Welcome to Dirty Elections

Welcome to a Dirty Elections

For your entertainment. I succeeded in getting my name on the ballot by legal declaring my Primary Residents to be my Condo. I still sleep with my wife at her Primary Residents across the street. I do not rent this condo. My daughter live there. I am running to stop the hemorrhaging of HOA funds on out of control legal expenses. Going into the election, I had enough votes to easily win a place on the Board. there are six candidates for five positions. After this was posted at the bulletin board and subsequently mailing to all property owners (180 members), members call me to cast all their five votes for me. The hits to my web site also increased (http://harbourvistanews.com)

I was previously on the Board in 2012-2013. We also have had an investor on the Board in 2013-2014 who complain above legal expense being out of control and was remove by the Board by adoption by three out of the five Board members the new election rules with “Primary Residents” restriction. Our HOA has been building an 11% operating funds deficit base on our yearly assessments since September of last year. For your entertainment, this is what has been mailed.
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ILLEGITIMATE BOARD CANDIDATE
MICHAEL BARTO
OFF-SITE Homeowner
BEWARE : Harbour Vista is NOT Michael Barto's primary residence and thereby he does NOT qualify to run for a Board of Director office! An ILLEGITIMATE Candidate!

POSES as an on-site Homeowner by ILLEGALLY falsifying identification documentation to "get around the rules" for Election Rules Board Candidacy requirements!

Harbour Vista ELECTION RULES: The Harbour Vista Election Rules for Board Candidacy are very clear and adopted for obvious reasons; to honor and protect on-site homeowners who actually LIVE on the property as their primary residence as eligible to participate in governing and management of the Harbour Vista Homeowner Association.

The POSER: Michael Barto makes it a regular practice to befriend new owners, investors and renters posing 'as if a helpful property manager (which he is Non who "really cares" attempting to gain their trust to join with him in his crusade against whatever Board of Director's is in place that year. He poses as an as if HOA authority figure/ inspector (which he is NOT) and reports homeowners to the city for alleged "violations". His patterned agenda is to instigate new homeowners to fight the HOA Association encouraging them with false hopes to spend their money filing lawsuits against the Association which new owners have then lost in court! The result negatively impacts both the new
,
homeowners AND the Association in mounting legal costs. This has cost our HOA well over $100,000 in legal expenses which drain our funds!

You will find none of this mentioned on Barto's personal rumor rag publication, where he poses as a feigned hero of disgruntled homeowners who have serious violations of HV-CC&R's. His personal website publication, again poses as a Harbour Vista newsletter which is NOT in any way, authored, approved or endorsed by the Harbour Vista Homeowners Association's Board of Directors.

Harbour Vista
Long Term Homeowners
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It is kind of interesting that no return address was put on the mailing with no one taking responsibility for this. But many people know who this is because of previous stuff like this she has posted when she was on the Board.

Maybe some of you have similar examples that you would like to share. Certainly it will be entertaining. This kind of stuff make our community very uncomfortable. Campaign literature for a candidate is OK and identifies who is sending it, But anonymous campaign literature against a candidate is a new low for our community. What happens are your community.

Below is from your Bylaws:

Section 4.01 Number and Qualification. The affairs of the Association shall be governed and managed by a Board of Directors composed of five (5) Persons , each of whom, except for those appointed and serving as first Directors, must either be a Unit Owner or an agent of Grantor for so long as Grantor owns a Condominium in the Project. The authorized number of Directors may be changed by a duly adopted amendment to the By-Laws. Directors shall not receive any salary or compensation for their services as Directors unless such compensation is approved by the vote or written consent of Members representing at least a majority of both the Class A and Class B voting power; provided, however, that (l) nothing herein contained shall be construed to preclude any Director from serving the Association in some other capacity and receiving compensation therefor, and (2) any Director may be reimbursed for his actual expenses incurred in the performance of his duties.

Their elections rules are crap and ILLEGAL.

First of all, it’s against the posting rules of this website to use real names of HOAs – please remember that next time.

