Danny DeVito in 1991 starred in Other People's Money. To be honest, I had to look it up. I remembered the phrase, far more than I remembered the movie. It was the kind of slogan that sticks with you. It's become the stigma that almost always comes to mind when I think of politicians and those who make a living out of spending other people's money. So what the hell does this have to do with Sun City? Pretty simple; we don't have politicians per se. However, since the advent of the PIF in 1999, we do have some of the trappings that go with being a politician. The massive dollars flowing through and into the RCSC via the PIF is staggering (over 20 million dollars in the past three years). Let me be clear, that's a good thing. I have written volumes on the PIF being easily the most notable event in our communities long and storied history. It took what was an aging Sun City and gave it the impetus to be more than competitive with every newer and nicer age restricted community in the country. Unfortunately like all two edged swords, it can cut two ways. While all of the good it does is nearly immeasurable, the downside is in how it can become elixir-like for board members. Mind you, I'm saying this having been in that position. I fell for the whole "let's buy the Lakes Club" game, only to have us do virtually nothing to secure it. See, board members come and go. Long term projects take years to come together and so the drug of creating and leaving a lasting edifice for any one board member is near on impossible. Norm Dickson did it at Fairway, but he stayed 6 years (and it was a wonderful addition to Phase 1 plus there was complete community involvement). Others have managed to work out projects in a shorter time frame, but they did it in conjunction with a long range planning committee who compelled the board to take action. Think about it; Marinette was the last project and was at the behest of the LRPC. The Bell tennis court renovation happened, but it was because we had taken tennis courts from Marinette and Mountainview and we needed to replace them. The new electronic signage was approved by the board, but that was done with PIF to keep from impacting residents annual assessments. The solar project was a long term investment in cost reduction. Other than that, it's been all golf, all the time. And it's been a long and ongoing formula decided on by whom? Piecemeal and by boards with no intervention nor assistance by a long range planning committee. Yet the flow of money to golf courses has become almost unstoppable. Maybe it's a good thing, perhaps not. The reality is, without community interaction in these decisions they are left to too few and often to a handful with their own agendas. Nothing wrong with that, it's just the dangling of funds targeted towards a project that won't even by started before they are off the board is a fools game. Not trying to insult you, because I too was caught up in it. My point is simple and constant: Reinstate the long range planning committee. It is our best bet against a handful trying to take us where we may not want to go.
A brief footnote to the movie OPM...it grossed 35 million dollars, less than 15 million more than we collected in the PIF the past 3 years. Don't you love numbers...they really do matter.
In a previous post I mentioned that I had my first visit to the pool at Lakeview. I can't speak for other sections, but the ladies locker room could very definitely be updated. The pool and surrounding areas are just fine. The entire rec center should not have to be razed in order to update some areas.
