Important GNW Announcements...

Slipping into Public Service Announcer voice: if you happen to live in The Great Northwest area of San Antonio, the following items may be of interest to you:

• Thursday, 15 October @ 7:30pm - Meeting of the GNW Board of Directors at the Lodge. They will be presenting the Independent Auditors report.

• Saturday, 17 October @ 8:00 to noon - The A-Team will assist Timberwilde Elementary students in doing a clean-up of their outdoor classroom. If you have ever thought about giving the A-Team a try, this would be a good chance. 8am at Timberwilde Elementary.

• Saturday, 17 October @ 10:00 to 3:00pm - The Great Northwest Library celebrates the 15th Anniversary. The new Friends of Great Northwest Library will be there to give out information on their new group. Please stop by and check them out.
  

• Saturday, 17 October @ 8:00PM to midnight, the GNW will hold the Adult Halloween Party (for GNWCIA members only) at the Lodge of the Great Northwest. BYOB. See Passages for more info.

And there you have your community announcements...

Great Northwest: Luau Tonight, 8PM at the Lodge...

Just in case you haven't been fitted for your grass skirt, here is a reminder; while you are out and about today, grab a few coldies, some coconut shells (to cover your whatnot's) and a perhaps a Hawaiian shirt for those of us who should not be seen topless in public.Tonight (15 Aug 2009) is the GNW Luau. Free to residents (have your membership card at the ready) and $3.00 for guests. BYOB.

See ya there!

Mark Your Calendars: Luau and Casino in GNW...

On the off chance that your social calendar is normally booked solid several weeks ahead of time, I offer you two important events that you should prepare yourself for.

First, if you are a card carrying member of the Great Northwest, you simply must attend the GNW Annual Luau which takes place on Saturday, the 15th of August. Unfortunately, the poster I have does not include a time on it, but my guess is 7'ish. I'll update when I learn more.I should tell you that my wife and I attended the last Luau with neighbors and we had a blast. The GNW Sounds warmed up the crowd with a few festive numbers at the beginning of the event, then a DJ/Karaoke guy came on and really got things going. The event is for adults aged 21 and up and it is a BYOB type of thing. There will be food provided. Don't call PETA, but someone said they might even have a pig on a spit! Check your next Passages for details.

Up next, on Saturday the 5th of September between 7-11pm, the GNW will have a Wild West themed Casino Night. Put on your best jeans, maybe a vest and a cowboy hat, and men, consider wearing one of those fancy western style country and western shirts. I'm going dressed as Porter Wagoner! (Kidding)My wife and I had an awesome time at the first Casino Night. The folks who put it on did a great job and nobody, far as I could tell, was disappointed. This one is not free and it is not BYOB, but everything is very reasonable. Again, learn more in Passages.

We hope to see you at both these fun events!

Kuwamura Park Report: Who is Kuwamura?

I recently did a story on a group of National Junior Honor Society students from Zachry Middle School who participated in a community service project at Kuwamura Park located at Timber Path and Cliffbrier in Emerald Valley. This story prompted one former GNW resident and long time reader to ask about the origin of the park name. And that prompted me to ask the same question. Who is Kuwamura and why do we have a park named after him?

As you might imagine, my research started with the GNW office staff. Apparently, the naming of the park took place long before any of the current staff, so I had to dig deeper. I did notice that on a plaque outside the office there was a listing for Paul J. Kuwamura who served on the GNW Board of Directors between 1989 and 1995. Now, I was on to something.

Next, I asked several former board members for details and was finally given the phone number for former Director Judy Stubbs. We had a very enjoyable conversation during which she described how Mr. Kuwamura was elected to his position on the very day that he sold his home in the Great Northwest to move into a new home in a neighboring sub-division. I asked her why then he served the board for several years, and she replied, “That was the type of dedicated person Jeff was.”

When communities with HOA’s first start, it is not uncommon to have their board of directors made up of builders and Realtors overseeing the project, many of whom naturally lived off premises. As the neighborhoods matured, the board would be transitioned to residents elected to the positions. But in 1989, there was no rule in place requiring that a board member reside in, or own property in the GNW, and Mr. Kuwamura was able to serve. And serve, he did.

According to Mrs. Stubbs, Director Kuwamura had a background in the building field and he was able to assist our maintenance staff with putting together scheduling programs to more efficiently run projects and maintenance related tasks. But much of his greater contributions came in support of the park at Emerald Valley which now bears his name.

“Before the association had an A-Team”, Mrs. Stubbs told me, “Jeff volunteered quite a bit to upgrade that park.” He and others did a lot of work to get playground equipment.

As I continued to ask around for more information, I learned that our very own Fred Murphy, Director of GNW Maintenance, lives next door to Mr. Kuwamura in a nearby neighborhood. Through Fred, I was able to contact Jeff and learn more.

Jeff told me, “My intentions for running for election to the board was primarily because of the disparity between Silver Creek and Emerald Valley and how Emerald Valley was viewed by the board which was made up of all Silver Creek residents. Even though Emerald Valley residents paid the same dues they were treated as second class residents by the association. In matter of fact when I first came on there were discussions on removing Emerald Valley from the Great Northwest.”

