Update on APC Security Measures

People don't have as much money this year as last, so I believe it's an economic cause, nothing more.

That's just my opinion, for what it's worth.

Yes I know Saturday was not good. However, it is usually bad on Sunday also and this year it was not, as far as I could see. Do you think maybe the National Police being at the gate discouraged some people from coming by Sunday? One can only hope :-)

Did you not see it on the Saturday Suzanne?

Total chaos!

Maybe they had all spent-up & gone home by Sunday?

Semana Santa has come and gone and I wondered if anyone noticed that there were fewer cars and fewer people than ever before on Easter Sunday. We left for Mass in the morning and there were not many people coming in. We came back at 2:30 3 o"clock the same thing not many outside people on the roads at all.
Maybe the Dominicans got wise to the fact that the Malecon and Long Beach is really a better place to go than Costambar.

Well it seems the dreaded semana santa passed without serious incidents. There were many police seen as well as the Cruz Roja. Also I gather that searches at the the gate revealed a number of weapons which were confiscated. And the Dinky Toy even ventured out on Sunday. I know some have said it was done in the past, but it has certainly not happened in the last couple of years. So this year was an improvement. Now we just need to continue this kind of security every weekend in the summer.

I prefer to see how semana santa works out before giving an opinion on the measures taken. Lets be fair and not jump on everything until we can see how it works out. Since I live next to the beach, I am in the perfect position to comment next week.

I do however have comment on how communications are being handled by the |APC |Board. Communications from Normal organizations of this type usually come from the Secretary, not the Prez or Treasurer. While I applaud Stanley for doing a very good job of keeping us more informed, as treasurer he should really only be responsible for providing financial information. Where is the Secretary in all this ???? Not a peep since the election. The Secretary, not the Prez should write the minutes of all meetings. Yash has given himself far too much to do; he should be kicking the asses of the respective board members to attend to their duties and if they fail, to find more competent replacements. The Prez should be a more effective manager and not do nearly all the work himself. This to me is what needs to be changed. You cannot manage the farm when you are shovelling the manure.

Mr Secretary are you there ??

Stanely: By now you have read Sandro and Jack's account of why they could no longer work with Yash. Now he wants to discredit them.He has alienated all of us who have tried to work with him. The socalled Unity Group consists of people who have consistently volunteered to work for the community over the years, and we have all had the same bitter experience. No amount of spinning or twisting facts will settle the situation whereby Yash has no credibility. We all know neither Gene, Abbe or Yash have a clue about the security program and his complete unawareness about past Samana Sanatas only highlights this. The security program is in serious trouble.

Yash has no interest in what anybody else thinks, you included. You are there to carry out his direction no matter how harebrained/ill advised that might be. We have had nearly three years experience with the man, and it has been unpleasant to say the least.

OMG, what happened to Sandro and Jack? I only saw them both today????????????

Hi Don,
no one is pretending that any reference in the last APC Board posting is an innovation, it simply demonstrates that the New APC Board Gene Di Lorenzo, Abby Inoa are doing there best, despite the sad loss of Sandro Falla and Jack Cameron.

Meanwhile I will get back to completing the quarterly profit and loss statement that many are eagerly awaiting.

Have Fun
Stanley

Stanley. I'm sure you mean well, but as most of the people who use this forum know those procedures have been in place for at least 12-13 years. Yash didn't even get close to being first.
We have had Civil Defence, Marina de Guerre, Red Cross, and the National Police working with our staff and coordinating activities as a "business as usual" during Samana Santa.

It doesn't sit well for those in the community who have worked for the benefit of Costambar to see Yash jump in, like he discovered the place. If he wants praise, then let him do something praise worthy. You message should eliminate the self congratulations.

On behalf of the APC board of directors:

Fellow APC Members:

There will be beefed up security in Costambar starting Thursday afternoon provided by the National Police. Gene DiLOrenzo, Abby Inoa and myself met with the supervisors of our security personnel yesterday afternoon and later in the evening with a Colonel of the National Police who came to Costambar. Collectively we decided on the following security and other measures:

The National Police will establish a post near the entrance starting tomorrow afternoon.This is the first time they would have done so.

Additional National Police along with our personnel will patrol the streets and the beach area.

As a courtesy the Security Committee and APC will provide lunch to Police personnel assigned to Costambar and will supplement their gas usage.

