Apparently the Truth Fairy decided to visit our house over the weekend. I opened the door and there inside the screen was a large envelope which contained some eight pages of brand spanking new documentation on the PCM incentive plan. You remember, this was the reward, not approved by any board or know by any but at most a tiny number of directors which awarded large chunks of our money to PCM executive staff. You might ask why were they rewarded and the response from PCM is that these stellar leaders saved us money and, in return, received rewards amounting to 30% of the sums saved.
The section I really, really enjoyed was the description of positions eliminated or left open which apparently reduced the service levels in all divisions and resulted in a savings of over $2.6 million dollars from 2000 to 2007. As I recall, from my industrial career, positions that were left open which did not result in a decrease in service level were eliminated. At an average savings of over $300,000 a year, just how many people were not needed by PCM? Why weren’t their positions eliminated? Were they kept on the books so that these savings would just keep on earning incentives year after year?
In another area, receiving 501(c)4 determination earned incentive payments in or from 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004. Just how many trips to the well can one action take? From whence did the brilliant idea to file for 501(c)4 originate? Not from PCM staff, according to other documents—from the Village accountants, KPMG. And what happened to the savings, some $1.4 million? Well 30% of those funds were awarded to PCM executive staff with a large chunk of it going to Janet Price. What is 30% of $1.4 million you ask? $420,000 that PCM acknowledges awarding over those years. Janet herself apparently received some $250,000 in bonus money for just one year. Some might argue that filling out an application for 501(c)4 status as suggested by our accountant should be considered doing your job. Some of us remember a certain pride in doing your job well and being rewarded by (first) keeping your job, followed by earning relatively small increases on an annual basis. I guess we worked for the wrong companies, didn’t we?
But how much in the form of hidden funds did make their way from our pockets into the bank accounts of preferred PCM executives? Apparently the number was $3,195,484 between 2000 and 2007. And please remember that this money went to PCM executive staff, not the rank and file who mow your lawns and fix your leaky plumbing. And who awarded this money to PCM executives? Why that would be Milt Johns, without input or approval, from any director. He awarded this money to his executive staff.
As they say in television, stay tuned for coming attractions. We have not even begun to scratch the surface of this myriad of cost saving ideas. In the mean time, please think back to your working days and remember what sorts of actions you could have taken to save your company money. ABSOLUTELY every item on this document is work and savings that SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE IN THE ORDINARY DAY TO DAY PERFORMANCE OF STAFF DUTIES.
Just how many “open positions” add up to $300,000? Who is getting paid at this level?
This document is the information given to James Matson, President of GRF, at his request for information about the Incentive Plan. It is a complete joke. Is this the information that finally led GRF to the tipping point and made them ask for Milt’s resignation? How long behind Milt are the remainder of the “executives”.
This information in its complete form is now in the hands of the IRS. I will disperse more detailed information from this document a little at a time in order that you can read and absorb the absurdity of it. This is a document the United Board does not want you to see and they violated confidentiality in order to sabotage the removal of the parties responsible; PCM and the Executive Staff at LWV.
How do I know this information is authentic? By the CONFIDENTIAL stamp at the bottom of every page. I wonder who voted to put this on every interested person’s doorstep. If you don’t have a copy and would like to have a copy, just let me know your e-mail address and I’ll be happy to send you the PDF file. No, Dave Blodgett and Ray Gros this is NOT on the LWV website.
Just a taste of the “justification” as written by Janet Price: “Positions eliminated, positions left open for some period of time, additional unbudgeted work absorbed, reduced by ANY ATTENDANT DECREASE IN SERVICE LEVELS……” emphasis is my own. This statement appears on every single page of the document and covers all the years “justified.”
MILT JOHNS AND ALL OF PCM MUST GO. NOW.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
What Lurks Beneath?
Goings On LWV February 7, 2010
What lurks beneath?
Milt Johns was asked to resign as General Manager of Laguna Woods Village. Since he learned of the request coming he has made tracks to imitate Chicken Little in his most frantic attempts to scare the members into thinking the whole place will crumble without him. He had conducted a hyperactive PR campaign by attending numerous coffee klatches and propaganda meetings to get the word out about what a hale fellow he is. The question each and every resident here in Laguna Woods Village should ask on Tuesday at the United Board meeting is this: WHY? What Lurks Beneath?
What has been discovered above and beyond the incentive plan and the general misbehavior of the past on the part of PCM? What frightens the United Board members so badly that the majority are willing to violate confidentiality? What is the big secret? What lurks beneath?
