Yesterday as i sat listening to the questions from the audience towards the candidates, i was kicking myself for not being on the stage. As some of you know, i dropped out once i knew there were three solid candidates i could and would support. I question my timing, because the answers to virtually every question asked can be found in our history and my presence on the stage would have allowed me the opportunity to say just that. That said, my presence would have been a distraction. As you will read in next weeks newspaper and as i said when i dropped out, this race should be about issues, not personalities. I have lived in Sun City longer than any candidate on the stage and while some have been active, none with my resume. Not bragging, but i moved here because we were self-governed. Before i go there, let me lay some tracks to help you get your head around the answer: * From 1961 through 1995, there was no more a divisive struggle than incorporation. The powers that be wanted Sun City to incorporate, become a city like Glendale, Peoria or Surprise. The members fought it and won. * In 1973 there were multiple lawsuits regarding Sun City having a school district, ultimately the members rose up and reached a settlement where we were carved out of the Peoria school district. * In 1981 the members were asked to vote on whether we should buy the Sun Bowl from DEVCO. It was quite the bargain and the members passed it. Thank goodness. * By the summer of 1981, there was a fierce battle over the direction of the RCSC. A huge pool of candidates for board members were set and they produced platforms and agendas. DEVCO had left and the question was to be frugal or to be be more progressive. The members decided on the course that was to be set. * In 1983 the federal government passed the Fair Housing Standards Act (the state followed suit). Our community documents contained no provisions as a 55 plus community. Two age restricted communities in the east valley signed petitions and had the language added to their deed restrictions and to their CC&R's. When the members saw what they did, they approached the HOA (now SCHOA), they saw it as too much work. The members quickly rallied their friends and neighbors to sign petitions (on RCSC property by the way). The HOA quickly came to understand how serious the members were and joined the parade. Signatures were collected and the documents amended. Youngtown never did that, which is why they lost their age restricted status. * In 1999 the RCSC board of directors saw the state of our amenities and took an action supported by a majority of the members, passing the PIF. It might be one of the best decisions ever made in Sun City. As you read through every one of these challenges, you will find one common denominator, the members. As yesterday's questions were posed; water, crime, membership involvement, financial expenditures... take your pick, solutions were tough to come by. Let me be very blunt here; you cannot get answers from the membership when you've spent the past 15 years telling them to stay home or just move here and have fun. Sorry, it doesn't work. There might have been 50 members in the room yesterday, does that tell you anything? It does me.
I wish you had stayed in through the forums. People are at least viewing the videos, if they are not attending in person. Please write this article for the paper! It is critical information.
I find it almost laughable when i hear candidates telling me they listen to the members. When they tell me they haven't pushed members away for the past 15 plus years. Really? How about last September when 200 plus members showed up and you all ran off the stage because one person in the crowd didn't get the notice not to hold up a sign. How about the look of abject horror when a quorum was met last December and you locked the doors so no one could get in after 9 am. When you wouldn't let us vote when the Articles of Incorporation tell us we have that right. When you "lost" the video of the corporate attorney giving advice he knew was wrong. Our history tells us Sun City's successes were founded in the community's resolve. By building a sense of community they could have legitimate, sometimes ugly disputes over solutions, over direction. They weren't afraid of it, they embraced it. They were never concerned the members would ruin the community and as they faced down challenges, they came out the backside better from them. When buyers moved to Sun City, they were nurtured to become active participants in the process of self-governance. They didn't have all the technological tools we have at our disposal today. They did it, one member at a time. Monthly new member coffees, DEVCO newspapers announcing the new residents names, where they worked, where they came from. Monthly events that drew huge crowds and brought people together. It was simply building block upon building block so when there were elections, issues or problems the community came together. There's literally no mechanism for that today. When you actively push people away, you get what you saw yesterday, hardly anyone in the room. Back in the day, huge fields of candidates resulted in massive vote totals. Constant surveys of the membership helped those building the community understand what their needs were. The past 15 plus years we've morphed into the general manager knowing what's best for the community. Sorry, not how we were built or why we were so successful. Think about this; when the Sun City Advocates were formed, we established three agenda items. They were Communicate, Educate and Participate. We were attacked and the allegations of "haters" was the label. Rather than attacking us, they should have embraced that same ideology. Clearly, they saw running the other way was their solution. It defies logic unless the majority of the board thinks they are smarter than the community at large. The argument goes like this, and has for years; "ya but we know stuff you don't." Thank you for making our point. The question is simple, why don't we know? We've heard lots of reasons, the most likely being it's too time consuming. So how hard is it to post information like expenditures from the PIF. I already know you have a yearly spread sheet with that information, how hard would it be to post a link? That way we would know how much was spent on the Grand Center? How much the new South Golf Course pro shop cost? Why would any of that information be a "state secret?" I love the argument from the current board president, and in fact agreed with her years back when she started saying it; "we should be data driven." No argument other than sound data collection should be as easy as every club having a scanner so data is real and not just numbers folks are just claiming. All of which begs the question; how much data was collected that necessitated we have an indoor archery range that's open 8 hours a week. Where's the data on an indoor basketball and volleyball court? 5 emails from members isn't data by the way. There's no easy answers to the issues raised yesterday. However, there are answers and they are all reliant on the membership ownership, accountability and responsibility by those living here. Some of the candidates tried to say it. What some of us learned long ago, that without a defined goal or a plan in place, we are just going to drift aimlessly along hoping against hope things would fix themselves. They seldom do.
