We bought in Sun City West in 2012 and moved in permanently in 2015.
I have never been so pleased with a decision to relocate. Everything has been so perfect that I guess I became complacent and didn’t follow up on “local developments” like I should. Everything was so perfect, why mess with it? Whoever is running the show, is running it well.
If I do not know an individual running for a public office, I am reluctant to vote — this would be an uninformed vote. I felt the same about the Recreation Centers of Sun City West board. Leave it to the veterans in the “know.”
Boy was that a mistake! I began hearing disturbing rumors. At first I took it as just gossip, but the more I heard, the more curious I became. Better late than never, I started watching the YouTubes of the board meetings. Wow! It was like watching the WWF — what a freak show!
During a 45-year professional career, I have attended literally hundreds of “management meetings.” Even in my “naive” youth,” I picked up on the “Smartest Man in the Room Disorder.” It thrives in the senior levels of most management. There is always some self- promoting “gas bag” who lets you know he is the “smartest man in the room” and if you don’t believe it, just ask him. They are most noted for conjuring up “half baked,” “poorly thought out,” “mindless” and generally “ill conceived” schemes and then foisting them on their captive audience (with vigor).
These schemes are usually “dumb,” “unconventional” and “unpopular,” and don’t make much sense! Skepticism gets to me, and I wonder what hidden agenda drives one (with even a modicum of common sense) to promote such an idea? What is he (or she) getting out of it — particularly when they are so “dogmatic.”
After I watched the meetings online (more than once), a thought came to me. Ironically, all the angst with the board meetings coincided with the installment of three new members (coincidence?). As I understand it all three ran unopposed (like Kim Jong-Un). Winning “unopposed” is no great feat! I suggest that this is the farthest thing from a “mandate.”
From all I heard, the three new board members don’t represent my interests! They come across as though they were elected by the “College of Cardinals” and not the result of running “unopposed.” How a new board member could suggest the “recall” of a sitting member on “opening day,” shows how “brazen” and “bold” they are. No lack of “brass” here!
One of the new members offered a somewhat “flaccid and insincere” apology for his abhorrent behavior for the meeting of June 4 but forgot he had a “repeat” performance a week later (on YouTube). It takes a special kind of individual to understand he is in trouble when he sees groups gathering signatures for his “recall” all over the neighborhood (a real eye for the obvious). When you see a bunch of feathers and smell burning tar, maybe you overdid it.
Personal opinion — the only thing he was sorry for was getting caught. He went from an obscure “who the is this guy?” to “This guy’s got to go!” in less than three weeks. From what I saw it is obvious this guy craves attention. Just think a “lynch mob” with pitchforks and torches is what he had in mind. Definitely needs a Dale Carnegie remedial course, and some refining of his “listening skills.”
In closing, I adamantly oppose opening Sun City West clubs to the general public and I think this is a widely held opinion. I don’t care what Corta Bella or Sun City Grand do — I don’t live there. I think the rec center management and outgoing board members did a hell of a job last year (under trying conditions) — they need to be commended strongly and listened to, not berated by a group of self anointed egotists.
I am really against any board member promoting public transit for the community. I have lived in enough cities to know that crime, panhandling, homeless and general mayhem shadow the transit lines. You couldn’t come up with a dumber idea if somebody paid you (a topic for another day).
My professional experience was engineering (technical) in the automotive and oil and gas sectors. “Failure Analysis” consumed much of my time. When something failed in the system you looked to the “root cause” (generally some contributing factor that has changed or varied). You didn’t radically change the system without determining what caused it to fail! I think the root cause of this may be the three new (won by default) board members. The angst arrived when they did and I believe this is no coincidence.
I sure am never going to miss a vote again! I believe this is just one of those instances where those who crave authority, can’t be entrusted with it.
