There has been an interesting scenario developing within the past three weeks. Management’s opportunity to get a reprieve arrived with a Hurricane called Dolly. While management appeared to provide nothing resembling an effective hurricane plan, the free food seemed to buy a lot of support.
Dolly gave us its top north winds that Wednesday morning, avoiding the destructiveness created by its easterly tidal surge winds. When finally coming ashore north of us, we received Dolly's back winds coming from the northwest, west (being the strongest at over 100 mph), and southwest. Only pure luck kept this from being a very deadly and devastating storm.
The following is a short summation of events as I recall.
Monday, July 21st, Stage One was in effect. Supposedly this has us prepare for a possible tropical storm or hurricane within 72 hours.
Tuesday morning a hurricane warning was in effect with no mandatory evacuation. This was the last information posted on the marquis and channel 2.
At midnight I called our gate keepers to ask if Stage One had changed. I also asked about the bridge. They told me they had not been informed as to what Stage we were in and had no idea about the bridge, but offered to call me when they received word, to which I accepted and around 3:30 am I received that call. In a torrential rain storm these gatekeepers began their journey door to door notifying people about the bridge closing. I was told they had to use their personal vehicles to accomplish this, since their golf cart was useless in the storm. There were many people packed and set to leave, but were not notified. I know these gate keepers did their best, but the elements were blistering. The bridge locked down after 5am and Dolly was on the doorstep.
At 7 am I drove around taking photos and checked on a few people who stayed. I pulled into the Activity Center parking lot and was surprised to see the Rec. Hall lights on and vehicles parked near the door. I went back home to sit out the storm, but that was short lived. The 90 mph gusts from the north rocking my park model literally told me to check out the Rec. Hall. There I found three gate keepers and one owner. During the next six hours only a handful of people found shelter there. All took a chance it might be open. I’m sure we would have had a lot more people there if the opening had been made public.
After Dolly wrath left us on Wednesday, it was noticeably apparent no real plan was implemented? For days we had no generator power or comunications, limited and questionable water, sewage disposal backup, and no bridge. Information given by management was sketchy at best and differed. Only by word of mouth did we have a Saturday town hall meeting where we received again accurate and some inaccurate information. One of these accurate items was that owners were to be granted free dinner for the next five days by the grace of Aramark.
I attended the first of these and found it similar to a homeless shelter routine, where the price you pay for the meal is listening to a sermon. I was a little bothered that we had employees cooking, catering, and cleaning up after us when it would seem they really needed to be at home with their families, picking up the pieces left behind by the storm. If they needed the hours, they should have been directed to spend the time on Dolly cleanup and we should have taken care of ourselves about the free food. (just an opinion)
You can put "it is obvious" in front of the following.
First: who worked their tails off at cleaning up this place. The grounds crew along with housekeeping should get more than the lion’s share of credit for an outstanding effort.
Second: who made the boo-boo for not having generators ready to use.
Third: that there was a lack of having or following any predetermined procedural steps.
Fourth: that there was no thought to plan for communication venues.
Fifth: that someone dropped the ball for supervision of water, water contamination, or implementing a schedule for common water use.
Sixth: why people get so upset at what we are to believe? One day we are to believe (as stated in the Board Minutes) that things were done so poorly during Hurricane Emily because our general manager was new and inexperienced. Then at our most recent board meetings this same general manager is having us believe that he had been through four plus major hurricanes up north and knows what’s to be done? Which is true?
Agree or disagree, feel free to express yourself.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
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22 comments:
I'm happy to see that you're back up and running. Thanks for the updates. I heard a rumor and I wonder if it is true. I have been told that Rita Priest and Mrs. Larry were in charge of letting people back in the village after the storm and that they used this opportunity to pressure people into signing the stupid re-call!! leave it to the SGG.
Fiction or fact??
it doesn't surprise me that you are totally negative AGAIN!!!
This is why we need to replace our GM immediately. Come on BOD lets get the show on the road.
Any estimate on how many were in the Village when the hurricane hit? And how long until people were able to reach the mainland via swingbridge? Were they able to reach mainland by boat while swingbridge was out?
RE: I have to say I was somewhat bothered that Aramark had their employees cooking, catering, and cleaning up after us
But if no employees were working and helping to clean up immediately after the storm, surely you'd be complaining that management didn't care about getting the Village back in order, and that it's the employees' job to work at restoring the Village? And didn't you yourself state that you were restoring the place where you work?
