Hosted and produced by Shu Bartholomew, On The Commons is a weekly radio show dedicated to discussing the many issues surrounding mandatory homeowner associations, the fastest growing form of residential housing in the nation. 
 
The opposite of order is, I am told, chaos and heavens, we really can’t have that.  Therefore, in an orderly society we follow the rules.  So rules are rules and we are to obey them.  At least that is what the rule books all say.  There are harsh penalties for violating some rules. I am not talking about laws here, but rules.  And in a civilized society I quite agree with the notion of adhering to certain norms and accepted standards but does that mean we have to obey every single rule that some bright spark entered into a rule book someplace?  And what about the rules that are so ludicrous?  If the rules harm us, are we required to endanger ourselves for the sake of a rule?  And how on earth do we end up with such stupid rules in the first place? 
 
On The Commons this week we are joined by Kent Nauman. Kent, a condo owner,  has experienced firsthand what happens when he violated a leash rule adopted by the board of his association.  The rule limits the length of pet leashes to 4 feet but a short leash on his two dogs would cause him to fall.  We’ll  hear more about this particular rule and we’ll find out how it affects Kent, why following it would cause him harm and the next step in this 6 year battle.  During the second half of the show we are joined by Jean Winters.  Jean is a Florida attorney who got her law degree after having had a long career as an electrical engineer and now is in a select group of attorneys who represent homeowners, as well as some homeowner associations.  Jean has a lot of insight in what is happening in Florida’s many condo and homeowner associations.  Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, September 27, 2008.  We’ll find out about stupid rules, abusive boards and attorneys who try to make some sense of it all.