Yesterday; Today...Tomorrow.

I suspect most of us would agree, 2020 was an interesting year. I know, i'm being very generous in my assessment. Some would call it traumatic, some horrendous, some just down right shitty. On top of the pandemic, the elections and my own personal health issues, we've all battled to get through to 2021.

My salvation was in the remodel of the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum. I spent more hours than i care to admit sorting through telling the Sun City story in a way that made sense in our new exhibits. Add to it the endless search for memorabilia from the 50's and early 60's to enhance that story and it kept me going through those hours we spent away from everyone and stuck in our homes.

It appears we are coming out on the other side, albeit slowly. We got our first shot a week ago and the second is scheduled. We'll see. The museum is open for personal tours and scheduled in advance. The reviews have been staggeringly good. Visitors often tell us they didn't expect what they have found. Better yet, being able to spend quality time with people rather than having hordes tromping through has been a blast (and eye opening).

All of which leads me to this post, my first in a long time; at least one with any meat on the bone. I/we've all been trapped in our own heads for near on a year now. The shock to our system has left us reeling. If you subscribe to Morris Massey's theories on his initial series of video's called "What You Are Is Where You Were When," you will understand where i am going with this.

His contention is people's behavior's are shaped at an early age. Rather than dwell on them, i am more interested in taking his belief that those same people change when they are confronted by a Significant Emotional Events, which he calls a SEE. I would be hard pressed to argue that 2020 wasn't a SEE, as all of us have been impacted in ways far beyond the norm.

Covid19 alone could have been enough to qualify. Shortly we will hit the 500k mark of dead and any sense that it was just another case of the flu was and still is nonsense. Which segues nicely into the trump dynasty discussion. Whether you hated him or loved him, his impact on the country was stunning. Throw into the mix the shattering events of January 6 as the Capital was under attack and clearly we all felt something emotionally draining.

All of which is simply the set-up for the next several posts in this thread. We all live in our own heads and i tend to internalize when i am trapped there. As i worked on our museum displays i was compelled to journey back to those opening days in Sun City. It was a thrilling exhilarating time, so much so we rebranded the museum to read: Sun City AZ. The Community That Changed A Nation.

As the header implies, i won't stop there.Looking at our past (the next segment) will morph where we are today and ultimately provide a blueprint on where we i think we need go...both locally and as a country. Long lead-in and for many, perhaps of no interest. I've said before i often write for myself, but in this case hopefully you will follow where i am going. If not, that's okay, many of us are still staying close to home until we feel it is safe.

Coming soon...Yesterday.

 

Does the Museum ever need music? I have my own museum of American Music and would enjoy making background music CDs if you are interested. I amde a 10 (I think) CD set of railroad music for the Sun City Railroad Club, and as far as I can tell they never played them. On a somewhat side note, I picked BArry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" as being the theme song for 2020. That shows you what is inside my head.

 

Thanks on the offer ct, but we have several interactive features with sound. On a side note, Barry McGuire played with the Christy Minstrels when they played at the Sun Bowl in the late 60's. Loved that song, still do.

I'll come back in the next day or two with Yesterday...nope, not by the Beatles.

 

If you take time to watch the YouTube video from the 2/08 BOD Meeting you will see how yesterday is gone and I'm not sure if we'll ever get some things back that were given away to RCSC Management. Look forward to your post of Yesterday.

Surprise!! Dan Schroeder was sworn in as a Board Member to finish the 2021 term of I assume Mike Kennedy who wasn't present. Kinda got whiplash from that move. What happened to appointing the next vote-getter from the election? Might be the timing of vacating the seat but surely there could have been some discussion before filling the seat with another re-tread.

Edited to add: It doesn't seem to me that ALL the decisions the RCSC makes are bad. What they lack is compassion and a bit of understanding when they communicate with cardholders. The BOD has an out now that they no longer claim to have a say in space allocation.

 

I watched in abject horror aggie as the meeting unfolded on my computer monitor last night. What an absolute cluster flock. It's why i quit going to meetings, and looking at all the empty chairs, i'm not the only one. I have purposely stayed away from criticizing the RCSC during the pandemic. Let's face it, everyone is simply flailing at trying to do the right thing. That said, the dispassionate way it has been handled from the outset has been embarrassing. Cold, clinical and cutting is being kind. This past year has been a tough go on so many levels and the RCSC hasn't shown an ounce of compassion.

