WHO KNOWS? ONLY THE SHADOW KNOWS

     For those of you who missed it, yesterday, David Israel, AKA the Grand Poohbah, lost it, just lost it, on his blog. He went into a paranoid rage against an organization which is planning a dance, tonite, in the Clubhouse and charging $5 for entry. Who is this organization? Why are they charging? Who knows? Only The Shadow knows, for last nite, in a crowded lobby of the Clubhouse, all were laughing at the paranoid posting for NOBODY had ever heard of it, the dance or anything else that the Poohbah spoke, or rather, ranted about.
     Late last nite, evidently somebody clued this paranoid man in and he deleted his posting and then wrote that he apologized with deep regret for his grievous error. Well, fine, but that does not take away the problems this posting highlighted.
     First of all - CHECK YOUR INFORMATION before posting. That lack of checking is characteristic of his lack of foresight and process in initiating ANYTHING here in the Village. And if anyone has the chutzpah to defy him - well, lordy, lordy - the wrath of the Poohbah falls upon him/her along with all paranoid side dishes. No charge.
     Second of all, let us say that this organization was a group of people who wished to raise money to oppose him - SO WHAT!!! That is called freedom of assembly, freedom to pursue one's wishes and ideas without harassment. But paranoia does get in the way of accepting that one is not the boss of it all and the rant goes on and on without checking one's facts.
     Now again, therein lies the problem. One cannot proceed without facts and when one does - we get a $5 million dollar rip off and now a proposed 15 million dollar job to fix the situation.
     So, third of all, where is this $15,000,000 to come from? Where, you ask? Simple - from your pocket! In order to gather and amass such a huge fund over what they are planning - a 15 year leeway, FEES WOULD HAVE TO BE RAISED ABOUT $10 A MONTH AND THAT IS WITHOUT ALL THE ADDITIONAL NEEDS. What do we add for rising contract costs? What do we add to replace and/or repair the perimeter fencing and that is some job! What do we add for maintenance and upkeep, for modernization as our facilities age?
     And while on the topic of money - just exactly what is going on with the budget. We are like the Keystone Cops of budgets. How many have been parceled out already? Why are they being changed, revised, again and again? Simple, because they were put out on assumptions. It was assumed that the delegates would simply accept all the pap that Poohbah and O'Brien were feeding us. It was assumed that we would not question figures, the ruinous combining of funds into one huge slush fund ( the better to mess around, my dear), and the imposition of fees that were never approved by the delegates! Oops! Check your facts. Take the temperature of the people before you do something so wrong. ALLOW THE AUDITING OF THE FINANCES OF THE VILLAGE. JUST WHAT ARE YOU HIDING, POOHBAH? DISTINGUISHED FINANCIAL EXPERTS VOLUNTEERED THEIR TIME. WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?
     How do we handle all this and more? What more? Well, let's see? Anyone gone to Hastings lately? Anyone tried to swim laps in the resident's pool by the Clubhouse? Oops, cannot do that. Under construction since forever and at the worst time of the year for it.
     So, people, to whom do we turn to get answers to our questions that plague us? Where do we turn to get answers how to get rid of the issues that persist? Well,we can go to Petey Boy who jumped on the bandwagon of the Grand Poohbah yesterday and commented that he wished for all the opposition, a huge segment of our Village, to drown in our lake as they walked off the pier on Duck Island, never mind that it is impossible at the moment. Should we wish them the same lovely holiday wishes?
    What we do now is continue the good fight. Continue to oppose foolish and dangerous proposals. Vote down the budget, emphatically so. Show up to the assembly on Jan. 2 and vote no. Take an hour or so out of your day to do so. Do not let this man and his crew take us down the road to financial perdition.
     Who know the answers to the questions? The Shadow knows and G-d help us, we had better find them out.