I had the problem with the employees cooking, catering, and cleaning up the mess we made, not hurricane Dolly's. They ended up having to do both. I felt they should have been given a little more consideration towards their needs and the needs of their family during this time of crisis instead of spending the time towards pampering ours. They really didn't need to be here feeding and picking up after us.
So why didn't the people remaining in the Village volunteer to cook and clean up after themselves and let the Aramark employees go home???
Also, isn't it your personal responsibilty to check out weather conditions and evacuation??? I don't feel sorry for anyone who stayed on LIV knowing full well that there was a Hurricane headed straight for them. Many other residents used good judgement and left hours earlier. Come on people, quit blaming management for your own stupidity!
Everyone keeps saying what a wonderful job Larry did during & after the hurricane. I would like to know specifically what he did that was so wonderful?
As we all know there will always be disagreement among people. There is no way to appease everyone.
If Larry did such a wonderful job I too would like to know what 'he' did, not what 'he' did after others made suggestions as to what should be done.
Did the residents have access to what the evacuation plan entails? Since I wasn't there, I don't know.
It's obvious the plan needs to be revamped and all residents should have a copy.
RE: So why didn't the people remaining in the Village volunteer to cook and clean up after themselves and let the Aramark employees go home???
Sorry Joey, but I would like to respond to this person.
You would have to ask those who were in charge why they didn’t have such a voluntary scenario. While you’re at it, you might want to ask why it wasn’t planned to start the day after the storm when it was really needed.
I would also suspect that most of us who stayed here could care less about your remorse.
So it appears you showed that good judgment which you mentioned and left, or weren’t even here to begin with. Well, it just might be a surprise to you that some owners here don’t have the financial luxury to relocate. Plus some owners thought it was safer here, where the twelve inches of possible rain water had somewhere to run off, unlike inland, as proven. But many owners, including myself, thought that this storm was not going to be as bad as it was, and put trust in our management that they had prepared on what to do afterward. Well, I guess you could call that last part as being my own stupidity.
Let's all just agree to disagree and move on! What's happened is past and we need to focus on the needs of the present and the future!
Let me think. Leave? Don't Leave? Personal decision. However, if you decide not to leave, it is YOUR responsibility to plan ahead - bottled water, generator, food that doesn't need to be cooked - - - I think it's called PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY! I Happen to know that people who stayed had access to freezers full of food. Owners (who had left LIV) called and encouraged people to use it. I know one person who had his propane grill going non-stop cooking all this food and inviting all to come and eat it. Hot dogs, burgers, steaks, shrimp, lobster - you name it, they cooked it. People took care of each other. They didn't go crying to the GM to take care of them. Again, I think it's called PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!
Give it a rest. If you had been here, you’d know that food was never an issue, except maybe to renters. The generators in question were not to run our homes but the pumps for sewage, ice machines, bridge, and more. Since you brought it up, that should have been management’s personal responsibilities. The only crying are the pleas for management to do a management job. It is what it is, so give it a rest. Let’s move on to fix the problems.
Here, here!!! All we want, as residents is a GM who will do a good job 'managing'.
RE: Everyone keeps saying what a wonderful job Larry did during & after the hurricane. I would like to know specifically what he did that was so wonderful?
He issued a couple of dozen more ROSE COLORED GLASSES! PLEASE Hansen, McBride, Young, Peterson, and Dodson refuse to wear a pair and do what is right. IF you stick together you can bring peace and prosperity back into our Village. You owe it to your supporters. Rally us together and will be at the meeting to support you. Don't be bullied by Burke (just look at her approval rating). And remember eventhough Steffensen seems to do a good job as treasurer she is definetely a "rose-Colored glass wearer" where the GM is concerned, so don't count on an unbiased opinion there.
If you agree PLEASE let Hansen, McBride, Young, Peterson, and Dodson know that they should take action at the Board meeting this month.
Hear, Hear!! Are you listening Hansen, Peterson, Young, McBride & Dodson....If you stick together you can MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN by getting rid of the GM. The leaving of the GM would certainly take the wind out of the SGG's sails plus Burkes.
The SGG and company do not want what is best for the Village. They are interested only in their personal agenda.
We need a new GM who will manage and not try to be a dictator. We need a GM who can tell the truth plus treat staff and residents with respect.
