“…why members need be/should be involved and attend the Membership meeting.” BPearson

Please read Bill’s reply to the “So - why bother?” thread and attend the
RCSC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING, Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 6 pm @ Sundial.

“… we are where we are because of what we have done. The decisions made since 2009 were part and parcel of rebuilding and rebranding a community where fun was the essence of our being. To hell with ownership, accountability and responsibility, just have fun. Ignore what is going on around you and let the board and the general manager make every decision. How did that work out for us?
1). 20 million dollars in deferred maintenance.
2). Technology so outdated we couldn't do even the most basic of functions.
3). Our golf courses becoming the playground for non-members and badly abused by excessive rounds.
4). A board angry at members who showed up and spoke up with a now departed GM who threatened to have us arrested for being in our building.

But wait, we were able to brag; we are/were the cheapest. Of course that was predicated on two members living in a household, rather than one. For a couple, it was and we still are a bargain. And now we are going to have to pay for it all at inflated prices that came following the pandemic. Worse yet, bringing members back is little more than begging and cajoling them to become willing and active participants in their future.

Much like i told the GM in 2012 as i was elected, we can do it over a 10 year period by investing our energies and efforts in a strategic marketing, education and communication plan that reached an average of 2000 new home buyers per year. That was far more than half of Sun City's population that we could entice to get involved. She looked at it through a different lens; better than half the population we could push away and create a community where fun was more popular than volunteerism and ownership.

We've turned the corner, but it won't be fast or easy. Every problem comes with fixed disagreements over direction. Something as simple as a fan becomes challenging. There's at least two sides to every issue and often times there isn't a right or wrong. That means boards and the GM need the wisdom of Solomon; it often means splitting the baby with results unpopular for both.And, that is exactly why members need be/should be involved and attend the Membership meeting.”

BPearson reply to, “So - why bother,” OneDayAtATime thread: https://talkofsuncity.com/threads/so-why-bother.5801/

 

Thanks eyesopen, it saves me from starting a new thread. Since i posted this article lots has happened, not so much in Sun City but in similar communities. The closest is Sun City West where the GM of 5 years has tendered his resignation. I liked Bill Schwind, i didn't know him but followed his efforts since he was first hired. The article simply said he left for personal reasons. Also in our backyard was the RCSCW's board president getting a 2 week suspension. Someone told me he had apparently ranked the 8 board candidates and that was viewed as overstepping his bounds. Their elections are starting soon and they have 8 candidates. I've read the bio's and 7 of them look strong, the 8th had not submitted one.

Moving way over to the east coast, the shit has been hitting the fan in the Villages big time. The country's largest age restricted community with more than 70,000 rooftops and 81,000 residents is suffering both growing and aging pains. For those who don't know, included with membership is "free golf" on the the 44 executive courses. There are also 13 championship courses that are expensive and way better maintained. The problems came as the builders kept adding new home divisions but not adding new amenities. The "free courses" get massive play and 3 of them are so bad they are closed to "recover."

By the way, free golf is an interesting misnomer. Their fees are well over $2000 per year whether you play golf or not. It was a great gimmick that is unsustainable when you keep adding homes and not increasing the number of courses. Throw in the exploding maintenance costs, water shortages (yes they have them there too) and not enough tee times and the residents are getting restless.

People have long argued with me, it's not the 60's and 70's any longer and we can't go back to them. True, my argument has always been to learn from our history, both their mistakes and what worked well. Times change, people change. attitudes change and the answers have always been rooted in finding solutions that work. Communities like ours work best when they are transparent and honest about the issues we all face. Nothing is ever easy, everything is solvable.