It's funny...not laughable funny, but the strange type funny. I have just "lived" something similar this summer in a public environment, where residents were consistently being told that they "couldn't have information about their local government because it was confidential." In fact, board members were prohibited from certain information for the same reason, or they couldn't share certain information, which was clearly open to the public! It was shocking to me as a former public official, especially in light of our very favorable open records laws! If management isn't forthcoming, and the Board isn't demanding answers that's a problem that needs an immediate fix. If the Board isn't providing the members with information that we are legally entitled to without obstruction, then they aren't carrying out their responsibilities according to their oaths of office, and our governing documents. The RCSC website is seriously deficient. For a President that lives to "talk" about data, where is it? Only the chosen few are able to see it and analyze it? We've been in SC since 2013 and I don't think it's changed much since then. Finally, there is a definite disconnect between the residents, board and management. I wonder how the staff fits in to all of this? Just doing their jobs? Frustrated?
Yesterday we heard one candidate touting how she has held down members dues (lot assessments). It's the measuring stick so many cling to. No increase this year? Good job. But, is it? If the cost of not increasing dues is we fall behind on the communities needs, then my argument is, raise the damned dues. With that out of the way, let's take a closer look at the financials and see if we could have spent some of the money collected by the RCSC each year to stay more current; and better yet, if they had, would we be in a better place to address some of the concerns we heard yesterday. Before we begin, the Sun Dial roof collapse was mentioned. I've written extensively on it but as a refresher, the year was 2006. The roof over the indoor pool literally collapsed. Thank God no one was in the building when it happened. It was early morning, around 4 am. The mess it created took a year plus to fix. There was no money set aside for such an emergency and the insurance company was screwing with us about paying to fix it. Stuff was cut, to finally get it fixed and the insurance ultimately paid most of the costs. A couple good things came from this. The board voted to create a cash reserve fund just for emergencies (5 million dollars) and our insurance policies are all at full replacement value. All of which bodes well for our future. Plus, the 5 million dollar reserve factors into the discussion we are about to have. The goal was to fund it at 500k a year for ten years. The reality is we paid off far more quickly as they had excess cash from the yearly budgets, not from PIF. That matters because in August of 2012, there had only been 1 payment made of the $500k. Here's where it gets interesting: Using August of 2012 as our benchmark and fast forwarding to August of 2022 (a ten year period), the RCSC has accumulated a lot of money. Again, not talking about PIF (that's a whole other boatload of money). We know they have fully funded the Capital Reserve Account adding another 4.5 million dollars (for emergencies). We also know in August of 2012, they had cash on hand (not counting the Capital Reserve) of $10, 437,064. The question is how much did they not spend? In August of 2022, the cash balance is $19,760,282. If we factor in the $4.5 million dollars set aside for emergencies, we see they have saved close to 14 million dollars from lot assessments in the past ten years. I'll be the first to admit, having money on hand is good. I would also be the first to argue, if you have the money in hand, why weren't you spending it, rather than saving it on things we needed? Here's the dilemma, the board used to be involved in clubs needs, space allocation and where money was spent. The logic of course was the board members are elected by the membership and consequently are there for the members. Of course, we now know the past 15 years they have been told nope, you are there to serve the corporation. In fact, it got so sideways, the board relinquished almost all of their authority over to management. Don't ask me, i simply don't get it. So, you ask what's wrong with having the cash on hand? Nothing, if our technology was up to date. Why does that matter? The answer is embedded in the question regarding crime in Sun City? Most police officers/county sheriff's will tell you the bulk of our crime isn't labeled serious. Not to downplay what is happening, but if you attended the seminar put on a few months ago, the primary causes were theft and scams. They are called "crimes of opportunity." Everyone knows we do not have our own