This past week there were some interesting ideas regarding how to better market and educate the membership as we try to move forward. My apologies as i didn't get as excited as some of you, we've been down this road before. And to be really clear, there was a boatload of great suggestions at the working group session with three tables pounding out their thoughts on how to market the community. The problem has never been a shortage of ideas/suggestions. It's always come down to follow-up and implementation. While many of you weren't in Sun City in 2010 when the housing market hit, i would guess no matter where you lived you saw and felt it's impact. As a senior community there was a less pain as home values were cut in half (or more). An 800 square 1 bedroom, 1 bath garden court apt in phase 1 next door to Fry's would be for sale for under 30K. A 3 bedroom, 2 bath Stanford (1800 + sq) in phase 2 in the $125 range (now good luck finding one for $350K). Those lower prices impacted the community in all kinds of ways as buyers came here because we were so cheap. Worse yet, because of the types of escalating loans (balloon mortgages primarily), any number of buyers were in trouble. We saw at the Sun City Foundation increasing requests for financial assistance. for those who moved into the community just a couple of years earlier. The bigger issue was the drop in home sales which obviously impacted PIF. The problem wasn't so much being able to buy a home here, but selling their house back where they were from. As prices came crashing down, home owners wanted to sell their home for what it used to be worth. Folly at best. In an effort to combat the falling sales the RCSC board allocated 100k (i think) in 2011 and another 50k in 2012 for an aggressive marketing program. Someone more computer literate than me can check the RCSC archives and find the exact figures, but these were close. I wasn't on the board in 2011 but volunteered for the committee working on this project. My friend Paul Herrmann, then executive Director of the Sun City Visitor Center (when it was free-standing and not owned by the RCSC) was also on the committee. We both had some experience with hiring local web developers and figured we would indeed be a value-added commodity to tap into. We scheduled 3 interviews. The one i fell in love with came from outside the community and told us point blank they would not want to be hired if we weren't willing to sit with them and sort out "what" is was we wanted for our website. The second i have little recognition of and the third was a local person who both Paul and i knew fairly well. The chair of the committee was just finishing his 3 year term and made it clear, his goal was to have it done before he left. We were shocked because the only one of the three who could do that was the local person we said unequivocally, "do not hire." You can see where this is going can't you? Committee's only make recommendations. The chair and co-chair went to the board and they proceeded to vote for the local person. We were not happy, but that's how the RCSC had been rolling for several years. The person who built it created pretty websites but not very functional. Worse yet, the business model she used was pay me to build it and then pay me to make the changes. Paul and i knew that and told people that's what would happen, but the chair's primary concern was getting it done quickly. In 2012 i joined the board. The new site was functional, barely. The outgoing board member no longer had skin in the game and we were left with the dregs of a really poor decision. By then, the GM started paying attention to the money we had spent and the poor quality of the work. She also saw any changes that needed to be made would have to be paid for (I think her words were something akin to throwing good money after bad). Off the top of my head, i would guess about half the 100k went into the failed project. She quickly came to grips with the poor choice that had been made and took immediate action. The existing website we had just built was scrapped and another more static traditional site we had control of replaced it. The previous web designer spoke boldly of a dynamic site with all kinds of bells and whistles that never materialized (and only would have if we continued yo shovel money at her). I tell the story for one reason and one reason only: Moving forward, we need to insure what we do, we do right, not quickly. The foolishness of rushing forward rather than understanding what we are doing and why should be a lesson we all can embrace.
Lesson learned. As we all know, technology is ever changing. If we want to keep pace, we're going to pay a price; not over priced. But, we need a communications/marketing staff that is well qualified with a competent IT department. I have no idea of the depth of the current staff or their qualifications, so I am making no judgements, except to say I've noticed a definite positive change in our social media presence. But it's something that needs to be looked at. An operation as large as RCSC can't be working with 20th century technology with minimal staff in the 21st century.
So it's been several weeks if not months that I haven't seen anybody working on the, so called, new dedicated space for all the new computers and servers and IT equipment. We were told it was going to be in the renovated room on the second floor at Lakeview and I do believe we were recently told that the work there was complete? I'm at my Club at Lakeview and up on the second floor 3 days a week and I haven't seen any action in that new room for weeks. So...are we really moving ahead or are we still waiting for supply-issues to catch-up with deliveries? Please tell us more than simply commenting that the work on the room is complete, because when you look thru the window, it doesn't look very complete to me? It looks an empty room with a treadmill being stored inside?
That's a really good question and raises another concern about delays OR is it because there was too little funding allocated for a project that needed major resources? While we knew there were supply chain issues and hindsight is always 20/20, would a better decision have been to determine what the real cost would be, authorize the amount and move ahead as supplies/equipment became available? After all, we had millions in carry forward that were not encumbered, although we are just beginning to understand the depth of capital expenditure needs. But was this a matter for an emergency expenditure above and beyond what was too conservative for the scope of this project? Technology changes so fast it's hard to do it over a long period of time. More to dig into, but again, it begs the question. Are we appropriately staffed in-house or are we still dealing with too many "outside of our control" issues?
