{"id":595835,"date":"2026-02-17T07:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T07:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/595835\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T07:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T07:36:15","slug":"suspended-scottsdale-chief-of-staff-battles-hoa-city-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/595835\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspended Scottsdale chief of staff battles HOA | City News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many might just grumble about homeowners association fees \u2014 and wonder \u201cwhat\u2019s really going on with the money?\u201d<\/p>\n

Not R. Lamar Whitmer.<\/p>\n

When he doesn\u2019t like the answers he gets from his HOA \u2014 he files legal actions.<\/p>\n

Some of his neighbors say he does it in a badgering, bullying, \u201charrassing\u201d way.<\/p>\n

Three weeks into \u201cWhitmergate,\u201d Scottsdale\u2019s suspension of Gretchen Whitmer \u2014 Mayor Lisa Borowsky\u2019s chief of staff \u2014 remains as murky as the beginning of a mystery novel.<\/p>\n

One thing you don\u2019t need a detective to figure out, Whitmer\u2019s neighbors say: He will almost certainly take the city to court.<\/p>\n

How likely is Whitmer to sue Scottsdale?<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about 199%,\u201d said Curtis Roberts, secretary of the Scottsdale Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association.<\/p>\n

Robert Westbrook, president of what Whitmer scornfully dubs \u201cthe HOA from hell,\u201d seconded that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know about his job, we don\u2019t know why he was suspended,\u201d Westbrook stressed. \u201cBut he will absolutely file some kind of wrongful termination (claim).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably why the city is so quiet about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennis Wilenchik, Whitmer\u2019s attorney, acknowledges fighting the city in court is a likely scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven what I see \u2014 or don’t see \u2014 so far,\u201d he said of the vague suspension, \u201cI would say chances are strong we will have a claim.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u201d the attorney added, \u201cwe\u2019re waiting on their letting us know the basis for their action as we cannot figure it out from the tea leaves.\u201d<\/p>\n

On behalf of Borowsky, Wilenchik last year threatened several City Council members with defamation lawsuits during the \u201cParkingate\u201d saga.<\/p>\n

Wilenchik said Councilwomen Kathy Littlefield and Jan Dubauskas, among others, were part of \u201ca planned conspiracy among all of you to maliciously damage and defame both the mayor of Scottsdale, Lisa Borowsky, Esq.,and David Hovey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attorney demanded the councilwomen \u201cpublicly denounce these wild accusations made against the mayor\u201d and her campaign donor \u201cin writing, immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Wilenchik\/Borowsky did not follow up with a lawsuit, Whitmer is no stranger to aggressive legal action.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whitmer\u2019s legal war with his HOA goes back to 2014, shortly after he and his wife purchased one of the Ralph Haver-designed casitas.<\/p>\n

Since then, Roberts said, Whitmer has sued or filed actions against the Hilton Casitas HOA and\/or Hilton Casitas Council of Homeowners two dozen times \u2014 \u201cmaybe more.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not a lawyer. He just thinks he\u2019s a lawyer,\u201d Roberts sneered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy,\u201d Roberts said, \u201cwill sue anybody for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s actually one of the few things Whitmer agrees on with his HOA.<\/p>\n

The longtime Scottsdale resident and political advisor just sees his legal actions through a different lens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t take (stuff) from people that get the law wrong,\u201d Whitmer said, chuckling on the phone from the Hilton Casitas home where he is on \u201clock down\u201d during his paid suspension.<\/p>\n

With little information provided to Whitmer, City Manager Greg Caton suspended him Jan. 14. Whitmer has been Borowsky\u2019s chief of staff since October.<\/p>\n

As he did before his suspension, Whitmer is keeping active in one of his favorite hobbies: battling his homeowners association.<\/p>\n

Whitmer described his legal battle with the HOA as \u201can ongoing dispute based on the latest rules and laws they don\u2019t follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said his HOA\u2019s refusal to play it by the book is costing them: \u201cThey\u2019re going broke because of legal fees \u2013 they needed to go from $400 monthly (fees) to $700 per month.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one case, Whitmer said, two judges ordered the Hilton Casitas HOA to pay his attorney costs of $25,000.<\/p>\n

Whitmer has also been on the other end of judgements many times more than that.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 2, 2025, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ordered Whitmer, his wife and their neighbors the Elis who were joined in their fight to pay $117,580.04 in attorney fees for the Hilton owner.<\/p>\n

