Follow-up to "Out of Order"
Syndicated TV and Radio host Bill O'Reilly has made a living out of looking out for the little guy. His trademark question is, "Who's looking out for you?" Thankfully, here at Weatherby Lake, we have someone looking out for us, especially when it comes to the Weatherby Lake Improvement Company. Who? Paul Gross and his wife Donna Jean. The hearing this past Friday regarding a proposed user fee for WLIC was continued until 28 April, 9AM, at Platte County, Division 2 Court Room. Why? Apparently Mr and Mrs Gross want to investigate and pursue human rights violations and discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. I know, I know, you had to reread the last sentence, right? Make any sense? Does it have to? I can imagine this has sent the counsel for WLIC scrambling. When attorneys scramble they seldom do it free (no offense to my attorney acquaintances, got to make a living right?).
Speaking of attorneys, Charlie Dickman is the attorney of record for Donna Jean Gross. This is listed under information about the case that can be found on the net at:
https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/base/welcome.do
Hopefully the WLIC Board of Directors will inform the membership of the situation. I understand the care that has to be exercised regarding an active case. A simple summary of the facts as presented in open court would be enough. The members can come to their own conclusions.
Who's looking out for you?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
29 comments:
Does the WLIC Board not consider the cost of litigation each time it seeks a new form of assessment? Or, are we supposed to ask surprised when the inevitable challenges and mounting legal bills occur? At this point, there are very few houses selling within Weatherby Lake. Consequently, the payback on this new assesment will be long. Why not, suspend the court action to save on the legal expenses and consider bringing it back when the economy improves? Otherwise, we'll be spending more on legal bills than we raise in new revenue (sounds like the strategy of the former WLIC board).
Why do we have to accept gross's continued stupid and destructive behavior AT ALL? If you remember correctly, gross delayed the Peret Property settlement with Zona Rosa by two years because he went behind the scenes with malicious lies. That costs all of us not just legal fees but increase in the construction of the facility. There have been other things gross caused delay with, all at our expense, and now he's at it again. By the time this current legal issue gets resolved Sonoma Ridge will probably be built. If the WLIC waits until building begins to go to court on this issue, gross would make sure he ties everything up in court until all the homes are sold, and then WLIC would miss out on all those fees. Meaning YOU and I would pay more AGAIN. That makes lots of sense. Thanks for suggesting it.
The strategy of a former WLIC board was to stand up to people who did harm to the lake (from outside and from within )and to do what they were elected to do .
February 22 6:47 ,it appears you subscribe to the deliberate creation of a legend . It is that in the past we once spent more on legal bills than we recovered in settlement damages. The fact is that we once did recover more from litigation than we spent .The fact is the cost of litigation was favorable to the cost of undoing damages done by others to our lake.
The fact is the settlements received for actual damages were significantly diminished by a small group of meddlers .The public records are available to you at City Hall.Those meddlers were enabled by naive and uninformed members who regretably helped them undermine our future ability to protect and carry on the business of our lake.
The fact is we have spent a lot of needless revenue and continue to spend precious resources to defend ourselves from a member who wont run for any office based his ideas.Instead he continues to try to run WL and WLIC in the courts and from his kitchen table.
Does the WLIC Board not consider the cost of litigation each time it seeks a new form of assessment?
It did
You will never guess who took the WLIC to court to insure we would incur that cost every time?
Its time folks came to the realization that paul and donna gross won't stop until they completely destroy our community. They need to move.
I think we should have a fund raising dinner to buy the Gross house and help them move to Parkville where their true alliances lie.
Sign me up! Bet i could get several hundred to join in as well.
The fact of the matter is Sonoma Ridge is not going to be developed anytime soon because of the lousy real estate market. Also, when a new parcel is developed in Weatherby Lake, it is already subject to a fee (and has been for many years) to pay for the existing WLIC infrastructure. This tax will be assessed on all property being transferred in WL. As usual, we have folks that want a free lunch. If we need infrastructure improvements, let's all pay a little rather than trying to get someone else to pay. If not, it will make it even more difficult for folks to sell their home, and that eventually will impact all of our property values.
