What Is It We Want?

Discussion in 'Sun City General Discussions' started by BPearson, Sep 10, 2021.

  1. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Lots of threads going on, but none dealing from this perspective, so let me dig in and if no one chimes in i will give my two cents worth. For starters, let me say, i suspect the RCSC board could give two shits what any of us think. If they thought for one minute what any of us are saying or feeling mattered or had any remorse about Karen, we wouldn't be looking at the ridiculous agenda they shoved in our face.

    My guess is they simply see us as a hemorrhoid that will eventually go away. They may be right, they may be wrong, we'll see. If they act like the arrogant we-don't-care-bunch we've seen of late, it will only get worse. Pretending that Karen's sins were so horrible that if they could just tell us, we'd be on their side is foolishness. If they think that, they are wrong.

    There have been ongoing gatherings in preparation for Monday's meeting. Sorry if i have overstepped my bounds by saying that but if Sun City is to move forward it can't/won't be by being exclusionary. Sun City was built by including everyone. We have to believe that differing opinions are always welcome. To be clear, i don't mean hit and run crap, i mean lending your voice and being an active participant in our governance.

    I guess that is what is troubling me. Everything to date has rendered it to us versus them. Our fault? Their fault? That answer is easy, yes. When things go sideways, everyone should recognize what is happening and why. I haven't made any bones about this; firing Karen was pure silliness. It was then and it still is today.

    Unfortunately that is yesterday's news. With that said, what would be the best that could come out of where we are right now and more importantly from the coming Monday shitshow?
     
  2. suncityjack

    suncityjack Active Member

    "what would be the best that could come out of where we are right now and more importantly from the coming Monday shitshow?"
    The best: a restructuring of RCSC so that we'd have actual representatives depending on where we live--at the very least, 3 according to the 3 Sun City Phases, at best 1 per rec center neighborhood for a total of 7. Residents would then have a real point person familiar with their neighborhood, some programming could be done like "Neighborhood Nights" where we could get together at our local rec center, have a more localized "town hall" style meeting and lots of socializing and regaining a sense of ownership in our immediate community which would hopefully filter out into the community at large.
     
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  3. FYI

    FYI Well-Known Member

    You're right Bill. That's why I have always posted the rules and regulations that the Board has violated on "The Bastard's did it" site knowing that THEY will be reading them as well. I have nothing to hide and can back-up every accusation I've made with facts that they can read for themselves if they were only to actually do their own proper due diligence!

    By them knowing that they have screwed-up and violated proper procedure and by their refusal to bite the bullet, admit they were wrong and do things right, even if it means doing it over, they are complacent and openly and willingly violating their own rules which is a dereliction of their duty and they should be written-up, but when the fox is guarding the henhouse you know nothing will happen!

    Unfortunately, and I hate to say this, but if the board isn't, or doesn't have too comply with their own rules then why should we? Is it going to take some sort of community insurrection to demand we get our voices heard, or are we supposed to just sit by content to receive their lip service?

    It hurts me to think that we have come to this point but if THEY aren't willing to play by the rules then why should we have too?
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2021
  4. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Thanks to both SCJ and FYI for your answers, both were spot on. I didn't expect many responses, it's a tough question to answer. I asked a similar question the other day at a meeting and got several answers: "We want Karen reinstated." "We want the board to resign." "We want pickleball courts south of Grand Ave." "We want them to listen to us." "We want them to follow their own rules." All were legitimate, only one or two of them could/will happen.

    At that same meeting i mentioned i had started a 1000 or more threads on Talkofsuncity. A woman replied with earnest, it's time to stop writing and start doing. Fair comment and it brought a smile to my face. There's no point in arguing, so i started this thread as both a rebuttal and to allow myself the opportunity to share what I want from this mess, what i have always wanted since even before the day we moved here.

    We bought our first house in the summer of 1999. Rented it out that winter for 3 or 4 months, we were only 51 at the time and we needed to help cover the costs of the mortgage. The second year we started the renovation process. Just before our 5 month renters were to show up we had a stucco job done on the house, along with lots of other outside work. We were a corner house with lots of traffic. My folks lived here and from the first time i visited, i quickly grew to understand the special qualities of the community. As we were leaving to go back to MN, and the renters on their way, we printed a hundred information sheets with our bio along with the contractors who did the work on and around the outside of the house, On the sheet was the cost of each job with the contractors name and phone number. My dad called me a couple days after we left and said the sheets were gone. I asked him to print more.

    Two reasons, i didn't want the renter bothered, but the second was more important: I knew Sun City was the kind of community where word of mouth and sharing of information was an integral part of that sense of community. When we moved here in 2003, i immediately took a position as a volunteer at the Sun City Visitor Center (then free-standing) and within months was on their board.

    After that, did the usual stuff, Meals on Wheels, served as a club officer and blended that with lots of play time of golf and lawn bowling. After a lifetime of work it was pure heaven. SCHOA was struggling to stay relevant and ran for their board. When we got elected, it was an absolute shitshow. 75 complaints on the general manager's desk and they were doing nothing. Several of us (board members) banded together and rebuilt it from the ground up. It is now an organization wholly different from where it was.

