50 Shades of Gray

When I watched the exchange meeting and Director Gray's statement that "we opened this (the bylaws group) up" and no attorneys replied back to us I just about lost my lunch. He made this statement knowing full well that they purposely excluded me with a 40 yar legal career and any other member (including our resident RONR expert Tom Morone) who made a motion from applying. (I can show you the email one member who made a motion received to that effect.) Moreover, one member has mentioned to me that the use of a "working group" is not mentioned anywhere in the Bylaws or RONR. It was their opinion, and I agree, that using the term working group is a ploy to avoid running afoul of all members having the right to apply to be on a committee as provided in the bylaws.

There is only so much BS a member should take. And yes, I know he and other members of the Board will read this. That is why I am writing it.


So where does the ball lie? The Board is holding out the carrot to the stakeholders that a final decision will be made after they provide input. The stakeholders are lining up to pander for the Board to fulfill their wish list. Folks, I hope TriArc has the divine wisdom to follow the data, but everyone knows who will be "talking to the architect". This could be deja vu all over again and we will waste a ton of money on designs for Fantasy Island.

 

Just one person's opinion, but this is exactly the kind of talk I have been verbally beaten up for a long time. The most recent:

Who wants to be a miserable person that finds fault with everything and everybody? If the question is threatening to you look in the mirror and ask that question another way: Am I that miserable person? I periodically engage in this exercise just to keep it real.

Bill has been JOYOUS in Sun City claiming it's the best in the west. Self-Governing community! So I was berated for what? You are all saying the same things I have been saying for a long time. Did it ever occur to you that some people read this site and are that may be why no one cares any more. Hardly anyone was at the meeting today, and half left early.

God Bless and enjoy your community.

 

Having sat through the two hour session yesterday, i see two sides to the coin. Let me explain: I liked the layout/update on the Mountain View project, liked the time lines, liked the commitment. That doesn't mean anything is a done deal, it simply means it's headed in the right direction. Time will tell.

The other side of the coin was the ad hoc bylaws committee/working group debacle. From the moment the submitted bylaws were shuffled off to Buffalo, it's been one train wreck after another. I was disappointed by the boards remarks yesterday regarding what they were doing. Worse yet, their halfhearted arguments about the decisions they made left me scratching my head.

They keep telling us to give them a chance, it's a slow process. I can live with slow, it's when you keep doing dumb stuff supported by poorly thought out decisions, you lose me. One good old standby we tried to live by was; "think before you act." Once you've shot yourself in the foot, it's hard to convince anyone it was an intended outcome.

 

So they shot themselves in the one foot when they decided to not present any one of the motions offered at the Annual Membership Meeting, and then they shot themselves in the other foot with the way they handled the Ad Hoc Bylaw committee that isn't really a committee, but just a bunch of strangers who made-up their rules and will occupy RCSC space, sitting down somewhere as an unauthorized "working-group" and decide the rules that the rest of us will be mandated to live under.

Like I said in another post,would I have the same benefits if I decided to gather a group of my own friends and rewrite the Bylaws? Could I get RCSC space to use? How would I get that rewrite to the Board for consideration?

Seems both groups would be functioning outside of the rules of the corporation, so why shouldn't I, and my group, be offered the same benefits?

They've got no more feet to shoot? And they really have nothing to stand-on other their own made-up rules.

 

Again, IMO this place needs professionals brought in to teach the board how to operate or are we just going to let the beauty of self-governance reign supreme.

 

And here is the absolute best part, the whole Ad Hoc/Working-Group debacle is nothing less than one more great-big self-inflicted wound because they don't understand their own rules!

Why?

Because Article XII, Section 1 of the Bylaws states in part, "...(committee) Meetings can be determined by each committee individually or by the direction of the Board. RCSC members in good standing may attend meetings, except during Executive Session..."

So there you have it. All they had to do was state that the Ad-Hoc committee determined that they will be functioning in Executive Session...end of story, no harm, no foul, no unnecessary made-up excuses!

(RONR 50:26) Committees of organized societies operate under the bylaws, the parliamentary authority, and any special rules of order or standing rules of the society which may be applicable to them. A committee may not adopt its own rules except as authorized in the rules of the society or in instructions given to the committee by its parent assembly in a particular case.

I would question whether rewriting the Bylaws was the proper use of, and warranted an Executive Session, however, the Bylaws said it could be done and can't argue with that!

They continue to create their own controversy where none is needed.

And hopefully this will be the last time I comment on this issue.

 

You going to help pay for these “professionals” along with John Fast’s No MBA Left Behind programs?

