The CotoBuzz Journal
Community Journalism, Newsletters and Blogs Covering South Orange County, CA
The CotoBuzz Journal is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and NAHJ
SEPTEMBER 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 General Board Meeting Minutes - Aug. 9, 2007
Agreements, agreements, agreements….a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury, signifying nothing – apologies to the Bard - Obviously there was no vote of NO CONFIDENCE in Jerry Mezger which should have been the first order of business.
August
09, 2007
Landscape:
A) Horse trails
maintenance
J. Bernards noted that the association is paying around
$100,000/year to
maintain the horse trails and about 90% of
users are non-CZ residents.
A discussion of the merits of compelling users contribute their fair share of the maintenance costs ensued, with various board members citing previous formal agreements – in the end, it was determined that none of the board members had ever seen any of this agreements. Vinnie Davis asked to retrieve the agreement(s) for board review.
Agreements, agreements, agreements….a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury, signifying nothing – apologies to the Bard
Question 2: The CZ association does not have rules and regulations mandating what equestrians can and cannot do. As evidenced by various letters to the editor in the local media, equestrians (paying nothing for horse trail maintenance), argue for for right of way while on CZ property, "because the horse is nobler" than those who pay for the upkeep, while leaving a good dose of Equine Poop Soup (EPS) as a token of their appreciation. Yet the president of the board still argues that this is the right thing to do (pay - that is), why?
B) Water Rights
– Given precipitation history, a discussion ensued
regarding water rights.
Jerry Mezger noted that two years ago the CZ
Master Association BOD rejected Lennar’s bid to
transfer the four ponds around the community – it
was determined that a consultant would be hired to
look into the issue.
Access Control
A) Tigers, Bears and Gates Oh My!
K. Edmonds (private security company representative) pointed
out that “statistics show everything is under
control”, and the discussion turned into a Cat Fight
– that is, a discussion of the cats.
Steven Zipperman noted that the Game Warden
decided to kill one of the cats without CZ BOD
authorization/consultation.....as if!
The board noted what appeared a significant variance in the
transponder statistics, to be discussed with UPS later
- Hint: statistics are not really under
control!
J. Mezger noted that UPS goes under-appreciated, especially
since they have to handle 10 calls per day, where
patrols are involved – that is “not just for
parking violations”.
Not to mention all the various complaints filed
against the company and the lack of due diligence by
the board to select this vendor, not withstanding!
B) North Gate
– J. Mezger recommended to go out and get the North
Gate repaired immediately (refer to Coto's
North Gate and the Portland Weather Forecast System
).
Zipperman noted that the previous CZ bosrd’s
decision to automate the gate was a good one.
Apparently the only information available is
that the latest culprit (gate damage) is a back SUV
– enhancements of the video recording equipment for
the area are in the works.
C) Public Safety Report – centered about communication protocol when emergency strikes. Steven Zipperman noted that the recent Cat Attack showed where improvements could be made.
In
other words, public safety continues to be Coto's
Bastard Baby!
Obviously there was no vote of NO CONFIDENCE in Jerry Mezger which should have been the first order of business. Zipperman/Yocham must recognize that if Mezger’s shenanigans are tolerated that they will be tainted by them. It is time for Mezger to GO. Joe Morabito - former member CZ master association board of directors.
Hi Joe:
Seriously doubt the Zipeprman/Yocham board will act on the issue.
Consider that this board views use of Sports Park , the consumption of 30% of security-budget- not-for-security and horse trails (90%) by non CZ residents as simply the cost of doing business – hence, status quo is in order. Buzz
Just more subsidies going to outsiders that CZ Members are paying to support, which resulted in the last two Varo/Mezger dues increases. If Zipperman/Yocham don’t get this all under control, the next dues increase, which is inevitable, will have their names on it. Now is the time to act to stop all these subsidies to avoid the next dues increase. Subsidies are not necessarily a cost of doing business if the Board just acts to stop them. JM
P.S. The Mezger problem is not going away if the Board doesn’t act which also needs to occur.
Hi Joe:
The accepted definition for pork in Capitol Hill is that pork is a project in someone else's district. In this case, the project is in your district,t that benefits mostly what you term freeloaders.
What you call subsidies to others is simply the cost of maintaining the Coto life style to the Zipperman/Yocham board….if you add it all up, it can be up to $3 million/year.
We are working on the First 100 Days of the Zipperman/Yocham board looking at
- Public Safety
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Transparency
- Accountability
- Leadership
Buzz
Zipperman/Yocham need to remember that if they don’t act to stop the subsidies, the next dues increase will be called the Zipperman/Yocham dues increase. It really is that simple. JM
P.S. And, if they continue to tolerate Mezger on the Board, given his shenanigans, they become complicit in them.
