The TRUTH
Many false narratives have been proposed by our opponents on social media and at the Meet and Greet. This page is based on the opinions, observations and social media quotes viewed by LCPOA members wishing to set the record straight. You can decide for yourself.
Brown vs LCPOA Lawsuit
Filed in the Riverside County Superior Court - May 2025
Filed by Steve Brown
Asking over $35,000
Steve promises to resolve our lawsuits if elected to our board - how will he resolve this? Settlement? How much?
Steve Brown's Lawsuit
Steve Brown stood at the podium during the first Meet and Greet. In response to the question asked about the lawsuit he filed against our POA, he answered:
I did not file a lawsuit. I filed a complaint.
Semantics. Steve Brown was twisting the truth.
Steve’s “complaint” was filed in the Superior Court of Riverside County on May 2025. The POA attorney will undoubtebly treat this as a lawsuit. The POA insurance company will certainly consider this a lawsuit. Open the link above and you can decide for yourself. The POA is now waiting to be served. Below is Steve's demand:
ACTION IS AN UNLIMITED CIVIL CASE - EXCEEDS $35,000
This filing resulted in the POA’s obligation to report this to our insurance company. Any time a lawsuit is filed, it has potential negative consequences such as premium hikes or possibility policy cancelation. Is this who you want to vote for?
EQUESTRIANS BEWARE!! Your vote can protect our TRAILS!!!
LCPOA HORSE COMMUNITY -BEWARE!!
Do NOT be fooled by Michael Ghafouri, Steve Brown, Tsun-I Wang or MDM Auger professing to love horses and support trails, when none of them are equestrians nor live on horse property.
There are 5 directors on our board. When three are always in agreement, they are referred to as the board majority. The majority has control over all issues to be voted on. This is why keeping the majority is so important. Currently, Paul Gaarenstroom, Roy Paulson and Rick DeAndero are the board majority. Voting for Steve Brown and Michael Ghafouri, who align with Tsun-I Wang (current director) means they will take over control of our board if elected.
Why is this a problem for our equestrian community? First, the two candidates Michael Ghafouri and Steve Brown know they will lose votes if they don’t profess to love horses and trails. So of course that is what they are saying. Neither has anything to do with horses. Nor does Tsun-I Wang.
Our current Board Majority (Roy Paulson, Paul Gaarenstroom, and Rick DeAndero) have always voted and supported all things related to horses and trails. They are true equestrian families. David Boyd, our candidate along with Roy Paulson, is an equestrian himself and has promised to support our equestrian way of life when elected.
moreDIRECTOR TSUNI WANG IS A NO FOR OUR TRAIL NETWORK!!
This is a quote from one of our active directors in LCPOA. If Michael Ghafouir and Steve Brown are both voted in, they will comprise the board majority. Michael Ghafouri (our current LCPOA Director) has voted NO on every single trails related topic for years. Both Tsuni and Michael are NOT trails nor horse advocates. Steve Brown and Michael Ghafouri are running mates and appear to be in step on most LCPOA topics. None of these three are equestrians, nor are their immediate family members. Yet they are trying to convince our membership they "love horses and trails' to garner votes. If you want trails and you ride horses, DO NOT VOTE FOR THEM!!!
Here is a direct quote from Tsuni's website:
Over the years, we have observed a continuous cycle of acquiring easements, constructing fences, and creating non-connecting trails that often dead-end, all while incurring substantial financial burdens to benefit a small percentage of our community. While I respect the passion and enthusiasm of those who enjoy our equestrian trails and considering the Governing Documents of our association do not mention trails or provide for any related expenditures, it is crucial that we consider the broader impact on the entire community before allocating resources to such projects.
moreCANDIDATE MICHAEL GHAFOURI VOTES NO ON TRAILS!!
MICHAEL GHAFOURI VOTES NO ON ALL TRAILS RELATED ITEMS!! What will he do if he gains the board majority? Do you believe he will vote to support our trail system with this record?
January 2023:
Trail Land Specialist Proposal: Motion to Engage the services of a Trail Land Specialist on a per project basis. $400 for a signed MOU, $200 for a completed survey and $400 for a signed license agreement or recorded easement <for our trails>.
Michael Ghafouri – NAY
May 2023:
Review and Consider APN # trails easement: Motion to approve the trails easement agreement as submitted. 30 Day cancellation if no longer needed or if the owner fails to maintain the easement according to the easement agreement.
Michael Ghafouri – NAY
August 2023:
Review and Consider trail easement fence proposals for APN ###: Motion to approve the proposal submitted by Hemet fencing to install a fence on the approved trail easement at a cost of $4,500.
Michael Ghafouri – NAY
November 2023:
Everthrive Trails August Maintenance Proposal for $4,709: Motion to approve this trail maintenance proposal.
moreCOST to PAVE Cul-de-Sacs
CULDESAC COSTS
Steve Marvin is a civil engineer with a career in road design, construction, repair. He is a nationally renowned and highly sought after expert witness and has testified in numerous cases from local to federal. Culdesacs have become a heated topic by a select few within our community leaving many wondering what the costs of bringing the culdesacs up to standards might be. Steve has agreed to provide a rough estimate of these costs. His original estimate of $22million is likely close if you factor in all costs which are not included in his estimates below. He used aerial maps and in-person visits to our culdesac roads to come up with lengths, widths and level of asphalt distress to calculate his estimates. He emphasized the recent proposal to pothole patch and slurry coat is a non-sustainable and unacceptable method of caring for these roads. If the POA were to consider accepting care of these roads, his expert opinion and advice is they should first be at a basic county standard, similar to the condition of our primary road system before considering their acceptance. That expense would need to fall on the homeowners as it would not be possible for the POA to bear that cost of over $14 million dollars (plus the additional expenses outlined below).
It is important to remember that the POA has an obligation to maintain the primary 26 miles of roads shown on the tract maps when our association was established in 1969. Roads (culdesacs) constructed by developers since that time are maintained by the property owners who own the lots those roads serve. LCPOA has no obligation to maintain culdesacs. To allow the POA to maintain culdesacs, a Maintenance Easement, similar to that applied to our primary roads would be required. Additionally, the roads would need to be insured by the POA.
A maintenance easement would remove the private road status of the culdesacs and it would also allow LCPOA’s management company to patrol those roads when looking for violations. Currently Powerstone does not inspect or patrol the private culdesac roads. Last, the assignment of this easement would require the approval of all property owners whose homes abut on the culdesac road.
Steve Marvin has asked not to be contacted at this time. He generously donated his time to make these estimates available to our POA, but requests his privacy be respected at this difficult time for his family.
Below are Steve’s estimates for the roughly NINE miles of culdesac roads in our POA. The following estimates do not include costs for easements, legal, survey, insurance, drainage/culverts which can add millions more to the following numbers below. There will also be ongoing maintenance costs which are not factored in here.
Below offers two options:
1. Cosmetic – Includes only the roads which are already paved. This estimate would include cosmetic repairs making the culdesac roads APPEAR consistent with the beauty of our plateau roads. This option would not bring the roads to any required/legal standards. Specifically, they would not be widened nor sloped to meet legal requirements, they would not include a turnaround radius (required for fire safety), and the estimate does not include any of the many other expenses such as drainage/culverts, legal, easements, insurance, engineering, environmental impact, etc. requirements.
ESTIMATE: $2,325,700 - $4,651,00
2. County Standard – This estimate would bring the culdesac roads to a standard consistent with our primary road system, both in asphalt thickness, width, and turnaround radius. Despite this budget including the construction costs, engineering, contingency, it does not include many other expenses which can increase this estimate by millions (required slopes, surveying, legal, easements, insurance, culverts/drainage/environmental mitigation impact, etc).
ESTIMATE: $14,606,000
EMAILS from LCPOA Volunteers to our Membership - WHy to vote for Paulson/BoyD Click over the titles below to open
Letter/Email #1/3 from LCPOA Volunteers
Dear Neighbor and LCPOA Member,
This email is from the volunteers of our Association, members who so appreciate what La Cresta has to offer that we donate our time to preserve and enhance our community. We closely follow the actions of the LCPOA Board of Directors and are keenly aware of the challenges faced by our Association. We believe in strong leadership, fair treatment for all, adherence to our governing documents, proper financial reserves with oversight, and preservation of our rural, equestrian lifestyle.
As a group, we strongly endorse Roy Paulson and David Boyd for the LCPOA Board of Directors.
Roy Paulson stepped in to complete the term of LCPOA Board President, Carla Marvin, when health issues precluded Carla from further volunteer efforts. Prior to serving on the LCPOA Board, Roy volunteered for the LCPOA Road Committee and currently serves as the Board Liaison to the Road Committee. Roy’s prior experience includes serving as President of the National District Export Council, Chair of the California Inland Empire District Export Council, and the President of the Board of Directors for the Felicita Villas of Escondido. Roy has held Board seats on the National Association of Manufacturers as well as the California Manufacturing and Technology Association. Roy also received federal and state appointments to the President’s Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration and the California Export Development Committee. Combined with Roy’s business successes, we believe a more qualified candidate would be very hard to find for the La Cresta Property Owners Association! Roy’s endorsements for the LCPOA Board of Directors, including his endorsement from Carla Marvin, can be found at https://www.lacrestaliving.com/roy-paulson.
moreLetter/Email #2/3 from LCPOA Volunteers
Dear Neighbor and LCPOA Member,
This is our second email to you from the volunteers in our Association. The first focused on the reasons why we strongly endorse Roy Paulson and David Boyd in the upcoming LCPOA Board of Directors election.
This email focusses on our concerns with the misrepresentations, distortions, and falsehoods that have been deliberately disseminated by candidates Steve Brown and Michael Ghafouri. Not only are these fictions an obvious attempt to pander for votes, but they also tear at the very fabric of our Association and create tension between neighbors. The following paragraphs contain selected samples of falsehoods and misrepresentations for your consideration:
Steve Brown
Social media postings have been the delivery vehicle for this keyboard warrior. In fact, he and his supporters, many of whom appear to be fake profiles, have become extremely proficient at posting misinformation and half-truths. On Nextdoor, Brown writes “The LCPOA Board Majority Votes on Mobile Homes.” This is FALSE. Nothing was presented to the Board of Directors for a vote. In fact, when informally polled at a recent Board meeting, all five Directors stated that the Board has not voted on this matter.
moreLetter/Email #3/3 from LCPOA Volunteers
Dear Neighbor and LCPOA Member,
This is our third email to you from the volunteers in our Association. The first focused on the reasons why we strongly endorse Roy Paulson and David Boyd in the upcoming LCPOA Board of Directors election. The second focused on the misrepresentations, distortions, and falsehoods that have been deliberately disseminated by candidates Steve Brown and Michael Ghafouri.
This email attempts to assess the potential impact to our Association, and our way of life in La Cresta, if the Ghafouri/Brown faction gain control of the Board. The picture is not pretty.
While candidates Ghafouri and Brown have put very little in writing on this topic, they have either individually or collectively stated publicly to one or more of our LCPOA volunteers that they plan to:
- Fire our property management company, Powerstone
- Fire our long-standing attorneys, Whitney Petchul
- Dismiss some or all of the volunteers on the Architectural Committee
- Dismiss some or all of the volunteers on the Road Committee
- Dismiss some or all of the volunteers on the Trails Committee
- Dismiss and reconstitute the Governing Documents Committee
moreSTEVE BROWN IS THREATENING MEMBERS with MORE LAWSUITS!
Steve Brown Threatening his Neighbor
Is this what Steve will default to every time he disagrees with anyone?
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STEVE THREATENS TO TAKE THIS TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
This is an example of Steve Brown threatening his neighbors after faslely accusing them of having "secret, illegal" meetings. In this instance, he has specifically made a threat of providing evidence to the Attorney General's office. Never once did Steve call or directly contact any of his neighbors over this allegation. Instead, he decided to believe another bitter neighbor with a vendetta. This is NOT good leadership.
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STEVE BROWN'S CONVENIENT LAPSE IN MEMORY
This exemplifies Steve Brown's decision to only mention the lawsuit that he has been parading on Next Door proudly because he apparently believes it makes the board majority look bad. In fact, the build up to this suit all happened when a prior board composition was in place led by a different board president. However Steve's apparent intention is to show everyone that this current board majority is at fault. Further, Steve continues to insist he will resolve Gene P's lawsuit 'amicably'. The only way to 'fix it' for Gene P is to expect the board to agree to settle. The POA attorney must believe the POA has a good case , because there are no settlement offers on the table.
moreSTEVE BROWN THREATENS NEIGHBORS with LITIGATION
Concerns About Steve Brown's Transparency and Conduct Lack of Transparency in Addressing Lawsuits Steve Brown has declared that resolving Gene P’s lawsuit is his second priority, following the CulDeSacs issue, if elected to the board. However, during an early August discussion about ongoing lawsuits, Steve only mentioned Gene P’s lawsuit, omitting critical details about other legal matters:
- Omitted Lawsuit Against Michael Ghafouri: Steve did not disclose that the LCPOA was compelled to sue Michael Ghafouri to recover $36,000 for damages caused to common property.
- Omitted Personal Lawsuit Against LCPOA: Steve failed to mention that he himself filed a lawsuit against the LCPOA, seeking $35,000.
This selective disclosure raises concerns about Steve’s transparency and honesty with the community.
Contradictory Approach to Conflict Resolution
Steve publicly claims he aims to resolve lawsuits amicably. However, his actions suggest otherwise, as he has threatened neighbors with legal action when faced with disagreement:
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STEVE BROWN SUGGESTS DAVID BOYD GET A LAWYER
Another example of Steve Brown threatening someone he disagrees with.
In this case, Steve Brown apparently didn't agree with something Dave said on Next Door. Instead of taking a professional stance, Steve posted this legal threat directed at David Boyd. Pretty unbelievable for someone who wants to become a Director for our POA and who professes to want to calm the madness and eliminate all lawsuits. I wonder if this is how he will handle other members with whom he disagrees with?
moreLCPOA FINANCES and RESERVES
FINANCIAL STABILITY
Despite being accused of lacking transparency, not managing funds appropriately, and a myriad of other allegations, the board majority continues to handle our funds remarkably well. There have been no dues increases, no special assessments, and we are on target with our reserves and budget. Our 2025 budget shows a $200,000 surplus!!
Michael Ghafouri and Steve Brown state that our board majority is mishandling funds and spending money on wasteful items (he apparently accuses each new board of this). Michael specifically accused the current board of running the association into the ground financially. Interestingly, Michael also states that we have too much money in the reserves and he had added an agenda item to waive the dues for a year. Who would that benefit? Large acreage owners like Michael!! Michael owns 55 acres in LCPOA. He has accused the board majority of making self-serving deals, but this is a perfect example of Michael doing what he accuses others of.
On the topic of self-serving deals, Michael has been pushing for years to restructure our dues. Currently the dues are charged per acre. A 20-acre parcel pays 4 times as much as a 5-acre parcel. He has been pushing to change that so that you pay per parcel. If that goes through, the 20-acre parcel would pay the same as the 5-acre parcel. This clearly benefits someone like Michael or Steve Brown. Both of them own at least one 20-acre parcel. The potential savings for both of these candidates would be big. Ghafouri could save approximately $3800 yearly, while Brown could save approximately $2300 yearly. Steve has been heard mentioning that he doesn’t think it fair that he has to pay more for his twenty acres than those who have five acres.
Michael was a treasurer for a short time, but then removed for not fulfilling his responsibilities. Prior and after, he continues to accuse the board of mishandling/hiding funds. Yet, when he was the primary person responsible for overseeing the money, why did he not present proof of all these allegations he has been making for years?
When you look at the big picture, our association is in great financial shape. We are on budget, our reserves are not only met, but exceeded, our roads are beautiful and we have completed the required projects for 2025. How can Michael and Steve suggest that our board majority is not doing a great job?
NO MOBILE HOMES OR COMMERCIALIZATION in LA CRESTA!
NO MOBILE HOMES!!
MOBILE HOMES
No one who is running for a board seat wants these structures in La Cresta. Unfortunately, Governor Newsom has decided that paving the way to roll out ADUs all over California will help to mitigate our housing crises. He not only streamlined the permitting process, but he put hurdles for homeowners and HOAs who attempt to prevent them from appearing in their neighborhoods. Our POA ran into this exact situation recently.
David Boyd and Roy Paulson will follow state law. Using whatever means is legal, they will fight to prevent any mobile homes in our POA. They are proposing to add an ADU committee which can liaison with the AC moving forward. They will also make a new proposal that the AC begin requesting a copy of the permit issued from RIVCO, allowing comparison to what was applied for via our AC with the hopes this might provide more clarify. This committee will function to stay on top of ADU rules and make suggestions to the board.
VOTE NO on MOBILE HOMES. VOTE YES for DAVID BOYD and ROY PAULSON!!!
moreNO COMMERCIALIZATION IN LA CRESTA!!
David Boyd and Roy Paulson WILL NOT bring commercial business into La Cresta!!!
No Storage containers! No 5G towers! No Party Houses or Wedding Venues!! Do NOT be fooled by the blatant lies our opposition wants you to believe!!
This topic deserves a negative spotlight to be shined on two candidates who lied to the community and violated the mandate of a committee one served on while the other claimed to liaison with.
MDM Auger, a candidate, was hesitantly allowed to join the Governing Documents committee under David Boyd. He feared allowing her attendance would create a situation that would disrupt the committee’s progress in updating the CCRs and it did. More so than anyone could imagine.
Without going to the weeds, suffice it to say, MDM Auger violated the rules agreed to when she joined the Governing Documents committee. Most egregiously, she shared the privileged working document with Steve Brown’s supporters. This shows a complete disregard for integrity and honesty.
MDM continued to spread rumors which were COMPLETELY FALSE to the members and board. She INSISTED that the Governing Documents Committee intended to bring commercial business, storage units and other items which would change the fabric or our community. THIS WAS A COMPLETE LIE and was done so to plant doubt about Roy Paulson and David Boyd in the eyes of the members who did not know better. It was done with the intent to garner votes for Steve Brown and Michael Ghafouri.
moreOVERBLOWN SECRET - ILLEGAL MEETINGS
This is the newest allegation on the ‘LET’s SLANDER ROY AND PAUL’ campaign. New allegation from supporters of Steve Brown (most of these ‘supporters’ are factitious accounts created on Next Door to lend support to Steve’s allegations ). Let’s set the record straight.
There was one dinner party where three board members were present and the intent was to discuss campaign strategies. There was absolutely NO VIOLATION of Civil Code 4090. There was no board dialog at all.
There was a second and final dinner party, without three board members. Barbara and Steve are doing their best to discredit and defame their opponents. The truth be known, Barbara was a very active and willing participant during our two meetings. She was the one who kept pushing to ‘out proxy’ Steve Brown. Steve and Barbara claim this was illegal. ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.. Yes, there were notes, emails, strategies, and texts about campaign strategies and ideas on how to unite our community again. Not illegal.
A HEARTFELT MESSAGE
As we come into the final weeks of the LCPOA election, I have come to realize just how miserable the world is for Michael Ghafouri and Steve Brown. We all live in this beautiful paradise that we call La Cresta and these two can only describe their own self-created miserable world. The LCPOA is currently well run, financially stable, and has an incredible deep bench of willing volunteers that are supporting Dave Boyd and Roy Paulson. All the projects are funded, and we have a surplus of funds this year that exceeds $220,000. We plan to send an additional $100,000 to the Reserve account over the amount already scheduled for this year. This is an unprecedented move, and the Board vote will be determining this action shortly. You can be sure that Ghafouri will vote no on this item and every other item of consequence. Yet the gloom and doom team of Michael Ghafouri and Steve Brown can only see destitution and despair as a result of our great success. How was this success created? It was one vote at a time at every meeting, a solid majority ensured success. We followed the tried-and-true rules associated with managing the LCPOA and looked to the excellent history of previous leaders in our community and how they acted on the vision that we have all built here in La Cresta. This vision is reflected in the sage endorsements that Dave and I have gratefully received from our past and present leaders in the community. As we move into the voting phase of this election, your vote is not just for Dave and me, it is for the decades of service and countless hours of dedication by the volunteers living here in La Cresta !
Please vote for Dave Boyd and Roy Paulson for the LCPOA Board of Directors !