May 22, 2024

Judgment Amount: $101,085.48

The lawsuit officially ended today with all parties having stipulated to dismiss the case with prejudice.

Case Status: Closed

Juneau Superior Court Case 1JU-22-00779CI

• Judgment
• Full Docket
• Official Exhibits

The settlement is signed and the $101,085.48 check from Umialik has been received:

May 16, 2024

Google is your friend.

This is a review on Google Reviews about Chris' company, JPR Management Services:

"Wish I could do negative rating. Winter storm 1/23 and apartments, condos all around us plowed but we’re all stuck AGAIN. Lot not even touched as of 4pm, called at 2pm and they hadn’t even checked to see if plow had at least done a pass thru to allow exit. No one can exit or enter including fire trucks and ambulances... Finally heard at 4pm that they hope to plow after 6pm. NOT a fan of Chris-topher Burton nor JPR management. Do NOT recommend."

This is another incident of Chris ignoring his duty to provide safe conditions in snow. Eventually this will catch up with them.

May 12, 2024

Property Manager Alert!

A word of caution for all of the HOAs out there; exercise caution when hiring a property manager otherwise they can be expensive and dangerous for the health of your residents.

Me (June 8, 2022): "The Board's negligence has placed the Association in considerable legal jeopardy."

Jury (April 26, 2024): "We, the jury, find defendant Crow Hill Homeowners' Association negligent based on finding they are responsible for the actions of JPR Management Services and Christopher Burton."

Ironically, I had pushed hard to become a board member and had long advocated replacing Burton with a competent management firm.

Now the Crow Hill HOA must consider the consequences of retaining the property manager they hired while he was operating illegally and kept him for years afterwards before I reported his illegal operations.

Crow Hill Victim:

FINDINGS: Bones: Coronal oblique fracture of the distal fibula-mid lateral malleolus is present. There is a 5 mm lateral shift. Sclerotic line related to a fracture or arthrodesis of the posterior quarter of the calcaneus. A repair screw traverses through the posterior aspect of the calcaneus towards the talus. Minimal osteophyte of the achilles insertion. Joints: There is widening of the medial malleolus-talus joint space. Mid-dorsal osteophytic change at the tarsometatarsal joint. Soft Tissues: Moderate lateral and minimal medial soft tissue swelling at the ankle. IMPRESSION: Helical osteophyte Status post repair arthrodesis of the posterior calcaneus Fibular/lateral malleolar fracture with slight widening of the medial ankle joint Dorsal mid foot mild degenerative osteophytes

May 6, 2024

Time for Another Lawyer Joke

To be fair, it's really just the 99% of lawyers that give the rest a bad name, but let's enjoy another lawyer joke anyway!

A doctor, an architect, and an attorney were dining at the country club one day when the conversation turned to the subject of their dogs.

A wager was placed on who had the most intelligent dog.

The physician offered to show his dog first and called to the parking lot, “Hippocrates, come!”

Hippocrates ran in and was told by the doctor to perform his trick. Hippocrates ran to the golf course and dug for a while, producing a number of bones. He dragged the bones into the country club and assembled them into a complete fully articulated skeleton. The physician patted Hippocrates on the head and gave him a cookie for his efforts.

The architect was only marginally impressed and called for his dog, “Sliderule, come!”

Sliderule ran in and was told by the architect to perform his trick. Sliderule chewed the skeleton to rubble, but reassembled the fragments into a scale model of the Taj Mahal. The architect patted his dog and gave him a cookie.

The attorney watched the other two dogs and then called for his dog, "Bullshit".

Bullshit entered and was told to perform his trick. Bullshit immediately sodomised the other two dogs, stole their cookies, auctioned the Taj Mahal replica to the other club members for his fee, and went outside to play golf.

Read Lawyer Joke One Here and Lawyer Joke Two Here.

April 28, 2024

My Thoughts on the Verdict

I'm grateful that the jury took my claim seriously. Going in, you never know...

The nuanced verdict demonstrated sophistication, advanced reasoning, and a sensitive bullshit detector.

The defense strategy in this trial was a demonstration in the real world of a lawyer attempting to deceive a jury by utilizing the Bullshit Asymmetry Principle which postulates, "the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it."

The Bullshit Asymmetry Principle emphasizes the effort of debunking misinformation in comparison to the relative ease of creating it in the first place. The problem is that bullshit arises when someone generates an idea for reasons other than truth, such as when an attorney unethically raises knowingly false argumants to a jury.

The defense, led by attorney Zane Wilson, floated so many wacky theories that the jury could easily have latched onto any one of them and called it a day.

The verdict shows they remained focused on the core facts and arguments and that the defense was never able to provide contrary evidence (and they even hid crucial evidence from us). For two years the defense was fully aware there was no evidence that Burton ever responded to the emergency I reported so they decided to just make stuff up instead.

I liked the way Jeff Barber characterized how the award of monetary damages should be considered. He explained that it should be an amount that would make the injury "worth it".

Well, I certainly would not go through this again for the monetary award of this verdict. But then I wouldn't do it again for the amount Barber was advocating for either! LOL

The net award is about the average annual income in the U.S. But it's about half of mine. However, the jury likely contained jurors from disparate economic strata, so it could have seemed like a lot of compensation for some.

The average verdict award in 2023 for ankle injury cases involving fractures was $86,000 and the median was $33,000. The main reason for this disparity is that a lot of minor ankle injury claims in auto accident cases pull down the average.

The jury also likely had to make compromises to come to a verdict.

In sum, it's a fair number.

I also believe that Burton's actions in toto were so egregious that they reached the threshold for conduct that was in reckless disregard for my safety and therefore there should have been an option to also award punitive damages.

In Alaska, a person acts "recklessly" when they are aware of, and consciously disregard, a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a result will occur or that a circumstance exists.

Burton twice disregarded my calls for action about an extremely dangerous hazard. In the first, he simply ignored me. In the second, he told me he would take care of it to shut me up, but then just ignored me again.

Remember, Burton also insisted on being the sole point of contact for all service requests. There was no option to reach out to anyone else. This was an agenda item and settled at one of their meetings. Failure was built into the system.

The next Crow Hill homeowners' meeting should be... ummm... awkward. The Association is now aware that they have been found negligent for hiring Burton. Now if they choose to retain him, what happens the next time?

The argument will be that they were declared to have been negligent for hiring Burton, and they were also aware of the determination of Burton's negligent conduct, yet they choose to risk it anyways. And this is after they hired him when he didn't even have a legal capacity to operate a business in the state. Well, it's not my problem any more.

The award for future pain and suffering was $10,000. I won't quibble with that either.

Of note is that I also suffered a significant knee injury in the fall that will persist for the remainder of my life. I reported it during my initial examination in the emergency room and it was x-rayed.

During my deposition Wilson asked me if I had any other injuries and I told him that I didn't. But I did.

After I returned home from the deposition that day, I called for an appointment to have the knee examined and was seen the next day.

I was diagnosed with a meniscus tear and sprained anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

I received surgery (from Dr. Harrah) for the tear but the ACL is still stretched. My knee now rests lower in the socket and the bone is growing into that space which is creating pain, instability, swelling, and bone spurs.

We elected to not make a claim for this because tracing it to the fall became messy and it just complicated everything. We wanted to keep the facts and evidence focused.

The conventional wisdom is that Alaskans don't respond favorably to slip-and-fall claims on ice because they think, "Suck it up, we all have to deal with it." But remove ice from the equation as a thought exercise; I was reporting an extremely hazardous condition and requesting a service from the entity that had the sole duty to provide it, and that was a service that even though I had paid for, it had been neglected for a month when it was needed most, and the sole person responsible repeatedly ignored me, lied about it, and then covered it up.

Regarding the jury assigning me 20% responsibility for my injury, I am good with that too.

As I reflected on it, I understand that I could have done more to prevent the fall by walking slower and more carefully, I could have worn cleats, I could have brought a flashlight, I could have held more tightly on the hand rail, I could have pestered Burton more for attention to the hazard...

The jury's evaluation of my conduct has caused me to think about how to improve ways to protect myself and prevent harm to me and my family.

I suspect this verdict will help to prevent injuries in the future — for me and my family, Crow Hill residents, and everyone who watched the trial. And for that, we are also grateful.

Thank you again, friends.

April 28, 2024

The Verdict

Jury verdict forms are not pre-printed templates. They are crafted by the opposing attorneys and the judge and tailored to the particulars of each trial's factual issues in dispute.

M&M Services was never a party to this lawsuit and they are now defunct anyway.

Chris Burton wholly owns JPR Management Services, so they are legally the same entity.

Therefore, there were three parties involved; Crow Hill Homeowners' Association, Chris Burton, and Mike Gorman.

For each party the jury had to decide two questions:

1. Was this entity negligent?

2. Did that negligence substantially contribute to my injury?

This was the verdict:

Wilson then argued a technical point which was discussed after the verdict and required the jurors to be locked in their room for another hour, until after 6 pm.

They were then asked a settle a single legal question and instructed to not deliberate the verdict any more.

"Was the basis for finding defendant Crow Hill Homeowners' Association, Inc., negligent based on a finding that Crow Hill Homeowners' Association is responsible for the actions of JPR Management Services, Inc., and/or Christopher Burton?"

The answer was, "Yes":

The total award was for more than $93,000, broken down this way:

• $33,000 for medical expenses

• $50,000 for pain and suffering

• $10,000 for future pain and suffering

Interest accrued at 8% for two years to bring the gross total to $101,085.48. Umialik's subrogation entity agreed to a lien reduction of 50%, which also helped.

After the jury was dismissed, Wilson argued that because the injury occurred in the common area, and since I am a part (1/78) legal owner of that property, that I should share more of the negligence percentage because property owners have a non-delegable duty to reasonably maintain property they own.

Are you following this?

We then reviewed the legal definition of "property owner" as it relates to the facts of this question and it is defined as the person or entity that has control over the real property.

In this case, I had no control.

Remember this from the threatening letter the Board's attorney sent to me about who controls common areas, "The Board has the power to expand the shed onto a common area owned by the Association. You have no rights regarding your view or alleged green space."

Now they're arguing that I am responsible because I did have control.

We learned on May 6, 2024, that they decided to not pursue any more motions or appeal avenues. Barber asked me if it was important to have the court record display the judgment in my favor or would I prefer the compensation in my hands sooner. I choose to just get it done, so the case will officially end as a dismissal with the parties having stipulated to the judgment terms. The record is available to anyone who wants to examine it:

Case Number: 1JU-22-00779CI

https://records.courts.alaska.gov

April 28, 2024

My Testimony

The defense floated ten different, and sometimes contradictory, defense theories.

But there was only one defense that would have worked.

The pertinent facts are not complicated; I reported an emergency on January 10. I received no response so I reported it again on January 11. The next documented event was my injury on February 7 when Ryan confirmed both elements of what I reported still existed (ice at the base of the stairs and no ice melt or bucket).

Burton testified that he responded to my emails reporting this emergency by calling Vern and that Vern called Ryan and that Ryan responded to the scene to rectify the emergency.

Yet, after two years, they never provided any phone records or any substantiation of that at all. Because Burton was lying. It's an absolute legal fact now.

Obsessive Emailer Defense

In short:
OCD = Maniacal Emailing = Burton Justified to Ignore me

Defense attorney Zane Wilson said in his opening statement that "Gorman is not bashful about expressing his opinions and complaints."

Well, okay... whatever. But what's the point?

Then he informed the jury about my diagnosis for obsessive-compulsive disorder and explained that it is like when a dog chomps down on a bone and will never let go.

I still hadn't figured out where this was going...

When I was on the stand being questioned on cross-examination Wilson asked me how many emails I had sent to Burton prior to my injury.

I told him that I could only remember one and I described it. The question came out of the blue and I hadn't given any thought to it.

The day morning while waiting for my attorney Barber to arrive Wilson drops a pile of emails on the desk in front of me and stated that I might want to review them.

When Barber arrived we did a quick count of 61. Wilson then rounded that up to "60-70".

Barber didn't want me to parse them or offer any explanation on cross. He just wanted to acknowledge them and move on.

But the fact is that a significant number of them I wrote to Burton six months before we even owned there. The emails were routine questions about the rules and other such questions. Specifically, we had a medium-sized dog and two motorcycles and we wanted to know if they were allowed and what the rules for them were.

The unit we eventually purchased we had looked at then it went off the market. A few months later the listing became active again which promoted a few more emails to Burton, the property manager and sole point of contact for the condos.

About half of the remaining emails contained multiple replies. In sum, I sent fewer than one email per month to Burton.

Nearly all of my emails were simple single-line notices offered without comment to the property manager about things like "We're out of doggie bags on the first level" and "There's a burned out light bulb in the lower parking stall" and "There's snow plow damage to the parking curb".

None of them were me expressing any opinion or complaint.

That's why Wilson never supported his opening statement assertion that I was overwhelming Burton by sending him junk emails about my opinions and complaints — because there weren't any. He never provided even one.

Wilson didn't learn until rebuttal on closing statements that this website wasn't even created until April 26, 2022. It was my injury that motivated me to create this.

He even admitted a screenshot of this website as evidence but the jurors couldn't see the initial publishing date. Yikes! How embarrassing!

Then it hit me; he told the jury that I'm not bashful about expressing my opinions and complaints, that I have OCD, and that I sent a large number of emails to Burton.

That was one of their arguments!

They were setting up the defense that Burton ignored my multiple emergency service requests because he was so overwhelmed by the number of emails I was sending to him. Therefore, he was justified. That was one of their defenses! Jeez, defense attorneys are such evil bastards.

The entire thing was completely false but he wove together unrelated, non-relevant facts, and falsehoods to concoct a scenario to argue. That's also why they didn't admit any of those emails as evidence; because none of them were complaints or opinions.

He promised the jury in his opening statement that he would support this assertion but he never did because he had his facts wrong and didn't find out until the middle of the trial.

