First was the Delegate’s Corner blasting CZ Master Association
board of director’s critics for speaking out against a corrupt
delegate system and electoral process in favor of direct elections,
consistent with current legislation, and consistent with the actions
of most common interest development communities. Now in the Director’s
Corner of the August 9, 2007 issue of the Laguna Woods Globe, Jan Mclaughlin
blasts certain community residents characterized as “a relatively
small group called the Voice.”
BTW: We have been to Laguna Woods Village resident's Voice meetings.
We have covered Laguna Woods Village resident's Voice meetings, We know
certain Laguna Woods Village resident's Voice members - this is not
a relatively small group - unless the size is relative to all the residents
in California, that is!
Ms. Mclaughlin describes her journey from the Midwest as follows: came
here on Sept 1, 1987 from Lincoln, Nebraska counting my blessings hat
we had found this wonderful place in one of the most expensive parts
of he United States where we could afford to retire”, then goes
on to to defend the property management company, and ask the following
questions:
1. “Our present Management Company has served us well for over
30 years…., if this place has been so mismanaged, how has it
managed to stay one of the most attractive senior communities in the
country and still one of the most affordable”
2. “If you truly believe
things are so bad, why do you stay?”
In our coverage of common interest development communities for the last
few years, the most often asked question is number two: Why do you stay?
The Orange County assistant district attorney, just like the Attorney
General, or even the California Bar might ask similar questions: if
residents are not happy, why not elect a different board?
For that matter, during the last
presidential elections there were a number of high profile figures (read
liberal extremists) who vowed that since things were so bad in the United
States, if President G. W. Bush was reelected, they would leave the
country – they did not.
We have a couple of questions of our own: When we ask about key business
indicators as evidence that a supplier is being managed properly or
not, directors simply stare at us.
1. Why Indeed, is it that a
common interest development company has stuck with the same property
management company given the number of resident complaints- does the
board have a set of KBI that it uses to measure supplier performance,
including the property management company?
2. Is it fair to say that critics of the status quo may have valid
points, not to bring down the community, but to build it up? If not,
if the criticism is too much, then why does the current board stay?
For example, we consider the CotoBuzz
Journal as a change agent – change is effected via satire as follows:
“The best satire does not seek to harm or damage by its ridicule,
unless we speak of damage structure of vice, but rather seek to create
a shock of recognition and to make vice repulsive so that the vice will
be expunged from the person or society under attack or from the person
or society intended to benefit from the attack (regardless of who is
the immediate object of attack); whenever possible this shock of recognition
is to be conveyed through laughter or wit: The formula of satire is
one of honey and medicine. Far from being simply destructive, satire
is implicitly constructive” (Harris, 1990)