Mr. Kuwamura was in fact dedicated to the mission of increasing the the benefit to his neighborhood. He continued, “During my tenure we managed to raise the level of attention that Emerald Valley received”.

Sitting on the the board of directors between 1989 and 1995, including a term as vice chairman, Mr. Kuwamura would be instrumental in numerous major projects and issues of the day. He said, “City of San Antonio Annexation, which we as a board worked very closely with City Council and the Mayor in making sure that our concerns and needs would be addressed.” Of great significance was pushing for the building of the bridge on Prue Rd, so that police would have a more direct route into our community from the SAPD sub-station serving our area.

Later, Mr. Kuwamura was appointed to a Blue Ribbon Committee seated by then Mayor Lila Cockerell for the development of a 5 year master plan for the San Antonio Fire Department, which a lot of the changes we recommended are in place today and have raised the level of service including funding more EMS units, relocating some stations, also the development of the Emergency Management Center.

And Jeff told me, “We also created the Great Northwest Security force, developed the Recreation Director position and Recreation Programs, which I believe most still are going on.” He also said, “We added several new facilities including the David Flores Room at Emerald Valley, the drainage park area, the new Silver Creek pool building and baths, the volleyball courts to mention a few.”

So there you have it. I’d say that Jeff Kuwamura played a significant role in the history of The Great Northwest, and that is why you see a park named for him.

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 - because... !

In case you weren't aware, this is the first open board meeting since the annual membership meeting failed to obtain a quorum. The resulting failed election for two new directors caused the remaining board members to accept applications for and subsequently appoint two new directors. Needless to say, there was much interest in the community as to what the sitting directors would do; simply appoint the two previous candidates, or go with some of the people who threw names into the hat for consideration. I'll tell you what happened, in a moment.

Presentations and Delegations: You may recall that the residents of District 6 elected Mr. Ray Lopez to represent us at City Council. He sent GNW resident Andy Greene, a temporary member of his staff, to give us some news from the district office. Most important good news is that they will be using the GNW facilities as sort of a satellite office on the last Friday of the month in June, July and August between 10 and 3PM or so. This will give residents a chance to come in and discuss their needs. What a great move. There will be more info on this in the next issue of Passages.

Residents to Speak: A resident of Village Northwest approached the board to ask for information about installing a fence in her front yard. This is normally something a resident would approach the Architectural Control Committee with, but based on her understanding of the covenants, she already knew it would most likely be denied. As it turns out, her real concern is with stray/vicious dogs. She has no faith in the city to control the strays so she would like to put up a fence. She was ultimately told to get with the Community Manager and discuss the process offline.

Another resident and former board member from Silver Creek spoke on multiple issues of concern. She had lots of positive things to say about the volunteers working to cover graffiti (which we appreciate). But, she also voiced concern over the fact that the DRACO and Rec Director positions have been filled by the same person for a while now is a concern and the resident cited multiple deed restrictions that were not being addressed. One example was that she counted 70 garbage cans that had not been put in their proper places, in just a short stretch of homes. Really, it does look tacky. She also pointed out two homes on the same street that had different types of issues that needed to be looked into. One is a known home that seems to be filled with drug selling youth. The other was the incredibly way over the top house that seems to belong in an episode of Miami Vice. Her point was that these things are happening and nothing seems to be getting done about it. Further, it is these type of things that bring home values down.

Community Manager's Report: The Community Manager announced that they have hired a person to come in for 20 hours a week to do noting but go up and down the streets, give out tickets for deed restriction violations and then go back and follow-up on them. I don't recall the exact number, but he had written over 100 citations in the first week. Warning to residents: This board is getting serious with this issue and you'd better get your shit together.

Also: Lots of people abusing the use of pools. The life guards are starting to get tough on people ruining everyones good time. People are being ejected, passes are being checked, and if you live in a house with 20 people in one home, they are going to make you prove you live there before issuing you a pool pass.

CM also reports that the maintenance staff is getting on the entryways to the various neighborhoods and cleaning things up, putting in water saving landscaping and in general trying to approve the appearance.

Committee Reports: Director Rodkey asked me to speak on the GNWatch. I pointed out that we have our annual appreciation meeting next Wednesday. E-mail me if you plan to attend. Also, a group of residents will be speaking at the City of San Antonio's Graffiti Convention on the weekend of the 27th. And finally, I thanked Director Doherty for taking on the Cellular on Patrol Program.

Mike Yager from the A-Team announced that we will be holding two paint drives on Saturday's - the 25th of July and the 29th of August, 9-12 at the soccer fields. We will be collecting latex house paints (no oil based). Basically, instead of you having to store all your old house paint in the garage, you can bring it to the A-Team and then we can mix it and use it to cover tagging. More information on this will be posted in Passages.

Old Bid'ness: Of course, the pressing issue was the appointment of new Directors to the board. The Chairman announced that in addition to the two people who originally ran for the two open positions, the board had received three additional applicants for the positions. Each of the applicants was afforded five minutes to address the board and the members present.

Up first, Mark Martinez who had run during the failed election, spoke and in my opinion gave a very solid if only brief speech. He spoke of working together for the common good and I found him certainly worthy of consideration.

The other person who had run, Beatriz Dean did not attend the meeting.

