Fimmel: Building a better tomorrow together in Sun City

It all started here Jan. 1, 1960, with the opening of Sun City.

This new concept revolutionized retirement living, but it had its challenges. Chief among these was the need for the members to create a partnership with the numerous organizations across the community, to ensure that we would both succeed and flourish. To this day, Sun City remains unique and different from other age restricted communities. One of those differences is the sheer size and strength of our membership.

This strength has carried us through the years, and it is this same strength that will carry us into the future. There is a wealth of talent, skills and knowledge in our community. Our members are Sun City’s greatest asset.

We’ve drifted off course over the years, and while all of us love how reasonable it is to live in Sun City, we have major issues that will prove challenging and need to be addressed. Technology, water issues, building projects, safety initiative, as well as residential/non-residential use of our amenities. These are just a few of the issues that top the list. Let’s not forget clubs’ needs and members’ expectations. Clubs are the very heart of Sun City’s existence. As your president, I can tell you our board of directors takes every one of these items seriously.

Taking steps to address these issues won’t be either easy or done quickly. We are, however, confident that by engaging the membership and becoming more transparent, we can come together to overcome these issues. Other board members and I have talked about the importance of using data and facts in the decision-making process. It all starts with good data collection and then willingness to share the outcomes with the membership. The key here is to properly obtain and validate the data before moving forward, and to ensure that all decisions are appropriate from a fiduciary perspective.

One key component for success is membership inclusion, which is why the full membership was included in the recent Arizona State University survey. We are looking forward to the survey results. We know it’s just a starting point, a benchmark, leading us to the future. It will help us better understand what you as members want from us, and how we can work together to meet those expectations. Your voice matters and we know you care deeply about the community. The survey and the focus groups will provide a structure where we don’t talk around or over one another, but with each other as stakeholders in the process.           

Many of you know about our monthly exchange where the floor is open to you, the members. If you haven’t come to the exchange we encourage you to join us to hear more about what is going on in the community and to stop and see us. We also have regular monthly board meetings where we conduct the business portion of our work, which you may find very informative. There are also comment cards at our centers and we look forward to receiving your comments and feedback. Hearing from you, the members, helps us shape our decisions as we move forward as a community.

In closing, let me simply say, “Thank You.” Thank you for your trust in electing us as your representative. Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Thank you for making this remarkable community your choice to live out your golden years.

Working together we can build a better tomorrow.

Editor’s Note: We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.