The annual RCSC membership is meeting is this Monday night at the Sun Dial auditorium (Feb, 26, 2018). The two plus hour affair will be filled with important information on how the community is run, things accomplished in the past year and things to come this year. It starts at 6pm with refreshments and the meeting to begin at 6:30. Of course for the vast majority of those living here, they will avoid it like the plague. Attendance will be sparse and those there will listen diligently to how well we are doing. Nope, nothing wrong with that, but once again, from a historical perspective, it sure as heck ain't what it used to be. I almost hate to admit i was one of those who fought to try and find a way to make the community work better. Here's a quick look back: Sun City for most of its existence had quarterly membership meetings. For it to be an official meeting where actions from the audience to have a voice, there needed to be a quorum of 100 card holders to be in attendance. Apparently that scared the powers that be, because in 2009, the board took the outrageous action of increasing the quorum to something like 3500 members. Nonsensical; in that we don't have a venue short of the Sun Bowl that holds that many. The argument was 100 disgruntled members could make a motion from the floor that could become the law of the land. More crapolla, because our by-laws said a motion from the floor would simply be sent back for review by the board. In any event the fear mongering worked. The last official annual membership meeting was in September of 2009, while the quorum was still at 100, And so we are clear, in all the years of those membership meetings with quorums of 100, the RCSC survived just fine. Along the way, the board was chastised severely for the 3500 number and dropped it to 1500. No way we were reaching that, so it was still a safe haven from members showing up in force. When i was elected to the board, i agreed we should consider a change from quarterly meetings we never had a chance to meet to try and establish an annual meeting where we at least had a chance. Our first year, circa,2012, we set it for a Saturday in January and worked our butt off to make it a big deal. Coffee and donuts in the morning, some light business and entertainment, followed by lunch with the actual business meeting early afternoon and more entertainment at the close of business. With a threshold still at 1500, we fell far short of that number. I was convinced my fellow board members would see the merit in reducing the quorum to a more manageable number in the 500 range. Huh, fool that i was, not enough of board agreed; seems the members actually having a voice wasn't all that important to the majority of those sitting as board members. The meeting has morphed into an evening affair for those still working. It has been shortened and the same outrageous 1500 members is still in place insuring there will not be a true membership meeting. What will happen is when the meeting is called to order, the president is asked if there is a quorum, he will be told there is not, (which is why you must bring your rec card and sign in) and the meeting will be cancelled like it has been since Sept of 2009. Not to be alarmed, if you go you will still hear all the same stuff. You will still get to speak at an open mic if so inclined. There just will not be a formal meeting where members who wanted to try and affect change through a collective effort/voice will be able to do so. Hope to see you there, but if you are, you will be a small minority of the population that does show.
What a numbers crap game this is. I know I’m stating the obvious but...they don’t want 100 people in the community to make a decision but a few board members can. And IMHO, a two hour meeting in the evening is too long. One hour ok, but two plus?
I was at a meeting recently, a member exchange I think it was called, where some poor sucker got up to talk and when he rattled off his number was told, "Whoooah, you are a privilege card holder and not a member so you cannot speak." Is that likely to be repeated should he, or any other card carrying non-member attempt to offer and opinion, or ask a question at this meeting? Another thing that I found . . . . .... irritating was that when the 15 or 20 (carp math) motions before the BoD were voted on they are all passed by acclaim or at least unanimously, giving the impression that if all the BoD members support this motion it must be a good thing when I know that there is disagreement on these issues but that it is all traded off in some smoke filled room long before the meeting. I can't avoid the impression that I am watching the Soviet Politburo rather then something more democratic. I remember seeing one vote where a member abstained and I got the impression that she was just a heartbeat away from a firing squad.
