This post comes on the heals of what was a very stressful several weeks at Island Cove that left most owners and renters questioning what was going on. With limited or no information being disseminated from our property management team or board we were left to either believe the rumors or assume, depending on your position. We, collectively, are fully aware an investigation was being conducted and that any intrusion on our part might inhibit that, but not to have any information placed many in fear. We chose not to post any information on this blog, whether truth or rumor, and left that to the management team and board, believing it was their responsibility to do so..... unfortunately that never came. Which brings us to the following post.
Before we progress any further we thought we should address the elephant in the room. As in the past, this blog has been ridiculed for its content, slander and personal attacks on Island Cove and its staff. Although we dont deny any of the aforementioned it should be noted that we do so in a truthful and thoughtful manner. Our intentions from its inception has been to improve the quality of life at Island Cove and to ensure that those individuals in a position of employment fullfilled their obligations to IC. If we were to turn a blind eye to all the wrong doings that are painfully obvious that would simply make us a board member. If you are looking for further understanding of our objective please scroll to the bottom of this blog and read the disclaimer and remember "you are reading this at your own risk." To put it in more appropriate terms our mission statement would read as follows:
"To be an owner driven community that can be equally enjoyed by all owners. To be financially viable with an emphasis on protecting and enhancing our property values. To maintain the quality of life for all residents while observing the governing documents. To create a safe and harmonious living environment within our property for the enjoyment and entertainment of all residents."
If that isn't shared by all owners, renters, staff members and guests you need to leave today.
Now let's discuss each aspect of that mission statement. "Owner driven community"...we as owners need to take back our complex and discuss the things important to us. We do commend the board on the formation of the committees and believe that is a step in the right direction. Owners working together for common causes can/will be very productive, but only if those ideas are met with positive reinforcement from our board....that remains to be seen.
"To be financially viable"....our understanding is that we are budgeted for 3 maintanence staff members in addition to a part time staffer. For the sake of this perspective we will forgo the part timer and focus on the full time employees. When broken down to the simplest of mathematical deductions we can divide the work load into thirds. If each maintance staffer is responsible for 33% of the workload and one individual, the "head of maintenance", does not uphold his portion we are only getting a 66% return on our investment. To equate that to a more day to day understanding it would be like every time you took a dollar out of your pocket you threw away 33 cents...wait that would make us Canadian. What we are getting at is we dont need a "head of maintenance" whose best attribute is driving a golf cart. Because let's be honest that's all he does and please don't tell us he supervises the other two...if that's the case, fire the both of them and find self-motivated, hard-working, driven individuals who don't need their hand held. We have a position of property manager that can handle day to day operations, don't worry we'll get to her later. We are always looking for our opinions to be refuted so if you have EVER observed our "head of maintenance" do ANYTHING we will gladly apologize.............(that's what we thought). By now you should be getting angry, as we are, which is why we posted "Stealing our HOA Fees". You increase our HOA fees claiming, in part, to an increase in salaries then you have the nerve to throw away 33% percent of it right before our very eyes. So you're damn right we are angry and it grows every time that professional golf cart driver passes our units.
Now, on to our Property Manager who's only response to every concern/complaint is "you have to email the board"...don't worry we'll get to them later. Let's be honest, she's never even walked the grounds and couldn't tell you building 1 from 10 (hell, she doesn't even know who the owners are). These past few weeks have brought this to the forefront....they had no idea the media had infiltrated our complex and had to be informed by several owners that this had happened. It's our understanding the condo property manager oversees the daily operations of a condominium community and maintains the policies and rules of the condominium association. In addition, the property manager is to inform the owners/renters of any emergency situations that arise within the complex. We can only conclude that what transpired this past week or so was not viewed as an emergency situation and did not warrant any notifications....(can you imagine what a real emergency situation would be).
Which touches on another part of our mission statement...."to create a safe living environment". Who's responsibility is it to inform the residents of Island Cove of potential threats to our well being? We've already established our property manager isn't going to do it, so that leaves the board. If it's not fair to place blame on those board members who are currently not residing at Island Cove, would it be fair to blame those who are? We would answer YES.....once you accept nomination as a board member you also accept the duties and responsibilities that position entails. Which include notifying the residents of safety concerns in addition to keeping the best interests of the association at heart. Obviously there was a break down in communication which definitely needs to be rectified. With the advances in today's ability to communicate electronically there's no excuse why this information wasn't delivered.
In all fairness we do have hard working members on our board.....we do not envy them in any way. What we would like to see is a cohesive group working as one to address our concerns and move Island Cove in a positive direction. We've posted about our lawn maintenance and grounds looking like a war occurred here, we've posted about our concerns over rising HOA fees, we've posted about our poor management personnel, we've posted about the waste in our maintenance crew, we've posted about numerous things that simply go unaddressed....we've even used our three minutes at the meetings to bring these problems to the table yet they go unanswered. If these past few weeks don't serve as a indication that change needs to occur, we're not sure it ever will!
There are many questions regarding what transpired over these past few weeks that will go unanswered....mainly, how was an individual with a history of mental illness and instability approved for residency? Not only does his mental capacity come into question, what about his dependency on drugs and arrest record? We are left wondering what exactly are we looking for in a background check if these traits are acceptable.....better yet, was a background check even performed? Let's be thankful we don't deal in "what if's" ....as in "what if" this gentleman was denied residency, would Mr. Marshall still be alive? Not sure how to answer that......We're just glad we're not the person who has to live wondering.................................
Well written letter. Truly hope some good comes from it. Thank you, whomever you are, for presenting he facts that concern many of us, owners and renters alike. Hopefully your efforts are not in vain and possibly, just possibly your message will be taken seriously and positive changes will be forth coming to our small community.
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing much needed attention to these problems at Island Cove. I for one was appalled that the media was allowed to trespass on our grounds and gain entrance to a residence. I marched to the office to voice my concerns and was told by our property manager that she was not aware that they were on the property. I was disappointed at this and truly feel that we were deserted by our management. It was indeed a very scary time for all of us. I do not know how much information our property manager received from the police but I do feel we should have at least been informed that we were to be interviewed and we found it very stressful not knowing how long the police would be here for the investigation. We really needed leadership by our property manager and board and we do not feel that there was any attempt.
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