Advice: How to turn around a California HOA

If a property manager in California who is not a member of NARM or CAIM, has been ratcheting up her costs in budget while providing fewer and fewer services, and is a defendant in many HOA and property contract lawsuits over past ten or so years including a new one filed in fall of 2016 and is finally impossible to trust or believe, how do I get this info to the members?

How can I start to turn this mess around? Each board does less and less and a handful of people might come to meetings. I'd like to suggest HOA member meetings as well as provide the main issues to discuss if I can get the list. Many opt out of mailing, but no request for the list has been honored anyway. I have requested in writing with a reason: "want to discuss contemplated insurance change and effect less maintenance will have on our property for the coming years in an old complex". I've thoroughly researched our maintenance history for past nine years, our insurance policies and have tried to get board and manager to adhere to advice of independent certified arborist for hazard abatement especially for oldest and largest eucalyptus trees that are now years overdue and extremely dangerous with no success. I've found our insurance will not pay for rebuilding if collapse is caused by anything falling onto buildings, including enormous listing, overgrown eucalyptus over 80 feet and just feet from two buildings.

It almost looks like the board keeps this manager because she's so willing to ignore "fiduciary duty" and requirements. I'm sure they know but membership doesn't know how unfit she also appears to be on paper with no special certification, a broker's license expired since I believe the 80's and so many lawsuits. Each year a new board starts and this manager delays and weakens all access, communication and there is much apathy. Those who are getting benefit of resources or who can't imagine how close to ruin we're getting aren't yet concerned but all are hard to approach without even an address list (most units are rented). As a board member I couldn't even look at current vendor contracts. All we were given were outdated and incomplete ones, mainly hold harmless text and not even an actual business name or verifiable entity.

I'm scared. Insurance and our regularly depleted reserve won't begin to pay for scheduled and needed replacements that are deferred, let alone damage that is inevitable, yet I and those in affected buildings are paying dues that largely fund extravagant landscaping and repeated repairs and renovations on select buildings and a clubhouse. Lawyer? Consultant to help me obtain declaratory relief? We get extensive instructions about ADR , mediation that must come before court but I do see a situation that allows for court if timeliness is an issue. I'm aware courts favor hoa self governance but I dare say these are extremely blatant cases of unequal treatment of property and allowance for extreme danger that can be seen as likely to result in serious injury or death if ignored I'm afraid even a few more months. These same trees, as dangerous as they already are, had many close up roots removed last December to widen a sidewalk and less than a year later many remaining roots to keep some irrigation pipes. It's hard to view this mishandling as less than an effort to get rid of some buildings, nobody could gamble this much, or be so mindless.

Neglected roofs and property is easily deduced just by comparing the '12 and '15 reserve funding studies that show oldest buildings set for '13 and '16 replacement simply rejuvenated themselves with no spending, adding ten plus years "useful remaining life" that will make those roofs over 35 years old if ever replaced, while budgeted items are gardens and cosmetic clubhouse projects plus actual re-roofing of newer roofs at a slow rate.

In the past two years a board president had to resign after being found to own no property here and two board members had to quit after supposedly taking much of the reserve funds for a pool and barbecue upgrade as if the (illegal) president and others didn't notice until the pool fantasy was built with "unauthorized" funding.

I sound like someone who's paranoid or exaggerating. I wish I were. Owning here as a single person since '91 who will end up with loss instead of a dream is making me sad and sick. Others are concerned I know but this is almost a 400 unit complex. What's the quickest way to sound the alarm, get the documentation reviewed and hopefully halt some of the flim- flam? This could be the HOA that ruins it for California style self-governance. Please suggest someone; I'm a retired legal assistant myself but I'm really up against a wall of carelessness and selfishness that's harmful. I need the help of an attorney or specialist on our California HOA laws and knowledge of any useful trends that favor owners before the catastrophic loss and carbetbagging wins.