Confirmed: Visitor Center is moving to Fairway

What corporation are you talking about, Jean? RCSC is worth much more than $30M.

 

We need a Community Oversight Committee made up of strictly Members....No Board Members allowed!

 

Been saying that for a long time. That's why Bill kicked me off SC chat years ago. I pointed out things I didn't like about SC, and his "LOVE" for this place turned into hate towards me, well that and my politics. That's how he rolls. There is a post on here about him trying to get to be an admin, I am sure with kicking me off in mind. They have no interest in selling or sharing, I can assure you. And here you all followed his lead. Now some of the things I said are coming to fruition.

I know a number of realtors thru family. Several say the powers that be here are pricing us out of the market. I looked up homes for sale in SC NOT including pending and contingent and it was 477. It's difficult to find a condo in SCW, or even a small home.

Does it matter or is it too late?

 

That's what the Board is supposed to be!

 

Yes, but who keeps a watchful eye on the Board?

Seems like there have recently been several decisions made where the public only finds out after the fact?

As many have said in the past, our Board needs annual sessions of Board Training to learn how to function as a Board! Granted, many Directors have had no experience serving on a Board and at least 1/3rd of the Board changes every year! It's nobody's fault that some Directors lack Board experience, but if new Directors received some training, perhaps the Board would function as a whole rather than each individual personals agenda?

 

Again I think a management company is needed to come in and clean up. The board obviously follows their personal agendas. How did they let the previous GM get us into such a financial mess?

 

Obviously, nobody's watching the watchers!

Having the Board as their own watchers, is like the having the fox watching the henhouse!

 

The quote "Until the new GM came in and 'threw open the books' we had no idea how bad it was" just sticks in my head. So all the previous boards were afraid of the books? Was there a bomb in the books? Were they locked? Why??? Doesn't the GM report to the board??

It's just sad, tired and funny all at the same time.

 

I finally figured it out. I am told I 'hate' SC. I never said that. I rarely use the word hate as a feeling/emotion of mine. The truth is I feel used by SC. From the inequity of the assessment fee, to the GM screwing up the maintenance schedule, to libraries (which I still don't believe we will ever see 5 year contracts. I think the 1 year is the truth. To T-Bird which thank God never happened, to PAC, to Kat's dog house and now the visitor center. There is more, just can't think of them now. Yep, used and taken advantage of by the board and influential members.

Others see it too. No wonder member are backing away from any involvement. It doesn't matter anyway, so why get involved to have your blood pressure go up? At our age who needs that? Yes I am going to say it again, the folks in SCW do have issues, but nothing compared to us.

 

And what authority would this Community Oversight Committee have, Tom? How would they get that authority? It would just be another committee made up of people with their own agendas. We don't need more of that.

 

The watchful eyes are the voters, Tom. Also, as we well know, the Members have the right to recall petitions, as well as Referendums and Initiative petitions. Also they can call a Membership meeting as described in the bylaws. I hope the petitioners are following the letter and intent of the petition in the bylaws.

 

And each one of those options requires going thru the petition process! Not an easy or expedient process.

Well, how about a Standing Bylaw Committee so we can at least see what type of Bylaws are going to be proposed instead of learning about them only 7 days before a meeting.

Perhaps some of those bylaws need to be reviewed by more than just the Director who will propose it? They need to be reviewed to see how or if they effect other Bylaws or the Articles.

Like I said earlier, we always find out about things after the fact!

 

I certainly would support a standing bylaws committee! When I was on the bylaws review committee, the chairman didn't want one because he thought that they would actually meet and make some proposals. He said that more than one time. I was baffled.

 

Once again, our ever-busy-looking-for-things-to-change GM managed to cause angst and uproar among the Members of this fine community only to have the move backfire. How many chances does this man deserve? Why doesn't the present Board see what the Membership sees? Aren't Board members tired of putting out the fires?

 

Much like you showing your vindictiveness on this forum. Pot......Kettle. The only person who has not asked you to stop is me. I think it's sad.

