VEEEEERY INTERESTING

     I have been scratching my head since yesterday trying to figure out what that Finance meeting was all about and what was gained by it. What did it represent and what was that all about in the form of the bizarre behavior and seating arrangements of the officers of UCO.
     Normally, when meetings are held, all the officers are sitting at the big table, be it in the conference room or in Room C. Yesterday was different. It appeared to be coordinated and for some reason which I cannot fathom. David Israel and Ed Black who usually bookend the conference table were seated together in a front row on the left and behind them a couple of rows back and further left was Bob Marshall, out of it, as usual. It has been mentioned to me that David Israel was seen signaling to Howie O'Brien via head and hand movements at key portions of the meeting and discussions. Interesting, is it not.  In the front on the right was Joy Vestal, muttering to her buddy, particularly when I got up to get the mic for a speaker. As I took the mic, they spoke out loud in alarmed tones, "What is Esther doing? She's taking the mic!" Riiiight. I was going to put it under my shirt and take it out of the room and what? Sell it on Ebay? Dumb is dumb but that was ridiculous. I gave it to the speaker and sat down and moved the mic around as needed as no one else seemed willing. And guess what - it went back into place at the end of the meeting. Darn! No mic for Ebay sale. Oh well.
     Then of course we had Barbara Cornish sitting in the back, perhaps observing the overall gestalt? But then again, she does like to sit in the back of the theater when possible so .... But they all should have been sitting at the table as they are all members of the Committee. Were they trying to hide the fact that here was another example of the same people getting to vote again and again on the same issues? Vote here, vote as an officer, vote in Bids, vote in Operations, etc. ad nauseum. Did they think they were fooling anyone when Toni and Toby Lovinger, an unknown, were introduced as the new members? Really? This Lovinger was the token new guy and where he came from nobody knows, but seriously, all we had here was another reshuffling of the same old people.
     So, anyway, here comes the budget. But wait. It is not ready. It might not be ready till questions begin to be asked in November. But associations are going to be meeting in Dec. and Jan. to set their budgets so what does it get based on? Oh, who knows, since the UCO budget now gets locked in place in April. But wait! Then the two budgets will not be in sync so what are the associations supposed to do - pay more beforehand or less and then make it up and then pay again for the coupons  to be reprinted? And were the bylaws ever changed to allow this budget change or was the vote just for last year and  then assumed that it was ok to carry on?
     You see, the whole process is so murky that one needs the EPA to come and clear up the water. We were not supposed to talk about the roads and their big bill that will be coming due but it was the elephant in the room, so raise it I did and so did many others as they had questions about the funding.
     Most of the questions revolved around trust and surety. How are we to be assured that the money we are supposed to be putting away for road reserve will remain there and not be used for other items as we have our sophisticated mish mash reserve account. I was told - you won't be sure! Truly! You see, if the house is on fire, we use the money. Truly? What if the couch needs replacing or someone decides they have another pet project to use the money to pay for - oh, like perhaps Wi Fi in any version or signing other contracts that we know nothing about?
     Then we have two firms that are supposed to be possibly involved in an engineering report on the roads. One is the same firm whose advice we so astutely ignored last time so how do we know that we will listen this time, especially as all is done by the same dudes who got us in trouble last time with no contracts, fake contracts, pseudo contracts, moving money around, denying truths about the lousy situation and conditions of the roads and even being told yesterday that they really are not in such bad shape! Uh huh! Wonder what Village they are residing in?
     One thing that truly startled me was the statement of wonder that the paving company had not made sure to do the best job over at Greenbriar for after all, didn't they know that the President of UCO lived there? Really? And why should this be important? The important questions are really why did they not do a proper job in the first place ALL OVER the Village and why this "astute" president did not take them to task for this job and indeed, why he signed all the contracts that allowed them to do this?
     I proposed that the new contracts, the reports, the decisions, all be done out in the open, transparent, and not by the same people. Dorothy mentioned once burned, twice shy. The officers of UCO discovered, if that was their motive for sitting the way they did, that tough questions will and are being asked and no one is going to be led down the path of idiocy again.
     Then of course we had the question of funding the legal fees for post Millennium as we are sure that the Levy family has its batteries of lawyers at work already. I wonder what they will work with if this Sheffield problem is not stopped in its tracks all over the Village and if WPRF
does not rein in its wish list for the coming years. It is nice to indulge oneself with OPM - other people's money, but that money is OURS and we need to watch it like hawks. Pathetically, I thought, we were asked to show up at the Operations committee which is not even publicized! and voice our objections. C'mon! It is the officers who vote on this - we, as guests, have no power, and the officers need to rummage around and find a couple of pairs and stand up to WPRF and vote NO NO NO to pie in the sky and overly expensive projects.
     Anyway, getting back to the post Millennium legal fees. It is way past time that we start on this and on the planning and no, no more  Tennyson, which David Israel thought to be oh, so funny, as this is his pet who gives him the answers he wants. And please, no more Gorodetzer for these committees. I am seriously concerned about her health after sitting behind her at a DA and listening to her mutter away to herself the entire meeting until she stalked out.
     So, bottom line, what was accomplished yesterday? Who the hell knows, but at least these UCO people were put on notice that there are people who will remain in the fray, who will battle for the rights of the Village, for its financial sanity, for common sense and proper procedures. No walk in the park here and our blogs are going strong, our CV Messenger is going strong so we will not be totally shut out of the process and making our voices heard. Hey, maybe we can get a banner with our objections printed on there. It doesn't take too long. Put that in your pipe, Mr. Israel, Mr. Black. Enjoy the thought.