The Orange County Register
	Copyright 2000 The Orange County Register Swim team set-to settled Court: After a long nasty fight, a judge's ruling clears two lanes in a pool in Irvine Sunday, February 10, 2001 by Monica Valencia
	IRVINE -- In two years she spent more than $50,000 in attorney fees. She was targeted with kiddie porn accusations. She received death threats. But Alisa Ross, 41, finally got what she wanted: two open swimming pool lanes. "It didn't have to be this way," said a tearful Ross on Friday, after a judge ruled in her favor. Ross took the Turtle Rock homeowners association to court in June 1999 charging that the Sharks, an Irvine swim team, monopolize the pool. She said she would have been satisfied if the team practiced two mornings and two afternoons a week. And Charlie Oliver, association president, said his board has always been open to negotiation. But emotions on both sides escalated, and soon the dispute turned into a nasty legal fight. Why did they go so far over two swimming lanes? It's a complicated story with a volatile mix of neighborhood politics, homeowners' association control, property rights, family favoritism and strong personalities. The complaints about use of the pool go back as far as 1993. But it wasn't until February 1997 that Ross submitted her first of three petitions to the board asking that the swim team cut down its practice times. In October 1997, Ross unsuccessfully ran for the association's board, hoping to resolve the matter. The election provoked fliers attacking her. One called her Alisa "A Lot of Time on Her Hands" Ross and was signed by "Irvine People Against Libelous, Obnoxious Trash." The five-member association board elected that year included three members who have children on the swim team. They are Michael Quinlan, Karl Asplund and Chris Moore. The board votes on the swim team schedule. In June 1999, Ross filed a suit against the association charging that the 120-member Sharks, made up mostly of nonresidents, monopolize the pool. She said the situation creates liability for homeowners. But Rosa Kwong, the association's attorney, argued that 90 percent of the swim team members are children of dues-paying residents. Ross' complaint set off numerous attacks. She had the Police Department tap her phone after she got two death threats and her tires were slashed. "The only people who have seen those threats is Ross herself," said Paul Jones, a team parent who competed against Ross' husband, Reggie, in high school water polo. In legal documents, the association accused her of being a "kiddie porn" lover because she videotaped and photographed swim team members in their "tight spandex bathing suits." Ross said she never used a video camera and only took snapshots of the swim team to enter into evidence in her case. The legal battle ultimately became a crusade for Ross that has driven her to become an advocate for homeowners' rights. She's traveled to conventions in other cities such as Las Vegas on homeowner abuse and networked with property owners nationally about their association problems. "I have found my passion," said Ross. "This is now more about the resounding underlying message about how you sign away your rights to a handful of 'elected' neighbors under a flawed contract that dictates how you will live," she said. In May 2000, Santa Ana Superior Court Judge Mason Fenton ruled in favor of the association, leaving Ross to incur their attorney fees. He later added to the ruling, ordering the association to keep two swim lanes permanently open for residents to use at all times. On Friday, Fenton denied an appeal by the association, which claims the Sharks team will sink if its members can't use all six pool lanes. He also ordered both sides pay their own attorney fees. Attorney fees for the association add up to about $40,000. "We need all the lanes, but I guess we'll have to work with four," Oliver said. As for Ross, she hopes the judge's decision will end the neighborhood tension. "I hope we can go back to healing," she said.
	Notes: AHRC contributed information on homeowner associations for this article.
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