A Deeper Dive - One Man's Take on the Poll Results

We Need to Ask You Some Things...And We Need Your Answers...Boy Did We Get Them!

The Sun City Advocate Group is barely 4 months old, and we recognize we are learning and growing as we go. With your help, we will get better and become more efficient with each passing month. Thank you to all who took the time to

respond to our poll. We read every one of them and I am sharing some of them below.  You can still take the poll.

We asked, “What do you love about Sun City?”   

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My Grandparents lived here and I remember coming when it first opened with them.  I loved that it was a city of retired or semi-retired people and that there were so many options to get to know others.  I fell in love with the rec centers and all of the clubs in Sun City.  We found a home/condo that we love. Calm and quiet, basically a living environment.

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The small-town neighborhood feel it gives.

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 It’s a place where we can remain active as we age.

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Where do I start?! I love the activities, there is something for everyone.  I love the quiet, safe neighborhoods.  I do see some issues starting down in Phase 1, and think that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.  I also love the age-restricted part.  We started buying property down here when we were 40 and it was so hard to wait until we were 55 to start using the amenities, but it was so worth the wait!

 

Our next question, “Tell Us What You Think About The Sun City Advocates?” was very important to us. 

Because we are learning and growing, we rely on your feedback to get better and better.  Besides the good, there are also some negative comments that I will address.  To read other comments of this nature, you can read the rest of the answers here.

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I am viewing you from the 50,000 foot metaphor so take that into account. I am also blunt and a straight talker and will probably offend you, that doesn’t bother me. So what do I think of your organization, not much. You seem to be a disorganized rabble which has no idea what you are talking about. You are like chipmunks in that you store some bits of information in your cheeks thinking you have the big picture when all you have is a Polaroid snapshot. Did you ever think you are asking the wrong questions? I think not. I found it interesting that you put out the call for people to join and the result was several hundred, good for you. Then a post on TOSC requested member concerns, good for you, but then you went to the dark side. The post stated that the concerns would be reviewed by the SCA board and then brought before the RCSC board. WHAT! Were these board members elected, even nominated, was an election held or just showed up in an arbitrary and capricious manner. If any of this happened it wasn’t posted on TOSC. Is it me or is there just a slight sense of hypocrisy here? One last thought, I believe your fake outrage and support of Karen McAdam is based on a lie. It was never really about pickleball. Ask what the real facts are, she knows."

 

We actually like to hear from critics; we enjoy the back and forth exchange. Why? Because we know that is how Sun City was built and why it became so successful. Civil discourse was a way of life and it still should be. Regarding the "dark side," how so? We are in our infancy as an organization, and we will evolve as we go forward. Many of those changes will be based on what people are telling us. We understand listening to the community will help mold us and stimulate, perhaps even inspire others to speak out. There should be nothing frightening about communication, education, or participation. As far as our "fake outrage" over Karen McAdam, all that needs to be said is that she received more votes in the past election than any other candidate has in many, many years. Hope that helps clarify and thanks for your response.

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Too many people are letting Bill run the show and are blindly following him like he’s the Pied Piper. Lots of the people here don’t know about the last time a group tried to force change. The end result was card holders ended up paying more to defend RCSC in a lawsuit. Somehow, I can’t help but think that this is where this is heading. I agree that we as homeowners are not having enough input in capital decisions and that needs to change. I also understand the urgency in curtailing the Mountainview project before it turns into a disaster.

 

Wow, there’s lots to unpack there and much of it allows us all a teachable (educatable) moment. For starters, I am not "running the show." I have no interest in being anyone's Pied Piper. My presence is from a historical perspective which I try to include in the writing I do for the Sun City Advocates (SCA). I believe our future is contained in the successes of our past.

That is why this comment is so important; it mentioned a lawsuit that took place in the past and groups that formed that some of you newcomers might not be aware of. Actually, there were two activist groups in Sun City over the years. The first was the "Concerned Recreation Members" (CRM) and was started back in the early 80's. DEVCO had just left, and there was an internal struggle over how to move forward. The CRM wanted to recall the RCSC board president and vice president. There were lawsuits flying and ugly turmoil in the community.

The second group began in the early 2000's. As the poster indicated, that legal challenge lasted nearly 20 years. Resources that could have/should have been spent in the community were redirected to legal costs. The Sun City Formula Registry's outcome was to get Sun City to fall under Title 33 of the state statutes. It all died in a court battle a couple of years ago. In the post, the writer suggested the card holders (we like to think of them as members) had to pay higher fees. We have since learned that the very large increase in rec fees that year (2018) resulted in millions of dollars added to the RCSC cash reserves.

The point here is that lawsuits are folly. We are literally suing ourselves. In my humble opinion, there are a number of "breach of fiduciary responsibilities suits" that we could bring against the RCSC, but why bother? We have no interest in suing ourselves. We believe in communication, education, and participation for the community to return to its roots.

The final question was, “What can the Sun City Advocates Do better?” 

Here is one of the comments and my response.  You can read the rest of the answers here. 

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You're off to a good start. Slow and easy is the way to proceed. Keep it positive but continue to point out where the Memberships involvement should have been included in a decision and where the RCSC and Management has shut the Membership out! I urge Members to take a look at the Bylaws and see exactly what it takes for the Members to accomplish anything! All Member requests, petitions, referendums MUST be approved by the Board and RCSC to do anything!"

We couldn't agree more. While some want us to be more aggressive, we have elected to move slowly and proceed carefully. We could grow the group with anger, but that would be folly. We simply want the members to pay attention, know what is going on, and become involved. While some will try and paint us as angry old people who hate Sun City, nothing could be further from the truth. We love what Sun City is and all it offers. We believe it can be even better with the members participating.


Thank you for participating. You made our day!

The Sun City Advocate Group is dedicated to helping restore the voice of the membership through Communication, Education, and Participation.



Bill Pearson - Advisory Panel Sun City Advocates