The Green gate (now closed) will be opened for emergency purposes as and when needed.

In the case of an emergency call the front gate 809-970-7015 and explain the nature of the emergency (medical, theft, vandalism). Our guards along with the National Police will take appropriate measures.

The APC office will close as of Thursday mid-day and will reopen on Monday morning.

Garbage collection will also cease as of Thursday mid-day. The long-hiatus of 3 1/2 days and the collection of accumulated garbage starting next week will result in predictable delays. Residents are urged to secure their garbage away from stray dogs. Please do not leave your garbage in the street in plastic bags. Put it out on Monday.

APC will attempt to make a special pick-up of garbage along the beach road on Sunday morning - conditions permitting. The collected garbage, however, will be left in the two trucks, because heavy vehicles are prohibited from the public roads during the long week-end.


Respectfully

Yash Aggarwal
APC-President

I am posting the following email, authored by Jack Cameron & Sando Falla, that was sent to the community. It directly responds to the prior posting made by Stanly Bobyk on behalf of its author, Yash Aggarval.
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Subject: Re: Security response from Sandro Falla and Jack Cameron

yash's security emails have a bunch of distortions ! we thought it is our duty to point these out to the community :


1)**** Yash wrote : APC spends about RD 2,500,000 or about 50% of the APC annual budget on security operations.The cost includes payroll and benefits for 14 security employees, gasoline and maintenance of motorbike and jeep, purchase of new equipment*****

The facts are: .......... there are 11 employees as you cannot count michael byrne's ( 3) contracted employees as they are not available for costambar as a whole, we subcontract them to michael byrne so , we have 11 security employees,
( not 14) , an all time low, and this is putting Costambar in jeopardy of increased crime and problems . ( look at the covered up robbery next to manana hoy for instance , that was hid from costambar residents, thereby putting residents in more danger as they did not have the opportunity to increase their personal security, also in the past few days a burglary in the Luperon Condominiums , that has received no press from the current administration, or no warning to Costambar residents to be on the look out) . Sandro published a monthly crime report and we went public immediately when high profile crimes occurred so that the public could protect themselves.

2) *************Yash wrote : the Security Committee independently raises about RD 300,000 to pay mostly for other costs that cannot be covered under the APC budget************

The facts are........... the security committee in the past 2 years raised $ 750,000 pesos ,.( $ 420,012.00 pesos last year ), and we are just bleeding through the old money is paying for police presence until the end of June ! so the Security Committee chaired by Aby and Gene will not have to spend a peso for the until the end of June .

3) ******* Yash wrote : The APC Board designates a Board member responsible for overseeing the security operations that include the management/hiring/firing of security personnel and providing strategic direction to security operations. Until recently Sandro Falla fulfilled this responsibility. He, however, is no longer a member of the new Board; nor did he wish to continue exercising this responsibility ex-officio. The new Board designated Alex Solos to head the APC security operations. He, however, has had a long bout of illness and hence by default the responsibility has fallen on my shoulders because I am intimately familiar with the APC security operations having worked closely with Sandro on various aspects of the security operations during his tenure.....and ......As the de-facto in charge of security operations I, in consultation with other Board members as well as Gene and Abby, have taken several steps to revamp security operations:

The facts are ........ the security designate on the new board was never capable of doing the job, He has no vehicle not even a motorcycle. Yash has responsibilities " falling on his shoulders " as he chose people not capable of serving in the positions he assigned them. and just like he assumed, treasurer, and secretary duties of the last board ( a one man board ) he now is assuming security duties de-facto. Other facts are that Yash has cut the gasoline way back and now we have reduced patrols by more than 50% because he is too cheap to buy the gas that we need to patrol Costambar. When the security asks him for gasoline he , ( Yash ) is always angry and has a bad attitude toward them. We have not only Door Men as Yash fired the security guard that was at the point , to prevent people from entering Costambar from Agua Negra, Javillar , Playa Oeste . So we have no protection for Costambar over there, now there will be boats coming as we have no look outs at that point location any more . On Sundays we only have 3 men , and we have thousands of people coming from Santiago, there were shots fired on the beach a week ago and Security could not put a patrol out to respond because of the under staffing during that heavy time. Also thousands are entering Costambar without a patrol presence to let them know we have Security Protection. "What is going to happen the rest of this Easter week with such a decimated Security force, as Costambar now has, when the thousands of visitors arrive ?