Ironically, he also argued that the ice hazard must not have still existed because I had been so prolific emailing Burton that I would have sent one — but I didn't. LOL

I actually thought those emails portrayed me so favorably that I advocated to Barber to admit them as evidence but he didn't want to distract from our core case.

In sum, the defense never presented any evidence to support this representation to the jury because Wilson mistakenly believed this website existed prior to my injury and there wasn't a single email that expressed a complaint or an opinion. Not even one.

For the record, I initiated fewer than one email per month.

If they defense had bothered to research this prior to trial they wouldn't have even floated this defense. I think they just went off of the way Burton remembered it. We didn't know the facts until Wednesday morning.

So he relied on this website, which he didn't know until closing argument that it wasn't created until after my injury, and the emails which he wasn't aware of the facts about until Wednesday morning to concoct this complete falsehood. That's why he abandoned this argument in his closing.

Past-Tense Words

Wilson then displayed an email I sent to Burton on the monitor that was two lines and read, "I had to use hot water to melt the ice. It was extremely dangerous and even my dog couldn't get up the stairs."

Wilson began asking me about whether that could be interpreted as the situation had been resolved because I used the past tense words "had" and "was".

I raised my voice and got angry with him about that line of questioning.

I told him if there was any question, that Burton should have at least responded for clarification.

The conditions I was describing warranted a site inspection at the minimum and a replenishment of our salt bucket. The lower-level salt bucket was encased in ice.

Further, Burton never raised this issue in his deposition. Obviously his attorneys concocted that excuse for him.

Contradictorily, Burton also asserted that he did did act on those emails and contacted M&M Services to respond. Of course we now know that was a lie.

The Injury Never Even Occurred at Crow Hill

When the emergency room records were received it was discovered that one of the nurses had written in the notes that I had informed them that the fall occurred on a street.

I never said that.

Those same notes also described me as a female.

Other notes from the same ER visit however did state that I specifically told them the fall occurred "on the Crow Hill stairs".

Wilson refused to relinquish this argument even though it was clearly a clerical error.

The Ice Formed Overnight

One line of Wilson's questioning was what level of duty did Crow Hill have to maintain the stairs.

I knew the answer to this from listening to the attorneys discussions with Judge Mead and that it was stated in the Crow Hill documents I had signed.

Crow Hill has a duty to reasonably maintain the property.

Wilson began questioning me whether it was reasonable to expect snow and ice removal services at 0300.

He was suggesting that the ice developed that night and it was not reasonable to expect M&M Services to have been there prior to my fall for ice removal.

But that's not what happened.

The temperatures were above freezing for the four days preceding my fall. It also didn't snow and the measured snow depth was zero inches.

The ice I reported on January 10 was the same ice I slipped on February 7. We had no snow service for at least those 28 days.

The next anchor point after my reporting the ice on January 10 and 11 was Ryan arriving on February 7 and seeing the ice exactly where I reported slipping on it (and taking pictures of it) and noticing that we didn't even have a salt bucket because it had blown away (because it was empty).

The Ice Hazard Ended, Otherwise I Would Have Emailed

This theory is that because I had purportedly been such an active emailer constantly expressing my opinions and complaints, that because I didn't email after those two on January 10 and 11 Burton assumed the issued had safely resolved.

Hold on.

But Burton never even replied to my first email. He simply ignore me. Then he sent a "brush off" email to my next cry for help and he didn't act on that one either.

He's the property manager. He should have been sufficiently curious to have at least visited the scene. He testified that he lived just one minute away.

That also does not explain why they didn't provide any snow removal for an entire month.

And ancillary of this is that Burton asserted that I must have been lying about the ice because in all of my overwhelming number of emails I sent to him, they all included images attached — except for those.

This may astonish some of you given that I work a bit of a techie job that includes writing software programs, but I barely know how to use my phone and rarely carry it with me. Hey, how do I get those pictures I just took out of this thing!

When I created this website a few months after my injury, I used my wife's phone to take the images. She even had to set it up for me. I didn't even know how to use that forward/reverse view thingy. Really. LOL

The only email I sent to him in the time period in question was an image I copied from a plant nursery's website when he and I discussed which Japanese Maple variety to plant. Pro tip: go with "Bloodgood".

He wanted the jury to believe that my pleas to clear our ice hazard was all a fraud for a reason(s) he never explained. He could've "exposed" me if he had bothered to show up from his residence one minute away. So how'd that work out for you?

The Dog Pulled Me

In my deposition, Wilson asked me about Molly and I mentioned that she has a habit of pulling when she was leashed. I also clearly stated that this was not a factor in my injury because Molly wasn't even leashed at the time. Joanna also testified that she had to recover Molly from the bottom stairs.

Of course that didn't stop him from arguing this to the jury.

I walked Molly every night at that same time of night. The first thing I do when she wakes me is to attach her leash because that settles her down.

I would then prepare myself to go outside, pause at the porch to scan the area to verify it was safe, and then unleash her.

She would then prance down the stairs and gallop to the common area directly across from our unit to potty.

I would just wait at the mid-level stairs and monitor her.

The reason I waited for her on the stairs is because I didn't want to exert myself so I could readily return to sleep. That's why I never walked her around the block in the middle of the night.

Wilson tried to blend all of those things together as he heavily enunciated "Doberman Pincher" to try to make the breed name sound scary and dangerous. The fact is Dobermans are sweet dogs and Molly in particular was really sweet and 12 years old.

I had to repeat myself over and over with him as he tried to make it seem my testimony clashed with my deposition statements, but he clearly hadn't thought it through.

I was Wearing Flip-Flops

I wish I knew how this nonsense got started... but I suspect Dayna is in the middle of it somehow.

This theory is that I was solely (pun intended) culpable for my injury because I was wearing footwear that was not suitable for the conditions.

They found four witnesses to testify that I would regularly wear "flip-flops" on the snow and ice. Burton wavered and suggested they might have been slippers.

Three of those witnesses could not have witnessed what they swore they witnessed.

One of them, Dayna, was not allowed by the judge to testify to this because it was literally impossible for her to have witnessed what she intended to testify to.

Chris and Dewayne also could not have witnessed what they claimed to have witnessed. Ryan was the only one of the four in a position to have observed what he believed to have seen but he only claimed 50% of the time I wore sandals in winter and that I also wore shorts. Needless to say, I have never worn short pants in winter.

I am not claiming that Ryan is lying; I am claiming that Chris, Dewayne, and Dayna are.

First of all, I have never worn either flip-flops or slippers in my life. Assuming they meant sandals, I do often wear sandals on warm and dry days.

The judge refused to allow Dayna to testify about this because it was not even possible for her to have witnessed it. She was caught lying. She was willing to testify to anything to sabotage my case.

I had seen Burton and Wolfe a total of no more than five times in my life. And I have never seen either of them in winter ever.

And as I described in the previous post, those sandals are rugged hiking sandals that I replaced every year to ensure they were in safe condition.

Further, their testimony of purported "habit evidence" was not indicative of which footwear type I wore at 0300.

The reason I wore shin-high snow boots when letting Molly out at in the middle of the night was because I didn't want to exert myself so that I could easily return to sleep afterwards.

By wearing the boots, I would simply step into them barefoot and walk to the mid-level stairs to wait for Molly to return. She would often be on her way back before I even got to the mid-level.

If I wore the sandals I would have to fuss around in the closet to find them and then bend over to fasten the straps. We kept our snow boots on the entry tiles.

That's why I didn't refer to this as walking her, because I would just let her out and monitor her.

The Mechanism of Injury Defies the Laws of Physics

Dr. Harrah told me that my ankle break was very unusual and he had never seen one break in this manner before. We usually think of an ankle break just snapping clean to the side. But mine broke lengthwise up the tibia.

During Harrah's testimony he explained that the break occurred due to "rotational forces". He was referring to the torsional stresses from the twisting action from my leg and knee that caused the lengthwise fracture. This was not caused by sideways movement as is typical in ankle breaks.

Wilson then ran with that (no pun intended) and argued that the mechanism of fracture was not possible to reconcile with my testimony.

He also made a few comically absurd improvisations of how impossible it was.

I even volunteered to demonstrate to the jury how it occurred but Barber said it wasn't necessary because he had sufficiently described it. Wilson then asserted in close that I never explained how it happened.

So, again... when I stepped off of the bottom stair to the landing, my right foot slipped to the left and pinned against the fence. I then twisted back to my right and fell on the stairs. The break occurred on the face of the bottom stair.

My theory is that the rubber shin-high boot compressed around my leg as it twisted and propped up my ankle and tibia against that stair which assisted to make it break longitudinally. That was the rotational force.

But they do it too!

After Burton informed each of our neighbors that they were being sued, who did it, and where to find him, I was besieged by my very angry neighbors.

Every time Angela Wolfe, Rebecca Sheeran, and Dayna Graham saw me they referenced the lawsuit and screamed at me about it. Rebecca in particular would scream at me for as loud and as long as she could every time.

Crow Hill no longer seemed like home.

One month later we listed our condo.

We were suddenly and unexpectedly moving — in winter! Because we were uncertain of our ability to afford such a large house, we both took second jobs to work.

We were living out of boxes for several months and had minimal furnishings.

We also had no snow-removal equipment or supplies.

It took us one year to complete the move.

So during this time Burton decides to sneak onto our property to take a picture of snow on our stairs as if it was evidence that that snow condition was also justified on our Crow Hill stairs.

That was a defense they intended to present!

The judge overruled Wilson's motion to allow that picture as evidence as not being probative.

By the way, we only used those stairs when the snow was soft and fluffy — and safe. We mostly exit our home from the garage where it is protected from snow.

My Conscience Confessed that Molly was Complicit

I stated in my deposition that when I fell Molly came back to me. She knew I was in great pain. I told Wilson in the deposition that I think she felt "complicit".

Wilson then suggested that was my conscience leaking out and then therefore the jury must find Burton and Crow Hill not liable.

So this is what we have in the legal workforce now.

They (Crow Hill, Chris Burton, Zane Wilson, and Umialik Insurance) were fully aware from the beginning that they were negligent.

They knew that what they were representing to the jury they should have had supporting evidence for. Every one of those jurors could have provided their phone records from any date within minutes. The defense had two years to support their version of events but never provided any of the easily-obtainable supporting records from any of the three persons involved.

Instead they chose to lie, obfuscate, conceal evidence, create false scenarios, confuse the jurors, and assault my character.

Deborah Towns (Umialik's senior casualty claims adjuster who indemnified both Crow Hill and Burton) stated in her April 28, 2022, claims denial letter, "They advised the 2.5 gallon bucket between your door and the neighbor’s door was MISSING after the incident."

Incidentally, my attorney remarked that it is unusual to have multiple defense parties share legal counsel because they usually have different interests and outcomes so they start pointing fingers at each other.

April 26, 2024

So, about that lawsuit...

Title: Gorman vs. Crow Hill Homeowners' Association
Case Number: 1JU-22-00779CI
Courtroom B: Judge Amy Mead

My lawsuit against Chris Burton and the Crow Hill HOA began Monday, April 22, 2024, with the selection of jurors.

There was one notable potential juror who made a bit of a scene during voir dire after she admitted that "I cannot be impartial because I know way know too much."

After she was excused she made a harsh exclamation in an elevated voice that could only be interpreted as being derogatory to me.

Oh, and she is Crow Hill board member Ann Marie Martin.

Stay classy, Crow Hill.

The trial began Tuesday with my testimony on direct examination by Jeff Barber and cross examination by Zane Wilson.

Joanna Gorman

My wife testified after me. Joanna was absolutely petrified and frankly, her brain stopped working at times. I felt so bad for her and wished I could have called time-out to put her at ease but there was nothing I could do.

At one point she stated that she had seen me shoveling snow before and then she was asked where I got the shovel from she stated it came from our car. She was referring to an 8" emergency shovel I had used once to dislodge our car when it got stuck in snow.

I made a point to not discuss the case or my testimony with her because she may have seen things differently and she was there to tell her side. We had nothing to hide and were there to be honest.

It was a good experience for her and she will be more composed the next time she is in a similar situation. Wilson didn't ask her many questions on cross because I think he felt it would look bad because she was so intimidated by the process.

I'll be better next time too.

But it's infuriating to have to sit there listening to a defense strategy that is to lie, obfuscate, concoct false scenarios, and attack my character instead of a focus on seeking the truth and demanding justice as the outcome.

Umialik Insurance knew the entire time that their clients caused my injury. It's a numbers game from their perspective so if they have any plausible argument, the claim will be denied. Not every claimant is fortunate enough to be able to pursue their injury claim through to a trial.

Their claims adjuster delivered nothing but endless patience, saccharin responses, and faux empathy while knowing the entire time that her job is to deny all claims possible and send me to face their equally evil defense attorney.

The defense attorney is incentivised to rack up as many billable hours as possible so that trial is inevitable. Lacking facts has never slowed down any defense attorney.

At one point, I raised my voice so much the microphone was squelching from picking up the feedback. So... I'll be better too, if there's a next time.

Chris Burton

Burton testified that he always did everything right and I always did everything wrong... blah, blah, blah...

Burton swore that he witnessed me in person at least once to twice every month for three years and that each time he saw me I was always wearing either slippers or flip-flops.

I have never worn either slippers or flip-flops.

For the record, the only sandals I have worn for at least the past 20 years are these which the manufacturer states are specifically designed, engineered, and marketed for activities including hiking. I also make it a point to replace them every year to ensure they are in perfect condition.

But Burton also testified that he performed his site inspections only once per month and only by driving by.

He claims he had seen me 70 times; I had only seen him five times.

Essentially he is claiming that every single time that he performed his monthly drive-by site inspections, that I was always outside and my footwear was always visible and identifiable and that he committed that to memory.

Only three of those five times I had ever seen Burton in person were on the Crow Hill property and two of those times were by appointment for what he refers to as the "Gardening Committee".

The core of my case is that on January 10, 2022, I sent an email to Burton informing him of our dangerously icy conditions and asked him to bring more salt.

He ignored me.

