I find it fascinating to read poorly thought out comments on this site by an individual who is clearly struggling. I get it, selling hatred is the latest rage amongst some, i prefer joy. But alas, everything i have said, or written about Sun City had a purpose; our future. So as the personal attacks continue, it inspired me to dig out a thread i posted on TOSC following my final board meeting on Dec 18, 2014. The title was "Free At Last, Free At Last; Thank God Almighty... Free at Last." As i read it back just minutes ago, it was a stark reminder of my three years on the RCSC board. I'll post each section so you won't have to go back and forth as we proceed, but here is the link and the opening salvo: My apologies to the great Martin Luther King for stealing his immortal words from such a powerful speech; especially given the trivial escape I experienced. Our final RCSC board meeting was today, and new board members were sworn in. It was our final "official" business as directors and while I constantly joke about it being over, it is in many ways bittersweet. My challenge has always been to judge my efforts more on my failures than on what we accomplished. Too many to list, but I will say the community is a more user friendly version of itself. We have better embraced that sense of community and tried to be more open. No question, room to grow, but that's for the new folks to try and sort out. I took the liberty of saying a few words in departing and while at least one person called it a "sermon," suffice to say it was heartfelt and well intended. I encouraged the incoming board to be open-minded and willing to recognize the changes that will hit this community in the face in the coming years. In most cases, it has nothing to do with what is going on inside the walls, but what is happening outside societally. That is easier said than done. All too many people as they age get hardening of more than just their arteries. They tend to get set in their ways and see far too many things in nothing more than black and white. Sad, because there are so many vivid, gorgeous colors and to be unwilling to notice them is such a loss. But alas, to each their own. My comments did spur me to rethink Sun City and it's birth. Clearly, the Del E Webb Development Corporation (DEVCO) employees, were forward thinkers. More so than just relying on a hope and a prayer, they looked at what was happening within the country (societally) and understood people with defined benefit plans would want more from their earlier retirement than the same old rocking chair their folks had. No question it was a calculated risk and Lord knows there were several decisions made adjusting both direction and strategies (to say nothing of leadership). In the end, Sun City lead the way to a "whole new way of life." It was the benchmark for other age restricted communities to aspire to become. And now, 54 years later, we are still ahead of the class in many ways. That said, we can be even better. One of my biggest failures was to convince the board of the importance of real "long range planning." I'm not talking about which golf courses or rec centers to fix over the next 5 years; we need look at where Sun City will be 20 years from now. How we will be impacted by people working later in life, boomers coming in with differing values and time allocations and trying to understand how that fits within a community built primarily for retirees. After three years, I get it; taking on something so out there is kind of a scary proposition. For that reason, I suggested I may try and start a new club in Sun City next year. While nothing has been formalized, the concept of a Sun City Futurists Club has been lingering in the back recesses of my mind. As I leave the board, it would seem to be the perfect time to try and piece something like that together. I will be back at the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum and looking at the past in conjunction with the future may be a blast. Just curios, anyone out there interested in joining a forward thinking club dedicated to trying to craft a vision of where we are headed? Interesting eh? But wait, it gets way better.
Bill P. - We are thinking along the same lines. We need somebody to be thinking strategically about the future. We don't have that now.
Thanks John, my frustration over those three long years on the board was that virtually everything i learned about leadership and long range planning were MIA. I had the good fortune of doing some work for the International Foundation of Employee Benefits (IFEBP) and heard some remarkably smart people explain the importance of planning rather than just doing. Sun City has spent way more time just doing, i suspect part of it is due the revolving door of board members. The other, as we have talked about, is lack of training...which is an easy fix...if they want to. I dug this 10 year old piece out because of the remark about "word salad." I am accused (and rightly so) of a lot of things that are true, my writing style (while lengthy) is pretty straight forward and clearly on point. I am blunt with people, but i was trained to try and insure those reading or listening know exactly what i was saying or writing. I was taught if they didn't, that was on me, not them. Here's the next installment, written on Dec 19, 2014: "Great comments Bruce and exactly why we need be more forward thinking. It has been and will continue to be our biggest challenge; the perception of what age restricted communities are. I was playing around on this site yesterday and clicked on a link in one of the threads where Sun City West got rated the#1 for retirement destinations. There were 280 + comments to the article and I read them all. Holy crap, for so many, senior communities are viewed almost akin to catching Ebola. Really? Sadly all too many of those comments came from folks who never stepped into one. Hell, my first impression when my folks moved to Sun City from Minnesota was are you kidding me? Took three years to visit, but in one day I knew this was where we would retire. Everyone thinks it's where old people come to die, while in reality it's where they come to live out the remainder of their years doing exactly what they want to do. How does it get better than that? You are spot on about long term; I'm a lawn bowler but I've watched the numbers dwindle since I began 10 years ago. The reality is, that trend is going on around the world, from Australia to England, numbers are down. People want a faster pace and while world bowls makes adjustments to bowls and ends played, it's doing nothing to stifle its demise. It's why understanding trends are so important. The good news is, pickleball is exploding around the country and within months we will be opening a twenty court complex with 8 under roof. At the two golf courses we have and are remodeling, we have put in a half a million dollar patio additions at each. While golf is a constant battle, outdoor living space is always a value added. With wifi and snack shops, they become a venue that serves more than just golf. But these are all just the small picture items. I'm looking more big picture; at the community as a whole. Land values in a land locked community with twice as many shopping centers (there's 16 of them) as we need. And when you consider the growth of online shopping and big box retailers, the land under these centers will be far more valuable than the buildings on them. That presents opportunities that are near on endless. Then when you consider our volunteer infrastructure and you project out just 10 years, where will these organizations be? It's exactly why I opened this thread like I did; DEVCO was reacting to what was happening societally when they built Sun City and it's exactly why I would study the past to help forge our future. I'm excited about our future and while I had limitations as a board member in what I could say, the binds are off and there's volumes to discuss. Stay tuned, this should get kind of interesting." As you can clearly see, the challenges we faced in 2014 are even more dramatic and stark. The fact the board and management have taken these initial steps is encouraging. The reality is, there is far more work to do as we prepare for the future. It is long overdue.
