See the March edition of The Vegas Voice Newspaper...recognizing Senior Issues...and one in particular....
RMI Management
RMI Management
We at Anthem Opinions, want to give a personal thanks and congratulations to Vegas Voice Editor & Chief, Dan Roberts, for his dedication to senior issues involving residents of the Las Vegas valley, in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of his publication.
We urge all of you to read the many articles from various columnists, but we especially want to bring to your attention two specific articles in the March edition which will also be in your mailbox within the next few days.
If would like a preview, it's up and on the Vegas Voice website NOW.
When you pull up the site, go the right and click on "Current Editions". You will be directed to a page which summarizes all of the 2013 issues to date.
Then, click on the March 2013 edition.
First, get to Page 8 and you'll see a great article written by Anthem Today's Rana Goodman, the Political Editor for the newspaper.
Rana's article, entitled "Our Readers Do Care", covers a number of bills before the Nevada Assembly and Senate that you should be aware of as to how they would affect your lifestyle.
...and what's this I see ?
Right below Rana's article is our Anthem Opinions ad that will now have exposure to over 44,000 homes within the Las Vegas community.
On Page 9 is an article written by Sun City Anthem resident, Mary Schramski, that brings to light, what appears to be abusive behavior on the part of management company, RMI, toward senior employees who reside within the Sun City Anthem community.
This one is a MUST READ.
According to the article, she has begun a petition to stop this abuse, and within a short time, to date, has 288 signatures in support of her plea.
You may contact Mary to obtain a copy of the petition at:
Having had personal experience at the inappropriate behavior of the RMI management firm, Anthem Opinions will join Mary's effort in not only signing her petition, but bringing forth other issues which should cause our Board to look twice at this firm, before entering into any further management agreements.
Stay tuned...because I've learned that Mary has a follow-up article scheduled for the April 2013 edition....
...but for now...contact Mary Schramski and learn more about this issue that HAS now affected a number of our community's senior citizens.
Dick Arendt
Before anyone supports this petition, I hope that person would discuss the issues with management and get their side of the story.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe that RMI tells their employees not to talk negatively about their workplace, even in their homes. How would RMI know what was said in one's home.
Some things you should consider. Trying to manage a number of people that can only work part time, or certain hours, due to medical problems or other issues, is extremely difficult. Further, senior citizens show very little respect for younger people, especially if the younger people are in charge.
In 11 years of living in Anthem, I found our citizenry to be very combative, as if they all had an extra dose of testosterone.
I quit the Current Events club after only attending 3 meetings because of the "I know everything attitude and other people(especially younger) should just keep quiet".
Interestingly, I found the same attitude by Seniors towards younger people around poker tables in town. Even though some of the young people were CEOs of their own companies.
I also attended a number of Board and other committee meetings where testosterone reared its ugly head numerous times, resulting in contentious meetings. I am surprised we have not had any fist fights, or I may have just not seen or heard of them.
Something else. Dr, Mary, you insinuated that the Senior citizens were forced to resign so that RMI could hire younger people.
All personnel working in the fitness center have to be able to perform CPR and they must be able to assist Seniors if they fall, or have an accident in the pool, which would require to haul some pretty hefty people out of the water.
Some of those requirements were placed on the management and HOA by the state and insurance companies.
I have met most of the people working in the fitness center and they are some of the most helpful people I know. Courteous and friendly at all times, but I am not sure they meet all the requirements, to include working the flexible hours these positions require.
I am curious why the disgruntled employees discussed their problems with DR. Mary, If you have trouble with your boss, get an appointment with him/her and discuss the issues. If you are not satisfied with the answer, go to top RMI management and if that fails, submit your grievances to the HOA.
If you bad mouth management in the business world, the military or the Government, don't be surprised if you are forced to resign or are fired.
Dr. Mary, did you take all these complaints, document them and talk to RMI before you started a petition?
My guess is no.
Allegedly, 280 plus have signed the petition and that Anthem Opinion will back that petition.
