If you follow the threads here on TOSC, you will see we have readers who have a pretty good knowledge about Sun City. Not surprising in that people who post generally take the time and make the effort to do the basic research about the topic they are posting on. Unfortunately, that group of folks with a basic understanding is easily in the minority. Over the past 15 plus years we have owned a home in Sun City, it has become clear way too many people know way too little about our community; how it works and why it has been as successful as it has been. Not being critical, just stating my opinion. For instance, it would be interesting to see how many owners knew the difference from SCHOA to the RCSC (or even how many could tell you what the initials stood for)? Or how many thought their RCSC rec fees funded SCHOA? And if you really wanted to drill down a bit, how many know the purpose of the RCSC and how they functioned? There's a hundreds of questions that could be asked to test an owners knowledge, but to be fair, most folks are only interested in what is going on immediately in front of them. That's too bad, because if you have even the most basic knowledge of our community, you would know the reason we have succeeded over the 56 years of existence is because those living here took ownership of the process of self-governance. In the earliest years, when there were far less residents, every organization would see 15 to 25 candidates running for open board positions. Meetings would pack halls with 25% to 50% of the property owners being in attendance. Votes on key issues could see as many as 75% of the owners casting their votes. It was an incredible time (even into the mid 80's) as those buying here understood they were responsible for the success of the community. So what happened? Did people change that much? Have we stopped caring? Do we not want to know what is going on around us? Are we contented to just let someone else do it? If so, does that change the future for Sun City in the long term? Damn; too many questions, too few answers.
Hell CM, you might recall when one of the board members freely admitted he thought he was running for the SCHOA board when he gathered signatures. It's not surprising because people often get the two mixed up. The reality is most folks barely have a working knowledge of how Sun City works including those who run for the board. It's one of the reasons they place such a high value on the general managers direction. There's always a learning curve and by the time they have a good grasp of how it all works (assuming they do), their three years are up and a new batch comes in. It's why i think Sun City West is way ahead of us when it comes to educating the community. Their TORCH program is brilliant and anyone taking it gets a crash course in how the community functions and why it is successful. Someday perhaps we'll develop something like it, but my guess is there are those who like the idea board members are pliable and willing to let management take the reigns and shape Sun City's future.
Yep, and that person did get elected and was an obstacle on the board. The TORCH program was brought up several times, and as I recall, we were told it has it owns problems, it is not as great as it seems, and it would be too hard to implement in Sun City. Too big of an area to cover with too few resources. Sound familiar at all or am I having another stroke moment? I remember stating the TORCH program should be brought over here, as well as you making a statement to the same. We can see how far we got.
It may be that there is just too much that is available in the home for entertainment and relaxation in our electronic age. Cable TV, satellite TV, internet, audio books, Kindle books, Wii, gaming systems, Skype, Facetime etc. There are so many activities that fight for a person's free time when they could be volunteering. But, so much information is available online about Sun City's history, the RCSC, SCHOA and while we're at it you can research and stream Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the Arizona Corporation Commission and the Arizona State Legislature. I guess we can only hope that residents will be more informed about Sun City if they will only take the time to do so.
Couldn't agree more about all of the distractions; since the advent of the internet (didn't Al Gore invent that?), all of our lives have changed immeasurably. That said, a basic understanding of the community we live in seems to be a pretty simple task. For instance, most readers on this site have a better knowledge of the community and how it works, simply because they take the time to read a bit. The best thing the RCSC could do is to set a course for community education...that is if they truly want owners to know and understand how we function...and i am not convinced they do.
This is another of those threads that is always relevant. The more people know about the community, the more they will appreciate how good it is here.
