NEWSLETTER
September 2009

A Note From The President

My heartfelt greetings to all Cabrini residents.  As summer comes to an end, so too have Cabrini elections—and I’m sure everyone is very relieved that political season here is over.  The election ballots were counted by the Election Committee and personally overseen by Cabrini Counsel on August 25.  Our rules state that we must achieve quorum (50% + 1 of all homeowners) to be able to count the ballots.  As in most previous years, we did not reach that level necessary to announce the election winners that night.  Since we did not reach the 50% + 1 threshold of homeowner votes, the next step was to see if a majority of the homeowners that had voted agreed to extend the election several days to accept a 25% + 1 threshold – at which point we would have reached quorum.  We received 308 votes—which meant that we would have needed 155 homeowners to agree to an extension of the election.  Only 133 of the homeowners that voted agreed to extend – which meant that the election was over and that the existing Board members would extend their terms until August 2010.  Next year, all five Board seats will be up for a vote instead of the usual three.  Cabrini Legal Counsel will be sending all homeowners an explanation of the election results by mail to further explain the process.  Remember that your votes in Cabrini elections have serious and dire consequences – it is truly unfortunate that nearly 2/3 of our homeowners at Cabrini didn’t see the need to vote on who would manage one of, if not their most important investment.  I cannot overstate how critical it is that you have the right people on your Board who do not have personal agendas and who have your best interests in mind on each and every decision they make.  For example, not a single member of the current Board has ever tried to push for a friend or acquaintance to become a vendor for Cabrini—to do so in my view would be a serious conflict of interest.  I wish I could say the same for some of those that ran against those incumbents.  You should feel proud that each and every incumbent of the Board that ran this year did not have to resort to lies, half-truths and gross misrepresentation to gain your votes. 

 Now that the elections are over, it is time for us to focus on a wide range of agenda items for the upcoming year.  One complaint I repeatedly hear from homeowners is that we need better communication between the office/HOA and the residents.  I’ve always stated that we communicate via the monthly meetings, in newsletters, in mailers, through our main electronic sign and via the website.  We cannot force anyone to attend meetings or to read our communications via the methods I mentioned above—but what we can do is to improve those avenues of communications so that everyone here is better informed on what we’re all working on.  In the coming weeks, our Cabrini website (www.cabrinivillashoa.com) will be changed to offer daily, weekly and monthly status updates on specifically what Management and the Board are working on.  It is the Board’s mission that this will help folks understand why we are doing specific things, where we’re doing them, how much it costs, etc.  If homeowners have access to facts and documented information, they won’t be easily swayed by certain individuals who prey upon those who may either not attend meetings or might not be aware of why the Board is doing what they’re doing.

 The Board also wants to strengthen enforcement of our Architectural policy.  For the past several years, the association has attempted to solicit members to join our Architectural Committee in helping enforce our rules and regulations.  Obviously, this is an extremely sensitive issue in that committee members didn’t relish confronting their neighbors and fellow homeowners when rules were being broken.  Nonetheless, architectural rules must be enforced or we risk destroying the beauty we’ve all become accustomed to here at Cabrini.  The Board will be considering other options including hiring outside parties to help us enforce our regulations.

 There are some interior private roadways that are presently being marked as possible asphalt replacement and will require further study on in relation to availability of financial resources.

 We are also looking into the possibility of accepting credit cards for payment of monthly dues/assessments.  Hopefully this will give all members an alternative payment method—also very helpful for those of us that enjoys using our Visa/MasterCard for points or miles.  It’s the Board’s hope that accepting credit cards for payments will cut the delinquency rate down—especially helpful in these challenging economic times. 

 The Board will soon be looking at bids to install a ramp or an elevator for members with physical disability giving access to the clubhouse and main pool consistent with ADA rules.

 We have also set a goal of amassing $1 million in the reserve fund by the end of 2010.  The upkeep and regular maintenance of Cabrini Villas gets more and more challenging now that our oldest buildings are 35 years in age.  But with fiscal discipline, efficient risk management, the right HOA management and the right Board, I’m more than confident we can reach this goal.