On July 18, 2022, a judgment was entered in favor of the Hilton owners against Whitmer and his wife and the Elis for a 2018 case \u201cin the amount of $382,758.50 for attorneys’ fees.\u201d<\/p>\n

On June 17, 2016, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John R. Hannah ruled against Whitmer and his wife, Colleen London, who challenged the organization and power claimed by their HOA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c… the Maricopa County Superior Court has already decided, several times, that the Hilton Casitas Council of Homeowners was lawfully organized,\u201d Hannah wrote, \u201cthat it continues to exist lawfully, and that it has the power to act on behalf of the Hilton Casitas homeowners.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Whitmer was successful in a case where \u201cthey tried to seize my house.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sept. 19, 2016, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Susan Brnovich ruled on the Hilton Casitas Council of Homeowners Inc vs. R. L. Whitmer.<\/p>\n

The complaint filed three months previously alleged Whitmer and his wife \u201crefused to pay the delinquent assessments that were due and that as a result, (the Hilton HOA) was entitled to a judgment for unpaid assessments and entitled to foreclose.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, the judge noted, Whitmer paid his balance within 10 days of\u00a0 receiving a delinquency notice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis complaint never should have been filed,\u201d Brnovich concluded.<\/p>\n

Whitmer\u2019s snarky summary of his HOA: \u201cStupid is as stupid does.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Email victory dance<\/strong><\/p>\n

A modest complex of 29 homes, the Scottsdale Hilton Casitas is near Scottsdale and Lincoln roads \u2013 3 miles north of City Hall, where Whitmer worked until his suspension.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were really happy he got a job,\u201d Westbrook said, \u201cso he would stop harassing his neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The HOA president said he had no idea what he was getting into when he moved to Hilton Casitas five years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019d have known about this guy,\u201d he said of Whitmer, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have bought my home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts chimed in, \u201cI\u2019ve never met an individual like this.\u201d He said Whitmer \u201cdoesn\u2019t seem to have any emotional regard for anyone other than himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Capping a chain of chippy emails with the HOA board members he is battling, Whitmer was uncharacteristically brief in a Feb. 2 victory dance: \u201cSee attached decision issued today.\u201d<\/p>\n

He attached the finding of Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Mikitish, who summarized that Whitmer \u201casked the association to amend the condominium\u2019s legal \u2018declaration\u2019 documents to comply with the new law requiring those documents to include the association\u2019s name.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the HOA refused, Whitmer filed one of his many petitions with the Arizona Department of Real Estate, where an administrative law judge agreed with him and told the Hilton Casitas HOA to make the change.<\/p>\n

Instead, the HOA appealed the decision, asking the Superior Court to overturn the decision for several reasons, including that Whitmer waited too long to file the petition.<\/p>\n

Mikitish rejected the HOA\u2019s appeal \u2013 but also ruled \u201cthe statutes cited by Mr. Whitmer do not entitle him to an award of attorneys\u2019 fees or damages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Obsession\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Mikitish noted in another case last year, in which he again rejected the HOA\u2019s appeal of a ruling in favor of Whitmer, this time over how the association approved its budget, Whitmer, \u201chas been involved in numerous legal actions against the (Hilton Casitas Homeowners) Association.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hilton Casitas board complains Whitmer files actions against everything from \u201ca very small increase in dues\u201d to alleged public meetings violations.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe keeps digging up all these little tiny things \u2013 then goes to the Arizona Department of Real Estate to file these lawsuits against us,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt\u2019s just continuous harassment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis obsession is so deep he cannot let it go,\u201d the HOA officer fumed. \u201cWe have tried to negotiate with this guy time and time again.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Westbrook, Whitmer is the cause of what he complains about: HOA fee increases.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had to defend ourselves against him, so we\u2019ve had to raise the dues,\u201d Westbrook said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we can\u2019t afford street repair, painting, irrigation \u2014 we\u2019re paying $50-70,000 a year just for legal teams to defend us against Whitmer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest Whitmer action: \u201cHe sued the association for exceeding the budget on legal (payments) \u2013 and it\u2019s because of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a heated group email with many of his neighbors copied, Whitmer alleged Hilton Casitas HOA board member Jay Panzer \u201cavoids explaining that for the last three years the board and Cowboy Bob\u201d \u2014 Whitmer\u2019s nickname for Westbrook \u2014 \u201chave been overspending the annual Legal-General expenses by $30K plus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy doesn\u2019t he explain where our money went? What is he and the board hiding?\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitmer said complaining about his legal actions can be easily solved:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the board would manage the HOA in a professional and lawful manner, there would not be any opportunity to sue them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suspended chief of staff pointed to his other victories in the long-running battle: \u201cIn 2018, the board filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against me and the judge denied their feckless motion for summary judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"hoa.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Robert Westbrook, HOA President,\u00a0 says \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have bought my home\u201d if he knew about R. Lamar Whitmer\u2019s legal war with the Hilton Casitas HOA.<\/p>\n