WHO is indispensable? What makes a person indispensable? History has told us that the only indispensable people are those who build an organization based on the cult of personality. When the leader makes ALL decisions the next echelon has no power and no understanding or fears to make a decision lest it be contrary to the wishes of the leader. Is this the case? Can you think of a time in history when you saw this happen? This is the situation in Laguna Woods Village.
How many residents who work for PCM in relatively menial positions are afraid? Afraid to express their opinions, afraid to ask questions, afraid to take any action. Aren’t these indications of cult behavior?
This is why it is vital to get rid of Milt and PCM entirely. Why is that important? They would have you believe we will crumble without them. WE WILL NOT CRUMBLE WITHOUT THEM. WE WOULD THRIVE. Any organization that cannot, will not, or refuses to change is already dying. We need fresh blood, fresh perspectives, fresh solutions and above all someone at the top who admits that the FIRST priority is the residents not the for-profit organization that pays their salary. If our management is unable to work under a new manager they do not deserve to be working at all. Let them find other jobs in other places.
What do the PCM promoters on United know? Are they afraid they will also be prosecuted for any crimes they have been aware of and have allowed? Are they so afraid of PCM and threats of lawsuits that they will defend Johns/PCM even to the point of a cover up that only begins with the mass dissemination of confidential information? Why is United still preventing the community from having full information? What minority United Board members are presently being treated as pariah and prevented from participating for fear of legal reprisal when whatever the truth is when it comes out? Ask yourself: What lurks beneath?
Why is PCM pretending the community will crumble? Is it because they CANNOT AFFORD to lose our business and let a full accounting and investigation of their behavior and management go forth? If only Johns is removed his underlings left behind working under Disbro, Disbro and Olsen will make it APPEAR the structure is dissolving and then in panic Johns would be reinstated. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Even an entire boro bridge can be made to disappear. That would be PCM’s ideal situation. They would then be back only stronger than ever.
Is United going to continue to turn a deaf ear and ostracize the minority on that board as they have in the past but for no cause and without due process? Perhaps the United Board members should consult individual lawyers to determine their personal liability. What lurks beneath?
ALL RESIDENTS/MEMBERS should go to the United board meeting on TUESDAY and express their demand that the United Board work FOR the membership NOT FOR PCM.
Keeping PCM is wrong. It is morally wrong. It is wrong to make that kind of business decision when the message is so obvious that PCM is doing more harm than good for this community. Forty years and there hasn’t even been a new bid for services. Despite what PCM would have you believe there are management companies and non-profit managers who are able, qualified and willing to take on the job; challenges and all. What lurks beneath?
Laguna Woods Village/Leisure World belongs to US. IT DOES NOT BELONG TO PCM. If you want to simply sell your home for a kiss and a bouquet of flowers to fawning admirers of Milt Johns then go ahead. Otherwise STAND UP and ask the question: WHAT LURKS BENEATH?
What lurks beneath?
Milt Johns was asked to resign as General Manager of Laguna Woods Village. Since he learned of the request coming he has made tracks to imitate Chicken Little in his most frantic attempts to scare the members into thinking the whole place will crumble without him. He had conducted a hyperactive PR campaign by attending numerous coffee klatches and propaganda meetings to get the word out about what a hale fellow he is. The question each and every resident here in Laguna Woods Village should ask on Tuesday at the United Board meeting is this: WHY? What Lurks Beneath?
What has been discovered above and beyond the incentive plan and the general misbehavior of the past on the part of PCM? What frightens the United Board members so badly that the majority are willing to violate confidentiality? What is the big secret? What lurks beneath?
WHO is indispensable? What makes a person indispensable? History has told us that the only indispensable people are those who build an organization based on the cult of personality. When the leader makes ALL decisions the next echelon has no power and no understanding or fears to make a decision lest it be contrary to the wishes of the leader. Is this the case? Can you think of a time in history when you saw this happen? This is the situation in Laguna Woods Village.
How many residents who work for PCM in relatively menial positions are afraid? Afraid to express their opinions, afraid to ask questions, afraid to take any action. Aren’t these indications of cult behavior?
This is why it is vital to get rid of Milt and PCM entirely. Why is that important? They would have you believe we will crumble without them. WE WILL NOT CRUMBLE WITHOUT THEM. WE WOULD THRIVE. Any organization that cannot, will not, or refuses to change is already dying. We need fresh blood, fresh perspectives, fresh solutions and above all someone at the top who admits that the FIRST priority is the residents not the for-profit organization that pays their salary. If our management is unable to work under a new manager they do not deserve to be working at all. Let them find other jobs in other places.
