The height of arrogance is believing everything one writes or says is right and others are wrong. For the nearly 20 years i have lived here, and the million plus words i have written on Sun City, i've always understood (and stated), it's just my opinion. I am often chastised for writing too much, but when i write, i try and add in how or why i got to what i am saying/writing. Using history is helpful, and stories of what has happened over the years often helps readers understand why i think the way i do. Again, it doesn't make me right, it's just my opinion. With that out of the way, let's take a quick peak back at the last board/member exchange, or was it the annual membership meeting that wasn't? They all run together as the similarities of minimizing everything those in the room say is almost always on display. Whichever meeting it was, i sat chortling to myself as the board president explained why they were doing what they were going to do. I had heard it all before in my previous work life. Those at the top of the organization told us no one came to meetings because everyone loved us...that's why they weren't in the room. It came as no surprise when the board president proudly proclaimed 31,000 plus members paid no attention to what the RCSC did or was going to do because they were delighted with what the RCSC was doing. It was only the disgruntled minority in the room speaking. Really? Not to be a smart ass, but isn't that just a touch arrogant? After 15 years of telling new buyers to stay home and have fun; after shutting down communication and controlling the flow of what members actually knew or understood, do you think there just might be a vacuum of knowledge? Do you think some owners might be tired and frustrated of being ignored? Do you think all those years of 20 members in the room at board meetings and our documents being dismantled might have had a chilling affect on participation? Even more recently, in Dec of 2021, when we did have a quorum for the first time in a dozen years, do you think the impact of the attorney telling us the rights we were guaranteed by our Articles of Incorporation didn't exist, might have turned off some members? Isn't it a wee bit arrogant to think maybe at least a handful of them resented your actions? Seriously Dale, was it really all 31,000 plus who didn't show because they loved you? But wait, there's more. Just like at the member/board exchange, where the president likes to remind us not to just complain, but to bring solutions, i am going to do just that. However, you'll have to wait for it...i know the board will be hanging on my every word to come.
It's been many, many hours and nobody has responded to your comments. Why? Because there's nothing you can really say!... You're right of course! But.... you've gotta give Kudos to the RCSC Board and management...they've got us right where they want us. Just shut-up and pay your $525!
I didn't expect any responses Tom, most people living here are fairly clueless about how Sun City works. To be clear, i don't say that in an insulting or demeaning way; why should they understand something as different or unique as Sun City? We simply aren't like anything they have ever seen before. From the day we moved here, almost 20 years ago, i've been trying to explain it. Magazines, website blogs, scripts i wrote for videos, countless speeches and hundreds of tours through the Museum, everything was about helping owners and potential buyers understand what made us different. It's been a losing battle, especially when the largest most influential organization (the RCSC) is trying to go in the other direction. The former gm had a vision and it was wholly different than mine. I came to understand, while serving on the board, we were in a tug of war. I told her point blank we could redirect the members involvement based on the number of homes sold each year to return to our tenets, our values. She looked at it and decided we could push the membership away and become even further removed from membership involvement. It's why, to this day, they run from our history, not to it. Nothing could be a better example of our differences than when the Lakes Club could have been purchased (2012/2013). The nursing school went out and the owners of the building (the land was owned by the Sun Health Foundation) were interested in selling. We toured it. 38,000 square feet beautifully situated on View Point Lake and literally would have served our needs for more space. I have no interest in re litigating that decision, other than from this perspective: Carole and i begged the board to let the members vote on whether we should try and buy the property. We were familiar with the 1981 Sun Bowl offer from DEVCO to the RCSC to buy the property. We also knew the board didn't make that decision without member input. 27,000 members returned mail ballots and the members voted to take on ownership and agreed to a $2 a year increase in their yearly fees. Thank God we did, the Sun Bowl is a Sun City landmark. The members should have decided/voted on whether we purchased the Lakes Club; not the general manager, not Bill Pearson. The point is obvious here, we wanted to replicate the actions of the members having a say in these types of community decisions. On the other hand the general manager was terrified of what members would want. Her sole focus was golf and she knew a 10 million dollar purchase and renovation would throw her schedule off kilter. 6 of the 7 board members were golfers and they quickly got in line behind her. It was clear to me the board had become subservient to the direction given by the general manager. Historically we know the gm ran the day to day operations, the board oversaw the direction and leadership functions of the organization. It is exactly why the move away from our history was so important, those of us familiar with it knew where she wanted to take us was foreign to how we got here. It's why the 35 year battle (1961-1995) to incorporate is so significant. The powers that be in most of the organizations wanted us to become a city, like the communities around us. The members wanted no part of it. They loved the way Sun City was built and that they were the owners. Sadly, as i watch the 20 year evolution of what was, to what currently is, they (the RCSC) has turned us into something the members fought so hard to keep from happening. A single entity governance where they just do whatever they want. If you think not. look at the bylaws rewrite and tell me they restored even a smidgen of control/power back to the members. You can't because there is none, NONE! There was never any intention to do that. It was all smoke and mirrors. Hopefully in the coming weeks you will hear the real story behind the bylaws exercise in futility. But alas, as i am want to do, i drift. In the immortal words of Arnold, "i'll be back."
