I've got to repeat myself and say thanks to the board for taping the RCSC meetings. I was in Sun City West in a lawn bowling tournament and was unable to attend the last board/member exchange. When the email came out with the link it was a great reminder and watched it last night. Good stuff and while nothing riveting happened, it was nice to see and hear the discussions as residents raised their concerns. The exchanges were pleasant as President Hoffer let people have their say. I was troubled by one of the speakers who was tacky at best; but what the heck, this is Sun City and as people age they feel more free to be outspoken and obnoxious. If you missed the blast email from the RCSC here is the link to it.
I watched it too. Yes the tacky speaker didn't even accept the reasonable and legal explanation for the club approval. Maybe he won't appear again since it's "dead to him" now.
Just watched the video. Was happy to see the improved camera work -- made the whole video much more personal. What a great way to stay informed! Next thing is to get a mic for the management team... Eck's responses were unintelligible due to no mic. I don't believe the gentleman requesting FOIA release of salary records was correct since RCSC is not a "public body" and currently is not adhering to open meeting laws under Title 33. Even if it were, salary info is usually exempt. The suggestion to put the dog park somewhere else is a recurring one -- it was discussed alot before the RCSC purchased the Duffee Land property -- many of us lobbied that it was too small -- problem was no one wants to give up "their" space. I don't recall the adjoining property owners being so vocal -- possibly because dog noise was a county issue, not and RCSC issue? Sad that DelWeb didn't think to incorporate open spaces (in addition to the golf courses). I hope once the RCSC decides what to do with the Grand Ave property they know what they're doing -- I was told the manager of the Furr's Restuarant that used to occupy the property said it would "take a huge effort to bring the property up to code". I'm wondering if it's another Fairway -- bulldoze and rebuild?
Absolutely on the mic for the management team. Frankly i would feel better if the board members were more able to answer some of the questions rather than deferring to Jan. As a former board member there are times she may have to speak up, but the more they let her field questions, the more it looks like she's running the show. I was there when we voted to buy Duffeeland and voted for it. It had been owned by Bob Knight for years and provided it to the community. The crap storm started when the RCSC bought it; now the neighbors had someone to complain to. For newbies, there was a plan to build a smaller park next to the Sun Bowl (behind the ball field) but when we bought Duffeeland, that was scrapped. I think having two would spread the pain around a bit, but no matter what we would do, there would be barking dogs near houses. Overall, the Duffeeland dog park club has done a good job of trying to monitor the situation. It will be interesting to see what they do with the Grand Ave property. The land alone was worth the price so one way or another, it was a good move. We desperately need club space and there's no better location for the Antique Car Club (or whatever it will be called) to be located. Finally, the speaker who said the board was dead to him after their vote was the same one who thought it funny to tell an Obama joke and how people should vote on the minimum wage increase. I was frustrated the board let him do that at the time as we have no place for that from the mic. Huge fan of free speech, but using some framework of decorum should be a given. Much like the crude and rude comments made last month at the Board meeting from the crowd, they should be shut down.
It does seem odd that the board is there and just sit mute to questions. Head of the table observers. That makes it more of a complaint session among the residents. Do they do that so they can talk it over first or do they just never answer the questions/complaints in any future forum? Odd set-up. Is there ever a meeting people don't complain about dogs? Didn't most people who bought around Duffeland know it was next to a dog park, or maybe it came in later. But I suppose you're correct that now they have someone to complain to. Was the proposed dog park area at the Sun Bowl less close to resident houses?
I'd say anyone purchasing in the past 15 years knew there was an "unofficial" dog park there. A little history -- The Duffeeland dog park adjoins a bank an eight residences. It is 1.67 acres in size, but I'd guess the fenced area for dogs is somewhat less than an acre; much to small for large dogs/a high number of dogs. Also, it is gravel, not grass, so the noise level is higher. I drove by it a week or so ago and the parking lot was completely full -- maybe 20 cars? RCSC purchased the dog park circa 2012. Prior to that it was simply a fenced area the super dog friendly owner and volunteer residents had improved as an ad-hoc dog park. It wasn't publicized as such, but was well known. There was seldom more than a dozen cars there. The adjoining residents always complained about the noise, etc., but they got little satisfaction from Maricopa County to enforce “barking dog” statutes, etc. When residents pushed the RCSC to have a dog park circa 2010 there were lots of suggestions... eg, use a portion of a golf course, close the Quail Run course and make it a recreation area (including a dog park), divert a portion of the Sun Bowl property to a dog park, etc. All were adamantly resisted by adjoining residents for a range of reasons -- barking dogs, reduced property values, golf course safety, smell, etc. Residents also frequent dog parks in Peoria, Surprise, and Glendale -- all are larger, grass, and most have separate areas for large and small dogs.
A little more recent history: After the RCSC purchased it, we saw the problems and decided to try running it with a monitor. Users signed in and showed their card, and the numbers were staggering. We had more people in one month at the dog park than we did at the newly opened North golf course. It was the perfect storm scenario, as the monitor became embroiled in issues that made it undesirable to be assigned there. Neighbors expected miracles and users hated the recently adopted park rules. Within months we elected to remove them (we made it clear it was simply a trial). Duffeeland has always had a strong sense of ownership among the users and we turned to them to help find solutions. They suggested creating a club to oversee the park and try and foster a better relationship with home owners adjacent and within the dog park community. I think it was the best possible solution and has solved many of the problems (not all of them). Barking dogs are always going to be an issue, and the RCSC has done a number of things to mitigate the noise. The simple fact is Sun City needs a dog park (more than one would be better) and incorporating Duffeeland into our amenity package was the right thing to do.
I've read the solutions to go to other cities dog parks but it would be good to have a few dog parks in SC. Maybe then the noise would also be spread around. Dogs have been a part of human life for centuries, in every country, and are good companions. I always smile when I see documentaries that a dog is always in the background. Even in the hidden tribe documentaries...a dog. Yes they bark, especially when they are around other dogs because it's their language. And it's not easy to keep them quiet. If we lived in a kid friendly community people might complain about kids but still accept it more. They are valuable to humankind in many ways. When looking for humans buried under rubble after a disaster no one sends in the cats. Not that...
BP "We had more people in one month at the dog park than we did at the newly opened North golf course." I got it... turn one of the many golf courses into a gigantic dog park! Wouldn't that be cool for the dogs and dog owners?! I suspect most the golfers wouldn't even miss it. Just had to say it.
No such thing as too many kiddo; perhaps a little adult ADD kicking in though. Just teasing, the beauty of the good old USA...your right to moan about anything and everything. It's exceptional in Sun City because on a scale of 1-10, there's nothing more serious than a 1 to whine about. Nice.
I was recently on vacation in Mexico. It was so great to sit by the pool sipping a margarita and watching both the Exchange and Board meetings! The drink softened the reaction I had to the judgemental, homophobic and technologically challenged individual that has his comments out there for all to see. It was good that he wasn't present for the Board meeting. I hope he keeps his promise not to attend in the future. It is also important to have anyone speaking to have a microphone. Hearing the questions but not the answers was frustrating.
I think Bill already mentioned it was a record 8,000. I wonder why the president would not answer the guy's question and said he would answer it privately?
I think the goal is ask and answer the questions in the 3 minute time frame. In that the speaker's time was up my guess was Rich was trying to keep the meeting moving. Truth be told, the Sun Bowl challenges won't be answered quickly or easily. The show's keep getting better and the crowds bigger. Insuring it is only Sun City residents and their escorted guests attending is difficult and almost any effort will be fraught with issues.
