Candidate Packets Available

Oh goody, the RCSC Candidate packets are available and ready to be picked up for those interested in becoming a Director of the board. I have a few favors to ask of those who are considering running for office, and they are doozeys, too.

You see, the members were once the backbone of Sun City. We had rights and privileges to be able to speak out and seek a fair representation from the board. The Board of Directors were the elite, the actual direction of this fair community. The held meetings with the members and talked openly about the needs and desires of those who lived here. Goodness, there was even a group of folks who got together and created a separate group to keep an eye on the actions of the directors and make sure the community was the first thought to all actions taken. When it appeared a director was taking advantage or abusing their powers, they would be ousted, quickly.

The community, at one time had several membership meetings yearly, and were usually well attended. The meetings were to conduct business of the board and for the RCSC. A concern arose around a possible coup of a group of residents taking control of the board, so the quorum was raised to such a high number, there hasn’t been a successful membership meeting in 10 years. The minutes from 10 years ago still lay there, needing to be approved, by an unattainable number of people. As a board member, you will be elected by the people of Sun City. Don’t you think you owe a duty to the people of Sun City to at least have a membership meeting? Or, perhaps, as a board member, you schedule the meeting for the intermission of the Dancing with the Sun City Stars, this way you will have the quorum and entertainment for the membership meeting. It will make for a long evening, but per the board themselves, this was their answer as to why they cannot lower the quorum. If you people can show up for entertainment venues, then you can show up for meetings. Do you see the correlation? Sun City needs board members who don’t espouse such nonsense, and can see the value of lowering the quorum to an attainable number, no matter what the GM scares you with.

So, a successful candidate will have a strong backbone and be able to differentiate and discern what is real information and what is made up bunk.

A successful candidate will have read the book, Sun City, the First 25 Years. It is a silver anniversary edition of the history of Sun City. Short read, well written and will offer a glimpse of what Sun City was and should be today. If reading isn’t your thing, then go to the Sun City Museum on 107th and Oakmont and get a visual, and if lucky, an oral history of what can be accomplished by the board, the members, and those willing to work together for a better community. It is well worth the effort, and it will make you a much better educated Board Candidate. Trust me, there will be questions asked at “Meet the Candidate” forums which will address some of these very issues arising in today’s Sun City.

At one time, board members were at the office nothing less than 40 hours per week. Every week. There was no time off or summer breaks. There was an expectation of being available to the members for discussions, question and answer sessions, and in general, doing the business a board should be doing. Nowadays, its as if a director is put out if they have to do 10 hours a week. What happened to serving the needs of the people? What happened to the membership rights which have now been written off and approved by the very boards which were supposed to support the members? A successful candidate will know how to form relationships with other board members in an attempt to create acceptable boundaries for the General Manager, and take the board responsibilities back. A successful candidate will understand the nuance of truth versus persuasion. Know the truth, ignore the persuasion and other culpabilities of being a successful board member. There will be attempts to lure the new candidate into making decisions and accepting positions even before elections happen. There will be side conversations, discussing how everyone should vote. A successful candidate has the integrity and honesty to maintain their common sense and not fall for the quick and easy answers. A successful candidate will never use their position to curry favor for their activities or hobbies. That should be reason enough to be removed from the board.

A successful candidate will welcome open forums and meetings to have regular dialogues with the members. In the case of the second dog park, will be willing to meet with the neighbors, seek the volunteers needed to make a successful dog park club, and be proud to host all who wish to seek audience on any subject a member has a question or concern about. A member should not have to wait until a board meeting to ask a question. A member should not have to wait in line, and sign up in the appropriate box, or be passed over to speak. We are human beings and have a desire to be heard and understood. The RCSC process is broken, and it needs to be fixed, and with time and successful new board members, it can be.

A successful elected board member will be bombarded with new information, expectations, and assignments to committees and liaisons. It’s okay, you can do this. Keep your sense of humor, your integrity, and above all, know you are the members singular hope for a better tomorrow. Don’t let there be any more power grabs of member rights and privileges. Work to lower the quorum to a number members can feel welcome to come to, or book Paul McCartney as the entertainment for the Membership meeting and you will get a quorum. Do watch the budget though, as no more monies need to be thrown down a rat hole, never to be recovered as has happened in the very recent past.

Do run for the board if you are interested in being a true leader for the community. There are three openings, and I know this election and the next election are detrimental for the future of Sun City. A new GM needs to be found, and it will be these next two board which will seek and find a qualified, unbiased, successful leader who can take Sun City in a direction towards real open meetings, obeying the law of the land, and bridging the gap of membership versus management run corporation.

Thank you for reading this, and if all of this sound like you, then please sign up, and get the signatures (100) to get yourself on the ballot. I know I can sign your petition as can others, and would love to speak to you about your ambitions for Sun City and the Board. Look forward to seeing you at the candidate forums.

Carole Martinez