Untapped Potential...

Interesting comments gang. Rather than sharing my thoughts, i'd more have a question: Who the hell decides who gets what space and where? We know the board relinquished that authority several years back. Makes perfect sense to me (NOT) to give those responsibilities to some guy who doesn't live here and has had several jobs over the years.

 

And probably doesn't quilt or own a dog! LOL!

It's all about utilization...remember? If it were used by the Dog Club they could not only use it for discipline training, but how about those agility competitions and even a dog show now and then? I bet it could even be rented out to other towns/clubs?

Sorry if I sound like I'm making sense!

If anybody from the Dog Club is reading this, then perhaps they should make the suggestion at the next Member/Board Exchange?

 

RCSC must provide verified data!!

Sounds simple but I can hear the pushback: Any information concerning our membership is confidential.

 

I would think perusing the utilization reports would be the first step in determining who gets space. I don't know enough about how clubs/rent/chartered vs not/clubs etc. work but rather than see room after room EMPTY day after day at some of the centers, doesn't that indicate that the manner in which we are doing business might not be working. So many members have mentioned how nice it would be to have a place to just meet and talk with each other, maybe play a board game, have a discussion about a book, etc. Does it all have to be so structured? Seriously, I really don't know.

 

Again, I know it's preaching to the choir, but there is nothing confidential about numbers. We have the "right" to know how THEY determine OUR quorum. They aren't giving us names, where people live, their RCSC number. Their interpretation of "confidential" and "conflict of interest" needs some review!

 

Everyone take a deep breath, my only point was it would seem there should be more members than the 32,500 they were claiming. There's all kinds of reasons the numbers could be off with more rentals than we think or worse yet, there are way more single home owners than i am guessing. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with single home owners, the reality is when they pay the same as a couple, it becomes obvious why they have managed to accumulate as much in cash reserves as they have. Back in the day when a single owner purchased a property, they only would pay the single rate. That's the one piece of data i wish they would show.

 

But, maybe that's exactly the point - and all the more reason for transparency and accuracy.

 

Of course it is and why we have asked for more transparency. I cringe every time they tell us they are transparent. Sorry, it's pure bullshit. Look at how Sun City West shows the community their data and then we can have a legitimate discussion. Hell, even some of the board members have a tough time getting the information they want/ask for. Explain the logic in that.

 

I read with interest President Dale Lehrer's "opinion piece" in the Independent this week. The header read, "Change coming, misinformation muddle the process." I know sometimes the headline above the story is often written by the editor, it's happened to me several times. Nothing wrong with that by the way, the goal is to get folks to read the column.

With that out of the way, i dove into the article and it turns out, the editor in this case understated what she went on to say. In paragraph 7 she wrote this in the first sentence: "Too often misinformation, disinformation, half truths and fake news muddy the waters, causing turmoil and distress for many." She went on to say; 'It would really be nice if this could stop. Things are changing but it takes time." I'll stop there other than to point out the usual statements about the doom and gloom crap. There is no doom or gloom in Sun City, life is good. Thank you very much.

It was an intriguing read, because ultimately the only reference she made was the angst regarding the Ad Hoc bylaws committee. It's been criticized, because of who and how the selection was done and then because they became closed door meetings. Hardly the thing that inspires transparency. Even with those critiques, we've agreed to withhold our assessment until the outcome. For those with short memories, this committee was formed because during the first annual membership in 12 years, members from the floor made several motions. The board shuffled them off to be resolved by a committee. Juries out until they come back with a verdict.

Beyond that, all i read was a person in authority, the president no less, whining "fake news." Several of us at the Sun City Advocates have written articles about the member/board exchange. We've been nothing but complimentary of the process. But to be clear, we resented the way the majority of the board members held the minority of the board hostage with threats of not allowing any commentary at board meetings. Sorry Dale, that's just a fact of life.

I've written hundreds of times about how slow moving organizations are. Which is probably why i was skeptical about the board when they shoved through the Mountain View project last June after only a second reading. Seems to me three readings of a motion regarding the largest expenditure in the RCSC's history (by two times the amount) was just the right thing to do.

Let me be even more clear. We complimented the move in the name change from Board/Member Exchange to Member/Board Exchange. That was a good thing, but in reality it was the proverbial pimple on the elephants ass. I was much more interested to hear about the change back to the community slogan "City of Volunteers." Even more so, i wanted to hear the board's responses to the RCSC members who complained about not being able to get on golf courses. About how non-members could access our web portal. About tournaments of outside players bumping RCSC golfers off their courses. About how members couldn't even get on courses because they were booked with outsiders.

We heard virtually nothing. Apparently the board got an up close and personal report from the director of golf, all of which verified what was going on and they have taken no action. We have a board meeting this Thursday and their are no, zero, nada, none, nothing even close to a motion to address the issues raised by members at the first Member/Board Exchange. That isn't fake news, that's just sheer lunacy. It gets worse, because since the first of the year, full play golf pass sales are well ahead of last year (which was a record year sale of full play passes). Which is even worse because full play golf passes run for a year's time.

As far as the "City of Volunteers," they apparently have shifted this question off to someone at ASU for further study. Really? Freaking really? So, sorry Dale, we agree, things move slow, but if you refuse to deal with them, essentially you are blowing us off.

The next time you want to write an article, be specific. Tell us what the fake news is. Tell us what the misinformation is. Tell us what the disinformation is. Perhaps then we can avoid the turmoil and distress you claim we are causing. Because until then, you are just whining. Hope i've been clear enough.

 

"The bottom line is you won't get the right answer if you don't ask the right question. Taking any statement made by anyone is simply foolish and short-sighted." --- Dale Lehrer

Spoken like a true politician, not like our membership representative. I wonder if it means statements coming from her as well?

 

Handing Dale a mirror the next time I see her!!

 

Cheri, I couldn’t agree more with you. At the moment, there is a huge loss of community trust in how this private corporation is being run.

 

Instead of complaining about rumors and disinformation how about addressing them with a published statement telling us why they're not true?

They shouldn't just sit there and say nothing, unless of course the rumors are true!

 

Just imagine how much more impactful the article would have been had she been able to articulate what exactly those rumors, fake news and disinformation had been. When i saw the headline i thought she was going to expose all, to put everything to bed with her definitive statements on all things RCSC. Nary a freaking word. For a person dedicated to decisions being made from/with data, kind of underwhelming don't you think?

For too long, the folks at the RCSC just say shit. Not trying to be unkind here, but either put up or shut up. I guess it's good to be King (or Queen) where you can just utter proclamations and the subjects just accept it as the gospel. For the past 15 years we watched this play out, time for a change.