On Tuesday, June 24, 2008 we will be holding our Annual Election at the Sorrento pool. Ballots will be mailed to you on May 23. The most important thing is that you vote by mailing your ballot to Ross Morgan or by bringing it to the meeting. If we don’t get a quorum we have to re-mail everything at a huge expense to our Association.
We will be electing four homeowner Board members, three for two years and one for one year. Please read the Candidates' Statements below. Some of the candidates have submitted statements for your consideration on the Sorrento Blog. You may review and post your comments there.
Secret Ballot Law: Memo about California Law and HOA Elections
Why do you want to serve on the board?
As a community we have enjoyed many positive changes over the past year. I am very proud that I have played a small role in some of those changes. I now wish to be elected as a member of the board to continue in the progress our current board is making.
Some of you know me from the volunteer work I have already done with our existing HOA Board. But for those of you who don't, here are a few things I have been involved with over the past year.
I have had the wonderful opportunity to be acting chair of the Hospitality Committee. I have enjoyed watching our families meet each other and come together at the successful events that I helped plan. We also started some fantastic social clubs including the Mom's Club, Poker Club, and Book Club. It was also a delight this past holiday to decorate the Sorrento and Meadows gates with lights making our holiday a little more festive.
I have written articles for the much improved newsletter and website. I think I have helped make the newsletter more informative and enjoyable to read.
I am also an active member of the Pool Committee. I have spent time checking on both of the pools and meeting with service providers to make sure we are getting what we pay for. As a committee we are trying to keep both pools in working order, keep them safe, and enjoyable for our entire community.
I also volunteered on the Rule and Regulations committee. Even though the progress has been slow for the revisions of the rules and regulations, if elected I hope to help execute fair rules and regulations. I will give consideration to what is best to suite our community needs.
As a mom of two young boys speeding cars and the safety of our neighborhood is one of my utmost concerns. As a board member I will look after the safety of our families and keep security in check.
As a real estate agent I understand the importance of keeping Sorrento and Meadows beautiful and maintained. We all are shareholders in the community and made an investment in our properties. We are facing economically challenging times right now, but it will not always be this way. I have great interest in continuing to improve our community protecting the investment each of us made in our property.
I have lived in Sorrento for over four years and enjoy this community very much. It would be a pleasure to serve on the board.
Thank you for considering me for a position on the board.
Why do you want to serve on the board?
It is my belief that as the current Treasurer on the Board, I am doing a good job relating to both Finances and Security. I am a driving force in the area of Security. I was/am a major part of securing the Torino Entrance gate, the effective operation of the camera’s at the Torino Gate and the changeover of the Security Service to The Centurion Group, who are providing us, at no additional cost, with new computers and Visitor Software that will be owned by Sorrento HOA, not the Security Company.
I believe that I have contributed significantly to the Homeowners Association and, if elected, will continue to contribute to the smooth operation and functioning of the Sorrento at Porter Ranch Homeowner’s Association.
It is my hope that you will allow me to continue to be a member of the Sorrento at Porter Ranch Board of Directors.
Experience / Qualifications
While living in a 140 unit Townhome complex for 23 years, I was on the Board of Directors for multiple years and held the positions of President, Treasurer and Member at Large. I was on the Board as President at the time of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and was instrumental in the rebuild of the complex (12 buildings) and the securing of the SBA Earthquake Loan for the Association.
I am currently serving at your pleasure on the Sorrento/Meadows Board of Directors and am currently the Treasurer and the Security Liaison. I have been significantly involved in the Security of the Homeowners Association and feel that, if elected to the Board of Directors, I will be able to contribute significantly to the Board of Directors and to the HOA Association in General.
Why do you want to serve on the board?
To be the liaison between the Homeowners Association and S&S. Also, to be able to share solutions used by other Associations for problems that might come up that are normal in all associations.
Experience / Qualifications
I currently sit on eight (8) association Boards and soon to be ten (10). I also set up these associations in there beginning.
Why do you want to serve on the board?
As an elected representative-member of the HOA Board, the mission that I would undertake is to improve the community by focusing on three main areas:
1) Financial Solvency: Collectively we spend approximately $1.3M per year on association services and reserve funding. As current Finance Chair we have identified several opportunities for cost reductions, compliance improvements, and financial performance management. To carry forward the recommendations of the Finance Committee an HOA Board dedicated to understanding financial opportunities and matters is necessary. In light of the current real estate market and the current/potential recession that we face, getting our financial house in order is critical if we wish to prevent a continuing cycle of dues increases and future special assessments. These are sure to come in the near future due to loss funding by defaulted units unless we have the appropriate personnel with the correct vision to manage our business.
2) Vendor Management: Implementation of vendor oversight and management reviews to ensure our funds are not being “given” to companies with continuing poor performance. We’ve all seen this…perhaps we haven’t paid attention to the details. From past analysis conducted we’ve identified a 10-15% reduction in spend that is possible. It will take some effort to make it happen, but that is what HOA Board’s do.