 

My response to the 1st post here was taken down on Nextdoor as no one is allowed to have an opinion on anything a person named Chris T. posts, so here it is.
How high will the assessment go over time to make up for the mistakes? As a single it concerns me. Add high inflation and it’s frightening to me as I am on a fixed income, one fixed income not two like couples, yet I still pay the same rate. Number crunching shows I would be better off moving to a smaller, newer, more energy efficient home rather than upgrade my old home. As far as “splitting the baby” that phrase may have been appropriate in King Solomon’s time, but in today’s world it’s considered aesthetically abhorrent. Marcus Simon was admonished for using it on the house floor.

 

response to both posts:

It was just a matter of time. Now it’s the residents’ fault Sun City is in the financial shape it’s in because we wanted to have fun during our retirement. Imagine that. We didn’t attend meetings. Over the past 20 years neighbors and I would speak to ‘why bother’ among ourselves. Now the new folks moving in don’t even talk about it.

I was berated for bringing up the assessment fee change. It was brutal. Now it appears Mr. Pearson is backtracking on that:

“But wait, we were able to brag; we are/were the cheapest. Of course that was predicated on two members living in a household, rather than one. For a couple, it was and we still are a bargain.”

“No one gives a shit” about me? Reading that was a real eye opener. I am aware of 2 multifamily homes with possible underage people and 1 person operating a business in their back yard. I don’t care now either.

The deflection in a recent post here reminds me of the kids’ movie “up”. Squirrel!! Look at SCW! The GM president quit! Look at SCW RCSC Board President suspended! Look! The Legends! The deflection won’t work.

 

There are a few ways Nextdoor corporate can delete threads and comments/replies that do not meet their guidelines. Members can report content on the General feed they think breaks those guidelines for review. A Member cannot delete anyone’s posts, except for their own.

“ As far as “splitting the baby” that phrase may have been appropriate in King Solomon’s time, but in today’s world it’s considered aesthetically abhorrent” HH,
Perhaps it was determined to be against guidelines and deleted by those moderators.

Nextdoor “Accountability” topic posted four days ago:
https://nextdoor.com/p/2gbwr7HHjmMs?utm_source=share&extras=MjMyMjEzMDQ=&utm_campaign=1709932540184

 

Welp, I deleted that part a couple of hours ago just for grins, so we shall see. It goes to my basic point, he can't get to 2024. he does not have to be held accountable for posting nobody gives a shit about me, or telling Tom to take his crap sandwich and get off this site. There are certain people who are held accountable and those that can say anything they want. IMHO the opinion of people who reside here probably carries more weight than the BOD. You all have no clue. EO posts info from here on ND and no one comments. They don't care. There are a handful of people who post here. No clue how many actually read the posts, however they obviously don't care enough to contribute. The bottom line for me is I don't give a shit anymore. Thanks to the select few I could not care less how many underage people live here. Words matter. It's not only RCSC it's the HOA as well. I reported a person on their recommended contractor list who was wanted by Cali FBI for rape and skipping over state lines to avoid jail. I still have the email that says too bad, people like him and we don't do background checks. Simply effing lovely! Sure, trust us and you too can be sitting across your kitchen table from a felon.

 

If you don’t give a shit Josie, why do you keep posting?

 

1. It's my right to free speech.
2. It bugs you.
3. If I have a valid question, like the one I just asked Mr. Pearson, I will ask either here or another platform. You know Larry, accountability.

 

“The First Amendment protects speech from government censorship.

Social media platforms are private companies and are not bound by the First Amendment. In fact, they have their own First Amendment rights. This means they can moderate the content people post on their websites without violating those users' First Amendment rights.”

Freedom Forum: https://www.freedomforum.org/free-speech-on-social-media/

 

In case you forgot you already posted this, and I wholeheartedly agreed with you. My response was, in case you forgot that as well, was that I understood and rejoined X (formerly Twitter) because I respect Elon Musk's free speech policy. (I will be happy to find and repost for you) You all, however, seem to have a double standard. Mr. Pearson and all that agree with him can say anything no matter how offensive and no one will call them out. I would bet the farm that once Bill or someone else becomes an admin on this site my butt will be out of here in a heartbeat!