police force. That decision was made years ago when members voted not to become a city. The POSSE has served us well, but by now we all know they have limitations on what they can do. Earlier this year the RCSC put on a presentation regrading enhancing the security around their amenities. There were two potential solutions, both expensive and both reliant on technology. It's not that we didn't have the money, we didn't have the technology available to buy into either fix. The entire point of reducing "crimes of opportunity" is deterrent based. The more cameras, the better lighting, the enhanced technology built into facilities, the less the opportunity. We all know, golf cars have been stolen on RCSC property, we know catalytic converters have been stripped from cars in RCSC parking lots, we know golf clubs have been stolen off golf cars and we know the softball team has lost 1000's of dollars of equipment with 5 or 6 break ins. All crimes of opportunity. Nothing stops crime completely. wish that wasn't so, but alas it is. We do know from police statistics crime is dramatically reduced when the proper deterrents are in place. Sun City has virtually none. The question you have to ask yourself, had the management team (and the board) been more focused on spending our lot assessments wisely, would we (the members) be in a better place than we are today? Sorry gang, but for me that's an easy answer. Money in the bank is not why the RCSC exists. The Articles of Incorporation tell us exactly the purpose of their existence and it has nothing to do with stockpiling excessive amounts of cash. But wait, it gets worse. Stay tuned.
By now, some of you may know the RCSC will be proposing their budget for 2023 at the Oct board meeting. Included with it will be an increase in lot assessment from $496 to $525. Looking at their agenda online yesterday, you won't see any of those figures posted. I'm pretty sure they will be telling us at the board meeting. No one would be dumb enough to just try and run it through. You know, transparency and all. The easy answer is, they need the money, and the cry will be they haven't raised fees in years. All true, but that's because they haven't needed to. Most people hate talking bylaws, golf and financials. Most people just want to ignore it all. I get it. It's boring to go back and sort through the financials to see what happened? The last increase was when the state mandated the minimum wage increase and the ARS lawsuit was headed to court. The doom and gloom of those two items caused the knee-jerk reaction to our largest increase in years. Looking back (circa 2017/2018), we know neither broke the bank. In fact, the RCSC has been cash laden since then. We have more cash on hand than in any time in our history. ANYTIME IN OUR HISTORY. There's a reason for that. The PIF is generating a boatload of money. They forecast projections based on ridiculously low numbers of homes sales, always have. The reality is with the projects on the books, the PIF is going to need the money. The other side of the ledger is way more interesting. If you watched the candidate forum, you heard the question in the lightening round, where does the RCSC annual budget come from? The easy answer is; golf, 10 pin bowling and lot assessments (rec fees). There's other revenue streams; facilities rentals, entertainment and sales of goods but it's small potatoes. The bulk of their money is from lot assessments. Golf generates about 7 million dollars a year, but after costs loses money. Not the point, just an aside. Historically we know the RCSC has for the first 50 years run budgets that were close to break even. The first 18 years (1960-1978), the Del E Webb Corporation (DEVCO) subsidized much of what happened in Sun City. Events, clubs, golf and rec fees were all aided by the corporation to help sell homes and keep the community affordable for seniors. Once they left, around 1980, the community was forced to stand on their own. That's why in 1981, there was such a fierce battle over direction. Some wanted to stay frugal (dues were $40 and the members voted a $2 increase to buy the Sun Bowl) while others understood the importance of maintaining the facilities. Mentioned above was the Sun Dial roof collapse in 2006. It was the game changer, the RCSC had no cash reserves and the message was clear, we needed money in the bank for emergencies. In 2011 the board decided a $5 million dollar reserve fund would cover any unforeseen problems. We have full replacement insurance and with that cash reserve any emergency could be easily met. They set their goal of 500k per year, 10 years to get there; all of it coming from the yearly capital budget. In 2012 they made their first 500k transfer. Then a funny think happened on the way to the bank. 2013 and 2014 we added the 500k. In 2015 the board had in hand