Information Pages

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Listening = Saving Approximately $3,500 of Association Funds



Two Way Communication
It Can Work...If...Both Parties Are Willing to Listen !

Remember the Salamader? 

No, not the lizard..

The Cheese Melter !

We just got a nice note from Board Director, Carl Weinstein, informing us that after examining a number of competitive options and reading our article posted September 21, 2015, the matter has been reviewed and it appears that as a result of a JOINT EFFORT between BOARD MEMBER...RESIDENT...with a nudge from...ANTHEM OPINIONS...

...Sun City Anthem residents will....

SAVE APPROXIMATELY $3,500
as a result ! 

We wish to express our thanks to Mr. Weinstein for his taking the time to read our article, examine its contents, and subsequently investigate the concerns expressed.

The best part....Sun City Anthem residents will enjoy a substantial savings...

...and perhaps...

...as a result of this episode, the Sun City Anthem Board will strongly consider a plea made over the years by those who have expressed a concern for needless waste...

...an "Oversight Committee" for all future expenditures that exceed a predetermined dollar amount.

For those of you who did not have the opportunity to read the Anthem Opinions article, we have reprinted it for you below.

Do you have thoughts on the merit of an Oversight Committee to police the validity of bidding projects?

Let us know your feeling.

Send your emails to:

scaopinions@gmail.com

Anthem Opinions Administration

  1. From Buddy Greenfield...to...Anthem Opinions

    Reply to article by cheese melter.

    Should there be an oversight committee???

    Absolutely. If projects like this cheese melter come up, we should treat it like our own money and not just association money that cost each homeowner a few pennies a month. If we continue to add up those pennies, it comes to real dollars.

    Yes, I am in favor of an oversight committee.

    Regarding saving money for this project, I disagree.

    We have a failing restaurant that is being subsidized heavily to keep the doors open.

    They have been less than straightforward to our community. They in the past have not paid their fair share and on a timely basis.

    We have spent unnecessary legal fees as a result of this relationship.

    Did we just SAVE money?

    I do not think so.

    Why should WE THE ASSOCIATION, pay any more to continue to subsidize a failing operation?.

    Will this cheese melting machine help the restaurant to be successful?

    How have they lived without it for the last few years?

    The question is not did we save money but rather why are we continuing to throw our association funds away.

    It is not a victory to spend less on something that does not appear to be necessary.
  2. Buddy,

    Thanks for the comment...the second part was food for thought.

    I have learned that according to the original lease years ago with a former restaurant tenant, the actual items included for repair and replacement were inventoried and specified as part of the lease agreement.

    One would hope that this was also the case with Cafe V.

    A request for the lease agreement INCLUDING A LISTING of the items is being requested as part of a Document Request.

    It takes 20-21 days to receive a response, and we will publish an article as to the items OR LACK THEREOF once received.

    If we are denied the request, we will also publish the statement received from the management company.

    If the cheese melter is NOT on the list, obviously we would then NOT have been responsible for it, and therefore it should NOT have been replaced at association expense.

    Let's hope it is...because if it not...it represents another WASTE of association assets.

    Stay tuned.
________________________

Cafe V to Get a New
"Salamander"

Huh ?  

Something new on the menu to offer "specials" to Sun City Anthem residents? 

We're buying the guy a lizard ?

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirIbW8Zjepn0WN6BUGrP9wMjpnebXNpMMCyjOXqWX3sHh-CWxbzGpE15iPr9BfJhFb6DkIIm_dbgFYPFl2pK7dC37_ZwR6LBcWW635iusB54plGdXk7-9tcFo0AWl_YyuK_Voth8NsoY/s1600/Salamander+lizard.jpeg

Couldn't be...but the question remains...

"What the H _ _ L is a salamander?"

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghEuZiwDQIROqN5G4YGFzQrMUcf-b69skkhFyD5Yl104yc-aaaJJXkcHBOeI2bZB2rRshQ4FmgKqxfjXEuWLkKEE18CtVC6xe-xWkYUCmPS623ZthW0AKGigg6717zze5eLt2Wx_na468/s1600/Bewildered+look.jpeg

When you're a guy whose only experience in a kitchen is the location of the refrigerator, and whose cooking experience is pretty well limited to the words " Big Mac, Coke and Fries", cooking words are rather foreign in my vocabulary....

so...

...off to Wikipedia I went to find out just what this contraption was all about.

The best I could find was that this machine is:

... "a cheese melting cooking device used primarily in commercial restaurant kitchens. Powered by direct flame of electricity, these long, toaster-like appliances allow cooks to put finishing touches on dishes, especially those topped with shredded cheese."

