Everybody ready?

When the Annual Meeting of Cyber Citizens for Justice, Inc. was called to order at 8:10 PM by President Jan Bergemann everybody was ready for an interesting evening. And it seems, nobody left disappointed. We all heard about past successes and future plans, all intended to help citizens living in mandated properties. FAIRNESS IS THE GOAL!

Bergemann welcomed the audience and honored guests Representative Julio Robaina and the former Dean of the House,   Jerry Melvin.   He thanked everybody for coming to this vital meeting. Delegates from all corners of Florida participated. It seemed

Gordon Commeé   Humberto Sanchez  Stephen Cluney  Jan Bergemann

no distance was too far.

Bergemann introduced the gentlemen at the front table:  Steve Cluney, Orlando, Vice President of CCFJ; Humberto Sanchez, Miami, Director of the Board of CCFJ and Councilman of LULAC; Gordon Commeé, Seffner, President Property Rights Florida; Chan Gerber, Ocala, former Vice President of CHIP; Joe Gorman, The Villages, President of the POA; and Bob Janauskas, Ocala, founder of the Consumer Advocacy Network.

Only Secretary Connie Young from Dunnellon had to miss the meeting due to health reasons.

Bergemann started the meeting with a summary of what CCFJ stands for, its achievements and future plans.

"We are a statewide Florida grassroots organization that represents the interests of homeowners, condo-owners and other concerns Florida's citizens have to deal with. Main idea: Creating Justice for the consumer.

This meeting will serve to address the issues created by association living! And we are here to discuss reforms and betterment in order to finally put an end to the many ugly headlines we can read in the media all over the nation.

Our organization has come a long way. We started out as a little group of 12 citizens, who came together with one thing in mind:  Creating legislative changes to stop the many problems in associations all around Florida.

It wasn’t easy! We lacked funds, influence and the necessary means to get the necessary publicity. But we had enthusiasm and computers. That’s why we chose the name “Cyber Citizens.”  And we were fighting for justice – just in case you ever wondered how our name came about!

Our computers created the necessary publicity and our dedication helped us along.

Our website is well known all over the nation. We just reached the mark of 100,000 hits on our home page. It took 38 months for the first 50,000 hits, but only 11 months for the next 50,000.

In the meanwhile we count more than 200 paying members, many of them board members of other organizations and associations.

Today we can look at quite some good laws, created with our help. We pushed hard to get things started, but in the last 12 months things really got moving. Two of our members were appointed to the HOA Task Force. Many of our members and friends testified in front of the Task Force and convinced the members to create some changes. We all helped to create Senate Bill 2984, which is now the law in Florida.

Our condo members helped the House Select Committee on Condominium Governance under chairman Julio Robaina to push for the condo bill. This bill, which merged into SB 1184, created the long overdue office of the Condo Ombudsman. This was necessary because the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Florida Land Sales, Condominiums and Mobile Homes, clearly failed to protect the rights and welfare of the owners living in mandated properties.

During the 2004 Legislative Session we succeeded to enact various bills that were definitely steps in the right direction:

• Condo Ombudsman’s Office

• Condo Advisory Council

• Grandfathering Rental Rights In Condos

• No More Liens And Foreclosures For Fines In HOAs

• Easy Recall Procedures For HOAs

• Certain Safeguards To Prevent Litigation Abuses

• No More SLAPP Suits!

• Greater Accountability Of Funds

This was definitely a good start. But we will not rest until our Florida legislators produce the following changes to the laws that govern Mandated Properties:

• Create Government Agency With Enforcement Power

• Put A Stop To Abusive Foreclosures In Associations

• Protect Our Vested Rights

Full Disclosure, NOT Caveat Emptor, must be the "Buy Words" in Florida – for all mandated properties, including Community Development Districts. These reforms are long overdue.

Teamwork is the name of the game. We don’t have the money the industry has trying to keep the status quo. But we sure have the people to make up for it.

UNITED WE STAND! That is our motto – and it will help us achieve the goal we are striving for: FAIRNESS!"

Bergemann continued with the following remarks:

A few greetings from invited guests, who couldn’t attend:

Governor Jeb Bush’s office called. He wanted to thank us for the invitation, but regrets that he can’t be here due to a prior engagement. He is sending his best wishes!”

“And two of our members, Hilda Covarubbias and John Brown send their best wishes, but couldn’t be with us due to health problems.  They wish us a successful meeting."

Humberto Sanchez is a director of the Board of Cyber Citizens for Justice, chairman of our Condo Committee and Councilman of LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens. LULAC is very active in fighting for owners’ rights. National President Hector M. Flores stated in a national resolution: “BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that LULAC condemns the abuse of homeowners living in mandated properties from unreasonable fines and foreclosures of their homes which are a vital part of the American dream.” 

