Article Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post

By Tania Valdemoro
Tuesday, April 11, 2006

BOCA RATON — When Marty Merluzzi looks out of his 11th-floor bedroom window, he sees a checkerboard of plywood slabs.

More than six months after Hurricane Wilma blew out windows and sliding doors and tore holes into the two roofs of the Boca Towers Condominium on the 2000 block of North Ocean Boulevard, Merluzzi says nothing has been fixed.

With the start of hurricane season a mere six weeks away, residents worry about the state of their vulnerable homes.

Some people were so fed up with waiting for repairs that last week they led a drive to recall the members of the condominium's homeowners association board, whom they accuse of mismanagement.

At issue is an assessment fee the board recently levied. The fee ranged from $7,000 to $20,000, residents say, and would be used to pay for repairs not covered by the property's insurance policy.

Merluzzi worries about his elderly neighbors who live on fixed incomes because they would have to deplete their savings or other assets to pay the assessment. 

Board members Monday flatly refused to certify the recall during a meeting punctuated with shouting and angry finger-pointing. They alleged the dissident group used illegal ballots.

"The boxes on the ballot cannot be premarked but must be filled out by the voter," said Joe Pedalino, the board's treasurer.

Ballots also were dismissed because the signatures of the voters did not match signatures on file or the voter did not own the condominium unit and therefore could not vote.

The dispute now heads into arbitration as stipulated by state law, Pedalino said. He did not know who would be chosen as the arbitrator.

Others, like Alan Glueckman, threatened the condo board with another recall petition using unmarked ballots next time.

"More people voted to recall you than to keep you," Glueckman told the board. "I think it's time to step down."

According to Pedalino, repairs have begun, though no one expects them to be finished before hurricane season.