Excuse me for being graphically offensive with my language, but i am well beyond worrying about offending anyone any more these days. After watching the RCSC function in this manner where the membership means absolutely nothing for the past 15 years, to hell with civility. The agenda for next Thursday's board meeting was just released. On it are two items that are in your face telling us, we simply don't care what any of you think, we are just going to do it...because we can. I guess it's all part of the new more cooperative style of leadership President Lehrer was talking and writing about the beginning of this year. Kumbaya sister. Yet again we see their inability to be direct: one of the motions is to "reconsider the budget" that failed to pass last month. Just say it in plain English gang, here let me write it for you: Having 12 million dollars of your money in carry over isn't enough for us, we want another million dollars from you so we are raising your fees by $29 a year. We know it was voted down last month but we got a director to change his vote before he leaves the board. Further clarification: it's not bad for couples, but you poor single schlepps who purchased after 2003 are kind of taking a hit, but there's a good reason for it; we need the money so we can keep selling half price golf to non-residents buying full play passes. Thank you very much Second up is this gem: We know our bylaws calls for 2 readings of motions where members get to comment, but screw that nonsense, we just want to shove it down your throat after one reading. So we are calling this first reading the second reading so as to have them in place by December 1. That way there's a safety net in case we lose the election and we can fire current board members. Understand this, it's for your own good. Thank you very much. See how easy straightforward communication can be guys. No muss, no fuss, just tell us loudly and proudly what little regard you have for the membership. I like this new approach rather than pretending how important the members are...other than to pay the bills. Don't bother sending to me money as a "consultant fee." I'm good just helping you all craft a sense of business (to hell with that community crap) climate we can all embrace.
We all saw how they screwed the Members at the last Board meeting. First they said that the Management Report (the proposed budget) was simply a report from the Budget and Finance Committee so the members would NOT be allowed to comment! Then miraculously, without a word being spoken, it morphed into the first reading with the entire Board voting on it! The worse part is, if they just accepted the proposed Management Report without any discussion, nobody would have known that the proposed $29 increase in the assessment was even there? Now, they want to violate Robert's Rules and Reconsider the motion because it failed. Sorry, too late. It had to be Reconsidered at the same meeting it was proposed in! And NO, board meetings are not year-long sessions regardless of what they say! Next: Did you see the General Manager's State of the Union Power Point presentation last week regarding the budget? If you were to add up all the "Favorable to the Budget" dollars you would end up with an additional $5,731,000. I guess they'll just shovel those dollars into their Carry-Over fund rather than fulfilling Club requests! But we need to increase the annual assessment???
“Thank you sir, may we have another?” said the favored club and activity. Over and over again…ask and they receive. There is no conflict of interest on our board, ‘cuz that’s what they tell us!
Until there is an open, clearly transparent budget process, we will NEVER know the facts. And that won't happen unless there is a change in leadership and management is forced to operate under industry standards and the light of day. Part of a tax exempt organazization's "paid staff's leadership" role is board training, by providing the resources they need to do their jobs legally and according to best practices. That happens by using his or her professional background, the in-house senior staff, the organization's resources/auditors, legal counsel, insurers AND also the vast resources of national or state professional organizations! The RCSC budget process receives a failing grade.
Indeed they do receive a failing grade Linda. For years now, the concept of any real transparency has shriveled to become whatever the general manager wanted it to be. Imagine board members requesting information and getting bits and pieces of what they requested. Case in point, when i was on the RCSC board (2012-2014), there was a log book available to every board member for year by year club requests for improvements. The rumor now is, the book is gone and the information is scattered and formatted in ways that is barely readable. Clubs have always been the lifeblood of the RCSC. Over the past several years we have seen the number of clubs diminish and the support for them, spotty at best. I served as the chair of the COC committee and one of our goals was to help clubs flourish and grow, we wanted them to succeed. Even that has changed and if you think not, look at why the COC even exists. Beyond on that, the RCSC fired Myrna who had been around forever. She was like the patron saint of clubs and knew pretty much everyone involved. It was a challenging job because club officers change regularly. The beginning of year training was incredibly important for newly elected officers. Sun Views used to request clubs to provide monthly pictures, stories and promotion of club events. None of that even exists anymore save an occasional interview of a club by In Focus. Here's the real tell on where the RCSC stands with the clubs: The RCSC has an enormous amount of carry over money this year, as they had had since 2016. By years end, somewhere between 10 and 12 million dollars. The easiest question to ask, and to not get answered is; how much of that carry forward had been requested for club improvements from yearly capital budgets, and how much was actually spent? I won't hold my breath waiting for an answer. Better yet, ask this question: How much of the $29 proposed increase (which will produce between 800k and a million dollars) is being allocated back to club improvement requests? The story goes, only a little over 300K with two clubs getting the lions share (90% plus). The next most obvious question should be, do either of those two clubs getting the bulk of the money have board members who are also club members...you know, conflict of interest and all. The problems really run much deeper. Over the years, the RCSC has moved away from funding clubs' needs and told them to raise the money themselves. I could cite any number of times that has happened, but why bother. You know exactly why, if clubs aren't all that important to them, let them pay for their own improvements. It works out really well in that they not only don't pay for things they need, because when the club does buy anything, it immediately becomes the property of the RCSC. Win/win for them, lose/lose for the members. It's what happens when the community we all live in and love becomes a business.
