Friday, June 13, 2014

Sher's "Annual Meeting" and Budget

By now, Cedar Run homeowners should have received Robert Sher's most recent mailings: One to announce the postponement of what he is calling an Annual Meeting, the other purporting to be a fiscal budget and financial statement.

Both of these mailings are filled with the usual self-promotion, blaming everything on his predecessors or those who dare to disagree with him or question his decisions.  The meeting notice is especially disturbing to read, as it's akin to watching a small child throw a temper tantrum.  The budget & financials are preceded by five pages of the same temper tantrum, mixed with self-aggrandizing rhetoric and empty, baseless accusations.  Is Robert Sher even capable of sending out a single notice that has actual, objective information???  Apparently not......

For now we will spare you a long-winded rebuttal to each one of Sher's statements (each one more ridiculous than the last).  If you are tired of all the bickering, we assure you , we're tired of to too.

The primary focus of this blog entry is the budget and financial information contained in these mailings.  We saw some interesting things that homeowners should take note of.

See the budget letter HERE.
See the meeting date notice HERE.

"Transparency"
First off, Sher claims to be sharing this information with you as part of his pledge to give you transparency.  This is simply not true; he was FORCED to do this.  He hasn't given us a budget for two straight fiscal years, and the legitimacy of Sher's board has finally come up in court because of this (and many other issues).

Not convinced?  Then take notice of a phrase on page 4 of the letter, section entitled, "THE CORPORATION AND THE STATE OF IT'S FINANCIAL FUTURE".  Notice how Sher refers to the Budget Statement as containing "future expected income and spending".  Now look at the dates on the budget statement, and you'll notice the budget covers dates from "Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 1, 2014".  Future???  WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN HALFWAY THROUGH THIS FISCAL YEAR!!

By law, this budget information should have been in our hands BEFORE the beginning of the fiscal year.  If this were done properly, we would have gotten proposed budgets mailed to us in early October 2013, which would have included a date/time/location of the board meeting (open for homeowners to attend) where the board would vote on approving of the budget.  How many open board meetings has Sher conducted??  ZERO!!  This budget was likely drawn up no more than one month ago.

"Annual Meeting"
We went over this in greater detail in our previous blog entry.  An Annual Meeting of the Members IS AN ELECTION!  This is NOT an Annual Meeting; this is October 2013's Budget Meeting being held in June of 2014.  Sher is being pressed in court on why he hasn't conducted a true Annual Meeting (election) in two years.  He figures that by branding this as an Annual Meeting, he can show up in court on July 2nd and make the issue go away.  Don't bet on it!!

"Mgmnt Staff"
Check out Line #16 of the financial statement.  $52,409.80 paid to Sher and Jack Shaw for FY 2013, $60,000 slated for FY 2014.  Like we've stated all along and had to prove with the check images (thanks to Sher's lack of TRANSPARENCY), those two are still being handsomely paid for their part-time work, and their pay rates keep rising.  Now look up at line #4 and notice that we are paying $25,000/year for "Office Assistants".  So according to the latest figures for FY 2014, we are paying $85,000/year to be "Self-managed"???  (not including the $7K in office supplies we must now purchase for management purposes) Whether you loved or hated Alma, do understand that their management fees were just shy of $52,000/year....period.

Legal Expenses
Line 12 - $65,0000/year  (and another $50K contingency set aside just in case). We don't need to tell you where this money is going.  That's right, Anne Shaw.......err, uhh, make that the Law Firm of Shaw and Associates.  You get the picture.  Sound like a lot of money??  Well it's pocket change compared to the growing legal bill for all the lawsuits spurred by Sher.  Most of this bill is being tacked onto the construction loan principle and amortized with interest.  See our blog entry entitled, "The Hidden Costs of Robert Sher's Decisions" for further details.

Clubhouse Renovation
Line 34 - $200,000?!?  Do we really need to spend that much on "improving" the clubhouse?  Does the clubhouse not already serve its purpose as a meeting location and party venue?  Aren't there more important maintenance items to focus on?  You be the judge.

