Happy New Year and congratulations to our newly elected RCSC board members.
I always find the new year full of excitement as I look forward to making the new year better than the previous one.
Many of us make new year resolutions, some of which we accomplish and others that just go by the wayside. However, I think most of us all strive to be a better self and a better person to others in our daily lives. To do that, we all need to take a look back — not only at the successful accomplishments but also the failures.
My husband Phillip and I moved to Sun City approximately a year and a half ago. We were looking for our retirement home, or should I say our forever home. At first I was convinced I did not belong in Sun City as I felt I was too young to be living here, but once I embraced the abundance of amenities and activities at a price we could afford, I quickly realized this was exactly where we belonged. I am not new to Arizona; I am actually considered a native since I was born here. I mention this because Sun City is a unique place to live in Arizona. Sun City has some of the most educated, knowledgeable and experienced people in one collective community. While each of us brings our own expertise to the table we also must acknowledge that it is the collective knowledge that makes our community unique. Del Webb certainly thought so!
I would first like to address Phillip’s and my recent endeavor to recall the board of directors of the Recreation Centers of Sun City. After learning that the architectural firm hired by Management (TriArc Architecture and Design) had recommended that the Performing Arts Center be built on our beautiful Viewpoint Lake (where we and residents of approximately 81 other homes along with surrounding area residents reside) we along with 65 residents presented a petition asking the board to stop the expedition of their vote on tearing out the world-class lawn bowling and reconsider the location of the PAC in a better suited place.
As relative newbies to Sun City, we were astonished not only by time frame between the acceptance of TriArc’s recommendation and the date set by the board to approve Tri Arc’s proposal. The time constraints placed us in a precarious position. Moreover, the board had not contacted or consulted with any of the residents living on or near Lakeview. As time went on, we have had to educate ourselves quickly on how Sun City operates in relation to our own self governance. Consequently since filing the petitions we have decided to withdraw the recall for the following reasons.
The first and foremost reason for withdrawing the recall is due to Director Collins withdrawing his motion to accept Tri Arc’s recommendation and his willingness to re-evaluate the expedited vote of moving the PAC from Mountain View to Lakeview. We felt most people still believed we were moving forward with the previous plan M. I also want to acknowledge the other board members who voted in favor of Collins’ ethical motion to stop the expedition of a vote which clearly did not sit well within the community.
The second reason for withdrawing the petition is due to the newly elected board members. One in particular who has a great deal of experience in government. We want to give them an opportunity to bring their expertise and experience to the current board.
And finally, it should be noted that the process in which to recall a board member is flawed. It takes 10% of the entire Sun City voting members (approximately 3,100 signatures collected within 90 days) to remove a board member that must be signed and witnessed in front of the circulator who then needs to get each page notarized while it only takes 100 unnotarized online votes to run for the board. Does this sound like a process that is fair and impartial?
Sun City residents need to be able to trust their board members. Because they have volunteered their time (of which we are very grateful), we do not expect them to be experts in all fields. However, we do expect them to have integrity, ethics and credibility. We also want transparency and a chance to voice our opinion in a timely matter, and we especially want a board that make decisions on do no harm.
We are hoping this new board has learned from previous mistakes. We want the board to connect and listen to the broader proportion of community members before making major decision, which will have a long lasting effect. That can only be done by sharing information through many different media outlets, i.e. RCSC website, weekly email blasts, our local newspapers and rethinking of utilizing social media.
Now is the time for our 2025 board of directors to prove they can involve the community by listening to its members. We also hope they insist on better training for themselves and the committees. Our community has a wealth of knowledge within it’s boundaries. Let us work toward encouraging participation from them. While none of us are perfect, we can all strive to be a better person and continue to educate ourselves. The best place for that to start is by the board leading by example to the community.
We look forward to working with the 2025 board of directors for a better and promising future.
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