RELATED STORIES
You
Must Resign Your Seat on the CZ Master Association
Board of Directors ? JM
Jerry: No, I won't live with it. You are now going to
add legal cost to the Association; good for Harkins;
bad for our members. It will make it impossible for
you to serve on an equal basis with other CZ Board
Members. You need to RESIGN - JM
The
New Seven, err... Eight Wonders of the World
CZ's definition for leadership is that whenever
questions are raised, the canned response is ?Remember
the Reserves?! Now CZ Spin Machine has to be the Eight
Wonder of the World!- August 6, 2007 The results of
the NOWC?s New Seven Wonders of...
Coto
de Caza?s Nobility (aka: Keystone?s List of Prominent
Coto Residents)
In the essay titled, Equus trailus patrolus publicus
(horse trail patrols paid by the commonwealth)
recently posted to this forum, we presented an
argument for the reason the CZ board of directors
recently decided to bring in the Gendarmerie Royale Du...
Coto
de Caza's Equus trailus patrolus publicus (horse trail
patrols paid by the commonwealth)
We were befuddled by the recent announcement by the CZ
Master Association board of directors of the impending
deployment of mounted units of the Sheriff?s
department to patrol the horse trails and fire roads
that surround the community. After all, all...
It
is Official: Coto de Caza Mounties are here! - A CZ
Master Association BOD decision making framework
According to the March 9, 2007 issue of the Orange
County Register?s The CanyonLife, the Mounties have
mounted a ? coordinated patrol effort on Saturday,
March 3, on the county?s trails in the hills around
Coto de Caza and Holy Jim Canyon. The high...
2007
Coto de Caza Elections, Irregularities Off and
Running!
Elections have not taken place yet, but irregularities
have. Consider the title for this Request for
Candidates sent by Keystone Pacific, dated February 1,
2007 (click here) , Then compare to list of CZ
districts below. What is wrong with this picture...
Coto
de Caza?s Public Safety, A Job For The Mounties - A
Paraphrase of the Orange County Register ? But, why
waste scarce, precious resources patrolling horse
trails?XThe Mounties are Coming, the Mounties are
Coming?.!X
It is no secret that the Orange County Register has
been an ardent supporter of the Varo/Mezger
administration. There is evidence that the editor
collaborated with the board to silence critics,
including the CotoBuzz Journal: The OCR board of
directors...
Call
for Coto de Caza Board Candidates - Any One But Varo/Mezger
Traditionally, the Coto de Caza elections are shrouded
in secrecy, but has been ratcheted a few notches after
Varo/Mezger showed up on the scene circa 2003. To add
salt to the wound, there were a good number of
irregularities during the 2006 elections,...
$150K
Saving/Year for Automated Gates
The argument used to convert the North Gate access to
an automated gate was that the community would save
$150,000/year.As forecasted, today at around 2:00 pm,
the North Gate was being worked on. Which means that
if the North Gate was any kind of...
Blame
it on the Sheriff, Gendarmerie Royale Du Coto de Caza
Following up on the Orange County Register's (February
16, 2007) story on the recent CZ Master Association
board of directors' announcement of a "new and
improved deployment of the roving private security
patrol ?and mounted units of the Sheriff?s...
Coto,
Ladera, 2006 Crime and Vandalism Trending
After much effort, and with many thanks to SSD/OCSD's
Kristine Garcia and Teresa Roach, we finally have a
comprehensive view of 2006 crime and vandalism for the
un-incorporated communities of Coto de Caza and Ladera
Ranch.
Coto
de Caza 2006 Safety Round Up
We are happy to report that the number of traffic
accidents in Coto de Caza continue to decline since
the board of directors was coerced into bringing back
the CHP for proactive traffic patrol as a consequence
of the first traffic fatality (December...
Coto's
North Gate and the Portland Weather Forecast Systemd)
For the longest time we have been wondering why it is
that $2M/year for gate access control does not buy
Coto residents a certain level of service and
convenience. That is, when gates, such as the North
Gate one, are not functional, residents should be...
The
Enemy in Coto de Caza's Midst - The CHP!
Considering the history of Coto de Caza, Can you name
all the service providers that have been on a
quarterly review (rather than yearly review) ? to make
sure the service it provides is acceptable? Can you
name the members of the board of directors when...
The
Varo anti-CHP Sentiment continues: CHP GO HOME, KEEP
OUT OF OUR DUIs!
The Coto de Caza gates, including the automated ones
are as reliable as the public utilities in the
outskirts of Baghdad, yet the association continues
paying for services barely-rendered, no questions
asked.
CZ
Lawsuits Lessons Learned
Given the two consecutive yearly dues increases and
the $2,000,000.00 "security" CZ Master
Association budget, we decided to review the recent
lawsuit against ( Tilley v. CZ Master Assn. (2005)132
Cal.App.4th 194a , -- Cal.Rptr.3d) the association
for...
Recently Coto de Caza residents received a marketing
survey, from 30-year resident community resident,
Randolph R. Brusca, asking members of the CZ Master
Association whether they would be interested in
joining a new and improved Coto de Caza club,...
Advertisement
|
Select Blogzz & click icon |
Subscribe
- 
R
