I would hope we would reserve the waiving of subsequent readings for more urgent matters. If this was that urgent, the committee would have had it to us sooner.”

Jerry DeLano, Recreation Centers of Sun City board president for 2019

IF YOU GO:

What: Recreation Centers of Sun City board meeting

When: 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 13

Where: Auditorium at Sundial Recreation Center, 14801 N. 103rd Ave.

Sundial Recreation Center
14801 N. 103rd Ave.
Sun City, AZ
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By Rusty Bradshaw
Twitter: @SunCitiesEditor

The Recreation Centers of Sun City board had one item for possible action on its Dec. 19 meeting agenda and that caused some disagreement with the outgoing president.

The RCSC Bowling Committee made a recommendation to the board to approve raising locker rental fees for guests. The fee would increase by $2, going from $18 per year to $20. Jim Powell, a Bowling Committee member, spoke at the meeting about the recommendation.

“I’ve been a member of this committee for a long time, and I support this change,” he said.

Under RCSC’s new meeting format, which took effect in April 2019, items on the agenda either as committee recommendations or agenda items must be voted upon to get them into the three-step reading process. The initial vote is considered the first reading, then the proposal must be approved following two more readings in forthcoming meetings to gain final approval.

However, Dan Schroeder, RCSC board member, made a motion to suspend the second and third readings and pass the proposal on the first reading. Mr. Schroeder’s motion was approved.

That is allowed under the new meeting format rules.

Jerry DeLano, board president, did not agree with the method of increasing the rental cost.

“I would hope we would reserve the waiving of subsequent readings for more urgent matters,” he said. “If this was that urgent, the committee would have had it to us sooner.”

Mr. DeLano was praised by Dale Lehrer, board vice president, for his efforts in changing the meeting format. The board debated the change through the early months of 2019 to eliminate the closed door work session meetings in favor of two open meetings per month. The move, approved during the March board meeting, also eliminated the member/director exchange meeting in which residents could bring their concerns, questions or praise to the board and hear responses from the governing body.

Prior to the switch, the board conducted the open exchange the second Monday of the month and the board business meeting the last Thursday. Following each of those meetings, the board would meet in work sessions that even cardholders could not attend. Much of the discussion on proposals was conducted in those closed door meetings.

RCSC used to conduct quarterly membership meetings, but those became nonexistent when the board approved a membership quorum increase from 100 to 1,250. Because a quorum of members could not be reached, the quarterly membership meetings adjourned once that was established.

Eventually, the quarterly membership meetings were eliminated in favor of an annual meeting. But the 1,250-member quorum has never been achieved in those meetings either.