At the second board candidate forum i asked a question for the 6 possible board members. It was a simple query, "would you as a board member in 2023, be willing to give members the ability to vote on a hot button issue?" Several were quick to say yes, absolutely; others waffled a bit and one said sure, we already do that in member/board exchanges. Really? When i was on the board (2012-2014), we had two member/board exchanges every month and members never voted on anything at them; they still don't. Hell, they ask tough questions are told stuff is fixed even when nothing has been done. Go figure. The question wasn't folly, it was meant in a strictly absolute sense. I elected not to bundle it in a something that would compromise them and as potential board candidates and put them in an uncomfortable position. You know, like throwing the softball at them about voting for Mountain View, irrespective of the cost. I mentioned above the Lakes Club and what should have happened, the membership should have been allowed to vote. The question was this simple: Should the RCSC buy the Lakes Club; Yes or NO? The beauty of this was proposal was it would have inspired the membership to become involved and invested in their community. I would have coupled the vote with town hall meetings which would have inspired countless questions about the pros and cons. Members would have realized they weren't card holders but member/owners. It would have resolved the question whether the community should have a voice or whether the board/general manager just make every decision. My question wasn't a throwaway, i could have used a topic we know is on the burner and has been for more than a year now. What do you think would happen if we asked members in a mail in ballot this question: Should the RCSC let non-members buy full play golf passes and be able to play cheaper than members and allow them access to tee times ahead of RCSC members? Yes or No? When i put this into question form, you quickly come to understand exactly why the management team and some of the board are terrified of the members. They know beyond a shadow of a doubt, the members would say HELL NO. You know it, i know it and they know it but here we are with them still selling cheap half price golf to non-residents. Scary when you think about it in these terms.
Now that we are going to blow 50K on a survey of the membership, one of the questions should be; Do you know you have a right (obligation) to vote for your board of directors (who used to be elected to represent the members, not so much anymore) and do you know how to do that? It would be terrifying to see the results. I'm really curious what they put in the new home buyer packet these days? Anyone new to Sun City and getting one (information packet) when thy picked up their membership card? If so, please jump in and let us know. If you were to look back, over the years, new buyers were given extensive amounts of information in an effort to help those moving here understand the differences from where they came. It would be interesting to compare. Back in the day, it was all hard copy. It was an infusion, is it still. We know from what has happened to Sun Views, there is simply less rather than more. If you don't open a link, or pick a copy up at the rec center, you never see it (a shell of its former self). The argument is they can sign up for the blast emails but many of us know the open rate of blast emails. Virtually every step of the way, the membership has been pushed away. Was it simply an accident? Was the cost of communicating too high? Back in the days the RCSC used to brag about all the meetings the RCSC held for members and if they didn't come/participate, it was their own fault. If i told you these days, there's a 3rd less as many membership meetings, would you be surprised? If i told you they never limited comments at any of the meetings, would you be shocked? If i told you they listened to members rather than blowing them off, what would you think? Was it all done because they cared about the membership, or because they didn't really care at all? I know my answer, what is yours?
And you could tell us about the time when the Members actually had the opportunity to vote at their own membership meetings without having to send every motion back to the Board to receive their blessing. A blessing, BTW, that often never comes!
