I suspect many of you remember the show, "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" Nope, never a favorite of mine, catching glimpses once or twice, but the idea questions asked of youngsters not being answered by adults was off-putting for sure. All of which is just a roundabout way of talking about the latest RCSC survey. This one was apparently put together and paid for by Tri-arc, so i guess i will cut them some slack as they are architects, not sociologists. The survey done by ASU was stunning in size, scope and confusion level as they asked questions that appeared redundant. It took me a long while just to read through it. By the end, i was wondering, why would i bother? The good news is, some 5000 plus residents responded and the answers provided a lot of good suggestions. So there clearly was a value to it. I've never argued i'm the sharpest knife in the drawer. Sun City is filled with smart, successful people. For far too long we have dismissed them and their opinions as we deferred to the general manager or a handful of board members to lead us to the promised land. How did that work out for us, BTW? Back to Tri-arc's survey. When i saw the 5 questions my first thought was, thank goodness it is shorter. Then i read the questions and the confusion hit me all over again. It reminded me of the Meyer's Brigg's testing where the goal is to cross-reference your answers against others to insure you aren't manipulating the results. Come on guys, this isn't, nor should it be, rocket science. Back in my working days we trained staff and myself to write around the grade 6 level. We always wanted those reading what we were saying to know/understand what we were trying to convey. You can find the survey on line, or someone can post it. I'm wondering why it wasn't way more clear and concise; something like this: 1). What is your top priority at Mountain View? 2). What is your second priority at Mountain View. 3). Do you want a Performing Arts Center? 4). If yes to #3, where do you want it located? 5). Should the RCSC care about how much money they spend on projects? 6). Should members have a vote on adding more square footage to their amenity package? See, easy-peasy and no ambiguous questions. My guess is they don't want to know some of these answers. Finally, what the hell are visioning sessions?
TriArc online survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MountainView The visioning exercise asks group members what kind of community they would like to live in. Explain that the object is to collect as many ideas as possible – nothing is too small, too big, or too crazy for consideration. This technique has been used in real-life cities with great success. https://nerrssciencecollaborative.org › ... What is Visioning? Visioning is a process of creating a compelling statement about what an organization aspires to be or to accomplish. … is a participatory tool that brings citizens and stakeholders together and assists a group of stakeholders in developing a shared vision of the future https://sswm.info › decision-making
Thanks eo, that sound really like a good thing, but i haven't read anywhere that was what they were doing. A friend told me what he saw is an exercise where the architects were asking the same 5 questions to be answered in the survey. The whole idea behind an eye-opening exchange of ideas sounds wonderful, but if somehow answering these 5 questions gets us there, i won't be holding my breath. In another thread we were talking about the importance of the RCSC adding to our wants and needs discussions, the question was added; what can we afford? Unless and until we start being that open and blunt about our future, we are fooling ourselves as we plod through PAC, Mountain View, the massive golf course expenditures and the ultimate gem, the Lakeview renovation. All of these are legitimate, real and immediately in front of us. All of them have the potential to break the bank. While the funding will come from the PIF ledger, there will be ongoing costs to maintain them. Those costs when added to the five year reserve study will be shoveled at all of us living here. The last three years has resulted in a massive across the board lot assessment increases and when you compound that for single owners versus couples it becomes a tough bullet to bite. As a community we cannot just keep spending money like drunken sailors as we weave between and through a plethora of architects who keep showing us what they want to build us. We were built on a sense of community and, that we were affordable. Which is my best answers to their questions: Sense of community and affordable.
And, as mentioned at the Long Range Planning Committee meeting on January 7th: The January SC Update publication was mailed to all Sun City residents. The back cover announced a meeting for members to attend regarding the remodeling of the Mountain View Recreation Center. Somewhat obscure was a notice of a short survey members could add their comments on the remodeling project. This member meeting and survey was sponsored by TriArc, the contractor for the project. One of the Committee members said she took the survey and found that no RCSC Member Number was required to enter the survey link, and it was completely “verbiage” style format. The question was raised on how the data would be analyzed using that format. And the fact that anyone could complete the survey – even non RCSC Members. The LRP Committee is requesting to get the feedback from TriArc from both the member meeting and the online survey.
Small thing but very disturbing. If they can't think through something like Survey Monkey, can they be trusted to renovate a building to the tune of millions? The one question that really got me was "how do you want to "feel" when you walk into Mt. View". If I had to answer that question today after the issues with the survey, I would say I hope the ceiling doesn't fall on top of me. Youngtown has been berated for years, yet they have made great strides with their community. They have an interactive website. I posted this the other day on the YT info forum: Interesting timeline and info about SC Website. From 2016 RCSC new website | Talk of Sun City From 2024 BOD meeting | Page 3 | Talk of Sun City 8 years In the Spring of 2024 our website was working just fine, it needs upgrading, but it worked. Then all of a sudden it didn't. Links broken, etc. We were told the "upgrade" was done in house. Obviously, it failed then the $300k contract info came out. Basically, we have been without a site since around June 2024. I was watching the Exchange Meeting from 1/13. One woman suggested bringing in an outside attorney or a company to help get things right. I agree and wonder how much money has been wasted hiring contractors to do presentations on things that should not happen (PAC). There are no brainstorming or consulting sessions, just fast hires and faster spending. There is a 10% below poverty level rate here in Sun City. Right now there are 534 homes for sale here not including pending/contingent. Things keep going in the same direction with the BOD the fees will get to the point where some of those 10% will have to find other housing. Most of the golfers I know are not buying passes. They are cutting back on their golf. Is anyone really looking at these things? We were told at the beginning of 2024 the BOD learned from their mistakes. We were told 1/13/2025 they learned from their mistakes. I am curious if I were to go back and listen to the 1st exchange meeting of each year prior how many times I would hear that statement.
