WonderlandWas


A Devastated Wasteland... The Wavemakers held a victory party on the night of the pivotal election. Ricky Bobby left a nasty and threatening voicemail for the property manager, and posted a horrible rant on the Wavemakers website. Yes, the Wavemakers were victorious in the election, but it would be a few years before the latent hostility dissipated and the full impact of Condogate would be fully understood. After the election, the six-person Wonderland board was split; three people were long-time board members and three people were the Wavemakers’ Witches of Westwick. As anyone could guess, the board could make few decisions with most votes split three-three. The Wavemakers attempted to claim that the board president couldn’t vote, thus guaranteeing that the Witches would carry every contest. Both the association’s and the Wavemakers’ attorneys agreed that the board president’s vote could not be disenfranchised. Score one for the good guys!


Perhaps The Greatest Residue was the ongoing animosity of


FromThe Nastiness... of Condogatef


in his Pyrrhic victory. Over the next couple of years,f


he


maintained the Wavemakers website and eventually, along with the Witches, initiated a lawsuit to remove one of the last good board members. Before the ultimate demise of the Wavemakers, both the property manager and eventually the management company walked away from the dysfunctional association. Condogate waged on until dying a slow and painful death.


Was Any Good Purpose Served By The Wavemakers And Their Extreme


More than a decade later,


community members toward one another. There was no easy fix for the palpable anxiety experienced by residents when walking through the doors of their common home. Relationships were fractured between people who had been friends and remained neighbors. Perhaps the one positive outcome of thef


Wonderland is once again a desirable building and a nice


place to live. election was that the Witches were forced to


accept their fiduciary obligation as board members. As the Witches became more educated in their new board roles, they could not honor their campaign promises; many of which were blatantly contrary to the association’s governing documents orthe Illinois Condominium Property Act. Although the Witches tried to vote contrary to the other board members at every turn, the needs of thef


occasionally superseded the Wavemakers’ agenda. The Witches couldn’t refuse to vote in favor of renewingf


association’s insurance package or performing the annual audit. Some business functions simply could not be allowed to fall victim to the board’s impasse.


The third election cycle came and went, but this time the Witches were the incumbent board members. By then, the power and influence of thef Wavemakers was somewhat waning. Ricky Bobby and the Witches couldn’t find candidates to run on their hostile platform. B the third election, some of thef


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previous cycleof campaigning and electioneerin board frequently remained deadlocked in a thre vote, but progress on building issues gradually increasally increased Sadly, Ricky Bobby’s ego didn’t take well t


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Association Campaign? In an attempt to put some sort of positive spin on Wonderland’s long nightmare, you could say the electioneering raised interest in the condo board governing process — but that’s a real stretch. More than anything, the nasty campaign had severe repercussions for all homeowners. Property values were negatively affected, both by the lawsuit brought by owners against owners, and by the number of unitsf


on the market as


residents fled from their unhappy homes. When the recession of 2008 hit, the already depressed property was especially vulnerable. More than twenty-five homes quickly went into foreclosure. People with the means to move did so, while many


homeowners who were underwater waited for the waves to subside. Karma stepped in and Ricky Bobby’s unit was eventually foreclosed. Good riddance! The Witches of Westwick disbanded, and residents with genuine concern for the property became active in the association governance. More than a decade later, Wonderland is once again a desirable building


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