(Photo provided)<\/p>\n

Legal war<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whitmer insisted he has been trying to reach peace with the board.<\/p>\n

In this long legal war, one of Whitmer\u2019s ongoing battles is targeted at the history of the Hilton Casitas, built in 1972. Casitas owners lease the land their homes are on from the Hilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil last November I was pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the current and past board members,\u201d Whitmer stated in the group email.<\/p>\n

\u201cI withdrew the action because of the willingness of (Hilton Casitas home owners) James Cox and John Brooke to work together on acquiring the leased-land underneath our homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for placing liens on your homes, I have an award of attorneys fees against the HOA and state law allows me to lien the units in the condominium. Had we settled last April, you would not be on the hook for my lawyer\u2019s fees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitmer was responding to a Jan. 28 group email from Panzer, which states in part, \u201cMr. Whitmer was declared a \u2018vexatious litigant\u2019 in at least one jurisdiction\u201d \u2013 Westbrook said this declaration prevents Whitmer from representing himself against the association.<\/p>\n

Whitmer\u2019s response: \u201cPanzer does not know what he is talking about! The board\u2019s crack lawyer at the time induced a judge to incorrectly rule, which the presiding judge refused to grant.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to that, I was representing myself to avoid the homeowners from paying for my lawyer fees. Since you continue to endorse spending your assessments on the board\u2019s feckless defenses, I will continue to use (a) lawyer and have you pay for his time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panzer also took a shot at Whitmer\u2019s current situation in the group email:<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Whitmer has been suspended from his job as the mayor\u2019s chief of staff, for unknown reasons. (This may be why he has refocused his energy on our community.)\u201d<\/p>\n

As usual, Whitmer had a response for that:<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never lost focus on holding the inept and incompetent board that you vote for accountable!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"hoa2.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Officers of the Hilton Casitas claim R. Lamar Whitmer has been \u201charassing his neighbors\u201d through frivolous legal actions for years. <\/p>\n

(Tom Scanlon\/Staff)<\/p>\n

\u2018Keyboard bully\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panzer concluded his email screed against Whitmer with: \u201cLet me remind you of who Mr. Whitmer really is. For several years, this was the front of his house. This is what he thinks of his neighbors and community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The HOA board member included a photo of a hodgepodge statue with a dangling penis and a sign stating \u201cGet State Farmed\u201d \u2014 publicly displayed in front of Whitmer\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

The reference was to the insurance company that represented the Scottsdale Hilton Casitas HOA in one of Whitmer\u2019s battles.<\/p>\n

Whitmer\u2019s response to Panzer\u2019s dig:<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven that (a former HOA board member) was covering for State Farm and refusing to comply with basic contract law, I chose to exercise my 1st amendment right of protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitmer\u2019s detractors call him a keyboard bully.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay you are running for city council or senate or whatever,\u201d Roberts conjectured. \u201cYou would contact Mr. Whitmer to dig up dirt on your opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the kind of shyster he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Westbrook sees it, Whitmer has ruined the once-peaceful, 29-casitas community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we want to do is live in peace,\u201d Westbrook said. \u201cWe have really smart, nice neighbors, a very affluent neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, nodding to Whitmer\u2019s home, Westbrook said,\u00a0 \u201cNeighbors can\u2019t be neighbors in this neighborhood because of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitmer\u2019s response to his neighbors\u2019 jabs: \u201cFAFO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family-friendly translation, \u201cFool around and find out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many might just grumble about homeowners association fees \u2014 and wonder \u201cwhat\u2019s really going on with the money?\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":595836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[179695,5229,5643,1587,166900,238858,230916,138901,12319,1589,249546,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-595835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-adam-kwasman","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-barry-graham","tag-dennis-wilenchik","tag-lamar-whitmer","tag-lisa-borowsky","tag-maricopa-county-attorneys-office","tag-phoenix","tag-scottsdale-hilton-casitas-homeowners-association","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116084826749757170","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}