 

Self-Reflection: Nothing gets me more riled up than a person of authority misrepresenting the truth. I live by the credo that I am only as sick as my secrets. If I make a mistake or misstate something. I promptly admit it and try to learn from the experience. In this regard I know I had a convulsive repulsion to Rick Gray's false claim they invited everyone to apply to the ad hoc bylaws committee (working group) when in fact they excluded motion makers from applying. He then followed up with a half truth about it was up to the members to apply knowing full well he had contacted at least one of his buddies to recruit him for the committee.

Look, I think I get what is going on. Rick Gray is trying to work his way into the inner circle and will do whatever it takes to get there. My question is what he will do if he is successful in becoming a full-fledged member of the "roundtable". That is the part that really concerns me.

 

Dave,

I am amused at your disdain for educated people. You apparently prefer to have people with little to no experience make important long-term decisions for RCSC because they are free. In my vast experience in managing consultants, including folks with MBA's, I have found that the key to success is to have a clear statement of work and someone managing them that keeps them on task. I am also smart enough (and humble enough) to know when I need help.

John

 

Dave,
In my working career, I met many people of various scholastic achievements. That included those without a high school diploma to Ph.D’s. In all of my years of partnering, training, coaching and mentoring others, the level of education was not a deciding factor as to the quality of person I was dealing with. There are people who can rub others the wrong way. Lumping them together in an undesirable fashion is not fair to the individual in any way. The continual degradation of MBA’s and in particular, John, is debasing to all who read the commentary.
Look, I detest liver and onions, but that doesn’t mean I go after everyone who makes the dish. I have not found anything that John has authored to demand such disdain and disrespect as to single him out on this site. The fact that he attained a higher level of education has little effect on the quality of person he is.
I would respectfully request the continued contempt for John be relinquished and that the subject of his education level be removed from consideration as fodder for this site. Please consider this request seriously as I know others have tired of these posts as well. Thank you.

 

Dave I did a search regarding this suggestion. I knew when I posted this that I was not the only one who felt this way, however the search returned 83 responses. While I understand many of those were in another context, but I know the subject has been brought up many times before over the past year. As far as paying for it haven't we already done that through either the PIF or the annual assessment? The members should not pay extra for a board that does not follow the rules and may need training.

 

How slow is slow? You have stated on several occasions that things started to go south in 2006. That's 19 years.

 

Truth.

 

So John, who is in this inner circle? Just curious.

 

For far too long the general perception has been the "officers" had some special power. What they have are defined duties via our documents and from a realistic point of view, one board member, one vote. Board members need to understand that rather than giving the officers more control than they are entitled to.

 

They must have special powers. They waved a wand and poof, our ability to speak at the annual membership meeting was gone. They can buy, sell change things with no member input.

 

Sometimes we lose sight of where we are and how far we have come. Let me refresh for those who forget:
1). For 12 years we had no annual membership meeting because the quorum was set at 1250.
2). When we did hit the magic number with over 1400 in butts in the chair and proxies, we presented motions initially rejected.
3). Following the right that membership meeting, the board finally acted and passed bylaws calling for a quorum of 500.
4). At that same time, the bylaws were changed to allow for the collection of signatures for proxies and petitions done on RCSC properties (previously not allowed).

All of the above represent massive departures from the 2006-2020 changes that silenced membership voices. While some of you lament we have not gone further, i celebrate how far we have come...and full well acknowledge we still have a long way to go.

 

John, this current board is completely controlling the narrative.

 

How can you stand by that statement? Starting in 2006 this place free-fell right into hell's bathroom. (Frank Barone) You say it was over in 2020, well what about 2024? You can't crawl out of a place that low in a year. I completely agree with Eileen, especially after watching this last exchange meeting. Plus their go to phrase is "Well it's a learning process". My betta fish learned in a nano second that when I lift the lid he gets fed.

 

John, I think you are misunderstanding my point, I just have noticed that whenever a problem of some sort, you seem to always say we need some sort of outside expert to solve it. Conversely you also talk about expertise in the community. Ting/yang like this drives me crazy and it seems to be perpetuated.
I like educated people, my father still is the smartest person I have ever known and he never finished high school as he was the oldest son and he had to help support the family during the Depression. My mother graduated National Honor Society in high school, her teachers advised her to attend college but couldn’t because her father hadn’t worked in five years. Unfortunately their oldest son was a lazy student through high school but shined at the uni. Go figure.
I serve on the two most important committees in Sun City, Insurance and Budget, Finance and Audit. I have, like you John, a particular skill set that is beneficial to the community. A good portion of the community really doesn’t understand what I did for a career, but I offered to share my knowledge but they refused. Fine, but when they post here spouting nonsense while trying to pass themselves off knowledgeable individuals, I must respond because some uniformed individuals just might swallow their nonsense as gospel truth. You can witness this at any exchange when their is a deficit on the financials that are made available and the speakers have difficulty discerning operational deficit from budgetary deficit. Both you and I understand the difference and if we keep up the actions in the community we probably know why. So there.