Article Courtesy of The HI-RISER

By Chris Guanche

Published February 14, 2007

Contentious issues will be at the forefront Friday when residents of Fort Lauderdale's Plaza East Condominium vote to elect board members, after several resignations of the condo's tabulating committee. 

One concern for many residents and potential candidates is who will count the votes. Four of the condo association's 11 members are up for re-election. In late January, five members of the condo's tabulating committee abruptly resigned, citing various reasons,

Resident and candidate Harold Wechsler said he was initially uncomfortable with the amount of access many had to the ballot box and the lack of an election monitor. wechsler then created a petition requesting the presence of an election monitor from the Office of Condominium Ombudsman at the state's Department of Professional and Business Regulation, also expressing concern over the numbers of keys available to the ballot box.

Soon after, members of the committee resigned.

"The people that were on the committee resigned because they felt insulted," said association president Richard Loarie, who is up for re-election.

Wechsler said he request for a monitor and secure box didn't result from any distrust in the committee, but rather was based n principle!

"There is not a polling precinct in America that does not have a Democratic and republican poll watcher," Wechsler said. "No one is inferring irregularities; it's just that this is our practice in America."

But finding replacements to fill the empty committee slots has not been easy. According to Loarie, no volunteers have stepped forward, leaving around six to eight people to count the votes, instead of usual 12. Loarie said the vote counting would proceed as planned, but at a slower pace.

"It's going to run a long time, but that's just the way things are," Loarie said.

Some residents are also concerned about the association's publication of election results on the association's website, www.plazaeast.info, regarding hurricane shutter installation from September. the results match the names of residents to their votes. Wechsler said the publication of the results is an invasion of privacy and could intimidate voters in  the upcoming election. Loarie, however, contends that the results are public records.

Election troubles at Plaza East come in a wake of repeated concerns over the condominiums fire alarm system. The old fire alarm system, Loarie said, was being replaced with a newer ion detection system, which detects ion particles in the air and is more sensitive. Installation began in September  2005 but is still not complete, and there is no estimated completion date. In the meantime, the system has been set off many times, partially due to construction in the building.

Loarie said the system, still in its testing phase, works fine. Residents have called 911 in a panic when the system goes off prematurely, while Loarie said it takes security guard about three minutes to determine if there is actually a fire. Wechsler is concerned about the wait time and said that going down multiple flights of stairs is difficult for elderly residents with limited mobility!

The condo hasn't been cited for false alarm calls by the city. According to Chaz Adams, a spokesperson for the city of Fort Lauderdale, there is a system of fines if the fire department responds to a false alarm call. One false alarm call within a a 12-month period has no fine, but repeat calls have a scale of fines ranging from $100 to $400.

The system is being installed by Edwards System Technology. Manager Robert Sherman said that there are no problems with the system and that the company has provided protective covers for the detectors, which are to be used during construction. Any triggering of the system, he said, is due to contractors not using the covers."

"We're trying to provide residents with the safest building possible," Sherman said.