Paradigm Shift...

With the country in a jumble and half the country hating the other half, it's easy to understand why life in Sun City is on the verge. The question really become: On the verge of what?

We, the Sun City Advocates, worked hard over the past two years to elect board members who said they were committed to restoring the members voices. To date, they haven't disappointed. Up and down the list of issues confronting the community, we've watched them turn to and ask for help from the stakeholders.

Nothing could be more apparent than from the Strategic Alternatives Committee (SAC). While some lament it not drilling down deeper and faster, committee work is slow and cumbersome. Stakeholders all have opinions and ideas. In fact, each stakeholder tends to think in terms of their needs, not the community's. It's simply human nature.

Their next session is on Friday August 25 and i expect that will be the "come-to-Jesus-meeting." They are bringing in an architect with experience in both building and facilitating groups focused on these types of projects. I have no insight to what she will bring, other than building costs are off the charts crazy and the reality of where we are financially will finally hit with an ugly thud on the table.

Because the other half of the equation, the RCSC's financial condition will start becoming more real. I went to my first budget and finance committee meeting in 20 years last week and to say i was shocked would be an understatement.

Last year when the Advocates and others were fighting over the yearly lot assessment increase; we were pretty vocal about then GM Cook explaining why. Over the course of the past year and we had been told about the 11 or 12 million dollar carry-forward money, so the increase seemed unwarranted.

The general manager was unable or unwilling to be open about why and simply argued we needed to start increasing reserves. Our imaginations were stretched to the limit, as we saw nearly 50 million dollars sitting there (between PIF, carry-forward and emergency reserves). On it's face, it made no sense.

Fast forward to last week and the reality of exactly where we are hit many of us smack dab in the face. It's not my job to spell it out, but i was blunt with those i spoke with afterward; it has to be brought to the community and done so as quickly, honestly and openly as humanly possible.

I know people hate bad news, but they are also resilient enough to understand what really matters is what we do going forward; not what has happened the past 10 years. I'm actually excited by the prospect of solving problems rather that "kicking the can down the road" like they have for the past ten years.

Along with these two hot button issues, the financial questions also drag into play what is happening within our golf community. For far too long, golf like lot assessments, have all but been ignored. Sure they raised rates on the daily walk-on players and for guests/visitors, but the full play pass buyers and surcharge players have been safe from any increases. Worse yet, a small group of players managed to convince management their buddies living outside Sun City should get a better deal with tee time privileges and rates beyond what many members get. It was both illogical and wrong.

Like everything else i talk or write about, the answers to the problems need by owned by the membership. I would say the golfing community first (and not just the small cabal that gets their way), but the entire golfing population. If that doesn't work, given what is looming on the horizon with golf course conversions to desert landscaping (20 to 40 million dollars from PIF), perhaps the full RCSC membership. I'd honestly prefer golfers self-police themselves.

But wait, there's more for the community to start paying attention to. Clearly the next GM hired will play an integral role in whether we are successful or not. Add in the bylaws being bantered about and throw in the list of suggestions coming from the survey, focus and working groups and the list is daunting.

That's where the paradigm shift comes in to play. It is daunting when we ask 9 board members and a GM to come up with every answer. They shouldn't put that on themselves or whomever they hire. It becomes far less daunting when the list of things to do is spread across hundreds of members willing to participate. Imagine if that list grows to 1000's.

There-in is the problem and one i struggle with every day. Do those living here even care any more; or at least care enough to do the basic minimum? Like vote for board members in the coming election. We know last year, even with as contentious as the race for board members was, only a small segment of the RCSC population voted. At the time there were roughly 32,500 members and though they didn't release vote totals, a close speculation would be around 2,500 total voters. That's pathetic.

To further compound my doubts, i've been involved with a Facebook group, Sun City Chat Arizona for a couple of years now. The past year i've helped out as an administrator. I try to post at something at least daily, sometimes more. Mostly history, but also community events and stuff.

This past weekend, i did something strange; i grabbed a screen shot of Mad's Alfred E Neumann (of "What Me Worry" fame) and asked the simple question about Sun City: Does Anyone Care? It was a test and honestly gang, most of you failed. I got 11 responses and even less likes. No, i don't care about likes, i care about whether the members of that site care enough to respond. Because if not, the paradigm shift is dead in the water.

As i wrote somewhere, if social media was around in the 60's and 70's when Sun City was in their formative years, we might not have made it. To be clear, i'm not giving up, i am reconsidering my options on reaching members with our history and how we solve the hole we've dug ourselves into.

If our history has taught us nothing else, it has proven Sun City residents are resilient and able to overcome literally anything. Of course, we also know the "Greatest Generation" was wholly different from "Baby Boomers" and the next wave, "Generation X."