Most new Sun City home owners and RCSC members have no idea there was a time (not all that long ago), when the membership played an integral role in the community's direction. Members were actively engaged in committees where they actually had a voice the board was willing to listen to. Before 2006, every bylaw and board policy change was reviewed by the legal affairs committee. That was a group of retired attorneys and judges who volunteered their time to insure neither the board and most assuredly not the general manager tried to change the community documents. Everyone/everything was held to strict adherence to state statutes and a reflection of the intent crafted into our documents. Within the first year of the new gm being hired, they were dismissed. After that, bylaw rewrites were done in the general managers office and with board approval were shoved though time and time again. During those rewrites, the biggest change was regarding the quorum. It went from 100 members to 10% (which was roughly 3500) and then quickly reduced to 1250. To give you an idea how bad this was, until Dec of 2021, there had never been an RCSC annual membership meeting or RCSC board meeting with that number in attendance. NEVER. The reason it was so ugly was, as Tom mentioned above, back in the day when it was common to see 200-400 members come to the quarterly membership meetings, they could make motions from the floor regarding the bylaws (as guaranteed in our Articles of Incorporation) and pass them from the floor. Board members could and did the same. It was clearly a sharing of power, where each group respected the others rights. In spite of what the president tells us from the stage these days, nothing "bad" ever came from it. Sorry, there is a not a single incidence she can point to. I know she talks about the ARS lawsuit but that had nothing to do with anything that happened at a board or membership meeting. It was always just the argument they used to take away members rights. It really is tiring to sit in the crowd and listen to management and some board members say things that are patently not true. I suspect it is most often just ignorance, but if you don't know, just admit you don't know rather than making shit up to fit your narrative.
Democratic governance is tedious. One must let differing opinions and positions be heard and discussed, no matter how ridiculous they seem to others. Arriving at a consensus is often strained. Autocracy is easier... manage as you wish and ignore complaints. The RCSC has, over the years, promoted the idea that the GM and Board are "saving" the RCSC from the membership's whims, implying that the membership is incapable of guiding the Corporation. That arrogance has positioned the RCSC to, on several occasions, actually disavow all responsibility to community issues. Nor has the SCHOA stepped up in key areas. That has left the community in a vacuum -- we have no community organization that promotes and fosters the needs of the community. Perhaps the fledgling Sun City Advocates will mature and gain a much larger following? As individual members we're simply throwing pebbles at the establishment -- a large group would be able, metaphorically, able to throw boulders and get their attention.
Spot on IC, democracy is a tedious exercise and one many feel unimportant. Some of us see it as the cornerstone in the process called self-governance. The former gm quickly came to understand the members stood in the way of what she felt need happen. The first step was to get rid of the legal affairs committee, the second was to change the quorum from 100 to something unreachable. It worked beautifully (at least until Dec of 2021). Dumping the logo, City of Volunteers and becoming the fun city was the icing on the cake. The final nail was to dump the long range planning committee. The board then became pliable enough to grant her every wish. Then it grew worse. Once the membership was out of the way, they did whatever. Board meetings were packed into the Sun Dial auditorium. Massive crowds of 20 were dwarfed by the number of employees, board members and the management team in the room. The evolution was complete, no one came, no one cared. Then a funny (not really) thing happened, in 2020 they fired a board member who went quietly into the night, Emboldened by their first flushing, they thought what the hell, let's get rid of another in 2021. The uprising that followed terrified them. They hired off duty officers who were brought in to protect them from the angry membership. In response, they ran off the stage rather than facing the members and answering the hard questions. The new gm responded well by threatening to have us all arrested if we didn't leave his building. Common sense prevailed and members were allowed to stay on OUR building, not his. No one was arrested. Forged from the fires of these events, the Sun City Advocates were born. Our goal was simple, get Karen reelected. She was, by the largest number of votes in years and years. From there, the goal was for the Advocates to identify three candidates who supported the idea that members mattered. What we have witnessed this past three months has been an exercise in futility. Their fear of members having a voice in the process of self-governance has terrified them. Their actions have been shameful at best. I get it, they are terrified of what the members have to say. This entire concept of membership involvement is foreign to most of them. It means they may not control every outcome. It means they may have to listen to what members have to say. And to be clear, it doesn't mean what i say, think or write is what they will choose. Nope, i've always understood i am just one voice amongst many. I will happily live with whatever they decide is in our best interest. I won't merrily go along with what an accountant not even living in Sun City thinks is best for us. Democracy is hard, self-governance is too precious to let it be stolen from us.
