Board Elections May 2024
(W) Larry Cohen 286
(L) Fred Rucci 282
(W) Alan Stauber 389
Write Ins
Joel Littman 1
Richard Lasker 1
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Management sent out on Monday notification together with a Notification Form to submit your name as a candidate for a board seat. There are two seats up for election this year both seats carry a two year term. If you did not see that notification here is a link to download the form.
Stonebridge Board Election Nomination Forms are now available. You can get them from management or here:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AnMwtMfPH_lmjvpPv466_rbb0BuDBg?e=9wlQCg
If you are interested in running for a board seat, download and fill out the form. The form has the information for additional documents. The deadline to submit the application is Fri March 15 at 5:00 PM.
Board Elections 2023 – May 9, 2023, at 7:00 pm in the Ballroom
For the first time in Stonebridge history there will be a board without Michael Berezein on it. A bylaw change imposed a term limit.
There are four candidates for the three seats up for election vacated by Ava Baron, Michael Berezein and Jerry Mirelli:
(WON) Jerry Mirelli – 427
(WON) Barbara Levine – 411 (Write-in Candidate)
(WON) Loren Sattinger – 400
Paul Altschuler – 279
Albert Toss – 198
Sandy Schwartzberg – 23
Elliot Spar – 7
Joel Littman – 2
Michael Berezein – 2
David Bellask – 1
Pat Sirr – 1
David Desiere – 1
Salvatore LaBella – 1
John Colella – 1
Results of 2022 Board Election
Paul Altschuler – 244
Richard Lasker – 462
Fred Rucci – 466
Write Ins:
Steven Birnbaum – 1
Alex Melamud – 1
Loren Sattinger – 1
Charles Zeichner – 1
Election for two board seats will be on May 10, 2022.
Candidate Differences
In our opinion there are some differences that can be used to evaluate the candidates. Richard Lasker is a sitting board member. Paul Altschuler is an ex-board member and Fred Rucci has never been a board member, but is the sitting chairmen of the Finance Committee. Current and previous board members should be first evaluated on their record while on the board and then on what they say and campaign on.
There is one major noticeable difference with these candidates. Mr. Lasker promotes “unanimity”, or voting as one. In our opinion that alone should eliminate him from consideration. We do not know Mr. Rucci’s opinion on that policy. Mr. Altshuler opposes that policy and promotes openness. This policy of unanimity does not allow a clear understanding of the opinions of sitting board members. That makes it difficult to evaluate during an election.
Another difference is the spending of money using questionable logic regarding legal loopholes in the bylaws. A capital improvement requires a 51% vote of the membership at an Open Board Meeting. The threshold used to be $5,000 and now with the restated bylaws it has been raised to $25,000. In our opinion the board has never had a vote on spending above the $5,000 limit and has used the loophole that everything is an extension of a previous use. In our opinion this is wrong and in the last 2 years has been done repeatedly. What we know is Mr. Lasker was a board member in the past 23 months and there has been a lot of spending over that limit without a vote. We can only assume he went along with those “behind closed doors” votes. Remember 3 board votes carry the spending. BTW, the definition of capital improvement is not contained either in our bylaws or the Declaration. The By-Laws Committee was asked to add a legal definition of capital improvement to the by-laws to correct this flaw. The Committee refused to do so. Mr. Altshuler committed in candidate’s night to correct this flaw.
Mr. Lasker has spearheaded a number of failed initiatives that in our opinion were detrimental to the residents of the community. The first waiver included an indemnification clause that put anyone signing the waiver in financial risk. In essence, every resident that signed the waiver agreed to defend the association to include all vendors using the clubhouse (Rezcom, cleaning service, Taylor Management, and all other contractors) against any COVID related lawsuit personally with their own attorney, at the resident’s expense. They were also responsible for any assessment assigned by the community. Residents that didn’t sign the waiver would not be assessed in the event of a lawsuit.
Another failed initiative was the proposed amendment to the Declaration that gave the board the power to discriminate against residents by banning them from using amenities without first agreeing to some rule a board passed. In our opinion, this initiative was predicated on fear during the pandemic. It was based on flawed legal principles and again put residents at risk. Mr. Lasker was an author of this amendment and our association legal counsel approved it as well. To our astonishment it nearly passed the 2/3 threshold. We believe the misleading facts released by the board confused the residents. This is a prime example why honesty should be considered over any self praise rhetoric.
