to complete its duty.

      At the Board Meeting, Director/Attorney/Former Henderson City Attorney (and potential defendant) Ann Small announced there are consequences for filing a false police report.  Small also said (in a very threatening manner) that as a judge, she knew “the court was not lenient”.   Here is a transcript of her board statement: Ann Small’s Threatening Statement

Just a few days later the City of Henderson suddenly arrested Stebbins and Frank and charged them with “filing a false police report”–a criminal misdemeanor.  And, the Henderson Judge’s arrest warrant included politically-charged statements and subjective allegations that could only have come from the SCA Board Members and its attorneys.

      The City’s disgraceful treatment of these two, retired, elderly men may become yet another Henderson City nightmare when the public and courts finds out what The City did on this case.  Tim Stebbins and Bob Frank were only trying find a way to require the board to comply with the law to refund over $4 million of illegally-held/unneeded dues surpluses owed to 7,144 homeowners.

      These 70-something men were jailed, stripped, perp-walked and forced to be handcuffed behind their backs to a pole for over 4 hours while forced to wait to be the last prisoner of the day to be finger-printed.  They were also forced to post over $600 cash bail before being released from jail and before being arraigned the following week. 

      Imagine such outrageous treatment for these seniors!  In my opinion, this was City Hall’s political retaliation against Stebbins and Frank for daring to challenge the City’s friends on the SCA Board!

      Meanwhile, no one can remember a prior case where Henderson has charged and arrested anyone for filing a false police report.  And, it is not yet clear what happens when the case against Stebbins and Frank is dismissed.  After it is clear the SCA Board lied to the Henderson Police (not Stebbins and Frank), will Henderson arrest the involved board members using the same procedures as above? 

      No one (not even Berman) could miss seeing the direct connections between the board’s claims of being falsely accused, Director Ann Small’s self-serving threats of possible consequences, and the subsequent (false) arrests.

4.  A single Henderson Police Sergeant admitted he had failed to consult any tax experts when he decided to accept only the board’s excuses and then unilaterally decreed the Stebbins/Frank report to be “unfounded”. 

      The Sergeant claimed he had no business degrees, no accounting or CPA training, and that he had to spend hundreds of hours trying to understand the basic business issues.  He admitted to being unqualified to investigate this income tax evasion/forgery case. But, he failed to seek qualified professional help from disinterested parties.

5.  After well over a year of unreasonable court delays and wasted attorney fees being spent by Stebbins and Frank, the Henderson City Attorney and Municipal Judge recently had to admit they had irreconcilable, personal conflicts of interest with SCA Director/Attorney Ann Small.  

      After revealing such compelling evidence of conflicts of interests, the Henderson City participants recused themselves and hired a special prosecutor and special judge for this minor misdemeanor case. 

      In the future, it is possible evidence of inappropriate personal communications between Director/Attorney Small and certain Henderson officials will be revealed.

So, when Berman states “it was entirely the decision of the police to arrest and charge the two SCA residents” he is willfully lying. 

The facts show Berman has no direct knowledge, and his claims contradict the facts in evidence. 

The arrest of Stebbins and Frank appears to have been a “political” act requested by self-serving and DESPERATE SCA board members. 

When the court hearing is finally held, the full truth will come out.   Then we are likely to see the perpetrators of the real crimes having to face the justice system.

Posted in Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, kay_frank, Truth Squad, Laws & Rules, Community Affairs, SCA Board, News! | Print | 1 Comment »

April 27, 2011 by bobfrank.

This would be my roadmap to solving the SCA Board misconduct problems we have.

1. Practice the “golden rule” and implement community rules fairly, justly and humanely.

2. Resolve all disputes with members internally and avoid forcing them to go outside to seek justice.

3. Replace the discredited professionals and contractors who serve only their greed.

4. Stop the waste and abuse of our hard-earned savings and retirement incomes.

5. Assess dues for only what is needed to run the facilities at top levels, and always return the surpluses.

6. Require the developers to pay what they owe the community.

Imagine what joy we could have if those were the SCA board policies, and if our community refused to allow anyone to serve on the board unless they say what they mean, and do what they say concerning implementing those policies!

