Homeowners association battles in-house struggle

Martin Kuz

Monday, Jan. 12, 1998 | 10:06 a.m.

Gloria Gonzalez helped launch Justice for Home and Condo Owners in October 1996. Formed to foil the Draconian tactics of homeowners associations, the grass-roots group quickly sprouted into a legitimate political force.

Now, 15 months and a whole lot of infighting later, it would come as no surprise if Gonzalez and a few of her cohorts conceived a second group: Justice for the Founders of Justice for Home and Condo Owners.

"It feels like you're being stabbed by the people you're trying to help," Gonzalez said. "You start to ask, 'What's the point?'"

What has piqued Gonzalez -- and has her vowing to sever ties with Justice for Home and Condo Owners -- is nothing less than a battle for the group's soul. Alleging that a splinter faction has hijacked the group's name and obtained its membership list under false pretenses, Gonzalez and co-founder Judi Root contend they're being jettisoned from their own organization.

Those accused by Gonzalez and Root wave off the faction tag, denying any intention of muscling them aside. They instead counter that the group -- owing to its rapid growth -- has become rudderless, and that putting it back on course is a bigger job than two people can shoulder.

The bickering could crescendo at the group's next meeting this Saturday, which Gonzalez said she will attend to officially end her involvement. If that comes to pass, it would illuminate the dark side of grass-roots efforts: instead of chasing a common purpose -- in this case, bringing homeowners associations to heel -- the group cannibalizes itself, undone by petty internal squabbles.

"There are so many people involved in these homeowners association issues," said state Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, author of a bill passed during the 1997 legislative session that staunches associations' power. "And as more people jump on the bandwagon as it goes down the road ... sometimes they can get a little impatient and there can be a clash of personalities."

It is the oppressive, sometimes truly bizarre antics of home and condo associations that spurred Gonzalez, Root and Kate Davis, who left Las Vegas last year, to start their group. Within weeks they were deluged with horror stories from residents all over the city, ranging from associations foreclosing on homes to levying hefty fines for unkempt shrubbery.

As interest in Justice for Home and Condo Owners mushroomed, state lawmakers opened their ears. The result was passage of Senate Bill 314, branded the "Homeowners Association Bill of Rights."

Among other aspects of the law, it requires association boards to hold public meetings and bans them from clubbing homeowners with eminent domain. The initiative also creates a state ombudsman's office that will open in July to salve friction between residents and their boards.

Not long after last summer's political victory, however, fissures in Justice for Home and Condo Owners began to show. Frustration set in for some members -- already nonplussed by the absence of Gonzalez, who spent the summer in New Jersey with family -- when no meetings were scheduled following the group's Sept. 24 gathering.

Root said meetings were not held because "there was nothing new for us to offer." Then, early last month, she and other members received postcards that made no mention of Justice for Home and Condo Owners, but urged residents to attend a Dec. 13 powwow to air their association gripes.

Three weeks later another card arrived -- this one advertising a "notice meeting and election of officers of Justice for Home & Condo Owners" on Jan. 17. Root said she "saw stars when I realized they were using our name."

"If these people want to have a group, why use our name?" Gonzalez asked. "Why take our group?"

Exactly who mailed the cards remains something of a mystery. Root said she gave a copy of the group's membership list several weeks ago to a man who offered to plug the names into a computer for easier access. Root has since demanded the list back -- an attorney sent a letter to the member on her behalf -- but has yet to hear from him.

Gonzalez and Root maintain the man duped them into turning over the list, and that he and others wanted it solely to send out the notices to usurp control of the group.

"They tricked me," Root said. "It was done underhandedly, and now they're using our name. I was used."

On the advice of his attorney, the member refused comment last week through his secretary because of "pending future litigation." But Phil Testa, who early on joined Justice for Home and Condo Owners and is helping organize Saturday's meeting, dismissed allegations of a coup attempt.

"I don't think anyone's being cut out," said Testa, who mans a Justice for Home and Condo Owners hotline described as "unauthorized" by Root. "Last time I looked, Judi Root and Gloria Gonzalez are, like everyone else, being invited to be involved. The only thing that's important to everyone is SB314."

