if you have read the latest newsletter,you can see that we have a problem!''free spirits'' who think nothing of leaving garage doors open.(whether home or not) to begin with, that is a violation of a cc/r, and should be dealt with accordingly. i would like to know which part of wptc is the worst.its people being ''lazy'' about common sense that ''invites'' crime in! complain all you want about the rules, but if people complied, there would not be such a problem.i wont even mention people with 3,count 'em, THREE garages that use them only for storage. once again, a cc/r violation!

By bs

Crime Stories

To further expand on the newsletter article, Officer Ortega told us a few stories.

In one case, he pulled up to a house with a woman waiting for him outside. She was visibilty upset at what happened. Someone had smashed the window on her car and snatched the purse she had left on the seat over night. He said after speaking with her, she began to criticize the police department for not patrolling enough. As he began to investigate, she complained that this was the second time this had happened to her. As officer Ortega stated, he just had to bite his tongue.

In another case, an officer had picked up several kids who had stolen items from various properties one evening. The kids were released to their parents a few hours later. A short time after that, those same kids were picked up again by Surprise police. After being picked up a THIRD time that same evening, they were eventually able to get several of them sent away for good.

On a side note...

It is a problem not only for homeowners, but for the HOA itself. There are items the HOA is responsbile for that are continoulsy broken, stolen or vandalized. The HOA must pay to repair and replace these items. Working as a community and keeping in touch with our beat officer will hopefully reduce this problem.

- David Sobelman
U.S. Home Representative

crime or angry resident

you seem very angry bs... first of all this is surprise, just a short walking distance from el mirage, now i do not assume or judge individuals however el mirage and surprise are not viewed as 'high class' areas and crime is a very real part of living out here, the reasonable housing costs appeal to a great many people. and while the hoa can try to control many aspects of life, they can not control who lives here.second of all many residents are transplanted here from other parts of this great nation, many of us come from locations with basements and attics for storage, something not readily available in arizona. the housing in az is much smaller then some other parts of america as well. just try to get 4000 sq ft of posessions into a 1800 sq ft house WITH NO BASEMENT, this is near impossible so the garage is the only place left for storeage, while the HOA did not design the houses and the homeowners were aware of the sq ft and floor plans i believe everyone needs to exhibit a bit more tolerance for their neighbors. and remember i just may be your neighbor who bought a 3 car garage for the sole purpose of storage space.

crime or angry

Surprise is not exactly considered a ''low class'' area. Our West Point Towne Center isn't exactly ''low class'' but when you drive down a street that looks like a used car or junker parking lot it does give the appearance that lower class people live here. We used to live in a 4000 sq. ft. house....when we moved in we got rid of the things we didn't need...Perhaps your things that have to be stored in a three car garage , leaving no room for parking vehicles, are obviously things that are not needed very much or cared about very much...or else they would not be stored in temperatures over 100 for much of the year....There is a storage facility on Grand and Bell that could nicely accomodate the things in an air conditioned unit thus freeing up your garage for vehicle parking..I know you are not my neighbor who ''bought a 3 car garage for the sole purpose of storage space'', as my neighbors take pride in their homes and the look of our community. Just because the homes were reasonably priced when we bought, doesn't mean we should neglect the appearance. Our homes increase in value every month. It is really too bad that there are a handfull of people who do not care how their actions adversely impact the neighborhood.