As far as the election is concerned, dirty tricks can and do come with the territory, whether you’re running for HOA president, governor, President, school board, etc. You can’t always control what others do – you can only speak and do for yourself. If you do the right thing, one can hope people see that and appreciate it, but sadly, it’s a lot easier for others to swallow whatever BS comes their way or they just withdraw altogether and hope they don’t get hit when the caca starts to fly (and it will if grown folk continue to act like children).

I don’t know if you’re posting this to vent or want a suggestion how to respond. If you’re venting and you feel better now, that’s fine. As for a suggestion on how to respond to this, you may think you know who sent out the letter about you, but unless there’s another way to prove it and take legal action against him/her/them, the only way you can respond to this is to make your case directly before the homeowners – maybe send your own letter – and see what happens.

By the way, if your documents require that board members live in the community, what was the point in listing your address in one place when you actually live across the street? If your wife’s house is part of the HOA, it seems to me you met the residency requirements. If not, and you twisted the rules to get placed on the ballot, that’s almost as bad as the person who sent the letter about you. Dirt plus dirt usually equals more dirt, so what did you think would happen? Makes me wonder if there isn’t some truth to that letter….

They may, or may not, 'be out of line'

but

they ARE accurate.

First my drivers license use the Condo address. I change this a couple of months ago along with the mailing address for HOA stuff. I feel I have the right to define my primary address.

Second, Davis Sterling States that the HOA has the right to set Elections qualification as long as they are not in conflict with the HOA Governing Documents (http://www.davis-stirling.com/Main-Index/Director-Qualification#axzz2P7g54qfD). It sates:

"Qualifications Via Rule Change. Even though the bylaws may be silent on director qualifications, the court of appeal in Friars Village v. Hansing ruled that boards can adopt director qualifications in their election rules provided the qualifications are "reasonably related to the performance of the Board and will serve to protect its overall mission -- protecting the best interests of the Association."

In court a judge would decide these concerns as discriminatory, not that the HOA did not have the right to do it. Another waste of money.

Finally, I was more interested with this posting in what other stuff HOA Election had produced from other HOA. Right now this kind of stuff is depressing our community. What I am looking for is similar examples of 'character assassination' that other HOA had experienced. I am not debating that this is true or that I cannot run. The HOA has already have rules that I can run. As for me personally to have put a gun to the Board to waste all this money on litigation with nothing to show for, I have been protesting this expense for the last couple of years as it exploded - which too many members know and have pledge vote to me. Most of this old Board is retiring.

See "who Got What" http://harbourvistanews.com/Archives/News_Archive2017.html#WhoGotwWhat.

On the one hand, I believe that in modern politics usually:

-- the media is able to get all sides of any issue out to the public, with no labor required by the politicians other than making statements and providing documents;

-- allegations of dirty play and illegalities are investigated by agencies trained and paid for same;

-- the law is parsed thoroughly and regularly on any issue, even if there is not controversy, and the taxpayer pays for same as the price of having a municipality, state, etc., because it is so important to get things right, given the effects if things done wrong.

-- politicians receive some wage for their work and often even campaign funding from outside sources.

By contrast, what happens at many HOAs seems more like _Lord of the Flies_. I wonder if it is at least 50% of HOAs that are run without regard for the governing documents, with the transgressions being serious.

On the third hand:

-- (to borrow from an old but often valid cliche) Perhaps HOAs are a terrible system, but other than compensating directors a bit, I cannot think of a better one.

-- At least 'things evolve.' The courts, mediation and so on get better every decade at handling HOA disputes. Ample court precedent is available to address the most egregious HOA or member transgressions. More and more law firms are specialized in HOA law and competitive price-wise. Elections run online (like publicly held corporations) are sparing many HOAs' members the aggravation of dealing with proxy disputes.

-- I tend to think it is true that property values are generally higher because of HOAs.

MichaelB32, I am sorry about what happened. You must be weighing if this is all worth it.

My wife and I file a joint return. She uses her primary address.

I've never seen it in my association, but what's YOUR point in knowing whether this sort of thing has happened in other communities? That answer is yes, but since you don't live in those communities, it won't make a difference in your situation unless you're asking what would be the best way to respond.

I agree that elections should stick to the issues, but human nature being what it is, people usually find it easier to attack the other side's lifestyle, character, etc. You can either respond in kind or "go high" while your opponents go play in the swamp and rinse off in the cesspool. And remember, we're only getting your side of the story - does any of this stuff has a smidge of truth to it?

