Homeowners Association Commits Chemical Assault in Florida County

Homeowners Association In Florida Empowered By Leon County Government To Commit Chemical Assault

     Dr. Tom and Kathy Termotto have lived in the Orchard Walk Homeowners Association (OWHA) in Tallahassee, FL for over fifteen years.  Throughout this entire period they have been under assault by a leadership that has set up a tyranny which simply does whatever it wants to do, just as it doesn’t do what it is obligated to do by law.  Put another way the OWHA has become notorious among all the Homeowners Associations in North Florida as one that constantly breaks Florida Law (in particular FL Statute 720), as it is in gross violation of its own Covenants and Bylaws. 

     Throughout the years sitting presidents, board members and former officers of CONA, the Leon County Council of Neighborhood Associations, have variously remarked that they have never seen anything like the OWHA.  They have called it “lawless”, “completely unacceptable”, and “in contravention of FL Statutes and the governing documents”.  Most of all they are incredulous that officers and board members of a formally registered non-profit corporation (OWHA) can break laws with such impunity.
 
     This state of affairs has fallen hard on Dr. Tom and Kathy Termotto who have a file drawer of letters and legal correspondence, which has been sent to OWHA leadership alerting them to these gross violations of law.  Instead of responding to these reasonable requests, the OWHA has consistently reacted with a pattern of threats, victimization and criminal action, which is as reprehensible as it is shocking.  What follows is a list of well-documented incidents which Dr. and Mrs. Termotto have suffered over their fifteen years in Tallahassee.
 
(1)  After the OWHA leadership neglected to provide the annual financial statements for over 5 years running, which are mandated by state statute, they were threatened with home foreclosure.  They have produced an authentic letter sent by the OWHA officers/board threatening the seizure of their home through the illegal invocation of a FL Statute.  Under such threat the Termotto’s were forced to pay dues to an association which refused to produce the legally mandated accounting of their revenues or expenses over many years.
 
(2)  Mrs. Termotto has been diagnosed with Lupus, MCS and EI Syndrome, and therefore requested that her property and home not be sprayed by the Leon County Mosquito Control (LCMC) street-spraying regime.  Her physician wrote a letter to the OWHA and the County clearly indicating her extremely serious allergy to the insecticide and stating that such a property spraying would put her at great medical risk.  Instead of complying with her request, the OWHA President illegally attempted to acquire her personal medical records in direct violation of HIPAA, as well as the Medical Privacy Act.  Dr. Termotto then discussed filing a criminal complaint with Ms. Termotto’s attending physician against the OWHA President and other officers who conspired to violate her privacy.
 
(3)  On the evening of the first street spraying, Dr. Termotto was forced to stand in front of the LCMC truck to prevent it from saturating his property with a synthetic pyrethroid known as ANVIL, which could potentially kill his wife.  The husband of an OWHA officer (with no authority whatsoever) came over to the Termotto’s cursing and using foul language and yelling at the LCMC truck driver to spray the Termotto’s yard and home and not to miss any other property on the street where others reside who also did not want chemical treatment due to serious health problems.   The Tallahassee Police Department was called twice in response to this behavior of cursing the Termottos, which they termed disorderly conduct.  The police officer also warned the OWHA officers to back off and quit harassing the Termottos.
 
(4)  A past president for the OWHA was also a Security officer at the Capitol building in Tallahassee. As Dr. Termotto took his walks down the street in the evening, this OWHA officer would very closely and slowly follow Dr. Termotto in his marked state vehicle, thus not only misusing his state vehicle but also harassing Dr. Termotto.
 
(5)  Dr. Termotto was forced to change his exercise routine of walking up and down the street at night because various officers/board members, who were all prone to drinking alcohol, would wait for him to pass by and then verbally bully him while assuming threatening postures.  He was forced to lay down a path in his own back yard where he was able to walk free from their verbal assaults and intimidating threats.
 
