If you could ask the RCSC Board of Directors to focus on 3 things, what would they be?

Discussion in 'Sun City General Discussions' started by Stephen Malkowski, Jan 16, 2023.

  1. Stephen Malkowski

    Stephen Malkowski New Member

    Newer resident here.

    Thought I'd throw this survey question out here to see if there was any group consensus on the three most important focus items.

    My 3 things:

    1. Website (Absolutely Horrible. About 15 years behind current best practices. Useless user experience)
    2. Member Communications (Horrible! see above)
    3. Governance (Self Rule failure. Lack of administrative oversight and accountability)
    3A. Safety and Security (Crime in this community of "vulnerable population" is encroaching rapidly)

    Just my $0.02 worth.

    Fire away...
     
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  2. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Thanks for joining and jumping into the deep end SM. I went through the survey and was disappointed in length and formatting; to say nothing of the questions that weren't asked and should have been. All of your comments are on point; i would probably move technology (or lack thereof) to the top of the pile. Of course everything else follows, website and communication being closely related and security falls flat because we are technologically unable to provide any. It all fits together with your #3 with little or no administrative oversight or accountability.

    I was really hoping the survey would have addressed the use of our amenities by outsiders but they apparently didn't dare go there. Too bad, they could have done away with half the repeat questions and done more regarding the bigger picture Sun City question. I'll fill it out at some point.
     
  3. Linda McIntyre

    Linda McIntyre Well-Known Member


    Agree, BP. I also scanned the survey. The hottest topic for months and not a peep! And, no place for any general comment.....or several open ended questions, such as:

    What is SC major strength?
    What is SC major weakness?
    Where or what is SC major opportunity?
    Where or what is SC major threat?

    Yes, a SWOT analysis....by the members, because obviously the Board doesn't do one!

    And, we paid how much for this?
     
  4. eyesopen

    eyesopen Well-Known Member

    Last edited: Jan 17, 2023
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  5. Cheri Marchio

    Cheri Marchio Active Member

    Hmmmm. This survey was sooooo slanted. I don't see the 'expertise' shining through with this effort at all. It goes against all my experience and training.

    Numbers can say what you want them to -- so can data, wow -- just from the start this Survey seems very disappointing and lacks promise. A well-designed effort could have used the data for a couple of projects - I am not seeing many possibilities here.

    I guess we'll see.
     
  6. GCotten

    GCotten Member

    So how many RCSC members were asked to contribute sample questions or ideas for the survey? Maybe 1000; maybe 100....let's just drop the 1 and make it 0. Please someone make my day and give some evidence that this is not a Management /BOD controlled $56,000 boondoggle. Such a disappointment but not unexpected, sad to say.
     
  7. Janet Curry

    Janet Curry Well-Known Member

    Yes, another disappointment. The missing components of the survey are nonresident golf and bowling issues, slogan of "City of Volunteers" versus "Original City of Fun", Posse conflict, signing of petitions and proxies on RCSC properties, and more. No mention of a Performing Arts Center except one broad question about Mountain View.

    I think the $55,000+ provides some additional steps beyond the survey. Before proceeding, the Board may want to resurrect the old survey taken a couple of years ago to see if there is any additional information there. Could be a gold nugget or two there since the previous Board didn't want the results released to the Members!

    I am hoping there will be some focus groups that can give more input. I am generally a patient person, so I am willing to give the Board some time to accomplish their goals. They haven't even had an official Board meeting to conduct business except where they elected officers and the Member/Board Exchange. These survey questions were not selected by them. Wasn't there a committee of Members who helped ASU develop the questions? How much of the survey was determined by Management? These are questions that the new Board should be asking.

    Janet Curry
     
  8. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Oddly enough i saw up close and personal the first survey written entirely by several of the long range planning committee and in my opinion was way better. It was a much broader questionnaire and wasn't filled with all the plug and play dots. They asked real questions about real issues, problems and concerns. The tragedy was once the then board president got her hands on it (not Dale by the way), it was gutted to the point of being worthless.

    Of late, there's been an inherent fear of the membership and what they may say or think. It makes no sense. People love living here and the want to try and make it better. My guess is too many board members and even more so the GM think they know what's best for us. They don't, they never will. Unless and until they understand that, surveys like the one just sent are pretty much $56,000 dollar exercises in futility.

