I hate trying to give advice, i'm simply not that smart, that well grounded and hell, my wife thinks i am certifiably nuts. Maybe she is right. Why else would someone spend 20 years of their retirement trying to make Sun City a "better place to live?" I use quotes only because it has been my mantra all these years. When confronted by then board president Vance Coleman over coffee before i was seated on the board, he asked bluntly, "what's my agenda?" I answered, "to make Sun City a better place to live." He looked at me and said, "no really, what is it?" Duh, this isn't that difficult. The problem is we tend to want to take stuff personal? To be offended by a perceived slight or an off-putting remark. Don't, it isn't worth losing your sanity over what other people think of you. It isn't worth trying to get even. Hell, if anyone should be angry, it should be Barbara Brehm and Karen McAdam, the board made it personal...yet i would tell them the same thing; don't take it personally. I watched a woman in Sun City spend 20 years of her life fighting the battle. It ended in a courtroom where the suit was dismissed and all of the time, money and effort went down the drain. I met with her several times trying to find solid footing going forward but by then she was consumed. It was personal and she was either going to win it all or lose it all. It was senseless, because she could have been a positive force in the community for change. Instead the quest was to win at any and all cost. We are clearly at a crossroads as the RCSC plows ahead with an agenda to neuter the membership even further. They refuse to acknowledge over the past 15 years their actions have created a vacuum where the gm and the board are the only ones that mattered. They still act as if it is there god-given right to do dumb stuff because they can. Think not? Look at the agenda for the September 30 board meeting. Look at their actions at the September 13 board meeting. Watch the video replays from May and June board meetings as they plowed ahead with the Mountainview project amid protests and questions and smugly endorsed their actions by waiving the second and third reading. Plain and simple, it is pure arrogance. Nope, not taking it personal. It's just what they do and where they are. Worse yet, they see their actions as perfectly legitimate and those of us in the peanut gallery are the ones out of line. It's tragic that this is where we are. That said, if you have followed my rantings on this site, i long said we were headed exactly where we are at. We will keep up the good fight, not because we need to win, but because we want Sun City to stay an incredible place to retire to or in many cases a place to keep working but enjoy all Sun City has to offer. The old adage, it's not personal, it's just business may fit...but in this case the "community" should always come before the business. That is why Sun City was so successful.
That's the real sad part; they don't see or understand what they are doing to their own (the Board's) credibility, which in turn creates the resistance, the non-trust and whether their decisions are even credible! The Board needs to be on the same wavelength as the Members and that can only be done with transparency instead of the closed doors and back room dealings!
FYI, your comments may be true. But change will only come with new and more open board members. I have lost faith that the current board will listen. I think that they think they are looking out for the community. If they believe that, nothing will really change until the makeup of the board changes. As I've said in another post, it will take several board election cycles to effect change. And the type of change is not guaranteed. Apathy still rules in Sun City.
"Making Sun City a Better Place to Live" is a campaign slogan. It's way too broad. So lets all try to boil the ocean ;-) Doing the right thing, is also an opinion. Few things are black and white. Most things are multi-colored. If enough people care, maybe some "Right Things" could be accomplished. But it takes involvement, numbers and time. Numbers are lacking. Time is less as I get older. Involvement is a significant commitment that few make in retirement. We all seem to be concerned more about my personal needs and less for those of the masses. I want to do things smart. I want to be different from the woman who spent 20 years fighting for ALL and went away with NOTHING. That won't be me. I don't have time to chase windmills. But I may be able to do some smaller things. See my thread on APATHY. I'm trying to figure out what makes Sun City tick. I'm willing to share that knowledge as I go along. But I'm doing it first for me. The sharing is secondary, yet important to me. I will need help with the sharing. Its a lot less of a task, and doesn't involve boiling the ocean.
I don't disagree with you but I believe it will take more than simply changing board members, which will take several years. The board has lost the faith and respect of many Members and with that slow-roll of turnover of board members the Members will continue to have that bad taste in their mouths. And to Bill's title of this post, "Never Take it Personal" how can you NOT take it personal when the board is basically ignoring you, your opinions and your concerns especially with their latest attempt to eliminate Robert's Rules? The board will simply become lawless, and We, the Members will become irrelevant!