no doubt at all that will happen. – One of the biggest reasons why ideas don’t get executed is because we don’t take the time to write them down and commit to acting on them. Sometimes when we talk about ideas with peers and friends, we create the false impression in our mind that we’re actually doing something about them when we’re not.----Todd Henry
Some people are just weird; the one thing that stands out in almost anything i write is nothing is about me. We know from our history, it's never been about a singular individual and over the years, we've enjoyed some truly amazing and colorful characters. We also know from our history, whatever happened was never about them (personally) because what they did was try and drive discussion, discourse and direction. Ultimately it was never one man or woman but the collective of the community that made the choices we live with today. With that out of the way, let's keep moving through this as we come to the end of 2014. Yup, all of this from 10 years ago: "Let's continue on with my thoughts about the future and why I believe a long term strategy is so important. Big picture Sun City goes well beyond the rec centers and golf courses; heck those are the easy things to address. From a more practical perspective, we need be concerned about all of the free standing organizations out there that separate Sun City from other age restricted communities. One only has to look at the "merge" of the Sun City Visitor Center with the RCSC. The challenges of running it with volunteers and raising enough money each year to keep it viable was one of the reasons for taking it over. Truth be told, there were two significant cash infusions over the past couple of years that helped keep it afloat. Going forward we know there will be less and less of those, and as more buyers work into their golden years, volunteers will be tougher to come by (especially during the daytime hours they are open). Now magnify those challenges across the other half dozen (or more) organizations across Sun City and one quickly comes to understand the impact. Of course we've trained ourselves to look only in short windows of time and it becomes less problematic. That to me is shortsighted, because whether we are here or not, the future will eventually hit the community and we will be forced to change. In my mind it's better to shape Sun City so the affect is far less damaging. Let's take it a step further. One of Sun City's ugliest problems is empty store fronts and the message it sends to potential buyers. There's no question those 16 shopping and strip centers will continue to struggle to find businesses who can make it. The evolution of retail 10 years from now will be dramatically different than it is today. Big box and online sales will squeeze the little players and short of small boutique style centers and those well positioned with niche markets, there will be constant turnover and vacant storefronts. Rather than waiting for it to get worse, wouldn't it make more sense for the RCSC to get ahead of the curve? We know there will be huge infusions of cash in the PIF each year and there will come a time when everything has been remodeled or rebuilt. How smart would it be to start investing in our long term future? Why wouldn't we begin to look at alternative revenue streams to insure we could keep yearly lot assessments low? The beauty of a true long term plan incorporates strategies that go far beyond what buildings to replace in the next 5 years. One only has to look at the Sun Health Foundation (that has received millions of dollars from Sun City residents), to see they have done just that. They have bought land all over the West Valley, including plenty of Sun City property. It's a great hedge for the future as they too know times are changing and nothing is forever. In 1999, the RCSC board took a chance and created the PIF. It wasn't the most popular move, but it was pure genius. It put Sun City in a position to remain one of the premier retirement communities in the country. It was forward thinking at its finest and seems to me exactly the kind of steps future boards need follow in. I know that's a scary proposition for those elected and exactly why I've been begging board members to take these kinds of discussion to the residents. Making decisions like these in a vacuum would be foolishness, making them in conjunction with those living here would either create buy-in or give cause to step away from them." Such fun to look back as we look forward.
