Photos
the mis-management team of our association don't want you
to see.
Hidden hazards like this "don't
exist" according to the Board of Directors. These huge
sprinkler heads litter the common area under tall grass during
much of the year and are an ever present danger to the community.
![](images/Dangerous%20Spinlker%20heads.JPG)
Have you ever seen such a antiquated
and dangerous sprinkler head such as these in a public park,
school yard, or common area anywhere in this country? Of
course not, because you won't! Such dangerous conditions
are not allowed to exist in such public areas and this is
obvious to anyone with a pea-sized brain. Try running
into this "knee breaker" while playing ball with
your kids and then try finding an attorney who won't take
the case ! If it wasn't truly sad, it would be
really funny. But it's not funny at all.
![](images/DSC00096.JPG)
Wood piles and refuge heaps "don't
exist" either according to our board members who say
there is nothing to worry about even though these debri heaps
were allowed to sit rotting for years at a time. This is our
board's idea of city beautification the Cotati way. The worst
part of East Oakland does not look this bad !
![](images/DSC00050.JPG)
Now, here is a charming and quaint
sight to behold upon driving down your street each and every
day. No, it's not a scene out of the "Beverly Hillbillies".
No, it's not a photo of a crack house in Lake County.
Sights like these were in plain sight everyday on West Cotati
Oaks Court for years until this homeowner dropped the hammer
on his roommate who was responsible for this mess.
![](images/Dennis%201.jpg)
How would you like your kids playing
in, and around, this garbage heap? My family and my
guests are forbidden from this "junk yard" for fear
for their safety. Our common area has become a breeding ground
for crime, the homeless, and trespassers because our neglect
for this common area is a running joke in town. The
Landscape Committee was supposed to find cost effective ways
to clean up these messes, not delight in humiliating homeowners
for not taking time away from their families and homes to
do these jobs themselves. Since these photos were put up on
this website, miraculously, the park is being cleaned up little
by little. The magic of the internet can work wonders
helping sleeping homeowners take a hard look at themselves
and their responsibilities to the community.
![](images/DSC00051.JPG)
Or, how about a hidden hole covered
with dried grass that you or your kids can step into and break
your legs? These kinds of hidden traps are an unbelievable
reminder of the known, hidden dangers that will shock the
concious of any court of law if ever introduced as evidence.
![](images/DSC00057.JPG)
It's what you don't see that can hurt
you. After moving away all the dried grass, the danger
is clear. All of these hidden dangers have been documented
and witnessed by concerned citizens in the neighborhood who
want to testify. The board and it's committee members knew
of these dangers and did nothing robbing us all the safe enjoyment
of this property. The Association's attorney cannot help them
now. The harm has been done, and now fixing the problem is
only one step in the right direction, but cannot undue the
years of denying us all the rightful and safe enjoyment of
our common property. The case of neglect, arrogance, and apathy
is quite obvious and someone should be held responsible for
paying for mismanagement of this kind.
![](images/DSC00058.JPG)
Unfinished landscape projects have
been allowed to sit in this type of a dangerous state and
forgotten about for years without one concern for the health
and safety of the association members, or the trespassers
to the property who we are under a legal obligation to protect
! Be thankful we have not heard from any parents or individuals
that they were going to sue us for everything that we own
because one of their family were injured at the hands of the
W.C.O.H.O.A.![](images/DSC00061.JPG)
If that's not enough to turn your
stomach, the poor homeowner who had to wait years for this
dangerous sidewalk condition to be rectified had to repair
the common property himself. Even after requesting his
neighbors to get involved by complaining to City Hall for
months, this problem was ignored by our mismanagement team
as "...someone else's problem..." . How many
people were injured, is unknown. Even after begging the mismanagement
team and the city to get involved for the safety of the the
kids, the issue was ignored to keep the dues low at the price
of safety. The mismanagement team refused for years to take
responsibility for this section of sidewalk, while claiming
to take full responsibility for other sections of sidewalk
in the Association. It was an insane situation for us to watch.
