Severing Ties with Cafe
V:
Just More Rhetoric to
Camouflage
INCOMPETENCE
(Part Two of
Two)
In examining the arrangement of the Cafe V departure, yesterday we looked closely at four reasons WHY we ended up with what the Sun City Anthem Board of Directors attempted to portray as the "Deal of the Century".
Today, we're going to look at the last piece of
that puzzle; as well as tell you about a discussion which took place with one
the Sun City Anthem Board Directors whom you elected and trusted to guard our
community's financial well-being...despite his lack of business
acumen.
The final reason as to why the last
year of "restaurant agony" took place was
because a guy complained we were unfairly charging him for
his utilities....
...the owner of Cafe
V.
What did the dynamic duo of Bella Meese, and subsequent current Association Secretary, and the past president, Jean Capillupo do when confronted with this plea?
They took it upon
themselves to grant Anthem Restaurant Partners a credit
of
$14,000...
..WITHOUT
CONSULTING ANY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS !
(Gee...does anyone see some kind of
pattern???)
(Buses
anyone?)
Oh boy...when the rest of the board
heard about that one, they quickly RESCINDED that
deal.
Then... it subsequently was determined
by professionals that ...
The electric meter was
properly working at all times...
...that there was NO NEED for any such credit !
Result:
Anthem Restaurant Partners did it to us
again !
How ????
Unfortunately for Sun City Anthem
residents...
MRS. MEESE PUT
THE AGREEMENT ON PAPER and SIGNED IT AS THE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT
!
And guess what Anthem Partners did as a
result?
THEY KEPT THAT
PIECE OF PAPER...for...FUTURE REFERENCE !
Let's push the clock ahead to just a few months ago...when our "valued restaurant tenant" again "went to the well" for...
He tried to cut
days of operation, he didn't pay the
utilities, but...he did pay his meager rent of $1,000 per month, and a
partial payment on one of the loans.
Now what ???
How do you evict
someone who is paying an amount that A BOARD AGREED TO...THAT WAS COSTING RESIDENTS MONEY EACH
MONTH?
Ah hah !
Let's go to the association attorney
and see what he has to say !
And...like all attorneys who know full
well that...
SETTLING ANYTHING PROMPTLY, is construed as REDUCING THEIR
INCOME...
...he informs the "geniuses" that
Anthem Restaurant Partners may have a case...
..that it could cost as much as $200,000 to defend such an action
!
And...
They fell for it
!
I had a rather "heated discussion"
about that with Director Don Scramski a couple of
weeks ago...and...I have to say...his complete lack of dealing with attorneys
was so evident, it almost made me cry !
I felt I would have been in better
hands with....
I asked him, "Don, if I lent you $1,000 and I didn't pay you back, then came back to you a month later and asked you for another $1,000, what would you say to me?"
To which I received this reply..."I wouldn't give it to you."
And to that...I told him, "You wouldn't give it to me, but you have no difficulty giving
money that belongs to others to an entity who has stiffed you in the
past?"
Mr. Schramski didn't seem to have an
answer to that at all.
Then the $200,000 attorney legal fee threat came to light...and that
was the best of all !
He maintained that
the association attorney was DEAD ON in his advice...that he was assured by that man...that we
must cut some sort of
deal...
...or
face...
Nightmare
litigation !
Reflecting to
myself....
"If the brain
don't think, something must stink"....
...I
responded....
"Don, have you ever
been involved in major lawsuit?"
"No." he
answered.
"And just how do
you think a guy is going to come up with thousands of dollars to sue you, in the
type of case that no attorney would take on a contingency, and insist on an
hourly bill, when he can't even pay his rent and outstanding
loans?
To which he replied, "Well, we did finally evict the guy", as if he had
accomplished some feat of expertise !
And my reply to that?
"After two years,
you finally called his bluff, and he ran like a bear who had to relieve himself
in the woods ... didn't he ?"
"Had you listened to those in the community...or ever
sought advice from qualified individuals, that could have saved us two years of
wasted funds."
After assuring me he did....fellow
board members...Mr. Schramki merely walked away.
Finally, we are at the point where this
board is now on another quest to "sell" the community
on their "shrewd" negotiating through a dissertation that praises their valiant efforts in
solving this crisis.
In reality, the word was obviously
misspelled...
...the correct word that should have
been used in lieu of...
"shrewd"...
... should have
been...
"screwed"
Here's what we got after years of DIPPING INTO YOUR WALLET for a place no one patronized !
