WSJ: Political Hothouse: Florida Sends Help For Condo Elections

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The Wall Street Journal

Political Hothouse: Florida Sends Help For Condo Elections

At Parker Plaza, Uproar Over Storm Windows; Raphans Counsel Peace
By MICHAEL CORKERY
March 11, 2006; Page A1

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- The bitter campaign at the beachfront Parker Plaza condominiums here featured 17 candidates challenging incumbents for all nine seats on the association's governing board. Accusations flew about the design of an outdoor fountain, the cost of the biometric hand scan at the front door and a proposed $14.3 million assessment for hurricane-resistant windows and some repairs, which would have set back some unit owners nearly $28,000. One of a series of anonymous fliers took a gratuitous dig at a candidate's new car: "How about the new Jaguar you got." And when residents here finally went to the polls, the ballots were counted under the watchful eye of government-appointed election monitors to squelch any doubt about the results.

Election monitors are usually sent to watch over voting in developing countries and war zones. But in Florida -- home to infamous hanging chads and other election irregularities that led to the 2000 presidential recount -- the state legislature has created a new office to oversee some of its most contentious races: the battle for condo board seats.

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On election night at Parker Plaza last month, Mr. Raphan and his wife sorted through a stack of about 400 secret ballots and checked them twice against a list of eligible voters. At previous elections, there were fears that the ballots were being steamed open or thrown out. So this year, nearly half the residents mailed their ballots in advance to Mr. Raphan's office in nearby Fort Lauderdale for safekeeping.

Squabbles break out in condos, home-owners' associations and co-ops all the time. It's part of the inevitable tension that occurs when people who live cheek by jowl have to share expenses and abide by shared rules. But in parts of fast-growing Florida, officials say fights between boards and unit owners have been escalating. The condo ombudsman office, created in 2004, says it's currently fielding about 700 complaints and requests for help each week. The office conducted 43 elections last year. It has already been asked to conduct that many this year. The state office that oversees condos, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, says its number of formal complaints are staying steady. In the past two fiscal years, it received about 1,800 complaints a year.

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