Robert Sher sent a letter to all Cedar Run homeowners in mid September, 2013. In this letter, he attempts to justify (and practically boast about) his actions since taking power.
Most homeowners have grown tired of Robert Sher's deceptive ways of distorting the truth. We have been flooded with emails from homeowners expressing their outrage at Sher's letter for attempting to 'spin' Cedar Run as being such a wonderful place under his management.
Robert Sher either believes we are gullible, or he is living in a fantasy world if he actually believes any of the outlandish statements he has written. We've compiled a 'top ten' list (in no specific order) of Robert Sher's "Fantasies" from the September letter followed by our explanation of the truth.
Sher Fantasy #1
The August 14th meeting was a great success
LIE - An overwhelming majority of homeowners were there because they were outraged after learning that Sher, Shaw, and various directors were being paid with homeowner funds (something Sher refused to disclose). At one point, Robert Sher even called the police, accusing homeowner of 'rioting' when they asked him difficult questions. As always, the police arrived to find a room full of orderly homeowners and no riot. If there was so much support for Sher at the August 14th meeting, why would he skip September and October's meetings and schedule the next one for November??
Sher Fantasy #2
Robert Sher encourages you to demand more cameras to make Cedar Run safer
MISLEADING - Robert Sher has disabled the Police link for the cameras we already have. Why would he want more cameras with NO link to the police, which he would centrally control? To spy on you??
Sher Fansasy #3
Previous Master Board increases assessments every year for 14 years
LIE - Master board portion of assessment often did not increase. Phase assessment increased more frequently due to increased water cost and other maintenance cost increases. Within the past 5 years, foreclosures and delinquencies have led to higher assessments. Even so, not every phase assessment went up every year in the past 14 years as Robert Sher claims.
Sher Fansasy #4
Alma quit when the Sher group took over
LIE - Alma's attorney and the new board's attorney made an agreement to discontinue Alma's management, effective immediately. Alma turned over all of its files relating to the Master Board, despite Robert Sher's accusation that they withheld records.
Sher Fansasy #5
Alma left the board with no money
LIE - There was close to $110,000 in the bank when the new board (Sher's board) took over. This was even after a large payment was made to repave several streets, driveways, and curbs within Cedar Run.
Sher Fansasy #6
Alma signed their own checks
MISLEADING - Alma was one of three signatures on any check. The other two signatures were elected directors. Any check written without ALL THREE signatures could NOT be cashed. Compared to Robert Sher's current board....Only two signatures are required, and one of them is his WIFE.
Sher Fantasy #7
The former board and Alma had no transparency
LIE - The former board had open meetings every month and conducted business on the presence of homeowners. There they presented a treasurer's report with financial information and all checks written. When is the last time we saw a meeting like this from Robert Sher? That's right....NEVER! And by the way, what did it take to get Sher to FINALLY admit he is being paid?? A court order and a blog post!! Is this his idea of transparency??
Sher Fantasy #8
Robert Sher is 'negotiating' the bank loans
LIE - We have been assured by multiple representatives of both Itasca and Barrington Banks that they are not and will not negotiate with Robert Sher. In fact, Robert has no authority to discuss these loans with the banks because the loans are with the Phases and NOT the Master Board. We could easily write several blog entries alone about Robert Sher's lies about the loans....perhaps we will.
Sher Fantasy #9
Robert Sher saved us $30,000 in management fees
LIE - Robert Sher's management costs were $53,747.95 for only ten months of management, compared to Alma's fees of $42,840 for ten months. Sher pays himself, Jack Shaw, Sue Koehl, the entire DeLeon family, and small amounts to other homeowners who support him. This total does not include the utility bills he pays for certain homeowners. Nor does it include any assessment fees that Sher is waiving or discounting for certain directors or homeowners.
Last, but not least......
Sher Fantasy #10
Cedar Run is no longer liable for any injuries on the property
OUTRAGEOUS LIE!!!! - Robert Sher is saying that since he chose to drop the liability insurance for the Master Board, that the Master Board basically isn't liable for anything. By law, anyone hurt on Cedar Run property, resulting from improper maintenance for example, can sue and collect damages. If this were to happen, HOMEOWNER FUNDS would be used to pay these damages instead of an insurance claim. Cedar Run is now self-insured for liability. This is foolish and very risky...especially for an association that doesn't properly shovel and salt its walkways...
In addition to the issues in our Top Ten List, many homeowners that reached out to us were outraged that Sher would boast that the Master Board has $300,000 in the bank, but he refuses to open our pool or provide adequate services. Instead, he pays himself and pours money into a clubhouse nobody can use. We can also see from this letter that we can expect the same lousy snow removal service that we had last winter.
The bottom line....This September letter from Robert Sher is another example of how he is out of touch with the reality. He still claims to do everything right, and when something goes wrong.....he blames it on someone else.
We welcome your questions, comments, concerns, and suggestions at restoreCR@gmail.com. Thank you to all who have taken the time to write.
Most homeowners have grown tired of Robert Sher's deceptive ways of distorting the truth. We have been flooded with emails from homeowners expressing their outrage at Sher's letter for attempting to 'spin' Cedar Run as being such a wonderful place under his management.
Robert Sher either believes we are gullible, or he is living in a fantasy world if he actually believes any of the outlandish statements he has written. We've compiled a 'top ten' list (in no specific order) of Robert Sher's "Fantasies" from the September letter followed by our explanation of the truth.
