The bastards did it!

Probably just an inadvertent mistake on their part EWO. Their digital version of the Sun Views has it listed and i suspect next week's email blast will have a friendly reminder of the board meeting on the 13th of September at 9 am at the Sun Dial Recreation Center. It will be interesting because rumor has it one board member is running his mouth they are just waiting for Karen to say something so they can tell the world all of her sins. Apparently his contention is once she says something they can take the gloves off and enlighten us all.

I for one am all in favor of hearing just how terrible she was. I've watched every meeting, mostly on line and if anyone was out of line, it was other board members as they treated her like the proverbial red-headed step child (my bad, i once had someone chastise me up one side and down the other because she apparently had a red headed step child). There is no secret, they didn't like the fact Karen stepped up and spoke her mind. For the uninitiated, that's not something a board member can or should be fired for.

I've said it many times, i didn't run for the board years back to make friends. I ran to try and get things done that were for the good of the community. I suspect Karen would say something much the same. Often times i felt myself at odds with other board members. I wasn't part of the golf cabal and refused to buy into all golf all the time. The reality is you need a wide range of opinions and people willing to have those kind of open and frank discussions. Apparently some on the board feel threatened by those who don't mindlessly fall into the group think mentality; like Barbara Brehm and Karen McAdam.

One last thing and i apologize for being vague. Decorum and civility should be the bedrock of the boards actions. We already know one male member of the board told Karen to F-off multiple times. We know it was witnessed and reported. Now i am hearing that same board member is still out there running his mouth and apparently without any recourse for his actions. In all my time on the board, and with all of the heated work sessions, we never came to that point. We disagreed often, it never degenerated to that level. And through all of the crap that is filtering back, the one that has been fired has been the one who did her job like a board member should; question, challenge and seek answers...not blindly follow the pack.

 

Wow.
Like so many, people read but don't post on this site. In this instance i got an email this morning from one of those with their thoughts on the Karen McAdam rebuttal that is in the Independent today: "Karen McAdam's Letter to the Editor is a classic in how to excoriate, eviscerate and verbally crucify a group (RCSC B.O.D. & Management). I mean, really, really a classic." More to it than that but i condensed it, hitting on the key point. Our copy comes around 10 am, looking forward to it. My thoughts once i read it.

 

Holy chit man! There's something about a writer's ability to remain above the emotional aspect of something as ugly as being fired and just deal with the facts. Better yet, she set the table for the entire "abuse of power" we so frequently see from those who think they are above it all. She sliced and diced it about as well as anyone could do. I know she was insulted and angry over the presidents remarks and yet the anger didn't color her response. She stayed on point and i suspect the corporate offices at Lakeview are a buzz as they try and figure out how to answer this remarkable rebuttal.

At least one board member has been running his mouth that once she says something the gloves can come off and they can tell their side of the story. It will be terribly embarrassing as they unleash the beast and we finally get to hear how they wrote her up for all the horrible things like letting her mask slip below her nose while talking and getting too close to a member after a meeting. All stuff done repeatedly by other board members but never once did anyone get written up. Hmmmmmmm?

And let's be clear about this because i will forewarn you it is coming. They will claim she willfully refused to come to her "trial." Bullshit. The board had broke for summer following the last board meeting in June. The next day, two board members were leaving town, Karen one of them. She had no reason to check her RCSC provided ipad as she prepared for a six week vacation overseas. She left having no knowledge of the kangaroo court and only found out well after she had left when she received an email from the president telling her she was fired and "too bad she hadn't bothered to attend." Did i mention bullshit?

I also thought it amazing to conclude with an open invitation to other board members to reach out and find resolve. She has repeatedly asked board members for the reason for dismissal. The only word she got from any of them was as she said, from the president who claimed the attorney said they did everything in accordance with blah, blah, blah. Classy. The simple truth is they had no reason to fire her other than she was making them look bad. They did the same to Barbara and got away with it. I guess they figured this too shall pass. Not even close.

 

We get our paper towards the end of the day today. It is interesting that there are only 702 YouTube views of the June BOD Meeting that fanned the flames. The count is higher than normal but I thought it would be higher.

 

FYI:

I'm confused and need guidance before I can advise others or make recommendations on the "Supporters of Karen McAdam" Facebook group.

It appears that the chances of Karen McAdam getting reinstated to the Board of Directors at the September 13th Board meeting are slim to none after reading various opinions of people with more knowledge on the Forum than myself.

