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PUNISHMENT SHOULD FIT THE CRIME
By
Jan Bergemann
Published June 18, 2021
Until lately there was a saying: “If you can't do the time,
don't do the crime!” And it worked perfectly – no matter the
skin-color, race, gender or religion. But obviously this saying
has been “cancelled” – and has been replaced with violent
protests demanding to defund the police and electing district
attorneys who have the grand idea that looting, burning
buildings and attacking police officers are protected by the
First Amendment and let criminals go free or release them with
just a slap on the wrist.
But people seem to forget that a district attorney is an elected
official – and the people who in the end complain the most are
actually the ones who put these “progressive” district attorneys
in office. Make sure you know who you are voting for when your
local DA is up for election.
Community associations all over Florida are suffering from this
increase in crime. Kickbacks and embezzlement are reported
nearly daily – and our law enforcement agencies don’t seem to be
really interested in pursuing reports of financial crimes in
these communities. On the other hand, the police officers
dealing with these complaints are often not really knowledgeable
about laws governing these communities.
Funds of associations are a very tempting target. There is lots
of money “laying around” and in many communities the people
supposed to watch these funds are pretty careless.
It’s definitely easier than robbing a bank and there is a lot
more money available than in the branch of the local bank. And
even if these “criminals” are being caught, the judges only slap
these criminals on the wrist. I think our law enforcement system
should reconsider the punishment for these financial crimes. The
punishment should always fit the crime.
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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