We'll see eh? We'll see.

 

I am frankly at a loss as to why we should be shocked about the finances. If the budget and projects to be done are already known—-no surprises. Maybe the shock is due to this new board changing many items? We shall wait with anticipation!

 

And therein is the single largest two letter word in the English language: "If."

 

Not making light of the situation, but each letter might have a value of $20,000,000. Again seems tough decisions will be the norm for next few years. As I stated in another blog, maybe the board should let the “members in good standing” vote on any $5,000,000 or more financial item.

 

[QUOTE="As I stated in another blog, maybe the board should let the “members in good standing” vote on any $5,000,000 or more financial item.[/QUOTE]

That may open a door best left closed.

 

Bill,
I saw the post and did not comment. Why? Perhaps because our society is so polarized about so many things and many people seem to have forgotten how to be civil. Sometimes it is easier to simply read the post and scroll on. Please do not take non-responses personally. I enjoy reading your thoughts.

 

One of Garland’s goals and mine is to create a space where comments are encouraged (for or against matters not) as long as civility is maintained. I do understand your reluctance and we will be trying to rollout a more nurturing environment.

 

Interesting to note, at least two Facebook Chat Arizona members took the opportunity to tell me our history doesn't matter. I know there's more as posters here on TOSC often chide me about how i cling to Sun City's history. The argument is almost always followed with the premise we need to look forward rather than looking backwards. Really?

That would imply it's impossible to do both, which on its face is ludicrous. Meeker/DEVCO spent 18 years building Sun City and literally every step of the way they were focused on the future. I've written often they made a boatload of mistakes and wisely, they learned from them. The simple logic was take what worked and enhance it; what didn't, flush it and try something different. Duh.

Anyway, let's try this experiment to see if i am bat shit crazy, or perhaps see if i may be on to something. Here's the test question for each of you (i've asked the same thing on Facebook). Is Sun City better served with the membership having a voice, or, are we better off letting the general manager and a handful of board members make every decision for us?

 

For years the argument was made that the board members owed their loyalty to the members and NOT the corporation and GM. If we are electing board members to represent out views then we should back off and let them do the job they are elected to do.

 

Board of Directors & GM vs Membership Governance

As we exist now, RCSC membership has limited governing ability.

• We have functioning voting rights to elect board of directors.
  
• We have voting rights at the Annual Membership Meeting, which continue to be DENIED!

• Please correct me if there’s a voting right I‘ve missed.

I think a well defined blended governance, more inclusive of members, is needed to ensure the success, growth and continued development of our community. Not necessarily the day to day, staffing, etc.

Possibilities:

• Future direction-long range planning
• Approval of budgets
• Substantial financial obligations
• Purchase of buildings or equipment
• Approval of long term contracts

There, my two-cents, for what it’s worth ‼️

 

In the early years Sun City was only a few thousand deep. How many do you think can be at the (half) helm and make acceptable progress? 1% of our membership is roughly 350. Too many want to be heard, let alone those who are not educated on the subject matter. Even 9 board members can hold up projects for too long - let alone 35k members. Don't get me wrong members need to be involved, but are not committees and the board members and for the members?

 

In a perfect world this would be nice but the "Paradigm Shift" cannot be completed successfully without fixes to a broken system. As eyesopen indicates Membership rights have been denied and that cannot continue.

More changes and improvements to be addressed:
Bylaw changes are sorely needed, establishment of Legal Affairs and Communications Committees are necessary, clean-up and transparency within the Finance and Budget process are required, Board and Committee member training programs are needed, new GM hired and off running, system of measurement and accountability - just to name a few issues to resolve before we put trust in our elected board.

 

This is one time when the old adage "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it" doesn't apply.

We need to remember the past to understand how things were done to understand our success!

 

An historical Sun City success formula
THEN + NOW = NEXT ​

 

Please explain how members at large differ from board members when speaking about including membership in governance. We trust those members not on the board but don't trust the board? Are you saying that if you want to be trusted and heard don't be on the board?

 

Interesting question and a dangerous assumption that "we don't trust board members." I most often speak from a historical perspective and in this case it is the entire basis for my perspective. Through the first 18 years (when built and overseen by DEVCO), the community members were involved in numbers (both actual and percentage wise) that makes what we do today shamefully inadequate.

There's lots of reasons how we got to where we are, but the easiest point to put a check mark is after the year 2006. A new general manager was hired and as the years rolled by, changes to our documents were made that defied logic...other than it transferred power and control into a single push point. I've long argued (not saying you or anyone else will agree), our documents were nearly perfect. The Articles of Incorporation have remained virtually unchanged (those take a vote by the membership). On the other hand, the bylaws have been changed hundreds of times. The Articles are clear, the bylaws cannot be in conflict. However, they have been twisted and turned to meet various ends to squash the members voices and rights (in violation of the Articles).