We accept Paul Gross' behaviour because the Constitution of the United States allows for due process. It is the WLIC board that brought this court action, and since it affects all WL property holders, anyone has a right to object. The WLIC is seeking to tax every real estate transaction between any private parties that sell property in WL. Filing lawsuits are never cheap. I agree with the first commenter. Everytime the WlIC files one of these suits, we wring our hands when Mr. Gross files an objection to the lawsuit and we incur these high legal fees. At this point, do we not budget for these legal fees and build them into the decision making process?
In could be argued that recently many of those that those sworn and claiming to uphold and protect the Constitution have that have been undermining it.
Take torture for example.We are a nation of laws and must therefore endure this endless torture and psychological abuse from one member .
What are the alternatives ? Rendition ? Who would take responsibility for it now that Dick Cheney is gone ?
To the person who posted this comment
"I agree with the first commenter. Everytime the WlIC files one of these suits, we wring our hands when Mr. Gross files an objection to the lawsuit and we incur these high legal fees"
The facts are that we did not go to court with every prior WLIC assessment .The thinking was if it passed vote witn majority of membership we didnt need lawyers and judges to validate the wishes of the membership.Despite the fact that people give away proxys a majority of mostly responsible grown up people did not need
attorneys to take it before a judge.We still operate under a majority rules basis.
That was the case until Mr Gross who needs another hobby got involved and made a "federal case" out of every detail of every issue .
I think it was Mr Gross who coined the phrase "litigation Lake " as he was undermining most of the facts and any and all of our postions with the local press.
You need to get more informed on
" these lawsuits". Call your board go to meetings and ask. Get the facts
Mike
Im looking out for you !
Please go to the following Pew Research link
http://people-press.org/report/319/public-knowledge-of-current-affairs-little-changed-by-news-and-information-revolutions
I thought this new transfer tax was simply a gimmick to shift the responsibility of paying for lake improvements from existing homeowners to new homewoners. However, now I wonder. Could Mr. Gross be right. Is it really just an effort to keep certain types of people out of Weatherby Lake?
to the last post: that comment is so stupid it doesn't even warrant a response. It applies to EVERY new member. How does that keep anyone out? What a moron. Get informed before you make such serious allegations.
I'm amazed at a couple of things. Some of the comments lead me to believe that many folks don't understand that the WLIC is us. Not some entity out there "sticking to us". They are smart devoted people - our neighbors good enough to devote their time and talent to help the community at large. And the board positions are available to anyone willing to run. Second, how ignorant the comments are from those who obviously don't go to meetings or have a grasp of issues.
Additionally, if you're not aware, you should be that to escape a few hundred dollars and with allegiances outside this lake, Paul Gross has tied up this community in knots, conspired with those outside the lake to help Zona Rosa (and others)as noted, was kicked off every committee he was on for violating confidentiality rules in conspiring with those outside the lake, took responsibility for sending what was at the time anonymous postcards threatening those he opposed, has lied about others he opposed, and has sold a bill of goods to those who think he's some kind of hero vs. some big corporate enemy. If you knew the facts of what he has done to us and continues to do (and there are more examples), I believe you too would agree that he needs to move and victimize some other town. It's all been about his own personal agendas. And if you understood why for the last 50 years the WLIC has had to sue itself in these matters as due process, you wouldn't be so quick to make erroneous comments about legal fees and budgeting for Paul to come sue again. Do you know how many hundreds if not thousands of dollars he has cost all of us personally through our WLIC dues because of what he's done? Get the facts. Ask anyone who has had to deal with him. A lot of those close figured him out. Other than Ed and Verlin, there's not many left who do his bidding for him.
At the bottom end, houses at Weatherby Lake cost $150,000. A $2400 fee to buy a home at that price level represents a significant portion of the sales price. Why not raise the fee to $25,000? Then we can really keep the riff-raff out.
