What's Changed?

Discussion in 'Sun City General Discussions' started by BPearson, May 12, 2019.

  1. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Damn, i should be using some catchy header dangling the prospect of a titillating sexual encounter or a miraculous weight loss pill to get folks to read this. But alas, i opted not to go for some cheesy grabber and just give you the clean simple facts...oh yeah and one daunting question? What's Changed?

    In this thread, "It wasn't always utopia," we explored the magical year of 1981. It was a time when Sun City residents were grappling over the future of the community. The Del E Webb Development Corporation (DEVCO) had left for Sun City West and the RCSC was in for a tumultuous time.

    The early 80's would become one of the most challenging periods in our history. Some wanted the RCSC to push aggressively forward where others sought to cling to a more frugal existence. The good news in this time frame was those living here were interested and engaged in the process of self-governance.

    If you read the above referenced thread, you know both 81 and 82 held fascinating intrigue. Between the recall efforts of two board members and the birth of the Concerned Recreation Members (CRM), there was nary a dull moment. Surprisingly, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

    1983 still saw "officials" within various organizations in Sun City trying to soft-sell incorporation. They viewed revenue sharing (the distribution of a portion of federal tax revenues to state and local governments) as leaving money on the table. Theoretically it would pay for city services. Based on census data, the amount was somewhere around 4 million dollars per year. From a practical standpoint, city growth would eventually outstrip the money returned to a community and taxes would need be increased to pay for those services.

    Mercifully, the masses rejected the idea we should become akin to all the other communities around us. Besides, over the next two years, Sun City would be facing several wholly different challenges that would cause enormous internal discomfort. So much so, the community engaged on levels never before seen.

    This is getting long already and i haven't even scratched the surface of the infighting that took place. Stay tuned as this gets really good. My thanks to Ben Roloff for providing the research. As we proceed, you will quickly see why IC's comments regarding changes to our community documents have dramatically impacted our involvement.
     
  2. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    There's several items on the agenda to cover, but none more politically explosive than the next one i'll write about. The year was 1983 and dragged on into 1984. Straw votes led to board votes and petitions drafted for a second vote a year later. It ultimately motivated the board to amend the articles of incorporation, changing the percentages of signatures needed on a petition from 2% to 10% of the population. 32,000 votes weer tallied in 1984 on this one topic alone, though there were several changes voted on during the mail vote that allowed proxies on June 1, 1984.

    As a side note, one Sun City resident was fined $100 for making threatening phone calls that included telling the person he called, "you're dead." Put on your thinking caps here gang, 1983/1984; what in the world would have created this kind of animosity and rancor?

    I won't leave you hanging too long, got to get to the gym for a quick workout.
     
  3. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Dang, thought for sure i would get back from the gym and one of you would have nailed it. Then i could say; awesome, give the man a cigar, or in this case, a cigarette. For real, the fight over butts was just heating up in 1983. By 1984 it was in full phase blaze mode. In June of 83 the board was getting complaints of second hand smoke from the masses. Attorneys for the RCSC at that point were cautioning the board of abolishing smoking st facilities and the potential for lawsuits by members for breach of contract who had paid their dues and now had less benefits.

    By September of 1983 a petition with over 7000 signatures had been presented to the RCSC board by the Non-Smokers Association of Sun City requesting a vote on the question of allowing smoking in club rooms and meeting rooms. The board responded with a 5-2 vote by board members to hold a vote by the membership to decide the issue. As you can imagine, this sent sparks flying across the community. The board was working out the details for the vote and the newspapers were filled with a variety of opinions, both for and against.

    By the middle of November proxy votes had been mailed with the vote deadline of Dec 8 for the tally to be taken. Smokers were claiming their rights were being violated while the non-smokers were claiming the same as they were forced to stay away from centers because they couldn't breathe. The smokers were alleging the whole second hand smoke argument was blown out of proportion. Interesting given what we now know about second hand smoke eh?

    The non-smokers won the proxy vote battle with the final vote tally being 13,235 to ban smoking with 11,268 voting for it. another 1,352 votes were invalidated mostly because no vote selection was recorded. 25,835 votes were received. The non-smoking ban was slated to go into effect January 16, 1984. The turn of the calendar brought all kinds of legal wrangling and the formation of a new group, the "Equal Rights for all Sun Citians being formed. They also hired an attorney to try and get an injunction to halt the no-smoking ban.

