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Cang N. Le SBN 246773
SBN
Joshua D. Mendelsohn (SBN 228888)
ADAMS STIRLING PLC
2566 Overland Avenue, Suite 730
Los Angeles, California 90064
(310) 945 Fax: (310) 945 0281
Attorneys for
LITTLE ORCHARD BUSINESS
PARK OWNERS ASSOCIATION
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNI
FOR THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA GENERAL JURISDICTION
ASE NO : 17CV317898
Assigned to Hon. Theodore Zayner
etitioner
DECLARAT WILLIAM
FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF
RESPONDENT LITTLE ORCHARD
LITTLE ORCHARD BUSINESS PARK BUSINESS PARK OWNERS
OWNERS ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION RESPONSE
OPPOSITION TO PETITION FOR WRIT
OF MANDATE
Filed concurrently with Respondent’s Response
and Opposition to Petition; Evidentiary
Objections to Petitioner’s Evidence; and
Declarations of Tanya Ruiz, Jeffrey A. Barnett,
and Joseph Taormino]
Date: August 9, 2018
Time: 9:00 AM
Judge: Hon. Theodore Zayner
Filed: October 23, 2017
Trial Date: Not Set
DECLARATION OF WILLIAM FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO PETITION
1 I, William Forrester, hereby declare:
2 1. I am the principal of Cornerstone Community Management, Inc. (“Cornerstone”).
3 Cornerstone is the property manager of Little Orchard Business Park Owners Association (“Little
4 Orchard”). I am submitting this declaration in support of Little Orchard’s Opposition to the Petition
5 for Writ of Mandate filed by Julie T. Nguyen (“Ms. Nguyen”). The facts set forth herein are
6 personally known to me.
7 MY BACKGROUND AS A PROPERTY MANAGER
8 2. For almost twenty-five years, since at least November 1993, I have managed common-
9 interest developments often know as homeowners associations or HOAs. At that time, I was the
10 principal of Bridgecliff Management (“Bridgecliff”). Bridgecliff was managing about 60 HOAs in the
11 San Jose area at that time.. Over the next 7 to 8 years Bridgecliff grew through word of mouth and
12 acquisition of at least one other management company. In 2012, I sold my interest in Bridgecliff and
13 formed Cornerstone, a new management company. Cornerstone manages about sixty HOAs currently
14 and has twelve (12) employees. Throughout the years besides running the company, I have always
15 stayed actively managing several HOAs myself. Cornerstone stays connected to the industry through
16 memberships in prominent HOA trade groups, including the California Association of Community
17 Managers (“CACM”), the Educational Community for Homeowners (“ECHO”), and the Community
18 Associations Institute (CAI). Currently Cornerstone has 12 employees.
19 MY EMPLOYMENT AS PROPERTY MANAGER FOR LITTLE ORCHARD
20 3. Cornerstone took over the management responsibilities of Little Orchard from another
21 management company in approximately August, 2008. At that time, Cornerstone received documents
22 maintained for Little Orchard from the prior management company. No inventory of those
23 documents was conducted or recorded. Rather, they were stored at Cornerstone in the ordinary course
24 as they were produced and as appropriate, new records were maintained by Cornerstone for Little
25 Orchard..
26 4. Under the management agreement with Little Orchard, Cornerstone acted as the
27 custodian of records for Little Orchard’s corporate and financial records, including the Articles of
28 Incorporation, Bylaws, minutes and financial records. Little Orchard also maintains a list of members,
28 2
DECLARATION OF WILLIAM FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO PETITION
1 their names, addresses and membership status which is updated as information is provided to
2 Cornerstone by Little Orchard’s members. This is called the Membership List. These documents were
3 kept at Cornerstone’s offices located at 1800 Hamilton Ave., Ste. 210, San Jose, CA 95125, the
4 location where I keep my office. Older documents were kept in off-site storage.
5 MS. NGUYEN PRIOR VIOLATIONS OF
6 LITTLE ORCHARD’S GOVERNING DOCUMENTS
7 5. I recall participating in at least two document productions at the request of Ms.
8 Nguyen, who I understood was a member of Little Orchard. Ms. Nguyen was known to me because
9 she had been in a number of disputes with Little Orchard, including a dispute over the conduct of the
10 tenant who rented her unit from her. That tenant had displayed signage contrary to the governing
11 documents that bound all members of Little Orchard and without permission of Little Orchard’s board
12 of directors. As a result, Ms. Nguyen was fined by Little Orchard for each day that the sign was not
13 removed.
14 THE SECOND PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS IN 2017
15 6. The practice of Cornerstone has always been to fully comply with the requests by
16 members for inspection of copying of documents maintained by the common-interest developments
17 that Cornerstone served. I usually do not get personally involved in these productions. However, in
18 Ms. Nguyen’s case, I got involved in regard to the second production occurring on October 5, 2017
19 because her counsel was insisting on the production of voluminous records of Little Orchard
20 notwithstanding the fact that the same documents had been produced two years earlier in 2015.
