A Hundred Puzzle Pieces...

Thanks for the info Linda! Seems that possibly there needs to be more checks and balances in the by-laws to help keep a board and it’s directors on point with the members. Maybe the checks and balances are there, but were not adequately employed. I don’t know the answer to this idea. More should be revealed in the next few weeks.

 

Tom - from a policy and operations standpoint, the Budget & Finance Committee, working with Kevin McCurdy, is putting a new plan together that will definitely improve the financial oversight, provide advice to the Board and the three will work as a team, as required - plus, there will be transparency and opportunity for member input. This is a total shift.

By-laws are another subject that definitely need attention. They were definitely messed up with policies mingled with by-laws, and confusing and conflicting language. I'm not a by-law expert, but I know members are looking at changes.

You're right, Tom - an organization's by-laws, plus the Articles, and its adopted policies and procedures are the checks and balances that keep everyone in their lane, so to speak. We are currently witnessing what happens when standing committees had little voice or impact (or were eliminated), and members were shut out.

As Tom Marone said "it takes a village to run a village." It's true - and it's not for the faint of heart. Board membership and leadership is hard work and it takes team work - give and take. It's not about a personal agenda or personal gain. It's supposed to be for the good of the whole - the community. Finding solutions to benefit all members.

I think we're on the right course, but it won't be without challenges.

Thanks for your interest and concern. Sun City is a great place for our retirement years. I'm happy we made the decision 10 years ago to come here!

 

I dislike "bullies" but i more resent when any of us refer to someone we disagree with as "bullies." Sorry, just one man's opinion. I'm more inclined to cut board members some slack who bought into the process known as "group think." You can look it up if so inclined, but the essence is people who gather fall into propping one another up by accepting whatever is put in front of them. While serving on the RCSC board (2012-2014), i witnessed it up close and personal.

I was trained in leadership 101 how to bring people along. It wasn't rocket science and watched for some 25 years as those inside organized labor (a true misnomer), built top down driven organizations where the membership was expected to blindly accept whatever pap was being spewed. Once elected president of the local, i broke from the international's grasp and tried to build a bottom up local where the members came first. The International hated me for it, but as long as we paid the per capita to them, there was nothing they could do.

Alas, i digress. After leaving the RCSC board, i watched them slip further down the rabbit hole of the GM being all knowing. When the million dollar mistake on the solar payoff (2016) hit us, not a word was said. When the long range planning committee proposed a complete review of every aspect of our technology (June 2018), and was supported by the RCSC board chairs, we took the summer break and when we returned, the idea was shit-canned. I accused the GM of being the driving force behind it, and was told that wasn't the case. I still don't believe it.

But wait, it gets better. By the end of the year, one of the RCSC's upper management personnel wrote what one board member suggested was the "right way" to request for proposal (RFP). It was an intentional slap in the face to the long range planning committee, implying our proposal was crap, while Chris's was sheer genius. One can only smile, as the request was for security camera's installed across the RCSC properties. That "brilliant" proposal got one bid they loved. Within 6 months the bidder had gone out of business and to this day nothing has been done. Nothing.

Here's the rest of the story. We know as early as 2009, RCSC committees were requesting improvements in wifi connections. Those "recommendations" continued for the next 13 years. It all culminated in the spring of 2022 when the RCSC held an informational meeting following an Exchange. The story told by the head of the IT department was dismal at best, and criminal at worst. The breakdown with outdated hardware and software was mind-blowing. Worse yet the internal systems (hard wiring and wifi capabilities) weren't marked and any efforts to rebuild would take an act of God to accomplish.

That was the meeting where the new general manager Bill Cook told us (wait for it): "the mess was no-ones fault." Are you freaking kidding me? The board allowed that foolish statement to stand and there was no effort to understand how we fell 15 years behind. I would and have argued, i doubt any of the board(s) knew exactly how bad it was, but when they found out there was no outrage. They simply let it stand as information.

There-in is the problem with the board placing their trust in a singular person. When no one is held accountable, then these kinds of errors go unchecked and unchallenged. And to answer your question Tom T, for the first 45 years, both the board and even more-so the membership were the guardrails, the safeguards. It's exactly why the GM went to the lengths she did to rewrite the by-laws. And, before you ask, yes they were approved by each of the boards as "group think" was ingrained in the belief the GM could do no wrong.

As i have written too many times; infallible was assigned to the Pope, not the GM.

 

Perhaps this is why we should be hearing committee reports from ALL of our Standing Committees at every meeting of the Board? Granted, there will be many committee's who may not have anything to offer at every meeting, but the shear act of the Chair going down the list of committees will go a long way as to reminding everybody that there are committees out there that should be reviewing and addressing their appointed tasks, and WE, the Members, get to hear what each committee is or is not doing.

It's appalling when we learned that the Finance and Budget Committee was only meeting 4 times a year!?!?!? Does anybody else see a problem with that?

There's much more that can be done and there are more Committees that need to be established with Member involvement so we can avoid some of the recent errors of the past.

 

Speaking of technology it doesn't appear we've come as far as expected. Why is that? They can't continue to blame Manager who left 2 years ago. I look forward to accountability across the board.

 

They are moving, but it is slow. The biggest issue and one we knew was bad was the supply chain problem. Getting anything technology related is as long as a year out. It was why when the now departed GM suggested a 500k budget the first year, it was laughable. The board bought it in 2022 and now we are plodding along at a snails pace.

 

Great info all, gracias! The move to a 500 person quorum for business at the meetings will be interesting, if it passes. With it, members may get listened to better and may be able to effect more change. I am looking forward to listening to the SAC meeting today. Should be fun!

 

“I dislike "bullies" but i more resent when any of us refer to someone we disagree with as "bullies." Sorry, just one man's opinion. I'm more inclined to cut board members some slack who bought into the process known as "group think." You can look it up if so inclined, but the essence is people who gather fall into propping one another up by accepting whatever is put in front of them.While serving on the RCSC board (2012-2014), i witnessed it up close and personal.” BPearson

“RCSC became the BIG BULLY on the block with a small gang to help guard its territory.” Eyesopen

• BIG BULLY: Two previous General Managers who thought they were THE RCSC
• small gang: Boards that did as they were told by the bully and disrespected Members who challenged them

Why I think BULLY is appropriate:
“It can be an individual person doing the bullying, or a group of people , who have greater power over someone else.
The defining factors are that it is:
• on purpose
• ongoing
• very harmful
• an abuse of power”

This behavior was routinely witnessed and commented on by Members.
Those meeting videos are embarrassing and painful to watch. IMHO