To give some context on the below, the letter below is in response to my inquiry for reimbursement for what I feel

was an unjust tow. As there are so many things wrong with her response; I added my comments in red, while leaving hers in blue. An un-altered copy of her actual response was screen printed from my email as to not accidently misquote her.
From: Cisar, Mary Ellen Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 9:27 AM Subject: RE: Towing at Glenn Oaks

- I received your email and will be sure to present it at the next Master Board meeting which is scheduled for Monday, Jan 21. However, I will take this opportunity to both explain and correct some of the information you received. First, only Board members or Employees of the Association have the authority to tow a car during a storm cleanup. (I assumed this was the case) The tow company (D&L) is well aware of this and will not tow a car out of a parking space on the "say so" of just anybody. (So its your fault I was towed?) Second, it appears your tenant attempted to get someone to move his car (giving a key to both a roommate and neighbor) unfortunately, it was those people who did not do as expected - not the Association. (Those people? You mean the people who I asked to inconvenience just for this rule? So I should be punished even if I made every attempt to do the right thing? My neighbor and roommate did not think it snowed enough to warrant moving my car (their honest mistake). Forgetting the fact they didnt know it would be plowed, both leave for work well before the horn sounds to move cars (which I couldnt even hear from my bedroom on Dec. 30th by the way). I would have been towed for being on the road before the signs were out had they moved it at 7 am anyways! Damned if you do, damned if you dont I guess. If only I had a neighbor who didnt have a job, and could be home to move my car, wouldnt our condo association be such a better place if it was filled with unemployed people who had nothing better to do than to move cars around in a parking lot all day?) Regarding the note placed in his car window, it is important to understand that we have close to 1000 parking spaces to clean up in Glen Oaks. It is not reasonable to expect anyone to clean off car windows to determine if a note exists. (I would totally agree with this assessment if it werent true that the note WAS PLAINLY VISIBLE IN THE DRIVERS SIDE WINDOW! The light dusting was not enough to keep snow on the drivers side window, especially with the sun beating down having melted almost entirely. Had it snowed as hard as it did four days later, the note would not have been visible. So, this would be a valid point, but is not applicable in this instance.) Nor is it reasonable to expect anyone to place calls then wait until someone shows up to clean off a vehicle and move it. (Whatever happened to the part in the letter you sent to the entire condo community that said you would make every attempt possible to contact the owner. Well, you are saying here that even IF you saw the note, you wouldnt be expected to call because its not reasonable to wait before towing. Wow. Well then what exactly did you mean by make every attempt possible to contact the owner? This surely doesnt sound like making any attempt at all!) Lastly - all the parking lots were plowed. (*the lots were not plowed after I was towed, but before. If you are truly towing in order to clean the spots, then clean my spot after you tow me!) None of the rules or regulations established at Glen Oaks are/were created for the inconvenience of the Residents. (Well I would hope you dont intend to be evil. Laws that are created to punish wrongdoers should not also punish the innocent. At least in the USA we have a judicial system. Here there is no coming back from your form of

capital punishment. Why so quick to pass judgment on who should be towed and shouldnt when you are persecuting those who are giving their best effort to be good neighbors) Quite the opposite, the rules and regulations are to try to create some order when it comes to all of us living in a community. It is unfortunate that we do not have the space to allow people to just leave their cars in the parking lots. (I have yet to have a problem finding parking, as we have ample spots along the streets if visitor parking is full. I am not sure what she is referring to here?) But doing so creates a hazard for those parking on either side of the "unmoved" car and puts a huge risk of injury to persons on all of us. (I get what you are trying to say in this paragraph, but even when cars dont move, there is plenty of room on either side to get in and out if it is plowed properly. With a condo of our size, I dont understand why it is unreasonable to have someone go around with a shovel or a snow blower to ensure the whole condo is safe. In my case, my two spots are on the end of the row, and I was towed so that they could plow my spot on the end. Thank you so much, well worth the 164$! Obviously, this scenario only describes a select few. Regardless, this logic infers that if the cars on either side are not removed, a spot cannot be plowed at all, which is simply not the case. By removing the vehicles on either side, you only create an extra 8-12 inches of space to walk on top of the 2 feet that should already be available had the cars not been removed?) In the past Glen Oaks has had Snow Removal vendors who were not as diligent in their clean-up efforts and we all (as Unit Owners) have paid and continue to pay dearly in insurance premiums. (So, what youre saying is your inability to choose a reputable vendor has cost us money? Further, we have had slip and fall accidents that cost us money in deductibles and higher premiums because of our poor loss history? Well, being that I work in Commercial Insurance and am currently implementing a system to price these types of risks, specifically including condominium risks, I can tell you the following: there is a MUCH GREATER LIABILITY AND CHANCE FOR INCIDENT TO FORCE EVERY UNIT OWNER INTO THE PARKING LOT PRIOR TO THE SNOW BEING REMOVED! Does that extra foot of walkway present a greater liability than forcing everyone into the parking lots prior to snow removal? Absolutely not! Further, people who live in an unwelcoming environment such as the one you are creating at Glen Oaks are much more likely to pursue legal action and file claims in the event of an accident. Also, having grown up in Michigan and having plowed, there is no reason a persons spot cannot be properly plowed without removing the cars next to it. Understanding Commercial Liability exposures is not my job (oh wait, it is). So, you can keep your argument. Again, I will be sure that your request is addressed by the Board and am sorry for the inconvenience your roommate endured. (If you were truly sorry, you would reimburse my money. Thanks anyways, but I will make sure I am there to personally represent myself.) Mary Ellen Cisar P.s. - There is a simple solution to this problem, and its this: Send someone around with a shovel during snow removal -or- put one of your fancy letters on each car letting that car owner know it is now their responsibility to remove snow from their spot for the safety of their neighbor. For a contract of our size, it is not too much to ask of a vendor to have someone following around with manual cleanup, as we already have people shoveling and snow blowing our walkways. According to the Newington Police, during the snow storm on the 27th, we had 18 vehicles removed from our lots. The cost of just one persons tow is enough to cover the salary for a person to shovel for a full day, a

cost that should be borne by the whole and not the few. I could go on and on about how wrong this entire response is, but I will save that for January 13th. See you then MaryEllen!

---Below is the copied version of her response, so you can see that I did not alter her words. I blacked out her email as well as my landlords name---