    I awoke in the middle of the night wondering why there were several questions regarding new exercise equipment. Then it dawned on me, last June the board directed the general manager to buy 3 new pieces at the cost of $125 K. He balked at doing it in 2022 and they voted he do it in spite of his pleading. It's still not in, supply chain issues (allegedly). He did mention it will be in this month; we'll see.

    My sense is, much like the argument over the City of Volunteers or the Original Fun City that was going to be resolved in the survey (and as noted by Cheri wasn't even mentioned), we'll use the logic of the survey asking members what they want for it not getting done. Nonsense really as was the questions over exercise equipment.

    There's simply no meat with this mashed potato survey, it's all just kind of mushy.
     
  9. Cheri Marchio

    Cheri Marchio Active Member

    It was noted at the Long Range Planning meeting on Monday that the exercise equipment is now projected for March/April based on IT issues.

    Another, hmmm.

    Whose priorities are we trying to manage here?
     
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  10. Janet Curry

    Janet Curry Well-Known Member

    The preference for the slogan would have been so easy to include and the results would be easy to interpret. "Which do you prefer? 1. City of Volunteers or 2.Original City of Fun" No mush there! I really don't care, but, obviously, many Members do. Same with the exercise equipment. At least there will be some data from the survey to move forward with that. Just wondering where it is in the budget. Let's set a goal first, then make a plan to work towards it, provide the resources (money and staffing) and timeline to accomplish it.

    The new Board has their plate full and I am encouraged that they can accomplish good things. A Board retreat would be a good start.

    Janet Curry
     
  11. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Damn, who knew? IT issues! Really? Maybe we can mention that in the survey. Yes, i am being sarcastic. That was the GM's argument for holding off till the 2023 budget. The board took his message to heart which is why they approved 125 k, there's no way the 3 pieces of equipment cost that much. He simply had no interest, now he can get the results of the survey and tell us members had no interest so there's no need.
     
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  12. eyesopen

    eyesopen Well-Known Member

    Bill Cook, GM, pleads his case for ASU Survey, board meeting June 30, 2022. He outlines what is to happen start to the finish after the surveys are completed.

    “I will start with the motion regarding the Survey partnering with Arizona State University (ASU). One of my objectives relayed to me by the Board was to do Long Range Planning (LRP). I attend the LRP Committee meetings and there has been a lot of work done with respect to the survey. There was frustration by the committee because the survey, developed by the LRP Committee, was not approved by the Board last year. I have a lot of history with Surveys and LRP and there have been instances where we have used an outside consultant for objectivity and also to become an arbitrator when questions or disagreements arise.
    I had approached our SCVC and Marketing Manager Polly Corsino, to do some research on someone we could partner with to do the survey. Polly has done a great job getting RCSC involved with ASU. Polly and I have had multiple meetings with ASU, and they have developed a statement of work which offered seven (7) initial services.
    Th Board had a Question & Answer session with ASU got get an understanding of what was involved in the statement of work. The original estimate was for $66,500, the Board agreed to remove one of the services regarding social media and it brought the quote down to $56,500. In my further discussion with the professor, I negotiated a price of $45,000. This price will include a survey of our current membership. The survey will be led by the Board and also members of the LRP Committee which was approved by ASU. The Board will give the final approval.
    We will survey the community then once we have received the results, we will have focus groups and working groups.. One group will discuss the results and the other will discuss action plans based on the results of the survey. All of the working and focus groups will be made of RCSC management and membership.
    We will also do benchmarking and look at other communities similar to ours. We will do Trend Analysis as well by looking at other 55+ communities across the country to look at other trends.
    There will also be a survey for future residents as well which will be broadcast wherever we decide. ASU will help with Long Range Planning which is also included.”

    Wonder how members will be selected for the focus groups?

    **Read these minutes that also cover the exercise equipment:
    https://suncityaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022_06_30-Board-Meeting-Minutes.pdf
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2023
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  13. IndependentCynic

    IndependentCynic Active Member

    I see it as a survey reflective on the RCSC, not the SC Community as a whole. The SC "Community" consists of many entities -- the people that live here (both members and non-members), the RCSC, the SCHOA, Maricopa County, and hundreds of businesses, realtors, volunteer organizations, medical facilities, etc. All of these are dependent on the others to a large extent.

    I wonder how ASU gained their insights into the "issues" they chose to survey. Personally, they didn't touch on many of the things that have frustrated me for the 20-years I've been a member -- perhaps I'm just a skewed data point in the RCSC's view of their reality?
     
