RCSC Board Elections.

First things first...wishing all of you a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

As much as i like the concept of technology, i'm still old school when it comes to voting in the RCSC elections. I want to walk in and cast my ballot by filling in the lines through the arrow. Don't ask me why, just like it that way rather than the computer. Heck, i still have a hissy fit they took away our ability to vote at the Annual craft fair following Thanksgiving ( i suspect most of you don't realize we could vote that way years back).

I tend to forget lots of folks jump on line and vote as soon as they can via the computer. This year has been exceptional with 8 solid candidates, 2 pretty good candidate forums and some heated controversy at the last board/member exchange. Each of the candidate forums has just under 500 views (on our youtube channel) and the B/M exchange has 400.

I attended both forums, with the second being far more informational. The 6 new candidates had a chance to wet their feet at the first, and the questions at the second were far more pointed. All put out campaign literature, but i am more interested in what they have to say. 6 of the candidates appeared to be pretty well versed regarding policies and documents, the two stating they would read them if they won left me cold towards them.

That said, here are my choices/endorsements and why i will vote for them:
1). Jill McCullough: Both Jill and my second choice were traveling down the same path as they spoke often of heightened use of technology. Unfortunately the RCSC has fallen behind both Sun City West and Sun City Grand in integrating technology into how the community is run. Her background lends her able to use that strength in helping the management team move more quickly into that arena. She is a member of the TOSC community and understands Sun City is best served when looking both forward and back.

2). Kat Kyle Fimmel: Again, i was most impressed with her forum presentations regarding technology. She has a strong resume from her previous work life and she was the most outspoken about the importance of the board acting in an ethical manner.

3). Rich Hoffer: This was a tougher choice for me; not because i disagree with what Rich has to say, or has done, but re-electing retreads (i may be one someday) isn't always the best route to go. What overcame that was the fact Rich was willing to fight the powers that be that didn't want to record our meetings and he fought to reinstate the long range planning committee.

Just my choices, and why. I will conclude with the idea the current board not take the candidate getting the fourth highest vote total (to replace Dave W) is an absolute travesty. It sends the wrong message to the community and especially to each of these 8 candidates who have done such a good job.

 

I won't declare who I voted for, but it was a very difficult decision to pick just 3 from this year's offering. I think we'll see voting numbers this year that we haven't seen for a long time. I have extreme gratitude for all 8 candidates stepping forward. We can only hope that the new board votes to appoint a candidate for the vacated seat that is forward-looking and dedicated to keeping Sun City a safe, welcoming and affordable place to live!

I do remember voting at the Craft Fair and it was so convenient. It also got so many people to vote that may have forgotten otherwise. In the past few years voting on paper either by absentee or on election day(December 11th this year) is still available but the majority of votes are the online variety. There will be a table set up for the RCSC BOD candidates and a sign up sheet for absentee ballots at this year's Sundial Craft Fair(11/23 & 11/24).

VOTE!

 

Thanks for sharing you candidate preferences Bill. I agree with two, but not with Rich, and I will tell you why. It was I that wrote letters to the paper and appeared at two meetings, pleading for the board to record and stream the meetings to the residents of Sun City. He may have been the one to author the amendment, but there were others that spoke up to the recording of meetings. It was in the paper that the notice appeared, which stated streaming was not available due to their limited technology and the cost associated.

I feel as Emily does, there are so many fine, qualified candidates available to vote for, there really is no need to include a retread, who more than likely is a member of the old guard and the status quo. The RCSC is in great need of new leadership with strong ethics and character, and the other candidates have state their cases very eloquently.

 

Thanks to those who have chimed in. I could have easily voted for 6 of the candidates. I made my remarks about who i voted for and the reasons so as to encourage potential voters to listen to what the candidates were saying. All to often it becomes little more than a popularity contest or what clubs candidates belong to. If you think not, simply reflect back on how golf has had money shoveled at it while only about 15% of the community golf. There has been an imbalance of golfers serving on the board over the past 10 plus years and it has resulted in golf getting an enormous amount of both PIF and general funds shoved into projects.

This years candidates aren't golf heavy, and perhaps it is because nearly all of those projects are done and it doesn't matter any more. It is time to start focusing on the rest of the communities needs.

 

Results are in.....??? WOW.

 

Congrats to Rich, Mike and Diana. I must say i was surprised, but that's because i still believe the process is more pure than it really is.

Nope, not some kind of conspiracy theorist, i just hate being realistic about how it works. I will sum it up with a short story told me by a candidate: She went to a condo board meeting and was asked by a person in attendance if she was a golfer? She said no, but explained the importance of maintaining the courses. The response she got was the same one that has been used since i moved here; seeing as she wasn't a golfer, then her goal must be to shut down courses. Golfers vote in large blocks to insure they get what they want. They always have and it appears they always will. Which simply means nothing will change. Doesn't matter how good a candidate sounds or what they say.

How the hell else do you explain 40 million dollars in the past ten years shoveled into golf when only 15-17% of the community golfs? Throw in the fact that some clubs do a better job turning out voters, especially when they get what they want in the new club rooms on Grand Ave and reality begins to settle in.

My biggest frustration though is the board didn't have the courage to deal with the current board member who thought it was wise to go out to a club and make inquiries about one of the candidates. Shameful.

