Monthly Archives: January 2016

Conflict Management, Empowerment

Wes Rocki

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If I could draw I think I would write the HOA book as a series of cartoons because that’s how my mind tends to work.  Many of those cartoons would be funny, others not so funny.  But over the years never has there been a sumo wrestler in any of my imagined doodles or cartoons – until this interview.  That’s when I started putting sumo wrestlers in the picture .  But a gratuitous, enormous hulking, naked man in what appears to be a diaper, in the middle of a manicured, sterile, characterless, controlled residential association wasn’t quite connecting.  So, I decided to read up on sumo wrestling and sumo wrestlers. And all of a sudden it was a perfect fit, diaper and all.  I discovered, among other things, that although some of these massive men appear to be invincible, they have been toppled by smaller opponents.  A sumo historian is quoted as saying he believes the circular ring was chosen to assist smaller fighters slip away and that the sumo rules tends to root for the underdog.

If you find yourselves in the bullseye of an HOA battle, facing what may seem like a sumo wrestler, grin at the diaper and know that you can win.

Dr. Wes Rocki, MD, PhD joins us On The Commons.  Retired from practicing conventional medicine, Wes now focusses on alternative medicine, including techniques on self help and self healing.  He explains how we can empower ourselves to better handle any conflict.  We talk about how we can step away, mentally and emotionally to get a better grasp of the situation.  Wes gives us a lot of really good advice on how to not only survive being at the center of an HOA storm but how to survive emotionally, reframe the conflict, empower ourselves and win against that massive sumo wrestler in the ring with us.  So many light bulbs went off during the course of this interview.  Listen and be empowered.

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Abuse, Property Ownership, Property Rights

Bonner Cohen

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Claiming to be a 5th generation landowner, Philip Thompson said, “I will do whatever it takes to help preserve the countryside we call home”.  The countryside he calls home is in Fauquier County, Virginia about an hour outside Washington DC.  He inherited much of the land in the countryside he called home,  then proceeded to place a large tract into a conservation easement managed by the Piedmont Environmental Council, (PEC). Much like the Declarations in residential associations, the easements restrict the use of the property. Much like a residential association, power is given to the administrator.  And we all know that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”(Lord Acton) regardless of who has it.

Dr. Bonner Cohen joins us On The Commons.  Dr. Cohen is a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research.  He also serves as senior policy analyst with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow.  He is an author, has spoken at conferences, and appears on TV and radio.  Dr. Cohen, a friend of Martha Boneta, has been following the horrors and abuses taking place in Liberty Farms.  He wrote an article  about the latest round of lawsuits.  We find just what Mr. Thompson meant when he said he would do “whatever it takes…”  And for “before” and “after” pictures of what the farm looked like under the Thomas’s and the PEC’s stewardship, watch Farming in Fear. 

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Abuse, Corruption, Mismanagement, Powers of Association

Mike Schneider

This is a rebroadcast of a show first recorded in 2014 but the case is still ongoing.

Senator Mike

When the scene is set for fraud and abuse, the crooks, criminals and villains will come by the droves.  Residential associations, be they condos, homeowner associations or cooperatives, where membership is mandatory, the power and authority is in the hands of a few and there is an enormous industry that feeds off these housing schemes and more importantly, the owners have been left pretty much defenseless, is an open invitation to all those who conspire to do wrong.  Just how much corruption goes on every day is unknown.  Even in Las Vegas when it became apparent in 2008 that the FBI was investigating wrong doings by board members, managers and HOA industry attorneys, the full extent of what went on is is still largely unknown.

Nevada State Senator Mike Schneider joins us On the Commons this week. Senator Mike, as he is known to his constituents, joins us to talk about the FBI investigation that became apparent in 2008 and is still ongoing.  The problems and the scams are incredible, ranging from election fraud to construction defect lawsuits.  There have been many indictments, many sentences handed down and many more mysteries and unanswered questions that still hound this situation.  There are sealed records, gag orders, four  alleged suicides, at least one attorney beaten to a pulp, kneecaps smashed with a baseball bat and left for dead, stark naked on the streets of his neighborhood.  As Mike says, “dead men can’t talk”.  Were they suicides?  And if they were, what could be so bad that it is preferable to take ones own life than face the consequences?  It also begs the questions of why sealed records and gag orders?  What else are they hiding?   And just how pervasive are these practices?  We all know that that what goes on in  Las Vegas really doesn’t stay there and that the same things is being replicates across the country.  The FBI just hasn’t managed to get to them all.  Will they or will everyone else simply get away with it while our legislators blindly ignore the problems?

 

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