Eyesopen might be one of the best researchers i have ever known. She digs stuff up i don't even know exist. Very cool. She emailed me the minutes from the marketing committee from 2011 and 2012. It was painful to read and honestly i had forgotten how controlling they were. The minutes were sanitized to take out the ugly. The board member who was the chair had managed to convince the board we should hire the local web developer because she could do it quickly. They approved it in a work session before he left in December. It was my first board meeting (Jan 2012) and back in the day, board members were given the copy of what they should read/present. One of their games was to shove motions at board members so as it looked like we were supporting the motion. I read the motion to approve the web designer, while in reality i hated the fact we were hiring her. Suffice to say, that was the kind of stuff that drove me wild and shortly thereafter, i told the board and the board secretary if i had something to say or read, it would come from me. Oddly the minutes didn't include when the site was launched, but i know it was done quickly with virtually none of the bells and whistles she promised. Turns out all of that could be done but with a much higher price tag. We quickly came to realize the folly of our (the boards) choice. I had forgotten the rest of the story, but the minutes refreshed my memory. The GM found/hired some marketing folks to jump in. By the then the board had lost its appetite for the marketing and the GM took the reigns. Catapult rebuilt the site and "helped us rebrand" the RCSC. That's when and where the change was born become "Sun City, The Original Fun City." The bus was driven by the GM and the board members were more than happy to not be wasting their time on marketing. I've admitted before, some of this was my fault. I came in with guns blazing and was more than happy to fight with board members and the GM over the direction of the community, In the end it was a mistake. Board members just saw me as a pain in the ass; which i was more often than naught. They were more than contented to let the GM make every decision and they blissfully passed whatever she wanted. Carole Martinez were simply no votes and they didn't care. Hopefully those days are well behind us.
Hmmm?...Seeing how things turned out I would say the only ones who made the mistake were those who decided to take the easy way out, not you or Carole? I believe it was an Aaron Tippen song that said, "You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything." You and Carole simply held your ground!
Thanks Tom, but our fellow board members saw Carole and as mere hemorrhoids as they advanced the GM's agenda. What could possibly go wrong when the majority of board members that was made up of golfers, embraced her vision of all golf all the time? To their credit, they didn't fire us, or even try. They knew our two votes against meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. What is telling is how far the dial had moved over the years once we left. With literally no on coming to meetings or caring what they did, removing board members who didn't want to march to their drum beat was the logical next step. First Barbara, then Karen. Arrogance and a belief they could do no wrong was their calling card. I guess we owe them a debt of gratitude for being so foolish. Apparently they believed their own press clippings and just did whatever they pleased. In retrospect, had they not, we'd still be traveling down that road with the massively expensive MV project on the books and our future pretty well screwed.
I try and block out those three years on the RCSC board; abject failure on my part to move the needle even a little. Reading those minutes and the former GM hiring Catapult to rebrand Sun City is painful. By then the greatest generation was done buying here and the boomers were coming in droves. Mountains of research told us they were different and we needed to adjust what we were selling/offering. But did we really need to do that? Back then there were hundreds of other age restricted communities all built on the same platform. Buy in one of them and lead the good life of leisure. Was that where we really wanted to go? Did we want to try and copy all the others only we were cheaper? It became our mantra; CHEAPER. Was it right? We sold a boatload of homes and took in a boatload of money and yet we clung to the idea we were better because we were cheaper. We fell behind in so many areas, relying on having more everything than everyone else, but we did so we could keep selling properties. We really didn’t care who bought them or whether those buying them knew or understood anything about the community. If the goal is to just have fun, why bother with any education on how and why we were different. The cost of course sent ripple effects across every organization that relied on volunteers and the ownership mentality; including the RCSC. All of which was the intended consequence of making it a top down run internal structure with little or no oversight. There’s no better example of that than the ridiculous fight the RCSC had with the POSSE and the board unwilling to hold the GM accountable for his actions. I’ve come to believe our “evolution” was more about increasing property values than building a sense of community. Call me jaundiced, but i bought in Sun City to enjoy all it offered, not looking to see how much i could sell my home for at the end of my life. I know, cynical. It’s a long freaking road back and filled more pot holes than i can count. The good news is we are finally back on the path to sanity.
And I've come to believe it's more like a de-evolution! If somebody doesn't start to push-back on allowing all the group-homes, halfway houses, rentals, and Airbnb's to infiltrate into our community, nobody's going to want to buy here. I'm already concerned as to who will be purchasing the homes in my neighborhood, and especially the one next to me where an 86 year old with dementia is living alone and will soon need to move into assisted living under the watchful eye of caregivers...and that's if he doesn't burn his house down first! Will it be a Flipper just looking to make a few bucks and not caring who he sells it to? Will it simply be a revenue getter for the homeowner while he rents it out? Or worse yet, let's just convert it into a 10 person group home charging thousands of dollars a month! Seems we (RCSC and SCHOA) don't find out about underage occupants and the like until it's too late. We can't keep allowing Maricopa County to decide who can and who can't live within our community or else one day we will find ourselves out of that protective 80% requirement and all will be gone! We need to get a handle on our community or else we'll lose not only the sense of community, but the community itself.
SURPRISING?!? Places with the fastest growing home prices in Maricopa County, AZ July 8, 2023 MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ (Stacker) - Stacker compiled a list of places with the fastest-growing home prices in Maricopa County, AZ using data from Zillow. Places are ranked by the dollar change Zillow Home Values Index for all homes from May 2022 to May 2023. The ZVHI represents a seasonally adjusted price for the middle market for all homes. Data was available for 33 cities and towns in Maricopa County, AZ #6. Sun City, AZ • 1-year price change: -4.4% (-$13,645) • 5-year price change: +65.6% • Typical home value: $293,001 (includes ALL home types) #5. Sun City West, AZ • 1-year price change: -3.2% (-$12,813) • 5-year price change: +56.2% • Typical home value: $385,059 #4. #4 Youngtown, AZ • 1-year price change: -3.7% (-$11,472) • 5-year price change: +68.9% • Typical home value: $298,104 FULL STORY