In his speech Sanchez stressed that it is of utmost importance that economic crimes like embezzlement should be criminally prosecuted by law enforcement. It should not be treated as a private matter. It is important for the welfare of Florida's condo-owners that existing laws be enforced and new laws created that will provide the necessary accountability and protection of owners' rights.

Gordon Commeé is a founding member and a director of the board of Cyber Citizens For Justice and the President of Property Rights Florida. He made protection of constitutional rights the center of his speech. He made it very clear that constitutional rights should supersede any association documents. "We citizens live in a free country and our rights are protected by our constitution. No lawyer has the right to write governing documents trying to override the constitution!"

Representatives of some of the members of our Consumer Alliance offered their greetings and support.    Our friend, Bob Janauskas, has tried since many, many years to reform homeowners’ association law. He is the founder of Consumer Advocacy Network and a founding member of CCFJ.    Janauskas emphasized the need to remove these six (6) words and others with a similar intent from Chapter 720:

Bob Janauskas        Joe Gorman     Chan Gerber

Joe Gorman, the President of the Property Owners Association in The Villages, was congratulated on his recent re-election. The POA is one of the biggest owner-associations in Florida, with more than 1700 paying members.

Joe Gorman, president of the Property Owners' Association (POA) of the Villages in Lady Lake, Florida, explained some details of The Villages.  Population is now about 45,000, with a total at build-out in roughly 5 years of 100,000.  The development spans parts of Sumter, Lake, and Marion counties.  The Villages is an "active adult community" with over 600 clubs and activities for residents.  The government organization in The Villages is a CDD (Community Development District) that is one of over 225 CDDs in the state.

The POA  represents Villages' residents and their homeowner interests.  The organization is a voluntary homeowners' association and just celebrated its 29th birthday on November 20. Membership is now over 1700.  It is independent of the developer.  Joe provided a brochure that explains the mission and activities of the POA in more detail.  Also provided was a copy of a recent POA Bulletin, the organization's monthly publication.  Additional information on the POA is presented on its web site at the www.poa4us.org address.

Joe Gorman summarized some of the The Villages’ problems, which are similar to those in HOAs.  These include:  Disclosure inadequacies; developer control of the big money decisions; inability to vote for supervisors in the main CDD; and taxation without representation.  The POA would like to see supervisors in the main CDD stand for a popular election by all residents.  As it is now, the developer appoints these supervisors with no input allowed by residents.

protection of the elderly living in associations. She expressed her concern about the abuses of elderly citizens and the possibility of losing their homes by abusive foreclosure!

should be made aware of the cost they might be facing. Especially elderly living on a fixed income might be surprised about sudden increases of dues. A fair warning before buying could help avoid a lot of hardship.

Bergemann had the honor and privilege to announce the CCFJ, Inc. Legislator of the Year Award.    It is called the HUGS Award. HUGS stands for Homeowners Urging Government Supervision.    In his laudation Bergemann said: "There was not even a discussion – no argument who deserves this award! House Representative Julio Robaina! His dedicated work for the welfare of homeowners and condo owners was much appreciated all over the state by many owners and we honestly can’t thank him enough. Our friend, Monica Sadler, who donated the H.U.G.S. statue – many, many thanks to you again, Monica --  will officially unveil the award and will give Representative Robaina the obligatory HUG."

Jan Bergemann  Monica Sadler    Rep. Julio Robaina

Representative Robaina thanked all for the honor and thanked CCFJ for all their assistance and efforts advancing the causes of owners living in mandated properties. He said that he is honored to be known as the point man on these issues and will continue to work on reforms to protect homeowners and unit-owners. 

H.U.G.S. AWARD

Representative Robaina stated that he is committed to push for laws creating a regulatory agency for homeowners' associations with enforcement powers. There are many other issues still open like accountability of boards, restricting the free use of reserve funds -- similar to condos -- and removing the ability to waive audits.   He emphasized that it will be a difficult fight against the special interests and he is asking all homeowners and condo-owners to unite and help the legislators willing to fight their fight by supporting consumer-friendly bills. Legislators need the support of their constituents and residents should contact their local state legislators asking them to support certain bills. This is imperative for the success of future bills. Legislators need to know that there is a demand for these reforms in order to act. “Change happens in government when people stand up and speak up!”   Bergemann thanked Representative Robaina for his dedication and commitment and promised that CCFJ will do everything in its

power to combine forces and work together on the necessary reforms to improve the welfare of Florida's citizens.

Thank you, Representative Julio Robaina, for giving back the hope to many homeowners and condo owners in Florida!

