Marine vet's 20-foot flagpole has HOA filing suit over a display of patriotism that stands taller than allowed

Petty Bureaucrats sit on HOAs (Home Owner Associations) and are the bane of a free society. The people who desire to serve on these types of boards are those who want to be able to inflict their views of what a community needs to be on their neighbors.

I fail to understand why people willingly buy property where others can order you on what you can or cannot do with your OWN HOME.

One of every five Americans lives under rules and regulations that could confiscate their homes from them, remove their right to privacy and take away their freedom of expression.

Neither Congress, the police nor local governments can do anything about it. Some people hate the situation. Others love the rules. Many homeowners, however, don't realize what rights they've signed away until it's too late.

They are people living their American Dreams inside a community regulated by a homeowners association (HOA), and corresponding covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) that constitute a form of government that pleases some but is just a headache-inducing hassle for others.

"Fifty-five million Americans live in developments overseen by community associations," says consumer watchdog Ken Hyland. "Four out of five of those associations are doing well, but the other 20 per cent have problems."

The reason: The rules that govern private home developments are very difficult to change and are set up by developers who never live on the site and who disappear after a few years.

Well in this case, they got a fight from a US MARINE and all I can say is he is NOT the kind of person who will surrender willingly or without a fight...

SEMPER FI to you MARINE - Go kick some ARSE on these fools who hide behind petulant rules and try to make other's lives miserable.




Marine vet's 20-foot flagpole has homeowners association filing suit over a display of patriotism that stands taller than allowed
By MIKE MORRIS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 7, 2011, 4:49AM
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Marine veteran Michael Merola says he "just didn't buy" his neighborhood association's reasons why he couldn't put up his big flagpole.

A Marine Corps veteran is being sued by his Cypress-area homeowners association because the flagpole on which he flies the United States and Marine Corps flags does not meet his subdivision's design guidelines.

Mike Merola and his lawyer, Lee Thweatt, say this is a classic case of overreach by a nitpicking homeowners association. Lakeland Village Community Association says it is seeking to enforce its rules evenly on all residents.

Standing in his backyard in a black T-shirt bearing an eagle and the American flag, the 60-year-old Merola called that argument "a lame excuse." After his application to erect a 20-foot flagpole in his backyard was denied, he protested in a series of letters and, ultimately, erected the pole anyway.

"They just don't understand, unless they've been in the military, to feel the pride that I feel in flying that flag high and proud," said Merola, who served in the Marines from 1969 to 1977. "The excuses and things that they came up with for me not being able to fly that flagpole, I just didn't buy. That's why I bucked the system and put it up."

The association's lawyer, Nina Tran, said her clients encourage residents who wish to fly the flag to do so — as long as that flag is attached to a 6-foot pole mounted on a resident's home, as the bylaws stipulate.

Such an approach is "in keeping with the residential nature of the community," the board wrote in a statement. The suit alleges the pole is "a detriment to Lakeland Village and … (causes) imminent harm and irreparable injury to (the association)." The suit seeks a $10 fine for every day the pole stays standing, a court order to remove it and payment of attorneys' fees.

"The problem with a flagpole of that height and that significance is that it flaps in the wind and causes noise to other homeowners," Tran said. "If we allow the mounting of a 20-foot freestanding flagpole in the backyard, who's to say that the next person isn't going to mount it to the top of their roof? We have to have standards."

But Merola, who moved into the neighborhood in March 2009, bringing the flagpole from his former residence, said he's received only compliments from neighbors about the pole, whether from kids skateboarding by on the walking path behind his back fence or from neighbors who've stopped to investigate the source of all the gossip.

Neighbors don't mind
"I don't understand why the homeowners association overreacted like this," said Thweatt, Merola's lawyer, and a Marine himself. "I understand they have to protect the property values of the people in that subdivision, but they've had no complaints. It's not like the guy painted his house neon orange."

Merola's next-door neighbors, Satish and Ann Kalra, said the pole does not bother them.