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

April 26, 2011 by admin.

Check out the LV Review-Journal’s revealing articles about HOA Board abuse and how once again, Sun City Anthem’s board is used as one of the worst examples of Nevada board misconduct. 

Here is today’s Review-Journal (R_J) View articles:
http://www.viewnews.com/2011/VIEW-Apr-26-Tue-2011/anthem/index.html

Here is the week-end R-J Business Section article about HOA Mismanagement:
http://www.lvrj.com/business/agency-governing-homeowners-groups-scrutinized-120534784.html

Here is the AnthemToday analysis of the situation:
http://www.anthemtoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2815

And, here you can see David’s Anthem Journal’s pathetic excuses to try to blame “unfair media” for the SCA Board misconduct:
http://anthemjournal.typepad.com/davids_anthem_journal/2011/04/the-latest-media-hatchet-job-on-sca.html

Notice that not one single director, David Berman or his associates have been willing to grant Doris “Penny” Vescio, 86, Shadow Canyon Village unit owner, a permanent variance for her wall extension to protect her small dogs from another coyote attack.    Why is that?  

And, why do they continue to offer the bogus excuse that they “can not comment” on the matter?    Of course they will not comment–no one could come up with a valid excuse for their outrageous misconduct!  Based on Penny’s extensive public statements, it is impossible for the directors to get away with claiming “privacy” considerations as the reason to refuse to comment.

If the board can grant a variance for 2 years, why does the majority of those directors not vote to grant Penny a PERMANENT variance?  It is squarely in the board’s power to stop the madness.  Penny is being forced to escalate the matter until justice is finally achieved.

Forget about Jack Troia and his proven lack of human compassion on so many matters.   His time is way past.  

But, what are those other 6 directors (and particularly those NOT up for re-election) thinking?   Are they just robots or potted plants sitting around the board meetings with no mind, no compassion and no sense of responsibility of their own?  How could they do such a thing?

And, how dare any of those directors claim they CANNOT comment on the case while at the same time complain about Penny’s dissatisfaction with their treating her so dishonestly and shamelessly? 

In the independently published, March 28, 2011 HOA Gazette Newsletter, Johnathan Freidrich reported on false testimony by Celeste Bove, Roz Berman and Kay Dwyer to the Senate Judicary Committee on March 25, 2011.

He said:  “Because in their vain arrogance they insist they are the only ones who are qualified to determine what is a “false or frivolous complaint”.  They have determined all complaints by a petty, insignificant, worthless homeowner against the omnipotent board, by definition, must be false or frivolous because they, as board members, can do no wrong.  One of those women is so conceited, she essentially said to a homeowner: I am a director, and if you don’t like it when I poke a stick in your eye, then you should move.”     (HOA Gazette Source File)            

It appears these people do not realize their names (along with Jack Troia) are candidates for being permanently enshrined in the Nevada HOA Hall of Shame?  Their names might even make it into some future textbooks and business college case studies about “HOA Syndrome” and the kind of HOA board misconduct that can create litigation risks for the association.

Finally, how dare any of those 7 directors and RMI community managers expect to be respected or honored after so conclusively proving on this case (and the income taxes and other issues) that they are unworthy of community support or of future service?

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

April 25, 2011 by kayfrank.

Prophetic words that today I can still repeat—”will not cover up or
tolerate illegal secrets.”  

My prayer for each and every woman is that you, too have such a wonderful
life partner.  

Happy Easter to all. Christ is Risen, He is Risen, Indeed.