Bill, I hope you know I admire your wisdom even though we sometimes collide like atoms in a nuclear reactor. When a developer starts a development, the invisible hand of capitalism guides their way. The question becomes how I can produce an irresistible value proposition that will make me rich (or at least profitable)? When a community seeks to redevelop itself that invisible hand of capitalism is replaced by the self-interest of "tribes" (hobby groups) of the community. Those who speak loudest with one voice are often the most successful in securing outsized resource allocation beneficial to their tribe. (I have a native American heritage, so I feel comfortable describing this in these terms.) Those who are unable to unify are left to fight for scraps of capital based on their personal appeal or board connections. As I think you mentioned, a comprehensive long range redevelopment plan based on logic and data is the only known cure for tribal infighting for resources. There are some who see such a plan as a threat to their agenda. I agree and disagree with their perception. I agree that such a plan is a threat to any group who seeks more resources than the member benefit they deliver. I disagree that such a data-based redevelopment plan is a threat for legitimate requests for capital that are supported by member usage data. I learned that the political theater about the theater would culminate in a board planned special session which will be loaded with members of the Player's Club pleading their case. I encourage my fellow members who may have doubts about the benefit of building a theater primarily for the benefit of one small club before we have a master redevelopment plan to civilly and thoughtfully express your concerns. Despite past thinly veiled physical threats against me by members of the Player's club I will stand my ground - show me the analysis which supports this huge expenditure. Best regards and God Bless, John
This decision, like all others, should be based on data. If other performance groups think it is too small to use, then I would question going ahead with this.
My final installments from the thread are posted below. I dug this out for a reason. It should be obvious by now everything i wrote was future focused and mercifully, some of it is coming true. Change in non-profits organizations is difficult. We had set a course in 2006 that was different from what our history was. The general manager was given unlimited authority as she rewrote our documents to fit our agenda/vision. Boards become complacent. She was a wonderfully nice person and no one challenged or questioned her much. When she left, she hand-picked her replacement. The goal was to carry on the status quo. There were a number of us who had no interest in seeing a continuation of the past direction. The community was desperate for change. So we are clear, my goal/role was never (and still isn't) to tell those living here what we need. I have had my opinions and voiced them. Once we had elected 9 candidates who appeared focused on a more member driven outcome, my work was done. Here are my comments from Dec 24, 2014: "Couldn't agree more on most of the above comments E. Collecting that kind of information at point of sale would make coming to grips with the future about a 1000% easier. I've heard the arguments; more work, invasion of privacy and then what do we do when we get it, but the reality is once it's set up and running it becomes a tool to help shape our decisions regarding the future. As far as what Sun City needs, I've said it before and I will continue to harp on it till it happens: The one thing we are missing the most is a Community Center. Yes we have 7 rec centers, but they have a defined purpose. A community center would be about one central location where the RCSC administration would be located, the Visitor Center housed and a myriad of other more communal type activities occur. And as we look to the future, we see the explosion of Pilates classes, Yoga, life long learning and the more cerebral activities as we age. The newer clubs are demanding space and the one thing we know is we don't have it to give them. Inevitably if we are to stay ahead of the game, we cannot simply try and maintain the status quo. As far as what retailers come here, don't hold your breath Emily. For grocers it's about square footage sales and return on investment. Rental space is expensive and Sun City shoppers are frugal. Cherry picking is a way of life here and there's nothing harder on the bottom line (short of shrinkage and theft) than selling the add items and little else. Sadly I haven't had much impact the past three years in convincing colleagues of the need to be more aggressive. Hopefully the next time around I/we will be better prepared to move the mountain." My final thoughts on Dec 28, 2014: "I haven't given up E, I have come to realize we need to grow the circle of those who want to be part of the solution. I have no doubt those coming down the road in years to come will be more interested in a different type of governance; one that is more open and involving g residents in all forms of communications and discussions on levels far more heightened from years past."
The community facility at Rio Vista Park comes to mind when I read this information from Bill. A facility like it, at Lakeview, would be awesome!
Bill, although we often do not agree I have always admired your foresight. My hope for the future is that our community can coalesce around a set of processes that enhances the prospects of making the right strategic decisions for the future and implementing them correctly the first time. Obviously, as you know, I was willing to be a catalyst for change and let others hide behind me or stab me in the back. If what I did influenced positive change the sacrifice was worth it. This is my community too you know. Best regards and God Bless, John
My three years on the RCSC board were some of the most frustrating in my 21 years here John. Finding common ground with fellow board members was nearly impossible because the GM's vision became our mantra. I tried to quit a year plus in; i knew by then i was just the dog in the car seat back window bobbing my head and not making much of a difference. You know you were one of the nine candidates the Sun City Advocates endorsed, over those three years when it all changed. Your role in the SAC and on the budget and finance committees helped shape the changes that are being incorporated to this day. It's frustrating and a painstakingly slow process. It defies logic and for anyone that wants to get stuff done, challenging. Board members come with varying ideas and ideals. Add in a general manager who may be trying to exert influence over direction and it all adds up to difficulties too numerous to list. But wait; it gets worse. Clubs and members who are vocal and able to get their members to act out are an even bigger problem. Not wrong they are involved, just wrong their weight has more influence than it should. It's why your efforts (and that of others) to establish set criteria and benchmarks made perfect sense. Data matters far more than emotion. Our evolution over the years was problematic, as we drew opinions from a small subset of those involved. I have long argued every home sale in Sun City should come with some sort of education/promotional piece of exactly what they are buying into. That was yet another idea that fellow board members scoffed at and the GM ran away from. There was a reason for dumb and in the dark, and none of it made sense to me if the goal was to grow the circle...not shrink it.