That coupled with the fact the two candidates who talked about the importance of enhancing out technology needs were virtually shut out. Reality is such an interesting twist of fate eh?

 

When only one half of one percent of eligible voters bother to cast a vote, it doesn't take a lot of numbers for an organized group to influence the outcome.

Of course this relates to a discussion which is ongoing in several threads on this board.

 

It was actually more like 5%, but who's counting ? (said the man who failed freshman math twice)

 

It is a little more than shameful. It is a threat to the future of Sun City that eight people charged with protecting the assets and the interests of the entire community dreadfully failed to do so. Now all are suspect.

It is not to late for them to rectify this situation. It is also not too late for them to display the intentional fortitude necessary for them to properly perform their duties into the future. A failure to take action now will only further erode members faith in the Board.

 

I thought I remember her saying at the first candidate forum that she was a golfer. I almost didn't vote for her because of it. Eventually, I hope, the golf mafia will fade.

 

Diana is a golfer; the question was asked of a candidate that isn't one. Get used to life in Sun City folks, just the way it is A560. Not much interest so when the existing board needs turn out votes to maintain the status quo, they have a couple of go-to clubs to insure they keep it the way they want it. This is the first time in years we had an adequate number of legitimate candidates and if you check the results, you will see the top 3 all got the same kind of support. When i saw who won, the first question i asked was about the totals. It speaks volumes as to how the folks behind the scenes acted in concert. Nope, now whining, just the way it is.

Who knows, maybe another 40 million shoveled at golf eh?

By the way, kudos to those who ran and made them have to work to keep the same old same old.

 

I challenge this board, the Communications Committee, and next years Election Committee to do SOMETHING to "Get Out The Vote" in Sun City.
There was applause, APPLAUSE, when it was announced that just over 2000 votes were cast in this years election.
Yes, I have ideas and if a board director who actually thinks meetings should be longer than 10 min heads the Communication and/or Election committee, I will gladly join that committee and make myself the nuisance I know I can be.

 

Obviously given their applause, they all felt 2000 voters was something special. It's the biggest in some years, but the more candidates, the better the number of votes eh? I've written this before, but its worth repeating. My good friend Ben has been researching Sun City's history via the local newspapers. At one point there was an amount of angst by the RCSC because the voter turnout was a mere 12,000. See the difference?

Over the years the move away from caring about how we were run, who was elected and whether self-governance mattered. That is shameful And that will never change until we (the RCSC) sets that as one of its goals. Don't hold your breath V, way easier to control things when it's small government controlled by a handful.

 

Could someone please provide the total vote count and the amount of eligible voters (total voter pool)? TY!

 

There are approx 40,000 eligible voters. This year there were approx 2300 votes cast.

The RCSC Board and/or Elections Committee could provide details.

 

Just to clarify, there were 2092 Ballots cast but each ballot had the option to vote for up to 3 candidates. With more than 30,000 members eligible to vote, the number of ballots cast was pretty pathetic although higher than recent years.

The RCSC Board, Election Committee and RCSC Management has a policy of not releasing the number of votes for any candidate other than the top 3(figure varies by number of seats to be filled). Each candidate has the option to ask for his/her count only and it will be given to them.

 

Interesting stats aggie. There are 27,000 plus rooftops in Sun City ( i just read on 55Places there were 27,492, not sure how accurate that is but it is close if not dead on). Of course that doesn't meant there are that many households of individual rec card holders. Those owning but under 55, aren't eligible. Renters (i recently read there were approximately 1800 of them) are able to vote, even if they have a privilege card. Multiple property owners can only vote once on their primary residence, and the others often make up the rental units.

Where this gets hard to comprehend is that there is a large portion of the properties with eligible voters being couples which means two votes under one rooftop. We know from reading the Sun City West 5 year plan that 40% of their homes are owned by single people. If Sun City were a like number ( we never see those figures) once deducting for rental units and those under 55, that would put the number of dual card holder households somewhere in the 15,000 rooftop area. That would mean those households would give you the 30,000 voters and still leave the single family units unaccounted for (another 10,000 possible voters).

It's why i was surprised to see your 30,000 eligible. Mind you, this is pretty much conjecture on my part. I suspect SCW has a higher % of single unit owners, simply because they still sell single memberships. Perhaps it is higher in Sun City, but even if it was, those totals of eligible voters should be closer to 35,000 rather than 30k. Curious to hear why that is the case?

Either way, the turnout of voters for something as important as to who oversees the GM is abysmal. Especially when you consider a minority of golfers can determine the outcome. As i wrote above, the word is one large club was at or around the day of the vote telling people who would win the election. The only way to overcome that is with massive turnouts. And given we are pretty much locked into how we do things here, little will change.

As a side note, they used to show vote totals for all candidates. It will be interesting to see if the 4th place finisher, i think it was Darla, gets seated to Dave's open spot?

 

Actually i stated in my comments privilege card holders aren't eligible to vote. My guess would have been in excess of 35,000 voters, but it would have been just that...a guess based on the stats i laid out above.

 

hmmmm.... when does the RCSC need to begin adhering to Title 33? Little can be kept from the membership when it does, so questions above, like how many people are eligible to vote, how many votes did each candidate receive, etc. should be publicly available, eh?

ARS 33.1805: ... all financial and other records of the association shall be made reasonably available for examination by any member....​