Insurance Expense
Line 11 - $98,710.29 for FY 2013, reduced to $17,000 for FY 2014.  How did Sher drastically reduce this cost?  Pure Genius?? NOT!!  He reduced it by dropping the bundled policy that also covered your building insurance.  Now, instead of a bundled, discounted single policy,  your phase associations must now pay for higher cost, individual policies to cover the buildings.  This is the primary reason that phase dues had such a sharp increase for FY 2014.  Did Sher pass this $81,000+ savings onto you by reducing your monthly assessments??  Of course NOT!  This should have translated into about a $17/mo assessment reduction.

Are these financial figures accurate?
We have no way of knowing.  Should you take Robert Sher's word for it, or should you be skeptical? Were numbers doctored?  Figures altered?  Is there a second set of books?  Unless/until we see a report from a CPA or  Certified Fraud Examiner who performed a complete financial audit, compiled everything on an accrual basis, and reconciled bank records with Sher's accounting records, we will take these figures with a grain of salt.

Sher was very critical of his predecessors for opting to have their financials reviewed in something called a "Compilation Report", rather than a full audit.  He vowed to ensure that the new board would have their books fully audited every year.  Here we are two years later, without an audit, review, or compilation report.  Only now Sher claims to be considering having an audit.  We will see if anything tangible comes out of it.

What doesn't add up
Sher claimed that Zink/Alma left him with zero dollars in the bank, and over $100,000 in unpaid debt in August of 2012.  On line 44, he shows a surplus of $96,283.74 for FY 2013.  Then he shows a deficit of $213,200 for FY 2014, claiming that the deficit is balanced/offset by the previous years' savings???

If Sher was left with nothing in the bank after taking over in August of 2012, banked a surplus of $96,283.74 from November 2012 through October of 2013, where is he getting the $213,200 of "savings" from the previous years???  It just doesn't add up.  How much money did Sher really inherit from the previous board?  Probably not -$100K.  This also makes Sher's claim (or constant reminder) of having $450,000 in the bank look questionable.  And if the $450K claim is true, and he sticks to his budget, a majority of this money is already earmarked to be spent.  More than half of it will go into the clubhouse alone ($200K + $30K contingency).

Does this look right to you??
If not, please visit our How to Take Action page.  If you're tired of having your association run by a group led by someone who consistently passes the buck, blames everything on his predecessors (even two years later), threatens anyone who dares to disagree with him, publishes an "enemies list" once or twice a month, ignores the law and our bylaws........all while drawing a salary from your assessment dollars, then we ask you to consider signing our proxy.

Are you disgusted by Sher's performance but not convinced that there is a viable alternative?  Then we encourage you to read our article entitled "If not Sher, then Who???", where we discourage homeowners from taking an "Anybody But Sher" stance.

It's time to put an end to the bickering, finger-pointing, and angry tirades.  It's time to bring responsible, critical-thinking adults into the mix so we can finally Restore Cedar Run.

Questions, comments?
restoreCR@gmail.com
(224) 544-9058


15 comments:

  1. I have yet to receive this Budget.......Also....what is going on with the pool? Some neighborhood kids say it is leaking bad......Are we going to go through another summer without the pool? Let's stop all the finger pointing.....We as Homeowners-Members of The Corporation.... Should be herd...without writing a question on paper....Enough already......Please go to the June meeting..and be herd regardlesss of who you believe......We are a community split...and do not need to be....if we could all just meet in the middle...

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    1. No idea what's happening with the pool. It was full as of the morning of 6/15, and drained later that same day. Amen on your comments about the meeting and the split community.

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  2. I like the new parking program......hopefully it will work......But ....let's notr Mr. Ink did not get money from cars being towed.....Also...is it legal for cars to be booted by the New Board/Over site Committee? I thought only law enforcement could.....I may be wrong......

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    1. Can't comment on the booting, but will look into it. Cedar run is private property, so keep in mind that the applicable laws are different than those of public roads.

      They rolled out a program very early on that supposedly involved booting cars, but it was just an empty threat and a scare tactic. We can only wait and see.....

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  3. Can you please tell me how these bums can tell me I have to have 3 cars to park in front of my house??? and I can't come to the meeting?

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    1. Haven't read the notice yet, so can't comment in detail on the policy. This may just be a carry-over from the former (Alma) board.