an excess 3.5 million dollars to fully fund the reserve account. That's not a bad thing and i would have to look back to see what kind of increase generated that much excess revenue over expenses. The reality was once it was fully funded, we wouldn't be spending 500k from our capital budgets going forward. Here's where it gets way better; in Dec of 2015, on top of the 3.5 million dollars paid into the reserve account, the RCSC had $9,894,266 in cash and investments (and the newly created 5 million dollar reserve account for emergencies). By August of 2022, the latest figures available, their cash and investment totals were $19,760,282. In 7 years they (the RCSC) had added another 10 million dollars (not including the 5 million dollar cash reserve) We are talking about 10 million dollars over and above what they collected from the membership that historically was spent on the members needs. This is why history matters. This is why they have run from our history. Why in God's name would they increase lot assessments when they weren't spending anywhere near what they were collecting? Actually, the real question is; why weren't they spending what they were collecting? The sole purpose of the RCSC to exist is to be there for the membership. Once that reserve account was fully funded, we should have gone back to balanced budgets. Clearly, we didn't. Why didn't we? Here's the answer: Management has decided saving money is more important than spending money on the members. The boards' have relinquished their duties and allowed management to determine what is right for the membership and the community. This is exactly why i have watched in abject horror as they have time after time relinquished their responsibilities and duties as board members. Managements job is to run the day to day operations. The board's job is to insure the members needs are met. How did that work out regarding technology? How did that work out at the Vintage Car club where the air conditioning was taken out of the building's original design and an employee put in a swamp cooler instead (which was a PIF project)? How's that working out for the softball club that's been vandalized 5 or 6 times because the RCSC is incapable of properly securing the building? How's that going to work out for the dog club and the indoor arena being shoved on a PIF budget to be addressed 10 years down the road? How's that going to work out for continuing educations classes now that the Life Long Learning club is gone? There's more, but why bother? Does anyone care? Rather than spending the money paid by members, we let management decide hoarding the money made more sense. I was told by the previous gm, she slept better at night knowing there was a lot of money in the bank. Really? Is that the new gm's mantra as well? He told me point blank, "we don't have enough reserves." Really? I want to come back to this, because there's more to this discussion. Apparently the argument for the increase at the budget and finance meeting was something akin to "we need the increase to do deferred maintenance." Apparently all the stuff they put off since 2016 (when they banked 10 million dollars) now needs to get done in 2023. Thank God they waited till we've seen 20% inflation in the past two years to do the stuff we should have been doing all along.
Wow! I guess I should read the management report more often! This is a surprise to me because I haven't heard many rumblings about it. All you ever hear is, "We haven't raised your assessment fees for 6 years." So here's a couple of questions Bill, since you are a former board member: 1. Does this mean that if the board approves the Management Report the increase automatically goes into affect? 2. Doesn't it need to be voted on twice? The Bylaws say every motion needs to be voted on twice! 3. Since it's not an actual motion listed on the agenda does that mean the Members aren't even allowed to comment? 4. If this was known earlier, don't you think this would have drastically influenced the attendance at the Annual Membership meeting? This is just one more maneuver done in bad taste. I'm sure the board and management will defend their lack of transparency by simply telling us it's right there in the management report! Yup! hidden in plain sight! That increase will produce a little over one-million-dollars. Gee, how many times have they told us that they're bringing in a million dollars over budget?
This is ridiculous - until they lay out a PLAN telling us in detail what they are going to do about technology and security, nothing changes! It's not the amount of the increase, it's based on their failure to do their jobs for how many years, hoarding cash, ignoring critical needs, denying club requests, and continuing to tell the members what a great deal we5re getting at the lowest cost anywhere. I say poppycock!
