Clean Hands
April 16, 2013
Most of what gets discussed by the BOD seems to be done behind closed doors. The minutes they do produce have no one questioning anything. Shouldn’t just one member be expected to just once bring one uncomfortable topic evident to so many for so long? It's been more than a week since the last BOD meeting. Still, no minutes from those have been released.
Apparently it is taking them months to figure out what happened at the Annual General and Extra Ordinary Meetings. Or, is it that they are struggling to "rig" things that didn't turn out as desired. Otherwise, they should be able to manage putting together minutes from two and a half months ago.
In my opinion, our administration is doing nothing but putting EP in a very precarious legal situation. They continuously harass particular homeowners when apparently several Attorneys and Notario's have told the BOD it was WRONG in several of the objected actions. If we think the BOD garbage suit fiasco caused us problems, just think what might be if those they've harassed chose to legally pursue what was said at public meetings, administration hand in deportation efforts, and involvement in criminal investigation called “mediation” but documented as no more than intimidation. We would then be in some very deep do-do.
We can't deny the awful way the first homeowner's meeting was orchestrated. It was recorded, so there's no point in denying it. The resulting and continuing fall-out of personal harassment is obvious to any on the street or in a gossip group. Many of us either took part in that homeowner's meeting harassment or allowed being led along in accepting silence. It was and should be an embarrassment to us as individuals who make up what was once one of the nicest friendliest condo's in the area.
All this could mean real problems for EP and quite possibly deservedly so. You cannot simply blame a hand full of homeowner's that are dissatisfied with the way EL Parque has been operated over the last few years. We MUST take a serious look at our Administration. Most here have never read our By-Laws or simply just don't care what they contain so long, as often said, "majority rules".
Well folks, that's not the way it works!! Screw “majority rules”!! It is the "MEXICAN LAW" that rules!!!, NOT majority adherence to beliefs, principles, and laws fixed in mind from the US or Canada. “Majority rules” in that context only count when voting on where to put a flower bed, or if smoking is to be allowed in the club house. Don’t justify what you are going to do anyhow by shoveling stuff at us about selected attorneys telling us everything is hunky dory when their opinions are based on what the BOD told them. Instead, show us signed and attested legal opinions arrived at through independent investigation.
We should have qualified and disinterested external consultants review and rewrite the bylaws so they fit our particularities while neither repeating nor contradicting ruling MEXICAN statutes. Allow us to have by-laws that represent something we are willing to and can legally enforce or do away with them. Otherwise, trying to enforce illegal By-Laws will only get us into legal trouble!
Our administrator is charged by law with running El Parque but serves instead as the board's administrative secretary. She would be provided with a secretary for secretarial work if that were not the case. Her duties should include enlightening and leading the board regarding both it's and her legal responsibilities and limits. To the extent she refuses that role should be viewed as performance deficiency.
While we're at it we need to look into whether our Administrator is working part-time for El Parque while collecting full time pay, including a 15% raise in the last 2 years. If any of her publicly advertised "Immigration" work is done through El Parque, it should be on her own time and her own nickel, not ours. Much of that sort of work requires doing during the work day/week. El Parque should not supply an equipped office for it. It might be interesting to find out if any or how many immigration clients she's processed since being employed by El Parque and supposedly doing our work. Would that justify deducting a good portion of the salary collected from us?
I believe the BOD should be dumped and an Administrative company brought in while keeping BOD membership to a legal minimum. I for one am very tired of the "one hand washes the other" that the BOD and Administrator appear to be practicing.
I am in TOTAL agreement with the position put forward in this post. Neither the Board nor the Administrator have been operating with "clean hands" or in good faith, for a remarkably long time. Well said!
I'm interested in seeing whether anyone disputes this post, which would indicate that at least some members of the Board, or some supporters, are reading this blog. WAKE UP, dammit!
posted by edp: 6:50 AM, April 16, 2013
Some of us are awake! I too agree with the post.
posted by fed up 2: 12:50 PM, April 16, 2013
Howard and I totally agree with this post we lived the harassments all of them and more. A neighbor went as far as e-mailing us to say "move far far away and bring your TALIBAN friends with you"...Well neighbor we are not moving.
posted by Howard and Diane casa (_): 2:36 PM, April 16, 2013
I am also awake and totally agree with this post, its time for some action.
posted by Anonymous: 4:41 PM, April 16, 2013
I think it hit the mail on the head! Well said!
posted by Anonymous: 10:14 PM, April 16, 2013
If you "dump" the BOD and the administrator what would be the cost to hire new BOD members? Especially the BOD since they do not receive a salary - yes the administrator does and the 15% wage increase a year is ridiculous. I would say yes or no to that suggestion once I knew the cost.
posted by Anonymous: 1:02 PM, June 28, 2013
From all I can tell there is no big cost involved in getting rid of BOD members since they are not employees. Simply follow the requirements in the Jalisco Code (which is repeated in the By-Laws) to hold an Ordinary Meeting and vote them out. The Administrator can simply be let go by not approving her for a new term at the AGM and no severance is required. I too would be thrilled to not be paying her salary to conduct her immigration business on El Parque time, in the El Parque office, with El Parque equipment! This Administrator does very little for the operation of El Parque. In my humble opinion the BOD members are handling most of the duties the Administrator is paid to do.
posted by Anonymous: 2:28 PM, July 4, 2013