-----"Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage." ― Winston Churchill, British politician.

 

Here ya go. Just a little memory refresh. Post from this past Wednesday.

↑
“As far as posting here or on any other social media site, last I checked I still have my First Amendment rights.” HH

“ The First Amendment protects speech from government censorship. But what about on social media?

Social media platforms are private companies and are not bound by the First Amendment. In fact, they have their own First Amendment rights. This means they can moderate the content people post on their websites without violating those users' First Amendment rights.”

From Freedom Forum,
Free Speech on Social Media: The Complete Guide: https://www.freedomforum.org/free-speech-on-social-media/
You are absolutely correct. They are run just like little autocratic governments. It's the reason I reopened my X (Twitter) account. Musk believes in free speech. Who knows, now that ND has a new CEO maybe people will be allowed to have differing opinions there as well?

Happy Hippie, Wednesday at 6:27 PM

 

And that would be nice! Most people merely question "why" an opinion was stated. You seem to be confrontational to everything anybody says?

If the only reason you're here is to "bug" people I would welcome your departure.

 

Ever hear of the phrase ask a stupid question? If you actually believe I stay up thinking of ways to "bug" Larry you would be mistaken. Somehow answers to questions are "nobody gives a shit about you". Well that may be true, is that the response I would get if I were at a meeting? There are many Billisms on this site responding to many others before my time here, all in response to those who disagreed or made a statement that was not acceptable.

Still waiting for a response to this:

BPearson: By the way, no one i know is blaming the membership for where we are. That is sheer and utter nonsense. (responding to my matter of time post)

Josie: Exactly who are you referring to with this statement Bill? Who is "Us" and "We"

(Bill's statement I was referring to) "Good read Jean and sadly, we are where we are because of what we have done. The decisions made since 2009 were part and parcel of rebuilding and rebranding a community where fun was the essence of our being. To hell with ownership, accountability and responsibility, just have fun. Ignore what is going on around you and let the board and the general manager make every decision. How did that work out for us?

 

Excellent, no more posts like this again:

“last I checked I still have my First Amendment rights.” HH
“1. It's my right to free speech.” HH

Understood, “The First Amendment does not apply to social media. It only protects speech from government censorship.”

 

not necessarily. what makes you think you can tell me what to say? like i said to someone else you are not superior or more important than i am or anyone else for that matter. people who like having control over others because it makes them feel that way.

Again: "Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage." ― Winston Churchill, British politician.

Have a nice evening.

 

LOL! A while back when home ill for far too long I got really bored and found some stuff. I did a search on the word 'shit' posted by bpearson and it returned 7 tabs full of shit posts. Would you welcome Bill's departure from board meetings after this little statement re a board meeting:

"I stopped in for 10 minutes on my way to the Museum and caught the show. Suffice to say it made me ill. Rather than addressing it here I will start a new thread just to piss off a board member who hates how I think about this shit pile they have created."

BPearson, Jun 24, 2021

And this little snippet about how 'disappointed' he is in all of us:

This past weekend, i did something strange; i grabbed a screen shot of Mad's Alfred E Neumann (of "What Me Worry" fame) and asked the simple question about Sun City: Does Anyone Care? It was a test and honestly gang, most of you failed. I got 11 responses and even less likes. No, i don't care about likes, i care about whether the members of that site care enough to respond. Because if not, the paradigm shift is dead in the water.

BPearson, Aug 14, 2023

One last thing Tom in response to your statement, if you all feel a good leader is someone who subscribes to the old adage "Put the turd in the pocket it belongs in" God help us all. Personally, I believe the turd belongs in the trash can, but here in Sun City even that makes people angry!

Tom Trepanier said: ↑

I read the opinion today and would agree some of it was quite obtuse. Personally I appreciate and commend the individual for writing out the opinion(s), and thus believe they should be given some consideration. For instance, his call for more attention to safety issues around the rec centers. If we want more folks to come forward to give opinions we need to encourage people. Just my opinion.

