Some Clarification on the Aquarius ‘Meet and Greet’ Candidates event of January 11

I would like to thank all the Aquarius Board Candidates that participated in the event. Also, the level of interest of the owners in person and online was very good. At some point we had more than 50 on-line Zoom participants. The in-person numbers were also impressive despite Covid19.

It is important to mention the support from some owners that when they became aware that the Aquarius Condominium Association had denied access to the use of our ZOOM account, they came forward to purchase a license to be used exclusively for that meeting. They are: Arkady Chase, John Youssef, Leonid Blyumin and Gilbert Mellou. I am sure that if others had known about the denial to use the Zoom software that they would also come up to support.

I am impressed and very thankful with the amount of time Arkady Chase spent fine tuning the system so we could have good sound and a smooth use of ZOOM online. Last Monday January 10th we tested the system many times. All seemed well. Again, a couple of hours before, on Tuesday the 11th. Again, all seemed ship shape. During the meeting the participation of people online was hindered by sound problems. Very unfortunate. I am glad that they could at least listen to the candidates.

Misael Flores and Jibsel Aleman, our Management Office staff members deserve a special thanks. They came to help out of their generosity. They came independently from any superior order. Just out of a desire to be of assistance. No overtime pay. All voluntary work. I sincerely hope there will be no reprisal against these dedicated staff members for their work at the meet and greet night. Thank you Misael and Jibsel!

Some have asked me why the ZOOM session details have not been made public with the necessary advance notice.

We tried to get some support from Aquarius Management. Many in person visits (3 visits to be precise) to the Mgt. Office and phone calls (6 calls) found the Manager not available. Also, an email message received. Not an answer not from the Manager, but from a Board Member. More on this in the next paragraph.  Finally last Friday January 7th, about 7 pm, the support offered would be just for ZOOM audio. No organizing the Cascade Room, no cleaning, just ZOOM. Some staff would give support to set the audio for the ZOOM call. The ZOOM license is owned by the Aquarius Condo Association and for its exclusive use. The justification for the denial of any support was that this was not an official Association meeting. After all, stated the Manager, people play cards in some common areas and receive no support from Management.

It is curious that when the Cascade Room was reserved, in January 3rd., it included a list of support needed that recorded in the form. Also, the Mgt. Office was very zealous in collecting a $250.00 deposit and $150.00 for rent.

A few hours later the use of the Cascade Room was approved, and the checks returned without any explanation. My assumption was that the projector, sound, microphones, WiFi and ZOOM would be provided, as ordered in the rental form, since no observation came in the approval form. To be on the safe side we wanted confirmation and details of logistics. The 6 phone calls and 3 visits to the office encountered a frustrating silence. The Manager was not available. Later on, I received an explanation. I should have specified the reason why I wanted to see the Manager and to set an appointment. All that to get a confirmation that eventually was declined.

One Board Member (name omitted to protect the guilty one) wrote me a couple of offensive messages because I was “ordering” the Manager. I am certain I did not express myself that way in the request form or in the email I sent Wednesday after the frustration with so much silence from someone that is on our payroll and could not make herself available to say “yes” or “no.” All I wanted was to assess the level of support I could get. The answer was given January 7th from a question presented January 3rd: NO. NADA, ZILCH, ZERO but the sound support to be given Monday January 10 from 4 to 5 pm.

Add to this very strange reaction from Management, the information on the candidates was made available online only on December 27 (the candidate’s information was in the office very early in the month of December) and the information that many out of town owners still did not get the voting material as of today (January 13) makes me wonder:  What is going on?

Keep calm and Love Aquarius? Yes but love needs nurturing.

.o0o.

a break from serious business

Isn’t this us and Covid 19?

.o0o.