I've said it before, i'll say it again; I don't think it was nefarious in nature. My best guess is it was for a couple of reasons: 1). The old committee/membership way was slow and cumbersome (which is the norm in non-profit organizational structure). 2). The general manager convinced board members she had a better grasp on what the community needed than the members did and she saw her direction being more in alignment with every other age restricted community around the country.

While serving on the board (2012-2014) i chided her often, if she was so sure she was correct, why not let the members decide on the community's direction? She stone cold refused to be that open and transparent. In fact, she convinced board members (as she rewrote bylaws), their obligation was to the RCSC (which it is by the way), but along with that premise, came an allegiance to the GM.

That's where it all broke down. A board's fiduciary obligation is in large part to insure oversight on the one employee out of the 440 who work for the RCSC. That would be the general manager. They have no say over the other 439 employees. They do need to know how and what the GM is doing. They do need to know if what needed to be done, was done. We all love to trust those we are working around and with. Like i wrote somewhere; trust but verify.

Here's the summation that best fits my vision and the single best way to describe our history: Sun City was built on and around these values; ownership, accountability and responsibility. Beyond that, the working partnership between the stakeholders in Sun City forged a sense of community that created the most successful endeavor of it's kind. Running from that kind of history made no sense to me.

It still doesn't.

 

https://www.boardeffect.com/blog/fiduciary-responsibilities-nonprofit-board-directors

I hope this link works. It's a lengthy article, but worth the time to read. It's one of the clearest explainations of the fiduciary responsibilities of members of the Board. Take special note of "loyalty." The responsibility of a board member looms large, individually and collectively.

I've been repeating myself for several months that there is one thing seriously lacking - board training. I'm not being critical of board members. Board members obviously can't know everything about an organization But the reality is that every successful board must thoroughly understand their roles and responsibilities. There is also a responsibility in the budgeting process to see that resources are available for training and that training is carried through. One thing Board's have to be consistently reminded of - the many aspects of their fiduciary responsibilities and the impact it has.

Has there ever been a serious Board orientation? One lasting more than an hour or two?

Do Board members have a comprehensive Board handbook? More than policies and by-laws?

Has any Board ever done a self-evaluation? It's recommended one be done annually.

Has any Board ever had a facilitated retreat or training session to determine the organization's strengths and weaknesses, where they see its future, etc?

Have Board members and the management team ever had any type of "team building" or even a small celebratory event of a major accomplishment. It's not a taboo to have an RCSC staff and Board holiday party to show appreciation for a job well done, and just get to know each other.

Nonprofits often fail because of a dysfunctional Board. CEOs, Executive Directors or GMs and legal experts will cite lack of Board training, poor (or lack of) communication (internal and external) and lack of resources as the top reasons.

Where do you think we stand?

We're making progress in some areas. We've recently pulled back the curtain on our finances and begun a major improvement in the budgeting process that will soon become evident to the members.

A communication plan is being worked on so that members can understand how we got here and why the steps being taken are necessary.

SAC is working diligently to get their recommendations put forward on MV.

Where are we on the ASU survey and the subcommittee work?

I know there's more. The Board and new GM, the current standing committees, and those we are trying to resurrect, have a herculean task ahead. We all have a huge stake in the outcome of this year's work. It's up to us to participate in upcoming meetings, join a committee if interested, attend one in person or watch those that are recorded. Communicate your thoughts to Board members about topics you're interested in. SC belongs to us. We're setting the course for the future.

For years, Sun City set the standard for senior living - let's not just become a footnote in history. Del Webb deserves better - so do we!

 

Bill, my wife always accuses me of having selective hearing. Apparently you suffer from selective reading retention, in that you only seem to retain what you think you read, not what I actually wrote. Nowhere did I say that history isn’t important. What I said was that there’s no reason to harp on it. (The dead horse reference, remember?) Please use facts instead of your narrative.

 

You mean this comment Larry: "Pretty sure most people are tired of you beating that dead horse. In 1960 I was 10 years old. It’s history Bill. We have moved to an entirely new era. Apparently your audience is adapting to change much better than you are." Curious, how do you know "most people" are tired of it?

But alas, it matters not. We had this discussion about why our history is important. If memory serves me, didn't you agree the past 15 years, where the GM ran everything, may not has been effective as when the members voices can be heard?

And last but not least, our newly departed friend from Chat sent me a DM where she pointed out the two of you concluded i must be on a "dry drunk." Really?