Memorial Day Weekend Swimming Pool Glitches!

I was truly beginning to wonder if anyone actually read my blogs until I received two emails in one week.  The message received today regarding the swimming pool's malfunction from a co-owner prompted me to go investigate for myself.

Sneaker wearing lifeguard Alex told my informant and me the swimming pool filter gasket blew Sunday night (May 29, 2011).  The swimming pool had at most 12 - 16" water at the shallow end at about 1:30PM and Alex still blew the whistle for the 15 minute breaks for the kids to exit the pool on Memorial Day Monday, a day where the thermometer at the pool registered 100 - 103°F!  I am sure the adults present would have been fine with the children remaining in the pool because it is clear that no laps are going to be swum today due to the low water levels.

The swimming pool management company representatives told multiple residents in early May that inspections had been completed so this malfunction likely could have been avoided if thorough inspections had been done.  Security Guards doing their rounds on patrol would certainly have seen the minimal water level in the swimming pool during the early daylight hours if not before and could have called the Property Manager to take action.  The Swimming Pool Management Company could have then been at The Colonies early this morning repairing the filter so residents would not have had to be so inconvenienced for so long.  It does take 24 hours to fill The Colonies swimming pool but the earlier the filling had started, the higher the water levels could have been by mid-day when the temperatures were over 100°F. 

Board President Lauricella was at the pool today and would it have killed him to have addressed the residents present to say what actions were being taken?  Obviously as that would have shown regard for the residents!  Perhaps he is still very sore at having received the second lowest number of votes among the incumbent candidates in the recent Board of Directors election.  Lauricella was seen talking on his mobile telephone, no doubt the one being paid for by The Council of Colonies Co-Owners (convenient for him while at his Florida residence 6+ months/year along with his Colonies issued laptop for 'keeping in touch').

Too much logic expected (it would have meant proactive communication among multiple factions) which could have helped minimize impact of residents affected:

• Security calling The Colonies Property Manager to take action (it would mean him working in excess of the hour he would work for the week likely to address the issue) or even the swimming pool management company to take action when VERY likely seeing the low water levels in wee morning hours
• Lifeguard apparently did not even know initially who to call at The Colonies upon arriving and seeing the issue to address (a company that has been managing the pool for so many years and it not cited in contract is a bit far fetched)
• Board President Lauricella actually showing regard for co-owners/residents by communicating what actions were being taken or even what he knew of the pool issue

I was reminded Colonies residents were without the use of the swimming pool last Summer for over a month due to a plumbing issue and were provided very poor updates by Colonies Management.  It is known by many co-owners the esteemed General Manager, Carlton, hates the swimming pool and is, frankly, a known witch when it comes to Colonies swimming pool matters.  No wagers can be placed as to how long Carlton will take advantage of the 'malfunction' and keep the pool closed as the problem appeared to have been resolved because the water levels were much higher at 9:00PM.

The Colonies co-owners are truly getting their $480/month fees worth!  Another potentially fun Summer to look forward to at The Colonies!

The Colonies Pool at approximately 5:30PM Monday, May 30, 2011

Annual Meeting Follies and Some Wagers

It has been well over a week since The Colonies Annual Meeting. Looking back, I must admit the idiocy displayed throughout the evening considered acceptable by the reigning Board of Directors (and, sadly, the co-owners who opted to re-elect them due to being so committed to the status quo, they senselessly ignored facts in conflict with their political viewpoints) amused me to no end.  Some highlights of the evening include:

