What the Flock?????????????????

Just heard a rumor, could it possibly be true?

The board president is handing out absentee ballots with paper clipped statements for who to vote for, Darla, Jerry and Jim. Since when are "absentee ballots" to be handed out at club events by officers of the corporation? We were told members could pick them up at the RCSC offices or request by mail.

There's no end to the levels they will stoop.

 

And so we are clear here, she's not only the president of the RCSC board of directors, she is the chairman of the election committee and her role in both should be to insure their is a fair and open election process. If this rumor is inaccurate, please tell us it is not true and i will post a correction. If it is true, madam president, you should resign immediately. Hope i am being straight forward enough for you to understand.

 

If this is true, it is a clear conflict of interest. Let's hope it's not the case. We need an answer. There is a "control process" for absentee ballots. There are two issues at play here. More to follow!

 

Ballots are NOT being distributed. According to corporate employee in charge, no ballots leave their office. Sign up sheets, however, are being circulated, whereby members can request ballots; info is verified that they can legally vote, haven't voted, ballots are then mailed and all official election protocols are followed. As to promoting candidates, that's an open question. Should the Chair of the Election Committee involve herself during any part of the election process?

 

Great news to hear Linda. So there is no truth to the RUMOR the board president was passing out absentee ballots. Delighted to hear that isn't the case.

 

It's my opinion that if she, as both president of the board and chair of the election committee, is promoting specific candidates then this is worse than what they accused and dismissed Karen McAdam of doing. Karen was simply looking out for the best interest of the members of the Pickleball Club. Dale is looking out for what's in HER best interest.

Can you spell "CONFLICT OF INTEREST"? Rules for thee but not for me!

 

Of course it's a conflict of interest. Curious Linda, are you saying that she is out getting signatures for people on RCSC property requesting they be mailed an absentee ballot?

 

As I understood the conversation, that's the case. I should have followed up. That would be a violation also. And, I understood that there are at least two Board members with sign up sheets. So, why aren't all candidates offered this option? If they can actively promote their choices, what's the difference? Isn't this campaigning. It's just a couple steps below a proxy maybe? Maybe that's a stretch. But still, it seems like it's creating a disadvantage....x board member is an active member of several clubs, circulating ballot request forms with cards promoting his/her favorite candidates. Candidate Z is a relative new comer. Member of a single small club, has no knowledge of circulating ballot sign-ups.

 

So that answer begs the question Linda: is getting names to mail absentee ballots on RCSC property a violation of the RCSC bylaws. It seems pretty simple to me, yes it is. We should immediately report it to the RCS president and the chairman of the election committee to address swiftly and insure the election is fairly run and unbiased. If not, let the Advocates know and we’ll quickly submit thousands of requests for absentee ballots.

Thanks for your prompt actions.

 

Thank you, Linda, for fact checking!

 

So the circus of the dozen or so disgraceful trouble makers continues. Jean, you deserve better than this. You have heard the names you and your colleagues are being labeled as. The cry babies who are fairly new to Sun City that don't get their way whine and pout.
This reminds me of some of ARS and her TEA BAGGERS that tried something similar and we know what happened there. Same people same names here spewing hate. Pathetic!!!

 

Hey Jean Totten, i think say what is on to something, you should listen to him or her. I don't know about the whole spewing hate thing, but let me interpret exactly what say what is suggesting you do:
* You need to get away from those scoundrels who believe the members should have a voice in their community.
* You need to drop your association with those who aren't interested in letting the general manager make every decision for them, no matter what his credentials are as an accountant.
* You shouldn't be seen hanging with people who think it's reasonable to expect a $29 increase be accounted for, rather than just shoving the money in the bank in case a roof caves in or so the gm can sleep better at night.
* You need to run from those crazies who think it's wrong to sell our amenities to non-residents cheaper than residents pay for them.
* You should never believe that the bylaw rewrite didn't fix every problem the 1400 plus members requested at the first annual membership meeting in the past twelve years. Clearly it is a beautiful thing we should all embrace and show the proper love to those who gave so much to craft it.
* You should become enamored with the new general manager who keeps telling us the RCSC needs to be a business and not a community.
* You have to turn your back on the POSSE and forget the nonsense about their 50 year relationship with the RCSC.
* You should love this one, before an election, learn to promise everyone everything rather than being objective about what we can afford. You know like throwing 40 million dollars at a single rec center rebuild. You'll find it's the best way to buy votes.
* You also should reject the idea that an RCSC election should be fair and that it's perfectly fine to put your finger on the scale to win. If you are in power and control. you should be able to do whatever it takes to win.
I'm sure there's way more i could offer up but why bother. Say what gave you the blue print to perhaps being seen as a winner. Better yet, then you can campaign with Darla and Jerry and perhaps get put on their preferred candidate list. That way, who knows what kind of support you'll get from those running the show. That way we'll insure nothing will ever change.

 

Hopefully say what will jump back in and respond. He/she made some interesting allegations, by claiming the 12 of us "trouble makers" were simply haters and Jean was being dragged down by those of us who are "cry babies who don't get their way." Fascinating really.

From the day i moved to Sun City, to the day i ran for the board, till the day i left it, through each year that followed and as i watched and wrote volumes, "my way" was concisely this: LET THE MEMBERS DECIDE! What a terrifying concept eh say what? We know historically that was how Sun City was built, why it was successful. Why is that frightening to so many?

The general manager hired in 2006 understood the challenges of membership involvement. Her agenda was unreachable if members voices were heard. With each passing year, she ran further from our roots, our traditions and our tenets. It wasn't an accident, it was on purpose. She was a smart well credentialed administrator. She understood by feeding the board officers what they wanted she would get what she wanted. Pure quid pro quo. Genius, truly.