Kay

———–

A google search for “bob frank nevada” found this link to Ron Johnson’s
2007 blog! You never know what will be found left around on the Internet….

http://www.scaview.org/anthem-view/2007/08/the-sun-city-anthem-board-and.html#comment-88 

September 1, 2007 5:25 PM

kay frank said: 

My husband has never bullied anyone, including Roz Berman. Perhaps she mixes
him up with her husband. Bob is firm but soft spoken and absolutely refuses
to cover up misbehavior, or as Roz puts it “go along to get along”. 

As his life partner of over forty years, we have disagreed often and I have
always found him to be reasonable and flexible in looking at issues, but with
the uncompromising bedrock of ethical behavior. Raised by a single mother and
grandmother, Bob is always kind and courteous, and never patronizing to
women. In expecting Roz and the others to live up to their campaign and
moral duties, yes, he would be firm, adamant and courteous. 

Arthur, I think the judge found it easy to sign the notice to quit for S& D
Cafe. What she probably found remarkable was that our association board was
over two and one half years late. After not being paid rent for three years,
evicting them made sense instead of treating them like a charity case for
millionaires, and letting them stay until the end of the lease. 

Just the three years of expenses incurred in funding the utilities,
insurance, etc. for those millionaires at S&D cafe who were stiffing us on
the rent could have a significant impact on our dues increase.

In the matter of secrecy, the Business Development Club, headed by Bob
Frank, wrested the Trumpets contract out of illegal secrecy and shined the
light on it. If Bob Frank had not done so,I believe that this spring the
Trumpets amendment would have been signed in secret, sealed and delivered by
the old board before the end of their term. We would now be stuck with ten
more years of S&D cafe, with no assurance they would even pay their reduced
rent, and with gambling in our recreation center.

Is it any surprise that Bob Frank will not cover up or tolerate illegal
secrets just because “one of the club” tells him it is secret? 

————————-

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

April 25, 2011 by admin.

Two (2) Sun City Anthem unit owners, former Board President Favil West and Del Webb VP Randy Watkins, were among the 7 members of the Nevada Common Interest Communities (CIC) Commission accused of misconduct and serious conflicts of interest in the April 23, 2011 issue of the Review-Journal.

Two (2) Other CIC Commissioners with alleged irreconcilable conflicts of interest with Nevada homeowners (and in particular with SCA homeowners) were SCA Auditor/Tax Preparer Gary Lein and Attorney Michael Buckley (a member of the Jones-Vargus law firm involved in SCA HOA construction defects.  Michael Buckley has been a decades-long friend and associate of SCA’s discredited attorney, John Leach.

See this link for details:
http://www.lvrj.com/business/agency-governing-homeowners-groups-scrutinized-120534784.html#blogcomments?submitted=y

Many SCA members will recall that Auditor/CPA Gary Lein is the man who was hired by Del Webb and Pulte a decade ago to provide SCA’s “expert” tax and audit advice.  After recently receiving the IRS audit report that we owed $1.345 Million in back taxes and penalties for just 2007 alone, it appears that SCA is going to be needing a MUCH better auditor–really soon!

So, with 4 of the 7 CIC Commission members having irreconcilable conflicts of business interests in our association, we can see why no board complaint filed during the past 4 years has been reviewed at an open hearing of the CIC Commission and Deputy Attorney General.  That fact alone is compelling evidence of some kind of misconduct or corruption in the system.

Here is are PDF files of the above link:  
Basic Article
25apr11_comments_r-j_blog_cicc-conflicts.pdf

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, SCA Board, Operations | Print | No Comments »

April 24, 2011 by bobfrank.

Since this is likely to be a controversial topic, private/confidential emails to me at bobfrank@cox.net would be helpful.

Board election irregularities, and even election fraud, are common in homeowner associations. After the FBI’s reports on HOA election fraud in other area HOAs, no one should be surprised that SCA needs to protect our community from such problems.

Note that nothing has (yet) been said on the berman journal blog.  Since he used to be on the election committee, he is well aware of the weakness of the SCA system, and likely knows why they have been ignored.  No doubt he will get highly defensive about the information being posted;  but, do not expect him to favor spending any money to fix anything.

