I did not figure out a way forward. I completely gave up on Home Assistant and went back to my Universal Devices ISY.
For me, buying a product with actual support is a far better deal that using a free open source product and being told “figure it out and be grateful for how much we’ve given you for free”.
If paid consulting services were sold for Home Assistant I would have paid for the help; but instead I had unresolvable problems.
I also selected Z-wave for my HA network, which Home Assistant supports; yet I’ve seen instance of the team/community saying “talk to OpenZwave if you have a problem”.
Practically speaking Home Assistant was not working well with my Zwave network, and in general I found it difficult to validate automations.
I didn’t accomplish home automation, merely home control. ISY served me better, so I’m back on it.