|
ELECTIONS? WHAT A JOKE!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published December 7, 2018
Elections in Florida are nothing but trouble – and many of these
elections are in the end actually decided by lawyers and judges,
not by the people who are supposed to cast the ballots.
No matter if we are talking general elections or annual
elections in condominium or homeowners’ associations, the fight
is on. Election and recall cases are by far the most causes for
arbitration filings, but with the momentary staffing of the
arbitration section of the Division
of Florida Land Sales, Condominiums and Mobile Homes it’s like
playing the lottery: Nobody knows if they will win or lose since
it seems that the arbitrators employed in the moment forgot to
read FS 718 or FS 720 – or the Florida Administrative Code
dealing with elections and recalls in community associations.
In
addition to the incompetence of these arbitrators Florida
legislators didn’t do a real good job creating a clear wording
for election procedures. While FS 718.112 (The Condo Act)
creates some good guide-lines for election procedures, FS
720.306 (The HOA Act) allows about every procedure that can
only be considered totally unethical and definitely doesn’t
create fair elections.
How
about a nominating committee, consisting of husbands and wives
of incumbent board members, actually deciding the elections by
disqualifying any other owners in good standing for no reason,
allowing only their “buddies” to be on the ballot that is being
mailed out. FAIR ELECTIONS?
Elections in Florida are a joke – and they even make headlines
in foreign countries.
We are
sending former presidents to other countries to observe their
elections. How about we are getting elections in our country
straightened out before we are trying to tell other countries
how to hold fair elections?
|
|
 |
Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
|
associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
|