Also, if something is said on that blog, watch how it launches yet another of his dozens of bogus, personal attacks and works to try to change the subject.

He is likely to claim I have “smeared the reputations” of many directors and election committee members. But, that would be false.

All I have done is point out the obvious ways for fraud to occur in the SCA election system, and openly asked the questions on why such flagrant errors are allowed to exist–year-after-year?

In the past few years, I have privately asked these kinds of questions of directors and election committees, and my questions have been ignored and/or summarily dismissed.

Most candidates are afraid to challenge the election committee on such issues for fear of being sanctioned in some way.  But, the election committee has no authority to sanction any member for anything.

Why would my trying to ensure we have a totally honest, fair and open election be considered unacceptable behavior by those in power?

But, maybe I will be wrong.  Perhaps the Berman Blog will fully support my recommendations?   ;-)

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, SCA Board, Operations | 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 »

April 7, 2011 by admin.

Raid at Homeowners Association:

“LAS VEGAS — The Nevada Attorney General’s Office, with the assistance of
the FBI, served a warrant at the Paradise Spa Homeowners Association on
Las Vegas Boulevard South near Serene Avenue.

AG investigators were looking for records of the HOA. Residents allege HOA
board members have embezzled more than $1 million of their money. Many
of the people who live at Paradise Spa are elderly. They say they pay $160 a
month in HOA fees but there is nothing to show for it.

Several units were destroyed by two fires in 2009 and 2010 and the insurance
company paid $842,000 but nothing has been repaired.

Eighty-five-year-old Iris Hokanson wants to know what happened to that
money. “I heard it went to California, but it was not used on our building.
They have not rebuilt it, they have not done anything. Then they came and
stole all the guts out of the building,” she said.”

More details are found at this link for Channel 8:

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/14404196/breaking-news-raid-at-homeowners-association

Since so many HOA Boards have been accused of fraud andother kinds of
misconduct, it makes you wonder who is next?

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

April 3, 2011 by admin.

It seems like everywhere one goes these days, members are asking about the “charges”, “indictment” or “allegations” of law violations formally filed by the Attorney General against the 2007 and 2008 Sun City Anthem (SCA) Directors.

What you hear from board members and their friends is that:
…it is just a big mistake by the Attorney General.   No illegal changes were made to the SCA CC&Rs in 2008.  It was just an “update”….

After 3 years of investigations by Real Estate Division professionals, and after extensive verifications by the Nevada Deputy Attorney General, the FORMAL CHARGES are considered by the SCA directors and their association attorney to be just a “mistake”?  Really?

This is coming just a few weeks after the income tax fiasco where the board claimed that IRS made “mistakes” and SCA might be able to convince IRS to back off its demand for $1.345 Million in back taxes and penalties for 2007.  Really?

If you were a betting person, would you make a bet that the SCA Directors, and its notorious attorneys are likely to be correct?  Could both the IRS and Nevada Attorney General be wrong?   We don’t think the chances are much above zero.

The question is, what’s next?   It took about 3 years for the allegations to be investigated, validated, and charged by the State of Nevada against the 2007 and 2008 Boards. 

So, what else is in that huge backlog of dozens of other law violations filed against the boards that could be coming out this Spring and Summer? 

We wouldn’t want to be in former board Presidents Mike Dixon’s, Roz Berman’s or Jack Troia’s shoes!

– Relevant comments from Anthem Today Forum:   ccrs_anthem-today.pdf

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, News! | Print | No Comments »

March 31, 2011 by admin.

Tenured psychology professor at the College of Southern Nevada, Dr. Gary Solomon, believes recent medical research proves that dictatorial HOA Board abuse against homeowners can create serious mental and stress illnesses–particularly among seniors.

And, the following snapshots of his signs, web sites, and local TV coverage shows he and a group of others with similar interests have set upon a path to do something about it.

