Dear Friends and Neighbors,

An organized group of concerned Coronado owners not affiliated with the Board or the Association in any official capacity has come together to share what we believe is the unfiltered reality about recent events at the Coronado. Our goal is to provide the facts, developments, and perspectives owners deserve so our community can move forward with full understanding.

To continue receiving this newsletter click here to subscribe.

Through these trying times, The Conscience congratulates the Coronado community for its patience in awaiting resolution of all open Board matters.

Not only has our patience been tested, but in all the years at the Coronado our community has never before been forced to endure the level of divisiveness created by this Board — a situation for which the Board accepts no responsibility. The evidence speak otherwise.

Every voting initiative approved by the Board and presented to the community has failed to pass. The Board has blamed among other things confusing proxies (which it approved) and The Conscience (first published 8/30/2025), calling it a “propaganda piece.” Among other purposes, this publication allows the voices of those owners who cannot convey their concerns directly to the Board to be heard.

Below are what we believe are the sources of this division:

Little fiscal restraint dividing the community: While previous Boards led by Jason Chudnofsky and Allan Leibowitz, arranged for the 3.35% 10 year Truist bank loan and instituted policies to greatly increase our reserve funds, this Board seems to be bent on spending down our reserves as soon as possible, with very little fiscal restraint, including the items mentioned below. Do not forget the $35k recently spent by this Board to replace a generator in the clubhouse that hasn’t worked and was not needed in any way in the last 15 years.

Lack of honesty regarding assessments — watch your wallets: This Board has favored beautification projects, while many owners prefer some  fiscal restraint—especially given major non-reserve projects that were not disclosed in the rosy picture presented in the President’s Memo (January 2, 2026) and will likely require future assessments. Rather than expanding the lobby budget, the hallway project, the management office (which could be reduced significantly with a modular structure advocated by Lisa Ranello), the gazebo, the grills, etc. the Board should prioritize financial discipline now to reduce assessments later by preserving or returning funds to owners in anticipation of foreseeable costs, including the seawall (estimated $2.5 million), rumored conversion from Single Digits and satellite to Comcast or Hotwire (estimated to cost hundreds of thousands), and the West pool renovation (estimate TBD) which would reduce the effect of assessments. Further, a recertification in connection with the 40-year certification is now required by law every 7-10 years, which could result in significant costs to the community for which we should all be prepared.

Insulting and condescending conduct: When Fred Ruda began his presidency, he wrote in an email dated February 20, 2025 concerning pickleball, “Funny how the ‘old guard’ wants nothing to do with a sport they don’t understand, like, appreciate nor have the physical dexterity to try. Yet they hate everyone who plays it.” This was obviously insulting to older owners; a “good” start to his presidency.

Failure to enforce the Code of Conduct: At early Board meetings, Lisa Ranello, the Board member receiving the most votes, endured repeated attacks by Ray Carile in violation of the Code of Conduct in our Bylaws, helping to create a toxic environment. Despite his fiduciary responsibility to enforce the Code of Conduct, President Ruda chose not to intervene, but eventually, Jason Chudnofsky was compelled to intervene to quell the insulting behavior. Then it became commonplace at Board meetings for owners to boo, yell, demand to be heard out of turn, all with no controls instituted. the The seeds of division had now been sown.  Thereafter, mean spirited, insulting and possible defamatory emails were continued by Board member Eileen Supran in emails to owners as well as in Fred Ruda’s highly insulting communications to the community. Of note, is Fred Ruda’s infamous “stench” memo to the community. 

Broken promises of transparency: Secret committee meetings, including the Lobby Design Committee and the committee tasked with terminating FSR, were held without notice, without owner access, and without minutes. Owners were not even informed of the existence of a committee for terminating FSR. This obviously resulted in distrust by the community.

Secret Board meetings: Eileen Supran convened multiple meetings involving a quorum of Board members without notice, excluding dissenting Directors, violating Florida statutes. Three Board meetings were called by her under the guise of a focus group meeting for the lobbies, inviting Board members Fred Ruda, Debbie Boschetti, Ray Carile, Lisa Ranello. This was in direct violation of Florida statutes, which state that if a quorum of the Board (in this case, more than three members) is in attendance, the meeting must be noticed and all owners must be invited. Board members Jason Chudnofsky and Allan Liebowitz, who disagreed with her position, were not invited. The fact that invited Board members were instructed not to speak, demonstrates an intention to conceal attendance at an un-noticed Board meeting. In addition, some of the Board members who attended, initially tried to claim they were not in attendance until evidence proved otherwise. Again, what happened to the transparency we were promised.

