December 2005

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  This is the beginning of the wonderful holiday season, a time to enjoy being with family and friends and, of course, eat way too much food!  As you are wrapping gifts for your loved ones, think about giving something to someone you don’t know.  I know most of us have already given more than usual because of all the natural disasters this year, but try to come up with a little more to support the many charities that count on our help during the holiday season.
 
With only six people running for seven positions, we all thought the HSIA board elections would be a non-event.  As it turned out, we actually had an interesting contest.  Four people were nominated from the floor.  Also, at the last minute, Tom Schwallenberg withdrew his name.  The winners of the election were as follows:
 
Laura Bertran - 55 votes
            Bill Anderson - 54 votes
            Natalie Lobe - 50 votes
            Kate Penn - 50 votes
            Christina Friday - 36 votes
            Alan Weiss - 27 votes
            Kevin Holmboe - 22 votes
 
Also running were:
 
            Perry Geib - 21 votes
            Ann Eisele - 19 votes

The new board takes office on January 1.  It’s great to see new people on the board.  They bring new ideas and new energy to our community. 
 
As I reported last month, our private security company withdrew it’s services.  We have been continuing security patrols with our off-duty police officers.  Pat Argentiere has been contacting other companies and has sent several quotes to the board.  I want to thank Pat for all the work he has done in the last few years to make our community a safer place to live.  Pat will be leaving the board at the end of the year.  I have appointed new board member Kevin Holmboe to take over the Security Committee at that time.
 
I have also appointed Tom Anton to take over as Co-Chairperson of the Piers & Harbors Committee, effective immediately.  I want to thank Ken Sweet for his willingness to serve in this difficult position and for his efforts to improve the marina.  Ken found that his personal and business life didn’t leave enough time to handle the constant demands of running the marina.  Having served in this position last year, Tom Anton knows what it’s like.  I want to thank him for being willing to take this on again.  The job won’t be quite as hard as before, since Laura Bertran will continue as Co-Chairperson.  Laura will handle slip assignments, the waiting list, and compliance with the documentation and insurance requirements. 
 
We have begun the process of data entering the over 500 community surveys that were not done online.  Once this process is completed we will begin to analyze the data.  The results should be published in a few months.  I want to thank Bruce Walker and the 60+ volunteers who made this effort so successful.
 
I want to again remind everyone that the Community Bulletin Board is for HSIA announcements and resident’s personal messages.   Commercial or business related messages are not permitted.  This includes home businesses.  Please do not put such announcements on the community bulletin board.  Also inappropriate are announcements of events not related to our community and religious or political messages.  Any inappropriate messages or announcements will be removed immediately.
 
A few weeks ago a resident emailed me to let me know that he had been bitten by a dog as he rode his bike on one of our neighborhood streets.  He said he was going to try and contact the owner, but just wanted to let me know.  I told him to contact the authorities.  He wasn’t seriously hurt, but it could have been a very different story if it had been a young child that was attacked.  The response from the County was fast and comprehensive.  The Animal Control Officer identified the dog, the owner and location. She placed the dog under quarantine for two weeks pending an official health certification.  Depending on whether there is a record of prior problems with the dog, the owner will probably just get an official warning.  Other measures will likely be taken if there are problems with either the dog or the owner.  I want to thank the resident for being willing to take the time to report this to the County.  His and the County’s actions will  protect all of us.  If you would like more information about the County animal control law and how to report a problem, see the information published in this Sea Breeze.
 
Well, that wraps it up for this year.  Enjoy the last few days of warm weather.  With the way things have been this year who knows what interesting weather will come our way this winter.   Have a wonderful, safe holiday. 

Bill Shuman
President, HSIA

The President’s Comments are just that, the comments of the president of HSIA.  The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the HSIA Board of Directors or any individual board members.