Winter Watering Restrictions
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Sun City Anthem
Monday, October 31, 2016
Life is Good for Nevada Casinos
Nevada
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"It Was a Very Good
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Sunday, October 30, 2016
What Really Caused the Sun City Anthem Reserves to Require a Dues Increase
Just Where Does the
Buck Stop ?
An Anthem Opinions
Editorial
No one should be surprised that Anthem Opinions has questioned many decisions made by the Sun City Anthem Board of Directors.
For years we have tried desperately to
find, recommend, and elect QUALIFIED individuals to
become members of our Board, yet year after year, the "same
old...same old" group of
political HACKS seem to get elected.
As to why, that remains a mystery, but
we know that most people couldn't give a hoot about community politics until one
day they suffer the worst pain they can imagine..
...in their pocketbooks
!
Well now...it appears that the "Piper" has finally got to be paid.
The question is "why"...
And "who"....
...is the scapegoat
???
The easiest target ?
The former management company
!
"They didn't fund the reserves properly", shouts the Board.
"It's their
fault, not ours" whimper the gurus, who now say we need more...
Time out for a good LOL folks !
This one is more ludicrous than believing Benedict Arnold's place in history should be more properly looked at as a British hero !
After this latest tale, in our
opinion, if any of you really believe it, you deserve
the...
In our estimation, here are the real reasons we need more dough in the association coffers !
First, we elected people whose knowledge of finance is so limited,
they couldn't see we were being "had"!
Here's one for the community to stomach
and finally accept !
Good management knows
how to police the store !
Did any of them even know WHAT TO QUESTION?
Just look at the general make-up
of "the chosen ones" over the years!
BUREAUCRATS....almost all of them...whose success in life
has often been defined as "time in grade" rather than
WHAT THE REAL WORLD refers to as TRACKRECORD OF RELEVANT SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCE
!
...while the few who haven't fit the
BEAURCRAT moniker...and...have made valiant qualified attempts to "right the
wrongs" ...
...have been sadly OSTRICIZED by 'the
spoils system" to which an "incestuous" "good old boy" Committee network of
"like minded " referrals has generated the largest percentage
of them....
...most of their members refusing
to admit ERRORS IN JUDGMENT, blaming anything other than...
THEMSELVES
!
Oh...before some control freak blogger
and his minions make a claim that we "hate" committee
members...
(as history would seem to dictate when
incapable of facing PROBLEM ISSUES CREATED BY THOSE HE
ENDORSED)...
Let us EMPHATICALLY
STATE...and....MAKE IT PERFECTLY
CLEAR...
...WE WHOLEHEARTEDLY BELIEVE... there are a number of GOOD, CARING, AND QUALIFIED COMMITTEE
MEMBERS out there...
...but how often are those guys and
gals "in white hats" looked down upon when their positive recommendations are
all to often considered...
"Rocking the Oars
of the Crony Express" !!!!
Just ask those who made an honest
attempt to "contribute", but after a short time, realized that having to deal
with a certain "element" was so impossible, they left with a feeling
of...
"Why did I Ever
Do This?"
or even
worse....
...were rejected from consideration
because their expertise far exceeded those in control....and were
considered...
"Too Independent
Minded"
Second, believing and voting for people who have read specific biased community blogs who endorse such CRONIES again and again.
Examples of such
victorious "distinguished" directors that included...
... a MEMBER OF CHANNEL 13 HOA HALL OF
SHAME....
...a five year Treasurer (not even CPA
qualified) whose ego and inability to LISTEN to competent and qualified
individuals, helped create a financial IRS nightmare costing "only" $100,000 plus legal and accounting fees when filing a
proper income tax form could have avoided the entire
affair....
...individuals who met illegally behind
closed doors in discussing association financial matters to evade discussions
with fellow board members....
...an individual who authorized the use
of association funds...without the approval of fellow directors... to pay for
buses during a presidential primary visit for some who didn't even reside in Sun
City Anthem...
...a woman who wasn't smart enough to
listen to others who said....
GET THE LIBERTY CENTER
PROFESSIONALLY EXAMINED BEFORE ACCEPTING IT.
(The booboo that is now
estimated to cost unit owners
$1,800,000)
...one blog whose criterion for rejecting a
qualified candidate was based on a ridiculous claim that the individual "hated
women".... an act of PETTY childish REVENGE...
(after which the club the individual
established with 400+ members... dwindled to less than 100
subscribers...following his resignation...and being taken over by the principals
of the respective blog that made the damning and
false claim).
