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When we saw non-homeowners certify CZ Master election results, we thought it odd. When we saw the current administration influenced by non-homeowners culminating in the generation of the infamous delegate stacking amendments, we knew we were in for a ride!

When we see Coto residents pay over $1.3 million for "Enforcement" services and have yet to successfully cite and recover any funds from that enforcement effort, our ears perk up!

When the current administration started to subsidize the use of the park by non-residents, and when one of the first actions taken by a CZ director during the 2004-2005 election year was to hire a questionable expert on community building to facilitate a “Visioning Meeting” on behalf of CotoCAN, that turned to be more of a brainstorming meeting on what to do next, we thought about Karl Marx: ."From each according to his ability. To each according to his need."

When the equestrian trail received funds to maintain it, ahead of the funds required to remove the hazards created by the Dead Oak Trees, we thought that "there was something happening here, but we do not what it is"

When we received a $100 special assessment notice to purchase the Welcome Home Center, while the Estates and Villages are being subsidized with the Coto Life Style at the tune of $8 million/year, we thought, of Hillary Clinton: "Many of you are well enough off that...the (Bush) tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." ...Hillary Clinton, 6/28/2004

When reserves are dipping to unacceptable levels and the Los Verdes areas has not been kept maintained in close to 500 days, we thought: "Humm, that is interesting".

When we can only reach alternate (in case of emergency) Keystone personnel on voice mail or because they are at the CotoCAN golf tournament, we thought there was something wrong with this picture.

When the 2004-2005 CZ board abdicated its responsibility to communicate with residents by killing the much promoted "New Marketing Strategy", aka Monthly Newsletter, compromised resident confidential information in the process, and are giving up advertising revenue, the picture started to get uglier! Who is responsible for making sure that residents get timely, accurate and quality information? Who is responsible for inaccurate information? Who is responsible for resident confidential information? Who has editorial content? Why are you giving up revenue and at the same time levying a special assessment?

When the August Board meeting came and went and we have yet to receive the 2004-2005 CZ Master Goals and Objectives, we started to hum that old 60's tune: "they are coming to take you away, hehe, haha to the funny farm! And before they come to take us away, we thought. who are you going to call?

and.....If residents dislike waste why does it persist?

1. Far More People Love Pork Than Hate It.

Board members will support projects that are popular because they want to get re-elected. Giving people what they want is usually a good thing, and Board of Director Members (BOD) intrinsically know they can get re-elected when the clique continues to click.

The Power of the Press.

BOD members are highly sensitive to being ridiculed in the press. This fear of bad press forces BOD members to work closely with certain leaders (remember the Officials of the Information Office of the State Council of the League of Internal Goodness Generals in Information Technology aka as L.I.G.G.I.T?). These relationships produce even more requests, which results in more pork-barrel.

Napoleonic complex

Many BOD presidents relish playing hardball politics – the Macho Syndrome: Why should a small community go without just because the county does not like Coto?

Pointing Fingers.

Often, when there is a project that is remotely controversial, different members/sub-associations government will point the finger at each other. Afraid to make a decision that could alienate someone, projects often sit idle due to the bureaucratic impasse. Los Verdes has not been maintained for over 500 days. We have volunteer to do the work, but have been told that “help is on the way”!

Actually these are generic reasons described in details in MyCongress.com that can apply to local communities, county, state and federal governments. We recommend you visit MyCongress.Com for more fun pork barrel and any level and how to fight it.

Latest		Cast of Characters
This Week in Congress, Last Week in Congress, What's New, Current Capitol Craziness, Pray Along with Congress		Congressional Directory, Who Represents Me?, Celebrities, Lobbyists, Random Featured Member, Haikus

Inside Congress
What Happens When I Write or Call?, Working in Congress, Current Job Openings, A Day in the Life, Congressional Diseases, Does Congress Look Like America?, How To Get a Job in Congress book		How a Bill Really Becomes a Law, FAQ about Congress, The Rules of Ridiculousness, Reviews of Movies and TV about Congress, Inside Tips on Visiting DC and Congress

Your Money		I Have Power
Where Does My Money Go, The 54 Kings, Pork, Quick and Dirty Budget, Real Budget Calendar, Junior's Big Tax Cut Calculator		Write Your Own Bill, QuickBitch, QuickFree, QuickThanks, FREE Congress-Tracking Service

PORK IN A DEMOCRACY SUCH AS COTOLAND

At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish history professor at The University of Edinborough) had this to say about The Fall of The Athenian Republic some 2,000 years pbefore:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy,
(which is) always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From Bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the most recent Presidential election:

Population of counties won by:
Gore=127 million
Bush=143 million

Square miles of land won by:
Gore=580,000
Bush=2,2427,000

States won by:
Gore=19
Bush=29

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:

Gore=13.2
Bush=2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land
owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare..."

Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the "complacency and "apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy; with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

Cotobuzz tried to obtain detailed results from the last election to compare previous CZ Master administrations to the current one, but as expected, the board has been extremely un-cooperative, and the only thing we can measure is results:

2003-2004 Report Card

Category	Grade
Effort	A+
Leadership	D-
Operational Efficiency	D-
Transparency	D-
Accountability	D-

The Conclusion is that Coto De Caza is between the Apathy and Complacency phase.

