September 2009  

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

Laguna Woods Town Hall Meetings – Bring Your Own Lawyer (BYOL)

United Recall Vote Counting Tomorrow at 09:30 AM

Posted by CotoBlogzz  |  08-20-2009 09:00 PM

Laguna Woods Village, CA- We know that there is an all points bulletin searching for Senator Reid, as he seems to be missing in action and no Town Hall Meetings have been scheduled in his absence.

For the Laguna Woods Village Town Hall meetings you do not need to  bring ACORN, SEIU or AARP representatives.   And although the Laguna Woods Village Town Hall meetings are mostly attended by well-dressed seniors and  even though some would argue that attendance is fabricated and perhaps instigated by the mob, we have not found any evidence that this is so.    

 

We are not sure if the attendance would qualify as right-wingers, however but there is  no credible evidence that these seniors have carried any swastikas to any of the meetings.

On the other hand,  like the Health Care Reform bills being debated in Congress which require a number of lawyer to make sense of the language, attendance to the Laguna Woods Village may require an attorney and may even be more complicated:  Apparently the Third Board of Directors must resort to a third party service provider, to contact legal counsel to figure out who can and who cannot attend the meetings - got it?

Take for instance the email from property Management Company representative Milt Johns passing on a legal opinion  that in essence states that those in attendance should do and are well served if they have legal representation anent a Third Mutual Meeting scheduled for August 26, 2009.

 

From: Johns, Milt
Subject: Third's Town Hall Meeting--August 26, 2009
To: "Zoerhof, Judie" , "Bevan Strom" , "Linda Wilson" , "Lloyd Foster" , "Marty Rubin" , "Marv Rosenhaft" , "Maxine McIntosh" , "Mike Curtis" , "Bea McArthur" , "Bob Hatch" , "Bob Miller" , "Don Tibbetts" , "Erwin Stuller" , "Jim Matson" , "Jim McNulty" , "Ken Hammer" , "Ray Gros" , "Ruth May"
Cc: "Kurzet, Patty" , "Trapp, Cris" , "Bill Hart"
Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 10:56 AM

I was asked recently by directors to inquire with Bill Hart on a question of attendance by non-Third board members at the subject meeting.  The question was whether non-Third board members should attend due to the fact that Third will have their attorney present and consequently, if non-Third directors should also have their attorney present (or not attend).  I advised Bill that my understanding of the Meeting is that the presentation will be academic in nature (as opposed to legal).  Bill Hart recommended that non-Third directors should be represented and as a result, he will be in attendance at the subject meeting.

Please note that today is the deadline to respond to the invitation so kindly take a minute and advise Patty Kurzet at 597-4265 of your plans and as always, please let me know if you have any questions on this matter.

 

At first, we thought this to be a  hoax and rhetorically asked  You have got to be kidding,  this is turning into what columnist  and author Vanitizian calls  The New Lawyer World, an Orgy of Fright

  • Who benefits from all this lawyer talk?  Service providers.

  • Who pays for it?  The community!

  • End result?  Stifle public discourse and fatten service providers!”

To confirm this was not  just another email hoax, we asked Mr. Johns, Mr. Bill Hart, Third Mutual Directors and others to check our facts:

Fact check 1.  Was the email below, really sent By PCM to legal counsel?

Fact check 2.  Is it really necessary to use a service provider  to ask the questions of legal counsel,  such as the one below?  If so, what does that say about the board, the third party service provider and legal counsel?

Mr. Johns did not deny that the email was a hoax, but he did not seem amused.  He  quickly and succinctly responded with “What an idiot”.  Now, we do not know if the statement is self-referential, a personal attack launched against "the Buzz", or  simply  a bad  imitation of Treasury Timmy Temper Tantrum.  In any case, we do  get the point that he is not a happy camper.

Michael Curtis, a United Director, the obsessive  United Board Recall leader and an otherwise thorn on the community’s status quo side,  was more communicative saying  Yes, Milt Johns frequently contacts Bill Hart and reports in this manner.  Sometimes he says he does and never did.  It was very likely NO board member asked him to do this”  Mr. Curtis then offered a potential motive:   My opinion; he wants Hart in on this meeting in preparation to intimidate/control the United and GRF boards in some way.  Something stinks here”.

We have not heard from any one else on the subject.  But in response to the legal opinion triggered by Mr. Johns' email, Mr Curtis dishes out an obviously non-legal opinion

Board Members - I don't believe the general manager has any business speaking with our corporate attorney, unless asked by a board president to do so.  Also, I don't believe Hart has any business attending without an invitation from the Third Board.  This is a meeting of the community - not of outsiders (and I would include PCM in that).  It's interesting that Milt did not copy anyone from Third on his email, and continues to operate in close connection with Hart. 

Bill Hart - You say you do not work for PCM, but you have paid for Milt's presentation on Channel 6 for the last 3-4 morning news shows.  You made a presentation on Channel 6, blasting me, and had the nerve to charge us your hourly rate plus mileage to come in August 12th to do it.  Now, you've paid for it's replay several times promoting PCM's position.  Oh no Bill, you don't work for PCM ... HA!  Now you're going to tag along with Milt next week to help intimidate board members and try to save PCM.”

But wait, there is more! The United Board Recall  vote counting is scheduled for  tomorrow, Aug 21, starting at 9:30AM in Clubhouse 3.  Mr, Curtis and his supporters continue to assert that the United board aided and abetted by legal counsel have  been manipulating the process and expresses his frustration saying  United's legal counsel    ”… completely avoids the issue of member's right to petition for a Special Membership Meeting.  He also does not address what happens if the YES votes are higher than the NO votes - i.e. those board members must be immediately removed  from office.  But Mr. Hart does clearly state n a letter sent to Mr. Curtis’ attorney  that  the United is under no legal obligation to provide separate explanations of the verification, counting and other procedures that will be employed at the Special Meeting.

Mr, Curtis frustration reaches a frenzy and concludes in a letter sent to Mr. Hart and to any Orange County public official who will listen:   “What planet is Hart on these days?  Outrageous ...   He even sent his junk letter to me directly instead of my attorney - a first time for him.  He seems to just be soaking our community for another $40,000 in fees during August"

So come one, come all to a Town Hall Meeting at Laguna Woods Village.  Be sure to bring your own attorney, though

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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