Why would anyone living in Sun City be opposed to a process encompassing the three components embraced by the Sun City Advocates posted in the header? I mean this both literally and figuratively. While our movement was born from Karen McAdam being fired, we quickly transitioned to much higher ground. In the 2021 RCSC election, Karen received more votes than any candidate in a very long time. It would have been easy to say, mission accomplished and go back to a sleepy existence and not caring what the RCSC did. By then, the tooth paste was out of the tube, and it wasn’t being put back in. As members starting turning out and witnessing first hand the abrasive relationship between the board and the membership, many in attendance were stunned, It appeared as if the majority of board members felt their job was to become the support system for the management team. The last six months of 2021 we heard the mantra over and over again; “loyalty to the corporation,” which somehow morphed into loyalty to the general manager. To be very, very clear, those are two wholly different and distinct functions. One is obligated by a board members fiduciary responsibility (to make decisions in the best interest of the corporation). The other is a function or creation by a select few who have foisted that sense of loyalty towards the general manager, irrespective of what they did or how they did it. That is however yesterday’s news. There’s little or no value in reliving past mistakes, other than for a reference point. We want to insure it not happen again; EVER. As a community we need to understand our past as we try and rebuild our future. We know why Sun City was successful. We know why it was the most unique community of its kind and to be clear, it wasn’t because it was the “original fun city.” Nope, it was because we were the “city of volunteers.” It was because those moving here were willing to take ownership and the responsibility to make sure it flourished. It was because the concept of self-governance was the platform our documents (Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws) were built around. They were a perfect mix of safe guards and accountability. We know the changes that were made the past 15 years has changed the community dynamic. We also know we need to change it back by a more robust involvement from the membership. We know we have a boatload of issues that need to be addressed, and quickly. One of our goals for the Sun City Advocates if to help both the community and the board get it right. It will be a long, slow, arduous project. To help strategically position ourselves where we can work with the membership we are launching the Sun City Advocates blog. In conjunction with that, we will be using an email service (Mailchimp) to stay in touch with members. I know some wanted a glitzy static site, but we elected to use a more interactive tool. One where we could poll members, get their feedback on our thoughts and help set both the pace and agenda. We are near 450 members, by years end we would like to double that. On the link below, you can sign and become a part of something pretty special. As i said in the opening paragraph, who would be opposed to these ideals: Communicating, Educating, Participating? And to be clear, you don’t have to login or sign up to comment. We want to hear from those who think what we are doing is wrong…and why. You can find the Sun City Advocates site by clicking this sentence.
All good points Bill. The nice thing about the Sun City Advocates is joining doesn't obligate you to do anything. At some point we may make a general call asking for volunteers to help collect signatures, but we won't be hounding anybody to do anything. Our primary goal is to Communicate, Educate and Participate to the extent that YOU want to, whether that's simply offering an opinion or posting a comment or just reading our blog. We're simply looking for a way to reach out to our community, connect and keep everybody informed with no strings attached!
