With tomorrow's election day for RCSC board candidates looming large, it's worth one more whack a mole effort. I have written it more times than i can count, but it's worth repeating. Sun City was called by many; "The great social experiment." The experts told the Del E Webb Development Corporation (DEVCO) it would never work. The idea of stuffing a bunch of seniors in a community filled with things to do was folly. Del Webb and Jim Boswell were extremely wealthy men who hated to fail, but rolled the dice and did it any way. Thank God. Business was booming the first 3 years, but by 1964, it looked like the experts were right. They only sold 386 homes in Sun City AZ and identical communities in Florida and California were dead on arrival. John Meeker was sent to Sun City and fix it or end it. John's efforts were nothing short of genius. Within 3 years sales in Sun City exploded, they moved north of Grand Ave and built out the remaining 20,000 plus lots and sold every last one of them by 1978. The key was he didn't use a business model plan to accomplish his ends. He used a community driven agenda, where he spent a small fortune by investing in those living here. Webb gave him free reign, Boswell stood by his side, Bob Johnson, his boss often got crazed by how much Meeker was spending. At one point, when the Lakes Club burned to the ground, he fired him. Webb had him back on the job the next day. John was that good. He didn't fall into the trap of maximizing profits or returns on investment. He simply kept building an infrastructure that insured the membership would take ownership of the community. As much as he wanted the residents to buy into incorporating, they wanted no part of it. Well after DEVCO left to build Sun City West, what they had created grew stronger and more impressive. The reason Webb let Meeker do his thing was he made them a boatload of money. John's memoirs claimed 164 million pre-tax dollars when they left in 1979. Staggering for a project that was supposed to fail. Bigger than that was DEVCO began a cottage industry that exists today across the United States and provides seniors with a quality of life not often found in mixed age settings. All of this is just the setup for the real issue. Stay tuned.
Sun City's history is why i spend countless hours on my computer almost every day. I know how important it is for those buying here to understand and appreciate it. Too many know nothing and worse yet, are told nothing about it by the RCSC. As mentioned in another thread, the new member bag/packet is embarrassing. Other than the SCHOA magazine (that i helped write several articles for), the black and white copies of 36 pages of bylaws and the copied pages of the New Owner Guide are uninspiring. You'd think for the $5000 they spend the RCSC could afford to, at the very least, color up what they were giving them. But alas, it all goes back to around 2009/2010. We endured/enjoyed our 50 year celebration with a year long effort of outreach. It was pretty good given we were coming out of the worst downturn in the housing market since the great depression. Sadly, at that same time the newly hired general manager in 2006, began her quest to reposition and rebrand Sun City. She apparently saw the moniker, City of Volunteers, as an aging concept unattractive to boomers. We became "Sun City, The Original Fun City." She claimed the marketing experts felt that would be more attractive by telling buyers they didn't have to come here and volunteer their time. Along with that, she (with the board's vote) began the massive rewrite of the bylaws that over time stripped members of their rights and voices. It was all done under the guise of "that's what our attorney is recommending." Some of us knew and understood what this subtle identity change would do. Millions of hours per year were donated by those living in Sun City to keep it affordable and functioning. We knew long term, the dynamic of less volunteers would change the direction of the community. We knew organizations reliant on volunteers would struggle. We understood with each passing day and year the downward pressures of less residents giving back their time and expertise, we would evolve and become like other communities where the focus was just move there and have fun. I guess the argument was, it would drive up property values if those buying in Sun City didn't have to invest a little time into giving something back to maintain a sense of community, ownership and accountability. Perhaps it worked, but for most of us living here, our home's value wasn't our primary reason for buying in Sun City. Perhaps if i owned 5 or 10 properties i would have been more interested in what my market value was. Then again, perhaps not. The problems that came with less volunteers and virtually no interest in what was going on community wise was short-sighted. While many free standing organizations struggled, the RCSC had a guaranteed cash flow that afforded them the ability to do whatever they wanted. Volunteers wasn't a concern, they could just hire more people. It simply didn't matter. . That's one reason the RCSC has doubled their numbers of management team members. Other's didn't have that luxury and many have had to change how they operate, still others just closed their doors. Now the paradigm shift is hitting the RCSC square in the face. As they have moved into the concept of a business structure, rather than a community structure, we are seeing clubs close, committees becoming less relevant and those who have little or no interest in what the RCSC says or does the new normal. For the first time in our history, we have a management team fixated on selling our amenities cheaply to outsiders and blatantly telling us, "it's for our own good." They are telling us, we need to increase fees to put more money in the bank. We have 5 board members doing things the community should know about but are hiding behind "executive sessions." And, we have them putting their thumbs on the scale of this election simply because they can. It's shameful and even former board members are speaking out. It doesn't matter, they simply don't care. They have become the end all be all and our role has been minimized to just shut up and pay your fees. My signature says it all: "Community before Corporation." That's how we were built, that's why we were so successful. It's not what we are today.
Today's the day we find out if Sun City stays trapped in the malaise of allowing a single person (general manager) to decide our fate, or if our trust we are better served by broadening the base to potentially include the 32,500 members. Every time i write something like this, or more often think it, i find myself giving my head a good shake and asking, "why is this even a question we need to ask?" The answer is easy; after 15 years of running from our history, most of those living in Sun City simply don't know, don't care or don't understand. We know Sun City was built from a wholly different cloth from where members came. The unique structure was one most cannot comprehend; no mayor, no city council, no attached costs to fund the services a city government funds. We were built differently and if no one takes the time to explain it to them, how or why should they know, or care. Most just want it to work and not be bothered with the details of a community built and run by the members. Boomers were always notoriously absent from organizational structure. Sun City was built on and around a voluntary structure of organizations reliant on those living here. It's one of the reasons the cost of living in Sun City is so much more affordable than other age restricted communities. All of that is on the cusp of changing. The new general manager has visions of more money, more hired consultants, more management team members and less member involvement. Clubs are insignificant when you look at Sun City future based on his view of us as a business. If he can't make a buck off what they do, what's the point? Our amenities no longer will belong to the members. We already know they are gearing up both 10 pin bowling and our 8 golf courses as profit centers by giving away cheap rates to solicit and encourage non-member utilization. So what if members aren't able to access, that's the cost of doing business beyond those living within these white walls. You've got to love his arguments, we need their money...but we also want yours as well. One way or the other, by today's end and ultimate tally, Sun City will survive. The difference will be with the direction coming from the membership, or the burgeoning management team deciding our fate. I know, at least for me, i trust those of us owning here to make better decisions than the hired help who for the most part don't live in Sun City.
You're absolutely right Bill! Why keep on asking the hired help, (some who don't even live in Sun City) what's best for the Membership when you can just ask the Members?
Now is the time to amend the Jan Ek Oath of Office swearing fealty to the Corporation and return the Oath of Office to fealty to the membership and remind the Board that they are First among Equals (Sun City Membership) and accountable to the Membership only not the GM and his staff.
Hey dipshit how many times do you have to post the same thing on multiple threads does that give you that fuzzy feeling come on Tommy boy you can do better than that!
