MamaToc and the Time of Harassment

In installments I will let you in on the letter from the Hall Monitor of SeniorLand.

Dear Mrs. Toc:

In response to your phone call of Feb 26 to our landscape service company and your recent attempt to speak directly with one of the landscapers,

--I made no such attempt--they don't even speak English anyway!

we would like to remind you that individual owners are not to communicate directly with our service providers.....

--I have limits placed on to whom I speak?

Addressing your question about the immigration status of the landscape crew, based solely on your alleged observation of the workers(s) speaking Spanish, we call to your attention that *.* Landscaping is a large, respected, and legitimate company which would not risk their reputation or government retaliation by knowingly hiring illegals.

--Wonder if WalMart said the same thing and what is this GOVERNMENT RETALIATION? Does it have to do with wiretapping SeniorLand phone lines? Will the tanks begin to roll into SeniorLand?

Many workers in this and other industries speak English as a second language, and speak Spanish among themselves. We are sure that you must know that not speaking English well does not imply illegal status....

--I have noticed a very direct correlation between speaking the language of a country and being a legal resident of that country

The SeniorLand Board has a relationship of trust with all of our contractors and does not find it necessary to police their hiring practices.

--Isn't checking out a service's hiring policies part of hiring a service???

To do so would constitute harassment and would put us at risk of losing their services.

--Who is doing the hiring? Shouldn't the service provider be concerned about losing business, not the other way 'round? Checking out a future employee is now considered harassment?

For further clarification regarding civil rights violations involving language usuage issues in the workplace, please see the attached release from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

--Now this was a huge jump! Civil rights violations? Do they mean the violation of my civil right to ask a question about workers working within 3 feet of my front door? And by the way, the "big attachment" was a report issued as far as I can tell by people of only Hispanic surnames and quoting only people whose obvious interest was in the way the verdict was decided.

*.* Landscape in particular is in great demand at this time since several Associations in SeniorLand have, like ours, recently engaged the company because of their superiority in the field. (Pun?) In any case, we are a volunteer Board of Governors and are not authorized by the CC&Rs to do such invasive research,

--they're not required to investigate the hiring record of their employees? Do they check for felons? Child molesters? Scam artists who prey on Senior Citizens?

(which your demand requires)

--I made no demands--I merely asked if they employed documented workers

on our many service providers (painters, building contractors, tree contractors, street finishers, plumbers, and electricians among others). This community does not have the financial resources to hire the qualified professionals needed to carry out that kind of extensive research, even if this Board were inclined to do so, which we are not.

--let me see--the board is not inclined to hire qualified professionals?

Furthermore, this community enjoys living in an area of racial & ethnic diversity,

--this is the biggest joke of all! SeniorLand is in one of the most affluent, white, highly-educated areas of the nation!http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06097.html

(notice that white persons make up 89.9% of Sonoma County! And just 8.2% of the population is below the poverty level. I won't even go into what the median house price is in this area!)

and do not support any discrimination based on race, ethnicity or country or origin of any of our work crews. We have informed all who were affected by your telephone calls

--ALL??? Who is the ALL???

that you do not speak for our community nor do you have the authority to do so.

--I speak for myself--and I did not speak--I asked a single flippin' question!

In the interest of the fair and equitable treatment of everyone, our landscape crew is instructed not to engage in conversation with individual homeowners or residents.

--Did I get this right? They now forbid the work crews from speaking to other folk? So much for their First Amendment rights--oh wait! I forgot--if they speak in a language other than English, it is permitted!

They are polite, hard working men who are hired to do a job, as instructed, not to engage in conversation or take directions except from their foreman. In the future, please abide by our procedures: do not harass the work crews or their primary employers, and address any concerns in the manner indicated in the first paragraph above.

We expect your cooperation in this matter.

--Expect my cooperation? Oh gentle readers--what should MamaToc do?

Very truly yours,

Mrs. HALL MONITOR

DEFINITELY NOT WHERE SENIORLAND IS LOCATED!

NOT HERE EITHER!