4) **** Yash wrote : ****** instead of micro-managing the daily operations as was done in the past. ...and... The contract has been given to the tailor chosen by Sandro Falla and Jack Cameron. I, however, renegotiated the unit price of each uniform resulting in a savings of about 33% in the total cost..........and............The Board is pleased to note with satisfaction that the new uniforms were procured in less than 2 weeks compared to the months it took in the past. Additionally, as I wrote earlier 8 new boots were also acquired with funds from the Security Committee and APC. The APC Board thanks Gene DiLorenzo and Abby Inoa for taking charge of the

The facts are ......... it is the normal operating procedure for Yash to insult volunteers that have worked hard for the community and throw anybody under the bus that no longer serves Yash at his beck and call. Sandro Falla and Jack Cameron are the latest of these victims , although they follow a long line of distinguished ex volunteers that are under the bus at this time........ boots that Yash bought at the Pulga were used boots , and the very next day , the very next day!, guards had holes in these used boots. Jack Cameron found boots new for 1300 pesos per pair that he publicized through security emails , that would have carried the troops for a year at least . now Yash has wasted money on used boots !! Uniforms. Yash is saving money as he ordered "short sleeve " which will not function well , we always went with long sleeve for more protection in a fight, protection from mosquitoes at night and more proffesional. they have lasted one and two years . and Sandro and Jack bought 2 full sets last year of long sleeve heavy uniforms with bold yellow lettering that got the job done. once they were ordered they were delivered a week later than promised , not bad in the d.r. , yash is buying one set of ill suited uniforms , Penny wise and pound foolish Yash ! residents don't be fooled ! Yash why are you so cheap ??

5******Yash wrote****This morning Abby Inoa - representing the Security Committee and Amadeo Luciano and myself representing the APC Board met with the General in charge of the National Police for the North Coast and two Colonels. Gene DiLorenzo could not make the meeting because of other commitments. We had discussions over a wide range of security issues and are very pleased with the outcome of the meeting. We explained to them the change of guard at APC and the Security Committee, underscoring the fact that Sandro Falla was no longer in charge of the APC security operations and that henceforth Gene DiLorenzo and/or Abby Inoa will be the liaisons of the Security Committee with the National Police and that I and/or Amadeo will be the liaisons for the APC.
The facts are ............................................ the meeting with the National Police is a start at best. Sandro Falla is the contact for Costambar !! When they had the National Police Day picnic . who did the police invite ?? they invited Sandro !! ( he told him he no longer had the security position, they told him they did not care and invited Sandro and Jack ) he is the one that knows over 20 police by first names and has built a relationship over 4 years that has kept the police presence in Costambar and provided assistance when we needed it ! One meeting and a little puffing does not build a relationship like Sandro has Yash ! Sandro has provided things for the police on an ongoing basis that has not cost the APC anything he has had volunteers , ( like Jack Cameron) donate free condos for nights to generals, colonels etc. as well as other accommodations that are not going to be provided now. that is what built the relationship in the past. ( is Yash going to pay for this stuff )??

6) ********Yash wrote **********P.S. If anyone has any complaints concerning the security operations and/or the guards please direct your complaint to the APC office in writing or in person.


the facts are..... as normal Yash wants to direct any complaints of his policies and behavior to the office. as he is above reproach , however, Security is the latest thing he is sticking his nose into that he knows little about. in the previous 2.5 years he had never given a personal peso to security or the security committee, but he expects everybody else to give their money ! he has done all he can do to cut costs to below the bone, cut back on necessary gasoline for the motos and the police and the morale is at an all time low . what we have is a near collapse of security occurring including Yash making rash decisions like firing General Supervisor Lt. Ulloa one minute and then rehiring him the next ! this is not Donald Trump and the " Apprentice " , this is the security of Costambar that many of us have donated, raised money for, and developed. It is up to you the residents of Costambar to be heard ! We need a minimum, a minimum of 15 full time front gate guards. ( this is 4 more than we have now !! just to provide basic security ) This past Sunday while the beach was full, there was only 3 guards at the front gate and none for patrol of Costambar to keep an eye out for visitors that have something bad in mind. On weekends now we need 2 more in the morning and 2 more in the afternoon.