"So, R U going?" Really? Why on earth would I attend a meeting where The Sun City Oligarchy (aka the Board) has already decided what cards are in the deck? The last Member Meeting I attended was the one where the Board told the members attending that they (the Board) "can do anything we want" -- and a month or so later they announced the Quorum was raised to 3500 (presumably) to ensure they can retain that level of control. By changing the quorum number, they have denied ALL members, both adversaries AND supporters, a voice. It's mind-boggling to me why members tolerate that. Attendance demonstrates acceptance of their actions. I simply can't do that, so I boycott. With little reasonable chance of a Quorum (ever?) being achieved, Sun City's residents are nothing more than neutered souls living in an Orwellian community where The Sun City Oligarchy tells us what to do and when, where, and how to do it. But rest assured, if/when it appears enough members are tired of not having a say, I'll be in attendance.
Thanks for the info on all this. I never knew it had evolved to this point at all.....ridiculous !!!!! Sounds just like another form of Governmental Hierarchy , and really pisses me off to hear it.
Thanks for the comments gang, serious and the not so are appreciated. The biggest problem for me is the move away from a more democratic (small d for sure) process. IC is right, the board has insulated itself from the membership and it has resulted in a dramatic move away from participation. The average numbers at the monthly board meetings are under 25. Pathetic. My good friend Ben Roloff has spent the past two plus years researching the state archives of the newspapers from Sun City. Spectacular at the least and one day we will figure a way to preserve his findings in ways people will be able to see up close and personal. The other day at coffee he spoke of the fight by residents to include recall petitions in the by-laws. Ugly battle in the early 80's that was finally passed and became part of our documents. For those who don't know, DEVCO left in 1978/1979 to open Sun City West and the community was faced with a serious directional issue. There were forces who argued for strict spending controls, while others recognized there would be issues if the community just tried to maintain the status quo. There was little doubt that DEVCO had been subsidizing much of the internal costs and the hard reality was there were going to be increases to meet needs. That didn't sit well with many of the folks and the election in 1982 was fraught with candidates pulling in both directions. Residents actually ran on real platforms with real agendas. More importantly people living here voted. Every election saw huge turnouts and ownership by the community was real and substantive. It was a community being run like it should. My, how far we have drifted from those days when people actually cared. I have been asked numerous times by people when i would run for the board again. My answer is always the same; when i can put together a slate of 3 candidates who are like-minded and interested in running on a platform of a more democratic process. That would be followed by a second year slate of candidates who saw the value of bringing governance back to an earlier time in our history. Our community documents protect us from the stupid becoming the norm. The problem is working to include residents takes an active commitment to do so. Lip service means nothing, as we see so often today. Real change comes from setting goals and putting plans in place to execute and reach those goals. Serving on a board where i get to vote no is an exercise in futility and three years of that was more than i could take the first time around. So on Monday night i will stop by, may say something, may not. Here's the one given for all of you: Ignoring the problem only insures nothing will change.
I guess to me it sounds like Corporate Hierarchy. In any case, no matter what it is called, hopefully BP keeps us informed as his slate comes together. Meanwhile some of these concerns (i.e.. the quorum one) have to be put to new candidates who do rum (a freudian slip, probably caused by the "gin or vodka" query above) for office so that their thoughts become some of the (all-too-quickly-forgotten) public record.
Bravo BP for standing up and speaking to the most ridiculous "is there a quorum, no there is not, dismissed." Which, by historical accounts, has gone on forever. The folly of it all got you the clapping ovation I was hoping for. This phrase fits perfectly- Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Quick correction on my comments from that video C: The quorum is only 1250 people, rather than the 1500 i stated. Still doesn't matter because we weren't even close to reaching it and frankly we never will. Reduce the number to something attainable and then start working towards growing those interested in the governance of this remarkable community. It doesn't happen by accident or osmosis, it takes a plan with actual goals. I know that is foreign to most, but it is how organizations change, grow and evolve to a better place.
There are, BP, as you are probably already aware, folks to whom "evolve" is equated with "evolution" and that is the devil's handiwork. Also the very nature of conservatism is to avoid change and as applied around here often yearns for a return to a better time when there were no civil rights, no women's movement, no "political correctness," (here defined as "not using words that are hurtful or offensive to others"), no income tax, no EPA, and no social security. No wait, most of us collect that, so let's keep it.
