The CotoBuzz Journal, Community Journalism

The CotoBuzz Journal

Community Journalism, Newsletters and Blogs Covering South Orange County, CA

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May 2007 Issue

We do not make jokes, we simply watch the LA Times, the Orange County Register and the Coto de Caza Board of directors and report the facts!

CZ Master Association Waste of Money - Letter to Pat Bates

by Joseph Morabito, former member CZ Master Association BOD

April 10, 2007

Sergio: As Supervisor Bates representative, I am writing you as a long time Coto resident and former CZ Board Member to complain about Supervisor Bates agreeing to waste $20,000 of tax payer money and $5,600 more dollars in CZ dues money to conduct a “study” to determine how much Coto residents pay in taxes presumably in order to see if we are getting back what we pay in. This study was no doubt motivated by Bob Varo, the current President of the CZ Master Association, who clearly has demonstrated on many occasions that he does not have a clue concerning the workings of our Homeowners Association and the way government works.

Any one with a brain knows that we pay in far more in taxes than we get back. We don’t need a costly study to tell us that. Obviously, wealthy communities subsidize those who are not wealthy. It is called “income redistribution”. Further, our property tax bills clearly tell us where our money is going which is primarily to support public schools, assessments, the county, fire authority etc. Sales taxes that we pay to surrounding cities go to support those cities so none of that money is coming back into Coto any time soon. In addition, even if the county wanted to take money from the poor in Orange County which other supervisors will correctly never vote for and spend it in Coto, everything in Coto is privately owned which I assume would prevent monies being spent in Coto.

This study is a complete waste of money. If Supervisor Bates can muster the votes, what we need in Coto is more pro-active Sheriff’s patrols and/or paying for the CHP patrols we are buying today. The cost would be about $240,000 a year to get the CHP hours that we badly need. The county did pick up the first year of CHP service when I served on the CZ Board which should have been continued. In addition, since we allow the public to play at our Sports Field at a considerable cost to our dues paying members and subsidy to outsiders and the county, it would be great if the county could pay for 50% of the maintenance of our Sport Park in the proper spirit of community participation which I suspect would be about $150,000 a year. Since we are allowing the public to use this facility, a county contribution can and should be justified. I can’t tell you the 50% amount for sure because the Varo/Mezger CZ Board refuses to reveal the actual cost to maintain our Sports Park . This current CZ Board actually hides the numbers from us because we only charge users about $12,000 a year to use the facility which is grossly less than the actual maintenance cost. This along with general fiscal mismanagement by our current CZ Board is one of many reasons we have experienced two CZ dues increases in just two years.

Finally, while I have nothing against Supervisor Bates and wish her well in her new job, Mr. Varo inappropriately endorsed the Supervisor as CZ Board President. If this study is the pay-back for that endorsement, it is not sitting well with many voters out here in Coto Land . Political endorsements are just not done by ethical members of our CZ Board because our Board should not be involved in politics. As such, many of us are very unhappy with Mr. Varo’s performance as CZ Board President for this and many other reasons. Our fervent hope is that he will be voted out of office in May when we have our elections. Be advised, hopefully you could be dealing with a lame duck. We are mad as hell and we don’t care who knows. Joe Morabito

P.S. We would fervently fight any attempt to create a Community Services District and/or city for Coto that would raise our taxes as proposed by Misters Varo and Mezger. We don’t need an overlay of government in Coto since our Homeowners Association is responsible for all common area property in Coto. A CSD or city for Coto would serve absolutely no purpose that I can see because it is virtually impossible for our HOA to turn over any common area property to any other entity. So no matter what you are hearing for misinformed Varo, forget about it. It will not happen without a major battle. And, if it requires a two thirds vote, the votes will not be there to pass it.

ATTENTION COTO DE CAZA RESIDENTS:

If you are as concerned as we are about this waste of money, send letters to Pat Bates representative Sergio Prince at: sergio.prince@ocgov.com