Good questions Tom and to be honest, i have no clue. These days they appear to just do whatever they want. I would have expected to see the proposed increase on the agenda, but you i guess it was no big deal. I especially loved the board member appearing at the candidate forum with "no increase" tattooed on her forehead (being facetious here) explaining to everyone why we need one now. After all, we've only been 10 million dollars in excess revenue over the last 7 years. I have been told the RCSC management wants/needs the increase to try and catch up on all the projects they have left slide. Of course the obvious question is; why the flock did you let them slide? But clearly the board doesn't feel they have the right to ask those questions of management. Here's one they need to ask: What happens if the increase passes and management just decides to bank the money rather than spending it on the members? See, the dilemma? Since 2016, they've been either unwilling or incapable of telling management to do things. Let me be very clear, the Articles of Incorporation tell the board they have one employee they are responsible for, the general manager. Of course, we all know how they feel about the Articles don't we? This is what happens when you give away your authority to management and let the hired help decide what's best for the members they are elected to represent.
I've been sidelined due to surgery but have kept up to date with anything posted here or online RCSC videos on YouTube. If I can't make it to the night candidate's forum next week, I'd like someone to ask if we can again have ALL committee meetings video taped and put online. There's no reason there can't be some room and some person available to tape the meeting. There aren't that many committees and they only meet once a month. If nothing else, Sun City in Focus should be tasked with this important function!! There is so much more information shared at Committee Meetings that would shed light on decisions that are made or items the Committees try to bring forward. I have a strong opinion on who I will be voting for but I will wait until I see the next Candidate Forum. Thank you to all that have stepped forward to serve!
Hey aggie; bitch to get old eh? Just kidding. Don't hold your breath about recording meetings. After what i heard about what was being done at the Budget and Finance committee meeting, there's no way they want that recorded for members to see. They've simply embraced the idea that anyone that doesn't agree with the "majority" are just "haters." Seems having a different opinion other than theirs is either crazy or has no clue. It's the new normal, management knows best and we all should just drink the koolaid.
I keep wondering why there is no pushback to their ONE and ONLY employee? Are they concerned that there is no capable, competent person to manage such an organization. All these projects that have been delayed - now we need an increase, with millions in reserve? Another million, for what? Give us some damn facts. And who is going to manage them, because the last meeting Cook seemed to be complaining about how priorities keep shifting and they can't keep up. Which is it?
The answer is so simple Linda. The previous general manager convinced the board she was always right and their job was to rubber stamp her agenda. Now we are getting the same game from the new player. History tells us for 50 years the general manager ran the day to day operations. The board did much of the heavy lifting along the way, and held the management responsible and accountable for outcomes. The new mantra is loyalty. The community was always best served when the membership had a voice and more importantly were listened to.
Every meeting should be taped and uploaded to youtube like it used to be. I'm too handicapped to get to all the meetings. Any and every club or venue like gok Every committee meeting should be recorded and uploaded to youtube like it was before. I am not able anymore because of health to go to meetings like I used to do. Golf committee, bowling committee meetings, entertainment committee meetings, and every other club that has meetings should be able to be viewed by everyone in the comfort of their home. Many of us are disabled and do this anymore and we deserve to know what is going on.
It is curious; I didn't catch it, but i had two different RCSC members who watched the video of the candidate forum tell me one of the questions in the lightening round appeared as if something was off. Mind you, i'm not naming names and i haven't watched it back (you can if you want), but the comments both claimed it appeared as if the candidate was checking off the names of the rec centers from a piece of paper. Watch it for yourself and you tell me what you see. I was disappointed that segment was used again. It has been roundly criticized in the past, especially when there are candidates who have served their 3 year term. They should be able to answer the types of questions asked off the top of their head. The chair of the election committee goes to great lengths to explain the questions are drawn randomly, but if you have every question at your disposal, you also could have every answer in front of you. Just saying eh?
Can't say for sure, but what I saw was her scribbling the first letter of the centers. As Bill said, the real issue is how ridiculous that segment is and the fact that it does, at least, present the possibility of impropriety. It should be scrapped.
In fairness, the candidate mentioned above told me point blank she was making notes to insure she named all of the rec centers and not miss any. That she did in fact not have the names in front of her. I have no reason to disbelieve her and i told her i would pass on her comments.