"The homeowners association should look at the rules again," Satish Kalra said. "If the rules need to be modified, they should be modified. … That would be the logical thing to do."

Tran said even if Merola has not received complaints, another neighbor with a similar flagpole might.

Thweatt, who took the case pro bono, said he believes the suit violates the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, which says, in part, that a homeowners association "may not adopt or enforce any policy … that would restrict or prevent a member of the association from displaying the flag."

No court date has been scheduled in the case.

"I hope we can come to some kind of agreement that will let me continue to fly the flag loud and proud for as long as I live," Merola said.

mike.morris@chron.com

Separation from the Flag Pole

It is a strange and wholly unbelievable phenomenon to see how people act when placed in circumstances that should present an opportunity to excel. Instead, many act in an oppositional and obtuse manner that defies logic when it is observed by others who are in the same situation. I speak from experience as I have witnessed this pattern of behavior before and it has never been explained in any manner that would make sense to me or any other person of integrity, principles or honor.

My first real encounter with this was when I was activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I was with a unit that had been together for a number of years and I had trained with in the field and on regular occasions. We were augmented with another group from CT and that was the start of the issues. The CT group had not had any senior enlisted leadership for some time and acted undisciplined and unprincipled. We arrived in Norfolk, VA at the deployment center and the biggest miscreant of the bunch showed up for quarters still under the influence from his previous night’s drinking.

Now let’s set something straight, I enjoy my beer as much as the next man but all responsible people know better than to get soused the night before an important day or before you need to be on duty. This principle as lost on the cement-head petty officer who acted like the drunken lout he was, and when we were ready to report him as such, it was keboshed by a senior enlisted (Chief) who didn’t want the drunk’s career to go into the tank. This was not what I wanted to see as these would soon be some of the people I would be risking my life with in short order.

The situation did not get better once we headed to the dirty side of the world, and in short order, I found myself in place with a legion of drunks, liars, cheats and outright malfunctioning jerks. They acted out, cheated on their wives and didn’t care how badly they disgraced themselves or the uniform. I would up transferring out of the unit once I deployed back home after a long and lengthy discussion with the unit XO back stateside. These people were not only risking their lives, but mine as well and without care.

I vowed to never allow myself to fall in with such low-lifes as these, regardless of situation. I would protect my own safety, honor and integrity by walking away from those who would injure any aspect of my personal and professional integrity.

Flash forward to present day and I have witnessed this same phenomenon again, in a small group of people working out here in the Afghanistan desert. They are not part of my group, but have “self identified” by acting out in a manner that is consistent with the lack of morals, character and honor that shows them for jerks that they truly are. They have shown that “Separation from the Flagpole” is something that occurs when a certain type of person (i.e. low-life idiots) get away from a normal situation (close proximity to authority, spouse, family and/or home) and suddenly adopt an “anything goes and screw everybody” mentality that demonstrates for all the world to see what kind of stupid jerks they REALLY are.

It is sad that those who care and try to make sure we do our best in everything we do have to endure the presence of these jerks. They should go elsewhere as in a place such as this; there is no room for error or stupidity. Each can get you and others killed, maimed or so severely messed up that it could take a division of Marines to get you outta hot water.

“Professionals are predictable, amateurs are dangerous.” This is on display among this group of self-centered, low-lifes who are masquerading as someone who should be here when in reality, they should be home, or maybe for most in a place where they cannot effect the lives of good people. If it were in my personal purview, I would have their arses on a plane outta the AOR it would make their ancestors dizzy. They are the worst kind of amateurs, as they have no grasp for how badly they are failing life as professionals, colleagues for those who they work with or as just plain people. It is sad to say but these idiots shouldn’t be allowed to hold any kind of responsibility as they cannot be trusted.

"Separation from the flag pole" should not change a person for the negative, but instead it should challenge you to double your efforts and provide life lessons on how good you can be when under difficult times. That is the mark of a true professional, and something these idiots will never grasp or understand.