Something to think about...

I wrote the other day, following the RCSC Community Development Project work session, it was the best 3 hours i have invested in Sun City over the past 20 years. It was that damned good and began to restore my faith in our future.

I've personally watched us (the RCSC) run from our history and the tenets that made us the success we were. There was a belief that the gm and the majority board members simply knew better what was in our best interests. Nice they felt they were that much smarter than the community at large; sadly it wasn't even close to reality.

As filled with optimism as i was, i was angered by what we (the community) had squandered. The eye opener from that three hour session was this: The room at Fairway was filled with talented and committed owner/members who wanted the best for Sun City's future. Amazing, because that's exactly how and why Sun City was so successful.

You can do the math as well or maybe even better than i can. I'll save you the trouble, its just how i roll these days. 12 years of telling new home owners in Sun City that move here and to just have fun. Make zero effort to engage and develop future community leaders and leave it to the existing brain trust to make every dec1sion.

12 years times 2000 homes sales at 1.5 members per household (3000 new members per year) equals: Are you ready for this? Drum roll please...36,000 potential community "experts" we ignored by pushing them away. Dumb!

The exercise on Weds April 26 was that stunning, that eye opening. Those moving here were involved and committed to playing a role, being a part of the community they loved. Great ideas, great energy and while i am excited for our future, i am deeply troubled by all we lost, all we wasted by telling members to just have fun, to just stay home and enjoy the Sun City way of life.

Think about where we would be today if the owner/members had been responsible for the decisions made by a handful of folks who knew better than the rest of us. I flat ass guarantee you it wouldn't be where we are today.

 

View Point Lake would have been fixed years ago and we would probably already have a Performing Arts Center? Oh... and the six-plus year old OSHA safety concern at the Metal Club at Bell would have been taken care of!

But we need to keep those cheap prices for outsiders to push away our Members and come to play golf and bowl!

The golfers are laughing all the way back to Scottsdale on the 101!

 

I hope we don't lose the the newfound energy and enthusiasm that we've gained with the soon to be summer "break" - when RCSC formal business meetings/committee stop, clubs slows down, and people flee to cooler climates. The good news is that SAC and some committees have report deadlines for the fall, and the annual membership meeting is November. There should be plenty of information to share, and the lake should be fully restored.

Even though many of us are away for several months, I hope we can maintain the sense of urgency that has been created - that the winds can change, that new ideas can be heard, that new ideas matter, and that a few can't make all of the decisions in isolation - more transparency will be a requirement.

I hope there's a way to keep the full time residents that participated in Wednesdays community development work session engaged over the summer. There was so much enthusiasm in that group; diversity, yet common threads. New ideas, but things each age group had in common that they felt should be maintained. Areas of concern felt equally across all demographics. I agree again with Bill Pearson - best three hours of time spent!

 

Bill had made a comment or suggestion a few days ago that perhaps Summer is a time to gear-up and get motivated and find things to get and keep Members engaged!

Put your thinking caps on! What can we do to encourage Summer involvement and gatherings?

 

“I hope there's a way to keep the full time residents that participated in Wednesdays community development work session engaged over the summer.” LM

KEEPING THINGS TOP OF MIND

You’re right, Linda, Sun City’s opportunities (challenges) won’t be dormant for the summer.
Nor should our minds, when we stay properly hydrated!

Social media and our local paper don’t take the summer off either and they are available to residents wherever they may be. These are effective and economical (FREE) communication tools to keep a dialogue going anytime.

Perhaps the SAC committee will consider submitting regular updates to Sun City social media and the Sun City Independent? Always encouraging residents to attend their meetings and/or visit the Oakmont lab. Then our learning curve won’t be as overwhelming in September.

 

I was reading a summary of the meeting notes and was just blown away by the skill, organization, professionalism and expediency displayed in the initial organization. It was just purely and simply exciting to read and I am looking forward to what the future holds now that we have tapped the talent and the accumulation of literally hundreds of years of experience being contributed.

Truly a pivotal and exciting time for this community. Thank you so much Bill for your time and devotion in keeping us updated and for your in depth experience and explanations. Truly, thank you.

 

Unfortunately good ideas and talented people are only one half of the equation. Implementation is what it takes to succeed.

Talk is cheap!

 

Where did you find those summaries Cheryl?

 

Are we paying managers from our pockets to essentially push paper?

