Severing Ties with Cafe
V:
Just More Rhetoric to
Camouflage
INCOMPETENCE
(Part One of
Two)
This is the first of a two part article which takes up the subject of Cafe V's handling by the Sun City Anthem Board of Directors over the past few years.
If you do read the full report
submitted by the Sun City Anthem Board of Directors (and get past the kudos they
seem two shower themselves with for their ingenuity in demonstrating the "Art of the Deal"), noticeably omitted were the causes of
the problem.
We've come to the conclusion that there
are mainly five reasons as to why things worked out
in the manner in which they did.
Today, we'll look at the first four elements of the restaurant
calamity.
First, these
"gurus" never did listen to the supposed "unscientific" survey where 81% of the respondents said...DON'T
SPEND OUR MONEY.
Of course not, they instead "went their
own way" due to the "leadership" of then President Jean
Capillupo, who properly schooled her successor, Bella
Meese, in the governmental attitude now referred to
as....
"Let them eat cake"
...in her manner of management that
over the period had many in Sun City Anthem referring to her as "Queen Jean".
Second, they
composed a lease agreement that had more holes in it than Swiss cheese; which in
turn, allowed the restaurant tenant to "lick his
chops" in Sun City Anthem association funds.
Provide an independent for profit business a fully stocked kitchen and equipment, and then guarantee it would be both repaired and replaced...no matter who created the damage?
Yes
indeed...that was the original "deal"
!
Remember the tale of the
salamander....the cheese melter?
These same individuals were all set to
approve an expenditure at more than 100% above the going
cost...
...until a resident forwarded a site on
the internet at half the price to Board Director
Carl Weinstein, something that person
discovered within 30 seconds, through a "magical" website called....
Think they would admit they "got hosed" by a management company recommendation?
Nope, at the time, they simply "tabled"
the purchase after they realized the cheese melter could subsequently be used to
provide "egg on their faces"
!
However...
...after the Cafe V people eventually
departed...
...the restaurant was eventually
inventoried, and low and behold...two unopened
"cheese melters" were found.
As to who authorized their purchase or WHAT
WAS PAID FOR THEM...
...remains a mystery...a mystery in
which residents ended up "forking" up the dough to
pay for them !
It gets better folks.
Third,
Anthem Restaurant Partners signed a lease for $4,000
a month.
Let's see, how long did that last until
the "weeping of the restaurant owner" and his "crying
poor"....
... brought sympathy from board members to reduce their rent from $4,000 to $2,000...and then $1,000 per month?
Was that a good
move?
Well now, as a result of renting to a
profit making entity, that portion of Anthem Center subjected Sun City Anthem to
property taxation....something homeowners associations are normally exempted
from when they don't rent their premises.
The amount of additional property taxes
that Sun City Anthem was responsible for as a result?
$2,000 PER
MONTH....$24,000 per year
!
Now one has to think about
that...
...especially when the then Association
President (Capillupo) boasted when she originally
ran for the Board at being a past School Superintendent guiding the youth of
America !
OK students, here's today's lesson in
the "new math" !
Take in $1,000...pay $2,000 in
taxes....
Anyone out there have an answer as to
the validity of that "mathematical equation" ????
Fourth, that still couldn't satisfy the "financial hunger" of Anthem Restaurant Partners.
No siree...they needed two loans as well.
Go to a bank?
Without any money ?
Without even a business plan ?
...trying to convince them that 4 previous restaurant failed attempts were just "flukes"?
Even this guy would have turned them down !
Result....Oops...no takers in the financial world
!
"Not to Worry" said the man who wanted the cash !
"Hey...let's "hit up" the Sun City Anthem
Board again !"
And so they did...TWICE...with the "gurus" approving both of
them...
...without proper vetting....at a below prime rate of interest !
And...the monster seemed to grow...with the continual flow of your dough !
Could there possibly be more?
You bet
!
We'll cover the fifth and most
compelling reason for the restaurant calamity
tomorrow.
Got a
comment?
Send it to:
Anthem Opinions
Administration
You always get it right.
The opinion of most of the people that live in Sun City was to have a restaurant that was not "fine dining" but more like Village Pub, The Boulevard or even Del Mar Deli.
Did anyone on the board listen to us????
Of course not!
They do whatever they want and whenever they want.
Why go to a meeting to voice your opinion when it doesn't count.
It is terrible the way the board is run.
If you think Part One was "right", wait until you See Part Two tomorrow.
It will curl your toes !
The moral of this, and tomorrow's Part Two is simply...CHOOSE YOUR NEXT BOARD WISELY.
Keep up the great work.
The board applauds themselves for settling for $22,000. What happened to the $177,000 they originally spent to upgrade the kitchen appliances?
The saying goes “If you open a restaurant and it fails, don’t open another restaurant, open a shoe store”
We have opened 4 restaurants.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Is my wife using an alias to post a comment?