  14. jeb

    jeb Active Member

    another thread run off track... The OP asked for our top three concerns we'd like board to focus on.
    Mine:
    1. Bylaws fixed to re-establish necessary checks on Board to reduce/eliminate abuse of power.
    2. Communication. Standing committee is good idea. Can address lack of info/transparency, website, and future surveys among many other things.
    3. Community involvement. Keep creating and asking the Members for volunteer opportunities. Tap into the wealth of knowledge of people retired from various careers.

    Regarding the path the thread took: During a meeting Dale announced the members of the mysterious ad hoc survey committee a few months back. I (and I think everyone else??) didn't even know a committee had been created. I don't have particulars, but most of the usual suspects. Obviously - they never opened up any of their meetings.

    Generally speaking - this survey is like old garbage left behind from previous tenants. We need to clean it out and focus on doing it right. Hopefully this Board will be open to Communication Committee which can immediately start creating the next survey(s).
     
  15. Linda McIntyre

    Linda McIntyre Well-Known Member

    Interesting comment by the GM at this morning's presentation at Discover SC - there were 1200 survey responses after Day 1. Rather surprising?
     
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  16. eyesopen

    eyesopen Well-Known Member

    I think many members were eager to participate in the survey, to share their thoughts for the future. Of those first day 1200, most are disappointed. The survey failed to address several areas and did not allow comments. Some have told me they didn’t bother to complete the survey it was so repetitive and did not allow for N/A responses. WE paid $56,500 for this at Bill Cook’s urging while other needs continue to be ignored?

     
  17. FYI

    FYI Well-Known Member

    All I'll say about that survey is this; that was 20 minutes of my life I can never get back!
     
  18. Bruce Alleman

    Bruce Alleman Member

    The ASU survey seemed to have been created in a highschool communications class. It was apparently aimed at a very low intelligence audience and will have limited value in planning the direction of our community. $50,000 wasted.
     
  19. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Hey Bruce, welcome to TOSC. I had reservations about going outside to put together a survey that members of the long range planning committee had already done (and quite nicely by the way), but last year we heard the GM argue for it being done "professionally." Not sure why or how they found ASU, but once the horse left the barn, i got on board and supported the idea. If we were going to spend that much money using professionals, then by God let's get our money's worth.

    Like many, i was happy/excited to see and then open and read the survey. One word, disappointment, was all i felt after pouring over repeated questions and it being so limited in scope and misspelling. I have yet to fill it out, i will, but begrudgingly. For something with so much potential, it certainly failed to dig deep or ask the tough questions that need be answered.

    A good friend wondered how they would tabulate and report the findings. Let me pull an old Johnny Carson skit out of the bag, The Great Carnac and hold the envelope to my forehead: "Of the 5000 responses, Sun City residents told us how much they love the community and everything is perfect." This was simply an exercise to validate everything we already know; Sun City residents love Sun City. What it won't do is help us understand our needs and what we must do to make it better. So sad.

    Well stated Bruce, well stated.
     
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  20. IndependentCynic

    IndependentCynic Active Member

    I, and others, have been lobbying for a proper survey for more years than I care to count. IMO a proper survey should represent the views of EVERY SC property owner -- after all it's EVERY owner's money the RCSC is spending. Since a property owner is not necessarily a member, surveying only members can't be a true representation of what the Community wants/thinks. I realize there's a Pandora's box full of issues related to owners, primary residences, renters, ages, etc., but if we truly want to know how to make the RCSC be what the Community wants, we need the survey to represent all facets of the SC demographic.

    No survey gets responses from everyone, so statistical sampling is required. That means there needs to be sufficient responses from each demographic. The survey is, apparently, voluntary and directed only to members on the RCSC mailing list and those that choose to pick up the paper version. That means there will be a lot of owners not surveyed. Professionally run surveys can adjust for these issues -- the question is will this survey represent the Community, or only those actively using the facilities?

    The RCSC knows every owner, and which owners are members. Do they know the ages of all owners, the primary residences of some owners, etc? The RCSC knows (via facility and club signin logs) which owners use amenities and how often. And thus, they know which members don't. Hopefully ASU can properly untangle these demographic issues to weigh responses to represent each important demographic. If not, the results are of little value other than checking off a bucket list item -- survey: completed. I suspect $50K isn't enough to generate meaningful results, so BP's "Of the 5000 responses, Sun City residents told us how much they love the community and everything is perfect." is pretty much what I'm expecting, too.
     

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