 

Hey Mike J, welcome. Good question and impossible to answer, at least for me. None of us are really close enough to know or not know who does what for the RCSC. Our documents (Articles of Incorporation and By-laws) used to provide board members far more latitude in how the community was run and its oversight. Along with stripping members of their rights, the former GM added language giving the management team almost exclusive decision making process. While serving on the RCSC board (2012-2014) i cringed and voted against those changes almost every time but it mattered not.

If you read our current documents, the board has one employee they can address; the general manager. In fact, the current arrangement is such that even if an employee is screwing up, a board members only recourse is to tell the GM who may or may not deal with it. The past 15 years created an incestuous relationship as the true measuring stick for an employee was one of absolute loyalty to the GM. If you think that is unfair, look at what happened to our technology over the past 15 years and no one was held responsible or accountable. The GM told us "it was no ones fault."

I got involved with the RCSC almost immediately in 2003 (when we moved here). A couple of us who have been kicking around for all those years often question the size of the current management team compared to 2005. It has at least doubled, if not tripled. To be clear, back before the former GM was hired in 2006, board members were hands on when it came to how Sun City was run. Some of the board members were around the RCSC offices 30-40 hours a week.

The newly hired GM created the perfect Faustian bargain; letting her handle everything while board members could take a load off. It fit perfectly with the next generation of home buyers; the baby boomers. The Greatest generation were willing to do so much more, while those coming behind them loved the trade-off of a more highly paid GM assuming the brunt of the workload.

The question is a good one and oddly the only one who can answer to it is the GM.

 

Let me be objective here and freely admit that 36,000 new home owners posted above may be a stretch. More importantly is the reality that those who would have gotten involved would have been a much smaller number. In fact from the 1992 survey done by the Home Owners Association, the percentage of volunteers was around 40%.

None of that is really the point though is it? This discourse is really one of direction, not numbers. The decision to make everything in-house rather than making it about the membership wasn’t an accident. It was done on purpose with the logic being two-fold. First that the RCSC leadership knew better than the membership. The second was even more calculated (IMHO); they wanted those looking to buy here feel like they weren’t obligated to get involved, take ownership or have even the slightest amount of responsibility.

Calling member/owners card-holders wasn’t an accident; it was a message. It worked incredibly well and we will be paying for it for years to come. The road back is slow and tedious. Changing attitudes will take hard work and time. While i disagree with Tom’s assessment that talk is cheap, at least in this case all of the talking has been invaluable. You have to start somewhere.

I have to admit here, yet again i was wrong. I hated the 56k spent on the survey; especially once i saw it. The argument was the pieces that came after the survey may well be more valuable. Clearly they were. My best guess is no one in management, who were touting the efforts, ever expected the follow through that came out of last weeks work session. Some of those comments were brutally blunt.

Finally Tom’s (FYI) take was spot on. Sun City would be perfectly situated had we been willing to allow the membership to have the voice they were entitled everything would be wholly different. There would be no half price golf for non-residents who were taking member’s tee times. There would already be a performing arts theater and the Mountain View renovation wouldn’t even be a thing.We would own the Lakes Club complete with gathering places, coffee shop and perhaps even a fine dining/sports bar setting. Best of all, we would be looking at the Lakeview remodel being scheduled to begin in the next year or 2. And one last thing, we would never have allowed our technology to in the sorry state it is in.

If only eh?

 

It was a summary in the Independent: (Pardon my hasty cut and paste)

The speed with which these resources have been implemented are impressive!

Daily Independent

Committee begins work to find options for Sun City project

Subscriber Edition, April 27, 2023

The Recreation Centers of Sun City committee tasked with finding alternatives for the Mountain View project began its work and is zeroing in on the performing arts center early on.
The committee’s first meeting was April 21 with the second April 28. The committee meets 2 p.m. every Friday at Oakmont Center, 10725 W. Oakmont Drive, and meetings are open to RCSC members. However, the meeting space is limited by fire code to 24 people.
The committee’s early focus will be on the performing arts center, according to information provided to the Independent by Stephen Oaks.
The committee agreed the center needs to be built. However, it will research issues of size, features and location. These factors are to be reviewed quickly, according to Oaks. Committee members plan to learn about other performing arts centers in the region.
RCSC board member Jeff Darbut will set up a tour for members of the new Mesa Performing Arts Center, and General Manager Bill Cook will arrange a tour of Stardust Theater in Sun City West.
RCSC board member Karen McAdam and resident Norm Dickson were working on applicable facility use data to be presented during the April 28 committee meeting. Fast will solicit ideas from other clubs that could use the center.
Committee members agreed any recommendations will be based on available data, according to Oaks. The committee is gathering drawings, site area specifications, past committee recommendations and other available data, he added.
Weekly open houses are being planned so residents can review the SAC work and leave comments on sticky notes, according to Oaks.
“Transparency is one of the guidelines,” he stated in an email.
News Editor Rusty Bradshaw can be reached at rbradshaw@iniusa.org. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Please consider subscribing to the Independent!!