What's more aggravating is hiding the golf decision behind Gov. Ducey and acting like there were no other choices. Not to be blunt, but that is pure bull shit. They could do whatever they wanted; just as Sun City West and Sun City Grand did. The RCSC's action's were simply a dollars and cents calculation. Nothing more, nothing less. As the resident argued about walking Meeker Mountain (the lake top pavilion at Viewpoint lake) with guests, she misspoke. It wasn't that the RCSC courses allowed guests of card-holders, anyone wanting to golf on our courses could simply show up and golf. Throw in the lie that had they not done that, the lot assessment fees would have been increased to support golf and i wanted to vomit. Golf and 10 pin bowling are supposed to be self-supporting.

There's so much more. Good work by the long range planning committee, now the report will be "put on file," and then what? As you watched, did you find yourself asking: Why even have a board? Management now does it all. That says nothing of the retreads and to be clear, who even knew or what effort was made to reach out to Kat to see if she wanted to fill Mike Kennedy's vacant seat? They simply fill positions to insure they get the vote outcomes they want. Shameful.

The funny thing is, i started this thread for exactly this reason. Our history (Sun City's) is rich with infighting, disagreements and an amazing commitment to build a sense of community. It's also filled with the plans to start from scratch and build something big, beautiful and self-sustaining. It was to be a community where those living here took ownership. Under the general manager and the boards from her era, they've moved so far away from that concept and construct it is almost unimaginable. Doing a tour at the museum this morning so i won't get to the post today. Aggie's comments were akin to mine and felt the need to speak out...not that anyone from the RSCS cares.

 

The long range planning I thought was excellent the new board member mcadam I feel is worthless you might as well quit now your ideas are horrible your arguments are even worse we're under covid-19 right now and it's going to get worse before it gets better and for once Bill I don't give a shit about golf it is what it is right now there's going to be some major changes down the road we know what that is the model boat show was a joke your damn boat on the lake at your own risk you can't get it in too bad go someplace else there's plenty of lakes you can put that on.

 

Kat should have been on the board I know she didn't get elected but she would have been excellent on there

 

So stop and think about this for one minute, we now have magically got another re-tread on the board (who by the way has already served two full terms). Just out of curiosity, how does one get appointed to that position without having a board meeting or an announcement to see if anyone in the community was interested in the position. Seems to me this entire process of transparency is going down the drain. What's next gang? I suppose your next whack will be to go back to closed door work sessions where you can conduct business away from the maddening crowd.

So very frustrating on so many levels.

 

I can probably look it up, but folks here might know, so how do our charter or by-laws have to say about filling a BoD position?

 

Let see, a few things to respond to here.

Bill, is one of your “Yesterday “ selections the Peter and Gordon song Yesterday’s Gone?

As for the Covfefe 19 situation and the Board, there is a veritable can of worms there. Start with none of the workers have been tested for the virus nor will they be. This is per Bill Cook, financial dude and crown prince. I wanted to return to Fairway and exercise of my pandemic pounds but unless you wrap yourself in N95 material you are taking a chance. Not sure if they are taking temps of people, probably not, as a member suggested this at I believe the December or January meeting. The members are responsible for cleaning the equipment after use, but considering the “I am special people and you can’t take my freedoms” crap, I am staying away because I just don’t trust the facilities. I have enough underlying conditions and I certainly don’t want to add more.

As for filling Board vacancies, to the best of my knowledge Jan calls up some retread and asks if they want to complete the term. The Board as a whole then rubber stamps same. Basically the requirements seem to be that you must be a bootlicking ass kisser which explains why Dan is back, not to mention he is a golfer. According to Jan, appointed seems filling does not count on the term limit thing. Future retread to look for is Rich Hoffer along with some of the previous usual suspects. My number will never come up. I am not a disgruntled former Board member, just spoke the uncomfortable truth too many times. I always knew it was you Fredo.

