Letters to the Editor

Editor:

I took the new amenities survey and found it to be a frustrating experience. For most of the amenities, there was no option to simply say no, I don’t want this amenity or no, I don’t want my GRF assessment spent on this amenity.

Here is my amenities survey: full service restaurant, no; on-site salon spa, no; on-site grocery store, no.

I have some questions for GRF.

Has GRF contacted any vendors for these amenities to see if they thought they could be profitable in a gated community of 6,608 apartments, where there are lots of similar businesses nearby? There are also similar businesses near Leisure World that have closed in recent years.

Does GRF know how much it would cost to build spaces for these amenities?

How much rent would GRF charge?

How long would it take to make back the cost of building spaces for these amenities?

What happens if a vendor for an amenity finds that his business is not profitable and does not renew his lease?

What happens if GRF cannot find a new vendor to sign a lease for the space that was built for a particular amenity? Signe Merrifield Mutual 16 Editor’s Note: Leaving the line blank was interpreted as a “no” response in the survey. Every proposed amenity had the choice of rejecting it if it raised assessments. The survey also contained ample room for comments, which are now being tabulated. Editor: I attended the recent town hall meeting and heard the presentation by GRF’s Security Director Victor Rocha on the new security system. This new security system is going to cost around $400,000.

I wondered what is the benefit vs. the cost? I suspect that my idea of a crime problem is a lot different than GRF’s.

I grew up in Newark and spent most of my life in the Newark and New York City metro areas. When I read the crime log in the LW Weekly, I wondered, “What crime?” Some flowers were stolen. Some unsecured stuff was stolen.

The most serious crime in Leisure World was the theft of catalytic converters from the Minibuses.

That could have been prevented by parking the buses in an area surrounded by a fence with a locked gate and installing security cameras. According to Mr. Rocha, most of the crimes in Leisure World are committed by residents or visitors called in by residents. How is this new security system at the gates going to prevent these types of crimes in Leisure World and is it worth the cost?

Abraham Samansky Mutual 16 Editor:

Having missed a couple of issues, this letter may seem repetitive.

A restaurant located conveniently in the neighborhood with the attributes cited by W.H. Smith in his letter (April 13) sounds great.

I suppose, however, any restaurateur considering moving in here will first determine why another restaurant with those attributes, Denny’s, is no longer around.

Lee Hoyt Mutual 11