Applicant Eric Cooper has run in the past and most recently moderated the debates our association sponsored for the city elections. Eric discussed concerns he had about the lack of a quorum and wanted to use his skills to help eliminate that problem. He also spoke of being a team player and avoiding some of the partisan issues of the past.

Applicant Briana Brooks came in and wowed the assembled residents with a message of building up the neighborhood and bringing the association back to greatness. Honestly, in her brief talk, I looked around the room and I could see that the residents hand found a favorite candidate.

Finally, Applicant Constance Stallings, a neighbor of Briana's, gave a stirring talk about the concerns she and her neighbors have with crime on her street. She decided to apply for the board to help get positive things done.

The board adjourned for about 30 minutes to go into closed session so they could decide on two of the five applicants.

When the board returned, Chairman Garcia thanked all the applicants and asked that for the ones who were not selected to please consider running in 2010. I'll skip all the fanfare of who made motions and who seconded, but I will tell you that the board unanimously appointed Eric Cooper and Briana Brooks to fill the positions on the board until 2012. Honestly, I think most of the people in the audience were pleased, though obviously, the ones who were not selected couldn't be that excited.

Congrats to the two newest Directors. I think they will make a nice fit on the board.

And there ya have it! Comments? Thoughts? Lawsuits?

One For the Complaint Department...

Note: I apologize in advance to people who visit this blog from outside of the general area. I need to address some local issues regarding our neighborhood, and it will probably be quite boring to those of you not living here.

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The village idiot has once again spoken. Okay, that is a bit harsh.

But in fact, I just received a copy of The Sentinel, a newsletter that is published and distributed by a member of my neighborhood, whenever he feels like exposing the leadership of our community improvement association for the fools that he perceives them to be. It would appear that if you don't agree with this gentleman, you are in fact wrong, and now it seems, involved in improprieties.

I am no different in voicing my opinion, mostly in pride, when I write about things happening in Silver Creek 78250 and our larger, Great Northwest Community Improvement Association. I just do it on a blog that costs me nothing; Joe types up a newsletter, makes 5,000 copies, then pays people to distribute his opinion to the homes in the area. You have to hand it to a person who puts his money where his mouth is, but occasionally, one must respond.

What disturbs me is that he appears to be so caught up in the bureaucratic minutia of every insignificant detail of every little action the community manager or the elected board of directors make, that he seems to have lost sight of the bigger picture. When 99.9 percent of residents wouldn't give a rats ass about how a particular administrative detail is handled, you will always have one guy standing up for principle to point out that a particular t was not crossed or i dotted, even though things worked out and everyone is happy - including the one guy complaining!

I'm sure most of you simply tossed the recent newsletter in the trash without reading, so I'll briefly recap. As I outlined in a post not long after our annual meeting took place, our association was not able to obtain a quorum, and thus could not adopt the agenda for the meeting. In affect, if you can't get a quorum, the people have voted with their feet. That means that the people who were running for elected office cannot be elected at the annual meeting and the by-laws that were being voted on do not pass/fail based upon the votes received.

Our association allows that the remaining directors meet later and appoint people to fill the positions that are vacant. I know what you are thinking. Wouldn't it make sense to just appoint the people who ran and received the most votes? Sure, if you were a director and that is how you decided to make your appointment. The fact is, I am not aware of any criteria that the directors have to use in appointing the new directors, as long as who they select meets the requirements to be a director. I have a better question? Why couldn't the directors also count the votes for or against the by-laws and enact them? The reason is we did not have a quorum and the election is a no-go.

The complaint in the recent Sentinel Newsletter is that there were improprieties performed by our chairman in the way he adjourned the meeting. Improprieties? As in fraud? Really?

Not long after it was determined there was no quorum, there was much discussion on the floor among those residents who bothered to attend the annual meeting. The Sentinel publisher wanted to set a date for an immediate meeting one week from the date. Why? The proxies expired at 11:59PM the day of the election? The association lawyer was called and this was verified.

During the meeting, numerous people (myself included) suggested we hit the streets and knock on doors until we found 37 qualified people willing to come down and vote in person. Because we were 37 people short of a quorum, it almost sounds doable. But by then, it was 8PM on a school and work night. And then, what if it takes a few hours to round up 37 people? Do you lock the doors and not allow any of the people in attendance to leave? It was clear that this would not work.

In the end, one gentleman presented a motion to adjourn and the motion was seconded by none other than Mr. Martinez, the publisher of The Sentinel. And now he seems to be upset about it. The vote to adjourn was overwhelmingly voted in favor by the attendees and that was the end of it.

Now, following the rules, the board has to appoint new directors to fill the two vacancies. Of course, the two candidates who ran are automatically being considered. But as is the right of this group of directors and previous boards of directors who have in the past had to appoint; instead of relying on the votes of the handful of residents who took the time to vote, they can review applications, and decide as a board who best would represent the association, not who one or two proxy holders believe to be the best for the association. Those are the rules, my friends. (Don't forget to cross the i's and mark the t's.)