Click here for a short article:  HOA Syndrome

See the following websites for more information:

http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/27376288/detail.html

http://www.ktnv.com/story/13966867/hoa-hall-of-shame-sun-city-anthem#

http://www.hoa-busters.com/

No doubt many will consider this to be really bad news concerning the potential adverse affects on HOA homeowner property values where homeowners are making public complaints.

Developers, real estate brokers and some homeowners believe that all such bad news stories must be suppressed to protect community home values, but such self-centered, cover up attempts fail to solve any problems.  They just put off the inevitable and create much worse problems.

The obvious solution is to remove abusive and incompetent board members and work to ensure that only trustworthy directors are elected in the future.

Resolving conflicts to mutual satisfaction WITHIN the community is the only way to achieve exceptional lifestyle opportunities, maintain outstanding community morale, and grow property values ahead of market averages.

Our Sun City Anthem homeowners need to wake up and recognize we have a very serious problem with board misconduct.  Trying to keep a lid on the SCA board’s misconduct has proven to be unworkable.  

A perfect example of what NOT to do is the current income tax fiasco.  Consider the long-term impacts of a case like our Board’s attempting to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of hard-earned dues money to try to bully the IRS into giving us a tax credit for their obvious mistakes.  What an outrageous act of disrespect and dishonor to our homeowners!

At the rate the “unity boards” are going, Sun City Anthem in Henderson, NV will be long remembered for allowing its boards to do such really dumb things as to pay millions of dollars in taxes out of the many millions required to be refunded to members. 

Excuse me?  Give away taxes to the Government on money required to be REFUNDED each year to unit owners?   Even the best of con men can not make any sense out of that garbage!

We have to wonder, will our community become so notorious that it is studied in future management schools and forever ridiculed for electing such dictatorial, insensitive people to the board, year-after-year-after-year?

The question will be:  “Why did we tolerate such mismanagement?”  Were we intimidated and bullied into submission as the HOA Syndrome seems to  suggest? 

It is common for abused people to continue to tolerate abuse until it gets so bad that some type of major blowup occurs.  Let’s hope we can do better in this year’s election and avoid a blowup.  Having to consider calling for a recall election to get the board focused on working for us homeowners is much more work than getting trustworthy people elected in the first place.

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, SCA Board, Operations | Print | No Comments »

March 28, 2011 by admin.

Diane Gerber’s “HOA Advocate Gazette” has picked up on and featured the Henderson “false arrest” story about Tim Stebbins and Bob Frank.

It also highlights Johnathan Freiderick’s report on the “3 amigas”

Kay Dwyer, Celeste Bove and Roz Berman Testifying–photo by D. A. Berman

who showed up to reveal to the Senate Judiciary Committee and to the thousands watching via Internet streaming media as the hateful and self-centered people they are.

Their shockingly anti-homeowner and incompassionate attitudes were exposed in this highly public environment and has been recorded via the Internet.  Such egotistic behavior is usually reserved for the home crowd attending board meetings, and when socializing among the community members who enjoy kowtowing to them.

Web Version: http://www.universitycresthoa.com/HOAadvocateGazette/Issue4.html

PDF File Version of the Gazette:   HOA Advocate Gazette Volume 1, Issue 4

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Ann_Small, SCA Board, Special Events, Community Affairs, Clubs & SIGs | Print | No Comments »

March 27, 2011 by bobfrank.

On March 24, 2011 the Nevada Real Estate Division notified the Sun City Anthem Community Association that the Attorney General would serve as the Prosecuting Attorney at a hearing of the Nevada Commission for Common Interest Communities and Condominiums on April 26, 2011.

The alleged violation by the two boards in 2008 was to twice vote to illegally modify the SCA CC&Rs.  Board President was Roz Berman, and the basic work accused of violating statutes was performed by association attorney John Leach.

This is a historic event as this will be the first of close to 100 alleged SCA Board statute violations brought to trial/hearing before the CIC Commission.  It has taken about 3 years to reach this point.  

