A Reader's Attempt to
Obtain
Public Association
Financial Information
(Part Two of
Two)
Yesterday we brought to your attention a Sun City Anthem unit owner's attempt to obtain public financial information regarding reimbursed credit card expenditures concerning Sun City Anthem funds...
....and what we believe, was an
attempt to "stonewall" that individual from sharing
that information with fellow residents, by insisting he complete an affidavit
that was subsequently found to be against Nevada Legal
Statutes.
Today we will bring you the
vital information that was obtained from discussing those
findings.
Before we begin, we feel it important
that Robert Nusser deserves a well earned thanks from
all residents in his dedicated search to obtain this
information.....
...and taking his valuable time to
contact Anthem Opinions to discuss its contents.
Now...to what was discovered
!
Mr. Nusser
requested:
"copies of reimbursements issued to the Board of Directors for paid
expenses in calendar year 2015"
Most information he eventually received was from
August through December, 2015, and concerned the hiring of a new General
Manager.
Keep in mind that YOUR DUES ALSO PAID A FIVE DIGIT NUMBER OF DOLLARS FOR A PROFESSIONAL SEARCH FIRM TO RECRUIT A GENERAL MANAGER...in addition to the following !
Keep in mind that YOUR DUES ALSO PAID A FIVE DIGIT NUMBER OF DOLLARS FOR A PROFESSIONAL SEARCH FIRM TO RECRUIT A GENERAL MANAGER...in addition to the following !
We found evidence of expenses that were
authorized by Bella Meese with the signature of Thomas Nissen, current Board Treasurer and CANDIDATE
FOR RE-ELECTION TO THE SUN CITY ANTHEM
BOARD...
... on credit card
receipts that were submitted and were reimbursed to
Thomas Nissen, PAID by YOUR ASSOCIATION FUNDS.
Let's start off by going back to August 10-11,
2015.
On those dates, interviews were
conducted with potential candidates for the General Manager position currently
held by Sandy Seddon as of April 1,
2016.
Common sense...and any concern for the
financial well-being of Sun City Anthem would have held those meetings at our
beautiful Anthem Center, right?
Think again....they were conducted at the M Resort...a popular place patronized
with great frequency by our current Board President, Bella
Meese and her husband.
On August 10,
2015 YOUR ASSOCIATION DUES PAID
$437.71
...for a meeting room at the M Resort to conduct a session between SCA board members
and potential General Manager Candidates....
...which included $49.00 for ONE GALLON
of COFFEE...
...cokes and
bottled water costing $3.15 EACH,
....and to keep their tummies
full...
...an additional $30.80 for a DOZEN
PASTRIES.
Then...
...on August 11,
2015 YOUR DUES PAID an additional...
$528.06
...for another meeting
room at the M Resort to conduct a second
session....
...this time
with...
...TWO GALLONS of COFFEE costing $98.00...
... alongside the cokes
and bottled water at $3.15 EACH...
...and another $30.80 for those ever so tasty DOZEN
PASTRIES.
Total tab on the meeting rooms and
goodies for the two days ?
$965.77
Let's now spin the clock
forward a month to September, 2015
!
On September 4, 2015, evidently the final decision must have
been close to hiring a General Manager because....
On that day, another
meeting was set at the M
Resort...
Again, we saw evidence of
expenses
authorized
by Bella Meese and COPIES OF CREDIT CARD
RECEIPTS signed by Board Treasurer, Thomas
Nissen, for the following:
A meeting room with 6
Board Members and the GM candidate (Jim Mayfield was
absent)...costing...
$720.76
and drum roll
please....
...a PRIVATE RECEPTION held at the home of Board Treasurer,
Thomas Nissen, attended by the Board
members...costing....
$292.10
Total tab YOUR
ASSOCIATION DUES PAID FOR THAT EXTRAVAGANA...
$1,012.86
Think that is the end of
it ????
Think again...only let's
go forward 5 DAYS to September 9,
2015.
Evidently that must have
been the date in which the final decision and offer was made
to to choose Mrs. Seddon as the winner of the $250,000 annual General Manager
salary along with a $30,000 additional moving allotment and payment of full
medical insurance benefits for her AND her entire
family.
And to present her with
the "crown jewels"...
Yup...they did it again,
this time in REAL STYLE !
On that memorable day,
we saw evidence of an authorization by President Bella
Meese AND COPIES OF CREDIT CARD RECEIPTS
signed by Board Treasurer, Thomas Nissen, for what
must have been a formal "coronation" !
A meeting room at the
M Resort (why the M again and
again) attended by all seven board
members ????
(Any
chance that the choice of the M Resort had any
bearing on a certain association president having a HIGH ROLLER PLAYERS
CLUB CARD ?)
Total paid with YOUR ASSOCIATION DUES:
$765.64
...and not to be seconded
with a "paltry private reception" this time....
