The Ilikai AOAO Board of Directors’ meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 30, 2010, in the afternoon.  The meeting is on the 2nd floor.  The executive session (closed to non-directors) is scheduled for 2 – 3:30 PM, to be followed by the regular session (open to owners) at 3:30 PM.  Ilikai owners are invited and encouraged to attend and participate.  If you are in town, make effort to attend.

The Ilikai AOAO Board of Directors’ meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 26, 2010, in the afternoon.  The meeting is on the 2nd floor.  The executive session (closed to non-Directors) is scheduled for 2 – 3:30 PM, to be followed by the regular session (open to owners) at 3:30 PM.  Ilikai owners are invited and encouraged to attend and participate.  There are lots of important things happening that will affect the Ilikai and its future and our property values.  If you are in town, make effort to attend.

The next meeting of the Ilikai AOAO Board of Directors is scheduled for Thursday, June 24, 2010, in the afternoon.  I will post more information once I get it.  So many things are happening.  Owners are invited and encouraged to attend!

I was waiting for the AOAO to mail out the PROXY packages so that I can give proper instructions for those owners who would like to vote for me.  The AOAO has mailed the PROXY packages.  You should have received yours by now or will receive in the next days.

The PROXY package contains this Notice of the Ilikai AOAO Annual Meeting, a blank PROXY form, as well as personal statements of individuals running for the Board of Directors.

The Ilikai AOAO Annual Meeting will take place Tuesday, March 2, 2010, in the Mauna Kea Ballroom at the Hawaii Prince Hotel.  The reception/registration is scheduled to commence at 5 PM, followed by the meeting starting at 6:30 PM.

PROXY ISTRUCTONS:

If you would like to vote for me, then here are PROXY INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1:  Please write my name (Olga V. Geling) on the PROXY form as shown here.  Click on this link to see a sample of a filled out form.  Make sure to also write your name, apartment number, date (very important), and signature.

STEP 2:  It would be best for many reasons if you then give the filled out PROXY form to me directly (and NOT to the AOAO office).  This way I can keep track of my votes and also make sure that these proxies do not get “lost” or whatever.  Once I get them, I will make copies of them and take the originals to the AOAO office myself by the due date of February 26.  I live in the building, so it is easy to do.  To give the proxies to me, you could proceed in the following ways: (a) mail it to me to: Olga Geling, Ilikai # 1338, 1777 Ala Moana Blvd, HI 96815; or (b) if you are in town and in the building, then either slide it under my door (1338) or give to me in person (simply e-mail to me to olga@ilikaiowners.com and we can arrange the time).

If any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, my e-mail is olga@ilikaiowners.com.  I would be happy to meet and also talk on the phone.  (I hesitate to put my phone on the website because I already receive odd calls from some people I do not know trying to fish for information, it is very odd to get this type of calls.  But I would be happy to talk to folks who identify themselves.)

In the next days, starting today, I will post on various subjects related to the Ilikai and my vision for what the Board of Directors should work on.

In my opinion, our current Board is a complete disaster.  They either drag their feet and do nothing, or if they do get their act together and do something then almost inevitably it turns to be a disaster.

I really try very hard to maintain a positive outlook and be polite and patient.  But I just don’t know how any more.  How can anyone?  How can anyone be patient considering the way our AOAO is managed now?  Over $1.4M in delinquencies; paying to Lyle Hosoda circa $130K (per Richard Emery’s information) to collect Anekona’s delinquencies with $0 collected so far and serious concerns about their collection “strategies”; the $130K+ increase in insurance premiums fiasco; tens of thousands of dollars owned to us by eRealty because they damaged our ramp, with still nothing collected; spending over $20K on attorney fees to investigate the Hilton structure roof and then “forgetting” about it without follow-up; not wanting to deal with the Hilton luau noise even though it affects at least one-third of the building; getting Milton Motooka as the association’s legal counsel back here despite serious questions about his role at the time Forward One brought Shell and Shell’s timeshare here; spending over $100K on some pool membrane repair, and now budgeting to spend over $100K more; planning to spend $80K on a security office relocation even though the AOAO already has a 99-year lease for a security office almost for free (at $12 a year).  I can go on and on and on.

But here is the latest example.  Did you see what they – the Board and the AOAO manager that is – do to our passenger elevator?  After months of talking about elevator cab “renovations,” the Board apparently started the process and “renovated” one.  I could not believe my eyes when I saw it.  I talked to several other owners, and they were just as shocked.  Here is what they did.  The Board decided to replace the current flooring in the elevators with carpet.  Why? – Who knows.  Not only that, but they also decided to put carpet on the walls.  Yes, you read it right, carpet on the walls.  They then found the cheapest looking carpet available in the City and County of Honolulu, – and put that carpet on the floor and the walls.  The result: an elevator that is terribly claustrophobic and hopelessly cheap looking.  And of course, the carpet on the floor already looks old, worn and dirty, even though it is literally several days old.  How are they planning to keep it clean, with all the sand, wet shoes from the beach etc?  Keep in mind that there is no A/C in the elevators.  So mold is just a matter of time.

Can you imagine what they are going to come up with for the hallway carpet?

What is my point? – My point is this: Vote for me to elect me on the Board of Directors, put me (Olga Geling) on the proxy, so that I get on the Board, so that I tackle the above listed issues.  We need fresh representation on the Board and people who are capable and willing to take the bull by his horns and solve problems.  I am such a person.  Vote for me.

