Arizona HOA Punishes Homeowner for Salute to Law Enforcement

PEORIA, AZ- We’ve all heard the horror stories about homeowner’s associations (HOAs).

While in some cases, they serve to protect the ambience of the neighborhood they are elected to represent, some HOA members think they are one of the 435 members of Congress.

They are bloviating, self-important windbags who have nothing better to do than make sure homeowners’ grass doesn’t contain a single blade of “prohibited” grass. 

In Phoenix, Gene Sweeney, a hardscrabble native of The Bronx in New York, owns a home as part of the WestWing Mountain housing development.

Gene is an unapologetic supporter of police officers and firefighters and comes from a family of police officers in New York City. Two of those officers are now retired after 30 years “on the job,” including service at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

His brother-in-law is currently in his third round of chemo as a result of inhaling toxic dust and fumes at the now-former site of the World Trade Center. 

Sweeney, as mentioned, is an unabashed supporter of the emergency services, which has gotten him in hot water with the WestWing Mountain Homeowners Association. 

Sweeney put colored bulbs in his lamps mounted on each side of his garage–one red to support the fire service–and one blue to support law enforcement. Mind you, Sweeney has had the lights up for five years. That led to his dust-up with the HOA. 

Sweeney was slapped with a violation notice for an “Unallowed Exterior Change- Red & blue house lights.” He was instructed to remove the lights and restore them to their original color; otherwise, he would be fined daily. 

Sweeney wrote a letter to WestWing Mountain’s assistant manager, Larissa Gibala, asking about the violation notice.

He reminded Gibala that she had issued a notice to him at one point telling him he was “short one plant” (it’s apparently a rule to have 24 plants, not 23). This is the type of mindless issue that HOAs concern themselves with. 

“I honored your request & took action. I did that because I respect the job you guys do & truly want to keep the value of my home in this beautiful neighborhood we live in. I do not have a car up on blocks, I haven’t painted my house fluorescent green. I make sure my cans go out on Sunday PM & in immediately when I get home Monday night,” Sweeney wrote.

“But I truly feel as a good citizen that this ‘violation’ is over the line & incredibly disrespectful to the brave men & women on the Police force, the Fire Department, [&] their families as well."

“It is my sincere hope that you can find a small place in your hearts to respect my salute & allow me to honor my extended family in uniform.” 

 The only response he received was when he was told how to appeal the decision. 

He filed an appeal, which was denied under “Section X, WestWing Mountain Homeowners Association Rules and Design Guidelines.” He has until Aug 31 to “remove the lights and restore the property to its original condition.” 

Sweeney decided to take his fight to the mayor of Peoria, Jason Beck. Beck is the founder and CEO of Tyr Tactical, which provides tactical equipment such as military gear, plate carriers and vests, and tactical equipment. He did not hear back. 

Beck, who allegedly supports law enforcement since he is in the business of selling them tactical gear, punted the issue to City Council Member Matt Bullock. In short, Bullock said there was nothing the city government could do to assist Sweeney. 

Law Enforcement Today reached out to Gene Sweeney after he contacted us about his plight.

We had a 30-minute conversation, and it was clear from talking to him that he is a passionate supporter of law enforcement, the fire service, and our military. 

He told us that he grew up in an apartment complex in The Bronx and has been in Arizona for about 40 years.

He told us that public service runs in his family and that three members of his family had been “on the job” in New York City.

One, his nephew, still serves with the NYPD on a drug enforcement task force. One of his brothers and his brother-in-law were at Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11. 

Sweeney told us the story of a friend of his who served on the FDNY as a battalion chief, just retiring not long ago. He told of his service on 9/11. 

“[A]nd he went left with 20 people, and you went right with 20 people, and he’s here and the other guy’s not. And it’s still…to this day, kind of gets him, and he always gets emotional,” Sweeney said. 

Sweeney’s passion for what he believes in was palpable during our conversation. He spoke of the NYPD officer who was just killed at a Manhattan high-rise a few weeks back. 

“[A]nd then [Officer] Islam, coming from Bangladesh, an immigrant, wanted to someday be a cop, had a dream. And like you said, father of two and one in the oven, that’s disgraceful that they’re going to have to fight through that,” Sweeney said, clearly emotional while describing the young officer’s murder. 

Gene Sweeney told LET that he has taken his fight to local media, including an interview with Telemundo; however, he was looking for additional support.

As the largest police-related news organization in the world, Law Enforcement Today and our sister companies are glad to help. 

America needs more heroes like Gene Sweeney, willing to stand up for their beliefs and, just as important, standing up for the men and women in blue, our brothers and sisters on the front lines with our fire departments and EMS, and the brave men and women who defend our freedoms in the armed forces.