To the poster who commented that the tax applies to EVERY member, so how does that keep anyone out. The ACLU would have a field day with you. If the court finds that the tax creates a barrier for lower income people or minorities to be able to afford to purchase in WL (or worse yet, an intention of the Board and the Members), the tax will be prohibited because it violates the Fair Housing Act. Probably not likely in a Platte County Court, but if we were in Jackson County it would be all over but the shouting.
To those wishing to buy Paul Gross' house, you'd better do it soon. It will cost you 2 grand more if you wait until after the court decides the case.
Thank you Anon 7:24. Well said. The rest of the buffoons are so uninformed its scary. Its so obvious they not only don't understand that WE are the WLIC, but they also confuse the CITY with WLIC. WLIC is a private corporation that we all are members in. It doesn't "tax" its members. I don't think it has the power to levy a "tax" on its members. We pay assessments and annual fees. Read this again... it is a PRIVATE CORPORATION. Obviously some of you trying to support gross in that this fee somehow violates a fair housing act don't get it. Obviously you never lived somewhere with a Homeowners Association - they don't operate a whole lot differently. As someone else said, get your head outta your ass. Get informed instead.
Apparently "Ass" has become the word of choice for bloggers who oppose Mr. Gross. You're bringing public discourse to a whole new level.
By the way to the last poster, individual homeowners can violate the Fair Housing Act. Certainly, homeowners associations and private corporations can as well (even the WLIC). Maybe you should get informed yourself instead of calling others buffoons.
Attention all past and present Neighbors for Change. Please help us understand all the postive contributions Mr Gross has made to WLIC that justify your continued support.
If you could recap all the savings in fees and hardship that was prevented from being imposed by all our different WLIC boards then we could submit that to the current WLIC board
We might find an impartial person designated by the board to reconcile the amount savings we enjoyed and compare that to legal fees we have spent going to court vs Paul and Donna Gross
I would really appreciate it if someone would compare and contrast the cost per member that our WLIC or Mr Gross has cost us. Why not get it out in the open and publish the results to our members ? That way we could all have the facts before we attack one another
Anon Febr 22 7:24 did a pretty good job of outlining all of the Gross's contribution.
To annom 2:15....just because someone has the right to sue, doesn't mean it's right to sue. Gross has made a mockery of the system. Others that have figured him out. I hope you'd agree that to keep our Constitutional Rights means we need to be responsible with them and take great care of them. Not abuse them.
to 8:17...let's see, first, the user fee is something every user has paid to be able to have this jewel of a lake...and it's pretty cheap for what we have compared to other communities with something additional like a lake or golf course. nothing different. those moving to WL obviously want to because of the additional ammenities and to have the new user pay the fee vs. simply transfer what someone paid before them is reasonalble to help keep our ammenities improving and contribute the cost otherwise just picked up by the rest of us. you could make your comment about every neighborhood or town in the country that has any kind of homeowners dues or fees. maybe everything everywhere should be free to everyone. now who pays for that?
Thank you last post for your voice of reason. I totally agree.
I was at a meeting of one of the many committees formed years ago to keep up with Gross's picking apart everything.
I heard him say that to attach the leased dock he had in front of his second tier house (that's in effect 1st tier but the rest of us pay for his seawall) so he could make it part of the deal if he sold his house would add $60,000 to the value of his house. I don't think he intended to share the windfall with past owners. He just wanted rules changed for his own greed.
Now he brings human rights violations against the rest of us. He and Donna should move someplace that isn't so awful. Why would they want to live here if we're all so full of discrimination and meanness? Why would they have bought a home where we violate the fair housing act? Could it be that he again is pulling any trick out of the bag he can to get his way? It's a sham. It's costing us all money for his own selfishness.
Some people contribute to a community. Thank you to those who want to build on what we have here.
Some live to be the fly in the ointment. Paul and Donna Gross have proven over the years they're more interested in themselves at whatever cost to others. They don't contribute, they pick it apart.
Well said. They make my stomach turn.
It's interesting that after living here all these years they just now sue for these things. Evidently it just suits their purpose for this lawsuit. Nothing legitimate.
Dont forget the contribution made to work against WL and raise the cost of our Ambulance service
Thanks Paul for all your help
Post a Comment