21 7. The requests made by Ms. Nguyen in 2017 for documents, originally by her, and then
22 by her legal counsel, James Roberts, were unlimited as to time and seemingly covered every single
23 document maintained by Cornerstone for Little Orchard. These included:
24 • All annual meeting minutes;
25 • All annual meeting reports;
26 • All Board minutes;
27 • All Federal tax returns;
28 • All State tax Returns;
28 3
DECLARATION OF WILLIAM FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO PETITION
1 • All budgets;
2 • Al Financial statements;
3 • All Meeting agendas;
4 • All Meeting minutes; and
5 • The Membership List.
6 8. An attempt was made to narrow the requests to avoid duplication of the 2015 document
7 production and produce selected documents on September 14, 2017. After Ms. Nguyen’s counsel
8 objected to any limitation to be placed on the production of documents, a second complete production
9 was arranged for October 5, 2017. As the custodian of records for Little Orchard, Corner produced all
10 of the documents falling within these categories that were its possession.
11 9. The documents produced on October 5, 2017, were made available at Cornerstone’s
12 offices in San Jose. Ms. Nguyen did not attend but instead she sent two attorneys, including Robert
13 James and his associate counsel, Sharmi Shah. The October 5 production included approximately 5 or
14 6 boxes of Little Orchard’s documents taken from off-site storage and transported to Cornerstones’
15 offices in San Jose, approximately 2 standard file drawers of documents maintained at Cornerstones’
16 site offices, and electronically stored documents, printed out from Cornerstone’s computers.
17 10. I understand that Ms. Nguyen complains that certain documents she and her counsel
18 believe should exist, were not produced. This is because the documents were either never in existence
19 or not in the possession of Little Orchard. Documents never in existence might include minutes of
20 meetings never held, or documents never created by Little Orchard. Documents no longer in
21 possession of Little Orchard could include documents that have been destroyed as part of
22 Cornerstones standard retention of documents policies. Generally, documents older than 5 years
23 (including many non-governing documents). It is also possible that documents were lost or misplaced
24 by prior managers for Little Orchard. .
25 11. Since the last production of documents taking place on October 5, 2017, I did not hear
26 back from either Ms. Nguyen or her counsel objecting to the production of documents or the scope of
27 the documents produced. Further, while apparently Ms. Nguyen filed this Petition on October 23,
28 2017, she failed to give notice of the Petition for more than seven (7) months. The first time that I
28 4
DECLARATION OF WILLIAM FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO PETITION
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Cang N. Le SBN 246773 SBN Joshua D. Mendelsohn (SBN 228888) ADAMS STIRLING PLC 2566 Overland Avenue, Suite 730 Los Angeles, California 90064 (310) 945 Fax: (310) 945 0281 Attorneys for LITTLE ORCHARD BUSINESS PARK OWNERS ASSOCIATION SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNI FOR THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA GENERAL JURISDICTION ASE NO : 17CV317898 Assigned to Hon. Theodore Zayner etitioner DECLARAT WILLIAM FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENT LITTLE ORCHARD LITTLE ORCHARD BUSINESS PARK BUSINESS PARK OWNERS OWNERS ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION RESPONSE OPPOSITION TO PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE Filed concurrently with Respondent’s Response and Opposition to Petition; Evidentiary Objections to Petitioner’s Evidence; and Declarations of Tanya Ruiz, Jeffrey A. Barnett, and Joseph Taormino] Date: August 9, 2018 Time: 9:00 AM Judge: Hon. Theodore Zayner Filed: October 23, 2017 Trial Date: Not Set DECLARATION OF WILLIAM FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO PETITION 1 I, William Forrester, hereby declare: 2 1. I am the principal of Cornerstone Community Management, Inc. (“Cornerstone”). 3 Cornerstone is the property manager of Little Orchard Business Park Owners Association (“Little 4 Orchard”). I am submitting this declaration in support of Little Orchard’s Opposition to the Petition 5 for Writ of Mandate filed by Julie T. Nguyen (“Ms. Nguyen”). The facts set forth herein are 6 personally known to me. 7 MY BACKGROUND AS A PROPERTY MANAGER 8 2. For almost twenty-five years, since at least November 1993, I have managed common- 9 interest developments often know as homeowners associations or HOAs. At that time, I was the 10 principal of Bridgecliff Management (“Bridgecliff”). Bridgecliff was managing about 60 HOAs in the 11 San Jose area at that time.. Over the next 7 to 8 years Bridgecliff grew through word of mouth and 12 acquisition of at least one other management company. In 2012, I sold my interest in Bridgecliff and 13 formed Cornerstone, a new management company. Cornerstone manages about sixty HOAs currently 14 and has twelve (12) employees. Throughout the years besides running the company, I have always 15 stayed actively managing several HOAs myself. Cornerstone stays connected to the industry through 16 memberships in prominent HOA trade groups, including the California Association of Community 17 Managers (“CACM”), the Educational Community for Homeowners (“ECHO”), and the Community 18 Associations Institute (CAI). Currently Cornerstone has 12 employees. 