So I followed up the next day and told him that the ice was still so hazardous that our dog Molly couldn't walk up (I had to put her on my lap to get her to the mid-level) and that because we still had no ice melt I had to resort to using hot water to clear a path.

He replied that they would get to it.

But they never did. We never got ice treatment/removal and our ice melt box was never replenished — because Burton never bothered to contact M&M Services to do it. He ignored me again.

He testified that the reason he ignored me was because when I told him, "It was extremely hazardous" that I had used the past tense "was" so he assumed it was no longer hazardous. Yes, really.

That doesn't explain why he didn't call M&M Services after the first email, or to have our ice melt bucket replenished, and why he didn't give that explanation during his deposition. It shows he knew he had a big problem and this was the best he could do. And why didn't he at least perform an on-site safety inspection (he testified that he lived only one minute away) after those reports of extremely hazardous conditions?

My injury occurred 26 days later at 0300 on February 7 and I emailed him about it at 0315.

Burton also testified that he had in fact called M&M Services to respond but he never provided any phone records or any other evidence to back it up.

He claimed that he went to AT&T to get his phone records but they couldn't get them... for some reason. They also didn't provide any phone records from Vern or Ryan either documenting a text message or phone call from Burton. Obviously, he was lying. If he had any evidence that he acted on my emergency service requests this case would have been over.

Burton also didn't have a written contract with M&M Services, nor any written performance measures or minimum standards, nor did he keep a log to document the receipt and completion of service requests.

Oh, and that phone is colloquially known as a burner.

So the Crow Hill property manager who was hired by the board and illegally worked for years unlicensed uses a burner phone, had no written contract or performance requirements with his maintenance provider, and did not log service requests. What a dope.

Burton testified that he was first to arrive at the scene and that he didn't know what I was referring to because everything seemed to be in order.

Ryan Struble

Ryan was next on the stand and stated that he arrived shortly after Burton and that he saw the ice exactly where I reported it was and he also discovered that we didn't even have an ice melt bucket because it had blown away (because it was empty).

So for those 28 days (at the minimum) we didn't receive any snow or ice service, no salt replenishment, and we didn't even have our salt bucket to apply it ourselves. The lower salt bucket was encased in ice during that entire period.

Both units on the other side were unoccupied during the entire time we were there until this incident. For that reason Ryan would not provide snow and ice removal service there and would use it to pile our snow on it. Therefore, that snow and ice would flow down onto the lower ice bucket to keep it covered in snow and ice and inaccessible.

Ryan also testified that he took pictures of the ice.

Wait. What?

They took pictures?!? This was literally the first time we were made aware of that. They had been concealing that critical evidence from us for years.

Did I mention that they destroyed all of the pictures? Of course they did.

Wilson argued that they destroyed the images only because the patch of ice was so small. But if that was the case they would wanted to saved them because it would demonstrated that they had responded to the emergency and properly reified it. The only reason to destroy the evidence was because it proved the ice condition was exactly as I described it.

Dewayne Wolfe

Dewayne is a slow-moving, slow-talking, dimwit.

I have spoken to him only once, but that's all it takes.

He's also violent. He has criminal convictions for crimes such as purposeful assault causing injury, disorderly conduct, and challenging to a fight.

I've only seen him in person maybe five times. Other times I have observed him waiting for someone to drive him to work because he also has criminal convictions for driving under the influence and driving unlicensed. So, he's quite a piece of work.

Dewayne swore that his front door is just five feet away from mine and that he sees everything I do and that I always wear flip-flops on snow and ice.

For the record, our condos share a common wall and are reverse plans. Our doors are in fact 40 feet (not five feet) from each other.

He also ludicrously asserted that he witnessed me leaving my condo 30 times every day for three years.

He stated in court that I was "always running up and down the stairs at all hours during the day and night and he keeps me awake by slamming the door every time."

In fact, I left about six times a day to go to work with Joanna and walk Molly.

He asserted that he witnessed this by watching out his window and by his motion-activated security camera.

But we each have our sofas on the same common wall so his faces away from ours and wouldn't have a view of us. We can see them (his wife Angela is a board member) on the stairs but they cannot see us.

Further, his camera was only installed after the incident (as he testified to) and we had only one day of snow before we moved.

He also stated that he salted the stairs every single day in winter. Every day.

When he was informed that I had twice sent emails to Burton reporting the ice hazard and asking for salt replinishment his response was that I was lying. He repeated it twice.

I wonder if he believes Ryan was also lying when he confirmed the ice at the base of the stairs and that we didn't even have an ice melt bucket.

Michele Metz

Michele testified that she had lived at Crow Hill for 40 years and is currently serving on the board as president and is always available to any resident who has comments or concerns. Oh.

She further stated that she walks the entire grounds every day and had never observed anything wrong... blah... blah... blah...

Dayna Graham

Dayna is animated by pitting people against each other, being nosy, butting in, instigating strife, and being a general gossiping busy-body.

She was going to get into this action any way that she could. She was determined to do anything possible to sabotage my lawsuit.

Remember, after the lawsuit was announced by Burton she began screaming at me about it every time she saw me for a month. Burton's email that was a tacit call to neighbors to hound us about the lawsuit was the sole reason we moved. It no longer felt like home. They had chased us away.

She filed an affidavit asserting that she witnessed me "consistenly" wearing flip-flops in snow and ice.

But she only moved in the summer after the incident and there was only one day of snow (November 10) between that time and when we moved on November 29 — and we weren't even home that day.

The historical weather data showed the temperatures immediately rose into the 40s the next several days and the snow level other than November 10 was measured at zero inches.

She even witnessed me riding our two motorcycles to our new home on November 29 on clear and dry roads.

Judge Mead refused to allow her to testify about this because what she swore to was literally impossible.

But that didn't stop the defense from calling on this eager perjurer to bolster their case.

She was the last witness and showed up with her dog to testify that she saw me carrying a bucket of gravel sometime in late summer.

Are you happy now, Dayna?

By the way, what she witnessed was me cleaning up the gravel they dispersed in the ice for traction and then they dumped it on our common area. I was cleaning up after them again. Board President Metz even suggested fining me for it, but they sent their toothless attorney after me instead (for removing trash and picking weeds) and he never acted aside from sending me an email.

The attorneys then spent half a day arguing about the jury instructions.

The case went to the jury on Friday morning.

The verdict was read Friday afternoon.

October 15, 2022

Done.

These are the last images of our condo I took just before we started packing. These are the images of our new home.

I may still stop by on occasion to post an update or news from a source.

This website will remain published for use as a community resource and I will provide photos with metadata, emails, FTP logs, recordings, recollections and any other support for my assertions in the event they are needed by anyone to defend their rights from property managers and Boards.

Otherwise, my work here is done.

Presumably, Chris Burton (JPR Management Services, Inc.), the Board, and M&M Services have been sufficiently exposed and shamed to remain doing the right thing.

Remain vigilant. Do good. Stand for truth. Be Strong.

UPDATE: Our buyer is a super-awesome person and he will be a tremendous asset to the CrowHill community. Neither he nor anyone else is involved in any way with this blog.

October 14, 2022

Sold.

How could this not have ended any other way?

It was 170 days ago today when I attended my first home owners meeting only to be shouted down with a slur by the board president while I was introducing myself.

I then embarked on a journey that revealed just how dumb, incompetent, and uninterested those who are currently steering the direction of this property are.

As soon as I began poking around I discovered that our unlicensed property manager was plotting the construction of a workshop on the common area directly in front of our home that the owners of that property would be excluded from using.

And our general contractor vendor had been using that common area as their trash dump for years while running illegal electrical work from it while their crew camped out there all day long with their car engines idling.

What to do...

I tried to better the situation but I was ignored by our property manager who began forwarding all my questions, comments, and suggestions to our attorney who responded with intimidation and threats.

Well, there's a perfect solution. And it's an easy one.

We purchased this spacious single-family house that has a large forested fully fenced yard with three ponds and no neighbors in sight, our own detached workshop, and is not governed by an HOA and it solved all of the problems:

		Detached House
		Large Fenced Yard
		No Neighbors
		Two-Car Garage
		Detached Workshop
		No Home-Owners Association

Prior to buying here we carefully weighed the differences between owning in an HOA and not.

At the time, we decided it was worth it to buy in an HOA largely because the routine maintenance such as gardening and snow-removal would be performed by our vendors.

But the reality turned out to be far different. So we offered our condo for sale. We received multiple offers at well over our ask and we just accepted one today.

The properties (our unit and the complex) have a lot to offer and there are many good reasons to reside here.

Any unbiased, reasonable assessment of current conditions will show the property to be well-maintained, clean, and orderly.

But I did that. It was my attention and determination to making things right that changed what was a disaster (in fact, illegal) into a comfortable community of residents — notwithstanding the board president poisoning the well.

This is my final Level One Rating of the conditions here, which I have increased by two points to 25/30:

My usual caveat is that we are professionally managed and serviced by a general contractor so we should always be in the green zone — but we had recently been in the red.

UPDATE: Unsold.

After three days on the market we had three offers; $210,000, 215,000, and $220,000.

We chose the $220,000 offer. LOL

After two weeks (and after we had packed, booked a mover, paid for the inspection, appraisal, and insurance on our new house) our "buyer" met with her agent to review the resale certificate and she decided that there was some provision in our rules and regulations that she disagreed with. You'd think that she would have sorted those things out prior to parachuting in with a monster bid and then waiting two weeks to review it (she and her realtor were out of town).

Pro tip to the kids out there: Don't accept an offer on a condo without a signed resale certificate and always try to get any back-up offers under contract.

At the time our biggest worry was that the offer was so high that the appraisal wouldn't support it. We have since learned there are strategies to deal with that such as requiring the buyer to cover any difference.

So, for example... if there are three offers... one at $220,000, one at $215,000, and one at $210,000 and all are borrowing funds for the purchase and the appraisal comes in at $210,000, then essentially they are all at $210,000 and the decision to select an offer should be based solely on ability and eagerness to close.

UPDATE: Sold. Again.

There is "done" and "done-done" and in real estate there is "done-done-done-done". That's where we are now and our closing date is scheduled for November 28 with recording and move-in the next day. So, only two more "dones" left. Best wishes to everyone!

October 13, 2022

Dissension on the Board?

I could not help but notice that the letter sent to all of my neighbors informing them that I have initiated litigation against the HOA and helpfully providing them with my full name and unit number for their convenience was sent with this specific and curiously-worded notice: "The President of the Crow Hill Homeowners Association has asked that the attached letter be distributed to all association owners."

Shouldn't the letter have been from the full Board, not just the President? Can we infer from the phrasing that the Board, at least in part, did not concur with this obvious and irrefutable harassment tactic?

Tonight on CrowHill TV: Are they evil geniuses, or just incompetant...? Explaining the actions and motivations of the guiding forces for the Crow Hill condominiums.

Chris used the Buildium email service and access to our personal email addresses to send Michele's letter that tacitly invited harassing me simply for seeking justice after an insurance claim for a serious physical injury.

Further, Michele has a pattern of using her position as board president as cover for acrimonious and unfounded attacks on me, including this from the first time I met her and this attempt to fine me for a made-up violation.

October 11, 2022

Workshop Expansion Status

We're well into fall now and freezing temperatures are fast approaching and there has not been a permit filed. My guess is that the workshop expansion onto our common area is now dead. Of course they'll never acknowledge this fact or the part this website played in the effort. But we know...

October 10, 2022

The Board Endorses CrowHill.Info!!

"The board thanked Sheila and recommended the process to expand communication go forward."

There's no other way to interpret that, right? If the Board is for expanding communication and information about activities on our premises by means of a website, how could they not like crowhill.info?

I can't wait to receive recognition and thanks from the Board about this website that provides timely updates, thoughtful analysis, hard-hitting commentary, abundant witticisms, and impactful exposés about the Crow Hill condos (with an emphasis on the Level One Buildings D, E, and F and the dumpster area).

October 9, 2022

Who's the new bitch at 2138?

Why, that's our new 8-week old Doberman!

Introducing Daisy:

This picture was taken on the way home from the airport, so she was very tired.

She looks much more mischievous after a nap and a meal.

October 8, 2022

Entropy

"...and was present including work related items when you purchased your unit."

Our lawyer is arguing that whatever condition a property is in at the time of sale (including tools, supplies, and equipment left out on the property i.e., "work-related items") becomes the new baseline for determining order and supersedes our governing documents as the decline into disorder runs its inexorable course.

In other words, if a snow shovel is left out into June, then there is no problem because that's the way it was when you moved in and therefore you must accept it.

Other gems from our lawclown:

• I have no rights to property that I own.

• The Board can build a structure on our common area for the exclusive use of a private company.

• I must "cease and desist" from removing trash and picking weeds on property that I have an ownership interest in.

• I have "no right to record a private HOA Meeting" even though state law guarantees that right which has also been affirmed by the state supreme court.

• My recording of board meetings has resulted in a "decline in unit owner and director participation" prior to data supporting that assertion existing.

So, hey... I found a lawyer who lies and makes stuff up when he doesn't have evidence.

"If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have the law on your side, pound the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, pound the table."

October 8, 2022

Electrical Power and Wiring

We still have not received permits or inspections for the electrical work that was performed in July which is run from the workshop power supply (which is also unpermitted and uninspected) as required by law.

CBJ: "All new wiring for exterior lighting, whether for a commercial or residential structure, will need a building permit, and will receive an inspection by a licensed electrical inspector." So... the new wiring to the mailbox where they had installed two lights was performed illegally. They were also installing power to the dumpster until I called out the illegal work. Reminder: This is a professionally managed complex and M&M Services is a licensed general contractor. Just saying.

October 7, 2022

What is that doing there?

It appears that our condo is being offered for sale.

Octobear 6, 2022

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

"Which kind of bear is best?"

"Black bear."

"That's debatable..."

"Fact: Bears eat beets."

The proof is here.

For the record, I'm team brown bear.