We believe the opinion of many consultants that say that HOA board that members should not be lawyers or accountants, unless they demonstrate the ability to wear two hats well. In this election, we can avoid two of those recommendations. For this reason we endorse, and ask you to vote for only Mr. Paul Altshuler, the only independent candidate in this election.
SAG Opinion
Announced Candidates:
(1) Paul Altschuler
(2) Richard Lasker
(3) Fred Rucci
Richard and Fred decided to run as a team and support each other. SAG opposes this on a 5-member board. Richard promotes and supports the non-democratic concept of “the board speaks as one.” This makes it difficult to distinguish at election time what board members align with a resident’s agenda.
Election for 3 Board seats May 2021 results
This year 626 ballots were submitted. This was a 66% participation rate!
(W) Ava Baron – 501 votes
(W) Jerry Mirelli – 417 votes
(W) Michael Berezein – 362 votes
(L) Elliot Spar – 344 votes
There were 11 write-ins: Albert Toss – 4 votes, Thomas Nardini – 1 , vote, Steve Birnbaum – 1 vote, Peter Rendiero – 4 votes, Sandy Schwatrzberg – 21 votes, Stu Schwartz – 1 vote, Pat Sirr – 1 vote, Sylvia Lynn – 1 vote, Joel Littman – 1 vote, Harold Gedell – 1 vote, Mike Mirabile – 1 vote
Michael Berezein was elected by the current board as President.
April 1, 2021
Mark your Calendars:
There will be 2 Candidates’ Nights this year. Monday, April 5th and Tuesday, April 27th.
For April 5th questions must be submitted to Taylor by March 29, 2021
Results Oct 2020 Election Total votes 570
(W) Richard Lasker – 519 votes
(W) Anthony Aliotta – 274 votes
(L) David Bellask – 246 votes
Elected Board Oct 2020 – May 2021
The Board Officer’s Elected positions are as follows:
Michael Berezein – President
Jerry Mirelli – Vice President
Anthony Aliotta – Treasurer
Richard Lasker – Secretary
Elliot Spar – Director
Now the question, why didn’t 376 household vote? Many will suggest answers to this including they don’t care. However, I will suggest one of the more likely answers. While there may be some truth to they don’t care, the vast majority that didn’t vote was because they didn’t know who to vote for. I know of many residents that do not know the names of the board of directors. Some know the names but not the positions or background of board business. Residents that vote because they know of the name is the popularity contest we have spoken of that before. For a healthy and well managed community, the more that vote the better off we are. This is simply because the candidates cannot target about 280 votes and win an election. They will have to win voters based on platform and existing directors will have to rely on past performance. For residents to do that there must be a change in board procedure.
In the past, most votes taken at open board meetings were 5-0. While that is possible it is highly unlikely there are unanimous positions most of the time. In addition, the residents have no idea what the board is considering introducing to the community. If they are discussing something and that does not come out favorably, the residents never know the issue. The reason for that is workshop votes are not published and they should be. If the board knew they would be, they would know that is part of their record and would have to defend that during an election. If residents had that information, there would be many more voting. Be vocal and demand all board voting on issues be made public. The community would benefit from this change alone. We have heard of transparency for years, maybe this board will usher in that promise.
It is our opinion, and our long-term goal, is for the board to introduce a transformation away from the current HOA board model that was introduced by the developer and favored the developer, to our detriment, for over 13 years. Unfortunately, this process which should have started in 2015 didn’t and the residents have shown in this election that is the direction they desire.
Creating a new model based on efficiency and transparency can only be accomplished if the BOD develop process, procedures and policies that can be measured. Changes without measurement are guesses, trial and error, make things worse, and lead to secrecy. Boards never admit they were wrong and there is the start of the problem in these communities. Instead, you never know the cost of that error and even if it occured. What you do see is rising costs without measured benefits.
If changes are made based on knowledge, the most efficient method of modeling can be implemented. Working agenda’s that are followed, made available along with how directors vote on the different issues will allow residents to elect directors that align with their goals as well. This will initiate and allow all the residents to understand the governing of the community. In the past, secrecy prevailed and that must be changed. There is only one model that works with the efficiency we believe will allow Stonebridge to become the the model community we all desire and deserve.
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