19 MY EMPLOYMENT AS PROPERTY MANAGER FOR LITTLE ORCHARD 20 3. Cornerstone took over the management responsibilities of Little Orchard from another 21 management company in approximately August, 2008. At that time, Cornerstone received documents 22 maintained for Little Orchard from the prior management company. No inventory of those 23 documents was conducted or recorded. Rather, they were stored at Cornerstone in the ordinary course 24 as they were produced and as appropriate, new records were maintained by Cornerstone for Little 25 Orchard.. 26 4. Under the management agreement with Little Orchard, Cornerstone acted as the 27 custodian of records for Little Orchard’s corporate and financial records, including the Articles of 28 Incorporation, Bylaws, minutes and financial records. Little Orchard also maintains a list of members, 28 2 DECLARATION OF WILLIAM FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO PETITION 1 their names, addresses and membership status which is updated as information is provided to 2 Cornerstone by Little Orchard’s members. This is called the Membership List. These documents were 3 kept at Cornerstone’s offices located at 1800 Hamilton Ave., Ste. 210, San Jose, CA 95125, the 4 location where I keep my office. Older documents were kept in off-site storage. 5 MS. NGUYEN PRIOR VIOLATIONS OF 6 LITTLE ORCHARD’S GOVERNING DOCUMENTS 7 5. I recall participating in at least two document productions at the request of Ms. 8 Nguyen, who I understood was a member of Little Orchard. Ms. Nguyen was known to me because 9 she had been in a number of disputes with Little Orchard, including a dispute over the conduct of the 10 tenant who rented her unit from her. That tenant had displayed signage contrary to the governing 11 documents that bound all members of Little Orchard and without permission of Little Orchard’s board 12 of directors. As a result, Ms. Nguyen was fined by Little Orchard for each day that the sign was not 13 removed. 14 THE SECOND PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS IN 2017 15 6. The practice of Cornerstone has always been to fully comply with the requests by 16 members for inspection of copying of documents maintained by the common-interest developments 17 that Cornerstone served. I usually do not get personally involved in these productions. However, in 18 Ms. Nguyen’s case, I got involved in regard to the second production occurring on October 5, 2017 19 because her counsel was insisting on the production of voluminous records of Little Orchard 20 notwithstanding the fact that the same documents had been produced two years earlier in 2015. 21 7. The requests made by Ms. Nguyen in 2017 for documents, originally by her, and then 22 by her legal counsel, James Roberts, were unlimited as to time and seemingly covered every single 23 document maintained by Cornerstone for Little Orchard. These included: 24 • All annual meeting minutes; 25 • All annual meeting reports; 26 • All Board minutes; 27 • All Federal tax returns; 28 • All State tax Returns; 28 3 DECLARATION OF WILLIAM FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO PETITION 1 • All budgets; 2 • Al Financial statements; 3 • All Meeting agendas; 4 • All Meeting minutes; and 5 • The Membership List. 6 8. An attempt was made to narrow the requests to avoid duplication of the 2015 document 7 production and produce selected documents on September 14, 2017. After Ms. Nguyen’s counsel 8 objected to any limitation to be placed on the production of documents, a second complete production 9 was arranged for October 5, 2017. As the custodian of records for Little Orchard, Corner produced all 10 of the documents falling within these categories that were its possession. 11 9. The documents produced on October 5, 2017, were made available at Cornerstone’s 12 offices in San Jose. Ms. Nguyen did not attend but instead she sent two attorneys, including Robert 13 James and his associate counsel, Sharmi Shah. The October 5 production included approximately 5 or 14 6 boxes of Little Orchard’s documents taken from off-site storage and transported to Cornerstones’ 15 offices in San Jose, approximately 2 standard file drawers of documents maintained at Cornerstones’ 16 site offices, and electronically stored documents, printed out from Cornerstone’s computers. 17 10. I understand that Ms. Nguyen complains that certain documents she and her counsel 18 believe should exist, were not produced. This is because the documents were either never in existence 19 or not in the possession of Little Orchard. Documents never in existence might include minutes of 20 meetings never held, or documents never created by Little Orchard. Documents no longer in 21 possession of Little Orchard could include documents that have been destroyed as part of 22 Cornerstones standard retention of documents policies. Generally, documents older than 5 years 23 (including many non-governing documents). It is also possible that documents were lost or misplaced 24 by prior managers for Little Orchard. . 25 11. Since the last production of documents taking place on October 5, 2017, I did not hear 26 back from either Ms. Nguyen or her counsel objecting to the production of documents or the scope of 27 the documents produced. Further, while apparently Ms. Nguyen filed this Petition on October 23, 28 2017, she failed to give notice of the Petition for more than seven (7) months. The first time that I 28 4 DECLARATION OF WILLIAM FORRESTER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO PETITION