Seeds from China

 “At least 160 Floridians have received mysterious seeds from China in the mail,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Emily Mahoney: “The Florida Department of Agriculture is asking Floridians to report what it’s calling ‘suspicious’ packages of seeds that appear to be coming from China. The packages arrived by mail, unsolicited by the recipients. ‘The seed packets, which may arrive unexpectedly in packages bearing Chinese characters, may bear the name China Post and may be labeled as jewelry,’ the department said in a news release Monday. It noted that similar packages have been reported in other states, including Virginia, Kansas, Washington, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Utah.”

Is Citizens still our insurer?

 

From Propublica:

BAY COUNTY CONNECTIONS — “Citizens Property Insurance chairman got millions in no-bid coronavirus contracts,” by Florida Bulldog’s Daniel Ducassi: “The chairman of the board of governors of Citizens Property Insurance, the state-owned insurer of last resort, obtained millions of dollars in no-bid Florida coronavirus contracts — paperwork the governor’s office has refused to show the public in defiance of state law. Citizens chairman Adrien ‘Bo’ Rivard III runs Panama City-based Consolidated Disaster Services (CDS), a company that has secured at least seven agreements with the state since March worth more than $10 million to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical equipment to support the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.”

I am worried recession or depression

Just my opinion…. but during these frightening times where there does not seem to be any bright light at the end of the tunnel, I do not think it is a good time for us to spend over 1 million dollars on painting and renovation. I think we are  going to have trouble to collect existing condo fees and assessment fees and we are thinking of adding additional money to be owed. I know it is a great time to borrow money but we have to pay that money back. why not try to get govt money PPP that we might not have to pay back. Since we have a law firm that we pay that has collected this money maybe they can walk us through the process…..

Also to add to condo owners financial burdens….Florida taxes will be going up this year

It has been a long time….alert about Becker Poliakoff

I, Vicki Ross, owner of #902 have not blogged for a very long time.

I felt this work was not appreciated or used as it was meant to be.

but I have felt for a very long time that us condo owners have no say in our building.

I have many times emailed our board and never received an answer.

During our board meetings the time appropriated to the owners is limited and does not receive any further discussion. We are never asked what we would like to talk about in these meetings before they happen.

I am no longer there but back in New York but felt pretty protected against the virus. I was sure we might have a case or two but we did not thank goodness. There were a lot of people not wearing masks then, especially our younger owners/tenants, and no one made them put them on. I wonder now when Florida has such high numbers and that younger people are not immune whether they are still not wearing masks.

During the last meeting Lucia asked to increase the numbers of people that could visit at one time and fortunately it was voted down. She also wanted to warn the building about people coming from NY that they might infect the building. I hope 5 weeks later she has changed her mind.I did look to her for her govt experience as giving something valuable to our board.

Lastly, i read that Becker Poliakoff received the stimulus PPP of $5 to $10 million range. Did they ever contact their clients such as us who really were desperate for money and walk us through the process to apply. Did our accountants guide us? Did anyone on the board have any business knowledge to pursue this avenue? I have always thought we need business people on our board. I did run but did not get on. In order to be on our board in the future you must bring a skill with you. We have too many members that have no skill to help us in this complicated world.