So please all of you, don't go to the office, don't call the office, don't submit your complaints in English and Spanish . Call Yash directly 809-869-0149 or at home 809-970-7960 or email him at haggarwal@hotmail.com and tell him you want 15 full time guards working Security in Costambar, extra weekend coverage, and please quit cutting Security to the bone, and endangering all of us !

Sincerely to our all friends in Costambar

Sandro Falla 1st Vice President Security 2010-2012 APC Board

Jack Cameron 2nd Vice President Security 2010-2012 APC Board

Stanly
I do not believe the communities you have lived and so proudly talked about their security were armed with weapons of mass distractions nor had to ask super powers to help them with the task.
Often I have gone through the main gate when the exit bar is up and no one watching who is leaving costambar and with what?
For example, many years ago the good APC board hahah, Had given a book to the supervisor of the security, he had to keep a record of the trucks of edenorte entering and checking the back of their trucks when leaving Costambar. Many edenorte trucks turned around and left the gate because all they wanted to do is to come in harass the unsuspecting residents scare them with lies that they are connected illegally and in order to keep their mouth shut would take money from resident or come in and steal lamps and wiring.
That good program stopped when the guards changed at APC. Maybe it is a good time to bring it back.
On the other hand, no disrespect to Costambar security personal but they are all poor any extra income is welcome. You would be very naive if you thought they have loyalty. When this Easter weekend comes around they will let everyone and anyone in who is willing to give them few pesos.
Anette has a fantastic idea. Tell Yash to stop letting his big ego get in the way of smart business, he should put this Napoleonic complex aside and do what is good for Costambar. Los Mangos wants the job, give it to them. Vallarino has the most to lose in Costambar. Think what good is his golf club and all the money he has and is spending there if its surroundings are abandon homes, devalued homes for rent with all kind of riff raff moving in, a dirty beach and dark and dirty streets with in much need of repairs.
Go to the club and honestly look what he has done and tell us what APC has done for Costambar that compares to his work. Beside Liana’s board that finished the wall at one side of Costambar, got the tour buses not to come in had to park outside, got ride of the horses which according to Anette are back plus their cow friends. Imagine land outside Costambar is more expensive than inside..

I am asking myself the same questions as Eli did..
I do not expect any answer and I am not entitled to complain.

I wonder , why APC would pay 50% of the incoming fees in security matters, especially because it is impossible to improve the security in Costambar anyway as long as some important matters are not solved.
It does not help to spend money on uniforms and boots for example - it is merely just looking better at the gate, however it does not improve the security.
Placing all the guards at the gate is also pretty useless, because they don’t know, what is going on in the rest of the community.
Guards must be posted at both ends of Costambar to control all the people, who are NOT using the gate, because most of the nasty people, who are not allowed through the gate are just going into Costambar somewhere else.
The green gate has bars at the sides and many people are just climbing over here. Even when the national police is right next to them.
We have all kinds of people running around in Costambar ringing peoples bells. Jehovah witnesses are ringing my bell several times per week ( grrrrr)
People ringing the bell begging for money for some seek family member etc.
We have plenty of people walking around checking our garbage cans, collecting whatever they find. We have horses on the empty lots in Costambar and even cows were coming in last week. There were 8 cows walking down the main street until the people from Los Mangos got them out of the project.
All these thing also belong to the area of a good security!

I just don’t understand, why APC would spend 50% of the fees for a security, that they cannot manage anyway. Los Mangos/Costa de Amber would be happy to take over the gate and the security in Costambar and why not give it to them? A huge amount of money could be saved in this way.
Still it is possible to keep a security committee among the residence or a kind of neighborhood watch, but it would no longer be necessary to pay for boots, uniforms and guns and whatever for the guards at the gate - and NO payroll and NO fuel and NO etc…
And then work together !

Unfortunately it is always about “me, me and me first and I know best and I am in charge” - much more important to some people than the improvement of the community.

Eli, I believe Yash said that all suggestions should be presented through the APC office.

Ideally the best model to follow is the North-South Korea border with a minefield along the areas of most risk. We can't very well use nuclear weapons otherwise the US will be after us!

Realistically I believe we should consider laying down more barbed wire defences and illuminating the identified areas of risk as well as clearing the brush so as to improve visibilty for the roving patrols. In fact improved street lighting all over would help substantially

Two questions 1 who are the people going to take over Gene and Abie’s job when they leave in two weeks? Next why are we reinforcing the front gate when most of the thieves are entering Costambar from the planta side or the area near the gate at the end of calle Colon?