    From there i went to the Sun Cities Area Historical Society, now what we loving call the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum. During my 3 years there we made massive changes. While there, our 50th anniversary hit and it was an absolute mess. If you recall 2010 was devastating to local businesses and there was no money in budgets to support our efforts. My role was to write 2 columns a month for each local newspaper. It was about a 15 month process and i never ran the same column in both papers. What can i say, i like to write. We survived the year long celebration because the committee of us worked our butts off. We even raised a few dollars (about 50K) by the time we wrapped up.

    After my time at the Museum, i looked at the RCSC board and asked myself, why would you want to run and be a board member? I understood i could bring a fresh perspective to the board but by then it was already controlled by golfers. I wasn't comfortable with the plan to dedicate so much money to golf and i thought i could make a difference. The board had already changed the quorum and i resented that. The documents were critical to preserving the community's integrity and they were slowly being whittled away.

    I ran, won and made a mistake. I went in with guns blazing and was viewed as simply a pain in the ass. Carole Martinez was already on the board and she was less than loved as well and between us we simply became speed bumps as the board merrily followed along as the gm led them down the path to her vision of a better Sun City. Honestly, i never understood her plan to use golf as the end-all-be-all. It made no sense, it was a game struggling to stay alive, our competition was avoiding even putting in golf courses and we were full sped ahead and no game plan to grow the sport. It truly was senseless.

    I left after 3 years, frustrated by my inability to make a difference. One or two board members can't stop the direction. When i left i knew the only answer was a two year plan with board candidates committed to a different (better) Sun City. One where people living here mattered. Where they had a voice. 6 candidates over a two year span could then take control of the governance. Best of all would be to run a platform of open and community friendly inclusion and it would either be accepted by residents (owners) or not. If not then where we were headed was just fine.

    During my time on the board i also served as the president of the Sun City Foundation, worked as a an active volunteer for the lawn bowling clubs, served on RCSC committees and went back to the Museum on their board. Along the way, i wrote 5 magazines on Sun City, 2 for SCHOA and 3 for the RCSC. I worked with CBS Sunday Morning when they came here, wrote the script for a video we produced with the RCSC and also was the contact point with at least a dozen media outlets as they came and visited Sun City.

    A couple of closing points here; the obvious is i have done more than write. Sorry, as i have said too many times, when i read our history, there are men and women who make me look like a piker. Seriously, there have been folks over the years who have given their time, expertise and money to insure Sun City retain their unique characteristics and stay an incredible place to live. All of which leads me to my second point: My goal was to keep Sun City as special a place as it was when i came here; as special as it was when it first developed.

    In all honesty, i have failed. We've moved so far away from our roots, we've started to become what the founders feared most, just another city where the only ones that mattered were those running it. What do i want? I want those living here to become as important as they used to be. I want their voices to be heard. I want the board to act like they represent us, not the organization and the gm. Sounds easy...it's not.
     
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  5. CMartinez

    CMartinez Well-Known Member

    Bill,

    The only thing you "failed" at was giving yourself the proper recognition you so deserve for all you have done and tried to do for this community and its members. If it was not for you and your knowledge of Sun City, its history, and how it has played out over the years, there would be no Sun City Museum, nor would there be a large group of constituents wanting to gather to make this community as good as it once was, and can be.

    You have worked tirelessy as a board member, getting put down, sneered at and ignored. Yet you continued your commitment, day in and day out to make every effort to create change. We never stood a chance to make any real change, the golf contingent made sure of that. When you would make reasonable requests of the GM for various help, to include the Lakes Club, you were blatantly lied to and fed a line which you had no way of knowing was merely stringing you along. There are so many times you tried to make a difference and were shut down without a reason. Not saying you went quietly into the night, but your pleas and angst fell on deaf ears.

    Yep, I still would like to see a group of Sun City residents formed into some sort of a constituency to fight for the rights and needs of this community. No, I don't think the meeting tomorrow morning is the end all of the needed actions against the RCSC. I also beleive there needs to be community buy in and involvement via email or other media to keep everyone of these readers engaged and willing to write letters, show up for activism, and keep the pulse of the community.

    Bill, I know of NO ONE who has done more this community and its members than you. I, too, want the members to want to become as important and involved as they used to be. The backyard and garage meeting have gone by the wayside courtesy of cars and electronic media. We speak of the future residents of Sun City, well, we need to groom them now to be the kind of community activist some of us were back in the day. The best way I can think of to meet and approach the future is with the future. Electronic media, Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms are the preferred methods of communication, so perhaps the communication needs to change to an electronic format. Lord knows, the RCSC has shunned any type of suggestions for future communication and media advancement. I know for a fact, your writings, observations, and musing are superb, and to be able to commit your words to a wider audience should help get the attention of those needing a nudge to be proactive in this community. We, the members or Sun City, thank you for all you do, give, and say. Your generosity of time and talent are umnatched and I, for one, am grateful to know you.
     
  6. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Thanks Carole, kind words and much appreciated. One clarification though, the museum was there long before me and has only grown over the years because countless numbers have contributed day in and day out. The Museum personifies what Sun City was intended to be.
     
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  7. Say What

    Say What Active Member

    I would like to see an independent audit going way back to the pre-Wellman days to the present which would include all copies of bids on all projects big and small from every company that did and did not get the work. Verify signatures of every check written over the last 15 years for every project completed and the accounts they were deposited in.
     
  8. CMartinez

    CMartinez Well-Known Member

    Yes Bill, I agree, the museum has been there before you. I still feel you have added to the exposure of the venue to through your writings and exciting tributes to those who came before you. Thank you for what you and the others at the museum do,
     

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