Testa also rejected the membership list dispute, saying at least five other group members have access to the names. "Everyone should have them. No one owns them," he said.

On the broader subject of who "owns" the group, Testa said its lack of non-profit status irks some members. Last year they pushed Gonzalez to register Justice for Home and Condo Owners as a non-profit with the state. She took the first step, applying for and receiving certification in March.

But when asked to submit a list of the group's officers and pay an additional fee within 60 days as required by state law, Gonzalez balked on the grounds that "we're not a business. We're not a political action group. We're a bunch of citizens trying to get the word out."

Her rationale apparently did little to mollify the pro-registration crowd, who feel that for the group to plow ahead, more people than Gonzalez and Root must clench the reins. In a more technical sense, by refusing to follow through on the application, Gonzalez left the group's name -- and by turn its identity -- up for grabs.

Yet as Gonzalez and Root decry what they see as a power play, Testa insisted that no one wants them bounced from the group. In fact, Testa hopes Gonzalez -- who said she still talks with him -- will be elected president at Saturday's meeting. And putting in place other officers will only help to harness an organization that now includes members from nearly 100 home and condo associations in the Las Vegas Valley, he added.

"This is not about one person. It's about the people. Basically, we're trying to unite the people out there to help them with their problems."

While Testa praised Gonzalez, however, other members provided a more withering review of her and Root's stewardship. They depict a two-headed hierarchy in such disarray that it discouraged residents from joining the cause.

"They're a do-nothing group," said Ed Klasky, embroiled in a clash with his homeowners association over satellite dishes. "They write a lot of letters that undo a lot of the work of the organization. I don't know who's been helped by them."

Mary King, like Klasky an early supporter of Justice for Home and Condo Owners, said she would "hate to see Gloria bow out." But in a revealing aside, she noted that the group is "too big for one or two people to do it all," and rebuffed accusations that anyone pinched its name.

"Why should the group take a different name? When they passed around the hat, these people contributed money. They felt they were a part of the group. The name doesn't belong to one person."

Gonzalez and Root agree to a point, saying they never sought to stake out a personal fiefdom. And both women maintain they were willing to delegate responsibility and even cede control of the group. But as they tell it, one small thing never happened.

"Nobody asked," said Gonzalez, a novelist who conceded that between her writing and the temp jobs she takes to pay bills, finding a couple of free hours for political activism can be impossible. "I know I don't always have the time. But even if I don't, come to me and say you want to take over things. I'll give you the [membership] list and we'll keep this thing going."

From his standpoint, perhaps a somewhat more objective perch, Schneider called the widening rift "unfortunate." But he ascribed no ulterior motives to either side's actions, and wants everyone's energy -- or ire, as it were -- redirected at home and condo associations.

"I don't think anybody is trying to do a dirty deed. That's not how I see it. I just see people trying to get involved."

Maybe so. Yet wherever the truth lies, it's likely the power struggle will weaken -- perhaps irreparably -- Justice for Home and Condo Owners. More significantly, the group's turf war has gauzed over the big picture: that the 60 percent of Las Vegas residents who live under associations still endure baffling restrictions like bans on parking sports utility vehicles in their own driveways.

And given that the group is still in its infancy, the loss of Gonzalez -- who despite Testa's pleas said she would "absolutely not" serve as president -- could cripple it before it ever starts to walk.

"Gloria's the one I trust," said Guy Cooke, who attended the first several meetings of Justice for Home and Condo Owners. "She's the backbone as far as I'm concerned. Without her, I'm really afraid to get involved with those other people. I don't really know what they're doing."

For their part, Testa, Klasky, King and others would like peace to prevail. "The most important thing is the movement itself and serving the homeowners," Klasky said. "We don't have room for any additional enemies. We need to move ahead."

Gonzalez and Root, however, view such talk as retroactive spin control, a half-hearted appeal meant only to conceal a takeover bid. Neither of them are biting, with Gonzalez asserting that the credibility of Justice for Home and Condo owners has "gone down the toilet."

"I think this group is going to die of its own volition. Anything started in the shadows and the darkness, that can't let light in, can't survive. They've harmed the revolution."

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