I was originally going to title this commentary “The Signal: Jackass 3” but I didn’t want to disparage the Paramount Pictures movie franchise that was debuting this weekend. Non-the less, the editors and managers (if you can call them that) are complete and utter jackasses for the front-page article that was printed in the Saturday, September 23, 2006 edition of the Signal.

It was the West Ranch Beacon, this blog, which first reported on the recall of the Stevenson Ranch Community Association Board. The Signal does not even have the decentcy or the integrity to acknowledge sources for stories that they run. In fact, when the reporter from the Signal called to get more information (yes, the reporters call on a regular basis) about my blog posting on the HOA recall I specifically requested that the Beacon be sited as the source for the story.

I have no doubt that the reporter put the Beacon as the source into her story only to have it edited out by the dirt-bags running that inked stained wad of recycled garbage. Further, the final article appears to be so edited that it is factually incorrect for the most part and heavily biased to one side. As history has shown this is typical of that local rag, which over the years has continued to get the facts wrong, and regularly misquotes local individuals.

What is shocking is the level of wrong information and outright lies that are peppered throughout the Signal article. It refers to Lynette Finley as the property manager for the Stevenson Ranch Community Association, which is completely false. Ms. Finley is a resident and board member of the association. Euclid Property Management is the current manager of the Stevenson Ranch Community Association (HOA).

The article goes on to blame her for raised dues and fewer services, which is false. Lynette was part of a board of directors that voted collectively for any increase in dues. For the most part, the board has voted unanimously on almost all proposed dues increases. The Stevenson Ranch Community Association dues are among the lowest in the area at only $33 a month paid quarterly.

As far as services are concerned, the association seems to have increased services and benefits to the community since Mr. Pritsker’s tenue on the board. One thing for sure, the legal expenses for the association have declined since Pritsker’s involvement ended.

Mr. Pritsker is quoted as complaining about the fences in the association “rotting” when in fact the fence maintenance was started under his watch as an association board member. During which time the board, including Pritsker, and the previous managers from The Management Compamy appear to have mishandled the entire project costing the association members thousands of dollars. Mr. Pritsker needs to take as much responsibility for the failures to properly maintain the association fences as he is freely hoisting on Ms. Finley.

As for David Harvey, he apparently has had problems with The Stevenson Ranch Community Association over the past several months. The HOA minutes indicate that Mr. Harvey was called to an HOA hearing, a week before he signed the recall petition, for making threatening statements to a private HOA security officer and the contracted security company. It appears that his motivation for the recall may be different then he stated in the Signal article .

The article goes on to claim it could not reach Lynette on Friday afternoon for comment. This is an outright lie! The Signal called Ms. Finley and myself to get comments on the recall. Lynette actually called me after speaking to the Signal reporter mid-afternoon on Friday, September 22nd!

The Signal article is so incomplete it should be considered fiction, and bad fiction at that. Once again, the local paper drops the ball on getting the facts straight for a relatively simple story. The Signal is a complete disgrace as a local paper as it continues to short change our community on factual information. One has to ask, that if the Signal blatantly lied and misrepresented the facts in the article on the recall, how can you trust anything that they print?

Dave Bossert
Rooting out facts and Exposing the Frauds