    The board held off implementing the ban till Jan 30. They did institute it along with enforcement rules including losing membership privileges. Several residents intentionally violated the ban and were brought before the board. Most were let off with a warning as they said they would not violate the policy again. I'll spare you the details, because throughout the year, the fight continued on. A judge ruled the vote taken in December was fairly held. The Equal Rights group responded by getting enough signatures on a petition (2% at that time) to force another vote.

    The board hated the idea of having to do it again, but the petition process was clear. They had enough signatures to force a second vote; hence the articles of incorporation change in June of 1984 calling for 10% of the membership to put a motion on the ballot (rather than the 2%). By the time this is through, you will see there were a number of changes to the Articles of Incorporation, all voted by the membership. By the way, the second vote on the question of banning smoking came out exactly the same as the first vote; 54% to ban smoking, 44% to go back to allowing smoking.

    As i write this, i shudder to think about my old golfing buddy Gabe, who virtually never was without a butt in his hand as we played. He died in his mid 60's of lung cancer.

    Stay tuned, we've barely scraped the surface.
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2019
  4. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    While the smoking question was the hot button topic of all of 1983/84, there was even a bigger issue smoldering. The early 80's saw a dearth of new units to Sun City. Royal Oaks, El Dorado and Wooddale Village were just the beginning of a slew of high density units building in the community. The board arrived at a figure of $200 to "buy into" the Sun City amenity package. This number was justified with research they did and was challenged by many in the community.

    Most of 1983 brought intense battles at open meetings where a newly formed group, "The Committee to stop the giveaway of Sun City" was active and vocal. They claimed the $200 was about $800 short of what it should be. They had done their own cost analysis of the amenities and determined the board was selling Sun City short. Some meetings got quite contentious and some very long. Clearly, it was an interesting time in the community.

    Early in 84 the new board voted to maintain the $200 buy-in on new units and $200 transfer fee on home sales. They argued the need for it to be "equal." Two board members voted against it, both were newly elected and both had gotten the most votes ever in an RCSC board election; 16,000 and 13,000 votes each. They had campaigned on the promise to fight the "give-away." On March 13, given the RCSC board had elected to continue the $200 fee, a petition was presented to them with 8,158 signatures. They wanted the board to charge newly built units to charge builders $1,570 buy-in fee. The signatures were easily enough to force a community vote on the matter.

    The board faced a true quandary because the $200 fee was written into the new facilities agreement, while the signatures collected could only force a vote on a by-laws amendment. The entire process got quite ugly as the board started looking for ways to get rid of the two upstart board members. It didn't work, and as things evolved, the RCSC attorney decided it would be legal to charge new developers a higher rate if they agreed prior to construction and signing an agreement.

    Interesting to note, the actions by a concerned group of Sun City residents were able to convince the board to increase the buy-in fees and help set the community on a course to be better able to function into the future.

    The most shocking aspect of 1983/84 is yet to come. Hang on to your hats, you will not believe what you are about to read.
     
  5. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Betty Pearlmann. Remember the name, it might just be the most important person you have never heard of in Sun City. In fact, what you are about to read will in all likelihood be a story that virtually no one knows. And the funny thing is, given the handful of folks that follow this site, it will continue to remain a secret shared only by a very few. The only true hope is if and when Ben Roloff does a presentation on this, those in attendance will be dumbfounded. Because, as he dug it out, both he and i were stunned.

    The story begins in May of 1983. Oddly enough, it doesn't even start in Sun City. In fact, the initial drive was started in Sun City West which was just a scant 5 years old. Seems PORA (Property Owners and Residents Association) were looking into trying to pass a senior age overlay recently issued in another community by Maricopa County. They felt the ordinance would help reinforce their deed restrictions.

    As you sit scratching your head asking; what the hell does this have to do with us? The answer is mind-boggling. Ben Roloff has given me copies of the deed restrictions from New Life #1 (the area around the museum) and the original deed restrictions from the home we are currently in (circa 1974). In neither case, is there any reference to age restrictions. Nope, not a word, sentence or paragraph. It sent Ben scurrying to the reference library and some 20 plus hours later he had the story.

    There were never deed restrictions on age requirements in Sun City. Advertising and promotional brochures all touted age restrictions of 50 for one of the adults and 18 for the kids. That was it. Over the years i have written articles about the school district battles and the kids living in Sun City (50 plus of them) and of those under age living here, but we always just assumed they had slipped in under the radar. Now we know, SCHOA couldn't legally do anything about them because the deed restrictions had nothing in them that was enforceable.