I suspected this header would cause controversy, as a society we have all become polarized and tend to see life through our own eye's lens. I can tell you both Carole and i were little more than speed bumps while serving on the board. Nope, didn't take it personally. The board simply saw the gm as the source for all things Sun City and trusted her judgement was always right. It was laughable to think that way, but once you commit to a gm with the proper degrees and you are paying her like she should know what she is doing, there's no turning back. Nothing has been more frustrating than to watch as boards have relinquished control and the decision making to management. It defies logic if you know and understand our history. It's not how we were built or why we became successful. My argument with the gm and the board was to open the discourse with the membership and see what they wanted. Tragically the gm wanted just the opposite. She won and over time has dictated strategy and wholly owns where we are today. As far as "making Sun City a better place" being a campaign slogan, maybe. Doesn't matter because my involvement in the myriad of things i have done, has always been my endgame. I've never said i was right, i have argued we need do way better involving the membership, because ultimately what they want is right. My push was always to gather them and ask them. Seems simple, but when the gm is moving away from that, impossible to achieve. Don't know if you guys have followed the discussion, when TOSC went down, several of us started making an alternative plan for reaching members of like mind. I bought the URL, "We Love Sun City," and asked for suggestions. Got lots of good ideas, most beyond my capacity from a technology standpoint. After a phone call last night, i have a sense we can do something pretty cool stuff, with an eye to engage owners in Sun City and potential buyers to why our history matters, along with several other interesting ideas. With TOSC back online, the urgency to get something up immediately and will allow us to do it right rather than quick.
Bill, if the board does in fact change "shall" to "may" regarding the use of Robert's Rules, how much damage does that do the viability of the board? In your experience and years of knowledge, would this current board be about the worst board we've ever had? They have caused the lack of trust and respect from those who DO give a crap.
Good question FYI. For many folks "may" or "shall" won't mean much especially when used in conjunction with Robert's Rules. Those who do know, understand how ugly it makes it. As far as "worst board ever," not really. There were boards that stripped grandfathering; boards that reduced the quorum; boards that got rid of committees...all things that made Sun City a little less user friendly. I will say i have never seen one this arrogant and intolerant the opinions of those living here. The shit pile we are in is just a compilation of bad decisions where our voices have meant less and less.
Something that I think is getting lost in the weeds is the fact that the removal of Robert's Rules as the specified parliamentary authority also affects all other committees whether Standing or Ad-Hoc! EVERY committee functions under the organizations bylaws, not just the board or our membership meetings! So if there are any committees out there who like to run their meetings under Robert's Rules, they no longer need to comply!
I take certain items personally. This is why I'm going to comment on the agenda item. However, I am one member from over 40,000. My voice alone may not carry much weight. But there is always a chance that enough of the board will listen and vote this item down. I have never been a fan of the board member who put this item on the agenda.
The reality is this board has no intention of paying attention to what anyone has to say or offer as an opinion or defense. Michael, you may be a voice of one in 40,000, but the momentum this site and folks like you, Bill, and others has taken this board's lackadaisical attitude and brought it to the forefront of the members perview. It has been known by several, but not the entire membership, how unscrupulous the board and GM have acted in the past years to undermine the benefits of the members and redo the policies that provided the needed protections afforded to the membership. The need to stay focused and not get side tracked by the board and GM's intent to intimidate and redirect the positive momentum the membership has garnered is evident. I am quite sure the BOD is not equipped to understand how their actions have now created a backlash from the membership, and am even more convinced the direction they are recieving is not that of their own volition but one the GM is orchestrating. It is concerning to me the actions of concerned members are greeted with police, pop-up referendum's about membership cards, rather than the willingness to listen and try to find common ground. This is, sadly, not new territory to be covered, as it has always been a fight to have the board and the GM consider the members wishes. I feel the direction to be taken is to create a community group to reclaim Sun City, maintain the steady pace which has been found here by all of us, and be prepared to attend meetings, ALL meetings, and stay vigilant to further changes to the documents.
Mike said above he is willing and able to do the little things that try and make a difference. We all need to think that way. No one needs to, nor should they fall on their sword. Nothing is that important to let what is happening ruin your time in Sun City. We all have a date stamp that is growing closer to expiration and fighting to the death is senseless. Showing up at a meeting or two is 4 or 5 hours out of your month. Paying attention to the candidates is easy, either attending in person or watching online. Voting, an act that used to draw 75% of the population has become a joke. About 1000 people vote. Don't make the mistake of tabulating the number of votes each candidate got. The RCSC has come to understand the majority pay no attention. The closest they get to the action is reading an article in the Independent. In fact, they (the rcsc) argue because no one comes, they are all happy. I listened to that bullshit from organized labor as we slowly died the death of a thousand cuts. The concerted effort to push people away from governance to just do the fun stuff wasn't accidental. Throw in the fact more buyers in Sun City continue to work and you end up with the perfect storm. I don't know if their latest actions will be the tipping point. I don't know if come Thursday's meeting will be the dawning of a new tomorrow. I don't know if the rcsc will finally cut the cord attached to the existing gm or keep her around as a consultant. I don't know if the new gm is willing to strike off on his own and reshape the community into being more like those early years. I do know come Thursday's meeting we will get a glimpse of what is to come. You should be there to see for yourself.