What do the PCM promoters on United know? Are they afraid they will also be prosecuted for any crimes they have been aware of and have allowed? Are they so afraid of PCM and threats of lawsuits that they will defend Johns/PCM even to the point of a cover up that only begins with the mass dissemination of confidential information? Why is United still preventing the community from having full information? What minority United Board members are presently being treated as pariah and prevented from participating for fear of legal reprisal when whatever the truth is when it comes out? Ask yourself: What lurks beneath?
Why is PCM pretending the community will crumble? Is it because they CANNOT AFFORD to lose our business and let a full accounting and investigation of their behavior and management go forth? If only Johns is removed his underlings left behind working under Disbro, Disbro and Olsen will make it APPEAR the structure is dissolving and then in panic Johns would be reinstated. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Even an entire boro bridge can be made to disappear. That would be PCM’s ideal situation. They would then be back only stronger than ever.
Is United going to continue to turn a deaf ear and ostracize the minority on that board as they have in the past but for no cause and without due process? Perhaps the United Board members should consult individual lawyers to determine their personal liability. What lurks beneath?
ALL RESIDENTS/MEMBERS should go to the United board meeting on TUESDAY and express their demand that the United Board work FOR the membership NOT FOR PCM.
Keeping PCM is wrong. It is morally wrong. It is wrong to make that kind of business decision when the message is so obvious that PCM is doing more harm than good for this community. Forty years and there hasn’t even been a new bid for services. Despite what PCM would have you believe there are management companies and non-profit managers who are able, qualified and willing to take on the job; challenges and all. What lurks beneath?
Laguna Woods Village/Leisure World belongs to US. IT DOES NOT BELONG TO PCM. If you want to simply sell your home for a kiss and a bouquet of flowers to fawning admirers of Milt Johns then go ahead. Otherwise STAND UP and ask the question: WHAT LURKS BENEATH?
Monday, February 1, 2010
Water water everywhere
Goings On LWV February 2010
Sunday I took a little walk down to a couple water deluged sights. One stop was CDS 8 where the water had been supplied to the manors via garden hoses. PCM got in there and scurried around fast to get things cleared up according to residents in that CDS. But it isn’t all completely clean.
Claire Webb’s article says “it is PCM’s policy to use hoses – potable water grade hoses- designed specifically for carrying water that residents might use for cooking or drinking.” I suspect that line came directly out of the mouth of some PR person in the PCM offices after the fact. The reality is that garden hoses were used not the hoses specifically designated. PCM’s policy is baloney. It’s a matter of public health and if PCM decides not to comply with good practice then they will be looking elsewhere for people to mismanage. OF COURSE it’s PCM’s “POLICY” to use potable water hosing. But the reality is far different.
I took several photos yesterday. One is of a hose that is white with a blue stripe indicating that it is for use with potable water. The problem is….this hose is attached to a soil and cement encrusted hand sprinkler. The other end was open and lying loose in the soil of the garden. Right next to the hose in the same garden was a large blue construction wheel barrow with a bucket in it and one lying nearby. The wheelbarrow had the same cement substance in it that the hose nozzle had on it. PCM is using potable water hosing for garden use. Now the questions raises its head…..when PCM complies with their own policy of using hoses for potable water are they even using clean hosing or are they just using all hosing as garden hosing and then re-using it for potable water when needed? Seems that way from the photo. That’s kind of like reusing a catheter without sterilizing it. Let’s see….Milt Johns is in his early 50s so he probably still has a little immunity. I wonder how he’ll feel when he’s in his mid 80s and doesn’t have the same kind of immune power. Potable water hosing should be destroyed after use in a situation such as we experienced in CDS 8… NOT converted to use for the garden.
Some smartie pants using the screen name cincity talks about George Lopez saying they all drink from hoses. Hey, I did too when I was a little kid, right after my horse. I’m not 12 anymore either. We once paid our cousin to lick the sole of her shoe for a quarter and she did. Does that make it something that SHOULD be done? No, it was a stupid kid trick.
My next question is WHERE WAS THE CRACK DISASTER RELIEF CREW? They all showed up at CH5 for the victims of the fire on Bahia Blanca. I guess they need a nice tidy, dry, warm club house in order to function. Oh, and I forgot, one certain United director who is a big wig on that committee is better at leaving a scene than actually attending to a problem immediately. The disaster preparedness committee had JUST COMPLETED a major disaster drill. Guess they were all tired. DO NOT DEPEND ON THIS GROUP TO HELP YOU IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. PERIOD. It is just another way for PCM to keep residents busy while they carry on as usual awarding themselves monster sized bonuses from our pockets.