...another blogger who made a request
to Anthem Opinions and a board candidate to reprint his "Mr. Fix-It" articles,
yet would not endorse him, instead finding a librarian better suited for a directorship position....
...in light of the many construction defects in which his expertise would have proved invaluable....
...in light of the many construction defects in which his expertise would have proved invaluable....
...and 2 past presidents along with the
current one who, with a recently reelected
Treasurer...
...ALL were and are PARTS of PAST and CURRENT regimes,
approving LOANS to a private entity that eventually defaulted, costing
association members $40,000 IN ADDITION TO WASTING ADDITIONAL SUMS ON RESTAURANT SUBSIDIES
and PRIVATE PARTIES, spending
more money than a gambler who believes he's smarter than the
system that built all the big buildings that we see in the
distance.
Third, the belief that going self-management will save us money
!
OK...the jury is still out on that one,
but the score card to date reads:
10% hike in dues in
2017
and
another 10% likelihood
in 2018
On top of that, the Sun City Anthem Board just voted to grant our new General Manager a $20,000 BONUS in addition to her current $250,000 salary and benefit
package.
When we inquired as to what constituted
the criterion for the bonus?
The answer...nothing concrete...all subjective reasoning without any clear cut defined
requirements as to having had to accomplish
" X.. Y.. Z" in order to obtain it
!
That's your community, my dear
readers....
...Liberty Center
STILL NOT OPEN.
...more talk of the
probable NEXT FAILING COSTLY RESTAURANT.
...a dues increase
with more on the way.
...a self-managed
community that is in financial "limbo" to
date.
So...you decide.
When your wallet is $120 lighter in 2017 and losing even
more weight in the following year, are you really going to swallow the
"excuse"...
"It's the
former management company's fault"
or
Is it
really...
"The Wrong
People Have Been Chosen to Watch the Store"
Our belief ???
That is the....
Remember...
WE TOLD YA SO
But our question to you
is the most important of them all ?
Will you re-elect them if
they choose to run in the next Board
election?
Will you be smart enough to PAY ATTENTION to the FACTS and choose those who are qualified to handle the job...or...are you going to take the traditional path of asking your neighbors or reading some biased publication ... or worst of all...not exercising your opportunity to vote at all ?
...you know...the path
that has brought us to where we are today !
Got a comment?
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016
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Monday, October 24, 2016
A Ballplayer's Unfortunate Dilemma ... An Anthem Opinions Editorial
World
Series
Has Bittersweet
Irony
for
Cleveland Indian's
Second
Baseman
Jason
Kipnis
The 2016 World Series
starts Tuesday night at 5:00pm on
FOX (Channel 5) and two great "long suffering" teams
will be "at it" to determine the
Champion of Professional Baseball.....
...who haven't won a World Series since 1948.
&
...who haven't won a World Series since 1908.
The last time the Indians appeared in
the Fall Classic was in 1995, but the
Cubs....
...it's been since 1945.
In 1995 the
Indians were beaten in the World Series by the Atlanta Braves due to the superb
pitching of FORMER CUB and Hall
of Famer, Greg
Maddux.
When the Indians last won the Series in 1948, Harry Truman was our President...
...the Marshall Plan was signed,
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, the Hells Angels were formed in California, the
State of Israel was founded, and the mighty Babe Ruth died at the young age of
53...
...but the
Cubs...
...well in 1908, Teddy Roosevelt was
winding down his presidency.
...and in that same year of 1908 there was even a rumor that Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid were killed in Bolivia, Henry Ford introduced "The Model T", and a new sports song became popular as well....
"Take Me
Out to the Ballgame"
So...what does this World Series mean
to both cities?
EVERYTHING
WHEN IT
COMES
TO
THE NATIONAL PASTIME
but
What does any of this
have to do with
Jason Kipnis
???
???
Poor Jason....no one
should have to go through what he'll have to... in the next week
!
Why?
Because Jason Kipnis might be the Cleveland
Indians second baseman, but he's also a CHICAGOAN !
...and still a CUB fan !
...and all of his family
(parents, brothers & sisters) and friends have been DIEHARD CUB fans their entire
lives.
Jason claims all of his
"friends" and "family" are "with the Tribe" all the way" in this
series...
...but as one of those DIEHARD Cub fans from
Chicago...I can assure you....
We don't like White Sox
fans, much less those from a foreign land on a contaminated Great Lake
!
But for Jason the
tradition is even worse.
Turns out that this kid
grew up in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook...