 We are also continuing our efforts in collections of outstanding payments from homeowners that owe the association past monies.  Rest assured, the HOA is doing anything and everything it legally can to collect every members assessment obligations, architectural fines, late fees and other monies owed the Association.

 Thank you again for your time and continuing support.

 Michael Eastman

President

Cabrini Villas HOA

Reserve Fund

During our past Cabrini election, questions were raised by some candidates as to why the reserve fund was used for construction.  Although California law DOES NOT require homeowner associations to have reserve accounts, thankfully we did to efficiently and effectively repair some previous unknown building damage.

 In previous Board meetings and newsletters, this issue was discussed at length and the Board reported it had discovered additional construction defects of a serious magnitude.  These repairs were not part of the originally agreed Scope of Work for construction.  The scope of work was to cover repairs in the amount of $5 million dollars – not ONE PENNY of which was paid for by homeowners.  ALL $5 million was obtained thru a settlement negotiated by the Board of Directors against the previous construction company used 10 years earlier.

 What the Board discovered through the course of repairs, was that the “end walls” of some buildings were originally constructed below grade, causing water seepage, wood frame decay.  The Board also learned that the foundational concrete stem had sunk below street grade to which the wood frame of the building is attached.  The potential for a collapse of some or all of these buildings was too great a concern to ignore, as they presented a structural vulnerability to those buildings.

 Immediate repair was recommended by Engineers and our General Contractor to prevent such a precarious incident.  Furthermore, the General Contractor refused to close up the stucco and simply ignore the condition of the end walls.  Therefore CVHOA was prevented from receiving a completion sign off from the LA Building and Safety department.   

 With such a dilemma, the extent of the defect could not have possibly been determined nor estimated due to the fact that the observations of any possible defect were evaluated as construction progressed and walls were opened.

 The accusation that the Association does not plan for projects creating a need for special assessments is ridiculous and stems from ignorance of construction and maintenance.  How on Earth could the Board or Management have known that construction defects from the mid-1970s existed until the situation was literally “opened up” before them?  The idea that the Board “should have known” or “planned” for hidden defects and conditions that could not be discovered until construction had started, is simply foolish and not intellectually honest. 

 Most homeowners who were affected by the construction knew for a fact that every unit of repair was supervised by the General Manager, Board Members and the construction superintendent on a daily basis.  All expenditures were discussed and reported during Board meetings by representatives of the Construction Company (PSA).  On several occasions, the owner of PSA was present at HOA meetings, answered several homeowner questions and presented extensive slide presentations and status updates. There was complete transparency and there were no “special Board Room deals”.  Everything was done in public meetings and with advice from legal counsel.  Everything was done in open sessions together with construction representatives, and even engineers in certain occasions.

From The Law Offices of Jeanne McDonald

July 23, 2009

Re: Annual Election Results

Dear Homeowner:

This letter is to convey the results of Cabrini Villas' recent election. As you know, the ballots were tallied at an open board meeting held on Tuesday, August 25, 2009. According to Cabrini's Bylaws, quorum for an election is a majority of all owners. If less than half of the Cabrini owners return their ballots, quorum is not met and the election is not valid. However, the owners who do return ballots can vote to extend the due date to return ballots and reduce the quorum from a majority to 25% of the owners. This votes was printed on the envelopes distributed with the ballots.

Only 309 were returned by the deadline, so quorum was not met. The persons counting the ballots (members of Cabrini's Election Committee) did not open the ballots, but they counted the vote whether to extend the deadline and reduce quorum. Over half of the ballots returned - 155 ballots - needed to be marked "approve" for the extension and reduced quorum to take effect, but only 133 ballots were marked "approve". Therefore, the vote did not pass. The deadline to return ballots has not been extended, quorum remained at a majority of all Cabrini owners, quorum was not met, and the election failed. The existing Board will stay in place for another year, until next year's election. This is in compliance with California statute, which states that directors' terms last until expiration of their term and until their successors are elected and qualified.

If you have any questions, please contact the Cabrini management office and not this firm.

Sincerely,

Jeanne H. McDonald

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