GNWCIA Meeting Report: My Notes...

My wife and I made the short trip down to the Lodge of the Great Northwest to attend the monthly open Board meeting of the Great Northwest Community Improvement Association (GNWCIA). I'll keep the notes brief, or at least I'll try to! What a doozy!

Residents to Speak:

• One resident made a brief presentation regarding some procedural errors in the budget. His comments were accompanied by several pages of information explaining in greater detail the errors and how to correct them. There was nothing to suggest that anyone was doing anything illegal or anything like that, but based on the specific procedures, these were errors that could (and have been noted in the past) in an audit. If you'd like more details on this issue, I'd be happy to put you in touch with the resident.
  

• Another resident is concerned about graffiti and vandalism and suggests the board make efforts to have the city tear down the skate park at Oscar Perez Memorial Park. He is concerned that the District 6 Council member (Delicia Herrera) is of no use (to which I must confess, I concur), and he also has issues with the GNW Security Staff (to which I disagree with many of his concerns). This gentleman has witnessed a lot of stuff and has confronted people. He has been threatened with violence to which the SAPD has been unable to take action on. The guy is fed up and rightfully so.

• Another gentleman had a few negative words about security which were completely without basis. His complaint was that security was not taking action against deed restriction violations. Simply put; not a security task, and in fact, they are not authorized to take DRACO actions like the resident was asking for.

• A final resident spoke to praise the security staff and to advise the board of e-mails that had been making the rounds regarding false allegations about our security staff. While I was not a recipient of said e-mails, of course I have seen at least one of them and can verify that yes, as the gentleman claimed, racial epithets were used to describe some residents, and further, I am aware first hand (being part of the GNWatch) that some of the accusations in the e-mails against the security staff are completely without merit.
  

Community Manager Report:

• If you have seen the "improvements" taking place over on Timber Spring in Silver Creek, remain calm. The nice gentleman doing the work was not aware of our deed restrictions and is cooperating fully with the staff and the city to see what is allowable and what isn't. Having driven by the house in question, you'd think the guy was on that Ty Pennington show where they come and do a complete super sized make-over. Columns. Very grand.

Security:

• You can call the GNW Security for stray and vicious dogs, but you still need to call 3-1-1 (or try 207 SAPD). When you call our staff, just remember, they don't have guns and they don't have a kennel.
  

Recreation:

• Our rec director has resigned to pursue educational opportunities in the nursing field. Eva and I wish Stephanie the best of luck!
  

DRACO:

• Jose will be filling in as Rec Director and continuing to monitor the house on Timber Stream!

Maintenance:

• The lodge is going to get a new coat of paint on the inside starting next week. We can only hope that Fred and the staff will use a good oil-based paint on the baseboards and trim. And let's hope it isn't yellow.
  

Unfinished Business:

• The 2009 Budget was unanimously approved by the board (and corrections as described by the concerned resident were apparently made prior to the meeting).

New Business:

• A motion was made to set the new assessment at $222.00 for 2009 and it was approved without discussion. This is the same as the current assessment.

And that was the official meeting. As the 17 residents who showed up to watch the board meeting vacated the building so the board could convene the closed session, I spoke with several of the concerned citizens regarding complaints about security, the increases in graffiti (tagging), the skate board park, and the support we get from the city and the district office.

Parents need to understand that this is Texas and the Castle Doctrine is alive and well. Some residents living on main thoroughfares have observed 11 and 12 year old's out at 1 and 2 in the morning hanging out (the curfew is 12am). When one of these kids is caught tagging a guy's fence or vandalising a car and gets a bullet in the head, I'm sure the parents will be upset. But apparently, they don't seem too concerned about it now.

I really hope we don't read about the kids of a resident being killed, but I fear that is what is coming. Seriously, people are getting tired of it.

Sorry to leave you on a sour note. If you didn't make it, you missed a good meeting and lots of good cake, pie and other snacks.