Why would David Israel dismiss a competent and motivated volunteer who sacrificed her time and bestowed her considerable talent in volunteering to chair the advisory committee?
Insiders at UCO, dismayed at this latest action, report that Israel is extremely unhappy that the chairperson appointed two ladies to the committee that he doesn’t like. They also report that his dislike stems from his intolerance for any opposition or question, and he is angered when he doesn’t get his way.
When Israel demanded that the chairperson of the advisory committee dismiss the two ladies he wanted off the committee, the chairperson refused. Israel then sent the chairperson a letter of dismissal and sent letters of dismissal to the two ladies in question. He has the authority to dismiss the chairperson, but the appointees are not under his authority.
It certainly is not in the best interests of CV residents that Israel can use his position to get what he wants. The way it works under our bylaws is that the President appoints the chair of committees, the chair then proceeds to appoint the rest of the committee. It works that way to prevent any one person from using their authority to control everything.
Israel’s action in dismissing the chair is a twisted subversion of the processes put in place to assure residents are getting good representation.
There’s no doubt that an appointment will be forthcoming in the near future, and no doubt the appointment will be someone who will comply with Israel’s demands whether they are practical or not.
Committees are in place to represent the wishes of the residents, not to satisfy the personal whims of the President.
This conduct is the reason it is difficult to find willing volunteers to serve on the UCO committees. VP. Fausto Fabro lamented this situation at the last delegate’s assembly. He complained that despite his efforts to entice residents to visit the UCO offices with the purpose of becoming acquainted with the organization in the hopes that more volunteers would take part. He was dismayed that not one resident showed up and no resident expressed interest. In light of the way volunteers are being treated by the President, its little wonder.
The option of recalling the President then installing a new one is not really a viable option due to the way the committees are populated with Israel’s supporters, who are more than willing to turn their backs on the principles of fair play in order to maintain their positions in the administration.
Delegates who either don’t see the big picture, or simply don’t want to see it are responsible for electing Israel to the position of President. Those delegates who voted for him should take a critical view of his actions in subverting the by-laws and manipulating the system.
It’s not just the dismissal of the ladies from the advisory committee that is objectionable. There are many other issues that are, or should be a concern to CV residents :
. The recent disposition of eight hundred thousand dollars to WPRF in the replacement of the air conditioning units in the clubhouse.( the question of whether it is a capital improvement, and therefore the responsibility of the owners or a regular maintenance job and billed to UCO, could be settled under the dispute resolution procedure enshrined in the lease agreement. David Israel has refused to implement the procedure, opting to pay the money to WPRF without questioning or seeking resolution through arbitration.)
. The awarding, in secret, of a huge contract to CSI without delegates approval.
. The hiring of a resident to act as a Community Association Manager, then appointing him to the position of head of the investigations department, contrary to the by-laws and long held policies of UCO. ( The head of investigations has traditionally been held by a volunteer, by appointing the CAM. To act as the head , residents are in effect paying for the job.)
. The continued pursuit of village wide WIFI contrary to the stated wishes of the residents
. The recently expressed wish to terminate the bid committee, leaving residents open to questionable expenditures.
. The practice of censorship and the domination of the village media.
. The termination of the village ombudsman.
. The comingling of funds.( traditionally funds were placed in designated accounts. Co-mingling the funds makes it difficult to determine where it’s is going)
. The unauthorized expenditure of over two million dollars in the re-paving contract.
. The abolition of term limits.(The premise that term limits prevents competent residents from serving is patently false. UCO is a volunteer based organization. Anyone can serve if they really want to whether they are elected or not)
. The proposal to change the bylaw regarding petitions by residents to amend the bylaws. (currently 35 delegate signatures are required on a petition, the proposed change would raise that number to 117.)
A larger, more troubling situation is that David Israel agreed at a delegates assembly to allow a resident CPA (Ed Grossman) to conduct a forensic audit of the financial records of UCO. He avoided a motion on the issue by agreeing to allow access to the records. Subsequently he denied access when Ed arrived at the office to conduct the audit accompanied by George Lowenstein, former President and Treasurer of UCO and Dorothy Tetro who also served as Treasurer. Not permitting them to inspect the books as agreed at the assembly leaves residents wonder what they are hiding.
Israel’s excuse for not permitting the audit is that audits should be conducted by unbiased auditors. That doesn’t make a lot of sense when one considers that numbers don’t lie, regardless of any bias of the auditors.
The removal of the chair of the advisory committee simply because she wouldn’t comply with Israel’s unreasonable demands should not be tolerated.
The committee is currently engaged in an initiative to re-write the UCO by-laws. Those by-laws impose regulations that the administration must comply with, they are enacted to protect the interests of the village residents. Are we to expect that unless those by-laws are written in a way that Israel favors, more committee members will be forced to “hit the highway because they don't want to do things Israel's way?”
It’s easy to see that Israel’s conduct will continue unless some action is taken by the residents to curtail it. He hasn’t shown any inclination to modify his behavior on his own. A recall is possible if enough residents see the light and join the growing dissatisfaction.
Perhaps a by-law outlining a procedure for appointing committee members and removing objectionable people should be enacted. It doesn’t seem fair that one person has all the authority over who gets to take part and who doesn’t. One person dominating the administration doesn’t follow the democratic principles we expect.
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