Fellow APC Members:

This is an update on some of the measures the new Board of Directors of APC have taken to revamp the security operations. it is, however, worthwhile to first clarify some of the operational complexities.

APC spends about RD 2,500,000 or about 50% of the APC annual budget on security operations.The cost includes payroll and benefits for 14 security employees, gasoline and maintenance of motorbike and jeep, purchase of new equipment, and administrative expenses. In addition, the Security Committee independently raises about RD 300,000 to pay mostly for other costs that cannot be covered under the APC budget.

The APC Board designates a Board member responsible for overseeing the security operations that include the management/hiring/firing of security personnel and providing strategic direction to security operations. Until recently Sandro Falla fulfilled this responsibility. He, however, is no longer a member of the new Board; nor did he wish to continue exercising this responsibility ex-officio. The new Board designated Alex Solos to head the APC security operations. He, however, has had a long bout of illness and hence by default the responsibility has fallen on my shoulders because I am intimately familiar with the APC security operations having worked closely with Sandro on various aspects of the security operations during his tenure.

The Security Committee on the other hand is headed by a volunteer chosen by the Committee members, who does not have any responsibility for the security operations per se except for ensuring that sufficient funds are raised to meet the un-budgeted needs of security operations. Jack Cameron was the head of this Committee until recently, but he chose to resign. Gene DiLorenzo and Abby Inoa have stepped forward and assumed this responsibility.

As the de-facto in charge of security operations I, in consultation with other Board members as well as Gene and Abby, have taken several steps to revamp security operations:

1. The three officers in charge of the security guards have been given greater leeway in managing the daily operations. Henceforth, the security officers will make the necessary decisions in the daily deployment and use of the security personnel. This is an attempt to empower the security officers and make them responsible for the management of the security personnel, instead of micro-managing the daily operations as was done in the past. This change has been in effect now for more than a month and is working well. The security officers are more engaged, indeed feel empowered, and are eager to take responsibility for the daily operations rather than relying on instructions from the Board member.

2. We have streamlined the delivery of gasoline for the security motorbike and the car. The delivery is now controlled through the APC office (rather than by a Board member as in the past). In the beginning there were a few hitches, especially during the week ends when the office was closed. These difficulties have been taken care of and the new system is now working well and have resulted in significant savings in the overall usage of gasoline.

3. Boots have been bought for 8 security guards who previously did not have any boots or needed new ones. The funding for the boots was shared by APC with the Security Committee through the auspices of Gene DiLorenzo and Abby Inoa.

4. New Uniforms have been ordered for all security personnel. The cost of these uniforms will be shared by APC with the Security Committee. The contract has been given to the tailor chosen by Sandro Falla and Jack Cameron. I, however, renegotiated the unit price of each uniform resulting in a savings of about 33% in the total cost.

5. This morning Abby Inoa - representing the Security Committee and Amadeo Luciano and myself representing the APC Board met with the General in charge of the National Police for the North Coast and two Colonels. Gene DiLorenzo could not make the meeting because of other commitments. We had discussions over a wide range of security issues and are very pleased with the outcome of the meeting. We explained to them the change of guard at APC and the Security Committee, underscoring the fact that Sandro Falla was no longer in charge of the APC security operations and that henceforth Gene DiLorenzo and/or Abby Inoa will be the liaisons of the Security Committee with the National Police and that I and/or Amadeo will be the liaisons for the APC. The General promised us full cooperation on their part and will be sending enforcements during the Easter holidays.

6. We are in the process of defining and instituting additional measures to control the flow of visitors/non-residents and entry of fire arms into Costambar. The task is a difficult one and requires strict adherence of our security personnel to set rules and regulations, and will require the cooperation/presence of the National Police at the main gate during critical hours in the evenings/nights.

P.S. If anyone has any complaints concerning the security operations and/or the guards please direct your complaint to the APC office in writing or in person. Please attempt to obtain the name of the security guard in question if your complaint concerns a security guard. Also please remember that security is a personal responsibility of each one of us in addition to the efforts made by APC personnel. Any suggestions to enhance security in Costambar are welcome and should be directed to the APC office.


Respectfully,

On behalf of the APC Board

Yash Aggarwal
APC President 2012-2014.