I posted this in GD as well, but would like the WA HTF perspective. I'm just needy like that!
I live in a 30-home subdivision in one of the more rural cities in King
County, Washington. My wife & I have been living here for nearly
six years and pretty much keep to ourselves. It's a nice little place
to live.
The very first time we came through here, we were
house-shopping. I saw a decorative sign at the entrance to this
subdivision and the first thought to come to mind was "Home Owners'
Association". Upon further research, it was determined that one did not
exist.
Back when this place was built, supposedly an HOA was to have been established by the developer. That did not happen.
For well over five and a half years, all was peachy.
Towards
the latter half of last month, one of the neighbors (the neighborhood
busybody) took it upon herself to determine that the entrance sign to
the subdivision was old and no longer serviceable. She came
door-to-door and told everyone that she got an estimate to replace the
carved & painted wooden sign with one made from stone. My wife
answered the door, I was out of sight in the kitchen eating lunch but
was able to hear every syllable. She told my wife that the cost per
household was to be $100 and a new entrance sign would not only improve
our property values but inspire everyone to maintain their yards
better. My wife rebutted with a reference to a house close to the
entrance to our subdivision that is very unkempt. There's grass growing
out of control, competing with blackberries, boarded-up windows and
some roof shingles missing from the nearly 20-year-old house. That's
when Ms. Busybody told my wife that she's approached the city and
county about getting that house condemned. Since we don't have an HOA,
Ms. Busybody said that if everyone in the neighborhood got onboard a
petition, we could get the house condemned and have the property turned
into a park.
My wife told her that she needed to discuss the
matter with her husband (me) and they parted ways. I told my wife that
I heard all and said, "Do we really need to spend three grand on a
fucking rock?" That's all it took to convince my wife to see things my
way.
About a week later, while I was at drill with my ANG unit,
Ms. Busybody returned with the following flier. I copied it straight
from Adobe (I scanned it). Yes, this crazy woman believes one ought to
capitalize every single word in the English language.
Hi REDACTED Residents!
I Had The Pleasure Of Speaking With Some Of You In The Past Few Days
About Our Entrance Sign. In Case I Missed You I Would Like To Explain What
Will Be A Group Effort In Replacing And Landscaping 'The Front Of Our
Development. Not Only Will This Improve The Look Of The Neighborhood
Upon Entrance To The Development, It Will Improve Our Home Value Making
It A More Desirable Place To Live And Beautify Our Neighborhood And
Establish Pride To Our Little Tight Knit Community Within REDACTED.
I Have Gotten An Estimate From A Local Sign Specialist And Have Called A
Local Company REDACTED Just Down The Road To Get Some Estimates For Rock
And Landscape Materials. What We Are Proposing To Do Is Replace The
Existing Sign With A Large Stone Carved One That Sits On A Rockery With A
Dry Riverbed And Low Maintenance Plants With Some Landscape Stones.
In Order To Keep The Prices Down So That This Would Be Affordable For All,
Some Of The Work Would Have To Be Done Ourselves Rather Than Hiring It
Out. We Have Already Had A Few Volunteers Come Forward In This Effort To
Beautify Our Neighborhood For All.
I Have Estimates For The Permit, Signage, And The Landscaping. Pooling All
Of Our Monies Together Will Help Pay For These Landscape Features.
Working As A Team Means That All The Work And Expense Responsibilities
Does Not Fall On Any One Person. I Have Also Included A Picture Of What The
End Result Will Look Like. The Money Will Be Collected Upon Everyone's
Approval In The Neighborhood. Each Home In REDACTED Is To Split The
Cost And Any Monies Leftover In The End Will Be Split Between The
Contributors Evenly.
The Estimated Total Cost Is $3,187.00 Dollars. Out Of The People That I Have
Spoken With If Each Household Contributes $125.00 Dollars We Should Have
Sufficient Funds To Complete The Project. Of Course These Figure Can
Change If Anyone Were To Back Out.
The Money Will Be Collected By June 1, 2009. This Then Will Allow Us To
Place Our Order And Start 'The Ground Preparation For The New Sign. Money
Can Be Dropped Off To REDACTED Or REDACTED At REDACTED ADDRESS AND
PHONE NUMBER
Thank You For Your Contributions!!
My
wife politely told her that we were not going to participate in this
endeavor and broke off immediately. I'm not sure if she bladed at 45
degrees, or even had a massive adreneline dump.
This past
Wednesday, Ms. Busybody had the audacity to again come door-to-door and
solicit cash or check. My wife told her again that we were not playing
along. This is when things got interesting. Apparently, when walking
away down my driveway, Ms. Busybody muttered something about how
"everyone else is going to have to contribute more" to offset our
non-participation. My wife let loose. She told Ms. Busybody that she
didn't appreciate hearing that shit on our property and told her that
we know for a fact that there are other neighbors not contributing. I
came outside at that point. Ms. Busybody flashed us an envelope full of
money and said that everyone else is paying. I retorted with, "Well,
they do say a sucker is born every minute." Ms. Busybody didn't like
that.
I had two theories as to why Ms. Busybody decided to take
on this little project. First, I thought that they were going to sell
within six months and are trying to eke out every cent they could from
the sale of their home. The second, more remote idea I hade was that
she's grooming her resume to run for office. Well today, my second
theory has been realised. A neighbor has a banner on the front of their
house proclaiming "Ms. Busybody for REDACTED City Council".
I will update when the letters to the editors I have written get published.
What sayeth the Hive Mind?
In before: Move out, That's what you get for living there (city / country / county / state / time zone), SSS, etc.