"Whoever did the story -- and I believe we talked to Larry when checking the story -- they told us that in fact that assessment was in place," Green says. "I stand by our story."
According to Green, the paper, which is mailed to Glendale residents and distributed at businesses in the surrounding area, has a circulation of 6,000. The February 28 issue featured prominent ads for Mr. Limos, a limousine company partly owned by Tea Party leader Mike Dunafon (see sidebar, page 29), and for Kudu Rugby, a "rugby development company" founded by Dunafon that lists Pinkowski as its president.
Brett Amole
Hitting you where you live: Sharon Kratze has had a
tough year on the Cedar Pointe homeowners'
association board.
Brett Amole
Home is where the heartache is: Christine Weatherley
wants to keep Glendale politics out of Cedar Pointe.
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Six days after the canceled election, the Cedar Pointe board held its monthly meeting for March. Boardmember Verhey arrived late, Kratze says, with the Tea Party regulars in tow.
"One step behind her, I kid you not, is Chuck Bonniwell, followed by Brian Pinkowski, Chuck Line and Larry Harte," Kratze says. "I asked Heidi to pick up her board packet, and she looked at me and said, 'Let's wait and see what happens.'"
What happened was an angry exchange between the two camps, with various homeowners joining in. The board declined to seat Harte and Line.
"HOMEOWNERS DENIED A VOICE AT CEDAR POINTE CONDOS," shrieked the headline in the March 15 Glendale News."The struggle for democracy of the most local sort continues at the Cedar Pointe condominiums," the un-bylined article began, "where a management company and a rogue board of directors have sought to overturn the will of the homeowners..."
According to Braden, association bylaws require that the annual election be held before the end of April. Harte and Line say that they'll participate in that rescheduled election and that they expect to win.
The fragile state of "democracy of the most local sort" in Glendale troubles Judy DeWit, one of the incumbents running against Line and Harte. She points out that the challengers attended few board meetings before declaring their candidacy and not many since; they departed the March meeting after having their say but before the board could address the regularly scheduled association business.
Board meetings are usually held on Tuesday nights, Line responds, the same night as Glendale City Council meetings. But DeWit wonders how many of the homeowners who gave the challengers their proxies are truly informed about the state of affairs at Cedar Pointe.
"It's a trend in homeowners' associations: People get up and question the management," she says. "But unless they attend the meetings, they're very vulnerable to misinformation. The truth is, things are going very well here."
At the April board meeting, concerns over the election dispute brought out more than a dozen homeowners -- but no Tea Party members. Also absent was Verhey, who was then voted off the board for repeatedly missing meetings. The removal of their lone board supporter means that even if Line and Harte win seats, they won't have the slam-dunk majority they sought to implement their "mandate" for change.
Kratze is preparing for the election by churning out newsletters and special letters urging homeowners to "get informed." Her effort has been criticized by Line and Harte, who say the board is using association funds for campaign purposes; it was also hampered by the March blizzard. Cedar Pointe's plow equipment broke down, leaving the complex buried for days and prompting more grousing about Tyler Management and how the board is "out of touch" with residents.
As the storm ebbed, Kratze found herself struggling alongside half a dozen neighbors, trying to save a tree overloaded with the wet, heavy snow. While the group worked to free its branches, candidate Line walked by, toting paperwork.
"He saw us," Kratze says. "I just wish he'd stopped to help."