----------------------------------------------------------
Sher Fantasy #1
The August 14th meeting was a great success
LIE - An overwhelming majority of homeowners were there because they were outraged after learning that Sher, Shaw, and various directors were being paid with homeowner funds (something Sher refused to disclose). At one point, Robert Sher even called the police, accusing homeowner of 'rioting' when they asked him difficult questions. As always, the police arrived to find a room full of orderly homeowners and no riot. If there was so much support for Sher at the August 14th meeting, why would he skip September and October's meetings and schedule the next one for November??
Sher Fantasy #2
Robert Sher encourages you to demand more cameras to make Cedar Run safer
MISLEADING - Robert Sher has disabled the Police link for the cameras we already have. Why would he want more cameras with NO link to the police, which he would centrally control? To spy on you??
Sher Fansasy #3
Previous Master Board increases assessments every year for 14 years
LIE - Master board portion of assessment often did not increase. Phase assessment increased more frequently due to increased water cost and other maintenance cost increases. Within the past 5 years, foreclosures and delinquencies have led to higher assessments. Even so, not every phase assessment went up every year in the past 14 years as Robert Sher claims.
Sher Fansasy #4
Alma quit when the Sher group took over
LIE - Alma's attorney and the new board's attorney made an agreement to discontinue Alma's management, effective immediately. Alma turned over all of its files relating to the Master Board, despite Robert Sher's accusation that they withheld records.
Sher Fansasy #5
Alma left the board with no money
LIE - There was close to $110,000 in the bank when the new board (Sher's board) took over. This was even after a large payment was made to repave several streets, driveways, and curbs within Cedar Run.
Sher Fansasy #6
Alma signed their own checks
MISLEADING - Alma was one of three signatures on any check. The other two signatures were elected directors. Any check written without ALL THREE signatures could NOT be cashed. Compared to Robert Sher's current board....Only two signatures are required, and one of them is his WIFE.
Sher Fantasy #7
The former board and Alma had no transparency
LIE - The former board had open meetings every month and conducted business on the presence of homeowners. There they presented a treasurer's report with financial information and all checks written. When is the last time we saw a meeting like this from Robert Sher? That's right....NEVER! And by the way, what did it take to get Sher to FINALLY admit he is being paid?? A court order and a blog post!! Is this his idea of transparency??
Sher Fantasy #8
Robert Sher is 'negotiating' the bank loans
LIE - We have been assured by multiple representatives of both Itasca and Barrington Banks that they are not and will not negotiate with Robert Sher. In fact, Robert has no authority to discuss these loans with the banks because the loans are with the Phases and NOT the Master Board. We could easily write several blog entries alone about Robert Sher's lies about the loans....perhaps we will.
Sher Fantasy #9
Robert Sher saved us $30,000 in management fees
LIE - Robert Sher's management costs were $53,747.95 for only ten months of management, compared to Alma's fees of $42,840 for ten months. Sher pays himself, Jack Shaw, Sue Koehl, the entire DeLeon family, and small amounts to other homeowners who support him. This total does not include the utility bills he pays for certain homeowners. Nor does it include any assessment fees that Sher is waiving or discounting for certain directors or homeowners.
Last, but not least......
Sher Fantasy #10
Cedar Run is no longer liable for any injuries on the property
OUTRAGEOUS LIE!!!! - Robert Sher is saying that since he chose to drop the liability insurance for the Master Board, that the Master Board basically isn't liable for anything. By law, anyone hurt on Cedar Run property, resulting from improper maintenance for example, can sue and collect damages. If this were to happen, HOMEOWNER FUNDS would be used to pay these damages instead of an insurance claim. Cedar Run is now self-insured for liability. This is foolish and very risky...especially for an association that doesn't properly shovel and salt its walkways...
----------------------------------------------------------
In addition to the issues in our Top Ten List, many homeowners that reached out to us were outraged that Sher would boast that the Master Board has $300,000 in the bank, but he refuses to open our pool or provide adequate services. Instead, he pays himself and pours money into a clubhouse nobody can use. We can also see from this letter that we can expect the same lousy snow removal service that we had last winter.
The bottom line....This September letter from Robert Sher is another example of how he is out of touch with the reality. He still claims to do everything right, and when something goes wrong.....he blames it on someone else.
We welcome your questions, comments, concerns, and suggestions at restoreCR@gmail.com. Thank you to all who have taken the time to write.
Thank you for posting this Blog. I only hope more people read this and do something about it. I would like to comment on the horrible snow removal we had last year. One of the reasons I live in a townhouse is I'm not able to shovel snow etc. Last year I had such a hard time getting my car in and out of the garage. What concerns me more is I just read the most recent Village of Wheeling's newsletter and according to the public works division each resident is responsible for removing snow and ice from their sidewalks by 10am the following morning after a storm (Village code (11.16.010). Does that mean I need to now hire someone to clean my sidewalks cause we all know last year that they weren't done in a timely manner?
ReplyDeleteWe appreciate you taking the time to post a comment, and we agree with all of your points! Many homeowners are reading this blog (we've had a lot of views since the postcard went out), and we are doing something about it.
DeleteAs for the village codes, Cedar Run is considered private property. So codes like this don't necessarily apply in Cedar Run as they do to single-family home subdivisions. Individual homeowners will never be cited or fined for failing to remove snow. Whether the association can be cited or fined...that's something we will have to research. Last winter, they did not remove snow from the sidewalk of Cedar Run Drive (most neighborhood children use this sidewalk for getting to/from the school bus). Since Cedar Run Drive is a public street, perhaps the village could force the Sher group to plow it.
If you would like to know what you can do to help us end Robert Sher's regime, please email us at restorecr@gmail.com.