I don't blame The Sentinel publisher for being upset that his two hand-selected candidates (and yes, I have e-mails from Mr. Martinez as well as personal statements made to me by both candidates to back that up) were not elected. It is his right to back who he wants and his right to be upset if they are not selected. But it is not in any way improper if the sitting board chooses candidates who they deem to be better qualified to serve the community, not the wishes of one man. Simply put, that train left the station when the residents - the voters - of the the Great Northwest chose not to have a quorum.

Finally, I feel somewhat compelled to address a matter more pressing than this simple issue of a failed election and the whining by one disgruntled former board member.

There is a very small but active group of people in our community who speak in deeds performed to serve all. As one of the people who is attempting to address the real problems we as homeowners face, like trying to alleviate the vandalism issues, participate in clean-up efforts, attend meetings and work with community leaders, I'm frankly sick of the constant accusations of mismanagement by our community manager and our directors over the most insignificant of issues. Really, we have an accounting firm that comes in an audits our association finances and they say things are great, but no, they aren't done the way Joe would do it, so the auditors must be wrong.

I receive e-mails from former residents as well as people who live in and in some cases manage other HOA's. The overwhelming reaction is that this one pain in the ass is, and has been an unnecessary distraction. In fact, I am aware that most if not all decisions our directors make have to be first gauged on how one single individual resident is going to react. If you are paying your yearly assessments, how does that make you feel, to have one resident have so much influence?

Just once, why don't we receive a Sentinel that congratulates the volunteers for cleaning up the place, working with students, coaching the youth leagues? How about a hat tip to the board for making tough decisions and not raising the assessments - and even lowering them?

Instead, we read about alleged improprieties and poor decisions. Please, Sir, get a life.

I welcome comments from fellow residents, readers and especially, my friend Joe. Am I completely off base here? Tell me what you think.

GNW Annual Meeting of the Membership Report: My Notes...

Thursday evening, the 7th of May, my wife and I made the short trip down to the Lodge of the Great Northwest in Silver Creek to attend this year’s annual meeting of the membership. This is where everyone in good standing (people who have made their annual assessment payment) can come and receive a report on how the association has done over the last year. It also provides an opportunity, assuming a quorum has been reached, for election of vacated board of directors positions (we had two), and the voting of various things. I’ll tell you about the meeting and all, but first, just some observations written prior to the meeting.

On Wednesday, the day prior to the annual membership meeting, my wife and I assisted the election committee in validating ballots, sorting the proxies and counting the votes that had been received prior to the meeting. This was our first time helping in the ballot count and I can tell you up front that the election officer and the volunteers had things organized and well thought out. I always think of that goofy election official in the Florida recount fiasco years ago; the bespectacled gentleman holding up a ballot, looking at it cross-eyed, and I wondered if it really comes down to that in the counting room.Well, I’m happy to report that every ballot was reviewed and re-reviewed for accuracy, and when anyone saw anything even slightly out of place – even if it was obvious the intent, at least two people would look at the ballot to be sure. And even then, if anyone thought that the tiniest something might be cause for someone to later make any issue of a ballot, the matter was evaluated until put to rest. I guess the point I’m making is, this group did things with the utmost of integrity with no agenda to push toward a particular outcome.

I should also tell you that, like our San Antonio elections for mayor and city council, the lack of early voter turnout is truly disappointing. I have heard that when people don’t vote, it is a sign that they are happy with the way things are. I might buy that a little, but I think mostly, people are just lazy. What they also may not realize is that, based upon our proxy system, simply not voting is actually a vote against the agenda.

During the course of the vote counting, someone brought in a stack of ballots that had been hand-delivered to the office. Some motivated residents went door to door to ask people to vote – which by the way, if you are one of those people, thank you for interest in our association. But what it really says is, a bunch of people were too lazy to read the instructions, fill out the ballot and send it back in the pre-addressed, postage-paid envelope, but if someone would knock on their door and make them feel guilty, they’d be happy to vote as long as it didn’t require any additional effort. Hey, that’s your right. Live like you wanna live.

The final thing about the balloting is, in spite of the best efforts of the election committee to streamline and make the voting process as easy as possible, it is unduly complicated because of the requirements set forth by the State of Texas for HOAs and because our association has a litigious history that makes for a tight, specific, iron-clad, no-wiggle-room proxy vote to establish a quorum. It means we have in effect two ballots mailed out to each resident and those of us who don't take the time to understand the materials, don't. This has screwed me up in the past - and obviously, others as well.The proxy is like a vote all by itself. You are voting that you want there to be a quorum of the association when you submit your proxy. If you don't submit your proxy, you are also voting; that you don't want there to be a quorum. But I suspect most people don't realize that. So when you don't return your proxy paper with your regular ballot, you basically have voted against whatever you marked on your ballot. I know, it is confusing.

The proxy comes in three varieties.

The first is the Limited Proxy. This means that you are directing the Election Officer to count you as present for the purposes of making the quorum (10 percent of the membership). Hello? If you took the time to submit your vote, shouldn’t that count? I would think so, but apparently the lawyers disagree with me.

The second type is the Directed Proxy whereby you mark your vote on the election ballot, but if any new business comes up from the floor during the meeting, the person you gave your proxy to will vote on your behalf. In this case, for the purposes of making the quorum, some other person who, hopefully is at the meeting will vote your proxy toward the quorum. So if you got cute and directed that Mickey Mouse hold your proxy, you just voted against the quorum, unless of course we happen to have a resident named M. Mouse, and he has paid his assessments and makes it to the meeting.

