Death Threat & G. B. Shaw

For a while, as a writer and administrator of this blog, I was not sure if I should maintain silence to pacify the anger of a deranged person living in the same condominium complex, determined to pursue his/her twisted plan to force me out of the complex, dead or alive.

The uncertainty is over. Obviously the death threat he/she made did not work, and The Toronto Police Service is unable to make a significant progress simply because decision makers in the condominium complex refused to extend a helping hand to the investigation.

Freedom of expression will not remain silent to appease the warped views of a deranged person, and it is very appropriate to remind ourselves that “Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated… [by ideas he/she cannot understand].”  I will persevere with my writings knowing well that it carries the risk of being assassinated by a deranged lunatic who lives in a fish bowl where only the narrow minded views of his tribe shape his/her narrative of how the civilized world functions.

I am well aware about the price tag attached to my determination to defend freedom of speech and freedom of expression, and I will ceaselessly undermine censorship by "Death Threat", by highlighting what George Bernard Shaw said several decades ago: "Assassination is the extreme form of censorship."

 “The 215 Forum” © 2017  

Bicycles More Important Than Human Life

Letter reproduced below was emailed to the supervisor of our Senior Property Manager to highlight the double standards used in the process of dealing with bicycles theft in the complex and addressing the death threat the administrator of this blog was exposed to a few weeks ago. You shape your own conclusions.

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Dear Madam,

On Friday June 16/17 I discovered in the underground parking lot of our condominium (P2 section C69) a death threat “MOVE OR DIE” with a bullet attached to it left on my car’s windshield. I notified the Police immediately and an investigation was launched by PC …. (Badge#.....) File# ………8. 

Officer C….. went with me to the underground parking lot, made an assessment of the entrances and exits connected to Section C, spoke with her superior and a decision was made to send the note and the bullet attached for forensic analysis. She went also to "The Gatehouse" of the complex to review any surveillance tape that may lead to a suspect.

It is hard to accept at face value the argument that the “Gatehouse Team” failed to notify The RSO about the police presence in the complex, or refrained totally from reporting the death threat incident to the Senior Property Manager.

In the past, especially with the all the complications we had with the garbage compactor, and despite seeking at the rate of 2 to 3 times a week the intervention of The Gatehouse to shut off the compactor due to a faulty sensor that was switching the machine to a non-stop continuous operational mode for hours, it took The RSO about 12 months to act and seek a solution from the manufacturer of the compactor. The RSO argued that none of the incidents were reported by The Gatehouse. The Gatehouse insisted that every incident was reported, and no one in a position of power bothered to read the reports, or if and when they read it (on rare occasions), a deliberate decision was made to dismiss it as a very trivial complaint that does not deserve any form of intervention.

This same frame of mind, forced senior decision makers of The RSO to refrain from placing notices on “Notice Boards” located near elevators or the mail room, to solicit the help of unit owners who park their cars in P2 C section, who may have seen strangers engaging in questionable activities relevant to the death threat incident. Many unit owners have “Dash Cams” in their cars and a notice could have prompted them to review the stored video clips and report to The Gatehouse or The Police their findings. Unfortunately, the incident was deemed trivial by The RSO and no notices were placed on boards or distributed door-to-door.

But when bicycles were stolen or vandalized, a notice dated July 07, 2017 and titled “Bicycle Theft in Parking Garage”, was distributed door-to-door and posted on several boards to reassure the residents that The RSO and the staff under its supervision, “…are actively investigating these incidents thoroughly reviewing the buildings’ video surveillance footage…Building staff are also on heightened alert.”

It seems that The Senior Property Manager under your supervision did not deem protecting the life of a unit owner worthy of any form of intervention. For her, stolen bicycles are more worthy of her staff’s attention than the life of an owner who, as recently as February 2017 accused her of organizing the most unethical but legal elections during The AGM of 2017.

I am convinced that the moral compass of a person who values bicycles more than a human life is beyond salvation, and you as her supervisor you should consider reassigning her to a location where the majority of unit owners have a strong dose of contempt for human life and value more their earthly material possessions.

Admin “The 215 Forum” © 2017  

Freedom of Expression Under Assault

On February 24, 2017 the administrator of this blog published an article titled “Reflections On Change”. http://ownersalliance.blogspot.ca/2017/02/reflections-on-change.html

In the article the anonymous letter of an angry resident of the complex, infuriated by the ideas published in this blog, was reproduced ad verbatim:

You must be blind, stupid, and ignorant. After 4 elections you failed to see that those who cast the vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything. We don’t want your rotten ideas and visions in this building. Leave us alone. Move Go and live somewhere else. Angry neighbor.

