SACRIFICE HONESTY AND INTEGRITY TO BE A BOARD MEMBER?

An Opinion By Jan Bergemann
President, Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.

Published October 30, 2007

You read last week the very interesting story about Playa del Mar board president Robert G. Boffa Sr., a felon convicted of racketeering according to many documents available on the Internet, and his attempt to have a board member opposing his rein recalled for dishonesty – just because that board member did not immediately return a briefcase he picked up by mistake in his own parking space.

A new wanna-be player, Betty Cholst, appeared on the scene, eager to take the seat -- if available. Cholst is a retired attorney, always eager to serve on association boards. When you read the following letter, mailed out by her to the unit owners in the Playa del Mar, please consider that she obviously has a private agenda to push this issue. She wants to be the new board member appointed (quote) "a responsible owner can be selected who will serve the best interests of Playa del Mar - with the highest degree of honesty and integrity."

October 19, 2007

Dear Owners:

As you know by now, Mark Stern was identified on security video camera September 26 in possession of a briefcase, laptop, passport and papers of a resident owner who had placed them temporarily at the elevator. The police were called and the owner of the briefcase filed a police report.

The facts in the case are indisputable:

1. Mark Stern failed to return the briefcase.

2. Mark Stern failed to turn it into security.

3. Mark Stern failed to report to our security or management office he had

the briefcase.

4. Mark Stern did not return the briefcase until confronted with the

information 22 hours later, based on images from a security camera

videotape.

Ask yourself these two questions:

What would you have done had you found a briefcase and laptop computer?

What would you expect your neighbors to do if it had been your briefcase?

This recall is not about "Board politics." It is about holding a current board member to a higher standard of honesty, integrity and responsibility WHILE SERVING on the Playa del Mar board. Mark Stern fails this test.

No one should serve as a trustee of PDM who violates our trust.

Our elected Board members speak for PDM, represent us in negotiations, and have access to all financial records and the management office - including keys to our units. No one should be in a position of trust that we cannot trust.

WE URGE YOU TO VOTE TO RECALL MARK STERN so a responsible owner can be selected who will serve the best interests of Playa del Mar - with the highest degree of honesty and integrity. We do not make this recommendation thoughtlessly as this is a very serious matter.

Complete the recall ballot and return it immediately in the enclosed envelope. The person signing the ballot must be the one authorized to cast your unit's vote - the same as in board elections. A vote to "Recall" will remove Mark Stem from the board of directors. A vote to "Retain" will keep Mark Stern on the board of directors. Thank you.

Ms Betty Cholst, Esq.

Unit 705

3900 Galt Ocean DR

Fort Lauderdale , FL 33308

[email protected]

I guess it's really better that Betty Cholst has retired from her profession -- meaning she is no longer eligible to practice law in Florida, because with her arguments every judge would have laughed her out of the courtroom. Her arguments have more holes than a Swiss Cheese!

Cholst mixes up facts with fantasy, because her "indisputable facts" are very much disputable, starting with her video camera proof. There was no briefcase temporarily placed by the real owner at the elevator, even if the police report says so, because the real owner wasn't sure where he actually "forgot" his briefcase, according to the police report. (The video camera actually proves that the briefcase was not left by the elevator, but in a parking space in the parking garage.) Her letter further claims that the video camera “proves” that Mark Stern was in possession of a laptop, passport and papers of a resident owner. Gee, they must have fancy video cameras in Playa del Mar, able to identify the contents of closed briefcases!

What would you do if you saw a briefcase that looked like your own sitting in your parking space after you unloaded your car? Wouldn’t you pick up that briefcase, believing it was your own?

Betty Cholst has a history of short tenures as a board member -- first at the Playa del Sol, then at the Playa del Mar. At the last election in the Playa del Mar this spring she ended up dead-last of 8 candidates with 84 votes, despite being an incumbent. She obviously didn't strike the fancy of the voting unit owners? But this defeat didn't teach her the lesson that such an election result should teach every loser: She really isn't wanted!

Now she is trying to climb back into a board seat through the backdoor, not in any way disturbed by voters' rejection.

And the really big question: Why isn't the owner of the briefcase not the one making all these false accusations? The answer is easy: He knows better!

If this isn't "BOARD POLITICS" I really wonder what is?

Board president Boffa desperately needs another board member voting for him to keep his presidency alive. In the moment he can't even hold a public board meeting without getting embarrassed, since he is unable to garner the necessary votes on the board.

So, everybody supporting Boffa’s cause is welcome, even if it's the support of Betty Cholst, a former board member who was part of the board that tried to legally remove him from the board, because as a convicted felon Florida Statutes prevent him from serving on the board. An attempt that has cost the owners of the Playa del Mar a bunch of money -- and Boffa still hasn't proven that his civil rights were restored, as required by Florida law -- minimum nobody I know has seen the proof?

Considering that Betty Cholst is calling in her letter for board members with a (quote) "higher standard of honesty, integrity and responsibility," let's take a look at the current board members.

President Robert G. Boffa Sr.: A felon convicted of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), his name prominently mentioned in a report authored by the President's Commission on Organized Crime.

Vice President Daniel Lecht: Casting the vote that helped Boffa to become president, after campaigning with a different agenda. Many voters stated that they never would have voted for Lecht if they had known that he would support Boffa. Lecht’s reward: Being Vice President!

And not to forget manager Keith Tannenbaum, whose name will forever be connected to the fact that he was the first -- and so far only -- community association manager who dared to stop officially appointed Florida election monitors from doing their job. He will go to every length to keep his job, even if it includes sending out e-mails polling board members if they are in favor of recalling Mark Stern -- definitely not his business as a licensed CAM!

From: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 16:15:32

A meeting was hold this morning, Wednesday October 3rd 2007

Attendance, Keith Tannenbaum, Manager, Dan Leicht, Vice President, Bob Boffa, President (speaker phone) Mark Stern, Director, Betty Cholst, Resident.

The item of discussion was to ask Mark Stern to resign from the Board due to his improper handling of a resident's personal property.

I am polling the remaining Board members to ask if you are in favor of asking for his resignation

Should you need further details, please contact me.

Keith

Tannenbaum knows that his tenure as Playa del Mar manager is over as soon as Boffa has lost the majority of the board votes.

A recent event in the association office showed that Betty Cholst makes another false claim in her letter (quote): "[Board members] have access to all financial records and the management office - including keys to our units."

Board member Heide Von Schlieffen was asking Keith Tannenbaum last week for association documents, only to be yelled at by Tannenbaum’s high-pitched (angry) voice when he threatened to call the police because of "harassment.” So much for so-called easy access to association documents for board members.

Von Schlieffen left, rather than create a confrontation. Just like many other others, she is well aware that Tannenbaum has a temper and that he has been accused in court of REPEATED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

It's pretty obvious that Betty Cholst is just another retired attorney who thinks she knows it all, but she has no scruples about sacrificing her integrity and honesty -- or whatever was left -- in order to get back on the board of a condominium association.

The unit owners of the Playa del Mar definitely deserve better than that, especially decisions regarding their money -- decisions made in public board meetings, not behind closed doors!

Unit owners should make sure that they vote at the next board elections for candidates with a high standard of honesty, integrity and responsibility, willing to obey the Florida Statutes and willing to make decisions at public board meetings -- with input of the members! They already have such a person in Mark Stern.

Maybe that's why certain unscrupulous persons are trying so hard to get rid of Stern!

ONLY IN FLORIDA