RIGHT ANGLE MEN’S CLUB COMMITTEE MEETING

Attendees: Paul Lesperance, Lyle Carter, Jerry Lewis, Joe Ragusa, Bill Mulcahy, Bill Cooper, Rocky DeFrancesco, Jay Marsocci, Tom Wratten

Paul Lesperance opened the VCC Right Angle Men’s Club BOD meeting at 3:30.

Clifton reviewed vacuum sealer options for the Right Angle Men’s Club to fund. Expectation is about $2-3K for the sealer. Clifton/Chef Mitchell to look at competitive options and get back to the RA Board.

Paul reviewed the assignments of the Board members. Jay Marsocci/Frank Peotrowski to handle 50/50 raffle.

Bill Cooper reviewed speakers for the meetings this year.

Lyle Carter reported on the treasury and our financial position. We have $4,589.12 in the checking account and can comfortably afford to fund up to $3,000 for the vacuum sealer for the VCC kitchen staff.

Rocky DeFrancesco will introduce the speaker in lieu of Bill Cooper at the next meeting in November.

Joe Ragusa reviewed the communications process and options for using another vendor for the website and domain registry.  

The meeting was adjourned at 4:15.

On April 14, 2016, Dwight Brock was our guest speaker at a well attended meeting, our last for the season. Mr. Brock is Collier County's Clerk of the Circuit Court as an elected official. His duties are vast and he must be the keeper of Court and Public Records as well as the Collier County's accountant and protector of the County's funds.

Dwight Brock's gave a presentation on one particular recent case as he noticed improprieties  on a particular payment made to a cement contractor who did not follow the guidelines set forth by the County as to bidding, sub contracting and an accounting of the cost of materials and labor. This particular contractor has done over eight million dollars of work for the County in the last five years.

Brock did extensive and detailed work as to find out why protocol was not followed leading to a case of collusion between department heads and commissioners.

Mr. Brock also noted that several thousands of invoices have to be paid yearly with a staff of twenty workers and is a huge responsibility.

The meeting was concluded wishing our member's a safe and healthy summer.

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Dwight Brock, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Collier County

On April 14, 2016, Dwight Brock was our guest speaker at a well attended meeting, our last for the season. Mr. Brock is Collier County's Clerk of the Circuit Court as an elected official. His duties are vast and he must be the keeper of Court and Public Records as well as the Collier County's accountant and protector of the County's funds.

Dwight Brock's gave a presentation on one particular recent case as he noticed improprieties  on a particular payment made to a cement contractor who did not follow the guidelines set forth by the County as to bidding, sub contracting and an accounting of the cost of materials and labor. This particular contractor has done over eight million dollars of work for the County in the last five years.

Brock did extensive and detailed work as to find out why protocol was not followed leading to a case of collusion between department heads and commissioners.

Mr. Brock also noted that several thousands of invoices have to be paid yearly with a staff of twenty workers and is a huge responsibility.

The meeting was concluded wishing our member's a safe and healthy summer.

        THE RIGHT ANGLE MEN’S CLUB MARCH MEETING 

The Right Angle Men's Club met on March 17, 2016 to enjoy comradery, a buffet lunch and to listen to Mr. Chris Bent discuss a wide range of topics including the eight books he has authored, his business at the Best of Everything, his career as a Navy Seal and his volunteer organization Vets Visiting Vets.    

The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, a 50/50 raffle and the introduction of our guest speaker by Bill Cooper. Mr. Bent discussed an interesting array of topics and kept the audience entertained with numerous jokes and vignettes throughout his talk. Some of the key points from his presentation were:

·         His career as a Navy Seal:

·         Mr. Bent was part of Seal Team 4

·         He recovered the Gemini and Apollo space crafts

·         Roughly 80% of the Seal candidates quit before finishing the program

·         Hell week includes 250 ft. parachute drops, 15 mile hikes and only about 6 hrs. of sleep in a week

·         His early life in retail:  

·         After attending Yale University Mr. Bent became a Navy Seal

·         Upon completion of his multiple tours of duty as a Seal, Mr. Bent worked in retail at firms such as Lord and Taylor, B. Altman, J. Crew, Brooks Brothers and even the WWF

·         His store, the Best of Everything is a huge success which includes 4 locations in  Naples and 1 in Kennebunkport ME

·         T. J. Maxx visited the Best of Everything and said it is the finest retailer they have ever seen

·         His wife, a fabulous retail mind, runs an “analog” store with no reports – her sole focus is on the product and the customer

·         His writing career:

·         He authored 8 books including: 1-800 Laughing out Loud, 1-800 for Women Only, 1-800 for Vets Only, 1-800 I am Unhappy and 1-800 For Seals Only  

·         He used the “1-800” moniker in the title as a way to lighten the mood and to enable a vehicle to provide friendly advice much like a 1-800 phone number/help desk

·         Selling millions of copies, his books are inspirational, straight-talking, often irreverent and humorous insights of self-discovery about life as we should know it

·         His charitable work – Mr. Bent formed “Vets Visiting Vets”:

·         Veterans are out there waiting for someone to talk to

·         You can request a visit from a fellow Veteran or visit a fellow Veteran

·         Visit the website: VetsVisitingVets.com to get assigned a Veteran to visit

·          

Mr. Bent took a few questions from Right Angle members about his interesting life story and his charitable work.  

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:30 with Paul L’Esperance providing a small token of appreciation to Mr. Bent.  

 

        THE RIGHT ANGLE MEN’S CLUB FEBRUARY MEETING 

The Right Angle Men's Club met on February 11, 2016 to enjoy comradery, a buffet lunch and to present  Ms. Jennifer Pash as our guest speaker.   