I too was delighted to read a younger resident was taking interest. Then he opened his mouth about how bad the new board is and how they don't listen to the membership. Duh. just duh. Perhaps he is really new and doesn't understand we can't protect our centers because our technology is pure crap. By the way, that's on the backs of every board member (including me) who allowed the GM to just do as she saw fit. At least two of those board members he was applauding (Dale and Sue) were around the entire time the long range planning committee were pleading for upgrades in our technology. For some reason, we (the long range planning committee) all understood what we needed while they (the board) sided with the GM to do nothing.

There's an old adage i subscribe to: "Put the turd in the pocket it belongs in." If you are going to speak up (which is a good thing), have a least a basic understanding of what you are talking about. He did have some good things to say, he simply had put the turd in the wrong pocket. Facts matter.

BPearson, Aug 23, 2023

The encouragement here for members to attend meetings and voice their opinion is astounding. 'Shit' like this makes me want to run from all board meetings. I have no answers, just observations. Been here since 2001. People attended meetings, not a lot but they were engaged more than now. What changed? My neighbors gave it up around 2009 or 10. I remember because my mom died around that time, and I got to know a lot of them.

 

Happy Hippie - we all know your strong dislike for Bill Pearson. You can drop it. It's old and we don't care. Every post you make just regurgitates the same tired arguments. Start your own FB page where you can rant about whatever and whomever you want. Members of this page really try to have legitimate discussions, share ideas and information. We realize what you're trying to do - it worked. Now, let it go.

 

Please, call me Josie. So You are fine with the obvious double standard. Bill says something and it's fine. I say the same and people jump all over it. No, I don't like Bill, and the feeling is mutual, I am sure. No one will answer my questions. Bill stated it was our fault for the sorry state Sun City is in. Then said it was nonsense. I called him out. You all give him a pass. Where did I miss the edict where he became some kind of god whose ring we are supposed to kiss? He balked at my statement and I posted a quote from him confirming.

I will keep posting here, especially my displeasure with SC. I am listening to the meeting re Duffeeland as I type. Like I stated on ND if the board can't even figure out a damn dog park how are they going to handle the monumental $20 mil deferred maintenance?

Legitimate discussions? Bill speaks, 4 or 5 people agree and it's over. What exactly am I trying to do?

 

Josie - "Our fault" is a broad statement. I'm not going to put words in Bill's mouth but here's what I think.

It took years to get us here - $20M of deferred maintenance for example. When the by-laws/policies called for the Finance Committee to only meet 3 times a year to basically "review" Financials and have about a 1-2 hour meeting just prior to the meeting for the Board to adopt a budget, wholly developed by management with NO input from any committee, that is a colossal failure. So, in essence, that is on us. For not making sure that our policies and by-laws made sense so that due diligence and oversight was being properly done. That's a board responsibility and we elect board members and we participate as members - remember, there was not even a quorum for the annual meeting for how many years. And Exchange meetings had been discontinued for a long time.

Committees were basically stripped of any useful input, any plans created were basically shelved and overtime committees were just that - a committee without any real teeth. RCSC was apparently being directed almost solely by the GM, and it seems even senior managers weren't listened to, or why were our budgets may so seriously strained. Remember, the Board kept saying we didn't need to raise our assessments yet we were falling farther and farther behind in maintenance. Mountainview was obvious, but smaller projects were becoming painfully clear; outdated gym equipment, parking lots in disrepair, pool chairs not replaced or in poor condition, Club requests unfilled, and so much more.

It seemed when questioned were asked they were often answered with smoke and mirrors.

Members (we) apparently gave up. So, this is where it does become "our" responsibility in part when we are self-governed. Yes. Keeping our Board accountable and management as best we can, by ensuring that there is transparency throughout RCSC operations. The last 12+ months there have been great strides made in transparency AND involving committees in setting goals, making recommendations, developing an updated long range plan, developing new budgeting tools and much more.

That's my take on what's happening and why "we" and "our" are part of the discussion. We didn't make the decisions, but by not being active participants we are in many ways, paying a price.

That's my opinion. And, not everyone agrees with Bill all of the time. But he is a wealth of historical information. And, I've always believed we can't know where we're going if we don't know where we've been (or how we got here). We can't afford to keep making the same mistakes, but we can also learn from those mistakes and not repeat them, and also what worked and apply those things to today's standards. History matters in everything!

You're giving him the "god" edict - not anyone else.

 

Josie - "Our fault" is a broad statement. I'm not going to put words in Bill's mouth but here's what I think. You don’t have to, he said himself twice, a couple of years apart.

It took years to get us here - $20M of deferred maintenance for example. When the by-laws/policies called for the Finance Committee to only meet 3 times a year to basically "review" Financials and have about a 1-2 hour meeting just prior to the meeting for the Board to adopt a budget, wholly developed by management with NO input from any committee, that is a colossal failure. So, in essence, that is on us. For not making sure that our policies and by-laws made sense so that due diligence and oversight was being properly done. That's a board responsibility and we elect board members and we participate as members - remember, there was not even a quorum for the annual meeting for how many years. And Exchange meetings had been discontinued for a long time. Bill was on the board during the time of the 20 mil fiasco, yet he is somehow blameless. Like I stated before folks stopped going to meetings, mostly because they felt ignored and Bill’s bad temper.

Committees were basically stripped of any useful input, any plans created were basically shelved and overtime committees were just that - a committee without any real teeth. RCSC was apparently being directed almost solely by the GM, and it seems even senior managers weren't listened to, or why were our budgets may so seriously strained. Remember, the Board kept saying we didn't need to raise our assessments yet we were falling farther and farther behind in maintenance. Mountainview was obvious, but smaller projects were becoming painfully clear; outdated gym equipment, parking lots in disrepair, pool chairs not replaced or in poor condition, Club requests unfilled, and so much more. And that is now our problem.

It seemed when questioned were asked they were often answered with smoke and mirrors. No one bothered to explain. Board members should be accountable. I worked for Sun Health Foundation for 17 years attending board meetings and taking minutes. This is like pre-school in comparison.

Members (we) apparently gave up. So, this is where it does become "our" responsibility in part when we are self-governed. Yes. Keeping our Board accountable and management as best we can, by ensuring that there is transparency throughout RCSC operations. The last 12+ months there have been great strides made in transparency AND involving committees in setting goals, making recommendations, developing an updated long range plan, developing new budgeting tools and much more.

That's my take on what's happening and why "we" and "our" are part of the discussion. We didn't make the decisions, but by not being active participants we are in many ways, paying a price.

That's my opinion. And, not everyone agrees with Bill all of the time. But he is a wealth of historical information. And, I've always believed we can't know where we're going if we don't know where we've been (or how we got here). We can't afford to keep making the same mistakes, but we can also learn from those mistakes and not repeat them, and also what worked and apply those things to today's standards. History matters in everything!

You're giving him the "god" edict - not anyone else.


History does matter, but don’t beat a dead horse. Bill chose to dox me on here which really pissed me off. He had no business doing that and he is such a small man the answer was “no one gives a shit about you”. What an ego-maniac. And God forbid you disagree, especially with his politics. He will verbally beat the hell out of you. Poor Tom McClain (not sure last name). No, I do not like people who have the manners and temperament of a hungry grizzly, but that’s just me. I don’t even think you folks understand how people really feel about Sun City. It’s not good, and when asked I say exactly how I feel. Both HOA and RCSC stink at customer service. I posted about the joke of a board meeting today and it was well received. I said it there and will say it here, if the board can’t figure out something as simple as a dog park how in the heck are they going to fix the $20 mil issue. I do have an idea how.