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FOUR SEASONS SPOTLIGHT Executive Assistant Spinelli has found her calling By Leighton McLaughlin Fabiana Spinelli is very concerned about how we look. She is the newly-hired executive assistant with responsibilities for the Architectural Review and Landscape Committees. Those are the folks who watch out for the appearance of our houses, yards and common areas to make sure everything stays attractive and our property values stay up. Fabiana Spinelli, "I sign the letter if you have a a "people person." problem," she said. "If somebody gets upset, I'm the one they come to." Final decisions are made by the committee and the HOA Board. And she likes the work. "I enjoy the personal contact. I love talking with the residents." She is an employee of Euclid Management, the company that oversees Four Seasons on behalf of the Homeowners Association. "I've found my calling," she said. After trying several other jobs, "HOAs are going to be my career." Her first HOA experience was as the volunteer secretary of one in West Covina, where she owned a home. She first lived there with parents as she grew up, then "bought a house just around the corner," and was secretary for two years. Her first job was as a secretary in a medical office. She left to be an executive assistant for Mattel Inc., the toy maker. Mattel had an employee discount program and, "You should see all the Barbie Dolls I have at home. They're all over the place. At first I spent my whole paycheck on them." Her doll collecting was complimented by a strong interest in sports. She attended Bishop Amat High School in La Puente where she played softball, basketball, volleyball and soccer. "Softball was my best sport. I played three years plus playing in the Valinda Bobby Sox League," which is a regional program. She was on the basketball team for two years and the volleyball team for one. And, "At soccer I'm a lot better spectator than player — but being an Argentinean, I had to try. I'm a huge soccer fan." She was born in Argentina because of unusual circumstances. Her parents, Carlos and Angie, were from Argentina, but had moved to the U.S. following her father's parents, brother and sister. They had written back telling of the wonderful opportunities here for Carlos, a butcher in Buenos Aires. Her father went on to work in a meat markets in the Los Angeles area and later owned a group of catering trucks with his brother called C&H Catering. Her mother worked in jewelry stores and was jewelry stock manager for some 15 years. After their arrival here, Angie became pregnant with Fabiana, but the obstetrician she trusted was in Buenos Aires. Because of that and because she did not yet speak English well, she returned to Argentine to have her baby. Baby Fabiana was brought to the U.S. and was issued a permanent resident's green card — which also allowed her to legally hold a job — when she was four months old. Despite living all but the first four months of her life in the U.S., she had to go the through the naturalization process to become a citizen in 2002. During her job at Mattel, she got an associate degree in Liberal Arts from Mount San Antonio College. Later she worked for an insurance agency as a case manager and got her agent's license, which she keeps current along with her certification as a notary public. She got her first paying job in the HOA business at Sun City Palm Desert where she worked for two years as engineering coordinator before coming to Four Seasons. In Palm Desert she oversaw a staff of over 30 workers who maintained the common facilities for a community of some 5,000 homes: three clubhouses, three golf courses, two pro shops and associated properties. Spinelli is unmarried and lives in Palm Springs with a girlfriend and "two beautiful dogs – Christian Dior and Coco Chanel. But they are only called by their first names unless they're bad," she said. Her parents returned to Argentina after they retired, but found they missed their two children, Spinelli and her older brother, also named Carlos. He is a doctor with Kaiser Permanente and a captain in the Air National Guard. They finally came back to the States and moved into Sun Lakes, right across the street from Four Seasons. "I go there for lunch every day," said Spinelli. "It's really handy." The two committees she works with both have vital functions in the community, she said. Landscape is responsible for all the HOA maintained front yards and all the common area in Four Seasons. It has a lot of ground to cover and an important role in the appearance of the community. (In Italian "Fabiana" means "bean grower" and "Spinelli" means "thorn bush." She couldn't have a better name to work with Landscape.) Fabiana Spinelli : Continued on page 6 Community News | FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | DECEMBER 2013 5

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