The third type is the General Proxy, and basically, that means that you are giving your quorum vote and vote on the ballot (in fact you don't need to worry about completing the election ballot) and for anything that might come up during the meeting to another person.

I know that sounds fairly easy (yea, right), but people don’t read the instructions and the result is, they will make a check mark on a directed or general proxy, but then won’t assign a name for who they are giving the proxy to. Or, they will write in a name but won’t check off whether it is a directed or general proxy. Other times, they don’t select any proxy at all. Technically, if they don’t pick a proxy, the only way their vote can count is if they show up to the meeting. Which is another thing; people will send in their ballot then come and try to vote in person too. Nice try. You can certainly attend the meeting, but you can’t vote twice.

The final thing is, some people go through all the effort to mark the ballots, send it in but never sign it. How will we know that some homeless guy didn’t find your ballot in the street and vote for you?

I’m happy to report that as long as a person was in good standing (paid their dues) if the election committee found one of these errors, they made every effort to contact the resident and have the resident come in and fix it before the meeting. I will also tell you that of the people who were contacted (and there were many), only one person bothered to come down to the office and correct the paperwork. So in other words, numerous people made the effort to vote, but when it turned out they did it wrong, they just gave up and voted against the quorum by not voting properly.

On to the meeting. I wish I could tell you that people from all nearly 5,000 of our residences turned out for the big meeting, requiring the association to have to rent out the AT&T Center for the event, but instead, a fairly small percentage of the membership made it. Granted, it was a larger crowd than the usual monthly board meetings. The annual meeting is more than just a place to tally up the votes, welcome new directors to the board and say goodbye to those leaving. The GNW office staff puts forth a tremendous effort to research the names of residents who have participated in volunteer events throughout the year so they can be recognized, create certificates and T-Shirts, decorate the lodge and arrange for catering (this year, a nice spread from Parties for Less owner and resident, Hilda Diaz). And what event would be complete without a thoroughly festive performance by the GNW Sounds?

Following the delicious spread of Chicken Cordon Bleu, residents set back and enjoyed the presentations.Chairman Garcia presented the two candidates seeking election to the Board of Directors, Mark Martinez and Beatriz Dean.

Next, Ms. Camille Fiorello presented the scholarships to three very deserving students, each in the amount of $500.00

• The Officer Oscar Perez Scholarship was presented to Sierra Vandendries

• The Paul & Jay Laushey Memorial Scholarship was presented to Brian Christopher Bienhoff

• The Camille Fiorello Perpetual Scholarship was presented to Danielle Nichole Ochs
  

There are a lot of people who volunteer in any number of capacities. You know, your board of directors are all unpaid volunteers and so are the people who make up the architectural control committee, the GNWatch, soccer and basketball coaches, people who organize groups like OWLS, Happenings, Kids Playgroups and such.

But of those volunteers, and we thank them all, there are some that deserve special recognition.The board recognized Mike Yager and Bill McDonough as Volunteers of the Year for their tireless efforts in maintaining many of the public areas that do not fall under the auspices of our maintenance staff. I can tell you first hand that these two folks do so much for the community, and it is appreciated.The board also recognized Betty Hood and Judy Montville for being Neighbors of the Year. Betty is well known in her neighborhood for huge National Night Out events as well as going out of her way to organize and obtain complimentary items to support all of the many NNO block parties throughout the Great Northwest. Judy is well known in her neighborhood as well. She has been tackling the issue of stray and vicious animals in the Great Northwest, arranging meetings, working with the city Animal Care Services and the City Council staff to bring to light the negative impact of this problem on our area.

I am extremely humbled to report that I was recognized for the Inspiring Others to Serve Award. Thank you.The Youth Service Award was presented to a much deserving young man, member of The GNW Sounds and other volunteer efforts, Daniel Flores.And for their non-stop efforts supporting the community and the association, Minda Tovar and Chief Roger Burton were awarded the Above and Beyond Award.

A slew of certificates were distributed to residents who had participated in association programs and activities throughout the year. Additionally, the staff recognized the Board of Directors and their spouses.

Sadly, as the hour became late and attendance dwindled, there was little point in having the Chairman present the Annual Report. Perhaps it can be presented at the next regular board meeting.

And that was it folks.

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Oh. Okay, there was one other thing. I'm sorry to report that for the second year in a row, the residents of the Great Northwest Community Improvement Association were not able to obtain the quorum needed to adopt the agenda, elect the directors, vote on the proposed by-laws and other business.The people of the Great Northwest have spoken, whether they all realize it or not.

Reminder: Thursday May 7th - Annual Meeting

Just a quick reminder to those of you who live in the The Great Northwest: If you have not mailed in your ballot for the GNW elections, quickly, drive down to the Lodge of the Great Northwest at 8809 Timberwilde in Silver Creek and drop it off in the big ballot box.

Even better, why not show up in person at the annual meeting being held on Thursday? C'mon, it ought to be a hoot!

