My Response to the Board’s Letter and Termination of HOA Employees
This is in response to the letter recently received from the board of directors.
The board states that they’ve had several inquiries from homeowners regarding replacing our maintenance employees with an outside source. Personally, I don’t believe this. I cannot believe that a landscaping contractor will be cheaper than one full-time employee and one part-time employee, even with taxes, Social Security, etc.
Since Harold Fleig and Ken Owen decided to call John Barragan, an HOA employee, into Ken’s house and let him know his job was on the line before Harold or Ken were board members makes it obvious to me that their plan was to fire our employees anyway. After John brought a restraining order against Harold and Ken and two other people in the park, it appears to me that this termination was a retaliatory termination and should be reversed immediately.
My next thought is who will be doing all of the work that John and Lorenzo did other than landscaping for the past 30+ years? The board obviously did not take this into consideration.
The board also consistently brings up the funds left by the previous board. They also brought up in their letter the significantly delayed SDG&E billing for the meter that was broken during the tenure of the last board. The interesting thing is the treasurer on the last board was George Cosh. Why didn’t George see this huge discrepancy and immediately do something about it? George did NOTHING. Kristen, the president at that time, found the error during a lengthy and detailed review of the finances, notified SDG&E so they could repair the meter, and then negotiated a 12-month payment plan so Foothills wouldn’t have to pay the full CORRECTED billing at once. Since then George, Harold, and Ken continue to unjustly blame Kristen for something that George should have found while executing his role as Treasurer. Why didn’t George see this immediately? Why wasn’t he doing his job? Why do they continue to vilify Kristen when she has only ever done things in the interest of Foothills?
The board stated at a board meeting that our reserves were dangerously low yet they were able to find $80,000+ to resurface the streets in the park. This, in my opinion, was not an absolute necessity and could’ve been held off for another year or two so it could be planned in the budget.
This board, in my opinion, is not at all concerned about the residents in this park nor are they interested in this park. They are interested in controlling everything and doing whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it, and however they want to do it.
This is not a board that is conducive to a properly run HOA.
Kristen tell you when his doctors suggested he go take time away from the “stress” of it all…he refused, and said he’d keep working? *I answer…knowing they won’t “approve” it ever getting you. Because, they HATE actual LOL
Not sure what Scott James is trying to say here. Remember, he passed himself off as an “engineer” when he wasn’t, and it turned out he had no idea what he was talking about. Looks like he is doing the same thing here. Unfortunately, he was also on the board for a while. That hurt the community.
I agree wholeheartedly Charlie on all points! Ken has been saying finances are dire straights yet they repave streets!? I was up at the dog park sunday it looks TERRIBLE! The grass is dying dead and dried out! This board has made a HUGE mistake and cannot be trusted!
Thank you, Charlie. You are absolutely right. Firing John and Lorenzo after all these years was a disgusting act. Now we will just have strangers on the property, unvetted by us, who can’t possibly fill John and Lorenzo’s shoes. This current board is an abomination. Every one of them should be ashamed. But it was to be expected; after all, this is the same group that was behind that vicious letter sent out in April-a cowardly letter so filled with lies and distortions that not one person had the guts to put their name to it. This community will never heal after what they have done.
These three guys on the board need to be fired immediately and a new board elected, people who want the best for our residents. Harold has in the past tried to control who I hire for different transactions as I needed work to be done on my own resident’s. He has told one of my hired contractor to leave the park he did not belong here after I had already hired this contractor to replace my air conditioner and heating unit.
Thank you Charlie. I am baffled as to why these guys continue to blame the prior board for the finances. The 2022-2024 term inherited a debt of over $87K from when Harold and Ken were previously on the board. The 2022-2024 board was able to start paying it back. Last year, George was the person who FAILED to identify the gas bill issue. If I had not discovered it, the payback amount would have been much larger. And, the 2022-2024 board insisted on addressing the transformers and getting our governing documents updated for the entire 2 years. Harold and Ken bullied me and others, and spread lies, and created such hostility that those two projects stalled even though the work was already done. So how is it now that both are being expeditiously pushed through and at a greater cost than what we paid? And how it that this current board touts they have miraculously improved our finances when they were only given the financials for June within the past few days and the HOA dues raise only went into effect on 7/1/24?
And, to top it off, Harold, Ken and George are furious that we legitimized John and Lorenzo by recognizing they had more to offer than “just pulling weeds”, and moving them out of the toxic fire hazard shed and into a secure and safe building with HVAC, running water, a bathroom, and a breakroom. This isn’t Mexico people!! Those guys deserved to be treated with respect. And that is not even taking into consideration the OSHA laws and Fire Codes that George, Harold, and Ken had been breaking for all the years they were in charge. And then we had the audacity to give John a raise and a health insurance stipend.
This Board is as corrupt as they come. They cashed in a CD for 50,000.00 to cover the deficit they caused by the paving, changing locks etc. This Board especially Harold Fleig is responsible for stating a vicious lie about Orest and I that led to me being assaulted by two neighbors on 06/01/24. I have been in therapy because I was a victim of a brutal violent marriage for thirteen years and now relive that fear every day. I force myself to walk in this community to stand up to these women with no moral values or integrity. I have legal means of defending myself, so this does not happen again. The board and these women can rot in hell or here, whatever comes first! I will not be silenced!
Thanks, Charlie. You articulated very well what many homeowners in the park are feeling. I appreciate that you highlighted the fact that Geroge Cosh was the treasurer when the SDGE gas meter stopped working. At a recent Board Meeting, another homeowner made a comment to George that he should have resigned from the Board because of his previous behaviors. George’s retort to that homeowner included his assertion that he had a backbone. Men with backbone own their mistakes, acknowledge their mistakes, apologize to those impacted by their mistakes, and then seek to make amends. George remained silent and let Kiriten take all the heat for his mistake.