For members who are interested, I served on that board and vigorously objected to what I believed to be highly improper (if not illegal) changes to the CC&Rs being promoted by attorney Leach.   I was the only director voting NO on both board votes.  However, I had nothing to do with the filing of the case leading to this prosecution.  

Since I will have to explain to the Commission my objections and NO vote against the board majority votes to approve the alleged violations, I must save those explanations until after the hearing.

Meanwhile, the hearing before the CIC Commission should be a very interesting situation.  At least 4 of the Commissioners have potentially serious conflicts of interests with the other directors, and are likely to have to recuse themselves on this case.

At this time, only the basic affidavits have been scanned in and attached to this posting.  The exhibits will be added as time permits.

Download: Attorney General Charges

Posted in Truth Squad, Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations, Clubs & SIGs, Laws & Rules, 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 »

March 12, 2011 by bobfrank.

If the board is sincere about trying to avoid paying the $1.345 Million in income taxes, what would the odds of success be for the two following strategies?

Since no public evidence or court settlement exists showing that any corporation has defeated the IRS on Revenue Ruling 70-604 income exemption issue during its 40 years of existence, would you agree that option 2 has at least a thousand times better chance of success?

What should the penalties be for directors who agree to follow such apparent gross negligence?

Posted in Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Operations, Community Affairs, News! | Print | 1 Comment »

March 6, 2011 by admin.

Here are the contents of Bob Frank’s board campaign flyer.

Bob Frank Pg1 Flyer

Bob Frank pg2 Flyer

Please consider downloading it and attaching it to your emails to other SCa members with your recommendations and comments.

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

March 4, 2011 by bobfrank.

(Updated)  We are not joking!  According to Realty Executive Agent Laura Harbison in early March mail,  the Law
now requires a seller to obtain and pay for the HOA Resale document package that includes CC&Rs, Bylaws, Rules &
Regulations, statement of monthly assessments for common expenses and unpaid assessments, the current
Operating Budget, the current association financial statement, a statement showing any unsatisfied judgments or
lawsuits against the association or relating to the common interest community.

In addition, the law does not allow a seller to provide the buyer with the seller’s personal copies.  The law now
requires the seller to obtain and pay for the package of copies from the HOA management company.  The HOA
management company can not bill the expense to escrow.  The seller is required to pay for it when it is ordered.

“The current cost of this package in Sun City Anthem is $527!”  There is also a $95 “Demand Fee” that must
be paid to RMI–for a total of $622!  Not joking folks–according to Ms. Harbison.

This is bloody OUTRAGEOUS!   And, some members may still be wondering why some of us “malcontents” are so
adamant that something has to be done to replace our association attorney, management company and board?

The actual cost of routinely producing a CD containing all of the latest versions of those documents could not
exceed $5.   So, why would the SCA Board ever agree to allow RMI to receive windfall profits of at least $522 for
every home hold in SCA?  Can you agree that is a classic rip-off?

Do you suppose any SCA director will have the guts to defend such an outrage?   Is this not more slam-dunk
evidence that all of those XXXXXX directors must be fired/removed and replaced by truly ethical SCA members?

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

March 4, 2011 by admin.

A new election initiative created by Wade Terry and AVR’s Rich Hogan for the benefit of the community started last Monday, and it is
planned to continue this next Monday and throughout the 2011 SCA election.   We call it the Monday Morning Forums (MMF) at AVR.
Some details follow:

“Coffee or Breakfast with the Board Candidates–Monday March 7th and Following ondays” ome one,
come all. Meet six of the SCA Board Candidates and ask them your ard questions. Q & A will begin
at 8:30am at Anthem iew Restaurant.  Breakfast will be available from 7:45 am.

We will provide a sign up sheet for questioners starting at 8am — Questions will be taken in
order of signup. Guidelines for the discussion will be read at 8:25am. We are going to rotate the
questions to each candidate to balance the opportunities. 

