Sometimes the “small stuff” matters. Building leaders got this lesson reinforced at the Feb. 8 meeting of the Hillcrest Leadership Council, when Idelma Quintana, our District 6 Commissioner who represents us at City Hall, lauded two of our Hillcrest leaders for their efforts.

She applauded Hillcrest 3 President Jim Bowers for working with Hollywood officials to save an old tree in front of his building.  Initially, that tree was going to be torn down as the City put in sidewalks on Hillcrest Court and Hillcrest Lane.

But Jim worked with Quintana and other City officials to save the tree.  They did this by letting Hillcrest 3 donate some of its land for the sidewalk project.  The donation let the City make a loop around the back of the tree to keep the new sidewalk reaching its final destination.

Commissioner Quintana also thanked Michelle Delvecchio, President of Hillcrest 24.  Delvecchio contacted Quintana and worked with City employees to address a water main break during the long New Year weekend. Because of the holiday weekend, the needed part was hard to find. Thanks to Quintana, City employees interrupted their holiday time off and tried to help, but the part they supplied unfortunately did not work. The point was that Delvecchio left no stone unturned to get the problem fixed, including bringing in water and finding outside amenities for the residents with the help of Commissioner Quintana. 

As always, Commissioner Quintana encouraged residents to contact her when something is on their minds.  She said she is there to look out for us at City Hall. Her email is: iquintana@hollywoodfl.org.

And Sgt. Eller from the Hollywood Police Department gave leaders a January crime update.  All reported crimes were vehicle related.  Sgt. Eller reported that during January, a catalytic converter was stolen; two Kia’s were swiped, and a Bently was taken from adjoining Parkview at Hillcrest. Kia is aware of the problem of their fobs being easily “cloned” and when thieves steal the car, it doesn’t alert anyone to see a person accessing the vehicle with a fob.

Next up was a former public-school teacher who works on environmental legislation.  

Among other things, she wants the City to make sure we are ready to deal with flooding that experts warn is coming from climate change.  Related to that, Uden expressed concern that we do not overpopulate the barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway.  Why?  She cited hurricane evacuation as a major concern.

Uden also stressed the importance of following the Master Plan the City prepares.  She has observed that important aspects of master plans are not being followed.  The former teacher also urged the City to make decisions that “take care of future generations.” You can email her at cuden33019@gmail.com. To learn more about her campaign, go to CatUdenForMayor.com. And you can make a donation at: https://secure.anedot.com/catherine-uden-campaign/donate.

Continuing the meeting, a Code Officer with the Code Compliance Unit introduced himself.  Alan Maestu works the night shift.  He said residents can email him with code compliance issues even though he covers a different part of the City.  Maestu will forward the information to the person who can help Hillcrest.  He can be reached at amaestu@hollywoodfl.org.

During the last part of the meeting, people who run the various Hillcrest buildings discussed financial problems, insurance issues, and efforts to keep costs down. All agreed that these stressful times are due to a variety of factors that are making condo living more expensive than ever before. Hopefully as the presidents get to know each other better, they will unite when it comes to everything from hiring vendors, contracting services and possibly even getting together to see if 24 buildings coming together can get lower insurance rates.

In a sign that times are sometimes less-than-neighborly in many of our buildings, a few buildings felt the need to have a police officer attend their annual meeting.  Cindy Abraham, the HLC secretary, talked about “hate groups” gaining strength in buildings as maintenance and assessment pressures mount. To clarify her description, Abraham pointed out that people who constantly point out problems and do not offer solutions, and who spread unfounded rumors about the board’s efforts or the board members themselves, deserve the moniker. Her advice to these people was, “Step up or shut up”.

She offered a few suggestions and offered the services of current building presidents who are currently dealing successfully with disruptive voices, so that the newer presidents and board members would have a source to seek advice on how to quell the negative influences and unfounded accusations.