 

I don't have an issue with a qualified professional management team. RCSC is a complex, multi-faceted organization that requires a wide variety of professional and technical skills. The issue is lack of accountability, transparency and access. The Board is clearly in the dark on too many issues; it's difficult to inform a Board about every issue, but in the last 18 months alone there have been numerous times that Board members have acted like "deer in the headlights" when members have brought issues to the meetings. A Board should not be surprised about major issues that have been known to management for months, let alone years.

I've been concerned for a long time about staffing. Is RCSC properly staffed for the number of facilities/amenities; over or under, in the right places with the right skills? How or why have facilities gotten in such disrepair? Lack of ability, proper care, concern or just sheer numbers of employees to perform the required duties?

I've been told from a reliable person that it's always about money...both equipment and resources. Staff in some critical areas are desperately needed, but it will cost too much, along with critical tools to perform their jobs. Penny wise and pound foolish comes to mind. This is where management becomes accountable.

This is why due diligence on the part of the Board is critical. There is no imaginary (or real) wall between the officers of the Board and the management team. This is about communication, understanding the big picture - that includes the good, the bad and the ugly, including the real ugly. This is about trusting each other to carry out the mission and goals of RCSC. RCSC can not be successful unless and until this is a team effort. That includes making the staff feel like they are heard. It takes work, including open communication. Yes. The GM is technically the only employee the Board hires directly and supervises, but the Board carries the fiduciary oversight for RCSC. Therefore, periodic management team meetings with the Board officers would go a long way on building rapport, trust and a way to possibly make better informed decisions about a whole host of issues. Information is power - that could be the fear. But, that should not be a deterrent. It is the responsibility of the Board to BE informed and respond accordingly. As several Board members in my past life said during a couple of difficult times said "being a Board member isn't for the faint of heart."

My sincere thanks to everyone that has stepped up to serve. You all have my deep appreciation. It can be incredibly rewarding - yet frustrating at the same time.

 

In a perfect world Linda, that is what should happen, how it should work. In fact, it used to be much closer to that scenario. There was an interactive working relationship between the management team, the board, committees and ultimately the membership. All of that went away when the GM was hired in 2006. It didn't happen over night but 3 years in, when the entire board had turned over, huge changes were implemented. The problem with control freaks (even passive aggressive ones) is they have to be in absolute and total control. It works out great if they are infallible...they simply never are.

Thanks for the clarification Cheryl, that report is for the SAC/Mountain View remodel. Following the work session the other day we were told summaries of comments and video would be posted. After hearing many of the comments at the session, my fear is they will be lost to a bad video card (said with a smirk). I would have been much more excited by the prospect if we had our video expert there rather than using a cell phone...but that's just me eh?

 

Skilled employees and updated training costs money and a lot of it. Big cash needs to be put into the people running this place and not just into buildings and golf courses.

 

Investment in human capital is critical. It creates a culture of pride and ownership, team work. To my knowledge there is no investment in Board development either, which in my experience is also extremely invaluable. We are not putting financial resources in to basic human resources. It's a Management 101 course rule. If you don't build a solid base, the foundation is never stable.

Look at the body language of many of the employees. It says a lot to me.

 

Something that should be considered when determining how to rebuild Mountain View!

Did we need an 8th recreation center at Grand when the population of the community is pretty much finite?
Do we need all the same amenities at Mountain View that can be found less than a mile away at Fairway?
I would also suspect that for the 2-3 years it's going to take to rebuild, Members will find and fall into alternative routines during the shut-down.
Rec centers require utilities, staff, maintenance and dollar$.

Check the Data! Not one of our facilities is even close to 100% capacity. It's just that everybody wants to use them at the same time!

And I'm a little apprehensive about the make-up of the Strategic Alternatives Committee's membership. Most have a vested interest in keeping their venue, sport/game at MV, which is to be totally expected. But I fear that many discussions will be in defense of their own personal agenda rather than what's best for the entire community.

Just my opinion.

 

BUMP

 

When there is millions carried over from previous years, it’s time to question why we have these deficiencies. It’s easy for people to make golf the whipping boy in these discussions but without an actual profit and loss statement for the golf operation, it’s difficult to make an accurate judgement. I think people forget that only golf and bowling generate any revenue. How much? Who knows.