Getting Ready for Recall - Cumulative Voting

Cumulative voting allows a delegate to cast the same number of votes equal to the number of vacancies for only one candidate. For example, for the next CZ election there is a five member board, with three seats up for election and let us assume there are six candidates running. On each ballot, a delegate can vote for 3, 2 or 1 candidate(s) only. The delegate can use three votes for one candidate, or two, or just one. The results is that now the ballot has been “weighted” in order to give one or more candidates an edge.

Cumulative voting concept emerged out of corporate law where it was used to protect the rights of minority shareholders. A large corporation would have to accept an individual shareholder representing a minority interest, as opposed to the typical slate of corporate executives. By banding together with other shareholders with similar interests, they could all cast their votes by share-totals for one candidate to guarantee at least one representative on the board who could speak on their behalf. This eventually evolved into a tool often used or abused by factions attempting to take or maintain control of a board. By creating a slate and convincing people to vote a certain way, they could guarantee winning the election and ultimately retain or seize majority control.

Which is exactly how it is used here. The process has now been bastardized so that a small clique can control the CZ Association – which is why we have continuously argued for electoral reform, but we digress.

Another use of cumulative voting is to save a director who is a target for removal from the board. If less than the entire board is to be removed, no director may be removed if the votes cast against his removal would be sufficient to elect him if then cumulatively voted at an election of the entire board [Illinois General Not For Profit Corporation Act, 805 ILCS 105/108.35(c)(2)].

Best Business Practices dictate that proxy forms commonly used should point out whether there is cumulative voting when known candidates are identified. Most often people use “Xs” when it is allowed and if there are three vacancies, and an “X” is used, it can only be counted as one vote, not 3. And what do we get from Keystone? That will be on a test!

In conclusion, cumulative voting was a device used to protect minority voting rights. In practice, it is sometimes a tool for abuse by the power-hungry. Sounds familiar?

CZ MASTER MAIL FILTER

Residents in the districts listed below cannot communicate with their respective delegates via email using the CZ Master website

DISTRICT NO.	DISTRICT NAME	DELEGATE
8
10	Stonehedge	Tom Barker
11	The Trails/Master Collection	Alternate: Richard Fragapane
14	The Greens	Cheryl Harris
15	The Woods/Arroyo Su	Ron Eger
22	The Legacy/Enclave/Stonefield Estates	Joan Rebensdorf
26	Oak Ridge	Patrick Taylor
27	Tanglewood	Dave Batson
28	Glen Eagles	Michael Guerin
33	Glenmere	Paul Thomas
34	Crooked Oak	Elaine Hamill
35	Courante	David Ridel
36	Part of Atherton/Part of Weatherly	William Linas
38	Terrazza	Mario Beas Alternate: Jerry Kranitz
42	Stonefield Private Collection/San Marino	no delegate

SOLUTION TO HOA MESS? FIRE THE CAI LAWYERS!

Not convinced Yet? When was the last time you read the CZ CC&Rs? Did you understand them?

Too easy? Guess who is Subsidizing this new CAI Campaign?

CAI "Membership Recruitment Incentives

Each time you recruit a new CAI member, you'll be closer to winning these valuable awards and recognition:

Trip for Two to Paris, France (valued at up to $2,500)
Recruit ONE new member and receive one chance in the drawing to win this spectacular trip. Trip includes round-trip airfare and four nights/five days hotel accommodations. The more you recruit, the more chances you'll have in the drawing.

CAI Lapel Pin
Recruit TWO new members and receive a beautiful lapel pin engraved with CAI's new logo.

CAI Navy Blue Harbour Brushed Jacket
Recruit THREE new members and receive a limited-edition navy blue windbreaker embroidered with CAI's new logo. .

Lifetime Achievement Awards"

Coto Discussion Forum Alive and Thriving

Currently, the forum can be accessed by the CZ Board, residents from the Estates, Villages and CZ Masters. Subjects covered include the Dead Oak Trees, Cumulative Voting, the Brewing Revolt, Security, etc..... Get your Swiss Knife - join the Coto Discussion Forum

We suggest you obtain a free email account such as Yahoo or Hotmail. Since you can post and download pictures and files, we also recommend you have you antivirus software updated. If you need help setting up, send us email at cotobuzz@yahoo.com

CotoBuzz is open to all Coto de Caza residents, regardless of political affiliation, personal or professional agenda.

Mutual respect – we may not agree, but we recognize we all have a right to express ourselves without fear of retribution. We express ourselves without resorting to personal abuse or name-calling.

Subscribe to the COTO Discussion/Chat Forum - customize how you want to receive information: Daily, Weekly, etc. District Pictures, CotoLand Pictures, Coto Events, Coto Issues, and other goodies!

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Coto De Caza District Photos

The Coto Discussion Forum includes photos of representative Coto Districts (currently 14 districts represented,..... add yours), Coto de Caza issues, such as the Dead Oaks Trees, Road Repairs, CotoLand, etc.

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