Do It Again

Instead of a movie response this year to the Board’s rewarmed, overreaching amendments to the declaration of condominium, I wrote a song.

More precisely, I wrote some words, ruining a really great song. I ain’t exactly Paul McCartney or Enrico Caruso either. Despite my horrible voice, Donald Fagen and the estate of Walter Becker graciously granted me copyright permission

I put it together with some slides laying out my objections to the Board’s proposals, which you can find in their limited proxy.

So I guess it’s a music video. It’s on YouTube.

It’s slightly over 5 minutes long. Don’t play it too loud, or you’ll scare the horses.

Spooky stalkers

I just receive this text, from a person who did not identify themself.

This is utterly bizarre. These psychos are (anonymously) watching and photographing our balcony. Stalkers.

More control freakiness from the condo board

The other shoe dropped. The Condo Board is now claiming their authority to ban bird feeders on balconies lies with the following rule (5c)

Do not store food of any kind on balconies or throw food of any kind from balconies to the ground below. This attracts feral cats, raccoons, coyotes, and birds. Do not feed stray animals No owners, guests or tenants are permitted to feed feral cats, peacocks, or any animals of unknown origin outside of the units they occupy, for the health and safety of the entire community.

A bird feeder does not do any of these things. The birds that might come to a feeder are of known origin: Cape Canaveral. The birds I've seen land on our balcony, without a feeder, have been of three species: mourning doves, northern cardinals and boat-tailed grackles, all local birds. The rule was instituted to try to discourage people from feeding feral cats, and people shouldn't feed feral cats. Any Brevard resident with a soul learns to love the peacocks, which are feral but perennially amusing. But feeding them is unnecessary. As a local webpage puts it.

Peafowl are a beautiful attraction to the neighborhood and are excellent for insect control. They also eat plants and can live very well foraging for food on their own in the wild.

Putting a bird feeder on one's balcony in Ocean Oaks is mostly a waste of time. Few if any birds will visit. This is not the Northeast, where birds might get hungry after a snowstorm. But we have no rules that could reasonably be interpreted to forbid it.

I received a few months ago a phone call from another owner, whom I will not name. He said "Ocean Oaks used to be our happy place. Thanks to the Board, it is no longer".

I felt so sad after that call. The Board's heavy-handedness hurts residents' lives.

Streng verboten, in the original German.

Our condo board (Eigentumsvorstand), evidently having nothing better to do, has declared war on bird feeders.

Bird Feeders Are Not Allowed

We have received complaints from owners regarding bird feeders on balconies in both buildings. Please remove them immediately. If they are not removed, owners will receive a courtesy notice.

How on earth does a bird-feeder harm anyone?