• President Lauricella, when talking about the dedicated staff, does not mention the soon to be departing staff members (Administrative Assistant Smith, General Manager Carlton and Property Manager McCracken) nor thank them specifically for their years of service which demonstrates the resignation announcements were a ruse to ensure the incumbents election to the Board (yes, Smith whose last day was stated as Friday, May 13, 2011 is still with The Colonies)
• Treasurer Kelleher not giving a report and solely relying on the Auditor (yes, the co-owners signed up for another two years of her and she is the one and the same who works by day in the Administrative Office viewed by many as a conflict of interest and also serves as a member of the Finance Committee but rather interesting that with all the interacting with the public she does that she got the least number of incumbent votes); Per Article V (Officers) Section 7 (Treasurer) of the Bylaws of The Council of Co-Owners of The Colonies Condominium at McLean:   The Treasurer shall have the responsibility for the Council of Co-Owners's funds and securities and shall be responsible for keeping full and accurate financial records and books of account showing all receipts and disbursements, for preparing all required financial statements and tax returns, and for the deposit of all monies and other valuable effects in the name of the Council of Co-Owners in such depositories as may from time to time be designated by the Board of Directors. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the preparation of the budget as provided below. The duties of the Treasurer may be delegated to the management agent. In such case, the duties shall be performed by the management agent under the supervision of the Treasurer.
• No Committee Reports given

Shall we place bets on whether General Manager Carlton will actually leave on Friday, June 3, 2011 as the resignation announcement dated Friday, April 29, 2011 mailed to all co-owners stated?  My bet is NO; there likely will be some announcement in some form either by week's end, an article in the June edition of The Colonies Crier or in the June monthly condo bills announcing the Board 'convinced' Carlton (who is 71 or 72 and should be retiring) to stay (which no doubt will include a raise or some compensation bonus as Carlton does very little out of the goodness of her heart unless it benefits her unlike Smith who had the pet adoption program for a while).

The personnel in the Administration Office, still mailing monthly statements to co-owners, have exhibited to multiple co-owners being technologically challenged, and in this economy with a job market full of qualified individuals, a local realtor whose home page states: then posts on The Colonies Connection Google Groups forum asking However, what are we going to do now that everyone has resigned in the front office? then also posts the following which entertains me to no end:

I have the technology and resources to generate demand for your property, provide buyers with the detailed information they desire, and have the ability to respond instantly to online inquiries

I am truly distressed to learn about the mass resignations. Is there anything we can do to stop them. I know how hard it will be to hire someone else to do their job and we will probably have to pay them considerably more.

All the candidates need to do whatever is necessary to see that all employees in the management office do not leave.

What can we do?

I guess the coalition won after all and will be able to hire new employees to their liking. By the way who hires new employees?

Carlton and McCracken's departures are not the end of the world!  Property Manager McCracken comes in one day per week for an hour so his departure is no real loss.  Administrative Assistant Smith's resignation is the true loss to The Colonies community as she truly knows the community and has worked numerous roles since starting with The Colonies at 19.  If anything, getting people in there with fresh ideas would be an improvement!!


- More wagers coming next week!

Board of Directors Election Results

Rather shocking that not one of the four new candidates were elected last night to The Colonies Board of Directors.  Four more than qualified individuals ready to bring a fresh perspective to a community so tainted by the current regime not elected?  Such a disappointment on many fronts.

No changes were made with The Colonies Board of Director officer positions.  One would have thought after being challenged by the new candidates and how their practices have been questioned by The Colonies Coalition over the last year that some role changes would have been made.  Lauricella, with his supersized ego, could at least have appointed Pollak President which would make sense with him being at his Venice compound in Sarasota County, Florida most of the time (per Article V Section 2 of The Colonies Bylaws: The President and Vice President shall be elected annually by the Board of Directors at the annual organizational meeting of each new Board; let's be real here Sal runs the show and everyone are his puppets so it would have been an easy fete).  Rather interesting though the two incumbent candidates receiving the most votes have been on the Board the least amount of time and the one receiving the least number of votes, Kelleher, is the one who interacts the most with the public because she works in the Administration Office which many have expressed as a conflict of interest.  Interesting Pollak, the incumbent candidate garnered the most votes on a few fronts:

• Elected to Board only in October 2010 to replace a Board member who resigned
• Colonies bio in Annual Meeting Election Package (posted below) stated 13 year career in Property Management whereas his LinkedIn Profile cites 8 years experience; obviously these voters do not research their candidates before casting their votes as a five year discrepancy is more than a Presidential term in office
• Easy to conclude that either he or his neighbor Kelleher (elected incumbent board member who works in the smoke-filled Administration Office by day doubling as Treasurer and Finance Committee Member after hours) told his unit co-owner/roommate information about a candidate's lease situation and this is same individual who also made comments mentioned in a previous blog about how board will answer to him at a Candidate event on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 which is all captured on tape
• Made comment to effect of 'you just need to elect us incumbent candidates, put your faith in us and don't ask questions' during the Meet the Candidates session event held Tuesday, April 26, 2011 which again is all on tape (important to note the four other candidates platforms were all about transparency which apparently the voters do not care about)
• Works for a large real estate investment and development company including a property management division; the company manages all types of residential properties in over 120 communities in 21 states and the District of Columbia and not once during the campaign did he mention streamlining administrative operations

The Board could stand some personality as well. Kelleher, Levin and Lauricella sitting up there during the Annual Meeting looked like gnomes or Lord of the Rings Middle Earth elfin creatures (Lauricella a bit less so largely in part due to his 8 month Florida tan and extensive time on the golf course). I heard candidate Martin jokingly suggest a game of Colonies Jeopardy to some people to get crowd going while awaiting the vote results. Incumbent Devine looks also to be a lively one and did get a healthy share of the votes. Two redheads on that Board of Directors could have been dangerous (and/or made things interesting)!


The four candidates had done a thorough analysis of all budgets and audits dating back to 2003 or 2004 and were ready to serve the community with ideas.  I am sure they will get the last laugh come October when the 2012 Budget hearing occurs and everyone's wallet is affected!  There was that Board member last year who wanted to raise everyone's condo fees $100/month as Woollen or Carlton so blatantly stated at the October 2010 Budget Hearing when co-owners were questioning the $20/month increase; unless it was Hunter or then-resigning member Freitas, that board member is still a member of The Colonies Board of Directors.

Dominic, Nelson, Allison and Kevin - Thank you for trying to affect positive change in a community so badly needing a new perspective and even though you, along with all of the other Colonies co-owners will be affected come October, I know you will get the last laugh when all of those co-owners who voted for the incumbents are protesting about having to 'hand over more than a piece of the shirts off their backs' when the 2012 condo fee rate is announced.

Colonies Board of Directors Election... Nearly Over

For the first time in many years The Colonies of McLean has actual interest within the community from co-owners to serve on the Board of Directors outside of incumbent candidates and those appointed by existing members and sadly those four candidates have been met with resistance every step of the way.  The motives for all of the stops the current members of the board spearheaded by the absentee President with the assistance of the ever too helpful office staff that includes one incumbent member of the Board who is the Treasurer and Member of the Finance Committee has pulled since these four individuals secured their spots on the ballots should be questioned.  One would think these elected volunteer Council of Homeowners Board of Director positions were paid with the way these individuals have been acting.  It is now getting down to the wire with the Annual Meeting occurring tomorrow evening and now co-owners who are for the incumbent candidates are stepping in and defaming the new candidates on the Colonies Connection Google Groups online community forum likely at the behest of the Incumbent Board candidates and management office.  One co-owner went so far as to take data out of context from a candidates Facebook page reporting to her friends about a 'Meet the Candidate' event that had occurred the previous evening (one's opinion is now a crime in The Colonies community it appears).  Interestingly enough, I confirmed with the candidate and none of those candidate's Facebook friends even live in The Colonies community (with the exception of her boyfriend).  This co-owner posted the following statements two days before the Annual Meeting:
- I have lived at The Colonies since 1988, and in all of those years, we have never experienced the ultimate discord and downright viciousness that is currently going on.  I have written in the past that somehow, some way, we need to promote harmony; however, instead of getting better, it is just getting worse!!!
- It is a very sad state of affairs that we are now entangled with this mess of constant bickering and name calling.
- Harmony makes small things grow, lack of it makes great things decay.


She talks about promoting harmony and then proceeds to do everything to discredit them?  That is one type of harmony I for one am not in favor of!