    The beauty of this story is, Sun City was built by activists who understood getting things done. As PORA was passing the Maricopa County statute, Betty Pearlmann was paying attention. She contacted the Home Owners Association (now called SCHOA) and they had little interest. That didn't phase Betty and in January of 1984 she put together a 700 person volunteer committee and over a two day period got about 60% of those living in Sun City to sign a petition. Over the following couple of weeks, they went door to door and raised the percentage to 75.6% of all Sun City home owners signing. Truly remarkable.

    On May 17, 1984 Betty and her committee took it before the Planning and Zoning Commission of Maricopa County. They voted to approve the petitions submitted in support of the age overlay by a vote of 5-3. It was forwarded on to the commissioners for a vote at their June meeting. From there it was passed and permanently became part of our deed restrictions.

    In all my years of reading and writing about Sun City, i have never heard this story. If anyone but Ben had provided the data, i would have told them they were full of crap. Simply amazing !
     
  6. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Let me be clear, i don't write this stuff to feel smarter than everyone else, i do it because those living here should know our history. It's way too important to be lost to yesterday's news, or worse yet, never known or shared. This thread and the one on the 81/82 elections are classic examples of why history matters, and worse yet, how as a community we have all lost due the changes made in the last twelve years.

    Think about it in these terms: The election recall, the CRM, the elections that followed, the petition drives for banning smoking and trying to undue it, the petitions signed to stop the give away of Sun City amenities and finally the signatures to push the county age overlay all happened by resident activists. Regular folks who didn't agree with their boards and pushed them to act differently.

    They all came at a time when the documents that were in place were written to insure a more democratic process. They wanted those living here to be involved and engaged. They were drafted to be a checks and balances against those serving on the board or the GM becoming the sole arbiter of what was right or wrong, good or bad for the community.

    Now fast forward to today. It's all changed. Community documents have been dramatically altered to do exactly the opposite. As IC has said repeatedly, they have as much as told members we don't care what you think. Think not? In this day and age you couldn't begin to get a petition signed, the RCSC doesn't allow it on their properties. Where the hell do you think all those signatures came from in the 80's? Damn straight, from people sitting at card tables on RCSC property.

    How in the hell do you think those regular membership meetings met their quorum requirements? Because with a figure of 100, they could get there, especially when the board was making foolish decisions. And so we are clear, the 80's was a time when the GM worked for the board, not the other way around. And one last poke in the eye, the massive voter numbers came because of proxy votes and mail in ballots. When is the last time you saw that happen?

    I'll ask the question yet again...what the hell has changed?
     
  7. CMartinez

    CMartinez Well-Known Member

    Everything has changed. The community is no longer allowed to be that of a membership, rather that of a GM and complicit board members. That did not happen in the early years. Members had a voice and was not stifled due to arbitrary rules to keep the membership silenced. How are you supposed to get petitions signed these days if it is forbidden to do so anywhere in Sun City, unless you are running for the board? Is that not the absolute power grab? Perhaps it is time for another group to get together and find our own attorney and sue to get our rights back. It is fairly obvious these rights of membership were taken away with forethought and malice. An attorney would need to seek a selection committee to find another GM, because it is clear the current board won't do it out. Out of loyalty, nah, out of fear.
     
  8. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Think about it in these terms Carole: Virtually every board member ran on the importance of being transparent and open to the community at large. And yesterday, we watched where there was not one single vote for a smaller quorum; not one. There has not been a membership meeting since Sept of 2009. I guess sitting in the audience like lap dogs waiting to be thrown a treat is all we should expect these days. What a far cry from when self-governance actually meant something.

    History taught us the strength of the community came from a bigger picture democratic process, not a smaller picture autocratic system where the board is beholding to the GM who does all the work for them and ultimately get to make all the decisions. It truly has become Jan Ek's Sun City. Will we go the way of Sun City West? Dump the Del Webb logo and rebrand it JE's Sun City?
     
  9. IndependentCynic

    IndependentCynic Active Member

    It's time for this groundhog day to end!
    groundhog.png
    Reactivate the CRM!
     
  10. CMartinez

    CMartinez Well-Known Member

    I agree IC we need community activism and activists to wake up the members as to the truth about Jan, her manipulation of the bylaws, and her control of the board. This is the best way to get the members involved again, give them something to think about around those coffees and lattes. It's been a very long time since bell bottoms and handing out flowers. Now, it will be hand held fliers, not posted, because those are not allowed. Time to call this grotesque power grab out for who and what it is.
     
  11. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Sadly we are caught in a trap of our making. Back in the days groups like CRM were allowed to surface and function. They were an impediment to power grabs by the board. That will never be the case because the GM quickly re-wrote community documents to control and contain activism by those living here. And let's be clear, it wasn't done by accident.
     

Share This Page