I spent some time examining this image showing what a bear did to a part of our dumpster shed. At first I thought it was caused by multiple swipes or multiple bears. But now I understand that it is resultant of a single swipe. It was just one swipe because that was all he needed.     I've identified five claw marks: Note that he clawed against the grain of the wood. That would provide the best traction. And the thickest grain is what failed. Did he understand that or was he just applying brute force to open what he knew was the seam of the door? Whatever. It worked.     You can then see how three of the claws caught a lip on the edge and splintered it off: As I noted here, the latches should have been fastened with bolts that passed through the wood using multiple heavy-gauge fender washers on both sides to dissipate the shearing force off-axis.     Then the door opened because, in addition to what I listed above... the really, like super totally a whole lot foolish idea of installing the latches to the edge of the boards with screws just one inch into the wood. So, yeah... it took him only one swipe to defeat our bear intrusion prevention scheme.

The force displayed by the bear is truly impressive — and frightening.

The bears are to be respected but also we must be smarter than them. I mean, really.

I intend no offense to the humans. In fact, some of my best friends are humans. But I'm still betting on the bears because I also know humans.

In celebration of Octobear week:

Octo-Bear

Southeast Alaska gets its own Fat Bear Week-esque event

Fat Bear Week Celebration

Survival of the Fattest

October 5, 2022

Who's in Charge?

After months of neglect... two weeks after I posted about the long-time state of the dumpster shed the crew is here now (the paint is still wet) making it presentable:

We do pay fees for this kind of stuff, right?

And I'm also sure it's no coincidence that the bags of mulch and the bear scat have also finally been removed.

You'd think that a professional property manager would make it his practice to patrol the grounds every week or two to note deficiencies, provide for corrective actions and preventive remedies and long-term solutions.

But I guess that's my job.

October 1, 2022

Flashback 2011

There was a carport fire on July 1, 2011, that destroyed six vehicles that is located between the two most recent unit sales at 2196 and 2142.

The permits for the demo and rebuild are listed here.

The heat was sufficiently intense that the adjoining rock wall required extensive rebuilding and four windows in Building D needed replacement.

The original roof-support posts were buried so they had to be redesigned to comply with updated earthquake codes. The new posts had to be mounted on cement foundations with shear load fittings secured at the top and bottom.

The police caught the suspect who was charged with the Crow Hill and other fires around town. Here are the official incident reports from the Juneau police department and the fire marshall. I'm sure he was at the scene watching this. It must be frustrating being a pyromaniac in a rainforest.

September 26, 2022

Calling All Gardening Committee Members!

Just kidding.

There's no such thing as the "gardening committee".

But Chris was right; mulch works well as a weed-abatement treatment.

He left 30 bags of mulch for the entirety of spring and summer in the middle of the second-level parking lot and no weeds have grown there since.

Chris did the same thing on the first level too.

After months of the bags laying in place unused, I just took all 30 bags and spread them in front of our unit to rid ourselves of the eye-sore.

Are there any adults in charge?

September 24, 2022

It's time for another Lawyer joke!

It's time to enjoy another lawyer joke!

A wealthy lawyer was being chauffeured in his limousine when he saw a woman on the side of the road eating grass, so he told his driver to pull over.

He asked the woman why she was eating grass and she replied that she didn't have money to buy food.

The lawyer told her to take a seat in his limo and he would drive her to his mansion so she could eat.

But the woman replied that her husband and six children with her too. The lawyer told her said can bring her entire family, so they all squeezed into the limo and drove off to the lawyers's mansion.

The woman thanked the lawyer for his genorosity.

The lawyer replied, "You're gonna love my place; I have a pasture with grass that's over two feet tall!"

September 23, 2022

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens.

And bear poop.

When I was informed by my mid-level source (that is, my source on the second level) a month ago about beer cans, pizza boxes, and Cheez Whiz strewn around the second level dumpster area I reasonably assumed it was a report about a frat party.

Oh, but there was "scat" too.

Scat = animal fecal droppings:

For many animals, particularly predatory ones, scat is a calling card that marks territory and leaves information.

And it's been there for an entire month.

• Image 1
• Image 2

And it's still there today.

They actually responded to our Bat Signal and installed a door for the shed but left the enormous bear poop there:

Obviously the bears haven't been informed by our attorney that they have no property rights to the property they are trying to mark.

Nonetheless, the bears now feel so comfortable dining from our dumpster that they are claiming it as their own and are literally shitting where they eat for the same reason dogs lick their own balls — because they can.

September 21, 2022

Butt out!

Our HOA attorney specifically told me to butt out and not complete work that has been assigned to our contractors:

"It is unclear to me whether you are doing maintenance, clean-up, or other tasks Crow Hill has hired a third-party contractor to complete. If you are, Crow Hill demands that you cease and desist from this continued action. If you are injured or you damage any property of Crow Hill or a Third-Party Contractor, you will be responsible for your injury and the damage you cause."

But if I don't clean up the mess they leave, no one will.

Our previous cigarette butt receptacle was a metal bucket mounted by hanging it to a board with a screw on the side of the dumpster.

It actually caught fire. Kind of a lot. Or as much as you would expect would be possible. Perhaps there was other trash in there too.

In this image you can see where the previous mount was removed and left unpainted. It's that kind of thoughtful consideration and proactive attention to detail by M&M Services that we have come to expect.

For one month the new cigarette butt disposal container sat disassembled with a score of butts laying in the mud immediately adjacent to it. I witnessed an M&M Services employee handle it and then leave it disassembled with the trash in situ.

On Wednesday an M&M Services employee finally installed the fasteners.

Now that it's assembled I've been thinking about taking up smoking.

I've never smoked before but I've been hearing a lot of good things about it.

I just cleaned up the area:

And all of this raises a question; do we have anyone responsible for picking up trash? I mean, seriously. In this sprawling 86-unit complex is there anyone at all assigned to regularly patrol the grounds and pick up trash?

September 17, 2022

Compare and Contrast

September 14, 2022

Good news! We have walk-in closets!

Yes we do, according to a real estate sales agent...

But it doesn't seem possible that we really have walk-in closets because there's a discrepancy between what the developer of the property stated and has filed with the city and what the sales agent for the property asserts.

2142 Lawson Creek Road sales agent's listing versus the developer's recorded description:

Developer:

(1) Bedroom
(1) Storage Area
(2) Reach-In Closets

Realtor:

(2) Bedrooms
(2) Walk-In Closets

So, the sales agent is asserting that the unit contains not just two bedrooms, but that both are "spacious" and that both have walk-in closets — even though one doesn't have an attached closet (unless we count that it is one) and exits into the kitchen.

Developer: This is a storage area.   Realtor: This is a spacious bedroom.   Developer: These are reach-in closets.   Realtor: These are walk-in closets.   Google: Walk-in closets are sufficiently large as to allow one to walk into them and to browse through items. Developer: These are a kitchen and a living room.   Realtor: This living room is an open floor plan living area.   Google: An open floor plan combines two or more rooms that traditionally were divided by a floor-to-ceiling wall.

September 10, 2022

Their plan is working.

Email sent to Chris and HOA attorney Sheehan:

"My next-door neighbor Dayna at unit 2136 threatened me this morning at 0806 (as caught on my Ring security camera) about the lawsuit I filed the first time I left my home this morning.

You must inform her that threats of violence are not tolerated here, notwithstanding your tacit call for just such a response."

~~~~

Chris: "I can't discuss pending litigation. If you feel that you have been threatened, you need to contact JPD."

~~~~

Me: "Of course I wasn't asking you to discuss any pending litigation. And a police report has already been filed.

I was asking you to assist in preventing violence towards me and my family from my next-door neighbor that that letter caused. Dayna specifically referenced your email that was clearly intended to induce exactly this kind of a reaction."

September 9, 2022

Gorman v. Crow Hill, et al.

Oh, an email from Chris-

Checking my notes... why, yes... that's my address.

From the letter: "The Association is sharing this public information with you because it must be disclosed in all resale certificates until the case is resolved."

Umm, no.

Let's break this down:

The Board (only Michele?) is falsely asserting that my full name and unit number "must be disclosed" for sale disclosures as justification for revealing it to all Members of the Association.

Curiously, they went out of their way to inform that my name and address are public information. That's cover for them for setting me up for vigilantism, vengeance, and/or simple malicious mischief under the guise of performing their duty to statutory compliance and disclosure.

The disclosure form merely offers a choice of three check boxes to the sole question on this subject, "Do you know of any existing, pending, or potential legal action(s) concerning the property?"

How did I know that?

1. I made the same disclosure a few weeks ago when we were offering our unit for sale due to our desire to move only because of the Board's incompentency.

2. I literally made that form. And when I declare that I literally made that form, I mean that I totally literally made that form. I made it when I worked at CBPL and that was one of my job duties. I also have to add that my version was far superior and was even programmed but I was succeeded by a team of six incompetent clowns...

The reason that question only has three possible choices is because that is all we are allowed to ask by law. That is how the forms are made. We align each question of the form to the associated statutes.

Here's what the law requires to be reported to any buyer of a unit:

34.08.590(8)
"Any unsatisfied judgment against the association and the status of any pending suit in which the association is a defendant or plaintiff."

That was a yes/no/unknown question. But they gratuitously added who I am and where to find me to put me in play for those who wish to cause me harm for seeking compensation for serious damages allegedly caused by the Board, et al.

The statute specifically states that, "a unit owner shall furnish to a purchaser any unsatisfied judgment against the association and the status of any pending suit in which the association is a defendant or plaintiff;

The statute clearly states that this is a required duty unit owners, not HOAs. When the seller is completing the "State of Alaska Residential Real Property Transfer Disclosure Statement" (form 08-4229), it is their responsibility to contact the HOA for this information.

They knew they were on unsound legal ground so they added that it was public information as cover.

"So, hey everyone... here's the guy who's suing you and here's where to get him!"

UPDATE: Now that I have moved will they continue to send my name and new address to all Members to maintain the charade or will they cease and reveal the fraud that it always was? Just wondering...

September 8, 2022

Bat Signal from Level Two!!

Unsurprisingly, Chris is ignoring resident emails about what he has termed a critical safety issue. An email reminder about properly using the bear deterrent devices would seem to be appropriate, but would never happen.

This is the second recent report I've received from the second level about plundering hordes of marauding bears feasting in the dumpster.

The intrusions have become so regular they they have blazed a trail from the forest to the dumpster.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the bears have a pending order at IKEA for some chaise lounge chairs so they can just set up camp adjacent the dumpster and save everyone the trouble of having to deposit their trash.

There's a humorous aspect to the incongruity of the signs about maintaining order and tidiness while there's trash strewn all over the place by the bears.

September 4, 2022

Crow Hill Level One Rating

The quality of life here has been much better recently.

That is entirely due to me using this website as a tool for change (while withstanding the threats from our attorney) by putting pressure on the people responsible for operating illegally and creating the mayhem.

The M&M Services staff are no longer hanging out all day at the workshop and they have ceased using our common area as their trash dump. I'm uncertain about the status of the workshop expansion.

This is my rating (23/30) of the current conditions here:

We are professionally managed and serviced by a general contractor so we should always be in the green zone.

And we also have high HOA fees when compared to the top 15 metro areas of the U.S. (Data compiled by the U.S. Census American Housing Survey).

I placed our current level in the lower green because there are still issues with a presently unused carport being used as a storage area, we are not receiving value for our gardening fees, traffic-control signs are still broken and covered with graffiti after several months, and they should be performing more routine maintenance and cleaning such as touch-up painting and trash removal.

With that said, for residents who don't have interactions with the property manager or attend board meetings the property will appear to be well-maintained and in order.

Of course I thought the same thing until I learned how the sausage is made. One day I woke up and discovered that our unlicensed property manager was directing the construction of a 40-foot maintenance shed in the common area directly in front of our home solely to facilitate the operations of a commercial business enterprise.

So, ignorance is bliss — until reality smacks you upside your head.

August 31, 2022

Homo Sapiens VERSUS Ursus Arctos Horribilis

On a televised pay-per-view special this would be billed as, "Homos versus Horribilis". The title alone would skew the betting line towards the bears. Regardless of the spread, I like the odds for the bears straight up.

A neighbor and reader of this blog emailed me about a concern of multiple bear intrusions and dumpster-dives and the Association's unfulfilled pledge to provide for our safety by fitting the dumpsters with bear-resistant lids and the "critical" requirement to properly use them:

"Dumpster lids have latches to ensure that bears cannot access the contents. It is critical that the lids be completely closed at all times."

If the Board was honoring their promise to protect us and if one of us had failed to latch the lids, we'd be fined. But the Board has ignored their duty to provide a safety item which they noted was a "critical" measure to control this "serious problem" and nothing will happen.

Truth bomb: When the rules state, "Compliance with rules associated with garbage is mandatory" — that means it's mandatory for everyone except the Board.

The Juneau bear ordinance states in this summary provided by the City, "Garbage must be kept in a bear-resistant container or enclosure in a strong fully enclosed structure such as a garage. "Bear-resistant enclosure" is defined as an enclosure that you can’t get into unless you use hands or tools. If it can be opened by stomping on it, kicking it, running into it with your body, or other similar action, it is not bear resistant. If you use a dumpster, it must be kept within a garbage containment area or fitted with bear-resistant metal lid."

So, we meet the requirements of the municipal code. But that isn't the point. When we bought here we accepted a certain standard of service, amenities, and provisions for our safety. The Board has failed to honor a written contract that they agree is a critical safety issue.

There have been many recent midnight bear soirées at the dumpster on the first level. This reader was reporting the ursus-involved dumpster-diving occurring on the second level.

I suppose that technically the bears aren't literally "dumpster diving" since they are first over-turning the dumpsters and then eating from them. That is clearly a more elegant way to eat trash from a dumpster if this is something that you insist on doing.

A latching rod that secures into the ground was just installed on our first-level dumpster last weekend.

Given the claw gouges on the doors and some astonishing demonstrations of Newton's Second Law of Motion (using the dumpster as a scientific apparatus), it is improbable that the latch will stay attached to that wood door for very long to what the bears consider to be their pantry.