...and...went to the same
school (St. Norbert) and LIVED DOWN THE STREET from
another infamous Cub fan named...
Steve
Bartman
...and I can assure you...there is
not a single person in Chicago who's not familiar with that name
!
To this very day....since
2003...
Aisle 4, Row 8, Seat
113
is known as "The
Bartman Seat" and is one of the most heavily photographed (and spit on) areas of Wrigley
Field.
Then...we discovered that
poor Jason Kipnis has yet another "tie" to the
Cubs.
One of his uncles, a
doctor, delivered one of Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne
Sandberg's children.
Ryne
Sandberg
Sandberg's position on the diamond...THE SAME AS
KIPNIS...
SECOND
BASE
When Jason Kipnis was
confronted by all of this, his comments were the best that we could expect in
any professional athlete:
"This
is tough. The 10 year old kid in me is saying...
Why Does it Have to be the Cubs? My whole social media and
Facebook and everything is Cub posts...and I have to try to disappoint all of
them".
Well, it all begins
Tuesday evening...and..Jason Kipnis will be at 2nd
base for the American League Champion Cleveland Indians as they welcome his
childhood heroes, the Chicago Cubs.
And...though we make no
excuse as to whom we want to win this affair, it appears that Jason Kipnis will have the irony of being the biggest winner (and loser) of
them all !
When these two teams face
off against each other, many of us Chicagoans will not only remember the days of
Ernie Banks, Ron Santo,
Billy Williams, Fergie
Jenkins, Ryne Sandberg, and Greg Maddux, along with Hall of Fame broadcasters Jack Brickhouse and Harry
Carey...
...but personally I want this one for a young 36
year old "kid" who lost a battle to leukemia one week
before the Cubs would play in the 1984 Divisional Series with the San Diego
Padres...a series they also lost...
....whose music will live on forever in the hearts of every true
Chicago Cubs fan....
Steve
Goodman
"Go
Cubs Go"
"A Dying Cub
Fan's Last Request"
It's time
to...
PLAY BALL
Dick
Arendt
Anthem
Opinions
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That represents an 8.00% increase in compensation.
Let's put this in proper perspective.
Social Security just announced that the 2017 COLA increase will be .03%.
This board should be reminded that more than a third of retirees (35%) receive 90% or more of their income as a monthly payment from the Social Security Administration.
While those receiving Social Security retirement income receive a mere .03% increase in their benefits, many seniors will suffer as a result of a 10% increase in dues, while a General Manager receives an 8.00% increase as a bonus alone.
All this...in an economy where the average individual looking for a job continues to experience hardship in obtaining one that can feed a family.
How easy it is to spend others funds when so many of the "others" continue to struggle.
When you add the bonus to the basic compensation, it amounts to EACH UNIT OWNER having to pay $37.79 this year...JUST TO COMPENSATE THE G.M.
I understand they have put in a $2,381,000 “Allowance” for Masonry Walls as a means of filling the coffers. Masonry walls generally have an expected useful life of 100 years. So why add all that money? Perhaps they intend to repurpose the funding later to subsidize a restaurant. Wouldn't surprise me.
Ah well, back to watching political commercials.
Who do you ask about the fact that we had such a surplus they were going to build a miniature golf course and now we have to raise our dues. Is it because of Liberty Center?
Where has all the money gone and why is Sandy getting a $20,000 bonus when she hasn't even been here a year?
I don't even know who to ask these questions to.
Please help.
Your questions are EXCELLENT. I will post this under the article but I suggest you ask these questions to EACH board member for an answer.
Be aware...RARELY DO THEY EVER RESPOND to such questions.
If you receive a response, please forward it to us. We will post it for all to read.
I wish I could be more helpful, but like you, I'm just a resident who asks as many questions are you do.
Just remember to tell all your friends who responded and who didn't as well as their answers if any of them choose to run for reelection.
I wish I could be more helpful, but am as baffled as you.
........and let's not forget the 10's of $1,000 spent to hire our new Manager (dinners and meetings at the "M" Casino, etc., etc. Seems that the same modus operandi is still in place: after spending $1,000,000+ to repair Liberty Center, the Cretins plan to spend even more money at a gala celebration re-opening the place. This attitude is exactly like the previous "...costing "only" $100,000 plus legal and accounting fees..."
Here's two pieces of advice for our esteemed Board members (AND to the residents that voted for them):
1. a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting the outcome to be different.
2. if you watch the pennies, the dollars watch themselves.