Restaurant tents on Main Street
In my endeavor to support local businesses, I recently ordered a dinner to pickup from 320 Main. When I arrived, I was pleased to see that the tent on the street in front of the restaurant was full. I was glad that they were doing such great business that night. I was shocked when I went inside the restaurant to pick up my order. They were also 90% full inside. I did not see any customers wearing masks and social distancing was non-existent. About half of the people working there were wearing masks.
Are the tents in front of the restaurants on Main Street to help businesses make it through these difficult times, or are they there to increase a restaurant’s overall business? I hope the City Council will answer this question.
Kelvin Leeds
Surfside
Time for Leisure World residents to demand answers from board
What must Leisure World shareholders do the get the attention of their Board of Directors and Mutual Presidents to listen to their concerns and spend some shareholder money on investigating the issues raised here?
Leisure World shareholders have learned of a recently discovered 1967 Newsletter published in Laguna Woods. This newsletter reported on an annual savings of $372,000 by eliminating costly redundancies in maintaining multiple Mutual corporations instead of one. That $372,000 saved in 1967 would be almost $3 million in today’s dollars. The leaders in Leisure World, the Golden Rain Foundation Board of Directors and the 16 Mutual Presidents must ask: is it worth $2-3 million annually to maintain 17 Homeowners Associations in Leisure World? Apparently no one has previously questioned the cost in millions to maintain 17 homeowners associations. It’s time to start asking those questions and demanding answers.
Leisure World is managed by 18 volunteer board members, not the management staff who are paid to do the managing. These volunteers do not consult with experts in the industry. It’s no surprise that this has resulted, among other things, in not having a swimming pool for 15 months and counting. Now with this new information we learn that there may be substantial cost savings if the mutual corporations were merged.
Gourmet kitchens and Learning Centers are nice amenities, but a swimming pool is essential for seniors’ health. It’s unacceptable that there has been no swimming pool for more than a year. It’s unacceptable to be spending $2-3 million a year for redundancies.
Shareholders must demand the serious attention to these issues that only an experienced consultant can provide. Shareholders need leaders of their community who can get a swimming pool built in less than 15 months and who can identify and eliminate unnecessary redundancies.
The GRF Board of Directors can do this if they have the courage to admit that they need expert assistance and then go out and get it.
Anne Walshe
Governance and Aqua Blues Committee
Leisure World