Notice all of the claw marks are against the wood grain:

Perhaps the latches should be fastened with bolts that pass through the wood using multiple heavy-gauge fender washers on both sides to dissipate the shearing force off-axis. Using a steel plate would accomplish this even better and would also prevent the bears from using the wood grain for traction.

Also, anchoring the dumpster by looping a chain around one corner to a wood beam of the shed is not exactly a stroke of genius either. That only assists the bears in overturning the dumpsters. Concrete-mounted steel posts tethered to all four corners with chains is required.

Oh, and a metal locking dumpster lid would help too.

However, these counter-measures would require marshalling an ability to reason, think logically, and comprehend complex ideas that surpasses that possessed by the bears, which is something that has yet to be demonstrated by the humans in this battle.

Simply affixing the latches by turning a few #8 screws an inch into the weakest part of a wood plank doesn't seem like a well-considered plan that had any prospect for a favorable outcome. But what do I know...

Fun fact: The "horribilis" in "Ursus arctos horribilis" means what you think it does. I'm betting on the bears.

August 28, 2022

Own Nothing, Control Everything.

The adage of owning nothing but controlling everything is a widely-practiced asset-protection scheme.

The idea is, if you legally own something of value then that makes your assets vulnerable and you a target for lawsuits. It is only really important to control an asset. What you don't own can't be taken from you.

The Members of the Association own our property's common areas. That ownership is proportionate based on each unit's square footage:

Importantly, that ownership must equal 100%.

In other words, all parts of all of the common areas are owned by the Members for our own use and enjoyment.

Further... Article III, Section D: "Any owner may delegate, in accordance with the Bylaws, his right of enjoyment to the common area and facilities to the members of his family, his guests, tenants, or contract purchasers who reside on the property."

Sec. 34.07.180
Alteration of common areas and facilities ownership.
(a) The percentage of the undivided interest of each apartment owner in the common areas and facilities as expressed in the declaration may not be altered except in accordance with procedures set out in the bylaws and by amending the declaration.

Undivided interest refers to a co-ownership scenario whereby each owner owns a percentage share in the property.

In our case, the Board is, in effect, reducing the share of common area owned by all Members by constructing a forty-foot commercial workshop on a Member-owned common area.

On paper the ownership values have remained unchanged, but practically, we have lost a common area.

As evidence of that, Chris has refused my multiple requests to allow me to inspect the workshop that I have an ownership interest in. I am an owner, but I obviously have no control over it.

August 23, 2022

$195,000 versus $195,000

2196 Lawson Creek Road was just listed.

And it was listed for the same asking price as 2142 that is a flip uniquely-positioned for a prime dumpster and car headlights view with a fake second bedroom (featuring stylish shelving) that received an offer in one day:

Update: An offer was  accepted in four days.  I suspect there were  multiple bids above  the ask given the  relative quality  between this and 2142  that sold in one day.

From the images there is a clear difference in value between the two with the new listing at 2196 seemingly a far better unit.

So the question is, will the buyer(s) who made an offer on 2142 just four days earlier think about pulling their offer for the new listing instead?

Fun fact: 2136 (unit adjacent to ours) sold for $5,000 over the list price two months ago for $180,000.

That's an 8.3% increase in 65 days.

• 72% of recent homebuyers have regrets
• House values fall for the first time since 2012
• Home prices have biggest decline since 2011

In 2021, the average sales price for a single-family house in Alaska was $389,000. That figure was $335,000 two years earlier, a 16% increase.

Nationally, in the second quarter of 2022 the average home sales price was $525,000. Two years earlier it was $375,000, a 40% increase.

August 22, 2022

nui·sance | nü-sᵊn(t)s

In competently-run HOAs the residents report violations and infringements by others to the board for the board to cure, not the other way around.

Alaska law (AK Stat § 09.45.255) states that nuisance means "a substantial and unreasonable interference with the use or enjoyment of real property."

In our case, it is the Board who are preventing the use of an entire common area to the owners of that property for the sole benefit of a single private enterprise for the convenience of conducting their commercial business activity on our residential property.

The Board is using our funds to construct a workshop for M&M Services' exclusive use that the title-holders of that property will be excluded from using and enjoying.

Encroachment progression:

This lawsuit will set precedent because it was the Board that created, sustained, and compounded the nuisance, not members and/or residents.

This is why Jim Sheehan wants to ban recording the board meetings under the guise of preventing "embarrassment and ridicule". The desire to reduce board decision-making transparency is a major red flag about HOA governance.

Sometimes boards need to be embarrassed and ridiculed. And property managers too. And attorneys too.

August 18, 2022

Water Shut-Off

Yesterday morning an M&M Services truck pulled alongside our condo and a worker left a door-tag for us.

Only us.

The tag stated that our water was being shut off the next day during lunch:

I replied to the email listed on the door-tag within minutes of receiving it and waited all day for an answer to my question about the reason for shutting of our water. None of our neighbors received a notice.

After waiting all day for a reply that never came, I emailed Chris at 1800:

I received a notice of water being shut off this morning.

The tag provided an email contact for questions.

I emailed to the address provided minutes after I received the notice and I received no reply today.

1. Why is our water being shut off?

2. Can the time be something other than our lunch time (1200-1330)? We want to be able to cook and use the bathroom during our lunch.

I never received any reply from either of them so I emailed HOA attorney Sheehan because Chris stated that all of my emails will be forwarded to him after I reported his illegal business operations:

I received a door-tag yesterday morning.

I immediately sent an email to the address provided and asked about the reason for the water shut-off.

After receiving no reply for the entire day, I emailed Chris who also hasn't replied. I am emailing you since he just forwards my emails to you anyway (you took 47 days to reply last time).

So, I don't know what to do. This is no way to manage a property.

Only our unit was tagged and we were given a short notice, so there is something occurring with our unit and it is an emergency. I want to know what the danger is and I also want to have the water shut-off scheduled for hours other than during our lunch time.

I'm off to work now...

The water was on at lunch. We saw them working around our water spigot from our security camera, so I don't know what was going on.

In the past, the entire affected area would receive a one-week notice that work was scheduled on the grounds, or gravel was being swept, workers near windows, or water was being shut off.

It is not normal procedure to announce a water shut-off with one-day notice and no opportunity to schedule around our work day.

August 17, 2022

For Sale: 2142 Lawson Creek Road

Listing: Asking $195,000

2/1, 772 SF, wood floors, and an assigned carport next to an awesome motorcycle.

One of the bedrooms isn't really a bedroom though, but it's more difficult to sell a one-bedroom with "a large storage area" next to the kitchen.

This is two units from us on the other side of this one at 2136 that sold for $180,000 ($5,000 above the ask) about a month ago.

I wonder if prospective buyers will be informed they will have no rights to their property...

Update: The status is  pending after one day.  The broader real estate  market is currently in  recession but perhaps  there is a niche market  in this price range.

Frankly, I'm glad to see them go. Their dog attacked us, I had to constantly clean up their side of the carport after their auto repairs, they repeatedly overloaded the dumpster, and they parked multiple oversized commercial buses here for months at a time which Chris did nothing about.

I reported them massively overloading the dumpster from their house-flipping enterprises because I thought that I would get blamed for the overload after Michele and Chris threatened to fine me for disposing of M&M Services' gravel dump.

~~~~~~~~~

Me: "If we get fined and/or accessed an extra fee for the first-level dumpster being over-loaded, that is due to the persons in the unit with the Jack Russell.

They had a truck with a trailer make two trips with trash from off the premises that over-filled the dumpster.

They made quite a scene, so I'm sure many others can verify this."

~~~~~~~~~

Chris: "That needs to be addressed and I'm happy to reach out to them."

~~~~~~~~

Me: "This is how you replied last time I reported them for storing oversized buses and having a vicious dog:

The name of the business is Larenzo's General Contractors LLC. It is plastered all over the vehicles with his phone number of 907-419-8718. Why do you need me to tell you this when it's posted on the vehicle?

Did you report the dog attack to animal services? If not, why did you not report the event? Do you have a record of the report?

I'm not sure I understand what your complaint is or what you think I should do about it? What vehicles would you like me to prohibit from parking? Do you mean that if you need work in your unit, the contractors can't park on the property to work for you?"

~~~~~~~~

My note: The buses weren't being "parked" here; they were being stored here, which I made clear to him in each of my communications about this.

I only mentioned the dog attack because he wanted me to approach them about those buses crammed with garbage being stored here indefinitely.

I told him that I felt uncomfortable doing that because of that dog attack. Then he uses that to ask why I didn't report the attack, as if that's the issue.

Chris has actually not solved a single problem that I have ever reported to him.

August 17, 2022

You have no rights to your property.

Crow Hill HOA Attorney Jim Sheehan to me: "You have no rights regarding your view or alleged green space."

Me: Let's test that in court!

In fact, if the value of my property was "x" and then a party constructs an obstruction to my view (and one that was constructed without a permit, and contrary to state law, and violates Association policy and procedure) that reduced that value, the difference between the value of my property with the view and the value of my property without the view is damage that can be remedied in court:

   runtime("workshop");

   var condo = this.getField("2138 Lawson Creek Road");
   var condoView = condo + viewAppraisal;
   var condoNoView = condo + noViewAppraisal;
   var change = condoView - condoNoView;

   if(change.value > 0) {

       app.alert("lawsuit");

   } else {

   }

The idea that I have "no rights" to the view from my property that provides a legally-protected enjoyment (codified as AS § 09.45.255 and in Association Bylaws) was not the most astonishing assertion that Sheehan made in that statement.

I'm more interested in his curious assertion that I have "no rights" to property that I own.

In fact, that assertion from an attorney who represents our Association in real estate matters was so exceedingly stupid that I actually checked to verify that he is really an attorney. Of course, the last time I did this I discovered that our property manager was unlicensed.

Admittingly, his firm only claims expertise in "complex corporate and business transactions, corporate governance,[sic] before state and federal legislative bodies and regulatory agencies, and litigation in state and federal courts. The firm is particularly known for its representation of Alaska Native corporations, Native housing authorities, Southeast Alaska municipalities and businesses."

Which raises the question of why we hired this particular firm to represent us. Oh, here it is; "STS prides itself on providing legal work comparable to that of a large national law firm,[sic] at a reasonable cost."

This is the same attorney who sent me an email threat with "Letter Attached" in the title and then forgot to attach it.

He was apparently so embarrassed by it that after I replied to notify him about the missing attachment he not only didn't send the attachment but he didn't even reply.

In lawyer school they should teach that email threats aren't as intimidating when you forget to attach your supposed weapon.

[snap, snap, snap] ...oh, back to Sheehan's assertion that I have "no rights" to my property...

This is how the Declaration defines my rights to that common area: "...all real property owned by all Owners of the Apartments as tenets in common for the common use and enjoyment of the Owners...".

Well, maybe my warranty deed is wrong:

Hmmm... the recorded legal documents clearly state that I do have rights to the common area. So, we have a fool providing our legal advice.

If Sheehan wants to test his novel legal theory that I have "no rights" to a property that I hold a deed for, I would relish the opportunity to test the merits of that assertion in court.

August 16, 2022

When is a Trash Dump Complete?

Crow Hill HOA attorney Jim Sheehan demanded that I "cease and desist" performing any tasks that Crow Hill "has hired a third-party contractor to complete".

But this is a trash dump.

Is Sheehan asserting that creating and maintaining that trash dump was a specifically-contracted job? I'd like to see the board minutes, bid, work order, and invoice for that job.

I will not cease and/or desist from removing trash and picking weeds from property that I have an ownership interest in.

I suggest that what you claim "Crow Hill demands" be committed to writing on official letterhead and signed by the board president so that I have a legally actionable document that we can argue the merits of in a courtroom.

I want to hear the arguments for preventing a property owner from picking up trash on his own property because the HOA wants to allow a private contractor to use it as a trash dump instead.

How long are the owners of our common area supposed to allow a non-resident private contractor have exclusive use of our property as a trash dump for the convenience of conducting their commercial business activity?

Attorney Sheehan suggests that M&M Services merely hasn't completed their contracted job on that property. So, when will the Crow Hill Trash Dump™ actually be "complete"?

August 15, 2022

Flashback 2019

This is an image from the listing of our unit taken and published in 2019 by the listing agent:

This view was taken by the real estate appraiser:

It's just the same people, doing the same stuff, in the same place, in the same way, all day long...

They camp out there all day. They even take their lunch break there too by parking their truck there for an hour with it idling the entire time.

August 14, 2022

Not a Problem | Problem

Crow Hill HOA attorney Jim Sheehan to me:

"It is unclear to me whether you are doing maintenance, clean-up, or other tasks Crow Hill has hired a third-party contractor to complete. If you are, Crow Hill demands that you cease and desist from this continued action. If you are injured or you damage any property of Crow Hill or a Third-Party Contractor, you will be responsible for your injury and the damage you cause."

Wait. I removed trash and picked weeds.

So, that's a problem but a private contractor using our property as their own trash dump for a period of several years is not a problem?!?

Not a problem ➜ Not a problem ➜ Not a problem ➜ Problem ➜

August 10, 2022

Permits On-Record

This is the entirety of permits on-record for the Crow Hill Condos:

There is no permit for the existing structure on #103 and #104 that is being expanded. And that expansion doesn't have a permit yet.

There is also no permit for the electrical run from that unpermitted workshop (and uninspected electrical system) to the mailbox.

And there is also no permit for the windows replacement for buildings E & F that was completed this year.

In a future post we'll explore how a garage in a multi-family residential zoning district expanding onto our common area changed its use from:

• a residential use garage for sole
  benefit of Association members, to

⇩

• a general commercial use workshop
  for exclusive use by M&M Services.

August 8, 2022

"Gardening Committee"

After I met our prickly friend last night I chatted with a neighbor who was hand-pruning a bush that was so over-grown that it was obstructing the view of cross-traffic from the street and posed a hazard.

I offered that, "If we don't do it, it doesn't get done".

