Finance Committee with Hidden officiers!

       Shambolic Finance Committee Meeting

            The finance committee meeting held yesterday was another example of  shambolic design.

            Upon entering the meeting room a guard stood at the door like a bouncer at a gin joint checking identifications before permitting entry. No renters allowed was the order of the day. The room was sparsely populated with only about 31 attendees present, perhaps the lack of attendance was caused by the poor advertising of the event. The email received by residents announcing this highly important meeting is being selectively sent to supporters while critics and others who question too much are denied.

            There was no video recording either, usually these meetings are posted on the internet for all to see. When Howie Silver questioned why there was no video recording, Howard O'Brien gruffly stated “Because I chose to not record it” Another example of UCO working in the dark !

            Two new members of the committee were introduced: Donald Foster and Tony Salometti. But conspicuous by their absence were UCO VP Fausto Fabro, Corresponding Secretary Pat Sealander, and Executive Board member Herb Finklestein. From the look of the committee it's obvious that there is not now and there will not be any real questioning of  the budget proposals.

True to form the committee obediently raised their hands and nodded their heads and kept their mouths shut  under the watchful eye of David Israel who sat in the audience,  not one question or objection was raised by anyone on the committee. Not one line item on the proposal was questioned.

            Audience members did raise some interesting points which were quickly put down, when questioned about costs regarding the WIFI/Broadband initiative that David Israel has been so vigorously promoting the discussion was quickly slammed shut. The point was made that  a “doorway fee” ( monies paid by companies vying for the contract) is not acceptable.

            Marilyn Pomerantz discovered a mistake in the dates indicated at the top of the proposals, Howard O'Brien answered by saying that he does not have anyone to proofread his work and that mistakes are inevitable, Marilyn countered by asking how the figures in the proposal can be trusted as accurate if no one is checking. Marilyn also raised the question of funding the legal work for the up and coming agreement  to replace the Millennium agreement. No definitive answer was offered by the treasurer.

            Questions about the co-mingling of funds were answered by O'Brien with the statement “ if the house is on fire we need to be able to access the funds” He didn't say that the funds can be accessed even if the house is not on fire.

            Howard O'Brien voiced his opinion that the fifteen million  to fix the disastrous road paving job needs to start being collected as soon as possible , George Lowenstein asked if a loan could be taken out to repair the roads now and pay later, the answer given was : NO … MAYBE.

            Apparently two engineering firms have been hired to do an analysis of the roadways. Who approved that ? Where did the money come from ? And one has to wonder whether or not their recommendations will be implemented, unlike the previous road paving fiasco where a twenty five thousand dollar engineering study was ignored in the rush to get the contract signed.

            This committee meeting was one for the books, no real substantive answers given, a good portion of elected  officers absent, no recording, no real effort made to notify residents, residents denied access based on ownership of units, blatant stonewalling and evasive answers, and elected  officers who should have been front and center hiding in the audience. Now the proposal will be carried forward to the next committee where the same people take another kick at the same can and will no doubt sit and nod their heads and raise their hands on cue, and on to the next committee where the same people take another kick and another vote.

            Shambolic is a good description of the proceedings, with the sham in shambolic being the operative word.

            Neil J Moore with contributions from Howie Silver and Marilyn Pomerantz.

Our Finance Committee