Letter to the editor
To the editor:
In addressing the letters printed in the Herald from Haim Bar-Akiva, Dianne McCarthy, Bruce Fritzges and Emily McDonald ("Letters to the editor," Aug. 31, 2001, Page 10A) regarding their current lawsuit against the Twin Rivers Homeowners Association, it is important to focus on the issues and not their rhetoric.
On the issue of eligible voter lists, the TRHA thought it had settled this issue. The list is available with a prudent proviso that it only be used for campaigning and not for personal or commercial gain. The plaintiffs refused this offer. They demand that the list identify owners who are delinquent in their maintenance fees, and they reject any restrictions on their use of the list.
In October 2000, Haim Bar-Akiva requested the following documents: "All books and records for 1995 to present." Among the specific items he requested were money collected from delinquent unit owners through legal action, all cancelled bank checks, accounting records of all unit owners identified by the owner’s name and unit number, and names and addresses of unit owners.
They demand that all board members be treated equally and that resolution 2000-1 be rescinded. Resolution 2000-1 outlines disciplinary procedures for board members, and it pertains to all board members. The ACLU itself has such procedures, yet they challenge ours.
No one has ever been denied access to Twin Rivers Today, except if the letter was defamatory in the opinion of our counsel. In the course of discovery in this lawsuit, we have learned that the plaintiffs don’t seek equal access to our newspaper; they seek to censor what may and may not be written about.
The plaintiffs originally wanted a one-person one-vote system, with tenants of rental properties casting the votes instead of the property owner. At least one of the plaintiffs still wants this system. The others recently changed their demand to a one-unit one-vote system. It is unclear if tenants or owners of rented units would vote under their new proposal.
Other facts that have been exposed during the discovery process are these: Emily and Ed McDonald, two of the plaintiffs, are leaving Twin Rivers; monies collected by the CBTR were deposited into the personal checking account of Haim Bar-Akiva; the CBTR hides the identities of its members by using code names in their minutes, yet they accuse others of secrecy and financial impropriety.
Their lawsuit is uncalled for and selfish litigation that must be ended by the CBTR.
They also wrote that the Twin Rivers Board of Directors is against legislation that would benefit community associations. This is simply more misleading rhetoric. The bill they refer to is called UCIOA, which is an acronym for the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. Such a bill has long been advocated not only by the people they mentioned, but also by the Twin Rivers board and every other homeowner association-related group in New Jersey. They fail to mention, however, that the proposed legislation is not supported in its present form. Another group, the CIHC, of which Ms. McCarthy is president, is blocking all attempts at compromise that would make this bill a reality.
Evan Greenberg
East Windsor
The writer is vice president of the Twin Rivers Homeowners Association Board of Directors.