The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, a 50/50 raffle and the introduction of our guest speaker by Bill Cooper. Ms. Pash spoke about the world’s largest Habitat for Humanity Chapter located in Collier County, Florida. Some of the key point from her presentation were:

1)      The Collier County Habitat chapter was established in 1978 and is now 38 years since then. Over 1,850 families in Collier County own Habitat homes and approximately 300 have already paid off their mortgages.

2)      Collier County was the second affiliate in the U.S. after the initial affiliate was created in Georgia. Millard Fuller founded Habitat, not Jimmy Carter who is arguably the most famous Habitat volunteer.  

3)      Eight communities are now completed with Victoria Falls being the first Naples neighborhood.

4)      Faith Landing (in Immokalee) and Legacy Lakes (in Naples) are the two communities where building is currently occurring.

5)      Attached villas were previously being built, but now Habitat has returned to building single family homes. The prior home was 1,069 sq. ft. and the new, single family house is roughly 1,200 sq. ft.

6)      There are 15 families that apply for each home that Habitat can build. Habitat in Collier County can enable about 6 families a month to own  at this time. The average mortgage payment is $650/month and it is an interest free loan with Habitat holding the mortgage.

7)      Potential new home owners must provide 500 hours of ‘sweat equity”, a $1,500  minimum down payment, live in Collier County for at least 1 year and have no criminal record.

8)      The sale price of the attached villa was $125K and the price of the new home model is $140K.

Ms. Pash answered questions from Right Angle Members and provided additional insight into our local Habitat chapter including how applicants are selected for homes and the funding process.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:30 with Paul L’Esperance providing a small token of appreciation to Ms. Pash.  

Cindy Carroll, State Certified Real Estate Appraiser, speaks at The Right Angle Men's Club January Meeting

Our January 2016 Speaker's Meeting was  most informative since our members and guests received first hand information about Naples residential real estate. Cindy Carroll, an expert real estate appraiser , has been in the appraisal business for many years and has seen boom and bust real estate values.
Cindy spoke about the most recent, 2005- 2015 real estate market and how values peaked in 2005-2006 followed by a rapid decent in values. Many speculators found themselves holding property only to be forced into "short sale" and also many properties landed in foreclosure.

The builders returned in 2012 and by 2013, they were building in errnest. By 2014-2105 the inventory of homes still fell short of demand but the inventory has begun to satisfy demand and the market is now considered to be healthy.

Naples encompases a large area and market conditions vary by location. Near the water locations are still the top value and inner locations in the northeast portion are not increasing much in value at this time. Ms Carroll stated many facts that affects property values and categories of golf community homes as well as newer residential communities which have not stressed on being a golfing community. She stressed that golf courses are expensive to build and maintain  and many have opted to skip the golfing aspect.

Questions about Vanderbilt Country Club values were asked and from the little MLS listings, Cindy said it is times difficult to have a fair appraisal. She stated that condo values have increased handsomely and that the fact our community has upgraded our fitness center, clubhouse and golf course our values will only increase.

The meeting ended with a token of appreciation for the time Cindy had taken from her busy schedule to inform our members.

THE RIGHT ANGLE MEN’S CLUB NOVEMBER MEETING AT VANDERBILT COUNTRY CLUB

On a beautiful South Florida day, The Right Angle Men's Club of Vanderbilt Country Club had the pleasure of comradery, a buffet lunch and a terrific guest speaker from the Naples Daily News. Mr. Manny Garcia, the Executive Editor of the paper, provided interesting insights into how the paper is run, the local and national environment as well as his own background.

This first meeting of the 2015/2016 season was held on November 19^th with over 80 attendees in Vanderbilt Country Club’s lovely and recently renovated main dining room. While enjoying a wonderful lunch, the members could take in the view from the main dining room windows which look out over the just completed golf course renovation project. The VCC Right Angle Club strives to provide “The Right Angle” on issues of interest and importance to its members and guests.   

The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, a 50/50 raffle and the introduction of our guest speaker by Mr. Bill Cooper. Mr. Garcia spoke about his Cuban heritage and his growth and development in this country, the operation of the paper and also dealt with many issues and questions that are relevant to the Right Angle membership. Some of the areas he covered were:   

1)      Operation of the Naples Daily News:

a.      The Naples Daily News was recently purchased by Gannett.

b.      The Gannett management team is looking to leverage some of the best practices implemented at the Naples Daily News at other papers that they own.

c.       The Naples Daily News is housed in an amazing building with state of the art facilities.

d.      The printing of the paper is done on a high speed, state-of-the art printing press. 

e.      There are roughly 45K subscribers off season and 100K subscribers in season.

f.        In addition to the local markets, key markets for the paper include Cuba and Venezuela.  

g.      Mr. Garcia discussed the electronic distribution of content and the way the Naples Daily News is adopting to that environment by making changes to their existing mobile device delivery mechanism.

h.      Mr. Garcia ended this part of his discussion by offering a facility tour to any interested members of the VCC Right Angle Club.

2)      Questions and topical discussion areas of interest to the membership included:  

a.      The Naples area being a dynamic place for growth and great for journalism. 

b.      Cuba has become a much more open environment with blogs out to the world now on mobile devices.

c.       The top stories going forward potentially include a state wide analysis of the beach restoration and a state wide look at how funding is used in the criminal justice system.

d.      The permitting process in Naples.

Mr. Garcia concluded with a discussion of the “Investigator’s Verse” from Luke 12:2-3.

² There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ³ What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

He was one of our most interesting and entertaining speaker to-date and provided a great way to kick off the first meeting of the Right Angle Club for the new season.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:30 with Paul L’Esperance presenting a modest token of the club’s appreciation to Mr. Garcia.