3) Community Betterment: By focusing on Community Rules, reviewing them for compliance and enforcement as well as implementing changes where homeowners have concerns, we can remove much of the constant nuisance issues that arise. The Board has done a great job of holding community events to help build the community. Unfortunately when issues arise (speeding, parking) often times we see actions taken with complete disregard to defined processes or talk that seems to go on and on. Two examples come to mind—the ticketing of all cars on Vercelli Way last summer for parking on the street and the continuing speeding / speed bump issue. Opportunities for improvement exist. After witnessing several events that occurred over the past year, I decided it was time to “officially” lend a hand to our community. The events were principally financial issues that gave me grave concern as to the processes being deployed to review spending decisions, the spending of our funds and the degree of oversight an HOA Board should have over controlling the movement of its members (the $100K FOB proposal). To that end I joined three committees to assist with further defining and developing the processes that the associate would use to arrive at equitable decisions for managing the association.
Whether you elect me to serve as a representative for the Board or not, I will continue to serve to ensure our community remains financially strong, neighborly friendly and competitively attractive to our visitors and potential prospective buyers of our properties.
Experience / Qualifications
Current: Chair Person for Finance Committee & Architecture and Landscaping Committee. Member of Newsletter / Web Committee.
Past: President of two HOA Associations with longest tenure as President for 4 years. Served additional roles comprising five years as: Treasurer, and Vice President. Collective time serving in leadership HOA role—10-plus years.
Background: Academics—Engineering (BS, MS); Business—Investments / Entrepreneurial applications (start-up companies / medical device diagnostics).
Why do you want to serve on the board?
Bottom Line – To improve the quality of living in our community.
Over the past year we have seen measurable improvements in our neighborhood. There is still more work to be done.
Speeding is still a problem: As a father of two small children, there is nothing more important than ensuring we all live in a safe neighborhood. Too many cars speed and blow through stop signs on a regular basis. I would focus a significant effort toward this issue.
Security needs improvement: We all deserve better service with respect to our guests, gate entrance and pool nuisance complaints. This important issue is another that I would dedicate my time to improving.
Beautification of our Community: Because our neighborhood has over 600 homes, we need to continue to ensure that our landscaping, pool and recreation centers and all common areas are properly maintained to look as good as possible.
In closing, we have lived in our home for four years now and love living in Sorrento/Meadows. I take great pride in our community and am committed to serving you in making our neighborhood the best it can be.
Experience / Qualifications
I am the President of Horizon Communities, a homebuilding company specializing in tract housing. With 19 years of homebuilding experience, including the formation of new home communities, CC&R’s and related procedures, I possess the knowledge of what is required of a Board Member to participate in effectively managing a Homeowners Association.
Additionally, I have been attending and actively participating in our H.O.A.’s monthly meetings for the last 15 months and clearly understand what areas that affect our quality of living & are in need of improvement.
 Why do you want to serve on the board?
I believe I have done a fairly good job as a Sorrento Board Member, and President. I would like to continue on the Board to insure that the innovations we started grow as our community grows. I think there is more work to be done to insure that Sorrento/Meadows is a great place to live. I want to help reduce our speeding problem, insure that we live within our means, and keep the budget and dues in check. I want to insure that the current mortgage crisis has a minimal impact on our community. I also want to make sure that our landscaping flourishes despite rising water and labor costs. I want to insure that our neighbors are informed on how their money is being spent. We also need to improve the rules in the next few months to insure that we all can enjoy our neighborhood, that everyone’s rights are respected. The revised rules need to be consistent with the law, CC&Rs and Bylaws.
There are a few issues that face our community that divide us. Issues like speed humps, tree placement, and how to spend our money will always cause some residents to be on opposite sides. The Board has to make tough decisions sometimes. I believe the Board should be able to explain and communicate the rationale for those close calls, and make sure that any resident who wants to be heard has that opportunity.
Experience / Qualifications
I have been on your Board of Directors for over 1 ½ years. I have been President for most of that time. I believe I have been an innovator in keeping the community involved and informed. Here is what I believe are some of the accomplishments of the Board under my leadership:
- We have a website that has all of the latest news and can point you to the correct resource for any issue
- We have a newsletter that is full every month with useful information, not fluff and recipies.
- We have working committees, with residents on them giving input to the Board on landscaping, pool, security, and finance issues.
- We have changed Property Managers to insure a better response to community issues.
- We have changed Security Companies to insure our residents and their guests are treated promptly and courteously while reducing unauthorized entries.
- We have a successful Hospitality Committee that brings neighbors together several times a year to meet, socialize and have fun.
- We took a survey to see where our residents feel about the various issues that face our community and we are reacting to that survey.
- We have much better control over our gates, drastically reducing unauthorized entry into our community.
- We have monthly HOA meetings that allow anyone interested to address the Board and to see and hear about their community
- We have all of our summertime HOA meetings at the pool to allow more residents to join the meetings
- We have a cooperative spirit with S&S which has allowed us to accomplish many goals that would not be financially possible for us to do on our own.
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Melissa Centeno 
Neil Estrin
Phillip Minton 
Greg Norris