A total tab for the
"celebrants" at ANTHONY'S STEAK HOUSE, for
"only"
$825.35
Total amount PAID BY YOUR ASSOCIATION
DUES ON THAT ONE DAY!
$1,590.99
Still not done folks
!
On September 20, 2015...evidently there were some wrinkles to
iron out with the General Manager agreement that couldn't be handled by
phone.
What to
do?
Let's get another meeting
room and pay for Mrs. Seddon's husband's fuel bill to fly a private plane to meet at Henderson Executive
Airport !!
Add a few "office
supplies" and that total tab was "only"
$265.80
It's ain't over !
On November
9th and 10th...
Travel expenses authorized by Bella Meese and SIGNED CREDIT CARD
RECEIPTS by Thomas Nissen to Palm Desert to
meeting privately with Sandy Seddon cost YOU...
$466.92
So let's get a grand
total of WHAT YOU PAID FOR to recruit a General Manager for a $250,000 job with
benefits ?
$4,387.48
Makes the $2,600 "Hillary" buses look like a real bargain doesn't
it?
What's the point in all
of this?
It's just Stage Two of yet another episode of "Bella...gate".
Does this situation
need close examination and most importantly, a change in leadership philosophy
by a new board?
...or...
Do
you want this type of waste to continue ?
Anthem Opinions
encourages any Sun City Anthem resident who is outraged by this frivolous
spending to make similar document requests.
Only then can one make a
determination as to whether or not a person deserves to be a member of a Board
of Directors, and swearing an oath to represent the financial interests of our
retirement community.
Will you retain Thomas Nissen...and/or elect current board candidate Bob Burch who has again and again, supported the decisions of the current
Board?
We
hope not...because we wholehearted believe that electing either of these
individuals will continue the problems of the
past....
...problems neither
choose to acknowledge, yet to many in our community realize,
require reform.
An alternative blogger has endorsed Nissen saying "Let Him Finish the Job"...
We say...BOOT HIM...before he "Finishes Us Off" !
An alternative blogger has endorsed Nissen saying "Let Him Finish the Job"...
We say...BOOT HIM...before he "Finishes Us Off" !
Anthem Opinions
Administration
Got a comment?
Send it to:
As a Sun City Anthem resident hell bent on monitoring and cutting down on all of our expenses because of our limited fixed income like most of our neighbors, it was infuriating to read your article about all the inappropriate expenditures authorized by our Board President when searching for a General Manager whose starting salary, in most people's estimation, is inordinately high given the size and simplicity of our operations.
We are not a complex functioning large corporation as most Board members would like to think.
With the Republican Party primary elections currently going on and the front-runner hugging the news daily, one gets the feeling that somehow the "Donald" rubs on our Board members.
Someone has to remind them that this is NOT a TRUMP Organization; it is a simple retirement community.
What bothers me the most is the salary of $250,000 yearly and benefits package, of an unknown amount, being paid to our new General Manager for an HOA with a population of around 13,000 residents. By comparison:
The City of Henderson Manager, with 3,500 employees and a resident population of 260,000, gets paid $227,000.
The Clark County Manager, population 2,003,613 and 6,755 employees, is paid $211,677 yearly.
Finding a small City with similar population to Sun City anthem we look at Mesquite, NV with a population of 16,000 and 243 employees and the compensation is $110,000.
So how the heck did this Board of Directors, under Bella Meese and Tom Nissen, arrive at the outlandish salary for our new General Manger? Of course they realized it wasn’t their money and wrote a budget that allowed this.
We seem to have found a competent person in Sandy Seddon, but what a price!
From Michelle G...to...Anthem Opinions
I applaud Mr. Nusser for the information that was uncovered by his request.
I recently purchased my home in Sun City Anthem AFTER renting here for 4 years.
I was horrified after learning about the BUS debacle.
I paid $1100 to get membership to this community and the Board thinks they have exclusive right to spend money as they seem fit.
I wanted to write to find out what could be done so I am very grateful to Mr. Nusser for his knowledge of what needs to be done and following through.
Should there have been a committee of residents OTHER than the board to hire a new CAM?
I have felt that the board(not just the most recent one) have had a misplaced opinion that once they get elected that the community belongs to them and they are the only ones to make major decisions for the rest of the community(the people that put them in that position to begin with).
Thank you again Mr. Nusser and to you for publishing the information. Please do not publish this BUT do use any part that you think will support the topic.
One would think that a potential G.M. candidate would appreciate viewing the facility.
Why not hold these meetings in the defunct restaurant?
Do we have a President or a Queen with Knights of the Round Table?
Please get these people out of office NOW.
Just don't know how they have lasted this long. I have nothing but nasty words for all of them. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME and SHAME to all the people still supporting them.
AMEN!!!!