UPDATE: As long as you pay your annual assessment and are a member in good standing, you can vote. The thing is, you'll need to go to the meeting to do it. If you owe money on your account, sorry, no vote!

Jackpot: GNW Casino Night is a Winner...

One of the great benefits of living in a neighborhood with a homeowners association like the Great Northwest is ability to hold community events that serve the neighborhood, are close to home, and are extremely fun. The creative GNW staff organized a casino night event that was extremely successful, well attended, and based upon the happy faces of the folks there, an event worth repeating.

My wife and I along with several neighbors made the short trip down to the Lodge of the Great Northwest in Silver Creek on Saturday, May 2nd, and found the place transformed into a small Vegas style gaming floor. Upon entering, we paid a $25.00 fee per couple which included tickets for free drinks and two chips worth $1,000 each. Oh sure, if we could have cashed them in for actual money, I might have called it a night right there, but no, these chips were for playing!

As the room began to fill with residents, people were able to talk with the various dealers and members of the gaming crew manning the tables, to help explain the various games. As our blackjack dealer Jack told us, these casino nights are all about teaching people how to play the various games without the risk of losing a load of real cash.

At precisely 7PM, people could begin cashing in the $1,000 chips for smaller amounts and start with the games of their choice. For me, it was right to the Craps table. I'll be very honest, I still find Craps to be a confusing game, but the few times I've been to Las Vegas, I find it to be completely worth the money - that I eventually lose. And the GNW Casino night was no different.There were several experienced gamblers who fully understood the terminology, the odds and the various strategies involved, but for me, I relied very heavily on Allan, one of the guys running the Craps table to keep me straight on when to place bets. Eventually, thanks to a lady who had a long run of good luck, I made a series of solid bets and walked away with a healthy heaping of chips, as opposed to my experiences in Las Vegas where I tend to walk away empty handed!Craps wasn't the only game in town. I have always enjoyed the sound of the one-armed-bandits, though rarely have I appreciated the shear waste of money. True to casino form, my experience here was no different. For $500 in chips, the players receive a bag full of tokens that work the slots. And of course, I went through that little baggy in about two minutes. But other people were luckier than I. Several people hit big on the slots, and I'm sure they will thank me later for contributing my tokens to their big take-home.My wife was having fun at the black jack tables and so I decided to join in. In the grand scheme of things, I think this is the best place for you to get bold and play a lot of chips. Like Craps, the table is made fun and entertaining by the dealer and the excitement of the people joining in. Thankfully, we had a good crowd and excellent and entertaining dealers. As the night went on, my confidence and chips began to grow and I started to make some larger bets.

There were several tables of people playing Texas Hold'em, in fact it was so popular I saw people waiting for a chair to open so they could get in.Other folks played the Roulette table which seemed to be very popular as well.And it wouldn't be Casino Night without a little cheer from the bar. A professional catering staff was brought in to man the cash bar, and as it turned out, it seemed to be a very popular idea.When the gambling officially stopped at 10PM, the players traded in their chips for tickets toward drawings for prizes including the grand prize, a trip to Las Vegas. Depending on the amount of chips you had, you got a certain number of tickets, so really, those who did extremely well in their gaming got more chances to win the prizes.And the winner of the trip to Las Vegas was the same lady that had the hot hand in Craps earlier in the evening!

Oh sure, it would have been nice to win that trip to Vegas, but when all was said and done, we had a great time and really enjoyed the evening. I was impressed by the entire group of professionals who staffed the Casino Night. They never lost sight of the fact that we were there to have fun and learn about the various games, and as people would show interest in a particular game, the dealers would engage them, encouraging them to give it a try. You can't ask for more than that.

My only question would be, when can we do it again?

Wanna see all the pictures? Head over to the Flickr Page.

GNW Casino Night: Sat May 2nd 7PM to 11PM at the Lodge..

I promised Darin, our Community Manager that I would put up this poster for our Great Northwest Casino Night planned for Saturday the 2nd of May. Click on it and it may become readable. This gives those of you GNW folks plenty of time to make arrangements for a sitter, iron a pair of slacks and get in a Vegas frame of mind.

And of course, We'll be there. The last time my wife and I attended one of these Casino Night deals, we won all sorts of booty. I think they give you a certain amount of chips when you arrive, and then you either promptly lose them all and head straight for the cash bar until the night is over, or, you can do like my wife did and start winning at the tables and leave with lots of prizes.

If you are a GNW resident, why not give it a shot? Need more info? You can head down to the Lodge office and ask someone, or why not give them a call at 681-2983.

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 Board meeting of the Great Northwest Community Improvement Association (GNWCIA). I'll keep the notes brief - because... unbelievably, the meeting was really, really short!Residents to Speak: Are you kidding me? No residents to speak!

But we did have a representative from State Senator Joaquin Castro come to give us some information. Ms. Bianca Brisenio informed us that if you are lucky enough to have AT&T's U-Verse (and I do, and it is so over the top awesome) that you can now watch the Texas Senate on channel 99. Check it out.