But, after years of getting jerked around by the
management office, the story now has a happy ending!
![](images/DSC00069.JPG)
Since we brought this story to you,
things began to happen. (Funny how this happens....) The board
of directors were still too stubborn and cheap to rectify
the problem for the sake of the kids and pedestrians in the
neighborhood, so I understand that our neighbor, Chris Davis
took it upon himself to do all the work necessary to put in
a new section of sidewalk at his own time and expense. Big
Thanks, Chris ( and his family that did without him during
this project...) ! That's one less
lawsuit that needs to be filed to get things done, and another
testament to the mismanagement team's ongoing efforts to ignore
it's responsibility to save a buck gambling with our financial
future. See, doing the right thing is infectious.
![](images/DSC00806.JPG)
Here is the only unmowed parcel of
common area that existed in the late summer of 2003 in order
to punish one member of the Landscape Committee for not doing
"his fair share..." of mowing the weeds in the common
area. This is the common area parcel behind 176 West
Cotati Oaks Court after the owner refused to be a part of
the half-ass efforts of the Landscape Committee who could
not do the job professionally, or timely, with any amount
of expensive landscape tools and equipment given to them.
![](images/DSC00071.JPG)
Here is a truck illegally parked for
months on West Cotati Oaks Court before the mismanagement
team decided to do something about it or face litigation from
the City of Cotati. I want to thank Mark Weston for helping
address this issue.![](images/DSC00074.JPG)
Here is a photo of a dead tree that
our mismanagement team took two years to haul away. Two years
! Why are we even paying dues?![](images/DSC00090.JPG)
Here is our Landscape Committee's
idea of proper weed abatement in 2000 - 2003 before they listened
to the voice of reason that came from the City of Cotati and
from yours truly. I guess you get what you pay for. Volunteerism
is great, but if it can't get the job done, what's the purpose?![](images/DSC00097.JPG)
How would you like your kid falling
off his/her bicycle and landing on this hazard containing
sharp, steel edges that the Landscape Committee and mismanagement
team argues does not EXIST? This is the handy
work of the City of Cotati with their fancy engineers and
"expert" safety people. With experts like this,
who needs enemies... They ought to be hog
tied and prosecuted for such wilful and wanton neglect for
the health and welfare of the community to allow this to exist
only three feet from a pedestrian pathway. It
is utter insanity, and a perfect example of wasted tax dollars
used to mame and injure others. There is not a knife in my
kitchen as sharp as one of these edges on this drainage inlet.
The mismanagement team has repeatedly claimed that they are
confident this inlet is safe. Can you imagine seeing
something like this in La Plaza Park or at Cater Field? The
Rancho Cotati Little League would never allow it, but for
our kids, it's okay?
![](images/DSC00100.JPG)
I would hate to be the police officer
who trips over this menace late at night patrolling our park,
and sues us for his permanent disability claims. Many months
out of the year, this trap is completly hidden by tall grass.
I cannot believe people get paid to intentionally set up situations
to injure other people.
![](images/DSC00101.JPG)
But, it get's worse. Penny pinching
efforts have attempted to make the drainage inlet safer, but
do we really think these four posts will save your child's
skull from getting ripped open after falling on this steel
plate? This is why alcohol and volunteer landscape
projects don't mix! Dozens
of bicyclists speed past this drainage inlet each day. Will
these four little posts prevent serious injury if someone
slips and falls on it? Can we get some used lumber donated
to finish this project in my lifetime, or do we have to wait
for a lawsuit to have a judge enforce some sanity on our common
area. What do you think? What is the smart move?
