Executive Sessions / What others are saying outside of TOSC

IMHO this current management and BOD are going to ruin what we have left. Check in at Fairway but no other facility is garbage. People on other platforms are talking. With the lack of transparency, and the accusations, a lot of folks are going to start to worry, if they are not already which they should be. What was muted from me on this thread is now deleted. OK, obviously the person is not too bright, and does not realize that others can see it and email to me. You can't make this stuff up. "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

From Nextdoor: (last names redacted)

Cher•Sun City
“All meetings of the Board and the Exchanges, **excluding Executive Sessions** and Informational Meetings, shall be open and video recorded. Member comments at Board Meetings will be limited to POSTED motions.” See Below LIBRARY UPDATE This above message means that if the Board hasn't let the public know that MCLD leases are renewed by April 18th the VERY latest, we ALL need to post with the Board or RCSC that we wish to be HEARD again on April 25th. LET'S BOMBARD THEM WITH ATTENDANCE if need be. We need to stay diligent on this issue

Josie P.• Boswell Blvd•1d
Why do they have Executive Sessions? I took minutes at a foundation board for 17 years. The only reason for an executive session was to vote on salary increases for CEO, CFO, COO etc and they were not allowed to stay in that part either. IMO there should be no "secret meetings". Roberts Rules:

https://jurassicparliament.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Executive-session.pdf

space intentionally left blank. text is greyed out due to the poster muting me on ND, which is fine unless I am being accused of something.......like spam???? I cannot upload a file on this platform.

Author
Cher •Sun City•1h
So now we are "SPAMMING" by asking questions and posting our views and ways to get the RCSC Board to listen and do what's right by it's citizens. Sounds like FB tactics and a bit communisti

Josie P•Boswell Blvd•Now
Cher Must be chris. can't see posts, yet she responds to me.

Cher •Sun City
Josie I responded to Chris's post. I'm sorry it went to you. Sounds like Chris T. is a member of the Board of RCS

Josie P•Boswell Blvd•Now
Cher
it's fine, she was answering my comment and I assume calling it/me spam. It will show up in the thread regardless. I just will not see the text because she has muted me, which is fine to

Josie P•Boswell Blvd
Cher No, she is not.

Author
Cher •Sun City
Josie I wondered only because she never responded as to whether she was or not when I asked.

 

There are legitimate reasons for Executive Sessions and they are spelled out in the RCSC Bylaws. They include employee issues, real estate transactions, contracts and legal advice. However these sessions can be abused. I was used to having these in a public domain (school board, and county and city governance, etc). In those cases, the Board would need to start the meeting in open session, have a motion and second to enter into Executive Session, and state the reason (such as employee issue). No decisions could be made in Executive Session but we might come to an agreement (same ?). However we would have to come back into open session to conduct business, including a motion and second. (Example: I remember we were letting a teacher go. He had been on an improvement plan, but his conduct with students was still problematic. We discussed it in Executive Session with our attorney, who had contact with the teacher union's attorney, and agreed to pay the teacher something like $5,000 and write a simple letter of reference. We had to do that in open session with the press present. Needless to say it was awkward but the right way to do things.) It's usually called the Sunshine Law - conducting public business in open sessions.

I think RCSC could use some of this philosophy. I tried to incorporate it into our Bylaws Review committee but met with resistance. Because RCSC is a Title 10 nonprofit in AZ, they can conduct all types of business in private. I think it's a slippery slope to go down and leads us to exactly where we are now. No trust!

 

Exactly. My 17 year span was with Sun Health, then Banner bought in 2008/9, then back to Sun Health. Exec sessions held for firing upper management, eg president, CEO or board members. Any other terminations went thru HR. Contracts had their own department and had to be approved by CEO. Why in the heck would RCSC need to keep a contract or real estate transaction secret, and not bring it to the members first? We have approximately 32,000 members and 9 are making decisions. No voting? Who is footing the bills here? If the board wants absolute control, then pay my/our assessments. Working in the C-Suite of a major hospital system I have seen some unusual things, but NOTHING like RCSC.

 

One reason to not have real estate transactions in open session is when you are negotiating on price and other parts of the sale. Same with contracts and legal situations. You don't want to have to show your whole hand until necessary, but it is always done for the benefit of the organization. I, too, have been amazed at what I have seen with RCSC governance. The Bylaws Review experience was the most frustrating of all my years of volunteerism.

 

I get that part, that's what the contract team was for. I was expressing concern about the transparency of new leases, real estate purchases, etc. Do we even know what the negotiations are for? Hold them in an Executive Session, but let the members know they exist. Someone mentioned on here that the Grand Ave building was purchased in the dark of night. Can't remember who, but that probably should have been public knowledge it was happening, and even voted on.

 

Janet,
I could not agree more. "Fungus" (abuse of power) cannot exist in the sunshine. I was very troubled that the current Board used orientation and information sessions to make PIF decisions. Yes, technically an official vote was still required, and it was taken but the outcome of that vote was assured beyond any reasonable doubt. As mentioned in Denny Nichols excellent article today, certain members of the Board are willing to do just about anything to achieve their agenda (Karen - professional pickleball courts, Kat an indoor dog socialization facility.)

 

It's my understanding that since the RCSC does not function under municipal Sunshine Laws, our board can simply call a special session, that will be held exclusively in executive session, and only the directors, or whoever else may be included in that meeting, will receive notice of that meeting.

Nobody else will know and unfortunately no rules were broken. The only thing broken is our trust!

 

Isn't that special! Did Dale Carnegie ever write a book how to win the trust of your community? Too bad. About 2/3 weeks ago I ran into a man who was a Sun Health Foundation Board Member for about 6 years or so. Most were long timers. I retired in 2017 and he is still a member, that's how much they love Sun Health. Some have passed, and about 3 are still there. Not one was ever too good to pass my desk without a hi.

 

Tom, I agree that the current bylaws, and Title 10, allow the Board to meet in private by calling a Special Session without notifying the Members. Also, the bylaws state that anything said or decided in Executive Sessions will be confidential, including the minutes. It might be time to consider abandoning Title 10 and go to Title 33 like Sun City West has done. That would create a big controversy though. Perhaps a governance review could shed some light on that. This much I know, secrecy isn't working!