      Back then, you were only given street parking tags if you had three or more cars, and you were expected to use your garage and driveway for the first two cars.

      As for coming to the meeting, they cannot exclude homeowners for attending.

      Will post more after reading the policy.

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  4. Also How many times are they going to fake fix the pool and empty it into the streets of cedar run, I think it's been 3 times so far. I guess you get what you pay for and I hope everyone enjoyed the cedar run party with our money, with all the Improvements and Sher's new car - him and his cronies are going to have an excellent summer, wonder how much they will rake in by the new parking debacle. shame on them! and I thought Alma was bad.

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    1. By hook or by crook, they will eventually get the pool open. They've got way too much political capital at stake, and the weather is starting to heat up.

      You can rest assured that the delays will be blamed on somebody else...Zink? Hartmann? Alma?

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  5. For those who have not yet seen the budget letter, It is now posted in this blog entry.

    If you can't find it, copy and paste the following into your browser:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3NPdPdJDlG7bXdGRm0wYzdOQ0E/edit?usp=sharing

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  6. First I'd like to say thanks for keeping us all updated on stuff. Reason I say that is I just received today in the mail on 6/23 the copy of the budget. If we are suppose to have X days notice, then the meeting on the 26th shouldn't be allowed (my envelope is postmarked on 6/21. I'm sure we're suppose to have more than 3 days notice before any meeting,I don't understand why everyone's packet was not mailed on the same schedule. Do they pick and choose who to send mail to?

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    1. Glad that you found our blog to be informative. It seemed as if they were picking and choosing who to notify and when, or they were just ill-prepared, or both. Luckily, one of our blog contributors was notified earlier.

      As for the legality of the meeting, notification is just one one many reasons that this is not a proper annual meeting....number one being that it is not an election.

      We suggest that you save the envelope that shows the postmark date. If you wouldn't mind scanning and emailing it to restoreCR@gmail.com, we'd greatly appreciate it.

      Thanks for your comments.

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    2. Lol.......at the big envelope I got in the mail from The Masterboard....In the over 20 plus years I have lived here.....I have never seen a MasterBoard need a office in the Club House and have a staff they pay for bookkeeping....Also.....they lack of up keep of the grounds of Cedar Run....and young kids being used to tape flyers to the garage doors and front doors of units......Also..a older gentleman getting paid $5.00 a hour to pick up garbage(by the way he is a real sweet man being used by Sher).....I wish the courts would say enough of all this! This needs to end and NOW!!!!!! How? Everyone asks....By saying enough..not listening anymore to all the lies of The MasterBoard ...Sher...& Shaw...Stand up at the meetings....do not be silence....it is Our right to be herd and not writing questions on a piece of paper not to be answered.....I urge everyone who reads this blog to go to the meeting on June 26..tell your neighbors..UNITE CEDAR RUN..STOP ALL THIS....WE ALL ARE THE SAME...WE ALL LIVE HERE....REGARDLESS OF OUR EHTIC BACKGROUND.....LETS BE HERD!

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    3. Amen to all of the above!!

      As for the courts stopping this, the only thing they can do is order an election. The issue of elections has been put in front of the judge (next court date of 7/2/2014).

      As soon as an election is ordered, it's up to homeowners to cast their votes end all of this nonsense. The final solution is a political one. Please visit our How to Take Action page for details.

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  7. Funny how 10 years ago nobody cared about Cedar Run politics until Robert Sher uncovered all the dirt on the previous regime. Now everyone has something to say because someone actually had the guts to question Alama/App. Are things perfect? No. Could things run smoother? Definitely. Instead of attacking one another, we should all come together and find solutions. We may not agree on everything, but being productive in solving problems would be mutually beneficial to everyone in the Cedar Run community.

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    1. You make a great point about the lack of homeowner participation for many years. If homeowners don't actively participate, then they have no influence on selecting the people and policies that govern their community.

      As for working together and moving forward, a good start would to have free & fair elections as required by law (not Sher's made-up law, the real law). After an election, who knows? Maybe you'll end up with a board that is a mix of people on both sides of the coin, who will then have no choice but to work together and compromise.

      Thanks for following the blog and commenting.

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