Richard Emery (of Hawaii First, a property management company retained by the Ilikai AOAO to provide financial management services) stated on several occasions that the Ilikai delinquencies are now in excess of $1,490,000, of which circa $1,260,000 are Anekona delinquencies.  At a Board meeting at the end of October, I asked Richard Emery whether these figures included legal fees.  Mr. Emery explained that indeed, these figures include various fees related to efforts that were supposed to help collect those delinquencies.  For ex., Lyle Hosoda was contracted by the AOAO at the end of 2008 specifically to focus on collection of Anekona delinquencies.  At the October 2009 meeting, Richard Emery quoted $125K-$135K as the amount of fees to Lyle Hosoda.  He also added that those total dollar amounts may include some of the legal fees to Chris Goodwin, the AOAO’s ex legal counsel.  When I asked how much of the Anekona delinquencies have been collected so far, the answer was $0. 

By the way, how did Lyle Hosoda get here?  Lyle Hosoda was recommended by Richard Emery.  Some of the current Board Directors, incl. Bob Romo and Lea Sasak, sided with Richard and were heavily pushing for contracting with Lyle Hosoda.  Anekona was removed from the Board in February 2009, i.e., almost a year ago.  The owners’-controlled Board has been officially in control since early March 2009.

Bundling the dollar amounts for the delinquencies and various fees is not particularly informative and could be misleading.  Therefore, I sent a letter to the Board and Richard Emery to request (a) to break down those bundled dollar amounts to show the amount of delinquencies and various fees, and (b) to request a status report on the collection efforts, incl. what the Board has done, is doing, and planning to do to collect, and how much they are envisioning to collect.  Here is the letter.  I did get a quick reply from Mr. Emery.  He wrote that “it is up to the Board to respond,” and that Hawaii First did not get paid extra for efforts to collect delinquencies.

I’d like to add that collecting delinquencies is not as hopeless as some individuals are trying to present. – It depends whom and how you go after.

This is in response to an owner who is having concerns and questions about his doors – apartment door and lanai doors – and also who is responsible for maintaining those, the owner or the AOAO.  He wrote, “I am totally confused and do not know what to do regarding the peeling laminate on my door.”  Come on, folks, that is easy.  I wish other things at the Ilikai were that straightforward and easy   I am posting this here in case others have similar questions.  Parenthetically, I am realizing more and more just how much I have learned over the last year and a half or so, about the Ilikai, but also condominiums, real property etc. 

To begin with, anyone with this type of questions should check the Ilikai governing documents.  The Ilikai Declaration, Bylaws and House Rules form the foundation.  Don’t just rely on what somebody else “thinks,” because there is plenty of incompetence and ignorance around here.  Also, contact the AOAO office, specifically, the AOAO manager, John Popovich.  That’s the starting point.

Back to the doors.  The AOAO is responsible for maintaining the exterior of the apartment door, whereas the owner is responsible for the interior of the door.  The AOAO budget each year allocates circa $10K-$16K to replace doors.  That is because doors wear out, get damaged etc, but not at the same rate.  So the AOAO replaces the most damaged doors each year.  There have been some changes over the years in terms of who (AOAO or owner) pays how much.  If I recall it correctly, the AOAO pays for the whole door these days (but I am not 100% sure, I don’t have plans to replace my door, so I did not pay full attention when this was discussed recently). 

Please also keep in mind that whenever the AOAO replaces your door, they would make sure that the new door has locks that are compliant with the House Rules.  Quite a few apartments have non-complying locks.  They are considered “grandfathered.”  But if you are getting a new door, it must have compliant locks.

Several months ago, under the previous President of the Board, Charles Carroll, the Board looked into changing the type of oak used.  There is red oak and there is white oak.  I always get confused which one is which.  The bottom line is that the AOAO used to have one type of oak, but several months ago the Board voted to switch to this other type of oak.  The new oak of choice (red or white – as said, I mix them up) costs significantly less, but actually looks more appealing.  It looks somewhat different.  Charles Carroll pointed out that the new type was more attractive and costs less.  He happens to have lots of experience with various oak doors, based on his professional experience.  I agree with him on that, but it’s personal preference, of course.  The AOAO office had a sample door stored.  I don’t know if they still have that sample door there or if they’ve installed it at some apartment.  Related to that: Since they are now using these lower priced doors (which happen to look nicer), the same amount allocated in the AOAO budget allows for more doors to be replaced per year.

This particular owner who was inquiring was reporting that his door has peeling laminate on the outside.  What should the owner do?  The owner should contact the AOAO office, specifically, the AOAO manager, John Popovich, to report the problem.  The AOAO office decides which doors to replace in a given year.  

Regarding the lanai sliding doors: The apartment owner owns the whole area from the lanai railing inwards, incl. the lanai doors.  Thus, the maintenance of the lanai doors is the responsibility of the owner.  The AOAO has nothing to do with it. – Except, of course, the fact that the Ilikai governing documents delineate the type of doors and glass to be used, for uniform appearance.

The next Ilikai AOAO Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 3 PM, on the 2^nd floor.  Board meetings are open to Ilikai owners.  Ilikai owners are invited and encouraged to attend.

Here is some information I received from John Hall about the Ilikai insurance, click here.  (John Hall is a Director on our Board and he also works for our current insurance carrier.)  I reference there a summary re flood insurance that I wrote last year after doing much research.

Note also the $50K deductible, compared to$10K last year.  It is a much worse deal.

I am still confused why the AOAO pays for insurance for Hawaii First.  This came up at today’s Board meeting.  Mr. Emery of Hawaii First elaborated, but I could not comprehend the reasoning.

Reminder:  The next Ilikai AOAO Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for today, October 29, 2009 at 3 PM, in Kauai Room on the 2^nd floor.  Board meetings are open to Ilikai owners.  Ilikai owners are invited and encouraged to attend.

I haven’t had a chance to post the insurance information yet because I was busy writing another letter to the Board re timeshare.  It is a strongly worded letter.  It is appalling that the Board and our legal counsel still have not started dealing with timeshare internally by citing Shell for the violation, levying fines etc.