She was so frustrated that she had been reviewing the financials to figure out how the $17,000 gardening budget is spent.

For less money we'd be better off just paying a handyman $300 to come over each weekend to prune, mow, plant, and clean and get actual results.

I told her about Chris' so-called "Gardening Committee".

The title suggests a sort of steering committee where you'd be involved in directing landscaping decisions, plant choices, and gardening.

In fact, that's exactly how he presents it, "At some point, you all expressed some interest in helping plan gardening and possibly participating in some planting or other chores."

The reality is, it is literally nothing more than picking weeds while Chris watches you.

Chris' idea of gardening is ordering a bulk shipment of plants from The Home Depot, hiding the pallet behind the workshop, and leaving the plants to die.

Gee, wouldn't the selection and ordering of ground cover, plants, and trees fall under the purview of the purported "gardening committee"?

Further, Chris has no authority to form any committee; that authority rests solely with the Board:

And why do we need a gardening committee to perform work "planting or other chores" when we have allocated a considerable portion of our budget for professional gardeners?

Well, at least something got done; that bush became so over-grown that it enveloped the broken and graffitied signs that I reported two months ago so that they are no longer a blight. So, that's good until fall.

UPDATE (November 14, 2022):
They just chopped that entire plant down. Obviously they read this website and finally did the right thing.

August 7, 2022

As prickly as an angry HOA member!

I just encountered this fella munching on grasses for his breakfast at 1900.

Bad News: He's living in the toxic waste dump.

Good News: He doesn't have an HOA.

August 7, 2022

Stream Dumping

This is enforceable under municipal Title 36 and has also been reported to the Alaska DEC:

This is why we need to remain vigilant:

August 6, 2022

Encore! Encore!

At 1115 on this Saturday, while I was weeding the first level common area, I went to empty the bucket and a fast-moving black truck was driving up the street and made a quick turn into our parking lot and purposefully parked where I was working. It was a Miramontes Construction truck.

When I returned from dumping the bucket, Hugo and another person spoke loudly front of me with exaggerated tones, gestures, and posturing about pouring the concrete slab for the garage expansion (he even said to use more concrete than needed and to spread it over more area than required because "concrete is cheap") and repeatedly mentioning "twenty-four feet" while exercising a retractable metal tape measure.

They were here for only three minutes and then departed.

However, the opening elements of their act, while clearly derivative of Fellini, astounded and delighted my senses.

The second scene with the tape measure performance was more derivative of my sixth grade social studies project entitled, "Me and my dad working".

I particularly relished the performers' commanding use of tension, ambiguity, and paradox to translate the wondrous experience of concrete-laying to their palette of theater and intrigue. The themes of fate and coincidence provided a profound and poignant theatric experience that moved me deeply and touched my soul.

It would be delightful to witness this enchanting pair perform an interpretive dance about the arts of concrete laying and masonry through the ages. Bravo!

Someone must have seen me picking weeds and was overcome with the urgent need to notify Chris who then immediately summoned Hugo and his partner to put on their performance for me. That was obvious because the plan was clearly concocted and executed by a bunch of troglodytes.

Anyway, here's the current state of the first level common area restoration project-

Image1

Image2

August 6, 2022

I found the garage!

1993 aerial view:

At least until 1993 the garage was located exactly as depicted on the plans.

We couldn't locate it because there doesn't appear to be a permit for a construction and relocation of the garage.

The CBJ permit specialist informed me that he was unable to locate any permits for sheds or garages but did locate permits for "carport replacement, reroof, and addition of storage for specific units."

Given this information, I would expect the "carport replacement" permit to actually mean the relocation of the garage. Now, how that garage got permitted, if it did, to allow for general commercial use in a multi-family residential zoning district is another matter.

But the permitting office cannot find a permit for the garage expansion and Chris has refused my request to provide a permit to me for inspection. Yet, the project is due to commence imminently (bids are already out) for completion this year.

Okay, I'm going to have to go there myself and sift through all this stuff.

Since a permit is required when any structure is built, altered, or demolished there should be a permit for the construction of a garage on parking spaces #103 and #104 that deviates from the approved plans for use as what Burton and Sheehan termed a "workshop", which itself is problematic. But one problem at a time.

August 6, 2022

103 + 104 ≠ 99

So, I'm reviewing the documents from my public records request and I discovered that there is no permit for a structure where one is currently located on parking spaces #103 and #104.

Why would that be?

Then I reviewed plat 83-239 and discovered that the design called for a "garage" on the oversized parking space #99.

So, there is no permit because none was required as it was part of the original plans.

But there is no garage on parking space #99.

And there is a garage on parking spaces #103 and #104 — which is right in front of my home!

You can see that the intent was to put the garage on parking space #99 because it is out of the line-of-sight of both Building E and Building F:

They seemed to deviate from the approved and recorded plans and constructed it directly in front of Building E and are now compounding the problem by expanding it onto the common area.

The two ad hoc parking stalls in front of the common area were to make up for the two they took.

The unusable V-shaped stall is required because this is where the road splits and the buildings follow the shape. The garage couldn't have been constructed on space #100 or #101 because it would encroach into the other's space due to the angle. So, this is literally the closest to a Building E and Building F bisector as is possible. The intent to position the garage out of view of the residences is clear.

August 5, 2022

3... 2... 1...

Email reply today to attorney Sheehan with Chris copied (in follow-up to this):

Re: "Under Alaska law, you have no right to record a private HOA Meeting. Notice of no recording of Crow Hill Meetings will be included in meeting notices go [sic] forward. I expect that you will comply with this action."

They are private meetings, but they are also forums. The HOA has legal authority to issue rules of conduct for the meetings, but those rules must not violate Alaska law.

I have a legal right to attend the meetings and as such, I have a legal right to record any meeting that I am a party to per AS 42.20.310 and affirmed by the Alaska Supreme Court in Palmer v. Alaska, 604 P.2d 1106, 1108 n.5 (Alaska 1979).

Further, given that HOAs operate as mini-governments, ability to record meetings is vital.

Therefore, in response to your demand that I cease recording our board meetings, I feel that I have been sufficiently informed and competently counseled to understand that I do have a legal right to record our HOA meetings as long as I am a party to them.

Consider this notice that I will continue to record all board meetings that I am a party to.

This is particularly important given the multiple imminent lawsuits between us and my ability to support my assertions while performing journalism about the Crow Hill Homeowners Association.

August 4, 2022

How about a lawyer joke...

Hey, it seems like now would be a good time for a lawyer joke.

So there's this guy who drives the same route home every day after work that passes by a courthouse.

He makes it his practice that whenever there's a lawyer there to run him over.

One day on his way home he spots a hitch-hiking priest and pulls over to pick him up.

As they near the courthouse he sees a lawyer on the sidewalk and turns to run him over.

At the last moment he remembers that he has a priest with him so he swerves out of the way and apologies, "I'm sorry Father, I almost hit that lawyer."

The priest replies, "That's okay... I got him with the door as we went by."

August 2, 2022

"Letter Attached"

Okay.

But a letter was not attached:

Here's the email in its entirety, without the forgotten attachment of course, but including the disclaimer that, "ANY UNAUTHORIZED REVIEW, USE, DISCLOSURE OR DISTRIBUTION IS PROHIBITED."

Well, if you send an unsolicited threatening email to me, I will publish it.

Oops. I'll try again by styling it in ALL-CAPS because apparently this is how lawyers try to convey that they're totally super serious: WELL, IF YOU SEND AN UNSOLICITED THREATENING EMAIL TO ME, I WILL PUBLISH IT.

Here are my responses:

~~~~~~~~~~~

"In fact, your act of recording Board Meeting has had the opposite effect. There has been a decline in unit owner and director participation during Board Meetings because of a fear of retaliation and embarrassment..."

You completely made that up.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"It has nothing to do with transparency."

Liar.

"Notice of no recording of Crow Hill Meetings will be included in meeting notices go forward. I expect that you will comply with this action."

It seems that the 1994 amended Open Meetings Act allows for this. But, it's not that simple.

I will consult with a specialist prior to responding, but the Alaska Supreme Court has held that the eavesdropping statute was intended to address only third-party interception of communications and thus does not apply to a party to a conversation.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"JPR Management is operating lawfully."

Yes, it is now. You are being disingenuous again by using the present tense.

It is an absolute fact that JPR Management was not operating lawfully from at least from October 9, 2018, until June 8, 2022 (after I reported him on June 3, 2022).

~~~~~~~~~~~

"JPR Management did not have a business license for its dba."

False. The DBA did have a business license. You have no idea what you're talking about.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"This was an oversight by JPR Management."

So now you're now admitting that I have been correct.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"It is unclear to me whether you are doing maintenance, clean-up, or other tasks Crow Hill has hired a third-party contractor to complete."

I'm removing trash and picking weeds.

Is this a C&D to me to discontinue that??

~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Board has the power to expand the shed onto a common area owned by the Association. You have no rights regarding your view or alleged green space."

That's called an assertion. Let's test it. That's what the courts are for.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Be advised that if you file a claim against the Crow Hill Homeowners’ Association or any member of the Board, and Crow Hill successfully defends your claim, Crow Hill will collect its fees and costs from you related to its defense."

That works both ways, including the removal of the shed expansion and compensation to those affected.

BTW, the subject line states that a letter is attached but I received no attachment.

August 2, 2022

Jeez, again?!?

Email sent to M&M Services:

"Again... our property is not your trash dump.

This is our only green zone.

We have a legal right to use and enjoy our property.

After the dumpster is emptied tomorrow morning, I will dispose of all the trash your employee just left on our property and then cover it with the other trash your company left there."

• Image1
• Image2

The residents at Crow Hill are subject to fines when we leave trash about the premises.

M&M Services should be held to the same standard.

If warnings and fines don't persuade them to respect our property and to appreciate the privilege of working for us, then I will sue them in small claims court each time they damage me.

I would never even think about going to their homes and dumping my trash in their yards.

The carrot didn't work; it's time for the stick.

UPDATE: The M&M Services crew arrived contemporaneously to the Alaska Waste truck. I realized that they had been waiting for it because they are installing a light for the dumpster area. The first thing they did was to pick up the trash they left yesterday.

August 1, 2022

What is a "Common Area"?

Quiz Time!!! Weeee!!!

Define "common area" purpose per the CHHA bylaws:

            or...

Surprisingly, the answer is actually that the common areas are intended for the use and enjoyment of the owners and that the Board's primary and fundamental duty and purpose is to benefit all Members of the Association equally. That's crazy, huh!

My email to Chris with attorney Jim copied:

The only CHHA declaration file available to me has the file name "old" (see attached). The file name also misspells declaration as "delcaration" so it can't be located by a search.

1. Provide the current CHHA declaration.

2. Provide the current definition of "common area".

3. Provide the agenda showing shed expansion listed.

4. Explain how your statement at the July 25, 2022, homeowners meeting that the purpose of the shed expansion (that will remove our level's only green zone and two parking stalls) is to benefit M&M Services reconciles with the current definition of "common area".

July 30, 2022

Level One's Green Zone Restoration Project

Current Status:

In restoring our level's only green zone, today I weeded and removed more of M&M Services' trash.

I also removed 40 years worth of other abuse and neglect; all kinds of fasteners (screws, nuts, bolts, nails) cut lengths of pipe, wood, and rods, concrete pieces and solidified concrete powder, zip ties, plastic and metal pieces, cigarette butts... just all kinds of stuff.

You can see the hole in the shed from the 7,600 lumen industrial flood light that was removed yesterday.

I am continuing to remove trash and weeds from the area and will grade and groom it so it can be returned to the rightful (and legal) owners.

More images (including some of me removing the weeds in case someone in the future tries to revise history):

July 29, 2022

My retinas are no longer on fire!!!!11

Morning email to Chris and attorney Jim:

On July 14 and July 15 I informed you of the hazardous condition of the blinding light that sears afterimages into my eyes that last for an hour after having it in my line-of-sight.

The light you chose to install is specifically designated by Sunco as a commercial/industrial unit that projects 7,600 lumens. Sunco's brightest residential light is rated at 2,800 lumens. That light is wholly inappropriate for its current application. For perspective, tactical flashlights use up to 2,000 lumens to ward off attackers by blinding them.

Its blinding beam projects directly into our living room and to the stairs. Its beam also projects to the sidewalk. I am unable to avoid it during the multiple times my dog needs to walk during its night operational time. When walking toward it, anything beyond its position is not visible due to the blinding. In an email to you, I likened it to the lights used at convenience stores which are intended to deter loitering. But this is our home.

So, I suggested that a solution could be to use the same type of light that is mounted on the other side of the same shed. But you ignored me.

I also asked how I can submit agenda items for discussion, but you just forwarded my question to our attorney.

I followed the procedure set forth by Mr. Sheehan for submitting agenda items. Presumably, the president chose to not allow any of my proposed agenda items, including the one involving this hazard (which also impacts our quality of life and the loss of use and enjoyment of our property).

Mr. Sheehan wrote, "We will attempt to address the concerns expressed by you, from the emails that you have sent. If you feel that something has been overlooked, let the property manager know and we will follow up with you when possible."

I see no signs that an attempt was made at all. Clearly, this issue has been overlooked as I haven't even received a courtesy acknowledgment of my reports of this hazard in two weeks.

The only recent email I have received from you was on July 27 where you threatened me solely because I was removing trash and weeds on our premises. Inexplicably, that direction is in direct opposition to a previous email direction from you about the same matter. But that's another issue.

Is "when possible" two weeks? I have been patient and I'm tired of hiding from that light whenever I have to move within its coverage, even within my own home. Mr. Sheehan asserted that I have "overwhelmed" you and have been "troublesome". So now I don't know what to do.

But you know what else is troublesome; having a high-intensity light beam trained on our home all night long.

Five years ago I suffered a very serious eye injury (finger-poke during a basketball game) that was sufficiently significant that a medivac to Anchorage was readied for me. I then understated my symptoms to the attending responders because I was concerned about the costs.

