Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Covered Bridge Board

Like all Condominium and Homeowner Associations in the State of New Jersey, Covered Bridge in Manalapan NJ is governed by a Board of Trustees. In this case, it is a group of 7 residents who are elected to 3 year terms. The officers of the Board are elected by the Board members after the annual election. The term election is used loosely because only 300 unit owners show up for an election. The apathy is that bad.

There is a President, 2 Vice Presidents, and a Secretary of the Board..

The President of the Board is Frank "Italian Napolean" Donofrio. Since Hitler is too harsh Napolean fits the bill. But we also like to call Frank "Huff and Puff' He Huffs and he Puffs and then does nothing. As his main buddy states every day... "Frank has no b.lls"

The Vice President and Newsletter Editor is Sid "Knows Nothing" Leveson. The name was coined by a former Trustee "The Judge" after KnowsNothing manipulated the last election. HuffandPuff originally brought in KnowsNothing as a financial consultant to the Board. This is a financial consultant that Knows Nothing about finances. How can anyone who believes a Capital Budget is the wrong thing for CB know anything about finances.

KnowsNothing was supported by HuffandPuff when he ran for Trustee. Many people in CB thought he was part of the future of CB and would help turn it around. Everyone was fooled by him. He is the most arrogant, obnoxious, self-centered, egotistical person ever to serve as Trustee.. Everything he touches he screws up. The MSA, The Tennis courts, the Paving Contract , The Harry Edwab ramp. You name it....he screws it up. TheJudge is correct. He really does know nothing.

No Official would be complete without a Confidant, a partner,an Attack Dog a gofer etc. HuffandPuff and KnowsNothing are no exception. HuffandPuffs Attack Dog and Gofer is Jimmy "Chief Bungler" Zafarano. Don't forget Chief Bungler replaced "The Big Guy" after HuffandPuff was through using him and forced him off the Board.

Based upon his performance, you might say "Chief Bungler" knows a lot more about Construction than KnowsNothing knows about finance. But remember, KnowsNothing really knows nothing. In defense of Chief Bungler, he is the hardest working volunteer in the community. It's sad that he continues to allow HuffandPuff to manipulate and control him.

KnowsNothing's sidekick is Sally "KnowsEvenLess" Herman. Sally is also a Trustee. When she was elected to the Board everyone assumed being KnowsNothing's girlfriend she had some degree of intelligence. It's became obvious she KnowsEvenLess than KnowsNothing. And she is just as arrogant as KnowsNothing. She is such an embarrassment to CB everyone would like her impeached along with KnowsNothing. Her latest speech about using your car alarm as a personal safety alarm from your bedside had everyone ROFL. When will they resign?????

Carol "TheCheerleader" Trifon is the other Vice President. A more dedicated individual in Covered Bridge you will not find. Unfortunately, HuffandPuff and KnowsNothing work hard at deceiving and manipulating her and it can be very difficult for her to accomplish things.

Estelle Freehoff is the Secretary. Estelle is very competent and is very dedicated to CB.

Hal Lessner is very new to the Board. He certainly means well. But he continues to be fooled by HuffandPuff and KnowsNothing.

Sy "TheAnswerMan" Smolin completes the team. Sy is a former Trustee and probably knows more about CB than any two Trustees. And his answers are often quite accurate. Unfortunately, to keep the peace, he continuously patronizes HuffandPuff. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

There is no question that the current Board has begun to turn things around in CB. However, it tends to use that as an excuse to exclude people who want to see an even bigger transformation.

1. The Board says it answers every letter, it doesn't.

2. The Board states it follows the rules and regulations, it doesn't

3. The Board says it follows the by-laws, it doesn't.

4. The Board says it votes on everything in public, it doesn't.

5. The Board hides everything it can. The fire alarms, the aluminum wiring,the Profetta apt fiasco,the Harry Edwab lawsuit, the Deferred Compensation Lawsuit results are just some of the issues.

The biggest problem CB faces is the fact that no one on the Board, has experience managing a facility like CB. And the Board refuses to settle the lawsuit with the existing management team, refuses to get outside help and more often than not does not take the advice of the Land and Building committee. All of this is counter-productive, wastes enormous sums of money and clearly violates the By-laws.

Why hasn't the lawsuit with the property management team been settled??? HuffandPuff has no b.lls and HuffandPuff has tried to play Hero. Instead of settling the Lawsuit a year ago like he should of or firing them on the spot after they filed the lawsuit, we are still in court and running up HUGE lawyer fees. We'd like to say more in this document, but cannot for obvious reasons. However, isn't a settlement finally in order. Instead, HuffandPuff continues to Huff and Puff. His attempt to prosecute the management team Criminally failed miserably. The DA rejected it. And we are positive KnowsNothing had a hand in screwing this one up, since he tends to handle legal matters.

