An Opinion By Jan Bergemann 
President, Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.

Published August 8, 2006 

We have seen and read quite a few opinions about the town hall meetings the DBPR held statewide in regards to SB 1556 -- the condo Termination Bill that could have been named the  "Condo Eminent Domain Bill."

As predicted, the response from condo-owners was small -- and everybody who organized these meetings was well aware that this would happen! And it was not only because a large majority of Florida's condo-owners are not home at this time of the year.

The groups that pushed this bill  -- like CAI, CALL, COCA, The Galt Mile Association, The Space Coast Condominiums Association and all the other so-called Umbrella Organizations were awfully quiet --really unusual -- and failed to inform the condo-owners they all claim to represent about these town hall meetings. Don't be puzzled by all these names -- the main players behind the scenes are all the same -- and so is their ultimate goal: Defeat any owner-friendly legislative reforms!

So far, most of them have even failed to inform the people they claim to represent that their sneak attack didn't work -- the Governor realized the problems of this bill in the last minute and vetoed it. In all honesty, and despite whatever supporters may tell you, it is the condo version of an eminent domain bill.  This bad bill would allow people to be kicked out of their own homes by developers, who desire to make huge profits!

Termination after hurricane damage is fine -- no problem -- but kicking out people for financial gains is the same we all have been fighting against since we saw the Supreme Court's dreadful Kelo decision. Now we want to create a bill that would allow this to happen to condo-owners?

I can understand why these groups didn't want owners to know about these hearings. They might have found out what this bill was really all about: PROFIT!

That's why we saw for example at the Cocoa Beach meeting many speakers that were hand-picked in order to claim that condo-owners favor this bill for their own welfare. President Harry Charles from the The Space Coast Condominiums Association made sure of it, because according to a few owners I talked to who live in condos covered by this umbrella organization, these owners had no idea that these meetings took place or what they were all about! 

Minimum two of the speakers, who plainly introduced themselves as condo-owners are board presidents, who use the law firm of Wean & Malchow P.A. for legal representation. In case you don't know, Paul Wean is the immediate past chair of CAI's Florida Legislative Alliance.

Adding to this problem is the fact that misinformation about this bill was rampant. Not only did many condo-owners not understand what this bill could have done if it would had been enacted, but not even the media got a real grip on it. See the report by a TV station from Ft. Myers headlined: Homeowners hope to vote out Condo association. It seems not only the reporter was confused; the report sure confused even more people!

That leaves a few lessons to be learned:

• Publishing notices of upcoming town hall meetings in a little official -- barely read -- paper in Tallahassee will go unnoticed by Florida's condo population.
• Holding condo town hall meetings in the middle of summer might not be the right idea to increase participation.
• Press releases from the DBPR Office of Communications may not get enough attention by the media, because many reporters have lost trust in this source.

Suggestions for improvement:

• Create an official e-mail alert list for condo-owners! Ask people to subscribe on the Division page and the website of the Condo Ombudsman.

• Ask every condo owner, who contacts the Division and/or Ombudsman, in the response to their question if they would like to subscribe. It works!

• Explain in layman's terms what a bill can and will do -- if enacted. Explain possible consequences.

Never forget: Most citizens intended to buy a home, not a share in association politics. And as you can see in daily life, often not even the so-called specialists -- the attorneys -- understand what certain wording in bills really means!

These ideas might help in the future to create a better success in finding out what condo-owners really think! Isn't that the main idea?