 

The decision made in 2006 to give the general manager authority beyond running the day to day operations was at least limited by bylaws and committees with actual impact on preventing a power grab. Sadly, as years passed boards relinquished more and more power and control. Committees were reduced to show and our language gutted.

I walked away from the Advocates in 2024 because i thought our work was done. I was confident and comfortable we were back on course where the board understood the importance of oversight. Bylaw changes began to claw back control as we began to restore some of the safeguards. More members were attending meetings, paying attention and speaking out.

What could possibly go wrong? And then Jean and John left the board. While i didn't agree with everything they said or did, i knew their goals for us becoming a member-driven organization were always at the core of their beliefs. When they left, we fell back into the longs-standing trap that has created the problem we are currently caught in and it is two-fold.
1). Newer, less experienced board members are trapped in the vacuum of not knowing all that much and ultimately look to the GM as their source of information.
2). Outgoing board members know their term is ending and want to leave with their stamp on the time they served. The quid pro quo is to get their needs met, they have to become complicit in becoming more flexible in their oversight role regarding the general manager.

There is absolutely nothing new about the arrangement. It's says more about human nature than any effort to demean or even be critical of their actions. Which is why at the end of the day the number one priority of every board member (new or used) has to be an honest measurement of the GM's performance and actions. End of freaking story.

The library fiasco was the ultimate clown show. Who knew isn't even the question. First and foremost was it should have gone through the board. The board in turn should have required/demanded the data regarding utilization. Had that happened, the leases would have been signed, sealed and delivered. Clearly it didn't and clearly it became a shit show of enormous proportion.

The Visitor Center proposal should also have been a non-starter. We can all speculate what was behind it, but it is abundantly clear since the decision was made to stop using social media like we used to, the center has suffered with less visits. If you refuse to understand the value of shameful self-promotion, you fail to understand how and why our community has been so successful. It is simply shortsighted. To add to the mix, when was the last time you saw the RCSC asking for volunteers to help staff the visitor center? If the place has no importance or value, it dies.

Let me conclude with this observation: The single most important aspect of the Sun City way of life starts with the relationship that exists between the RCSC and the members. When you lose the members, you lose the opportunity to grow that sense of community we were founded under and built around.

The real tragedy here is so many fail to even begin to grasp that concept of building a sense of community.

 

You must not spend time talking to neighbors, folks at the grocery stores etc. Posts on ND are people here just plain fed up and don't care anymore. And here you go calling members stupid because "so many fail to even begin to grasp that concept of building a sense of community."

There is so much I want to say in response to this statement but when I am collecting signatures I will just let people know this story without a name of course. It would make a good follow up to the article from the Putman's in the paper.

 

never mind

 

Hello Fellow Members,

Based on the recent supposedly unilateral actions of the GM (who meets daily with Tom Foster, President of the Board and Karen McAdams vice president of the Board) my conscience is pushing me to a vote of no confidence for any of them. The list of self-created crisis is becoming intolerable. The cover up is even worse. I heard recently the board and management are blaming Jean for creating a panic by reporting the truth about the visitor center. Let me tell you something, Jean and I have some very different views on several topics but there are few whose integrity I respect more. She is the real deal folks. As am I.

Folks, these are the best years of our lives. This can be the best place you ever lived and one your kids can't wait to visit and ultimately inherit. You can be the part of the comeback story of the century. But you have to show up and fight for your rights as dues paying members. If we allow a few elected officials agendas to direct employees who serve at the pleasure of the Board to spend millions of members money on their pet projects (golf, pickleball, indoor dog facilities, Standalone PAC's, ...) we are all complicit in the fraud, waste and abuse that continues to occur in our community.

Finally, and regrettably, I witnessed what I view as the harassment of the members seeking a recall of the Board. It was by the General Manager. What kind of world do we live in?

Best regards and God Bless,

John Fast

 

I have not picked up my petition papers from Faith yet. Busy week. People are asking me what happens if the recall is a success. What are the next steps? A lot of folks I know want to sign.

Thx John