July 9, 2021

On July 9, 2021 I was trimming the shrubs in front of my place, as I have done for more than ten years since I purchased my home. When I moved here, the board knew I had a small garden in front of my home and had no problem with it. So for many years I was content to maintain these plants.

Years and years ago this place was rather easy going. Occasionally someone would plant flowers outside their gate or put one or two small knickknacks in front of their home. No one went crazy and placed a lot of things outside their home. This all changed a few years ago.

Now on this fine evening I was doing my usual pruning as I had always done. I made no attempt to hide this activity. This is when the president and vice president saw me doing this and started to video (record?) me. They demanded that I immediately stop "destroying the landscaping."
The following video is what happened next.

Scroll down to see my remarks about the recording.

3:14 (minutes:seconds)
Diane Medeiros stated, "She (my neighbor) is not doing anything that hasn't been there for a long time." Well, neither am I. As a matter of fact, look at my immediate neighbor’s condo (to the west). There you will see planters, a bench, and other knickknacks. Again, why doesn't she come under the same scrutiny that I have?

[Let me make something very clear. I have nothing against my neighbor, Antoinette. Her garden has existed as long as mine has. At the time her garden was planted, many homeowners were allowed to plant a small garden in front of their home. She has every right to maintain it. If the situation was reversed, she would have every right to use my shrubs as an example of unequal enforcement.]

3:46
Daniel Hillman states that the vice president, Diane Medeiros, cannot speak for herself, and that she is under his direction. All members of the board are supposed to be independent. The board president has no authority to delegate tasks to other board members or to speak for them.

4:26
Daniel Hillman is confusing a board president with a company president. The president and vice presidents on a board of directors, for the most part, have equal authority. There are some things only the president, and on occasion the vice president, can do, such as sign contracts.
A company president, which we do not have, will have company (not board) vice presidents and directors reporting to him. Now, these vice presidents and directors ARE under the company president's direction.

4:47, et al.
Daniel Hillman keeps referring to the shrubs I have planted as "his landscaping." These shrubs may belong to me or to the association, but I am absolutely sure they do not belong to Daniel Hillman.
4:47 "You are sitting there with this cutting down my landscaping."
12:02 "Sir, all I'm asking you to do is stop cutting down my landscaping."
12:44 "Stop cutting down my landscaping."

13:13 & 14:01
Daniel Hillman mentions that I am cutting down trees. I have never cut down a tree.

12:34
The police were called and an officer came out. Daniel Hillman spoke to the officer first; then I did. The officer told me that it was a civil matter and left.
Why was an officer requested in the first place?

• I had already stopped trimming the shrubs.
  
• No one was harmed or threatened.
  
• As the police officer explained, it was a civil matter.
  
• I was standing in front of my own home as I have every right to do.
  
• The president and vice president could have left at any time.
• No one was keeping them there.