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From The Observer News
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But, from management’s perspective, it cannot be tolerated because it is perceived to constitute violations of agreements on which the community depends; violations, management theorizes, for which every unit owner in this large condominium community might have to pay - heavily. The gap between these two positions has widened to a chasm in the last four months; a chasm pushed apart by sudden discharge of a well liked manager, by one attorney’s “opinion” defining subsequent resident support as destructive meddling, by refusal to answer questions, by allegations and counter- allegations, by appearances of impropriety coming from the very managers supposedly representing residents’ best interests. While controversy is no stranger in communities governed by volunteer leaders, the most recent problems here began to develop when Neal Desch, KP’s respected security chief for six years, was suddenly terminated, locked out of his office and ordered from the premises on July 17. The basis of the firing, it was said at the time, was his viewing an inappropriate internet site – adult pornography – on a community computer. Desch admits the accusation but also points to yet another disagreement that day with Ginger Anzalone, president of King Point Management (KPM). The amenities management company was created by Frank Surface’s Community Resource Services (CRS) when he arranged the $55 million loan by Bank of America that he, in turn, loaned the community to finance purchase of its elaborate multi-million dollar clubhouses, pools, security operations, etc. On July 21, when a regularly-scheduled meeting of the Recreation Facilities Executive Committee (RFEC) convened, an estimated 150 to 200 residents crowded in to hear the management explanation of Desch’s firing. Surface, sitting on a committee originally designed to oversee for the KP Federation board management of the amenities his company controls, had promised the explanation. He did not keep that promise, pointedly refusing to speak Desch’s name. And, by the end of July, Surface, himself an attorney, was consulting with lawyers representing the KP Federation about Desch. According to a billing statement sent for payment and obtained by The Observer, federation attorneys Wetherington, Hamilton, Harrison & Fair had begun telephone conferences with Surface about Desch by July 28. The firm’s attorney conferring with Surface, Douglas Christy, billed his time at $200 per hour. The law firm also was gearing up to produce an “opinion” apparently aimed at quelling any continuing questioning of the KPM management’s handling of the Desch situation. That opinion statement on behalf of the federation was dated August 6 and transmitted to the federation directors that date, according to the firm’s billing. The billing makes it clear that Sterling onsite manager Brian May, Federation President Cliff Seder as well as Surface all participated with Christy in framing, reviewing or approving the “opinion” which attempts to alarm “meddling” residents over supposed “violations” of various agreements – the Land Trust Agreement, the Facilities Management Agreement and the Loan Agreement - and convey threats of possible legal action for which all might have to pay. Christy charged the federation some $1,660 for his work with the community managers devoting themselves to working up accusations and veiled threats aimed at the residents whose best interests they often speak publicly about representing. On August 28, Seder distributed the accusing and threatening “opinion” to more than 100 condo association officers, with instructions to share it with all unit owners. Rather than silence residents, however, the “meddling” memo prompted more questions. Michael T. Fox, a retired California attorney, found it “fundamentally flawed” and asked for a number of answers. During September, Fox addressed three separate letters to the federation board, the two latter transmitted to each board director individually. None of his letters have been answered by the board and his questions so far have received no responses, Fox told The Observer this week. Fox wants to know, for example, where in the three agreements “meddling” is defined as a violation, punishable with legal action, and how the word is explained as a legal term in Florida law and who in KP is going to determine what is “meddling.” Since “meddling” arose as an offense following resident questions to KPM about the Desch termination, Fox wonders if it applies only to personnel matters at KPM. To prove his point, he asks if residents are allowed to say “we don’t like the bus trips” or are they forbidden to say “We don’t like the bus driver.” He goes on to assert that the Christy “opinion” seems to indicate expressing a view that an employee is doing a good job would constitute “meddling” just as criticism is “meddling.” Fox also challenged board members to explain why each solicited a viewpoint “that would chill the exercise of the most fundamental constitutional right.” He was referring to freedom of speech. Fox points out that Christy, the Wetherington lawyer serving the federation, either was not given or overlooked ”Appendix A” which makes clear the RFEC duty, not just a right but rather an obligation, to provide guidance to the management company and the full Section 2.4 of the Trust Agreement which gives the management company “exclusive authority to manage the day to day operation” but also gives the federation the right to provide suggestions and policy recommendations to the management company. In addition, Fox questions the propriety of all of the managers involved in overseeing various aspects of the community for residents and in some cases supported by the fees residents pay – KPM, the Federation board, RFEC, Sterling, - putting their heads together to produce an accusing and threatening document for use against residents. It is not acceptable, he emphasized, for one attorney such as Christy who represents a client – the federation - to give another attorney who could become an adversary starting litigation such as Surface a potential strategy for future litigation against that client - members of the federation. This is among the points that Seder, the current federation board president, disputes as he discusses many of Fox’s contentions. Regarding the appearance of impropriety shown in the billing statement, he noted that attorneys on opposite sides of a matter often meet to talk about related issues. As an example, he cited a recent deposition he gave which was attended by lawyers for the adversaries involved. As for the term “meddling,” Seder insisted it is a legal term, used as part of “lawyer language.” The federation president also reiterated during an interview with The Observer that “meddling” could violate the several agreements and pointed to the Christy “opinion” as validation of that position. However, when asked where “meddling” appears in the agreements as a possible breach of that agreement, he did not answer the question. Moreover, if legal action were to be instituted as a result of such violations, Seder said again, each unit owner could be in jeopardy, possibly to the tune of thousands of dollars. Asked this week who, exactly, would initiate such litigation, he replied “I don’t know.” But,in a transcript of the September 4 federation board meeting, he stated that lawsuits could be forthcoming, including from Surface’s KPM. Asked this week why his board has not replied to the Fox letters, Seder responded it is not possible to reply “to 9,000 questions; there are 9,000 residents here.” And when asked a short time later for a yes or no on whether the board ever would respond to Fox’s queries, he said “the answers to his questions are in the opinion.” It was the Christy “opinion,” of course, which set in motion the resident’s quest for answers. Neither the federation board nor Surface, however, has had difficulty communicating with community leaders about their unwanted questions. In a September 14 letter to Richard and Lois Singer, Christy, the Wetherington lawyer to the board on which Singer is a current director, demanded “that you immediately cease and desist from all conduct that interferes with the day to day operations and management of certain commonly owned facilities and property, as such right is vested exclusively with Kings Point Management LLC…” Singer once suggested that Surface mediate the dispute between Desch and Anzalone, trying to help them settle their differences. He and his wife also participated in the July 21 RFEC meeting trying for answers about Desch’s sudden disappearance. The Wetherington letter demanded, too, that Lois Singer “cease and desist all conduct involving the independent contractors of the federation or KPM…” If she does not comply, the letter threatened, “the Federation will file a lawsuit for injunctive relief against her to compel her compliance…” Mrs. Singer, as a resident, once contacted the accounting firm that serves the federation asking about accounting software, why financial information detailing use of resident monies is not provided and about revenues from the newly, expensively renovated south clubhouse spa. In addition, a Jacksonville law firm representing Surface and some of his companies, Lester & Mitchell, threatened the Singers with “an action for injunctive relief and damages for tortious interference and defamation” due to their alleged interfering in KPM business operations and business relationships. Singers, along with a number of other residents, have become active with an organization called Kings Point Residents for Effective Leadership (KPREL) encouraging new candidates for the upcoming federation board election. That group is conducting a community meeting on October 22 in the Borini Theater. The KP federation general membership meeting is Friday (October 16) in the same venue. Copyright 2009 Melody Jameson © Copyright 2008 by The Observer News Publications and M&M Printing |
