Provably False Statement

[George Schiro]

Summary:

    .) Official CDD records show CDD taxes raised (never
       lowered) since 2011 (by 10%, inflation adjusted).

    .) Official CDD records show CDD landscape cost cutting
       since 2011 (by 15%, inflation adjusted).

    .) A former Harmony CDD supervisor acknowledges
       Harmony's decline in landscaping maintenance.

    .) Steve Berube makes a false statement about his conflicted
       position on the Harmony ROA (vis-à-vis the Harmony CDD).


Note1:

    The Harmony CDD is run by several people who have been
    in charge here for almost a decade. For much of that time,
    the leader of the Harmony CDD has been Steve Berube.

    Steve Berube wants your vote on Tuesday.

    That way he can do more of the same for years to come
    (he said so in his own words, listen below).

Note2:

    Harmony CDD supervisor Kerul Kassel now censors all
    such posts on social media, even before they are
    posted. She is doing everything she can to hide the
    truth about the Harmony CDD and its supervisors.


Details:

I attended the Harmony CDD "Meet and Greet" Thursday night. The turnout was more than a typical CDD meeting, which was good.

I asked Steve Berube how Harmony CDD landscaping expenses have changed over the past 8 years. He couldn't say that landscaping maintenance expenses have actually been cut over the years - while he's been on board with several years as chairman. So I shared the facts with Steve and everyone else.

These official figures were taken directly from the Harmony CDD website (see http://www.harmonycdd.org/public-records/budgets ):

            CDD Tax      Landscaping  Inflation   Infl Adj.
            Assessments  Expenses     Adj. Taxes  Expenses

    2011    1,513,703    562,044      1,688,279   478,943
    2012    1,513,027    515,649     (1,882,940  (534,166
    2013    1,465,218    462,650        in 2018)  in 2018)
    2014    1,547,886    464,000
    2015    1,757,081    476,464
    2016    1,874,116    484,893
    2017    1,882,804    534,166
    2018    1,882,940    534,166

              + 24%        - 5%         + 10%      -15%
              =====        ====         =====      ====

As you can see, while our taxes have gone up 10% over the past 8 years (inflation adjusted), Steve Berube and the Harmony CDD have cut 15% from the landscaping budget during the same period (inflation adjusted).

In other words, while they were raising our taxes with one hand, the Harmony CDD was taking money from Harmony landscaping with the other.

Mark LeMenager used to be on the CDD board. He is running again this year (not against Steve Berube). Mark had this to say during his opening remarks (hear "LeMenager.mp3" attachment):

... Number one I don't think Harmony looks as good as
it used to. ... I live across the street from the
soccer pitch and half the time it looks like a cow
pasture. ... go back to basics and figure out how to
make Harmony look good.

LeMenager's statement is consistent with the cost cutting numbers detailed above. It also independently confirms what was recently documented with photos here:

"Harmony in Decline" ( https://tinyurl.com/y9psqff5  )

"Maintenance of Harmony" ( https://tinyurl.com/yd6q23bu )

About halfway into the meeting a nice lady from the audience asked Steve Berube about his potential conflict of interest as a member of both the Harmony CDD and the Harmony ROA (hear "NiceLady.mp3" attachment):

What would you consider a conflict of interest if you
were on the CDD and you were elected. Would you have
a conflict? Being with the HROA, being on both boards.
Is that not considered a conflict of interest?

Berube's response (same audio above):

Why would it be? It's two separate legal organizations.

So as a follow-up to that question I asked Steve Berube:

Have you ever had to recuse yourself from a Harmony
HOA decision due to your affiliation with the CDD?

Steve Berube's response (hear "SchiroBerube.mp3" attachment):

The answer is no.

Reality check: the Harmony ROA manager (Mark Hills) knows there is a conflict of interest and:

Berube was not being truthful.

We know this because I asked Mark Hills the same question:

From: George Schiro
Sent: Thursday, November 1, 2018 10:28 AM
To: Association Solutions
Subject: CDD Member of HROA

 

Mark,

Is it correct that Steve Berube, the current CDD supervisor, has had to
recuse himself from at least one HROA matter due a potential conflict of
interest? How many times has this occurred in your experience?

Sincerely,

George Schiro

Mark Hills responded:

From: Association Solutions
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2018 1:01 PM
To: George Schiro
Subject: Re: CDD Member of HROA

Hi George

Only been one.

Thanks

Mark

Association Solutions of Central Florida Inc
811 Mabbette Street,
Kissimmee, FL 3474

This isn't the first time Steve Berube has been verifiably contradicted by an independent third party (see "Why Not Steve Berube?", https://tinyurl.com/y9ev4ujw ).

Either Steve Berube doesn't understand the meaning of the word "recuse" or he intentionally mislead Thursday night's audience about his conflict of interest.

Which is it Steve?

This was Steve Berube's final pledge to Harmony voters:

I can pledge to you that what I've done over the last
10 years I intend to do more of ...

I'm never gonna lie to you.

I will tell you the truth as much as I can.