It was bad enough when someone rifled through Melissa Smith’s mailbox, stole outgoing checks and’simply by applying correction fluid and fresh ink’turned the checks into cash at the bank.
Cash, as it turns out, used to support a drug habit; a heroin addiction.
It got worse.
Smith, who lives in the Lake Waldon Village II subdivision in Independence Township, was slapped with some $2,000 in late fees and other penalties when her house payment and other bills didn’t arrive in creditor mailboxes on time.
Police caught the perpetrator; Tammy Sue Brosier, 47, is currently incarcerated on 17 counts of uttering and publishing’illegally altering and cashing checks’and one count of second-degree home invasion.
But Smith, along with many of her neighbors, still can’t get the LWVII neighborhood association board to approve locking mailboxes and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
‘Even before the monetary loss, there were multiple times when it looked like teenagers pulled things out of the box,? she said. ‘Everyone’s mail was dumped on the ground; you’d be picking it out of the snow and trying to hand deliver it to your neighbors.?
But according to Smith and other neighbors, the board is standing behind a 2005 vote, claiming they didn’t get a majority in favor of replacing the boxes.
‘I voted no first time,? she said, explaining the 2005 proposal would not only replace the current boxes with less-than-aesthetically-pleasing gray metal cubes, but also move them on her court.
The gray metal boxes, she said, are not even approved for Clarkston.
‘The original proposal the subdivision voted on was not valid, and that’s been my number one complaint,? she said. ‘They need to put out a valid proposal and have the subdivision do a revote on the correct information.?
She’s not the only one unhappy with the situation in her subdivision. A number of neighbors are angry and feel ignored or snubbed by the board.
Janet Fornari said she didn’t want the gray metal boxes when the proposal first surfaced in 2005, either.
‘I voted against because of aesthetics,? she said. ‘People were pretty lackadaisical. It really seemed like nobody cared.?
Until the thefts started occurring in certain pockets of the neighborhood, that is.
‘When it became a real issue we wanted a revote, but the board flat out said ‘no, said we already had a vote,?? she said. ‘The first time I voted, I didn’t want the locking mailboxes. But now I see how detrimental it can be if we don’t have them.?
Others agree, and say members of the board weren’t personally affected by the thefts and therefore don’t understand the fears of those who were.
‘I keep trying to talk sense into them to do a vote, but they want none of it,? said Chad Cunningham, who counts board president Chris Cook and secretary Greg Covert among his friends. ‘We did a poll with the neighbors and went door to door. It’s about 90 percent for the (locking) mailboxes, and 10 percent against. They know how everyone feels and I don’t think they care.?
Cunningham said he also had checks stolen, altered and cashed without his knowledge. He wants locking mailboxes, too.
‘You feel violated,? he said. ‘You don’t think about it until something like that happens; this is a pretty secure neighborhood, and it’s not like people from tougher parts of Pontiac were going through our mail. She was from the next neighborhood over.?
The association bylaws, Cunningham said, are vague in matters of ousting members of the board, but neighbors are working on a petition to do just that’or at least get their voices heard.
‘Brenda (Vanderheyden) actually got on the board,? he said, calling the neighbor ‘pro-locking mailbox. ‘But she’s banging her head against the wall. (Other board members) are emailing her, saying ‘no one cares about your opinion on this, it’s already been taken care of and gone through a vote.??
Vanderhayden did not return a call seeking comment, but if indeed she is getting angry emails, she’s not the only one.
Another resident filed a police report after receiving an email with the subject line ‘selfish manipulation.?
It read, in part: ‘Thanks so much for trying to advertise our sub in a negative light once again Chuck. This stunt could only decrease our already falling home values by advertising an unsafe neighborhood to all of Metro Detroit. You’d better pray this story doesn’t make the news. You will have a lot of very angry neighbors looking to you, as they all know who’s to blame.?
It was signed ‘your disappointed neighbor,? and came from the email address lakergrad1982@yahoo.com, registered to a Leonard Wright.
No one by that name lives in the subdivision, and ‘Chuck,? according to reports, told police he believed board president Chris Cook sent the email, or knows who did.
But Cook told police he ‘would not stoop that low to send a threatening email.?
He also said his neighbors have misunderstood his position on the issue.
When he came on the board about five years ago, Cook explains, the association was in financial trouble.
‘I was just another guy in the neighborhood, I had no aspirations to be on the board much less the president,? he said. ‘But I saw what I thought was the mismanagement of funds and I was upset, for example, that we didn’t have snow plowing two years in a row. People were getting stuck in the streets. It was ridiculous.?
So he signed on for duty, and now that the association is back in the black, he wants to be careful with the money.
The neighborhood, he said, should be able to fund essential services, and explained that he’s not against replacing the current mailboxes, per say’what he’s against is depleting the association’s general fund to do it.
The association collects $150 annually from each of the 113 households, which equates to about $17,000 for the general-fund.
‘The bylaws say general funds can only be used for maintenance purposes,? Cook said. ?(New mailboxes are) what I would consider a capital project and therefore must be covered through a special assessment.?
Which, Cook continues, he’s been working on since the issue resurfaced at the association’s annual meeting in March.
‘We’re going back to residents for another vote within next 30 days to see if they’re interested in mailboxes and paying for them,? he said. ‘Our goal is to have ballots out by the middle of October.?
Although the board is still pulling the figures together, Cook said the assessment would likely be in the $175 range; 60 percent of residents must vote yes for approval.
‘I’m neutral,? he said. ‘I’m not in favor and not against locked mailboxes. I’m just trying to serve everyone in the subdivision, both the opponents and proponents of this project.?
Besides, he said, no mail thefts have occurred since the 2006 incident, and Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Independence Township substation commander Dale LaBair backs up the claim.
‘We have not had any significant mailbox theft since Tammy Brosier was arrested,? LaBair said, noting he was apprised of the situation in the subdivision and went through a mountain of reports from the last two years to be sure. ‘We get one once in a while, but it’s a random thing. Usually it’s just kids who open boxes and throw stuff on the ground.?
LaBair said the dispute, however, is a civil matter and his office had no plans to intervene unless they found evidence of a crime, which they have not.
The report on the allegedly threatening email reported by the neighbor has been closed, as well.
‘It’s a closed issue,? said Sgt. Matt Baldes. ‘The threat is not specific in intent, nor is there any specific threat to do anything to anyone. It’s an internal subdivision issue and we as an entity are not going to get involved.?
Baldes pointed out that while residents can file a claim with the state board for homeowners associations, no body of authority governs such groups.
Recommendations from the post office carried a better-safe-than-sorry theme.
‘I don’t get many complaints about mail theft,? said Ron Hippensteel, Clarkston postmaster. ‘Usually, any complaints are over things like marital disputes or putting fliers on mailboxes.?
Still, he said, if it came down to a recommendation for or against locking boxes, he’d steer residents toward the more safer option.
‘With locks the mail is secure,? he said. ‘You’ve also got parcel lockers so anything reasonable size can be locked up rather than left at the front door. It’s more convenient for them all the way around.?
Locked boxes, he said, also prevent mail from being accidentally or purposely disturbed or damaged by pranksters.
‘I would never say it’s not a good idea if they can afford it,? he said. ‘But the initial expense of it is up there.?