Ditto to the above comment. We are behind you guys all the way. I don't know how one can keep the current GM when one never knows if he is telling the truth or not and most of us have witnessed that. I am sick and tired of the SGG. Get a life and do something constructive not destructive.
I was reading the blog this AM.. Please just try not to give a second thought about gathering people for support to counteract this proposed impeachment. Asking those who might have been persuaded by a group of underhanded concern owners is stooping to that groups level. My voice came with a vote. A vote for people who could do the job that needed to be done.
This park was dictated by Larry before with a very lacked board. And it is being run by Larry still... just with a different group of people. Where are our leaders that we voted for?
I know its hard to be divided. I would respect those who played by the rules and LOST more then those who intended to make trouble and involve as many people as they could anyway they could get them. I am afraid it's come down to vanity as far as certain board members are concerned. Their lives have changed since serving LIV. Was it worth it?
That's not the question NOW.
It really shouldn't be a show down. Just get the job done. Humble and direct. The out come will be the out come.
YOUR SUPORT WAS OUR VOTE!
Well lots of comment about the food! Big deal, even the Hamburgers "dissappeared" for the Dog & Burger feed! Dogs only for LIV!! One meal with Brisket was worth standing in line for, the rest were mundane, the MRE's from the Salvation Army were better. Main attencance was the SGG group and freeloaders of the type that sneak onto the Golf Course! Free food really brings them out, no matter what the reason!
As for the staff working/cooking, some of them are so scared of losing their positions here that even joking about some matters/events with them evokes a response indicating this fear! Too bad a few more LIV citizens are not conversant in Spanish, what you would hear!!!
If my livlyhood depended on LIV, I too would responde positively to working vs. taking care of my family, under those conditions!
Time for a change!!
I would like for everyone to know what happened to us during the aftermath of Hurricane Dolly.
Ken and I are owners, Lot 301. We also own the South Padre Office Center on the Island. As vendors for Long Island Village, we have experienced some questionable behavior by our General Manager, Larry DeMalade. We have made it quite clear that we want a replacement for Larry, and he knows it as well.
Before Dolly arrived, we left Ken’s car across the swing bridge, so after Dolly we were able to get to our store. Thanks to Kurt and Jennifer Hoberg for the boat rides across the Intracoastal until the swing bridge was able to be crossed! We had some damage to our business, so we were not at home during the days following Dolly. We came home every evening, and were puzzled as to why our toilet tanks were not filling up. We had heard that the water in the park was being turned on occasionally, but our tanks showed no sign of the water being turned on.
At the “Town Hall” meeting the Saturday after Dolly, I spoke to the body of people who was there, including Larry and Patricia Burke, and said that I understood that the water was being turned on periodically. I asked if this was over the entire Village or only to selected areas. Larry and Patricia responded that it was the entire Village. I stated that we did not have water at our house. Larry asked where we lived, and I told him Lot 301. He mumbled something to Armando, then stated, “We have turned the water off in your area.”
Now, we kind of figured that since management knew the water was off in our neighborhood, and had admitted turning off the water, our water would be turned back on and we would surely have full toilet tanks when we got home Saturday night. WRONG!
SUNDAY evening, we got home just about the same time that electric power was restored to Long Island Village, and we received word from a friend that the water was also restored. Not so at our house! We then flagged down a couple of LIV workers and asked them to see why our water was still off. (The men will remain anonymous to protect them.) After 20 minutes, one of them came to our door and stated that they were still searching to find how the water was turned off to our neighborhood. Apparently, the “usual” way was not used. After another 15 minutes, they reported that they had turned the water back on. Ken went with one of the men and looked around the neighborhood to be sure there were no water leaks anywhere. None were found. The worker said to my husband, “I don’t know why the water was turned off.”
Well, we know! This was a deliberate act.
Larry must go.
Cheryl Vaughan
Lot 301
Oh, come on! Larry deliberately ordered your neighborhood to have no water? You got facts to back that up, or strictly speculation - yeh that''s what i thought, only speculation (aka LIES)!
Please tell us, then, why the water was not turned on when Larry was informed and acknowledged that he had turned the water off. Why did he not turn it back on? Please post your answer. And, if you have the guts, please identify yourself. Or are you just another coward?
Cheryl Vaughan
Lot 301
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