And if you don't know what to do with
a bathtub, why not just store in your frontyard for your neighbors
to look at for a few years? Why not? "Look the other
way..." is the common theme that runs though our mismanagement
team. So, ask yourself, really, who are the troublemakers
here? Who cares about the membership, and who is looking
out for YOU and your kids?![](images/Garbage_Cans.jpg)
After looking at this mess in the
common area for over a month because the mismanagement team
ignored this health hazard, the City of Cotati was forced
to clean it up at my request. I gave up and could no
longer go it alone while the mismanagement team had no routine
inspection policy, no clean up policy, no nuissance abatement
policy, no security patrol policy. The only policy the
management company seems to really know is the "deposit
the check and laugh" policy.![](images/Litter%201.jpg)
I even offered to put in a garbage
can in the middle of the park, chained to the fence for safety,
but the board thought that was too good of an idea to adopt
since they did not think of it first. Two years later,
the Board of Directors came up with a great new idea, to put
in a garbage can ! No, I'm not kidding. This
is how it works; if it's not their idea, it is stupid. And
get this. We are still waiting for a cheap garbage can chained
to a fence post while garbage is dumped on the common area
every day. How many years will this take to be completed is
anyone's guess.
Below is one
of my favorite examples of mismanagement and outright distain
for the health and safety of our children at play. Who
in their right mind would allow something like this to exist
on a trail that hundreds of neighborhood kids and city trespasser
frequent each week? Only a deranged individual void of any
common sense would deem this acceptable behavior for a homeowner's
association. This "pit" was open and in disrepair
for months during the summer where beer bottles and used condoms
were found around this site. This whole area should be declared
"Off limits" and completely fenced off until it
is made safe for all of our trespassers.![](images/open%20hole.jpg)
In the heat of mid-day August, between
the hours of noon and 4:00pm, this useless watering technique
was seen for years on our common area at YOUR expense. You
don't have to be an "Enstein" to see the futility
in this waste of precious water, but the Landscape Committee
would not listen claiming this daytime watering technique
was essential because it fit into their schedule. After complaining
to the local city council about this conduct during their
city campaign to save water, this activity mysteriously ceased
and evening watering resumed.
![](images/Watering%20Park%201.jpg)
Sometimes, I think the members just
park on the prohibited side of the street just to irritate
the mismanagement company, and to protest the fact that there
are no signs whatsoever indicating where, or how long, parking
is allowed. I can't park here for ten minutes before being
yelled at by a board member to move and move it now. Two
sets of rules for two sets of homeowners. Stand up for your
rights, and feel the sting of the Association is the Association
battlecry.
![](images/Bad%20parking%205.jpg)
Here is a photo of a busted up, broken
down, canopy that can't seem to find a home. If it were on
my property, I would have received ten complaint letters by
now to remove it, or a monetary fine would be quickly imposed.
Finally, after this photo was put on on the website, the canopy
is finally being constructed. Thank you to those who
have bent ears to improve the neighborhood which raises our
property values, too.
![](images/Barry_canopy.jpg)
NO less than six political signs graced
the front yard of this home in 2000. Political activism
is alive and well in this neighborhood. Since these candidates
were supported by the mismanagement team, no violation of
the CCRs was lodged against this homeowner.
![](images/berkemieir%20signs.jpg)
This is an example of how we look
the other way when the board members park overnight in front
of their houses in violation of the rules. The
rest of us have to obey the rules. But not these two board
members. They pretended to care, but did as little as
possible, never mowed a blade of grass in the common area,
and paid their homeowner's dues like good little robots while
our home values suffered by not keeping pace with comparible
homes in well maintained P.U.Ds, plain and simple.
![](images/bob%27s%20car%203-11-01.jpg)
You ever wonder what happened to that
Sound Wall Committee that promised to work tirelessly on this
project in consideration for a seat on the board? They
promised that they would begin the process of soliciting CALTRANS
for protecting our neighborhood with a sound wall? What happened,
you ask? You guessed it, NOTHING................. I voted
for them to do something and deliver what they promised. How
could I have trusted this bunch to do what they promised?
This is a photo of a typical freeway sound wall in another
town that we could have had if the board did it's job.
![](images/sound%20wall%202.jpg)
More photos to come.
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