The injury has gotten progressively worse with time. The main symptom is light sensitively, as I have described to you.

So, again... please respond with your intentions regarding that light.

~~~~~~~~~

Afternoon email to Chris and attorney Jim:

The light finally is removed!

When an area is decided to be illuminated, care must be exercised in the choice of a light. This is particularly true in multi-unit buildings.

The best that I can tell, someone just selected the most powerful light available without exercising due care in considering color temperature, brightness, beam angle, and diffusion.

Our living room and bedroom are in direct line-of-sight of the location. The installers must consider such factors. That should have been obvious.

Equally obvious should be that the property manager immediately recognize the problem and rectify it after being notified about it multiple times. My dues are current, right??

We should have been able to enjoy our home without having a light with a lumen-rating greater than a car headlight's brights focused on us all night long for two weeks straight.

Well, I did it your way for two weeks. Then to be shouted down as a "troublemaker" by the attorney I participate in paying for and threatened with fines for simply daring to clean up common areas by the person entrusted for maintaining our property are shockingly inappropriate responses.

So that we all understand what we're dealing with, I will forward my eye medical records to you. Certainly you don't need to be told to allow for residents with disabilities when making decisions that could affect them.

For reference, this is the view from our living room while sitting on our sofa. You can see the direct line-of-sight we have to where the light was mounted.

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July 28, 2022

We must leave the trash everywhere!

My email to Chris:

FYI: Alaska Waste confirmed that gravel is not a prohibited item.

So I will resume removing the gravel that M&M dumped.

Chris' reply (after I was publicly threatened at a board meeting with a fine for disposing of M&M's gravel dump in the dumpster):

That's a relief there will not be a charge for disposing of gravel. Thank you for reaching out to Alaska Waste for clarification.

Please refrain from proceeding with any other work next to the work station building. The Board has not authorized any current work in this area and this is not something that owners may decide to do on their own. If you refer to the governing documents: Declarations, Article V, paragraph E states the following:

"The Association shall maintain the common and limited common areas, regardless of the present or future encroachment upon an Apartment Unit and facilities, including the landscaping, parking areas, decks, drainage areas, the exterior walls (including roofs), the exterior bering and Apartment separating walls, floors (but not floor coverings) and the foundations and structures of the Apartment buildings, together with all other property owned in common by the Owners of the Apartment Units."

The HOA is the authorizing party that makes the determinations regarding care, maintenance and use of common and limited common areas. You have not been authorized to make any changes. Thank you for your cooperation.

My reply:

Re: "The Board has not authorized any current work in this area and this is not something that owners may decide to do on their own."

Are you stating that the Board authorized M&M Services to use our common area as a dump?

You know I am only cleaning up the mess left by M&M Services, right? You know that is our property, right?

I refuse to live in a trash dump zone. I will continue to clean up the mess left by M&M Services.

Re: "You have not been authorized to make any changes."

I will continue to change it from a trash dump to a useable common area. I am simply cleaning up the mess left by M&M Services, as I stated to you.

I merely restored that area to its original purpose, unless you are asserting that its original purpose was a trash dump to be used by our vendors.

Your and the Board's dereliction of duty regarding this is thoroughly documented on CrowHill.Info

For the 2.5 years we have lived at Crow Hill that common area has gotten progressively worse. It was only after I took action by doing your job that it got cleaned.

You should be thanking me, not threatening me.

Vendors are allowed to use our property as a trash dump. When we complain, we are told that cleaning trash is not a priority because it is "not an emergency item". Therefore, trash accumulates and never gets removed. Then when an owner begins to clean the trash, he is reminded that duty resides under the exclusive domain of the Board. But the Board never acts claiming that it is "not an emergency item".

July 27, 2022

47 Days

The answer is 47 days. That's how long it took to get a reply to my questions after I was put in Crow Hill email jail for reporting the illegal business operations of our property management company, JPR Management Services, Inc.

On a related note, how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop is still a mystery to science.

Here is the letter.

This is the entirety of my reply of selected excerpts:

Thank you, Mr. Sheehan. That was an awesome reply to my questions and concerns!

Re: "The HOA does not record the Zoom meetings and has no plan to do so. The Zoom meetings have been offered as a convenience to owners and help provide a gateway for owners to connect with the board and manager more easily. Owners need to feel comfortable to ask questions or express concerns freely; not under the pressure of being recorded. The governing documents require that minutes be taken during meetings and minutes are taken by the Secretary. Meeting minutes are available on the web portal or by request. Roberts Rules of Order do not require the “conversational” content of meetings; only the actions and specifics are required to be recorded."

I understand that there is no requirement to record the meetings. But I would argue that even after weighing the issues you raised, that recording the meetings and making them readily-available outweighs the concerns you raised.

I will continue to record the meetings due to my belief in the greater good and my duty to transparency and availability.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: "When that is the case, any vacant seats are filled by appointment, at the discretion of the board."

That's the problem.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: "The property management company is appropriately licensed. All State and local requirements are met..."

You're being disingenuous by using the present tense.

I agree that currently they are "appropriately licensed" and that currently all "requirements are met."

But that was only until I exposed him and threatened him beginning on June 3, 2022.

It is an absolute fact that JPR Management Services, Inc. was operating unlawfully at least from October 9, 2018, until June 8, 2022.

For example:

• Image
• License
• Document

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Re: "Requests to add an agenda item to the meetings may be submitted in writing to the property manager. Those requests are sent to the HOA President for consideration. Requests may become part of an agenda at a future meeting."

If I was king of the world I would allow all agenda submissions to be discussed.

It is our property of course, and reasonable concerns should be addressed with legitimate and thoughtful discussion.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: "Your request related to the building have been received and weekly progress has been made to address your concerns."

The point is, M&M Services should never have been allowed to use our property as their dump for their trash and their supplies for so many years. The pictures I have of that dump are astonishing.

That "weekly progress" only came due to my persistence and determination.

That it took my huge effort simply to get them to clean up after themselves speaks to their, and Chris', unprofessionalism.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: The workshop building is original to the project and was present including work related items when you purchased your unit. Nothing has changed.

You are being disingenuous with terms again. And you're a lawyer... but I repeat myself.

Yes, nothing currently has changed. But the point is, Chris is in the process of obtaining bids to expand the shed which will obstruct our view, eliminate our green space, and remove a parking space solely to benefit a private vendor (M&M Services).

I sent this email to Chris and Thomas this morning-

"This is notice that if our green zone with a view is replaced by the expansion of the maintenance shed (purportedly a 24' expansion and loss of one parking space) as planned and confirmed by you at tonight's homeowner's meeting, then we have been materially damaged and will seek compensation in a court of law."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: "These types of items will always outweigh items related to visual aesthetics. Maintaining curb appeal is very important and very much a part of the owner enjoyment experience; we do not disagree. However, it is still necessary that this work be balanced with other items and all within recognition of the budget."

To be clear, all I have been asking for is for M&M Services to clean up after themselves. The job isn't over until the clean-up is complete. Certainly you agree with that.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: "The management company processes funds for Crow Hill..."

You mean, the management company that didn't have a legal ability to conduct business in the state of Alaska until I sounded the alarm...? That one?

Do you dispute that our funds were routed through the JPR Management internet portal while they were operating unlawfully?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: "Your request for banking records from the management company is not a valid request...".

We disagree again. That an unlicensed entity was the intermediary in high-volume and high-value funds transfers was highly alarming.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: "Overwhelming the manager and vendors is not a solution, it is troublesome and takes their time..."

Simply reporting damaged signs, empty bag dispensers, burned out light bulbs should be encouraged, not shamed.

I make the report, the property manager manages it. I made no time demands.

When M&M Services dumped that toxic waste behind the shed, more than "troublesome" action was justified to protect our homes, wildlife, and the environment.

You are completely wrong about this.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: "The Board believes that the information provided in the letter covers the broad spectrum of topics you have requested information regarding."

I agree. I want to thank you again for the detailed and thoughtful answers to my questions and concerns.

I don't expect, or even necessarily want a reply... but feel free to if you want. I just wanted to respond to some of the issues on the record.

July 26, 2022

"Maybe we ought to fine him."

During the July 25, 2022, homeowners meeting the topic of disposal of pea gravel into the dumpster was raised.

Obviously someone witnessed me cleaning up the mess left by M&M Services and reported it to Chris.

I readily raised my hand and explained that I was unaware that something so seemingly innocuous as gravel would be an item prohibited for disposal and affirmed that it would not happen again.

Board president Michele decided to pile on and stated, "Maybe we ought to fine him" immediately prior to adjourning to an executive session (which is usually conducted because there's private or privileged information that shouldn't be revealed beyond a controlled group – so, yeah... they were talking about me).

So, I had to disconnect from the meeting while the rest of them continued without me.

I believe that all of our meetings should be open to everyone all of the time and recorded and made available online for ease of access. I even offer free disks of the recorded minutes for those that want them. What is the argument against full transparency about how our own properties are managed?

You know what else would be nice? If they realized that we have the same goals and recognize and celebrate the time, talent, and treasure I and others have put into helping to maintain our premises.

But, I digress...

The Alaska Waste truck just pulled in and I raced out to meet it to explain to the driver about the gravel and remove it for him.

But he said that wasn't concerned about it and was unaware of it being prohibited.

Then I emailed Alaska Waste and they confirmed that gravel is an item allowed for disposal:

"We do take gravel, but we usually can only take them in dumpsters or roll off containers and only in small amounts in those container’s as well; due to weight."

They just made it up and then decided to bludgeon me with it by raising the prospect of fining me.

That they were publicly pushing to punish me for a made-up violation while also not acting on M&M Services' dumping the gravel in the first place speaks loudly to their lack of moral reasoning, clarity of logic, biases, and agendas.

My email to M&M Services this morning:

"Jodie, I offered to remove the gravel that your company dumped on our property if they cleaned up the rest of the mess they made.

I had been removing the gravel by disposing of it into the dumpster (after your employees spread it over the entire area).

However, at our homeowners meeting last night I was informed that the trash disposal company does not allow that.

So, we need your company to remove the gravel they dumped. I'll work on it as I can to move the gravel to near the rear of the shed so I can begin planting grass there."

July 22, 2022

Excuse me?!?

While I was taking photos of the porta potty in our front yard two Miramontes Construction trucks arrived to begin their work.

I approached Hugo Miramontes and asked him about the location of the porta potty and he told me it would be there for just a few days... then I responded that that's what everyone says... and he agreed that that location has been a dump for years.

I told him that literally just yesterday was the first full day of having that area cleaned and that I'm going to plant grass there.

Hugo responded by saying, "I wouldn't do that. They are expanding the shed by 24 feet and it will extend to the end and even encroach into one of the parking spaces. Chris was out here with me when I snap-lined it and I'm surprised that the project hasn't started yet. I have already arranged for the slab to be laid. Chris was really pushing for it to be completed this year."

My email to Chris and Thomas Faust:

"Please provide all documents, permits, minutes, plans, bids, etc. related to the shed expansion project. Also, please schedule a time for me to inspect the shed interior."

My supposition is that the only reason that the shed expansion was considered was because M&M Services were storing their own tools, equipment, and supplies in that shed — which is not even their property. In other words, we will pay to expand the shed (and lose a parking stall, green area, and view) for the benefit of a private contractor.

For 40 years that shed was sufficient. What changed?

When my wife and I decided to purchase our unit here we considered many factors, including the view.

Now, the intrinsic, and actual, value of our property will be diminished if the planned shed expansion fulfills.

The difference in value between a green area with a view being replaced by a maintenance shed is known in the legal field as "compensatory damages".

I want more view of the shed and less view of the trees and mountains... said no one ever.

July 22, 2022

This is new.

At 0730 I looked outside to admire our beautiful restored view, and now there's a porta potty there! The benefits of the clean-up lasted only one day.

That common area green zone went from one kind of a dump to another kind of a dump.

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Obviously having a porta potty in our front yard is not an improvement.

Further:

1. It demonstrates the disparate burden we have been carrying when dealing with construction, storage, and staging.

2. It demonstrates that the years of our front yard being used as a dump has conditioned others to think of it as, and treat it as, a dump.

The toilet was put here for the workers completing the window replacement project.

I had informed Chris literally the day before by email that I would be working in that area to create a green zone.

When the same company was working the same job earlier this year, the toilet was located in front of the actual job sites, not in front of other neighbors' homes.

My suggestion: put that mobile toilet in front of the job site.

July 20, 2022

A New Beginning

This morning I cleared out much of the garbage and disposed of seemingly abandoned parts and items with no apparent use or value.

I also carried out several buckets of gravel, and then more after the trash truck came.

Then in the afternoon M&M Services employees stowed their tools, arranged their equipment, raked, blowed, and sprayed...

...and it looks great!!!

Oh, and they removed that broken concrete parking stop too!!

I'm overwhelmed. For the first time since we moved here in January 2020, that area is not being used as a trash dump. We don't have to feel embarrassed when we have guests over. We can enjoy our views.

I just sent this email to JPR Management and M&M Services:

"Wow!! Thanks, Jodie! It looks great! We're super grateful for you caring about our homes."

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I will continue to remove gravel for the next few weeks and then I will grade it and spray herbicide on the weeds and then try to get some grass seeds to germinate this season.

Now we have a beautiful green common area for us all to use and enjoy.

July 20, 2022

The Shed Common Area

Well, I finally got them to clean up the mess at the area adjacent to the storage shed.

For the entire two and a half years we have lived here that area (in fact, a common area green-zone) has always been a dump-zone for M&M Services, aided by our feckless and indifferent (and unlicensed until June 8) property management company, JPR Management Services, Inc.