I sure would like to hear from those 280 people as to what it is they found rude or offensive about RMI management.
Our HOA would not have been touted as the best in the country, if we did not have a good management company running things.
If you signed the petition and did not hear the other side of the story, shame on you.
Again, if you had bad experiences with management, document the events and submit them to the Board if you are not satisfied with RMI's answer
Further, if Anthem Opinions is to be a venue for our Seniors to express their opinions, I suggest Dick Arendt and the other editors do not take sides.
Let the members state their opinions and let the community decide which causes they want to support. Otherwise, Anthem Opinions will become just a political tool of its editors.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteLike anyone, you are entitled to your opinion.
There have been a number of issues with RMI Management over the years which have questioned their bidding prodecures, exremely high expenditures at resident expense, and in particular, rude behavior on the part of some of their employees.
Dr. Mary's comment is far from the first we have heard with regard some of the hiring and firing practices of RMI management; and to date, the signatures on her petition are mounting, which in our opinion, shows that people are concerned for their neighbors, who happen to be part time employees of RMI.
Many of these complaints stem from managers recently hired by RMI, who appear to sanction the matters Dr. Mary brought to the attention of our community.
With the board appearing to embrace the "Carver Management Model" of governance, this appears to place even greater control in the hands of the management company, and these part time resident/employees would be even less protected as a result.
We soundly believe that we should favor employing the members of our community first, before we consider others,and that if any management company is unable to live by those terms, they should be shown the door.
Complaining to the Board has nornally fallen on deaf ears, as have many other association issues about which they were advised, yet rejected. Our recent tax settlement with the IRS costing our association in excess of $140,000 is a perfect example of rejecting advice that monies could not be retained without suffering an income tax ramification.
Another example was our board authorizing an ad hoc committee last fall to examine other management company options, That group produced 5 alternatives that they recommended, RMI being last on their list.
The board flatly rejected any of the committee findings without providing reason for doing so.
Finally, as a result of continual pressure, recently they did vote to look to other avenues other than RMI, yet many feel that it was merely a smoke screen to make people happy, yet will still retain RMI under any circumstances.
Sam, we at Anthem Opinons also are residents who have opinions, and as the Welcome Screen indicates, we will be controversial at times.
Dr. Mary's concerns have been expressed by many, and a petition with hundreds of names expressing displeasure at a management company sends a very strong message.
Let's never forget that THEY work for US, and looking elsewhere, in our opinion, is a good business decision, not just a bunch of old people complaining.
Those old people make up our community,
Finally, your belief that Anthem Opinions will become a political tool of its editors is harsh, and in our opinion, unfounded.
Very few articles are of a political nature as the various categories indicate.
Our concerns are to entertain and inform, and based on the reception we have received not merely in Sun City Anthem, but the Las Vegas community in general, the most frequent comment we receive is that we are a "breath of fresh air" compared to other venues available.
I've had my issues with previous RMI management, primarily dealing with the indoor pool. The monitors were not performing their duties.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have never found RMI management rude to me or anyone else. Seniors take umbrage at anyone or anything that is said if it does not agree with their view. As I said, too much testosterone.
Just remember this. A new management company usually is the lowest bidder, but then they hire the existing personnel from RMI and pay them less and give them less benefits.
So you may not have solved the problems you allude to. I can't deal with all the problems you listed at this time. I only dealt with the comments that Dr. Mary referred to.
As to the editors using Anthem Opinions to steer our community towards this view or any other view, yes, it does become a political tool for the editors.
Stay neutral. Present the opinions and let the chips fall where they may.
If you do want to state your individual opinion, state that this is your personal opinion, not the opinion of Anthem Opinions.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteI would like to direct you to an article written on another Sun City Anthem forum, Anthem Today.
www.anthemtoday.com
Rana Goodman, the owner, published an article in the "Chatter" cagegory entitled "Fitness Center Concerns from a Resident". It was followed by a presonal comment I made.
In my opinion, it summarized our RMI problem quite well.
Please read it when you have the chance.
And...thanks for your feedback.