Yesterday, John Fast made a comment that forced me to ruminate. My bad, i do that a lot, it helps me shape my opinions and form thoughts to express in words. His remark was casual, but so on point. He essentially said he wouldn't do anything that would hurt the community he loved (my interpretation). As i sat thinking about the comment, i looked back long and hard at the years prior to our arrival in 2003 (via the history) and since getting here. All those countless times with my big old butt planted in far too many member, board, exchange, town hall and committee meetings to admit to, without sounding like a complete self-governance nerd. Here's my take after more reflection than the topic deserved: I have never met a general manager, a board member, a committee member, an RCSC member, a privilege card holder or an organization that wanted to cause the RCSC harm. Not one. Wait, wait, wait; that's not to say there weren't bad ideas, poor choices, horribly executed decisions with terrible outcomes. Hell, that's what self-governance is. The community we call home was built for and around the idea that we (the owners) had the right to help make those decisions and determine our direction. For better or for worse, we decided early on we would not become a city and all the trappings that came with it. Some lament we didn't, others value our independence and our existence being wholly different. It kept our taxes lower, and kept us free of the politics of electing mayors, city council and paying for all those city services. So here we are some 65 years after we opened and we have more than our share of challenges. I've written it oftenl we are where we are based on the choices we made. In 2006, after years of heavy community involvement, mostly via highly committed committees, we decided a change was necessary. We hired a general manager and gave her far more authority than at any time in our history. Let me be clear, i never once thought her goal was to hurt Sun City. She was much loved by many of the employees and by a large number of members. She evolved to have complete control of every decision made. The board acted as a rubber stamp as she ran not only the day to day operations but also oversaw policy and direction. She also inherited a pending battle between a small group who wanted something different. The argument was about falling under Title 33 (an oversimplification) and the general manager watched year after year as the threat of a lawsuit created a growing rift. It wasn't pretty. She used that threat (for better or for worse), as an impetus to rewrite the bylaws and remove the community/member safeguards built into them. It was all done with board approval, but the net affect was members had less of a voice and committees were neutered, devalued or discontinued. Again, it wasn't pretty. Let me be clear, the group the Sun City Formula Registry, in my humble opinion (while misguided) was never about hurting Sun City. I know some would disagree, but had we fallen under Title 33 would not have been the end of the world. Again, some disagree. The biggest problem from the entirety of that 18 year battle was it changed the community dynamic. For the GM to get buy-in from the board to dump the document safeguards, she needed the board to believe the membership was out to get them (the RCSC). It created the perfect storm; us versus them. The reality is, that group was always just a tiny percentage of the membership. The net affect was everyone carrying an RCSC membership card paid the price. The mistrust/distrust lingered...it still does to this day. Think not? Look back at the events of the past 15 years. Moving away from the membership, we've consolidated and controlled everything at the board level. It's interesting to note, through all those years where the GM had absolute authority, boards were pretty pliable acting almost always on what she wanted. As she was leaving, she was quick to allow them to take the reigns. Her replacement GM was more there as a buffer to try and protect the board. Once he was gone, the next one hired ran wild in an effort to change/fix what he thought was wrong. Overzealous? You be the judge. Again, for better or worse, most of the experiment resulted in even more mistrust/distrust. Wild attempts to address the communities needs has resulted in crazy proposals with actual costs having baring virtually no sense of reality. Boards saw/found themselves having to have/provide every answer. No disrespect, they aren't that good. In fact, they are making the same mistake the general manager who was hired in 2006 made; feeling like she had to have every answer to every problem. No one is that good. We know that from our history. We know our greatest success came from the collective WE, not the singular i or even a nine member board. Tragically, that opinion is not the worst outcome from the 2006 experiment. What lingers and is abundantly obvious on a regular basis is the ongoing idea/feeling/sentiment from the board that any dissent by the members is an effort to hurt the community. Mistrust/distrust, from either side of the aisle, is horribly wrong. There's no upside to believing the board has anything on their plate than doing the right thing by and for the members. Conversely, there's no upside to believing the members have anything they are doing or proposing that is anything but in the best interests of the RCSC. Looking back over all those years, before moving here and since living here, the mistrust/distrust by the board towards the membership has been the single most devastating aspect of our Sun City way of life. Before we can fix anything else, we need fix that. Of course, this is just one man's opinion.
I’ve been here for sixteen years and what I’m seeing is the lack of focus and worse yet, the lack of direction of the board. They have become micromanagers instead of leaders. Literally thousands of dollars have been spent on surveys and proposals and that money has been wasted. The members have spoken, but the board has chosen to ignore what was said because it apparently doesn’t fit their agenda. MV has been a so called “priority for how many years and how many proposals, but yet continues to crumble on a daily basis. And taking the spotlight instead is a PAC where board members can sit on the veranda sipping cocktails. Or an indoor dog park where the pet owners can sit socializing while their dogs misbehave. So if the board members don’t trust the members, they have good reason. Their actions have caused that.
Eureka! I couldn't have said it better, Larry. What I think has happened is that 2024 and the BS that went on the past couple of years has caused many members to throw up their hands and say, "that's it for me, I'm out!" And yes, who can blame them when they had such high hopes? I think this new board is way different this year. I think they're putting the needs of the whole of Sun City before the selfish interests of last year. Unfortunately, the selfish folks got their interests in there last year before they nearly destroyed the community. So some of it we have to live with. I am willing to think positively of this board, try to trust them, and hope for the best.