The four new candidates secured their spots on the ballot by Petition which entailed getting signatures from co-owners to sponsor their candidacy.  All four of them obtained in excess of the required 15 signatures, some getting more than 30 signatures.  The Colonies Coalition, a group formed by concerned co-owners that the Board and Management has done everything to discredit from its inception, sent a letter to co-owners announcing the 4 candidates and providing brief biographies and inviting co-owners to a Meet the Candidates event (all of these items are being paid at the new candidates expense).  Since then, the Board of Directors has taken the following actions to discredit the new candidates:

• Mailed a 3 page single-sided letter in the condo statement sent to all co-owners at the beginning of April that cost $0.61/letter vs. $0.44 to 457 units (going to assume since 2 are owned by The Council of Colonies Homeowners that postage is not wasted for those mailings); dual sided would have resulted in it only being 2 sheets which would have also saved nearly a ream of paper as well.  The Board has since countered saying a generous person has paid the difference in cost.  The letter was titled Coalition Claims vs. Facts #3; interestingly enough a comparison of all Coalition letters to The Colonies rebuttals do not entirely match and the rebuttals are just defensive jargon of people feeling backed in a corner.
• Ballot sheet included in Annual Meeting Election Package was rather 'slanted'; the new candidates may well have been left off the page entirely which I am sure would rather have been the preference. 
• Flyer put at each co-owner's/resident's door the evening before the new candidates Meet the Candidates event held at The Colonies Clubhouse Sunday, April 17 that was clearly derogatory (the Board has not refuted being the authors); this event at the expense of the new candidates
• April 26 Meet the Candidates Event was interesting and as an attendee, I found many things appalling.  The incumbent candidates took pleasure in using their allotted 2 minutes to discredit the new candidates and bash them for retaining an Attorney that included complete oversight of the ballot process (who could blame them with the resistance they are facing?).  I sat between two co-owners who had their hands raised during the question and answer portion and heard a person behind me comment the moderator (Colonies/Board Counsel) had to have been shown pictures of who to call upon because questions asked appeared to mostly be anything that would discredit the new candidates.  During the mingle portion, an incumbent board candidate's unit co-owner angrily said to the wife of a new candidate something to the effect of 'These people work for me and they should expect to answer to me in the future' and then made a comment about unit's lease being defective (not knowledge a non-Board member should have but having a roommate who is a Board Member and a neighbor who is not only a Board Member but also works in the Administrative Office does provide for interesting source possibilities.  The interaction is on digital tape.  I am sure the Board is not paying for the clubhouse rental fees for this event unlike the event on the 17th that the new candidates paid for out of their own pocket.
• Mailed letter Friday, April 29 to all co-owners informing them of 3 resignations of three Administrative personnel (attached below); three of the four candidates sent letters in acknowledgement of these resignations. 


• Negative postings from co-owners occuring on the community forum including one from a person who has not responded to a candidate request for clarification

In closing, one co-owner eloquently stated on the online community forum the following which is something for all to ponder:

For the last several years, the Colonies Board has barely had a quorum at the annual meeting.  Does this tell you something?  Lets be honest, people felt the disconnect and just didn't bother to vote.  

This year, four qualified indviduals have stepped forward and, by petition, became candidates.  Since that time, the incumbent Board and administrative staff have gone out of their way to discredit them.  Why?  What is wrong with this picture?  And simultaneously things are being done around this community that have been needed for some time. Have you noticed the sprucing up of the guard house, painting that has occured in many building lobbies, and a general facade update?  All this hapenning a couple of weeks before the Annual Meeting. Classic politics!

I think the Colonies Board should set term limits, like most operating Boards, that way no one can ever claim ownership.  Why is everyone afraid of change?  Things can't get much worse; maybe we'll benefit from some fresh insight, new ideas and reordered priorities.

The Colonies Coalition

The Colonies Coalition is comprised of a group of concerned co-owners believed to have publicly surfaced just over a year ago to bring issues to the attention of residents.  The Board of Directors immediately went into fight mode as opposed to suggesting a meeting to discuss the issues and suggestions the long-time co-owners who formed this group had with current practices.