One resident who is an avid RV (recreational vehicle) traveler had this to say, “We have quite a number of RV dealers from whom we could have purchased water grade "white" hoses, as most RV'ers are aware of. In addition, an emergency notice on our TV network could have obtained dozens of hoses from our RV's in the storage area at no cost to the mutual. RV'ers are used to helping each other out and the donation of a water grade hose by a small percentage of RV's stored in our lots would be done in a couple of hours." GRF and PCM would rather harass those people by inspecting the interior of their vehicles and requiring an annual inspection.
Where was Milt when this was all going on? At home in Santa Barbara as his facebook page says is his home? Where was Jerry Storage? Where was Gene Hart? Where were any of the PCM executive level people? WHERE WERE ANY SUPERVISORS CAPABLE OF MAKING AN APPROPRIATE EMERGENCY DECISION? Why did our neighbors have to endure a week of this. Now their water heaters are also filled with this potentially contaminated water. How are they going to be cleaned?
The United Board is dead silent except for one man. Congratulations again to the United Board. Maybe you ought to take another look at your ethics statement.
Sunday I took a little walk down to a couple water deluged sights. One stop was CDS 8 where the water had been supplied to the manors via garden hoses. PCM got in there and scurried around fast to get things cleared up according to residents in that CDS. But it isn’t all completely clean.
Claire Webb’s article says “it is PCM’s policy to use hoses – potable water grade hoses- designed specifically for carrying water that residents might use for cooking or drinking.” I suspect that line came directly out of the mouth of some PR person in the PCM offices after the fact. The reality is that garden hoses were used not the hoses specifically designated. PCM’s policy is baloney. It’s a matter of public health and if PCM decides not to comply with good practice then they will be looking elsewhere for people to mismanage. OF COURSE it’s PCM’s “POLICY” to use potable water hosing. But the reality is far different.
I took several photos yesterday. One is of a hose that is white with a blue stripe indicating that it is for use with potable water. The problem is….this hose is attached to a soil and cement encrusted hand sprinkler. The other end was open and lying loose in the soil of the garden. Right next to the hose in the same garden was a large blue construction wheel barrow with a bucket in it and one lying nearby. The wheelbarrow had the same cement substance in it that the hose nozzle had on it. PCM is using potable water hosing for garden use. Now the questions raises its head…..when PCM complies with their own policy of using hoses for potable water are they even using clean hosing or are they just using all hosing as garden hosing and then re-using it for potable water when needed? Seems that way from the photo. That’s kind of like reusing a catheter without sterilizing it. Let’s see….Milt Johns is in his early 50s so he probably still has a little immunity. I wonder how he’ll feel when he’s in his mid 80s and doesn’t have the same kind of immune power. Potable water hosing should be destroyed after use in a situation such as we experienced in CDS 8… NOT converted to use for the garden.
Some smartie pants using the screen name cincity talks about George Lopez saying they all drink from hoses. Hey, I did too when I was a little kid, right after my horse. I’m not 12 anymore either. We once paid our cousin to lick the sole of her shoe for a quarter and she did. Does that make it something that SHOULD be done? No, it was a stupid kid trick.
My next question is WHERE WAS THE CRACK DISASTER RELIEF CREW? They all showed up at CH5 for the victims of the fire on Bahia Blanca. I guess they need a nice tidy, dry, warm club house in order to function. Oh, and I forgot, one certain United director who is a big wig on that committee is better at leaving a scene than actually attending to a problem immediately. The disaster preparedness committee had JUST COMPLETED a major disaster drill. Guess they were all tired. DO NOT DEPEND ON THIS GROUP TO HELP YOU IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. PERIOD. It is just another way for PCM to keep residents busy while they carry on as usual awarding themselves monster sized bonuses from our pockets.
One resident who is an avid RV (recreational vehicle) traveler had this to say, “We have quite a number of RV dealers from whom we could have purchased water grade "white" hoses, as most RV'ers are aware of. In addition, an emergency notice on our TV network could have obtained dozens of hoses from our RV's in the storage area at no cost to the mutual. RV'ers are used to helping each other out and the donation of a water grade hose by a small percentage of RV's stored in our lots would be done in a couple of hours." GRF and PCM would rather harass those people by inspecting the interior of their vehicles and requiring an annual inspection.
Where was Milt when this was all going on? At home in Santa Barbara as his facebook page says is his home? Where was Jerry Storage? Where was Gene Hart? Where were any of the PCM executive level people? WHERE WERE ANY SUPERVISORS CAPABLE OF MAKING AN APPROPRIATE EMERGENCY DECISION? Why did our neighbors have to endure a week of this. Now their water heaters are also filled with this potentially contaminated water. How are they going to be cleaned?
The United Board is dead silent except for one man. Congratulations again to the United Board. Maybe you ought to take another look at your ethics statement.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)