Community Manager Report:

• Tennis and Basketball courts at Silver Creek have been resurfaced. They do look nice.
• Off-Duty SAPD will begin supplementing our own security staff
• The association will hold a Casino Night on May 2nd. (I'll have more on that tomorrow)
• We got 13 applicants for the 4 available scholarships

New Bid'ness:

• The number of eligible residents to vote is 4,287 with 672 ineligible because they are not up to date on assessments.
• The quorum for the annual meeting (and elections) is 429

And that friends, was that! The meeting was over by 8 and we were out!

Town Hall Meeting Report: My Commentary...

Just because of the fact that my wife and I are easily entertained, we made the short trip down to the Lodge of the Great Northwest to attend a Town Hall meeting presented by the GNWCIA.

The point of the meeting was two-fold; first we would all get to meet the two candidates running unopposed for the two open – or should I say, soon to be open seats on the board of directors for our association. The second item on the agenda was to receive a presentation on the proposed by-law amendments that will be on the ballot during our annual meeting.Based on the less than capacity turnout for this Town Hall meeting, I’d say that we are in danger of not having a quorum for the annual HOA election. What this means is that, the vote for both directors and by-law amendments would be null and void, and the five remaining directors on the board would have to appoint two new directors to fill the vacancies. As a resident and voter, you should know that there is no guarantee that the remaining directors will automatically appoint the two candidates. This is especially true considering what I will politely call an underwhelming performance by the two candidates during their opportunity to address those people that were interested enough to show-up for the meeting. This is not to cast a stone at either of the candidates; the average person, myself included has a problem getting before a crowd and giving a political speech or oral resume before a mostly unknown crowd. But it was not as though it was a surprise. At minimum, I think both would have served themselves and the voters better had they at least had a few notes or even a statement to be read explaining who they are, their views on the association problems, and what they would do to help the board fix things. Instead, in the five minutes allotted for each to speak, we got a lot of uncertain jibber-jabber.

In fairness to both candidates, they interacted much better with the crowd after the formal presentation and I suspect they will do fine once elected (or appointed), and can be severed from the umbilical cord of a former board chairman who prompted their desire to be candidates in the first place.Up next, Director Myrl Britten provided a solid presentation on the two proposed by law changes; the first would allow the assessment of fines for people who violate deed restrictions, the second would remove a cap of $300,000 for the association to have in reserve funds. I have discussed these by-laws in a previous post.

The usual suspect was prepared to debate both by-law changes (and any associated punctuation they might incur), and he came armed with a folder full of spreadsheets, old reports, hand-written notes, and one might presume, the dead sea scrolls. I could give you great entertainment in relaying the various arguments but A) you should really make an effort to see these things first hand, and 2) it was all the usual jibber-jabber we have heard time and time again. In the end, and I don’t wish to put words in the mouth of my friend, Joe Martinez, it would appear that he doesn’t necessarily oppose the changes to the by-laws, but the method by which the board is pursuing them.

Reasonable folks can disagree and there is always more than one way to skin a cat, provided it is legal. Mr. Martinez would like the approach of having people who want to change the association covenants go out door to door and gather support for changes by having people sign petitions. I say the reason you have an elected board is to let them represent the residents, and if they screw up, you vote them off the board, or I suppose, you remove them from the board, ahem.

More important to this discussion is the suggestion by Mr. Martinez that the board isn’t providing the residents with enough information. I laugh at this on two fronts: First, he makes this statement in a well publicized town hall meeting that is open to all the residents and frankly, anyone who felt like wandering in. There is no price of admission or checking of IDs etc. Nobody was discouraged admittance, yet, we had roughly more than a handful of people – most of who are the regulars at all the board meetings.

Secondly, the information is delivered to homes in the form of Passages, the local newspaper, and every homeowner receives a mailing containing the ballot. How much more information could be made available?

The truth of the matter is; I find that people are not interested. They aren’t interested because either they are tired of the constant bellyaching by a few people who aren’t so much against what the board does, but just how the board does it. And for the people who aren't tired of the bickering, I submit they must otherwise be happy enough with their lives in the GNW, because apparently attending town hall meetings or board meetings simply aren’t worth the hour or two that it takes to move away from the TV. And I can’t blame them.

I can tell you that I have never been to a City Council meeting downtown (though I have watched many, many times on TV). I can also tell you that I did not attend my first GNWCIA Board meeting until about two years ago, even though I have lived here for 10 years. In other words, I acknowledge to an extent being the pot calling the kettle "black"; I recognize that we have many people who did their time serving on committees, being involved and trying to participate, but they have lost the motivation. Likewise, I submit that some of you reading this (or not) will get the urge to one day come out and join the fun. Everyone in their own time.

So there you have it. Get involved if you want, vote if you want, move away if you want. I’m not going to second guess the interests of my fellow residents or attempt to tell them how they should proceed. But I will tell you this: I doubt we will have a quorum for the second year in a row, and frankly, that is pretty sad.

GNW Hosts Mayoral Debate...

No time to post a full report but we did get most of the candidates for SA Mayor out to the Lodge of the Great Northwest tonight.Present were, Lauro Bustamante, Julian Castro, Diane Cibrian, Trish DeBerry-Mejia, Napolean Madrid, and Rhett Smith. The no shows were busy or, ahem, otherwise detained.In addition to a good selection of candidates, thankfully, we had a very nice turn-out for the event. By the discussions taking place afterwards, the clear leaders in this forum were Mr. Castro and Ms. DeBerry-Mejia. I'll post a full report tomorrow.

