Bully Pulpit

BULLY PULPIT… Squid does not take kindly to bullies, but Squid is never surprised when they do their bullying anonymously – that’s often how they roll.

Such was the case with a letter – sent via snail mail – that an East Garrison resident received recently. Presumably, it was from someone who lives there and was unhappy about that person’s comments in a Feb. 22 cover story in the Weekly about residents’ complaints over what they view as an authoritarian homeowner’s association with a management company they feel like is spying on them, or at least doing the bidding of the HOA board.

The person who received the letter was an on-the-record, named source for that cover story. Many other residents Squid’s colleague spoke to for the story would not go on the record, expressing fear of retaliation. Turns out, those concerns were legit: When the previously on-the-record source in question shared the letter with Squid’s colleague, they indicated they wanted to remain anonymous, at least for now. When Squid’s colleague saw the letter, he understood the concern, despite the return address on the envelope that reads: “Your Friends, East Garrison.”

The typed letter begins, “We are writing to let you know that your neighbors hate you… The depths of your stupidity never cease to amaze. The fact that you are also an ugly pig only makes things worse. You look like some type of hunchback bug or beetle… Fuck off you loud mouth useless piece of shit skank. Cheers, Your neighbors who despise you.” Squid omitted even more offensive lines from the letter, believing the above is enough for one to get the gist.

But that’s not the only East Garrison news that’s popped up since the story came out. Cindy May, who also went on record for the recent story, sold her East Garrison home earlier this month – she closed escrow Feb. 9. A few days ago she received an unexpected thing in the mail: a bill for her HOA dues for a house she no longer owns. Baffled, she called her title company that handled escrow, and was assured that her HOA dues – along with dues owed by the new owners – were paid and sent to the HOA’s management company. But, she was told, the checks had not yet been cashed after two weeks. Furthermore, she says she hadn’t told anyone in the HOA, or her title company, her new address. So May is wondering how and why the HOA’s management company managed to both track her down, but also not cash the checks?

She took to the East Garrison NextDoor page to ask how this could have happened, and to let her former neighbors know, but the post was taken down a day later by one of the page’s administrators.

Squid thinks it’s generally good when neighbors look out for neighbors, but a “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” approach? That’s Orwellian.