cleaning up.

alternatives and many meetings

wow what a busy few days. I have been meeting and getting quotes from landscapers, roofers, and then today I met up with the engineers about all the drama's with buildings M, N, O, P and E.

Lots of things for the board to discuss. I am sure they will be needing homeowner input soon as things start to get serious so make sure you attend the next HOA meeting on the last Monday of the month.

I found some really cool articles/websites I wanted to share with you about prefab construction and apartments.

this is the one from Seattle

This is the one from IKEA.

humming birds

I don't know how many other condo's here have hummingbird feeders but I wanted to share some pics of our little friends that hang out by our balcony. There are several species that come and go as they migrate through the seasons- always a delight to watch. We bought our feeder at the Desert Museum but many other retailers sell it around Tucson if you want to pick one up for spring!

it's a bird, it's a plane.... oh no wait it's a turkey?!

We saw this crazy large bird in the tree during the winter and I wanted to post the photos to see if anyone else saw it...and or knows what it is?

exploding light post - causes power outage on west side.

a rather eventful night on the west side.

Pima health card

There is a PIMA health card available to all Pima county residents that gives you discounts on your meds, you don't have to pre qualify for income and it doesn't affect you if you do or don't have health insurance.

new website for lavida

http://www.lavidahoa.com 

check out the new community website!!

update on building M

Here is a document on the update of building M that Sam asked me to post for you all.

Also there is a new website for la vida - check it out http://www.lavidahoa.com the communications committee will continue to add new things to it that will help with getting you the documentation and information that you need. Thank you Chris for getting the website up and running!

Tumamoc hill SOLD!!!

Tumamoc hill Sold to Pima county! So the open space next to La Vida will remain!!! 

click on the blog posting title to take you to the article.

POOP PATROL

I'm encouraging home owners to self govern our community poop problem. Some owners of dogs are not being responsible "parents" and picking up after their dogs. It's time to have these owners FINED! 

Grants for our landscaping

Sam Sabo sent me this link to post (Click on the title of this blog posting to be directed to the website). I hope you can check it out. I will be passing this along to the landscape committee to follow up with it. Perhaps we can qualify for a grant of some sort so we can get the landscaping done.

committed to a committee.

Last nights board meeting for those of you that missed it-Went really well. 

One of the things that was discussed was that the board meet twice a month so they can catch up with all the work that needs to be done and all the fires that need to be addressed quickly. All but one board member said they could commit to attending that schedule. The other exciting thing that happened last night.... was that the board along with the help of the community that attended, created committees so that we can all help to resolve some of the larger issues at hand. It's not too late if you want to sign up to join one of the groups. If you want to see change- why not be a part of it?! 

Budget & finance committee:

Communications committee:

Rules, regulations & compliance committee:

Landscaping and common grounds committee:

Maintenance committee:

La Vida needs your help. If you want to join one of these committees email sammys9@yahoo.com

Mondays Meeting

New board members

From L-R: Jeff, Cathy, Jerry and Samantha. 4 out of 5 of the new board.

prevention for the future.

My suggestion to the board over 12 months ago was the importance of getting the gutters cleaned and routing the water from the downspouts away from the foundation of the building. This is something that I think our community needs to address before the monsoons.

Water at the base of the buildings is what causes soil to move... and buildings to crack.

Just wondering if anyone knows if we could have the remainder of the rock that is sitting in the parking area to be moved to this area between the buildings.... or if there was a plan to put something else there like pea-gravel?

creating the agenda.

If you have things that need to be addressed post them up so we know to add it to the agenda for Monday's meeting.

you can even send us photos of the problem so we can identify what part of the community you are talking about.

I am posting up some photos as an update to show you where they will be shoring the walkways.  Missey from MPM management is working with our engineers to get this taken care of. There are still many decisions that need to be made about this issue for the board. 

new board for La Vida

Sam Sabo  - 3 year term

Kathy Owens

Jeff Brankin - 2 year term

___  Padilla ( didn't attend the election and I can't recall his first name?! If you know what it is I can update it) 

Jerry Polivka - 1 year term

Next board meeting is Monday 23rd at 6:00pm in the clubhouse.