 

You might beat me out on 12th Century trivia, but I am tough to top on R&R. So although P&G might have covered "Yesterday'sGone," it really is a Chad & Jeremy song.

 

Thanks a lot guys, now that damned ditty is bouncing around between my ears. For anyone not remembering, here's a youtube link for Chad and Jeremy's Yesterday's Gone.
I was kind enough to post it only as a click through, so you didn't have to have it right in your face.

What is really curios GdV is when did they know when Mike was leaving? Had he quit the end of the year, there would have been the pleas to put the next higher vote-getter in the spot. Waiting till after the fact allowed them to insert him in without the fanfare we have seen in past years. Here's another rumor floating about: Not all of the board members will be allowed in the interview process for the new GM. I don't know who or which ones will be invited but IF the rumor is true, that seems both insulting and demeaning to any board member who ran and was elected.

Yesterday is gone guys, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't look back. I had someone suggest we should be looking forward rather than backwards. I had to smile because in my research to tell the Sun City story via our exhibits it was clear the building off the community was literally revolutionary on so many levels. The agenda that went into its creation was what made is special and more importantly insured it succeeded. I know it sounds obtuse, but when i tell the Yesterday story you will quickly come to understand why it matters. More importantly you will quickly come to realize how far afield we have traveled from our roots...especially in light of what we have witnessed over the last 15 years.

 

Well Bill, it turns out that you were probably prudent to turn down my offer of music as I have been totally unable to locate a version of "Yesterday's Gone" in my CD collection. A huge gap.

 

CT, you got me on this. Besides all those male English duos looked the same.

Currently reading Chronicles if the First Crusade, amongst other books. No wonder the Middle East is pissed at us. Termination with extreme prejudice of entire conquered cities is no Vice.

 

Then read about the Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion and discover why the Chinese don't like us, and follow that with our invasion of the Soviet Union in the Polar Bear Expedition. Checking in on the Philippine- American War might be a good idea too.

 

Before i start down the road of Yesterday, let me just say when it comes to Ancient history my mind goes numb. Not to dismiss it as meaningless i just can’t get my head around how or why it is relevant today. Don’t get me wrong, i know folks love it, but once i left the “real world” and moved to Sun City life became less complicated.

I’ve written before i spent my life tilting at windmills. Saving the world was an admirable goal, but also a foolish one. Way too big and even more so, way too impossible. When we found Sun City is was both manage and fun to engage in organizations that were built for residents to participate in. Ancient history is much the same to me, overwhelming.

As we travel down the path of this thread, my frustrations will become obvious. We are almost always a product of our own doing and unfortunately we tend to be less than candid on where we are because we then have to assume some of the blame.

Without further ado, let’s look back:

 

Most of you reading this will have been around on January 1,1960; though not all. I was a mere twelve year old then and Sun City was meaningless to me. In fact, the first time i heard of Sun City AZ was in the late 70’s when i was labeling our local union newsletter and saw one addressed to a retired meat cutter who lived there. My first thought was what a cool name, of course back then i worshiped the sun (at least the little bit we saw in Minnesota).

Sun City: Yesterday: When Sun City opened it was revolutionary. Never had a community like this existed. There were age restricted settings but without the amenities and opportunities for seniors to live a better life. Before opening day, retirement most often was a rocking chair and being a baby-sitter for the grand kids. The Webb mantra was “a new active way of life.”

Boy did they deliver. Those flocking here were stunned at such a fascinating concept. As the old ads say, life in Sun City meant they were back in the game. Retirees had typically been kicked to the curb in spite of their knowledge and found themselves wondering if this was all there was? Had they retired too early? They longed for something more.

That’s why Sun City worked...at least in those early years. New ideas are often a flash in the pan and quickly die out. Sun City was no exception and in 1964 they only sold 487 homes. Worse yet, the Sun City communities that mirrored ours in California and Florida were even more stagnant.

Del Webb told Joe Breen, Tom Ashton and LC Jacobson to change it up or Sun City would end and stay south of Grand Ave. They refused and Breen and Ashton were fired and Jake transferred to Las Vegas where he promptly quit the company. John Meeker was sent in to fix it or north of Grand Ave would become non-age restricted homes and an industrial park.

