RCSC responds to
Anne Randall Stewart letter in The Sun Cities Independent
In response to the letter written by Anne Randall Stewart titled “Sun
City facilities for Sun Citians only” that appeared in the July 9, 2008,
edition of the Sun Cities Independent, I wish to make the following
comments separating the facts from the drama.
In her letter, Ms. Stewart claims that RCSC General Manager Jan Ek has
implemented policies and decisions that hurt RCSC and its cardholders.
Firstly, Ms. Stewart asserts that General Manager Ek opened RCSC
facilities to the public outside of Sun City. The general manager does
not have the authority to make such changes. That authority falls with
the Board of Directors, which is elected by RCSC Members. The general
manager is hired by and reports to the Board. The Board approved the
move to market two golf courses, Riverview and South, for public play to
sell tee times that would otherwise go unused. I will remind Ms. Stewart
that General Manager Ek reports to the Board of Directors. She is doing
her job when she supports our decisions. That decision to market two
courses for public play has proved a boon for the RCSC golfing division
as it has generated $151,207 through the end of June, which is $139,594
more than was generated through June of last year. This extra revenue is
welcome as maintenance costs continue to rise.
Ms. Stewart’s off-handed remark that by eliminating the professionals on
our staff, we would eliminate all deficits is absurd. We are an
organization with an annual budget of $16 million, which requires
full-time supervision and management by experienced professionals. But
Ms. Stewart calls for a “get back to basics” approach that would entail
electing “expert community members” to oversee operations. In essence,
Ms. Stewart expects a cadre of retired people (other than herself) to be
willing to give up years of their retirement to run a $16-million
corporation of over 300 employees, while putting in 40 to 50 hours per
week with no compensation. RCSC does have a volunteer Board of
Directors, comprised of retired members from many walks of life. These
are the volunteers elected by RCSC Members to guide the corporation and
set policies and procedures. The current Board, as well as previous
Boards, relies on competent professionals to efficiently handle the
day-to-day operations of the recreation centers and golf courses. The
Management Team and the Board of Directors have saved our corporation,
and therefore Members, hundreds of thousands of dollars in operating
expenses annually with the changes we have made in the last couple of
years, including a year-to-date savings of $544,622 in employee salaries
and benefits. Prior to having a general manager in place, we were not
able to produce these kinds of results. The Management Team is not
costing us money, they are saving us money.
Also in her letter, Ms. Stewart makes
certain claims about the renovation project of Fairway Recreation
Center. She implies that General Manager Ek is at fault for supporting
recent decisions regarding the Fairway project. We again remind Ms.
Stewart that Ms. Ek reports to the Board of Directors. She is doing her
job when she supports the Board’s decisions. Ms. Stewart criticizes the
decision not to borrow funds for the Fairway project or to assess RCSC
Members. But the Board’s decision to forgo borrowing in favor of using
money from the Preservation and Improvement Fund was done so not to
burden cardholders with debt. In spite of the downturn in the housing
market, our conservative estimates of income still allow us to use this
method to pay for the project. The only negative reaction we have
received for this decision is from Ms. Stewart.
Her claim that RCSC is moving forward on the Fairway project without
cost estimates is false. There were preliminary cost estimates at the
start of the project and these are now being revised into bids, which
will result in a true cost of the project. The one-year delay, due to
the Sundial roof collapse, precluded releasing any figures for Fairway
prematurely, which we knew would have to be revised upward, once the
project proceeded.
We are still deriving a completion date for Phase I. Home sales are
running at 83 percent of current estimates, so we must set the
completion date carefully. This will be done as the final contracts are
signed, and we have a final cost figure that is coordinated with our
cash flow plan.
In regard to Ms. Stewart’s comments on the well-being of Weitz
Construction Co., RCSC has copies of their financial statements for that
firm’s nationwide operation. Despite a down economy, Weitz is in no
danger of going bankrupt. Nor did RCSC hand Weitz an “open checkbook.”
Costs are guaranteed. This is due to our arrangement with Weitz to
perform under a Change Management at Risk Contract (CMAR). Under this
type of contract, Weitz and RCSC will receive bids only from those
contractors that both have found reliable. All contractors must all be
licensed, bonded and insured. They cannot raise the price of their
contract for any reason other than additional work not originally
outlined in the quote. This holds costs down. It is safe because of the
bonding and insuring of the sub-contractors and it guarantees completion
in a timely manner.
In addition to comments regarding Fairway, Ms. Stewart questions the
decision to close Lakes West Golf Course for six weeks. Director of Golf
and Grounds John Snyder had been receiving complaints on the condition
of Lakes West. RCSC had not overseeded that course last year and Mr.
Snyder, a degreed agronomist, surmised this may be the reason for the
poor transition this year, as it mirrored conditions at other RCSC golf
courses where we had skipped overseeding in the past. He sent an e-mail
to Ms. Ek, which was also forwarded to the Board of Directors,
suggesting a six-week shutdown to allow the roots to recover. The Board
and Ms. Ek concurred. The displaced golfers have seven other non-crowded
courses to play during the short duration. We do not anticipate a
significant drop in revenues because of this closure, as experience with
such, just two years ago at South, proved to provide no decrease in
green fees or golf rounds. Had we done what Ms. Stewart recommends,
continued using the course, thus further damaging the roots, I would
agree that the responsible party should be fired.
In regard to the golf maintenance operations, the Board formed a Golf
Ad-Hoc Committee (made up of “expert” community members) last year, that
went through every facet of the golf division. Both Ms. Ek and Mr.
Snyder provided for this committee every aspect of this operation for
review, which included the golf maintenance staff. The fact is that our
golf maintenance superintendents and assistant superintendents are paid
a fraction of the wages of those in similar positions in our area. In
addition, each golf maintenance task is assigned a time limit in which
it is to be completed and our golf staff consistently operates under
these time standards. After spending months of investigating and
reviewing every aspect of our golf operation, the Golf Ad-Hoc Committee
suggested to the Board to increase the fees to RCSC cardholders double
that of the proposal later presented by the Management team.
While we agree that we want folks to be motivated to purchase in Sun
City, we do not believe that golfers will choose to do so if our golf
courses are not maintained at a certain level. Making golf cheap is not
our answer; it could, in fact, be our demise. What we are attempting to
do is make it affordable for those who have lived here for years and yet
still be attractive to those who may consider moving here. The fact is
that we know of several homes that have been purchased in Sun City as a
result of the “outside play program” as once they were given the
opportunity to play here (at a much higher cost) they choose to purchase
here.
Sun City is the oldest of all retirement communities, but, I believe, it
is the best. Sun City has the burden of playing catch-up after years of
neglect to facilities. This neglect was the result of a “don’t spend any
money” mentality that can destroy an aging community surrounded by newer
competitors.
Since the turn of the millennium, we have had Boards of Directors and
top management who are moving forward to stay relevant and competitive
in the retirement community field. Within the past few years, RCSC
opened the state-of-the-art Bell Recreation Center (debt-free). In
another month, we will have a completely refurbished Sundial Recreation
Center (debt-free). And in about three years, we will have a brand-new
multi-million dollar Fairway Recreation Center, complete with a walking
pool and indoor walking track. This too will have been completed without
going into debt, because of the dedication and teamwork of the RCSC
Board of Directors and its professional staff.
Del Webb’s spirit is alive and well in Sun City and reflected throughout
RCSC. If you wish to learn more about us, please go to our website at
sunaz.com or call us at 623-876-3000.
Don Schjorde, Director
RCSC Board of Directors
Contact: Tim Gallen, RCSC Communications Coordinator, at 623-561-4616 or