1. We got to
keep a computer system that will probably be obsolete within a year or
two.
2. We kept a
security deposit.
3. We "ate"
the balance of two outstanding loans.
4. We
granted them the usage of the ballroom for two catered events at a fee of $2500
per event...but NO ONE COULD VERIFY IF THEY WERE INSURED TO
CONDUCT THEM.
And...
5. We got
kitchen equipment that has a book value at a fraction of its original purchase
price; which, and on the secondary market, will bear
closer to 10 cents on the dollar...rather than the 30
cents they "boasted"...
..equipment Anthem Partners was in hock for up their ears...which the creditor, agreed to release the lien subject to...
SUN CITY
ANTHEM PAYING THEM...
$2,000
(trusting that Anthem
Restaurant Partners will cough up the balance on the
loan)
...an
amount that was...
$10,000
...for a place that
MAY OR MAY NOT HOUSE ANOTHER RESTAURANT IN THE FUTURE
!
I'm not saying that wasn't the best we
could do UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES...
But let's call it like IT REALLY IS
!
An arrogant duo and a number of
their inexperienced "political" lap dogs sanctioned all that took place ever
since day one.
That description may at first glance be
somewhat brutal....but when CORRUPTION, INEXPERIENCE, AND
LACK OF COMMON SENSE is supported with MORE CORRUPTION, INEXPERIENCE, AND LACK OF COMMON
SENSE...
...describing them in that manner is
KIND.
And, as I also told Mr. Schramki, when he left
our conversation...
"We live in
different worlds. Mine is results oriented...yours is a game of horseshoes where
"almost" counts...and the bottom line is simply...you guys (deleted
expletive)!"
Yes indeed, Sun City Anthem "took it in the shorts" on this
deal....
...no matter what anytime tries to tell
you !
Want a know the most
ridiculous epilogue of this story?
We have the current
Board Treasurer, Tom Nissen, running for reelection on a platform of "financial
success".
We dug up a comment he made when he ran
for office in 2014...
"I pledge to
protect our members' dollars as if they were my
own".
And...he's running alongside a "machine" hand picked guy named Bob Burch....
...who believes this
Board has done a fine job handling the finances !
We suggest you keep these individuals
in mind when you cast your upcoming Board ballot in what might be the most
important Board election in the 17 year history of Sun City
Anthem.
One campaign slogan I'm sure both will
not be using....
Now....there is yet another crusade...to do it again !
Bella
Meese, Jean Capilluppo, and their mouthpiece,
the other blogger, want ANOTHER
RESTAURANT ASAP !
Luckily, the rest of the board made
this decision !
We have a lot more things to worry about besides a restaurant !
But one thing for
sure...
All of these individuals and their
"ingenious" ability to spend money like water are CERTAINLY
NOT THE ONES who should have anything to do with it in the
future.
Got a comment ?
Send it to us
at:
Anthem Opinions
Administration
Why don't they give the people what they want.
We are Senior Citizens who have been around a long time and spend our money wisely.
We are 2 for 1 people for the most part.
We get free buffets, coupons, discounts and a lot of incentives to use nearby restaurants and casino buffets.
Yes, we have a beautiful view one we enjoy every day that we are at Anthem Center.
Why is Buckman's such a success?
Why do we need a fancy restaurant when we have proven in the last 15 years that it cannot be successful!
It would be nice to have a place where you could get a Sandwhich or appetizer when we are using the Center.
The clubs go to places nearby that are reasonable.
Quality servers will never come way up here when there are so many fine dining establishments that are available closer to them. Walk into the Village Pub, Giadas, Tuscany grill, Chili's and I could go on and on with different establishments and you will find them filled with our residents.
We have told the board over and over what we want.
Is anybody listening?
Give the people what they want !!!!!
I don't understand why we can't ban all present Board Members from ever running for election again. This would certainly help with the next election and prevent these so called masterminds from continuing to ruin our beautiful community.
Thanks for all you do.
Worse than having these "Idiots, fools, half-wit; imbecile's; dolt's, dunce's, numskull's as a board," is the social geniuses who elect them.
OMG, I am so disgusted with them. They have no common sense, no business sense, and certainly don't give a damn about anyone's money, or a clue on how to manage anything, as they have proven so.
Once again...Stop the madness. How many times do we have to do this restaurant thing? If all we do is throw good money after bad, and as an example keep getting hit over our heads with a 2X4...dontcha' just get tired of the pain?