His entry into the community in 1965 became the stuff of legends. He is the reason Sun City exploded in sales and popularity. Today there are well over a 1000 communities that have tried to emulate Sun City. Many of the techniques he put in play still are used today. If i could bring anyone back from the dead to interview it would hands down be John Meeker.

All of the above is simply a set-up for the rest of Yesterday. Tomorrow i will continue it so you can begin to grasp how far we have moved away from our original tenets.

 

I've written hundreds of thousands, maybe, probably millions of words on Sun City. It's that much of an obsession for me. I'm not alone, there's any number others currently and in our history who have been every bit as passionate, and likely, more-so. We know the first residents found something special, unique to what they had expected retirement to be. It changed their lives, elevated them to something better. We tend to take things for granted, expect it's always been that way. As you read on through this thread, you will see why yesterday matters, and more importantly how our future can be impacted based on how we respond.

Sun City: Yesterday (continued): During the first 5 years as the Del E Webb Corporation (DEVCO) was building Sun City, they had a policy of "non-involvement." Sales were spectacular in 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963; and then they weren't. What looked like a license to print money suddenly became an albatross. In 1960 DEVCO began trading on the stock exchange and for the first time it wasn't a wholly owned, privately held company. As all of you know, the stock market is fickle, they love winners and hate losers.

When Webb moved out the three men most responsible (Breen, Ashton and Jacobson), he brought in John Meeker. He immediately dumped the concept of non-involvement and began working towards one powerful and self-sustaining ideology; building a sense of community and ownership that would endure long after DEVCO left. He understood there would come a time when the community was built out and DEVCO left, those living here would have to pick up the pieces. He often subtly pushed for incorporation because it would give Sun City what he thought sustainability. Having a city government was the norm, having a volunteer structure of governance wasn't.

Apparently he never believed those living here loved it so much they would accept the responsibility of taking ownership on a forever basis. They did and i suspect much to his surprise, they were better at it than he anticipated. Organization after organization flourished without the help of state funding through the revenue sharing that would have come from incorporation. People stepped up and gave time, money and expertise because they wanted their community to be successful. They wanted the "great social experiment" to work and they wanted the amazing lifestyle they found here to continue for generations.

Meeker worked tirelessly to bring the community together. Everything he did was about enhancing the role of those living here becoming owners of the process, of promoting the idea of community and about giving back...all the while they were playing in the abundant lifestyle they built into Sun City. There were no "how to books" on how to do it. It was trial and error, more successes than failures and absolute faith from those buying into the community it would work.

Building a sense of community was the ultimate goal and proved infallible...but was/is it?

 

Most of us, members of "the greatest generation" or baby boomers grew up with a principle we heard over and over again: Pride of Ownership. And even more often it was directly tied to home buying and becoming home owners. It was a dream long sought after, that opportunity to buy your own house. In many cases it became our most valuable asset. We added on, improved and hoped it would pay off in the long run. Don't get me wrong, nothing bad about renting, but owners tend to be more invested in the property when it's theirs. All of which is simply the setup for this.

Sun City: Today: Sun City is in its 61st year and it has been wildly successful. Media types of all stripes have aired it's amazing history, it's been studied by sociologists and academics have written college thesis about it. Virtually every other age restricted communities have used us as some form of blueprint as they tried to replicate us. Most importantly, Sun City AZ has been home to hundreds of thousands of buyers who came here hoping for something better and ended up falling in love with a community that offered them "a new active way of life." For that matter, they are still coming.

The questions simply becomes; have we changed? Have we evolved for the better or the worse? I have very strong sentiments about those answers. Probably because i have been so involved in telling the Sun City story from start-up (1960) to build-out (1978) in our new displays, i have become immersed in how and why we worked so well. We know the first five years were a roller coaster. Massive sales till 1964 and then they hit the wall. John Meeker came to Sun City and Webb told him to fix it or the project would end at Grand Ave.