To Shelia.

I am glad you at least responded to what I asked. Out HOA members are very upset with tis kind of stuff. It discourages them from voting or participating in the HOA. Someone else posted another notice against another member running for the Board saying her 45 year old son who lives with her that she and her son are drug dealer and smoke cocaine and all sorts of stuff like this. It has been torn down several times and is out of place. But keeps being put up. Once again no one takes responsibility.

Our Bulletin Boards are free speak. But maybe we need a rule to enforce some simple policy, that people can post what they want, but they must identify themselves with a mailing address (real one) and phone number. The one against me is signed "long time homeowner" with no contact information and other one is unsigned.

According to my count I will easily win the votes to get on the board. So I really think it is unnecessary. But unfortunately there are bruises. I a healing process, I want to marginalizes any importance (seriousness) of these posting. One way I think can help is identifying similar HOA that have experienced this type of postings. I like examples to quote. To make the members put these in a clearer perspective. Do you any of you have examples!!!! That is what I want. No, names no HOA. Just general content and what happen. Perspective would go a long way for healing.

We've had two elections where there was mud-slinging. In both cases, the candidate or "camp" who initiated the nasty campaigning, which included flyers in our mail rooms, lost. I

n the 2nd case, the candidate for reelection personally attacked me; I also was running for reelection. She circulated false statements but, worse for her, she included upcoming budget numbers that were incorrect. I nailed her on the latter in my rebuttal--which I put in the mailrooms, but in an upbeat, positive and civil way. She lost quite badly.

I don't get your reasoning, though, how examples from other HOAs would help with the "healing."

Stay positive and most of all, truthful.

I thought we suggested posting positive information?

I'd personally stick to facts, and even though some of those things feel like facts, they are accusations.
Accusations, even if true, tend to generate hostility and discord. That flyer might look like you're going negative, in other words.

I'd argue that your position would feel much stronger if you simply focused on what you want to do for the community and how you want to carry yourself in the election as well as in the Board room.

So it'd look like, "I want our community to be a healthy and positive environment. I want people to feel welcome and connected to other members of our community. To encourage this, I am looking at opportunities to create positive community projects, such as, community garden centers and BBQs, etc.

I believe there are likeminded people in this community and I want to represent you. I need your vote and I encourage you to attend meetings so your voices can be heard."

Something like that is very hard to assault and it undermines what some anonymous person is saying about you.

When I was running for our Board I went to people's homes and I explained that I wanted them to know I believed a home, if no where else, was a place of safety and relaxation. I had some ideas for how this could become a reality. I also told them that if they had any concerns or questions about any officer's behavior to contact the Secretary and file a complaint if necessary. I didn't go around saying I know some people have been cussing at you and threatening/intimidating you with physical force. My wife also cautioned me against going out and listing things I saw as wrong and she was very clear to say that I can't be the only one trying to clean it up.

You need buy in or it won't be sustainable. So if people are saying something about you and others are supporting you, it's up to them to support your candidacy. They need to put their money where their mouths are so to speak. Encourage them to post some flyers about you and don't just let them expect you to say, "people tell me..."

That's my advice as I'm trying to clean up an environment I see as toxic.

Apparently MichaelB32 did not care for my advice. So maybe I can elaborate.

In the first instance in my HOA, it was camp vs. camp with the "other" camp throwing the mud. We did NOT respond directly to them, but US-mailed a positive, factual letter to all owners with our vision (if you will). Also a little pic of us 3. Our camp won easily.

Door to door is fine, but at that time we had 42% renters (now, -30%), and we, of course, wanted to reach Owners.

In my HOA, Michael32, only Association-approved flyers may be posted in the locked notice holders in the elevators, so you might not be able to do that either. We also have a rule that only 5"X7" campaign materials can be posted on our smallish mailroom bulletin boards.

I don't believe your sample campaign memo will help you; it's far too negative. And the writing is very awkward.

You've been asked by others here to refrain from identifying your HOA or yourself. But I don't have time to try to report your misconduct. It raises the issue of integrity to me.