Let's get rid of all of them. There are many seniors living here (including me) that cannot afford a raise in dues, etc.
Hard to believe that after reading all of these documented costs, that the alternative blogger is still endorsing Thomas Nissen.
I guess when you've worked the system and recommended such incompetent and corruption in the past , it's impossible to break the habit.
Water seeks its own level, doesn't it ?
I know one of the headhunting firms that SCA interviewed.
They told me that they thought they could fill the GM role for about a salary in the $180,000 range.
If I recall properly the search firm was paid in the neighborhood of $30,000 to hire the new General Manager.
We need to IMPEACH these people.
Thanks for the information on the HOA’s expenditure issues. I think its alarming to learn about the expenditures and that residents have gone to great lengths to find out. What is more important here is has anything been done illegally? if so its time to file a complaint with the Grand Jury to determine if any illegal action has been taken by the Board. As you know from past news stories in the Las Vegas area several HOA organizations in our county have been investigated for wrong doing and individuals have been investigated and charged with criminal intent and some are now serving time in prison.
If we are at that stage a Grand Jury complaint may be in order. Unless we correct bad practices by holding individuals accountable by threat of a criminal indictment it does not matter who sits on the Board they will replete the same mistakes.
Thanks for your excellent job of informing us, SCA residents, on what's going on in our community especially the impudent and unchecked actions by our Board. They seem to think and act like they have no fiduciary responsibility at all and can spend our dues anytime at their disposal.
(As a side note and I've mentioned this to Forrest who incidentally was again excluded by D. Berman as among the candidates he's endorsing. We've lived here for over 7 years now and one thing I noticed every Board election year, all the candidates without exception that David endorses win.
Now why is that? Isn't that very unusual? Is he really that good in predicting winners? Does he have a magic glass ball? Is he that influential and powerful in the community to be able to sway voters?
Maybe the vote counting has to be verified, audited and certified by an impartial and independent body?
What do you think?
What is most important now is ridding ourselves of the poison that has infested Sun City Anthem for years, whether that comes from those who have been elected, or those who cause people to deny their deceptive and self-serving actions.
There leaves little doubt after the findings of Robert Nusser that waste has been allowed to run rampant for years.
You can't dispute actual copies of paid credit card receipts along with official signed documents signed by those who have made waste a part of everyday life, fully detailing those wasteful expenditures...in order that personal reimbursements can be made to them.
For years a number of such individuals with personal agendas have relied on unit owners remaining in the dark about the truth.
...and every bit to blame is an alternative blogger who has again and again, endorsed the corrupt system that exists.
Even when confronted with the disgusting proof of waste, he maintains endorsing a person who has been a proven active part of it.
You will note that none of these issues seem to be reported on that blog.
In addition nothing on that blog has ever been reported about the vast expenditures made on Cafe V that have cost unit owners thousands of hard earned retirement dollars.
Instead, he chooses to indict a group of well meaning residents who took it upon themselves to thoroughly research records and report their accurate findings to a community they love.
Anthem Opinions and people like Robert Nusser have made an honest and sincere attempt to enlighten though hours of detailed research, and have now proven that improprieties exist...
...and that they have been allowed to do so by many elected board members who believe that their election is a mandate to allow them to spend our precious funds frivolously.
...that these same individuals, for some egotistical need to control, have literally sold their souls to an individual blogger whose corruptive influence has...until now... swayed residents through the elimination of reporting those improprieties.
We...too...have an agenda....
Having an HONEST ASSOCIATION where politics and self-interests are eliminated...
For two reasons....
One, because it's the right thing to do...
and Two...
...because we live here just like you!
We hope 2016 will bring a close to that evil; that the new era of self-management may begin with the election of those who see that evil, and will do their best to eliminate it.
For that reason, we believe the best individuals who are strong in their unselfish convictions and who cannot be "bought"...
...are Forrest Fetherolf, Barry Goldstein, and Steve Anderson.
We hope that the members of our Sun City Anthem society will look at things the way they are...
...and that the only action to correct them is to elect those who have the courage stand up to corruption, and make the corrective changes that are imperative to maintain the standard of living all of us hoped to have had when we relocated to this community.
Over the past 24 hours,2,928 separate computers visited Anthem Opinions.
On behalf of all of these caring residents of the Sun City Anthem community , we at Anthem Opinions, owe him a debt of gratitude for steadfastly being determined to obtain the information on which our article was written.
I hope all of our readers will join us in thanking this resident.
All of us who reside in Sun City Anthem, should have the courage to do what Mr. Nusser did...
He is an example of what IS RIGHT in our community.
Robert Nusser's noteworthy findings, at the very least, present evidence of abuse of homeowner dues if not outright (willful) mismanagement/fraud.
Is there any reason why these findings shouldn't be investigated by the Nevada Attorney General?