To be clear, he put in play a plan that was multi-functional with one underlying goal, building that sense of community. He worked tirelessly to create a sense of ownership. He understood ownership of more than just their house was essential. Ownership of the community meant buyers would be invested for the long term. It meant they would fight to insure it worked, not just for the short term but also for the long term. He got it and so did almost everyone buying here. It was a commitment to educate and communicate that in the sale of every home.

Fast forward to today. Does anyone reading that feel this is still the case? Unfortunately we have reduced buyers to "card-holders." We tell them when they buy and pay their fees, they've fulfilled their obligation. From that point on, the RCSC takes on the responsibility of "ownership" and management and decision-making. It was never done that way in those early years and i would argue, had it been, we would have failed miserably. That pride of ownership is what pushed Sun City over the top.

I won't belabor this point because if you are truly interested, i've written several threads on this site about it: Our documents were re-written to take away the safeguards and protections the company (DEVCO) and the community wrote into both the Articles of Incorporation and the By-laws. Over the past 15 years those changes weren't accidental, they were done to take away the sense of ownership by the members and create an easier method of governance.

Card-holders are more akin to renters while stake-holders are more like owners who have a vested interest in insuring it all works. In my humble opinion, moving down this road has changed Sun City is ways that aren't beneficial. The only thing that is better is management has a far easier time doing what they think is important, and far less chance for push-back from those of us living here. Accountability is dramatically reduced. Think not? Look back over the last year with the pandemic and think about how the RCSC has communicated with the card-holders. Cold, callous and indifferent would be being generous to say the least.

I will end it here for now, but there's still much to explore.

 

BP, I have always admired your passion for Sun City and being a history junkie since I was about nine, your verbal rendering of its history.
I was thinking about your sense of pride comments and I would like to add something. I will take a wild guess here and say your parents were child of the Great Depression. I grew up on Depression stories and studied it in college. The reason I bring this up is because of sense of community. The Greatest Generation from my observations has always worked together probably from their teen years and beyond helping each other. That is to say they had this “we are in this together” mentality. I am not saying it is bad but from a personal standpoint my father had to quit school after his junior year to help support the family. He joined the CCC, was sent to southern Utah to plant trees, build fire roads, clear brush, etc. The boys he was with had to work together to accomplish the goals. He was then in the Marines during WWII where team is everything. When my parents purchased a home in a new subdivision, I witnessed the neighbors banding together to help improve each other’s property, i.e., help build garages, back porches, even help lay a drainage system to eliminate the backyard flooding. I owe this to the fact that while growing up, the fathers of my friends had all served in the military,albeit, different branches. They worked for the common good on what I would call the ground level.
As for we Baby Boomers, we have been called selfish, entitled and other adjectives I will not repeat. While we have a sense of community, ours is a bit different. I owe this to events we witnessed while growing up and our convictions. For this I would say our level is at 10,000 feet. While we do help our neighbors here, but we see our goals as helping many through our actions. Examples would be Civil Rights marches, Viet Nam war protests during the 60’s. Desegregation in society, Women’s movement, Voting Rights, even the Black Lives Matter movement.

How this fits in with current Sun City is while we help with individuals, life is more complex here because of technology which must be constantly upgraded, rehab of the aging rec centers plus adapting to new interests that could not have been imagined by Del Webb. The Board must be more independent and as visionary as possible. Quantum mechanics rules our lives and will become even bigger.

Sorry for the many, many words.

History lessons for you on the past being relevant.

While Sun City was and is revolutionary, I compared what the Athenian general Pericles said in 430 B.C. to Sun City, “We do not copy our form of government from others, rather we are an example to others.” While not quite the same you do get the idea. Governments, age restricted communities, same differences.

One of my favorite topics is the Black Death. Aside from wiping out about 50% of the population of Europe, it in many ways shaped the society we have today. Examples would be that feudalism ended and there was the rise of what we know as the middle class, the rise of guilds which are still strong in Europe and called Unions here, the first collective bargaining because of a decimated population, workers such as blacksmiths could go from town to town and negotiate wages. It gave rise to the Renaissance with its biggest benefit early mass communications via the printing press and movable type. There is the original DNA of the internet. Banking changed, movement of people, etc. all this owed to a deadly bacteria.

I will sign off now and CT has anything to add, please.