Were you at the debate? Do you have an opinion about the event? Tell me about it or leave a comment here.

UPDATE: On the News4 WOAI 10 PM broadcast, Randy Beamer seemed to report that the GNW would be hosting a follow-up debate with the "top" candidates next week. I'm pretty sure Mr. Beamer confused our HOA with someone else.

Two of Three GNWCIA Debates: Over...

As I briefly posted earlier, The Great Northwest Community Improvement Association hosted the first of three debates related to the elections for Council seats in Districts 6 & 7 and the Mayoral race for San Antonio.Last night, two candidates, Ray Lopez and Anna Caballero were kind enough to meet with residents, answer questions both before and after the debate, and of course, participate in the debate moderated by Dr. Eric Cooper, a resident of Silver Creek (and my neighbor I might add).

The format for the debate included a opening remarks by each candidate up to 5 minutes, then taking turns answering predetermined questions with a time limit of 3 minutes. Finally, because time allowed, Eric let several residents ask questions from the audience and each candidates answered them. At the end, both candidates again had the opportunity to make a closing statement.

I am always looking for an opportunity to make fun of someone, but in the case of both Ms. Caballero and Mr. Lopez, there simply was nothing to pick out from either that was worthy of tickling a funny bone. I believe both of these folks are serious and qualified for the position, and regardless of which won wins, our district will be well represented.

The questions were crafted to give a topic then allow each candidate to give their thoughts and ideas on the topic. They were each allotted 3 minutes to answer. Paraphrased, they were:

• 1604 between Culebra and Bandera - this was basically the toll road question
• Thoughts on the need for more SAPD officers
• What to do about graffiti/tagging
• Daytime curfew for school aged children
• Section 8 homes concentrated in areas
• Animal Care Services
• If elected, how will the council person be accessible to constituents

I'm not going to attempt to recap the responses given, but suffice it to say, in every case, one may have given a slightly better response than the other, but both candidates were within my comfort zone. When the debate was over, my wife and I compared notes and we both agreed that there was in fact a winner for us, but unlike my opinions on Chicken Fried Steak, Pulled Pork, Hamburgers and Catfish, I'm not going to say who we thought was better.

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The GNWCIA hosted the second debate this evening, this time for the District 7 Candidates. The three attendees were Mr. Robert Garibay, Ms. Elena Guajardo, and the incumbent, Mr. Justin Rodriguez.Following the same format, Moderator Eric Cooper once again did a great job in guiding the candidates through the same questions (tweaked only slightly for adjustment of the 1604/toll roads issue).

I'm embarrassed to say that I was embarrassed at the small crowd for the District 6 debate where we had about 30 folks. Embarrassed because tonight, we had two residents from District 7 show up, and the remaining audience were either curious observers (like me) from District 6 or members of the candidates staff. Honestly, it is humiliating to live in such a huge association with such a potentially huge voting block and so few people simply don't give a flip about the candidates.But the candidates did not show a sign of disappointment in the small crowd. Each answered the questions and when it was over and the moderator apologized for the small turn-out, all three handled it with class and still complimented the association and the community. So there you have it - they like y'all more than I do!

About the candidates. First, in case you were not aware, Robert Garibay is an 18 year-old college student. In talking with him before the debate, he is extremely mature for an 18 year old and this whole being a youngster running for the council is not some sort of gimmick or a ploy; he is serious and committed. The young man speaks well, is smart and no doubt has a future in some sort of business and probably politics. Having given the obligatory build-up, I must say, Mr. Garibay, in my opinion is not ready for this level of service. I'm usually of the mindset that "anybody but the incumbent" is a good answer, but in this case, my advice would be for this talented kid to get just a bit more experience under his belt.

Elena Guajarda actually held the seat she is running for prior to being soundly womped by the incumbent, Justin Rodriguez. I'm not a District 7 voter, but I can help you with your selection by saying a single word: George Dickerson. Okay, that is a name.

But that situation alone should not be an automatic vote for Mr. Rodriguez. I will tell you that in spite of the fact that Mr. Rodriguez was late for the debate - he was in contact with his staff during the 45 minute drive up Culebra to give the audience updates on his status - he simply outshone the other two candidates in his responses.

Young Mr. Garibay had 3 minutes to answer the questions and other than his opening and closing remarks which were very well done, he summed up his answers to every question in about a minute, leaving valuable time to elaborate on the clock.

Ms. Guajarda used her allotted 3 minutes to relive her time on the council and remind us that she was a full time council member that could be in touch with the community. Technically, this was a slam on the incumbent, but the moderator let it go time after time. To his credit, at the end, Mr. Rodriguez, in summing up his qualifications reminded all two residents of District 7 in attendance, that he was pretty much ushered in to his seat on the council after Ms. Guajardo's term.

I'm not here to tell you how to vote. I'd prefer that many of you could have simply made the effort to show up and see the forum first hand. Those of you who don't live here get a pass.

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Tomorrow night - 8 April 2009 at 7:30, the candidates for Mayor will be at 8809 Timberwilde. Please, if you live in the area, come and join us. I can only take so much humiliation!