Service and Emotional Support Animals: Policies issued by Eileen Supran and Debbie Boschetti apparently conflicted with federal and state law. Whether you like or dislike these Federal and State laws, their actions expose the Association to additional legal fees, fines, and potentially very expensive class-action litigation which we all would have to pay for. This further alienated a growing segment of the community, ESA and SA owners, who believe they have properly complied with the law.

Clarification regarding previous issues of The Conscience: It has recently been brought to our attention that issues have been raised with respect to certain legal provisions/matters in our newsletter. Now that we have retained Florida legal council with expertise in condominium law, we will be happy to clear up any questions, confusions, or mistakes that you may identify. Please let us know any concerns you may have. Truth has always been our guiding principle.

This section deals with a year-end review of accomplishments and disappointments of this Board. Accomplishments and disappointments are outlined below so owners can decide for themselves, particularly with an election coming in February.

EV Chargers: Two EV chargers were installed, an amenity that is long overdue and that will discourage owners from charging in the garages.

Bike Room: The Board has redesigned the bike room and removed the old bikes. In addition, racks were put up. This was a project that needed to be done.

Maintenance & Landscaping Work: The Board published a list of completed maintenance items (which can be viewed in the Ocean Club and at the Concierge desks). This list is somewhat extensive as standard maintenance items were deferred in the previous year to focus on meeting the requirements for the 40-year certification. This laser focus on achieving the certification by the previous Board saved the Association hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual insurance costs.

The Lobbies: Over a two year span, the Lobby Design Committee (Eileen Supran plus one other member) spent over $40,000.00 for i) two renderings, ii) a revision to one, and iii) insurance that Brown failed to provide. Despite repeated warnings from many owners, before the process began, to include the community via town hall meetings and/or surveys like what was done with the clubhouse, to reduce future dissention, the two-person committee refused to do so.

The initial rendering was ill-conceived. While the revision removed the management offices, it retained the same underlying layout concept and simply replaced the offices with an “amenity” space — described as including a desk, card table, oversized sofa blocking the walkway, shelving, and a fireplace. Further, the tile chosen, 4x4, is very dated as conveyed to us by many contractors and larger tiles are now being used in lobby renovations.

For many owners, this does not solve the core design problem; it extends it, substituting one objectionable use of the lobby footprint for another and investing additional time and money into features owners do not want in the lobbies.

Many owners have told us the design that the Board plans to put to a vote lacks the “WOW” factor they want, were promised, and that the community deserves.

While there is understandable frustration and impatience to see a renovated lobby after years of delay, many owners believe that urgency should not become a rationale for accepting a design that fails to meet the community’s aesthetics, functional expectations, and long-term needs.

Of recent note, is Fred Ruda’s email of January 2nd, 2026, where he finally acknowledged that the creation of lobbies with a wow factor which we were promised by both the Board and Brown would be nearly impossible to achieve on a $1.1 million dollar budget. 

Pickleball Courts: Pickleball is a valued amenity, and there is no doubt the courts require renovation. During Spring 2025, when snowbirds were absent, ironically, no repairs were made. As a result, many pickleball players felt compelled to join private clubs, including Board President Fred Ruda. This issue was raised previously, yet the Board has still not explained why this was not concluded in the spring.

Pickleball Court Lines; Failed To Pass: Non-permanent pickleball lines were previously installed on the tennis courts based on legal advice. A Board resolution to make them permanent failed to pass. The minimal cost, we are informed, suggests to many, the vote may reflect broader dissatisfaction with the Board.

The Grill Project; Failed To Pass: A proposed resolution for a grill build-out costing approximately $75,000 was advanced. Existing grills currently reach 500° and function properly. This resolution also failed to pass. Adding two grills would address high-season demand at a lower cost.