Each candidate will have two minutes when it is their turn to reply first.  Other candidates
will have 30 seconds to comment–if they wish. We did this last week and it worked well for both
residents and candidates. Please think of questions that any candidate may answer–not just a
specific one for one or two candidates.

Rich Hogan of Anthem View has said he will  provide a breakfast buffet for $7 including meal,
resident discount and tax. The buffet will include your coffee.  Tip will be extra and optional.
Or, residents may order off the menu and lighter fare will be available. While we are encouraging
you to have breakfast, Rich says “it is not a requirement.” (The buffet will also be vailable to
customers not attending the meeting.)

We have a diverse group of candidates so this will give you a chance to get to know them and
find out what they think on issues important to you.  We all hope to see you there. 

Please, please call 260-1135 and make your reservation if you intend to place an order.
Reservations are needed to assure space,food and staff to make this a great event. “

We urge all members to participate.  This is the least constrained and most convenient  opportunity you will
have to get to know candidates and to get unrestricted responses to your questions.

No doubt every event will cover some past ground and open up new debates on the SCA policy and procedural
issues that concern the attendees.   You will learn more of value than any of the official “forums” and get your
personal questions individually addressed by 6 of the 7 candidates.

And, AVR does not require members to buy anything to attend and participate.  What more could you ask for?
See you there on Monday mornings during the next few weeks?

Posted in 2011 Campaign, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations, Lifestyle | Print | No Comments »

March 3, 2011 by admin.

Long-time Finance Committee member, Rich Pendleton, has recently resigned and reported on some of the SCA Board’s financial misconduct and gross arrogance.   Quoted below is Rich Pendleton’s email to board members, finance committee members, and 2011 board candidates.  His words are devastating indictments on the boards and finance committees.

“It is with my greatest regret that I must announce my resignation from the Finance Committee at this time.  As most of you know, I have been operating with cancer and a breathing problem.  As long as my wife was able to pick up some of the load, I was able to fulfill my commitment to the committee.  Unfortunately, in January, my wife was hospitalized and my priorities were affected in a major way, such as how are meals going to be handled?  My wife is now at home, her condition has greatly improved and she will be able to continue in her membership in the Lifestyle Committee.

It is also unfortunate that dealing with the issues that most mattered to me did not happen.  I had thought that my participation on the Finance Committee would have enhanced their chances of acceptance.

The first issue was to get control of the budget process.  Over the four years of my participation, much improvement has been seen, and I developed an Excel model for calculating  assessments.  Each year, I wanted to have a review meeting after the budget was approved to identify the problems and develop solutions.  The previous chairmen did not see fit to hold such meetings.  This year, a Budget Task Force has been established (I have not been asked to participate) and I hope it will accomplish my long standing goal.

The second issue has to do with our reserve funding.  Bottom line, I believe our Reserve Fund is seriously over funded and, as a result, our annual assessment is greater than it needs to be.  I pointed this out to the previous chairmen and they agreed that it looked over funded but they were unwilling to take any action.  I have prepared two reports and have presented them only to selected Board members and one Finance Committee member.  For reasons discussed in the attached report, the Board will not consider reduction of the rate of Reserve funding.

I think it is an example of Board arrogance that their reserve funding approach is the only acceptable approach and that no consideration will be given to an approach that will save homeowners millions of dollars over the years.  Since the Board will not deal with this issue, I have written my final report and have attached it to this email.  This email has been sent to all Board members and candidates for the 2011 election.  It has been sent to all members of the Finance Committee and the (former) Reserve Study Advisory Group.  Please read it and feel free to discuss it with any homeowner, but please do not allow it to go to the press or any person outside of Sun City Anthem.

The data in the report comes from the ARC Reserve Study for 2010 and has been incorporated in an Excel workbook for analysis purposes.  I will be happy to discuss the workbook with any interested person.

Richard Pendleton”

Attached is Rich’s report to SCA Homeowners on Reserve Policy Overfunding

Overfunding of Reserves & Overcharging of Dues

Posted in Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Laws & Rules, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »