It was just a few months ago when Rancho Mirage homeowners were plagued with problems — flooded sidewalks, inoperable pumps at the community lake and animal feces caked where children play.

Some of those problems persist, but things have slowly improved since InMaricopa magazine’s December story highlighted the frustrations homeowners there have endured for years. At the time, the homeowners mulled staging a public demonstration to keep prospective buyers from the sales office.

The homeowners association on Monday held its first meeting of the year — and its first meeting in years, according to some residents — to a packed room at the Maricopa Library and Cultural Center. There were more than 150 people present to hear what the Trestle Management Company team had to say.

Trestle gave an overview of the vendors hired by the HOA and their responsibilities, what maintenance projects had been completed and the status of the budget. This included spending $185,000 on new pumping equipment for the community lake (after nearly a year of dysfunction), hiring a new community manager after complaints about the previous one and increasing meeting frequency from yearly to quarterly.

Many of the homeowners, who pay more than $1,000 in dues annually, were still dissatisfied.

‘Not up to our standards’

Aaliyah Bushong is one of those homeowners. Last year, her frustration reached a point where she was ready to stand near the entrance and new model homes with signs reading, “Do not buy here, corrupt HOA.”

She’s seen a few improvements but overall feels there’s been little change since Trestle took over from Associated Asset Management in May.

“Nothing has really changed. The grass is still brown, we still get the flooding. We just had a really bad flood yesterday on one street,” she told InMaricopa just before Monday’s meeting.

That’s not the impression Trestle Management Vice President Marc Vasquez gave during the meeting.

“I know that while it’s not up to our standards and your standards, there’s been a significant amount of improvements to … your lake and your landscaping. And I know we’re not there yet, but we’re committed to be here,” he told the audience.

Rancho Mirage resident Ismael Verdugo said he was exasperated that what were being presented as newly identified problems by the HOA had long been touchstone concerns for the homeowners.

“They addressed a lot of the issues that we had been writing about, but they took credit for the things we were asking them to fix by claiming they did it on their own,” he said.

Also at issue during the meeting were the finances, which showed a majority of the monthly HOA dues go toward landscaping and general maintenance. While the HOA spent more than $47,000 last year on tree care alone, priority maintenance problems seemed unaddressed.

Baby steps

Amid a steady supply of headache medicine, frustrated emails and letters, Rancho Mirage residents admit the new management company is attempting in earnest to correct years of mismanagement and neglect from AAM.

“I think they made great strides from the previous management company, I’ll give that to them,” Verdugo said, “but the only reason they did was because the whole community came together. They were really attacking them with all these letters.”

Added Bushong: “I love my home; I love Rancho Mirage. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be saying anything. But we do care and with more people moving into the neighborhood, it can only get worse.”

She said Wednesday that a member of Trestle Management reached out to her by phone, stating they were “doing their best to get it all straightened out.” She’s still hesitant to believe them.

“I told her we’ve heard it before,” she said.

Verdugo said that for Trestle, it would take time and grace to move past what some felt was targeted harassment from former Community Manager Tami Eden.

“I believe the community wants recognition of the harm done and accountability. Removing [Eden] as community manager says a lot but management still hasn’t acknowledged why she was removed and that lack of transparency affects trust,” he said.