Top Three Takeaways – June 30th, 2021

Top Three Takeaways – June 30th, 2021

1. The assessment of assessments. While we’ve been conditioned to assume it’s going to be awhile before the cause of the collapse at Champlain Towers South, the pieces of the puzzle continue coming together. When the 2018 engineering report was released by Surfside over the weekend, the view of the possible, if not the likely, began to come into focus. A report citing numerous cracks and citing “major structural damage to the concrete structural slab”, painted a picture of a building in need of significant repairs. Unclear as recently as Monday, was the extent to which that report had been acted on, if at all. Another meaningful piece of the puzzle has emerged suggesting a likely answer. An April 9th, HOA board letter said concrete deterioration of the building was accelerating. Association President Jean Wodnicki said The concrete deterioration is accelerating. The roof situation got much worse. According to Jean, A lot of this work could have been done or planned for in years gone by. But this is where we are now. That letter was sent to residents to prepare them for a $15 million special assessment which would be required to pay for the needed repairs. We now know the roof repairs were underway. The structural issues, perhaps not. It would appear the waters were muddied after the original 2018 engineering report, when a Surfside building official told residents of Champlain Towers South in November of 2018, that the building was “in very good shape”. 
2. Objects in the rearview mirror may appear closer than they are. It’s important we focus on reality rather than what we want to hear or see. Having had experience as an HOA Vice-President of an oceanfront building needing structural repairs resulting huge special assessments... I get it. No one wants bad news. No one wants to have to pay huge money for large special assessments. But the lesson we are learning here, that’s a takeaway for those in similar buildings across our state, is that it’s important to focus on reality rather than what you want to hear. Even if a building official said the building was safe, did the major structural damage cited in the engineering report not exist? It appears likely that reality was realized in April, but perhaps by then it was too late. That’s a takeaway for every association in a similar situation. Structural issues don’t fix themselves or get better with time.
3. Football is homosexual. Leave it to the woke social justice warriors at the NFL to sexualize football. In the wake of Carl Nassib’s “coming out”, the NFL decided to capitalize or so they think. They literally want you to know that the NFL is Gay, Lesbian, Queer, Transgender. Accepting. That’s the message of the NFL’s new ad. Now, up to this point, and especially when I played in school, I never viewed the game as a sexual experience. Now I guess we’re supposed to be sexually aware of what’s happening with the pigskin? Congratulations to the NFL for being woke and sexually active, however in the context of football, I’d prefer to continue to think of gay as happy and queer as odd. Thank you.