The CotoBuzz Journal, Community Journalism

October 2007 ISSUE

We do not make jokes, we simply watch the LA Times, the Orange County Register and CID/HOA board of directors and report the facts!

The Wealth of Associations (HOA) - Separation of Chumps and State

First, the CZ Master Association, by law, has one mandate: Repair, Replace and Maintain (RR&M) common areas. That is, there is a clear separation of Chumps and State:

October 1, 2007

Responding to ad hominem missiles lobbed by defenders of the various CZ Master Association (CZMA) subsidies, former member of the CZMA board of directors, Joseph Morabito figures that he “.. is upset with me now because I keep hitting the subsidy issue and he apparently is active in the Sports League. At some point, the Board will have to deal with the subsidies going to non-members and even Members who are not paying their fair share of the extra expense they are causing the Association” and our response is encapsulated below:

This may be an explanation as to why his rose-colored glasses yield the following conclusions:

While, he correctly argues that people define lifestyle, he is sorely mistaken when he uses the soup spoon analogy to conclude that the “CZ lifestyle” is being defined by the CZ Master Association BOD and volunteers.

First, the CZ Master Association, by law, has one mandate: Repair, Replace and Maintain (RR&M) common areas. That is, there is a clear separation of Chumps and State:

We have always supported the CotoCAN and other community organizations – however, any and all volunteer groups should be transparently, and accountably separate from the CZ Master Association governance. CZ Delegates for example should be disbanded immediately, in lieu of a process that assures direct democracy…..but this group has not been disbanded because of vested interests.

The Varo/Mezger administration overreached their RR&M mandate to promote a Coto Lifestye™ , not a CZ Lifestyle. Apparently this is what he wants to maintain: Maintain all current subsidies so the CZ residents can create a lifestyle people outside of CZ, like residents form the Estates and Villages can enjoy – for free!

A notion of the Wealth of Homeowners Associations is analogous to the World’s Bank the Wealth of Nations. In its study Where is the Wealth of Nations? Researchers added current values of natural resources and produced capital totaling only 20% for rich countries. A whopping 80% of the wealth of nations was “intangible” – we refer to this intangible as social capital. The social capital encompasses trust among people in a society, efficient judicial system, clear property rights and effective government! In fact, the World Bank finds “Human capital and the value of institutions (as measured by rule of law), constitute the largest share of wealth in virtually all countries”. Reason’s Magazine Ronald Bailey illustrates the effect of this social capital using the example of “a Mexican, or for that matter, a South Asian or African, walking across our border, they gain immediate access to intangible capital worth $418,00 per person”.

It does not take a logician, or a Ronal Bailey, to figure out that the answer to the question, Where is the Wealth of Associations? follows a similar pattern as the question about the Wealth of Nations: The Varo/Mezger (CZ Master Association BOD) administration squandered social capital (subsidies and rule of law debacles) creating a fuzzy line between the otherwise clear separation of Chumps and State.

Buzz

You are absolutely right on all counts. And CZ should have nothing to do with CotoCan because close interaction will only result in liability for our Members which was the whole reason Lennar intentionally set up CotoCan as a separate organization. Wouldn’t it be nice if the CZ Board would just focus on the business of CZ for a change in accordance with our governing documents? I am still waiting to see 2008 objectives which should have been distributed by now to drive the budget process and a Landscaping Renovation Strategic Plan. We had both when I served on the Board. JM

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