Yet, you mention that if a quorum of members (1,250) are present at the Annual meeting, and a motion was made to reinstate Karen, seconded, and voted upon by the Membership, she could be reinstated. Did I interpret that correctly?

But are there necessary steps that need to be taken beforehand, such as posting in RCSC Facilities and/or published in the RCSC newsletter amendment, in order to meet requirements?

Also, if a quorum was established at a regular Board meeting, could she be reinstated at it? Would a motion/second by a Member and voted upon by the Membership be enough to overturn the decision made at the Executive session on June 25th? And would this have had to be posted somewhere 10 or 30 days beforehand?

And if "Proposals or matters relating to the conduct of the business affairs of the Corporation, if brought before a Membership meeting, shall be referred to the Board for study. Such matters, being solely within the powers delegated to the Board in accordance with the laws of the State of Arizona and Corporate Documents, will be considered only as a recommendation to the Board.

If the disposition of these proposals or matters is determined by the Board not to be in the best interest of the Corporation, the Board shall announce its decision and such proposal or matter shall not be considered further. The Members may, by petition signed by at least ten percent (10%) of the total Membership of the Corporation as of the first day of the preceding July, bring the proposal or matter before the Membership for a majority vote of the Members present at a duly called and noticed Annual or Special Membership meeting.

Help! If it would be easier to communicate via email, please let me know. I'm working under a deadline. Thanks!

 

Yes you did. The Articles of Incorporation state: "The Bylaws may be amended, modified, revised, or revoked by the Directors or by the Members. In the event of conflict concerning the Bylaws as amended, modified, revised, or revoked by the Directors, the action of the Members shall prevail." Although this article is specifically talking about bylaws, it is admitting that a decision by the Members shall prevail and that's because the Board is actually a subordinate assembly to the General membership.

Those requirements are only necessary if the Members intend to amend the Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws. We wouldn't be amending either.

I really don't believe this applies for no other reason than it would be a conflict of interest for the Board to make a judgement against themselves!

Don't forget, that 1,250 requirement for a quorum includes proxy votes. But we're not yet sure what we need to do or if the RCSC has a specific form that needs to be used to gather those proxy signatures.

Hope that helps.

 

And this is ONLY at an ANNUAL meeting? It can't be conducted at a regular meeting?

 

If you're referring to the regular meetings of the board the answer is YES! We, the Members who are in attendance at the Board meetings are purely there as guests. We are not part of the assembly, therefore we cannot make motions. The assembly at a Board meeting only consists of the 9 Board members.

 

This seems to be a good place to remind new readers to this site Sun City's documents were built around a concept of self-governance. The piece referenced above also had language where every three months was a quarterly membership meeting but was only held if there was a quorum of 100 members (not card-holders) or more. That simply kept the board from doing dumb stuff.

The new gm was quick to understand and within a short time convinced board members they needed to save Sun City from themselves. And there-in is the reason we haven't had a membership meeting since Sept of 2009...the last time the quorum was at 100. Pretty freaking sad in my humble opinion.

 

Yes, and in my opinion it's malfeasance that the Board ignores the will of the members.

The RCSC is a public corporation and "our" board (after all, we elected them) has been, to some extent, guilty of malfeasance in managing the RCSC for over 20 years. Changing the quorum (without member approval) to a number they knew would unlikely ever be met is but one example. Fighting adherence to Title 33 and engineering (with Senator Gray and Rep Payne's help) a law exempting the RCSC is another example of malfeasance -- after all, every other community like ours adheres to 33 (or at least the intent of 33, in the case of Sun City West). There are other examples.

The membership didn't need saving from itself back in 2009 -- I was there. There were many squeaky wheels agitating over a variety of issues. There were calmer heads offsetting the more radical agitators. The problem was the GM/Board felt threatened, felt they had to dictate rather than build consensus.

That dictatorial approach has crippled the RCSC in many ways, especially in its ability to meet changing times.

 

I awoke this morning feeling morose, saddened about it all. IC's commentary didn't help much because he was spot on. The changes to this community have made me resentful. I've given probably 50 private tours at the Museum since we opened last November and as i tell the Sun City story it is steeped in a rich tradition of self-governance, ownership and volunteerism. It almost always feels good after one because most often, visitors get it. They loved how we were born, why we were successful.