Gazebo Over the East Hot Tub; Failed To Pass: The prior structure was removed due to rot. A Board resolution offered a choice between doing nothing or replacing it with a Board-sponsored alternative solution. This resolution also failed to pass. To date, no action has been taken by the Board to replace the gazebo in the form that previously existed, despite its responsibility to do so.

Ocean Club Game Room: The game room, prime ocean-front Highland Beach real estate, now houses management offices. This was done on a unilateral basis by the Board without any buy-in from the community. Owners were told this was temporary. Many months later, there is no end in sight. The Board reports spending $24,000 for this move, despite initially stating $8,500. A fully wired and furnished office trailer with three workstations could have been rented for approximately $900 per month, saving the community a great deal of money and immediately returning the gaming room to the community.

The move was declared an “Emergency” due to mold in the detached garage. Ironically, the maintenance staff continues to use the garage office and furniture after cleaning. Another instance of misleading the community.

Property Management Transition: Dissatisfied with FSR, the Board contracted with KW Property Management. Again, a secret committee had been formed with no input from the community. To help with anticipated transition challenges, Fred Ruda promised that he and each of the five other seasonal Directors would spend two weeks each on-site over the summer creating 10-weeks of transition help at the outset. None of the five seasonal Directors appeared on-site, which negatively impacted the transition. Another example of broken promises to the community.

After many service complaints by owners, Fred Ruda brought in an owner to directly intervene with KW to improve operations, an unprecedented emergency measure. The KW property manager was removed after seven months despite prior assurances by the Board that KW was meeting or exceeding expectations, again misleading the community. On many occasions, the West Tower lacked concierge services.

Thus, the community appears to be paying over $1 million for a property management company that is paid to provide full operational leadership, so the Board can focus on governance, not daily operations. Yet the Board appears to be doing significant self-managing, which calls into question the value being delivered. Let’s hope the new property manager gets the job done. 

Governing Documents: The Governing Documents Committee has worked for six years to align our documents with the changing needs of the community and to make them consistent with each other, close legal ambiguities to save on attorney fees, and correct all of the provisions that now conflict with current laws. Only the Declaration remains to be approved. Outside counsel praised it as one of the best he has ever seen. It was delivered to Board liaison, Debbie Boschetti, in August 2024, yet sixteen months later it has still not been presented to the community for a vote.

Rules and Regulations: With the involvement of Debbie Boschetti, volunteers Jane Lisa and Bobby Savlov along with an advisory council of 18 owners updated the Rules and Regulations to make them more responsive to community needs, to reduce contradictory provisions, and remove illegal provisions. This collaborative and extensive effort was completed years ago, yet the Board has not yet approved them, or provided a timeline for discussion and approval.

Employees still have Not Received their Holiday Gift money: Hard to believe, but monies from the gift fund many paid into still have not been distributed to the employees and may not be until later this month. To our best knowledge, there has never been a year at the Coronado when the Holiday Fund was not distributed before Christmas!

Elevator not working for three weeks: The Board canceled the contract with Otis Elevator three weeks ago and still have no contract in place for elevator servicing, resulting in the West tower service elevator being out of order for over three weeks. How many more elevators need to go out of order for the Board takes action.

Our editors receive complaints on a regular basis that we as a community are faced with a Board that has been the most divisive Board they have endured. Adding insult to injury, this Board has a record of accomplishing very little that matters while alienating many in the community. Generally, the community feels excluded in many of their initiatives; it’s their way or the highway. The Board should always be in the vanguard in leading the community with dignity and civility and demanding the same from owners. This, we believe, would lead to harmony and respect. 

Accordingly, you are encouraged to attend every Board meeting and ask tough questions. Everyone needs to obtain whatever information they deem most important to feel fully informed.

Always keep this in mind: the Board was voted into its positions by the community, and it can be voted out just as easily.

In the end, we are but one community that must be run with less divisiveness, the transparency we were promised, the acceptance by the Board of more community involvement, respect for differing opinions, and no personal attacks. We want a community that fosters respectful, constructive communication and professionalism. We want a Board that can get things done for the betterment of everyone. We want a WOW lobby that will pass the test of time for at least the next 30 years. For many of these items, while it is easy to settle out of frustration, there is no reason we should not expect excellence and competency from our Board, both of which are within reach. Stay true to your expectations, and we can succeed together.

Yours truly,

The Coronado Conscience Editorial Team