And so...we are about to buy Cafe V a new cheese melter.

This is an example of a salamander...not the actual one, should the board approve its purchase.
 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSk12yCNx0iQrgEMYEGY8IntyWA4fQLh40YX-UtpBSaVaAzpySEgmXaZsIWzVYZfbzufi4zMwKJ0itsbKi6Tu7HrXNj4R-CjKpZlhJwGScThgf7WQsO5D3ERToxq87iWqwFuHsNpaX4vk/s1600/Cheese+salamander.jpeg
Why we're buying Cafe V a cheese melter when, to my knowledge, "grilled cheese" doesn't appear to be on its best seller menu...I'll never understand !

But...it's in the budget...a reserve item...something that you are supposed to believe is needed...because it was previously approved...by a group of people...who design budgets!

Now...if that makes sense to you, perhaps you might explain that to me !

I'm saving the best part, though.  

Turns out this wonderful "gotta have it gadget" will cost...

$5,400.00

and to install it...
another...

 $1,600.00

And that's Seven Grand so Cafe V can provide his "numerous customers" melted cheese.

Well that set me off into checking the internet for one of these "necessary" machines...and here's what I found:

...and low and behold, after examining the many varieties available...the most expensive one I could find on this list was a whole lot less than what "the budget approved".

So now you know....$7,000 of our money for a restaurant that doesn't open every day, for a place that YOU AND I ALREADY SUBSIDIZE.

And how much of this will be paid by the renter?

-0-

Looks like our board has figured out yet another way of
using our money to...

"Cut the Cheese"

Dick Arendt
Anthem Opinions

4 comments:

  1. From Buddy Greenfield...to...Anthem Opinions

    Reply to article by cheese melter.

    Should there be an oversight committee???

    Absolutely. If projects like this cheese melter come up, we should treat it like our own money and not just association money that cost each homeowner a few pennies a month. If we continue to add up those pennies, it comes to real dollars.

    Yes, I am in favor of an oversight committee.

    Regarding saving money for this project, I disagree.

    We have a failing restaurant that is being subsidized heavily to keep the doors open.

    They have been less than straightforward to our community. They in the past have not paid their fair share and on a timely basis.

    We have spent unnecessary legal fees as a result of this relationship.

    Did we just SAVE money?

    I do not think so.

    Why should WE THE ASSOCIATION, pay any more to continue to subsidize a failing operation?.

    Will this cheese melting machine help the restaurant to be successful?

    How have they lived without it for the last few years?

    The question is not did we save money but rather why are we continuing to throw our association funds away.

    It is not a victory to spend less on something that does not appear to be necessary.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Buddy,

    Thanks for the comment...the second part was food for thought.

    I have learned that according to the original lease years ago with a former restaurant tenant, the actual items included for repair and replacement were inventoried and specified as part of the lease agreement.

    One would hope that this was also the case with Cafe V.

    A request for the lease agreement INCLUDING A LISTING of the items is being requested as part of a Document Request.

    It takes 20-21 days to receive a response, and we will publish an article as to the items OR LACK THEREOF once received.

    If we hare denied the request, we will also publish the statement received from the management company.

    If the cheese melter is NOT on the list, obviously we would then NOT have been responsible for it, and therefore it should NOT have been replaced at association expense.

    Let's hope it is...because if it not...it represents another WASTE of association assents.

    Stay tuned.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Re:
    Oversight Committee

    I absolutely agree this is needed, and for the first time I'd volunteer! This is where all the expertise people that have gone through a lifetime of life experiences can occaisionally offer insight to saving money and give the rest of the community intelligent and rational input.

    EXAMPLE:

    On today's docket for items is #3:

    Expenditures & Contracts
    (Action to be taken)
    Operating Fund Item
    Fire sprinkler heads replacement through out SCA.

    Now, I may not be privy to why this must be done, but there might be a valid reason. This item is so insignificant, but I know this costs several thousand dollars if it needed to do.

    Here is what I know:

    This falls under NFPA 25 (National Fire Prevention Association)
    It states sprinkler heads need to be replaced under the falling issues;
    When they are painted by mistake.
    When they are in a environmental condition that warrants it.
    When they become 50 years old.

    So the question is....why?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sure seems like this has been "hashed" before, and people still remember the reasons. Maybe our newly hired "Queen" come up with a reason why (not)...of course. Oh sure, there are lots of items that may not be required, but let's try it for a little honesty, right Ms. Seddon. We are not all perfect.

    ReplyDelete