Then reality sets in and i have to come back to the real world where firing a board member becomes the new norm...simply because you can, or at least think you can. And to be clear, they not only can but have twice now. Sure there will be push back and anger and in the end, all it will do is drag us deeper down the rabbit hole. We'll move further away from that sense of community we were built around. The board and management will blame those of championing for Karen, we'll blame the board and management. The blame game is a worthless waste of energy. We've simply become a microcosm of society. All of which makes me even more depressed because it looks and feels like there is no way out. Maybe there isn't.

I guess the residents back in the 80's were smarter than us. We know we took ownership of the rec centers within a year or two of them opening. The golf courses were an entirely different beast. They knew, even back then, they had the potential to become a money pit. They only took them conditionally. The one the RCSC loves to talk about is they have to remain a golf course; the one they never talk about is they have to remain self-sufficient and standing on their own. And the one thing i am convinced of is we don't have a freaking clue where we stand regarding golf being self-sufficient.

The game has been shifted and moved and buried to where the community has no idea. The board has no idea. Perhaps the gm knows, but so what if she does? This only matters because after pouring 10's of millions of dollars into the courses, we will be faced with 10's of millions of dollars more; and all for a game our competition in the age restricted market place wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. And you know why? Because it has the potential to be a money pit.

There's no easy answers and future board members will be asked to make some very difficult decisions. Over the years as boards were stacked with golfers and the gm wanted to shove money at them, we became mesmerized by the idea if we just spent a boatload of money on them, buyers would flock to Sun City. As i have written too many times, we'll always be a golfing community, but at what cost? The more money we throw at golf, the less money we have for the things the community is lacking.

Think not? How about upgrades in technology? How about security at our centers? How about the more cerebral aspects of an aging population living longer and looking for things like continued education? There's so much more and as you read and then consider IC's comment about our ability to meet changing times you come to understand that by taking the community at large out of the equation we have become one dimensional.

It compounds now as the last two years has had a chilling affect on board members who may not just buy into the group think process. Hell, if they don't agree, or if they question or challenge, fire their ass and get out from under their concerns. But, did they? or have they made it worse? I guess time will tell, but for now i am frustrated by how we have evolved over the past 15 years. It's just sad to see.

 

Time to empty the trash!!!

 

I'm beginning to think you don't like them SW.

 

I'll hold the lid open for ya!

 

Today is better, slightly. Had coffee with an old friend yesterday and i was nattering about my moroseness. His ability to find the light in the darkness always helps me and he was right, the decision to fire Karen (and Barbara) have indeed touched people in a way like nothing else has of late. There will no doubt be the biggest crowd for a board meeting on Sept 13, than there has in a very long time. That's a good thing.

The other good thing is they will have to post the agenda fairly soon and we will get a glimpse of how they will try and placate those in the crowd. I feel comfortable in saying they won't be inviting Karen back to the board but they will twist themselves into knots trying to make the pickleball players happy, or at least satisfied. They also will introduce the massive increase in the PIF and doing that while taking away amenities is problematic.

The bigger challenge will be if they return to the norm of reading their motions three times or will they just jam it through with a single reading to avoid further grumblings from the crowd.

 

Damn dudes and dudettes, i stopped down to pick up my board packet and you guys literally blow by the 12,000 read mark. Could have swore i just posted 11,000. By the way, if you think it's me sitting here clicking it 100 times an hour, try a little experiment: Click on the thread, move to another site and then click back on the thread again, see if the counter moves when you do that.

 

Great news! If you bring your signature sheet to the September board meeting I bet you'll get 100+ signatures in one day?

 

I suspect you are right FYI. Honestly, i am less than thrilled to have the document in my possession. I am yet another in the lone line of retreads. We need new blood, younger candidates with fresher ideas. That said, my real test will be when i see the turnout at the Sept 13 meeting and what the agenda is for said meeting. That should be out soon and will tell volumes regarding where this current board is going. Frankly, i am less than optimistic.

 

For the unknowing, the RCSC will post an agenda of the topics they will be dealing with in the next day or two. They have to do that per their documents so the community has advance notice of the matters to be discussed or any motions to be passed. All kinds of strange crap is happening and it's almost as if they (management and the board) is afraid of the community and what they have to say and think. All of which will make for a very interesting membership meeting come October 18. For the first time since September of 2009, the owners of Sun City and the RCSC may have finally an opportunity to have their voices heard.

 

Where was it posted that the Annual Membership Meeting will be on October 18th? By the way, do you know if past agenda's (maybe two or three years) are kept somewhere on the website?