A small HUGS award went to CCFJ Secretary Connie Young, who was unable to attend for health reasons. Bergemann said: "And I want like to take this opportunity to honor a person who does a terrific job. She is there whenever needed, turns my German into proper English and takes care off all our clerical work. I’m talking about our Secretary Connie Young. Connie is our good spirit behind the scenes, who helps out whenever necessary.

Connie, I think you deserve another HUG, but in this case a small one for a big heart. Thank you for all you are doing. Believe me, it’s much appreciated!

And get better soon! Please give Connie a big round of applause. She sure deserves it!"

One of the new achievements of the Condo Bill was the establishment of a Condo Advisory Council. It is a pretty weird situation, because the same people who fought the bill to create it then applied to become members of the council. 

Previously, Florida had a Condo Advisory Council, until it was abandoned by disinterest of the industry. They surely are not interested in reforms. Our friend, Mike Van Dyk, president of SHORN (Secure Homeowners Rights Now), was a member of this Council. He talked a little about his experience with this Council. He is determined to fight for term limits in associations and thinks that board members in office for too long would succumb to corruption. This was the same reason why voters approved term limits for politicians. He calls for investigation of corruption in associations and strict punishment of violators. In his opinion, establishing term limits would be the first step to stop corruption and kickbacks!

Michael Van Dyk

Mark Benson was appointed by Senate President Jim King to serve on the Condo Advisory Council. Mark is a known advocate for accountability for managers, attorneys, CPAs and 

everyone else that claims to be working for associations and their members -- but in reality only consider associations and their members as the bottom of the food chain.  Mark Benson addressed the meeting and thanked the CCFJ for all their continuing efforts. He talked about many necessary reforms. As a member of the Condo Advisory Council, he is asking CCFJ and all interested owners for input and recommendations. The Council can only function as planned, if the condo owners will support recommendations.

Mark Benson

Further remarks by Bergemann: 

After lengthy discussions and seeking advice from experienced legislators, CCFJ members thought it is about time that we homeowners and condo-owners will have our own VOICE IN TALLAHASSEE. The industry always falsely claimed to represent our interests! Thank you, but no thanks! We homeowners are actually old enough and can decide ourselves what is good for us. We don’t need babysitters who are just after our money!

Despite all our personal efforts, it is very obvious that an experienced former legislator will help our cause immensely. We started collecting the necessary funds and found out real fast that many of our members looked very favorably on this decision. We received donations, not only from members, but as well from our allies – and I would like to mention here especially the Property Owners Association in the Villages and Property Rights Florida. Thank you so much! We still need more money, so please throw a few bucks in our little donation jar at the sign-in desk! We took a look and we looked even closer -- and we found the former Dean of the House, our friend Jerry Melvin. Jerry has always supported the cause of homeowners and the elderly. And he was actually the first legislator who believed in our cause and sponsored our first and original Task Force bill in 2002.

He served as Executive for the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council in his area and was Legislative Assistant to Congressman Bob Sikes in Washington D.C. from 1956 to 59

Jerry has a long history of service in the Tallahassee House of Representatives. He served from 1968 to1979 and from 1994 to 2002 when he was not permitted to continue to run for the House, because of Florida’s term-limit law.  

We hope that Jerry Melvin will be our VOICE IN TALLAHASSEE!

Jerry Melvin thanked everyone for giving him the privilege of attending CCFJ's first annual meeting.   He complimented Rep. Robaina for the outstanding work he did in Tallahassee and he gave credit to Jan Bergemann and Robert Janauskas for their efforts during the years keeping him informed through e-mails concerning all the issues facing homeowners' associations and the residents who found problems with their HOAs.   “I became interested in the issues when I was contacted by two residents in my area” Melvin said, “and after I introduced the Task Force Bill, I began to hear from Jan and Robert as well as others.  By this time, I knew there was a problem and I can see by the large number of people here today, the situation is even larger than I had thought.”

Jerry Melvin

Jerry Melvin encouraged everyone to work together and make sure each individual is saying the same thing when he or she visits the respective legislators.  He said it is important that the group speaks as one voice so there will be no confusion relative to the issues facing CCFJ and its members.  “Decide on the main issues, put them in writing, and make sure everyone is totally familiar,” he said.

“I’m here to listen this weekend, and then I’ll work with Jan, Rep. Robaina and each of you to find solutions to the legislative needs of the many HOAs and residents," said Jerry Melvin

A public question and answer session ended the first evening of this Annual Meeting. This spirited part of the evening clearly showed the interest and the emotions that go with these issues. All participants seemed very happy with the progress made when the meeting was recessed at 11 PM. All the speeches and discussions definitely proved one point: 

UNITED WE STAND!

We need the help and support of many owners. Apathy doesn't help to pass reform bills. 

JOIN OUR CONSUMER ALLIANCE and be part of the solution, not part of the problem!