(6)  The OWHA puts out a newsletter every once and a while often includes material with the explicit purpose of misrepresenting the Termotto’s position on just about everything.  They have perpetrated an ongoing campaign of disseminating false information, misinformation and disinformation in order to discredit the Termottos any way they can.  This campaign started with a number of anonymous letters that were circulated among all of the homeowners which not only faked a previous association with their group - the Concerned Citizens of Orchard Walk, but viciously slandered the Termottos using foul language. 
 
(7) Whenever the Termottos have put up a FOR SALE sign, “the neighbors” tear it down and literally bend it up beyond recognition (4 times and counting).  The Termottos windows have been broken, tires punctured by nails and shrubs cut and marred in a cruel fashion.
 
(8)  Their neighbor’s cat is purposely allowed to roam free illegally, which then kills the many birds and squirrels that inhabit the Termotto’s back yard habitat which was registered with the World Wildlife Federation.  Their cat has repeatedly deposited feces on their walking trail, the foul smells of which permeate the entire back yard.  All of this still occurs even after numerous conversations with the neighbors, as well as the local Animal Control officer putting them on formal notice about trapping the animal.
 
(9)  The most recent assault has taken the form of the Termotto’s neighbor, whose close friend is an OWHA ex-Vice President and pesticide company owner, who is now dumping insecticide next to his fence that sits on the Termottos boundary line.  The ex-Vice President is the same officer whose home pesticide business was not even registered with the City of Tallahassee.  The City was officially notified out of concern for the children who live in the home where such a business is allowed to operate to the detriment of all.  Zoning does not permit the operation of a pesticide business right in the middle of a subdivision and yet the County, City and State authorities allow him to stay.  How do you spell C O L L U S I O N?!
 
Now that you have read some background on the Termotto’s ordeal with the OWHA, it will be much easier to understand the title of this article:
 

“Orchard Walk Homeowner’s Association Empowered By

Leon County Government To Commit Chemical Assault”

 
Dr. Tom and Kathy Termotto have identified a clear-cut pattern of the OWHA using the County Mosquito Spraying program as a weapon against them.  Each time they have expressed an objection to the OWHA leadership violating Florida law or the Covenants and Bylaws, the mosquito truck is called for.  The official Mosquito Control records possessed by the Termotto’s illustrate a direct correlation between the filing of their legitimate complaints, and the call record provided by the LCMC.  Furthermore, when an ex-OWHA officer was informed by LCMC that his property was within a “no spray zone” he demanded that the LCMC spray the rest of the street which included the Termotto’s property.  The Termottos were informed of this by the supervisor of LCMC himself.
                                    

The OWHA has known, as does the County, for many years that Ms. Termotto is forced to leave her home for 2 to 3 days for each spraying.  They have also been told her home becomes a contaminated prison because the many chemicals that get into her air conditioning system find their way into her home and greatly contribute to her acute allergic symptoms to the known endocrine disruptor named Sumithrin (active ingredient in ANVIL).
 
It is important to note that the Termotto’s have in their possession documents which support every single claim in this article.  The most significant claim, however, lies in the title, and is left for the reader to consider what it would be like to live in a subdivision where the sun no longer shines because the residents so completely lack compassion and kindness for their neighbors, especially those with serious physical afflictions.
 
This retrospective truly represents a very sad testimony about the ways that alarmingly cruel and heartless people will act toward those they perceive as powerless and incapacitated.  Ms. Termotto has been disabled and unable to work since 1995, and her husband was forced to move his office home to care for his wife.
 
Dr. Tom Termotto is Board Certified in Integrative Medicine and a Diplomate of the College of Health Advocacy & Education.  He is also a Diplomate of the Colleges of Oriental Medicine and Natural Therapies, and possesses a Doctorate of Ministry.
Dr. Tom has recently served as the National Coordinator for the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference for which he suspended his integrative health consultancy and has worked 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for well over 4 months.  He is also the Chair/President of the Radiant Life Foundation, Inc. and Executive Director of the World Wellness Symposium.
 
Non-toxic Mosquito Control Committee
No Spray Coalition
Tallahassee, FL