When you become the sole arbiter of direction, you control the outcomes. When you convince the majority of the board you have all the answers, they blithely follow along. Until 2006, the general manager ran the day to day operations, that was it. She wanted more. They gladly gave it to her...and now to him. The new gm is even more fixated on doing what he thinks is right.

My argument is still the same, that should be up to the membership. The sad reality is those paying attention have been reduced to less than 5% of those living here. They either don't know or don't care about how Sun City is run or how it functions. The only time there is an outcry is when a club wants something. They show up, vague promises are made and everyone walks away thinking they listened.

The very idea board members outside the majority have any real voice is nonsense. Watch any of the meetings to see how dismissively they are treated. We know the solution in 2020 and 2021 was to fire those who didn't fall in line. It's what caused the shit storm to start with. Now the new bylaws, where we asked for "due process" for board members, are even worse than the old ones. To top it off, they are insulting us telling us they are somehow better.

Finally say what, labeling us they way you have is curious: "tea baggers?" "ARS" clones? Really? Because we show up and ask questions and have the unmitigated gall to expect straight answers from those who were elected to serve the community? I guess far better in your mind where 2o members filled the room and passively sit by and tell them how good they are doing is more your style.

No single person, no small group of 5 or 6 board members is smarter than the community at large. The problem is this: The new GM has told us point blank, we are no longer a community but the RCSC is a business. That is simply a sad state of affairs but is easily a predictable outcome given the past 15 years of "leadership."

 

WOW! The board president and chairman of the election committee and one of the 4 board members who told the chairman of the ad hoc bylaws committee they would sandbag the bylaws if the clause allowing members to collect signatures on RCSC property for recall petitions and referendums and special meeting calls from the membership wasn't withdrawn, has just freely admitted she was collecting signatures on RCSC property. Are you freaking kidding me?

Here's the irony, the claim was she was just helping a bunch of little old ladies. Except, the club meeting was at Lakeview and as they were leaving, they could have stopped by the RCSC office and requested an absentee ballot. It's on the freaking way out Dale. Of course they failed to mention the sheets attached telling members who to vote for. OOPS.

This is the same person who told Jean Totten she couldn't be on the election committee because she would have a bias being a member of the Advocates and all. Let me be very blunt here; absolutely and perfectly inexcusable behavior by the woman who told us all we were all going to have a Kumbaya moment as we all sang songs and hung out working together.

Hopefully she embraces this new open approach to signatures on RCSC property and adds the language back in allowing us all to do what she thinks is perfectly fine for her.

 

One can only crack out in raucous laughter: Now the claim is the RCSC has been allowing those on the election committee (and only the election committee) to go out and solicit absentee ballots and better yet, have been doing so for 9 years. They have no freaking shame. NONE.

Just for shits and giggles, here's what the November Sun Views says about absentee ballots: "If you are not able to vote online, you may request an absentee ballot starting November 7 by contacting the Corporate Office at Lakeview (623-561-4600). Request for mailing absentee ballots must occur no later than December 2 and all must be received by December 13." Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, no notice that certain board members will be soliciting at your clubs and collecting your signature (in violation of RCSC bylaws) on RCSC properties. Must have just forgotten to mention that eh?

Dale's argument was she was just trying to help all those "little old ladies" who aren't capable of picking up the phone and dialing. Did i mention, they have no shame? NONE! Of course, added to it and what brought all this to the forefront was someone reported it happened and included with the "sign up sheet" was who to vote for. What a freaking coincidence.

Now the argument is, only RCSC official absentee ballot request forms can be used and only the election committee can collect them. The real question they need to answer is how many clubs have they appeared before and how many total absentee ballots have been or will be sent out? Anything to win baby, anything to win.

 

I find it curious that OTHER members of the Elections Committee weren't aware of this process until receiving a message today! If this is truly a "legitimate process" you make an excellent point. Why wouldn't there have been something said that "you can also sign up to receive a ballot at various club meetings, RCSC Board Meetings and Member Exchanges?" Like so many other things, this just doesn't pass the smell test!

 

Questions for Tom Marone: How long have you been on the election committee? Have you ever heard any mention of this distribution of absentee ballots by committee members? And for everyone...why the flock would election committee members be more important than just us lowly members?

Asking for a friend????????????

 

About 3 years

Never

I think an appropriate question to ask would be, "Why wasn't the Election Committee asked in one of their meetings to determine how many Absentee Ballots each Election Committee Member should be allowed to request."? Probably the same crew who self-determined those 20 rules for voting at the Annual membership Meeting made those decisions as well?

So members of the Election Committee can request a quantity of only 2 Absentee Ballot Request Forms. Once those forms are completed we can turn them in and request another ONE!

Perhaps being the only member of the committee who is not or was not a former board member is the reason they tried to change the rules to kick me off so that only current and former board members could sit on that committee? Maybe its time to eliminate the Election Committee since they seem to make decisions on elections and voting procedures outside the confines of a committee meeting?

 

I really find this policy unacceptable. There is the ability to not only "pack" the election committee, but then by allowing only the members the privilege of "assisting with the processing of absentee ballots" there can be the ability of any board member to influence potential voters. Just that potential gives the appearance of impartialty. Dale admits if asked, she gives her preference. That's understandable, but the Election Committee should remain impartial, right? This practice needs to stop, regardless.

 

Let's be really, really clear; this isn't a policy, it's an excuse of an abuse of authority. They got caught and this is how they explain everything. Seeing as the argument is this has been an active policy for years. lets see the last nine years of number of absentee ballots submitted. Then make them show you/us how many requests board members have gone out and solicited (illegally in my opinion).