The Board and Management have managed to turn many residents against the Coalition and negative comments abou the group are made during Board meetings and the Board stooped to the level of sending out letters to all co-owners in the May monthly condo bill (yes, The Colonies are still so antiquated that they mail bills out to all co-owners which contributes to over $7,000/year spent on postage) disputing everything The Coalition has ever said.  What is interesting is The Coalition has never talked of spending money to decorate lobbies nor any plans to replace flowers with shrubs in any of their publications but yet the Board manages to twist everything in their favor.

People, coalition is not a dirty word (means partnership and alliance); living in the Washington, DC area where the highest number of advanced degrees is supposedly based, I am disgusted at this community's narrow-mindedness and unwillingness to hear both sides located in McLean, VA mere minutes from the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency for those not in the know).

Colonies Crier Letters

The Colonies Crier is the newsletter published monthly for Co-Owners and residents of The Colonies at McLean.  There is a section titled 'We Get Letters'  and all of them that have ever appeared were only praise for the management and the overall grounds with the occasional letter commending a specific employee from the Buildings and Grounds, Custodial, Maintenance or Porter department.

Per a Meet The Candidates Event and the fact there has been much press lately about harassing emails leading three key employees based in the office to submit their resignations, there is more than enough letters to put in The Colonies Crier but yet the last two months did not have any...  Rather a double standard to only publish the positive things vs. letting the community truly know what all is really going on among the residents.  So much for democracy but then we are dealing with a General Manager who smokes like a chimney in the office, a Secretary and part-time person who plays the role of Board Member, Treasurer and Finance Committee Member who only seem to concern themselves with fighting off The Colonies Coalition.  Co-Owners should not expect much more as one reported stopping by the office one day at 4:40 PM only to find it closed (hours are 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM) but that to be expected at a place where the Board President/Boss resides in Florida.

2011 Board of Directors Election

The 2011 Board of Directors election is a complete mockery with the incumbents members acting like buffoons.  The current President, Lauricella, who has been in power since the 1980s, lives in Florida and the co-owners pay for him to have a cell phone and laptop to conduct Colonies business.  One can view Lauricella''s official address of record on file with Fairfax County for his unit in The Colonies by going to Fairfax County Real Estate Map number 0294 04030305 (http://icare.fairfaxcounty.gov/Forms/Datalets.aspx?mode=profileall&taxyear=2012&ownseq=1&roll=REAL&jur=000&sIndex=0&idx=34&pin=&card=1&item=1&State=1&items=-1).  Anytime the current board is questioned by residents whether it be contracts, finances, policies, those residents are shot down.  There are 5 seats up for election this term, all 5 incumbents that include 2 newly elected members due to a resignation of a board member last Fall and a death of one this Spring are running in addition 4 new candidates.  One of the 2 newly elected incumbent candidates has lived in The Colonies since the late 1970's and is tainted by the existing board.  During a recent candidate session last week, the other newly elected candidate's unit co-owner and roommate said to the wife of one of the four new candidates which is on digital audio tape and will soon hopefully be uploaded to the effect of:
"These people work for me and if they're elected they better be prepared to answer to me for their actions." and he also made a comment to her about knowing about her tenant's lease which is confidential information and not something a Board Member or the office staff should be sharing.  He had to be escorted from the building by Security.

The Colonies also has an incumbent member of the Board of Directors who is the Treasurer and member of the Finance Committee that works Part-Time in the office!  Many have commented that is a conflict of interest!  This Board Member is also the next door neighbor of the one mentioned above with the unruly unit co-owner/roommate.

The current Board has sent two letters to co-owners at their expense (one of which was a 3-page single-sided letter disputing all claims a group of concerned co-owners had questioned which they included with the monthly condo bill at a cost of $0.61 postage) and a flyer distributed was not something they refuted.  The second letter announced 3 resignations of people in the office as a way to gain votes for the incumbent candidates and talked of emails and harassing phone calls the staff has endured.   If anything, these emails in question are likely not directed at them but are directed at the poor performance of things (a pump for the koi pond by the Administrative Office was more important last year than addressing the swimming pool plumbing issues BEFORE the season opened which left residents without the use of the swimming pool for nearly a month).

Could this Board have something to hide if they so afraid of a change in regime is the true question?