 

On June 16, 2017 the administrator of this blog discovered a death threat, placed on the windshield of his car with the following message: “MOVE OR DIE”. To make his message more intimidating the “unsub” attached a bullet to his message. The Police was immediately notified and a criminal investigation was launched.

Though a Blog is not a formal newspaper, the administrator considers himself a journalist-an individual who collects, analyzes, and disseminates electronically information affecting the public interest in a condominium complex where more than 570 residential units exist and approximately $6.000.000 are collected annually to cover the basic expenses that must be addressed in such a complex. In other words the administrator belongs to a group of bloggers who use the internet to exercise a part-time profession known as “Public Interest Journalism”.

Most journalists covering issues of public concern strongly believe that in Canada, section 2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication”.

This new breed of independent journalists firmly believe that in an age where big corporations are more and more obsessed with generating profit rather than serving the collective good, “Public Interest Journalism” plays an undisputed vital role in a democracy where the informed consent of every individual is critical for a healthy relationship between ruler and ruled at the four levels of government known in this country: Federal, Provincial, Municipal, and The Board of Directors of a condominium.

Often on this blog we publish a very unflattering information about the wasteful use of revenues, about self-styled experts who do not submit written reports about their recommendations, about a long list of issues that prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that what masquerades as an investment in the collective good is nothing but a trivial project designed to make a rich contractor richer.

This Blog does not advertise any goods or services simply to remain free from any political or financial pressure that an advertiser might be able to impose for the purpose of “censoring” freedom of expression.

This Blog will always defy the methods used by anonymous thugs, especially “Death Threats” designed to censor or silence freedom of expression. This blog will always insure that “Public Interest Journalism” will always remain an integral part of the very fabric of our DEMOCRACY. And to all those who believe in the blind servitude of those who are in power, I will simply remind them of the following famous statement of US General George S. Patton: “The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty.” 

As an administrator of a Blog I am not going to allow a thug to interfere with my sense of duty. The only time I will close this Blog is when The Board of Directors can produce a petition, signed by 51% of unit owners in the complex, indicating clearly that for X number of reasons they want the blog to disappear . And to all those who are willing to sign such a petition to appease the obsessive hatred of my writings by a criminal, reflect very carefully on the following dire warning made by British novelist Aldous Huxley:

“There will be in the next generation or so a method of making people love their servitude and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them but will rather enjoy it.”

A final word to the bully/thug who left the death threat on my windshield. Whoever you are, had you made an effort to read the article titled “How Politicians Betrayed Democracy”

http://ownersalliance.blogspot.ca/2016/04/how-politicians-betrayed-democracy.html

prior to devising your scheme to victimize me, you would have noticed that your chances of succeeding in silencing me with intimidating tactics is next to nil. The Board of Directors tried long time ago to suppress freedom of expression but the defiance thrived.

Admin “The 215 Forum” © 2017  

Joint Sovereignty or Private Club

Author, columnist, and condominium manager Marilyn Lincoln pointed out in one of her articles published a few years ago that “The word “condominium” actually means “joint sovereignty or ownership;” another interpretation means “together for a common benefit.” If there is to be joint ownership and sharing, there will also need to be a sense of a caring community, pride of ownership and a respect for fellow owners… Pride and commitment cannot be built and maintained if the community is constantly in a “we vs. them” scenario.”

 http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/12/08/condo-culture-communication-and-respect-should-be-a-two-way-corridor/

The “we vs. them” mentality is deeply rooted in a “Top Down” governing approach based on the principle of we, The Members of The Board of Directors, issue instructions and you, unit owners, follow obediently all the instructions. You do not challenge our authority since we rely on experts, such as The Senior Property Manager and an army of consultants who are so certain about the validity of their authoritative opinions that they do not submit written recommendations. All our experts are expected to be treated by unit owners as infallibles belonging to the category of “Semi Gods”.

Based on the authoritative opinion of our experts, we, The Board of Directors, believe that if we do not impose a 100% increase in maintenance fees we will have to slap unit owners with a “Special Assessment” that may reach a couple of thousands of Dollars. No owner should tell us why a “Special Assessment” is needed when you have approximately $1.4 million Dollars in the reserve fund of the corporation.

