A Place to Feel Welcome

Bill,
For the record I never said I owned a construction company for 27 years in Chicago. Rather my career was providing surety bonding through the company I worked for or in concert with other surety companies depending on scope of work and other contractors involved in substantial amounts of the job. The bonding we provided was for State or Federal jobs such as roads, bridges, buildings, etc. These were essentially financial guarantees that the project would be completed. This was a small part of the obligations I underwrote.

It is also true that I worked in a neighborhood infested with gangs, but I was assigned to that neighborhood as part of my job in Chicago. I also I tried to work with them on issues we were currently litigating, i,e., slum housing and lack of City services. They were more familiar with the neighborhood than I was and I believed they could assist in recruiting plaintiffs and provide evidence. It worked sort of. I also did similar work in the other neighborhood I was subsequently assigned.

I also admit that a worked for a surety company branch in Phoenix for a short while underwriting similar lines of business but left due to a serious medical issue.

While serving on the Board I was on Bid Commission and learned that Maricopa county Building dept. was difficult to deal with and incredibly slow approving even the simplest jobs. They would require the smallest changes for no apparent reason. Hence my derogatory opinion of them. I doubt they have changed.

As for my next door neighbor, I never built that lanai extension, but did have an Arizona room built. Unfortunately my neighbor passed away a couple of years before the new room was constructed. We actually got along quite nicely since I purchased in 1998.

 

That wasn't me that posted the above (condensed), sorry that was your other friend.

 

Thank you, for trying to help restore civility here by a much welcome “cleaning up” of the compromised threads and comments.

Why are there NO consequences for the members who repeatedly do not comply with the Terms of Service??
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Thank you, in advance, for your explanation.

 

Thanks admin/mod, appreciate your efforts. I noted you locked the thread on "Terms of Service." I understand why. I also was locked out from my remarks which weren't about terms of service, but for a historical reference as to the community and how it was formed and forged. My apologies if this crosses the line, but i'd be surprised if it did. I take ownership of what i write seriously and value the information contained in it.

The oddity is our online TOSC, has similarities to the construct of Sun City. Communities, rather in the flesh, or online need to function civility and respectfully. When we fail to do that, we all lose. As you will note in my remarks, owning our mistakes is a healthy thing:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with varying opinions. Frankly it's healthy. What's not healthy is the ugliness and nastiness that comes along with so many responses. Civility should be a given, both online and at meetings. I know John Fast has chastised me for some of my remarks to the former/former general manager; and rightly so. There were times i crossed the line with him. To help solve that, we met in person in his office and tried to tamp down the heat. It is how adults react and respond.

Personally, i think we (the membership) are in a better place of late. Yup, there's still issues with trust and frustration. Yup, we can all do better. That's exactly why i think the school is still out on the current board. There's no question they are trying. We'll know more by the end of the year.

Finally, let me close my thoughts out with this long held understanding i have from our 65 years of amazing history. There are countless numbers of names, faces and personalities that have helped shape us. Impressive stories and resumes and actions that have been documented. Here's the sum total of their efforts; they were "cogs in the wheel." Some playing more significant roles, but each and everyone played a part.

I know i get vilified for saying "nobody gives a shit who any of us are." Anyone overly impressed by their role simply has no clue about how and why Sun City worked. Anyone who thinks they are all that important simply doesn't understand. We've always been the collective of tens of thousands of voices who stuck their hand up said; "I'll do that."

It's been the strength of community that made us who and what we are...and was never a single individual. And, exactly why restoring that sense of community, that sense of belonging is so damned important.

Thanks again for your efforts. I'm always amazed when i look back and think back over the years how this particular TOSC piece of the puzzle flourished and so many of the other Sun City communities across the country never got any real traction.

 

Bill, I addressed this to you because you are a facts based person and other person is………

 

Thanks, and i have no problem with you locking threads or taking them down. Been there done that as a mod and it is a thankless job where someone is always unhappy. We went for years with limited or no moderation on TOSC, so i would argue it's more a societal change than anything else. Most of us are here because we love Sun City and only want for it to get better.

Posters seem to struggle when they sign in they agree to the rules. Civility should be easy to grasp. Unfortunately many of us straddle the line and if and when we do, removing the post or locking thread is perfectly fine. The handful who scream about free speech aren't worth worrying about.

Good luck and thanks for stepping up.
Bill.

 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.