ELECTION MEETING

MONDAY 16TH @ 6:00PM 

ELECTION MEETING IN THE COMMUNITY ROOM.

no spoon feeding.

If a board member is unable to attend the board meetings then it's the individuals responsibility to contact either MPM or other members that did attend to find out what was missed. If you missed the meeting then don't complain about the outcomes that are voted on while you are out.

No one is trying to push anyone out.... It's your responsibility to stay informed.

Everyone in good standing was able to be nominated for the elections and 5 open seats. No one is hiding anything, and no one is spoon feeding you.

unofficial meeting minutes. from Saturday January 10th 2009

Good things that have happened at La Vida

Good things that have happened at La Vida in the last 6 months thanks to a few board members and the MPM management company:

• Landscaping with new rock.
• Pruned trees and landscaping clean up.
• Landscapers that actually show up and work ever month.
• Elections.
• Improvements on L decking.
• A 2009 budget.
• An annual meeting.
• A clean and functioning pool.
• Al Leon fired.
• A plan to finalize Leon's pluming fiasco and move forward
• Investigation into the money owed to us for the parking lot driveway entry/exit area.
• Change in collection company to recover unpaid money that has been delinquent for a long time.- Will help to pay for repairs.

can you think of any more to add to this list? Leave a comment....

NOTICE OF VIOLATION

Today was the last day to have your ballot postmarked to the management company. I can't wait for the new board to get elected so we can get moving on all the issues that need to be addressed. A single well intentioned board member can't make effective change without the support of the entire group... if the group is broken and not functional then your hands are tied - no matter how good your intentions are.

We called and spoke with the city today about a notice that was received. A resident/homeowner called and complained to the city about the walkways on buildings M, N, O and P ... so now La Vida residents are going to be faced with the possibility of having our buildings condemned by the city, and/or massive fines... and more costs -resulting in the HOA having to now pay $5,000 toward a structural engineer to come out and write a report for the city to tell us what we already know! - Things need to be repaired. Yes. Thanks for that.

Do people really understand what it means to have a building condemned? How that will affect their lives and finances? Talk about digging us all into a bigger hole.

I can't wait for the new board to come in and go after all the homeowners that have been delinquent on their HOA dues for years and years.... So that we can pay for the maintenance that has been neglected.

Well I am posting the notice from the city incase you have not had a chance to see it for yourself.

Jerry-rigging the election process.

This slanderous letter has been found posted around our community and is a perfect example of what NOT do when running for your local HOA board. Try to keep the mud slinging at bay. Think about the true reason behind someone running for a seat. 

Anyway I thought I would post the letter that was endorsed by Polivka, Brooks, and Story . My biggest concern with the new board is that they live on site, year round. Jerry lives in Arkansas Brooks lives in California.  We already have trouble with meetings because board members live so far away. We have a better chance of success if we are all on site. We get to see the day to day issues with our community and we act as a "community", not people living miles apart.

may the best person for the job- be elected.

We have been out of town and there has been a lot of happenings. Lots of people signed up to be nominated for the new board. Thank goodness we have all been pushing to get these elections going.

I have also heard that some of the nominees have been writing and distributing slanderous letters and have been playing downright dirty tactics to try and discredit the good work that has been happening over the last 8 months. 

20 years of miss-management cannot be turned around overnight. It took 20 years for things to get to this level and it's not magically going to go away and mend itself in a matter of a few months.

Lets work together to set realistic goals about La Vida's future. Hope to see you all at the meeting on Monday the 16th.

Make sure to get your vote in by Monday the 10th to have it counted.

Cheers!

TONIGHT'S MEETING HAS BEEN MOVED to SATURDAY 11AM!!