But there is hope for the future. When HuffandPuff leaves the Board and "TheCheerleader" takes over as President there will be a new beginning. Oh you say doesn't KnowsNothing have a chance at being President? When Pigs fly? Not even then. Yet to show you how arrogant he is, KnowsNothing thinks he has a chance!!!!!. Lets hope KnowsNothing and KnowsEvenLess resign soon. Since that is what everyone in CB would like to see!!!!!



And that's the truth.....

IN THE BEGINNING

Frank Donfrio is the Board of Trustees at Covered Bridge. He rules it with fear and intimidation. And no one knows better than his VP Sid Leveson. Sid should have been thrown off the Board after manipulating the last election due to ethical misconduct. But Frank saved him so Sid could help him manipulate the current Board. And they have been doing a great job.

How did Frank get started? He was brought in by the person we call affectionately "The Big Guy". "The Big Guy" was tired of the lack of performance by the "Property Management Team"(The team is still in place and is currently suing Covered Bridge for hundreds of thousands of Dollars) and brought in Frank to fire them. The then President's health was failing and he needed to step down.

Once the former
president stepped down and Mr. Donfrio took over as president, "The Big Guy" assumed he(Frank) would fire the Management Team. Instead, he let them stay because to quote his current friend, attack dog and gofer, "Frank has no B..ls". In addition. he spent the first year accomplishing nothing. He wouldn't listen to and frustrated "The Big Guy". And the rest of the Board was a bunch of bungling idiots. After all, they brought us the Deferred Compensation Lawsuit.

Mr. Donofrio knew he needed a new Board. He proposed a slate of Sid Leveson and the other two Senior elected members of the current board. He used "The Big Guy" to attack the existing members of the Board at candidates night. This was, incidentally, totally unethical by Covered Bridge standards, but to paraphrase Mr. Donofrio's own words, "The means justified the end". As a result, the current Senior members of the Board were elected overwhelmingly. And what a disappointment this Board has been.

And what happened to "The Big Guy"? Once Mr. Donfrio was through using him to do his dirty work, he forced him off the Board. The public version was that he resigned from the Board for health reasons.(It was coincidental and we wish him the best). But of course it was not the real reason.

Not content with controlling The Board, Mr. Donofrio also controls the Condo Reps since he installed the existing Chairpersons. Under the guise of "Cooperating with the Board" they rubber stamp all Board Proposals and fight any discussion about difficulties with the Board. And they have the only possible control over the Board since they must approve all expenditures over $50,000.

To highlight their incompetence, their was recently an unnecessary paving contract awarded in the amount of $275,000. Instead of bothering to read the contract, they immediately returned it to Mr. Donofrio(on the spot). The implication was that they didn't understand it anyway so why bother to read it? What a farce.

Another example, when asked to support the petition against the WMUA, the Chairperson responded with "I can't climb the stairs in the buildings so the Condo Reps shouldn't help". And where were they at this years budget meetings? A more camouflaged budget, Covered Bridge has never seen!!!!

This is how the Board began it's rule. A recent article in the Asbury Park Press titled " Seniors relay "horror stories" about bus service" highlights the incompetence of Mr. Leveson and Mr. Donofrio. While it's true the Board approved the new bus service, this was their doing. When Mr. Leveson was asked how we wound up with this mess, his response was "We didn't get what we expected".

If you read the article, it underscores the fact that Mr. Donfrio cares nothing about seniors in Covered Bridge". And he is one of them. He was quoted in the article saying "We are not required to provide bus service". Just because we are not required to provide bus service does that mean we shouldn't provide it?

The irony of the Bus Service mess is unbelievable. At the public hearings in Covered Bridge about the bus service, a past President led the fight against the change. Instead of engaging the past President's help, Mr. Donofrio spread rumors about why he was fighting the changes. Instead of listening to anyone with knowledge of bus services and schedules, Mr. Donofrio forced it through.

Now that they have failed us miserably with a horrible bus service, they have engaged that same past President to fix the mess. They are incapable of fixing the problem, because they have lost all political clout in Monmouth County, due to Sid and Frank's attempted assassination of our beloved Mayor, Michelle Roth.

Is this the kind of leadership we need in Covered Bridge? We don't think so. The Board continues to answer to itself and to no one else. Should we continue to accept their Blue wall of Silence" or their "Circling of the Wagons".?

The only person who has had any success with Frank is Mary Neglia, the retiring President of HOCB. Unfortunately, Mary is being replaced by Irving Reif. He was part of the prior Board of "Bunch of bungling Idiots", Mr. Reif served his purpose on this Board. His assumption of the HOCB Presidency will complete Mr. Donofrio's envelope of control. And it will lay the groundwork for Mr. Donfrio's plan to control Covered Bridge and it's Board after he retires from the Board in May. But then again, it may not.

And who is Mr. Donfrio grooming to take his place on the Board? To be continued........



And that's the TRUTH.............