I just sent this email to JPR Management and M&M Services:

"That shed area looks much better now. It's not perfect, but it's tolerable.

I will be the care-taker of that area now. I will assume responsibility for cleaning and maintaining it. However:

• That gravel pile was dumped by an M&M employee on June 1, 2022, and it still has not been disposed of despite multiple notifications.

• The broken concrete parking stop was dumped by an M&M employee on January 24, 2022, and still has not been disposed of despite multiple notifications.

I will meet you half way about cleaning up the rest of your mess; I will remove the gravel and you will remove the parking stop.

I will pick up the gravel at a leisurely pace, disposing perhaps a bucket or two at-a-time whenever I'm in the mood.

Since the official HOA policy (related to me by Chris on June 2, 2022) is that debris clean-up is not a priority because it is not considered to be an "emergency item", this is the new rule:

• Unless an item is specifically marked otherwise, anything left beyond the boundary of the shed and overhang I will consider to be trash and will dispose of as soon as practicable.

• This does not relieve you of your duty to always clean up your mess prior to leaving a job.

If you leave any HOA items not specifically marked as exceptions outside the bounds of the shed, I will remove them as described and you will be liable for their replacement and future proper storage.

You are prohibited from using the Crow Hill Association storage shed for the storage of your tools, equipment, supplies, and/or property. The Association members did not pay for the construction and maintenance of the shed for the benefit of M&M Services.

I will also dispose of the rusted propane tank and wood that are under the over-hang that seem to me have no purpose or value. If there is anything there that must not be disposed of, inform me now.

Your actions have been, and will continue to be, monitored and published here:

Crowhill.info

Actions that negatively impact my and my neighbors ability to use and enjoy our property are legally actionable and will be litigated when appropriate."

Shed Commercial Floodlight

I just sent this email to JPR Management and M&M Services:

"The floodlight at the mailbox was removed, but the one attached to the shed is still installed and operating.

This is another notice that if that is not removed I will be holding all responsible parties liable for the loss of use and enjoyment of my property.

The light on the M&M trash dump side of the shed should be the same light that is on the other side; a light with a soft warm glow with just enough illumination to make the ground visible.

Notably, Sunco lists those lights under their commercial product line and adds they are "for your commercial or industrial business". That light is so bright that it is blinding to persons walking on the side of the street.

We live here. These are our homes. This is not a 7-Eleven parking lot.

The light is wholly inappropriate for its current use and must be removed."

They actually installed the wrong product and tried to make it work in a way that is contrary to the manufacturer's direction, even when it damaged our well-being.

Blinded by the Light(s)!

Yikes! When I went out to walk Molly in the middle of the night I thought an inconsiderate taxi driver was idling with the brights on.

But, it was the two new floodlights that were just installed... for some reason.

The lights are 400-watt equivilent Sunco LED Wall Packs. Sunco lists them under their commercial product line and adds they are "for your commercial or industrial business."

They produce 7,600 Lumens.

To put that into perspective, tactical flashlights use up to 2,000 lumens to ward off attackers by blinding them.

I have no idea why a literally blinding light was installed directly over the mail box stand above a smaller one that was installed at the same time. Yes, they installed two lights directly above each other over the mailbox stand.

7,600 lumens at that range can cause flash blindness and even permanent blindness.

Walking towards the direction of the light makes anything in front not visible.

After walking my dog in the middle of the night, I cannot sleep because the images of the light (known as "afterimages") are still visible with my eyes closed for an hour afterwards.

I emailed Chris on July 14, "I am reporting this hazardous condition to you. I expect that both of those units will be disabled by tonight."

UPDATE (July 18, 2022):

A palate-cleanser from Manfred Mann's Earth Band:
Blinded by the Light.

One down, one to go.

One side of the shed has a suitable and pleasing light and the other side has a blinding light that illuminates the trash dump with intense white light and interferes with our sleep and the use and enjoyment of our property.

The Crow Hill (M&M Services) Trash Dump!

Should I just sell tickets?

How many condo associations allow vendors to build literal trash dumps for years on a common area in front of owners' properties that block parking, cover green areas, and are unsightly?

This is an email I just sent to M&M Services and JPR Management:

"This is a reminder to M&M Services about how to properly conduct your business on our property:

1. Our shed is not for the storage of your tools, supplies, and equipment.

2. Our property is not your trash dump.

3. A job is not completed until you have cleaned up after yourselves.

This is unacceptable [image]."

Someone deposited their fast-food trash into that trash can and animals scattered it all over, which I had to clean up. The same thing happened the next day and someone else cleaned it up.

A Dump Behind the Dump!

An M&M Services employee appeared today at noon to wash out the salt holding boxes and dumped a lethal amount of sodium chloride behind the shed next to a tall tree and the stream.

I wrote to Chris and M&M Services that if that dump was not properly cleaned by Monday that I would contract the services of a hazardous waste clean-up company and bill the costs to the Association and M&M Services.

More views:

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USDA MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET
Product Name: Sodium Chloride – Rock Salt – Halite

SPILL OR LEAK PROCEDURES
Steps to be taken in case material is released: In case of release to the environment, report spills to the National Response Center 1-800-424-8802.

Suggested Local Action: Contain spill. Prevent large quantities from contacting vegetation or domestic and natural water sources. lf material is not contaminated place in appropriate containers for disposal.

UPDATE (July 11): They never replied to my email but it was cleaned up on Monday. Of course they left the buckets behind.

June 25, 2022

Spreading the Bullshit.

In my June 10 email to Chris I asked, "Also, what are the plans for the thirty bags of mulch?"

He never responded.

Those 30 bags were just dumped there without any instruction or notification to anyone about their purpose or availability.

For months they just laid there with only a handful being taken.

At the June 22 annual meeting I asked about them and was told they are for our general use.

So, I and my wife took the remaining 25 bags and spread them in front of our unit and the ones contiguous to ours.

Done! Problem solved.

June 15, 2022

For Sale: 2136 Lawson Creek Road

The unit adjacent to ours was just listed for sale.

The listing agent provided the usual assortment of images to show off the property.

There are many interior views of the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and storage.

There is an exterior view showing off the "front yard" common area that I have maintained by weeding, grooming, and planting. There is also a view of the assigned parking stall.

Notably, there is no view from the interior showing the exterior view — because there is still a garbage dump there!

Update: SOLD for $180,000!

June 13, 2022

Save the date — annual meeting!

In response to Chris' June 9 "Save the date" notification of the June 22, 2022, annual meeting date, I followed up with Chris again with my queries about submitting agenda items and joining the Board:

"Just following up... have the Board answered any of these? Also, please provide the bylaws governing this request."

Previous emails:

Me (April 29): "How can I submit agenda items?"

Chris (April 29): "Your list has been received and I will pass this along to the board for consideration."

Me (June 3): "Please advise on how I can become a member of our board."

Chris (June 3): "I have forwarded your information to the Board."

Me (June 3): "How can I become a member of the Board?"

Chris (June 3): "I have forwarded your information to the Board."

Aaron asked me on June 6, "If you want, I could make sure to nominate you and any others that would like to be on the board."

I replied that I did want that. I haven't heard anything back... so, does that mean that I have been nominated??

June 10, 2022

View from my bedroom this morning

Letter from Chris

Today I received an email from Chris that had a PDF attachment.

The email was titled, "Crow Hill Condos: HOA Attorney Review" with the following message; "Please find a letter attached from the HOA President. Previous and continuing correspondence will be forwarded to the HOA attorney for review."

The letter reads, "The Board of Directors has been provided with all of your recent correspondence by the property manager. Your requests and suggestions are being submitted to the HOA attorney for review. We have instructed the property manager to forward all correspondence from you to the Board and counsel for review.

Please do not anticipate a reply from the manager or board until we receive a reply from the HOA attorney after he has an opportunity to review your correspondence."

Curiously, the unsigned letter did not name the purported "HOA attorney", so I replied back that I wanted to know the attorney's name.

Assuming the letter is factual, my HOA dues are contributing to this service and I have a right to know that the funds are being spent wisely and are not unjustly targeting a particular resident in an unlawful attempt to retaliate and/or stifle free speech.

So, it seems that we are now paying to have my requests to replace doggie bags, light bulbs, and broken signs vetted by an attorney — for some reason.

I suspect the reason is this is an intimidation tactic.

This is what I get for reporting his illegal business activity.

Me (June 3): "Can you explain why JPR Management Services, Inc. has no license to conduct business in the state of Alaska?"

Chris (June 8): [obtains legally-required business license]

Chris (June 9): "Previous and continuing correspondence will be forwarded to the HOA attorney for review."

Me (June 9): [Purses lips, thrusts tongue through, blows.]

June 9, 2022

Signs damaged by vandalism

My email to Chris:

"There are two traffic control signs at the egress in front of 2122 that need repair. One sign has been marked with graffiti and the other is snapped in half."

I haven't received a reply.

June 8, 2022

We're legal!

Yay!

Today, June 8, 2022, JPR Management Services, Inc. finally obtained a legally-required business license after my multiple demands to Chris (Chris Burton wholly owns JPR Management Services, Inc.) and reporting him to the Crow Hill Association Board and the Investigations Section of the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing.

Check for yourself!

So, yeah... that means that until today he had been operating illegally.

And yes, our Board actually hired a property management company that had no legal ability to conduct business in the state of Alaska.

The Board's negligence has placed the Association in considerable legal jeopardy.

June 7, 2022

Ferns, more ferns!!

A neighbor alerted me about a pallet of plants Chris bought (with our funds, of course) and stowed hidden behind the shed and he neglected to alert anyone about their availability to us.

This neighbor was sufficiently concerned about their health (because of the current hot and dry conditions) to be carrying water to them.

I sent an email to the only board member I know (Aaron) about this, but he has not replied or acted on my suggestion to send a mass email to all Crow Hill residents about the hidden palette of plants available for our use.

So... hey everyone! There's a hidden palette of plants available for our use!

June 4, 2022

Shed expansion!

During Aaron's visit, he related that the Board has been considering expanding the shed because of the overflow of all of the tools, equipment, and supplies stored there.

On June 4, I sent an email to Chris asking, "Please arrange a time for me to perform an inspection of the shed."

His only reply was that my emails are now being sent to a purported "HOA attorney".

The purpose of my inspection request is to verify that our vendors are not using our shed for their storage.

My hot take: perhaps if they cleaned up after themselves and stored their own tools and supplies at their own property, then we wouldn't need to expand our shed for their use.

June 3, 2022

Equal access

My email to Chris on June 3:

"Please advise on how I can become a member of our Board."

Aaron's email in response (obviously Chris doesn't like my pointed questions and demands):

"I didn't get a chance to look at my copy of the condo association bylaws this weekend, but we should have an election on some of the board member positions at the annual meeting each year. I think in the past some of the nominations might have happened during the meeting, but I was less intent on those portions of the meetings. If you want, I could make sure to nominate you and any others that would like to be on the board."

So far, I haven't heard anything else about this...

"Hello, I'm Aaron."

A person who I had never previously met, or even seen, came to our door and explained that he just happened to be walking nearby and wanted to chat. Oh, and he's also the vice-president of the Board:

He informed me that he had been provided with emails that I sent to Chris and asked about my concerns.

Obviously Chris sent him.

I told him that to start we need to immediately address the fact that our property management company, JPR Management Services, is operating illegally.

He followed up on June 6 with an email stating that Chris "assured me the business was legit".

He attempted to support Chris' assertion by providing a business license for Jim Preston Realty.

Aaron never explained the relevance of that and I haven't heard from him since.

June 2, 2022

"The State will grant us some leniency."

Me: "Please arrange to have the following items removed. Panels from the destroyed plastic shed that are laying in the creek at the bottom of the slope."

Chris: "These are not emergency items."

Me: "Do you understand that I was simply asking that they clean up the mess that they made and it has now spread to state property?"

Chris: "Yes, I understand. I think the State will grant us some leniency."

Me: "Obviously I know that the state doesn't care — but we do and we live here and we have every right to the full use and enjoyment of our property. Give me the name of the person to call so I can arrange for the clean-up myself.

Chris: [no response]

Me: "I want a statement from you that you are either arranging for the trash to be removed or a refusal to do it."

Chris: [no response]

Me: "That debris has been left by vendors you hired for four months now. Since you have refused to state your intention regarding the debris left by our contractors, I will be suing you personally for the loss of use and enjoyment of my property."

Chris: [no response]

Me: "Please confirm you are employed by JPM Property Management and your address for service is..."

Then, a JPR Management Services truck appeared and properly disposed of the debris after four months of complaints from numerous residents.

June 2, 2022

Mom always said to clean up after yourself

I emailed Chris this message:

"Please arrange to have the following items removed:

1. The concrete parking stop that was replaced earlier this year. It was just set aside and needs to be properly disposed of.

2. Panels from the destroyed plastic shed that are laying in the creek at the bottom of the slope."

He replied with, "We will address these items as time and vendors permit. These are not emergency items."

In other words, a vendor (M&M Services) performed work, then left behind trash, and we have to wait for them to clean up after themselves because trash doesn't constitute an emergency.

Both of those items had been there for about four months and had been reported multiple times by multiple persons.

Meanwhile, M&M Services continues to use our common area green zone as their trash dump and storage area.

More images of the dump:

• Image1
• Image2
• Image3

April 29, 2022

Submitting agenda items

Me: "How can I submit agenda items? I would like to put on the agenda: 1. My images of the maintenance shed. 2. A proposal to record and save our meetings. 3. A review of our M&M relationship.

Chris: "Your list has been received and I will pass this along to the board for consideration."

June 3-

Me: "Have you "passed that along" yet? Has the Board responded yet?"

Chris: "I have forwarded your information to the Board."

...still no reply from Chris or the Board.

April 26, 2022

My First HOA Meeting

After owning and residing here for more than two years (since January 2, 2020), on this day I attended my first Crow Hill Homeowners Association meeting, which was by teleconference.

I patiently waited 15 minutes while the property manager, board president, and vice-president chatted casually while waiting for other board members to join to reach the threshold for a quorum.

I and two other non-board members were also present.

No one else joined, so I asked if meeting decorum allowed for me to comment and offer suggestions that were not on the agenda.

I was told that I could, so I began describing some of my background and concerns when the board president shut me down by talking over me and characterizing my comments by using the sexist slur, "mansplaining".

So, I left the meeting.

I never received a reply to the email nor an apology...