We, The members of The CMC, based on the authoritative opinion of a retired police officer, who became a self-declared “Safety & Traffic Expert” decided to adopt speed bumps as the most efficient measure to force cars into a full stop by the time they reach stop signs in the complex. When an owner threatened to sue us because the “Safety & Traffic Expert” failed to realize that bumps can damage the lower backs of people struggling with bone density related medical problems, we decided to spend thousands of dollars to convert speed bumps to speed humps because they have a safer impact on the human body. When we, The Members of The CMC realized that speed humps are destroying the asphalt and they have to be removed winter time to allow snow ploughs to clear the snow, we decided to invest more money on a project called “Permanent Speed Humps”. The implementation of the project is scheduled tentatively for June 14, 2017.

We, The Members of The CMC, take very seriously the safety of our community and we will spend thousands of Dollars to address the concerns of pedestrians/unit owners complaining that drivers are not making a full stop at stop signs. But when unit owners complain that too many illegal activities are taking place in The Gazebo area near the tennis court, from alcohol consumption, to smoking, to urinating on trees, to … we will not install a camera to monitor the area, even if experts tell us that it can act as a serious deterrent of illegal activities, simply because we the self-styled expert members of The CMC, believe that a camera monitoring the Gazebo area will undermine the sense of “Community” in the complex. It does not matter that we have more than 40 cameras monitoring common areas, but that one extra camera should not be installed. Owners in the complex may wonder why The CMC is so indifferent about illegal activities in The Gazebo area, “Why do they do this? Because they can!” “Why do they all get away with this? Because they can!” 

http://ontario.cafcor.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=1

Do The Gurus of The CMC have a legal obligation to eliminate illegal activities in the Gazebo Area. Absolutely based on the following sections of The Condominium Act:

Use of common elements by owners

116. An owner may make reasonable use of the common elements subject to this Act, the declaration, the by-laws and the rules. 1998, c. 19, s. 116.

Dangerous activities

117. No person shall permit a condition to exist or carry on an activity in a unit or in the common elements if the condition or the activity is likely to damage the property or cause injury to an individual. 1998, c. 19, s. 117.

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/98c19/v10#BK142

The Gazebo area is not licensed for alcohol consumption, hookah smoking, and is not designated as a public washroom so all the previously mentioned activities, and a whole range of other illegal activities that we cannot list, do not constitute a reasonable use of the common elements. Why after years of uphill battle we do not have a camera? Because they don’t owe unit owners an explanation. They are the “Semi Gods” in charge of running the complex.

The Semi Gods expect us to engage in an act of idolatry by prostrating and bowing our heads in a state of awe before, Boards of Directors, Property managers, and lawyers who decide which unit owner should be destroyed financially or which unit owner should be spared the execution. This attitude of elevating something human (expertise) into the status of an infallible sacred object, is the new form of “Idolatry” the Captains of The Condominium industry want to impose on condo owners throughout the province.

This new form of idolatry expects unit owners to buy at face value the argument that Board Members and Property Managers are the “sole arbiters of their own vested interests”. Consistently, and multiple times in the past, unit owners were fed the argument that The Board does not have a legal obligation to follow the spirit of the law and the ethical values implicit in the law. Minimum compliance with the letter of the law, especially during AGM elections, is more than adequate for The Board and The Property Manager organizing the election on behalf of The Board. That is why also, during election speeches, Board supported members talk about personal academic credentials only. No one mentions anything if the academic degree will be mobilized for the ultimate vision of “serving the common good”. No one wants to listen to the opposition’s argument that academic degrees and employment credentials, if not employed for a higher purpose/cause will lead to an arrogance and a vanity that will force you to recreate God in your own image rather than acknowledging that we humans are made in the image of God, and our ultimate purpose in life should be to pursue the common good in a just and equitable fashion.

But then again let us accept the fact that decision makers made it very clear to us that Board elections are not “Public Office” elections, and no one should assign any significance to moral values. Years ago, captains of the condo industry advised condo owners that Board of Directors in condominiums are not The Fourth Level of Government in Canada, and Condominiums are regulated like “Private Clubs”.

 “Buying a condo unit is also like joining an investment club. You invest $100,000 to $1 million, or more, in "an investment pool" and elect five directors, who have anywhere from great to next to no management and financial skills, to look after your investment. If they manage the condo corporation well, your investment grows in value. If they manage poorly, you lose money. Like all other investments, there is a best time to buy and a best time to sell.” http://condomadness.info/intro-club.html

So instead of seeking a higher degree of compliance with ethical values and principles, it may well be the ideal time for condo owners to surrender and accept the fact, that we all joined a private club, and hopefully Divine Grace, prayer, and positive mental attitude will safeguard our investments from the corruptive influence of money and power, and by the time we are shipped to an “Old Age” residential unit we still have our initial investment in our bank account.

Admin “The 215 Forum” © 2017