A great deal of our work is either from, or derived through homeowners and condominium associations. This month we shall have a presentation by Dr. Oliver Burford, Executive Director of ECHO, the Executive Council of Homeowners that will help us to understand more of the problems and concerns held by these common interest developments.

As an example of these associations, we shall use ECHO. ECHO was founded in 1972 as a California non-profit corporation for the purpose of representing the interests of condominium and planned unit development owners and their associations.

Dr. Burford will speak to us of the origins of CID's in the United States including a brief discussion of the demographics for associations in California emphasizing those groups in Northern California Ð approximately 8,000 associations.

Concerns and issues of these Northern California CID's are of interest to us in particular where the subject is related to construction and construction defects. One very common shared concern is maintenance and the problems of deferred maintenance which will be also be discussed by Dr. Burford.

The interaction of facilities professionals with CID managers and boards is another topic for presentation that should be of particular interest to us as professionals.

Where is the CID concept in California headed? We can expect to become more and more involved with these groups as they develop into a voice to be heard for the continuing interests of the homeowners and structures that make up a good portion of our clientele.

For those interested, the annual ECHO Seminar is June 5th and 6th, 1998 in the Great American Lobby at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The Trade Show opens at noon on Friday June 5th and continues through Saturday June 6th until 4:00 PM. For more information contact the ECHO offices at (408) 297-3246.

Bulletin Board

Testing Engineer's Kamran Nemati will be the Westcon Dinner speaker for the July Meeting. Dr. Nemati is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. The subject will be the study and analysis of stress-induced cracks in concrete.

In addition to numerous publications and conference proceedings around the world to qualify and amplify Dr. Nemati' professional expertise, he is also equally qualified as a teacher to put out his technical information in an entertaining manner as evidenced by experience as a research fellow and instructor at the University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco State University, Santa Clara University and abroad at Aalborg university in Denmark and the Imperial College of Science in London, UK.

Dr. Nemati is a registered professional Engineer in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Hawaii, Maryland, New York and New Jersey.

August is vacation month!! There will be no meeting.

September

In September, the Westcon Dinner Meeting presentation will be given by Ninyo & Moore who will make a presentation on the geotechnical effects of El Nino and the recent storms through the State of California. Last month's Tribune gave notice of this same seminar which was conducted on May 19th through the 21st at the new offices of Ninyo and Moore in Oakland's Jack London Square. We hope that the subject will not be too timely in September and the information will be a good time for reflection and analysis of one of our wettest seasons on record.

New Westcon Members....

Westcon would like to welcome two new members.

Ralph Curran - Ralph is a Civil Engineer with licenses for both building and engineering construction. He is also a registered Environmental Assessor, Lead Inspector/Assessor, Lead Project Designer and a Certified Asbestos Consultant who specializes in Construction Litigation and Consulting.

G. Geoffrey Wood - Geoff is an attorney with Morton, Lulofs & Wood, LLP in Oakland. He has 15 years of experience in defending construction defect litigation. Geoff was one of our speakers in April and lists his specialties as Insurance Defense and Insurance Coverage.

JULY DINNER RESERVATIONS

Dinner reservations will be taken by Lina Habache who will be covering for Rikki. Another notice will appear in the July Tribune and there will be a message on the Westcon phone line to remind people.

1998 DIRECTORY

The 1998 Westcon Directories are finally printed and have been mailed out. If you have not received your copy or if you need additional copies, please contact Rikki or pick them up at the Dinner Meetings.

The University of California Forest Products is planning an Open House on Tuesday, September 15th from 1-4 pm. The theme of the annual open house is "Wood Deterioration by Insects, Decay and FungiÓ. More information will be forthcoming in the next Tribune.

Calendar of Upcoming events:

June 12, 1998
Technology day
Solutions for Waterproofing Problems.
D.M Figley, Co., Menlo Park, CA
8:00am - 1:00pm
Trade show, Demonstrations, Luncheon.
Manufacturers on hand to answer questions.
RSVP Required.

June 24th - 27th
Construction Specifications Institute's 43rd Annual Convention & Exhibit will be in Los Angeles. Call (206) 524-4243 for more information.
June 25th - 27th
1998 Western Building Show
Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA
Thursday, June 25th - 9:00am-5:00pm
Friday, June 26th - 9am-5:00pm
Saturday, June 27th - 9am-4:00pm
Training sessions include:
Energy Efficiency: Designing, Constructing & Marketing the Comfortable Home.

Common Framing Problems & Solutions. Builders, Remonelers and Indoor Air Quality. Seismic retrofit Training.
Preventing Water Intrusion.
Four Steps To Steel Framing Success.
Expo Hot Line phone number:
(800) 956-7469
wesite: www.wbs.org

Employees of Westcon Members are invited and encouraged to attend dinner meetings. The price for employees is the regular dinner price of $30.00 or $35.00 if you don't sign up in advance.

JUNE MENU

A. Grilled Beef Medallions - with Ancho Chili Sauce & Polenta.

B. Chiken Pontalba - Boneless Breast topped with ham, mushrooms, Onions & Bernaisse Sauce.

C. Spinach & Mushroom Crepes - with Mornay Sauce.

Names of those attending: ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

Please put the names and menu choices of those attending and make a notation if you are a guest or first time invitee.

Phone: (415) 451-4897 Fax: (415) 451-4897

Email: info@westcon.org

Mail: Westcon, P.O. Box 305, Ross, CA 94957