We recently received an eblast pertaining to the
Agenda for the Sun City Anthem Board meeting on Thursday, January 26th...and
what caught our eye....as well as...that of the "infamous" Robert N., was this item that will be decided.
Approval of the General Manager’s job description
What?
We've never had a formal job
description for a person being paid $270,000 who
also received a $20,000 bonus at the end of
2016?
And so...we're pleased to present this
critique and look forward to any comments you may
have.
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By
Robert N.
Sun City Anthem Resident
I,
like most residents, received an email on 1/24/17 from Sun City Anthem
announcing a scheduled Board meeting for 1/26/2017.
Among the agenda items to be discussed and appproved at this Board meeting was
this gem:
“Approval of the General Manager’s job
description”
SAY WHAT ???
Does this mean that the
Board of Directors conducted their search for the ‘perfect candidate’ without a
confirmed list of criteria applicable to the satisfactory performance of the
General Manager duties (in other words, without a written list of these
criteria, how did they know who to look for and how to evaluate the
candidates)?
Does
this mean that our General Manager (hired after an expensive search, wining and
dining, etc.) was selected for such an important position without the benefit of a written job
description?
Even
more disturbing, a ‘performance bonus’ is usually
given to an employee that exceeds the duties and criteria listed in his or her
Job Description.
Therefore, what criteria were used to recently award the
General Manager a $20,000
bonus?
Is
this the same Board that recently approved a quarterly dues increase?
Did
it follow the same lack of Business Acumen?
I hope the email SHOULD have read ‘approval of the General Manager’s REVISED job
description’
REMEMBER
FOLKS, THIS IS YOUR MONEY
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Got a
comment?
Send it to us at:
To begin with, the GM was paid $250,000 and not $270,000 and she received a $20,000 bonus for the work related to her outstanding tradition services which saved us $330,000 in management fees last year.
And OF COURSE we had a complete multi-page job description when we did our recruiting for her position.
That was a very complete "composite" description used for recruiting purposes.
We have refined that into a description that more closely fits the current and future needs do Sun City Anthem.
It is only a natural process to "tweak"the job description as we move forward with the full implementation of the transition's requirements.
I appreciate your response, but have some difficulty in the way you calculate the math.
First, perhaps you can explain the difference in getting a total compensation of $270,000 and that not constituting being paid a salary of $270,000.
As far as the $330,000 saved in management fees, I also have a problem with that as well.
What matter is not what you pay a GM or management company, but what the association paid in TOTAL.
Why don't we see the total expenses paid FOR EVERYTHING in 2015 compared to those in 2016?
It's the bottom line that counts Carl, and I think the community understands that as well.
...and if we saved $330,000, why the 10% dues increase in 2017 and rumor of another 10% in 2018 ???
If the reserves were under funded, shouldn't have been a factor in her income?
Money is money...and it all comes from residents.
I do thank you for your comment. Nice to hear a Board Member willing to discuss a decision...certainly not the norm !
From Elizabeth Breier...to...Anthem Opinions
According to the elbast sent there is an additional topic on the Board Agenda that will be decided.
It appears that the Community Service Group will be cutting all ties with Foundation Assisting Seniors.
The Board has been requested to take action on Jan 25 to send 60 Days notice to The Foundation for Assisting Seniors of the termination of the agreement between the two entities.
I have no problem with this, but rather a concern about the status of the Community Service Group thereafter.
Since they will be in need of equipment and surely will appreciate donations in the form of medical equipment and funds, will they be able to obtain non-profit status from the IRS since they are under the SCA umbrella?
Those discussions resulted in stalemate.
I learned that a lease was originally completed by a former Board President who took it upon herself to negotiate the terms that essentially would have had The Foundation paying Sun City Anthem a monthly rental fee of $1,000; however the agreement also called for Sun City Anthem to donate the $1,000 back to The Foundation.
She did so WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE REMAINDER OF THE BOARD.
That two term Board member is no longer a part of the Board, and when the 2016 Board was seated, they refused to sign the agreement, citing the reason SHE HAD NO AUTHORITY TO ACT ON THEIR BEHALF.
The Foundation however claimed the Board member in question was acting on behalf of the Board and as such, should be forced to honor HER UNAUTHORIZED agreement.
Hence, the stalemate...a problem that occurred due to something that has been prevalent in Sun City Anthem for years....
A combination of ABUSE OF POWER BY A BOARD MEMBER, along with many who consider GREED on behalf of an outside organization.
It was Director Carl Weinstein who obtained the Foundation's statements, and it appeared that only a relatively small portion of the funds collected by them made by Sun City Anthem unit owners, were given back to Sun City Anthem.
Essentially our association collected the money, gave it to the Foundation, and had to request they grant a portion of it back to us !
This arrangement seemed inequitable, and that's when Sun City Anthem suggested The Foundation pay a rent subsidy.
The request for The Foundation to pay some form of rent subsidy was made, and in my opinion, considering The Foundation serves many communities other than Sun City Anthem, it did not appear to be an unreasonable request.
That was not acceptable to The Foundation.
For months a solution has been attempted, but to no avail.
As a result, it is my opinion Sun City Anthem was placed in a position that left it no alternative other than to terminate the agreement with The Foundation.
My guess is that Sun City Anthem will be seeking to purchase a number of the devices currently owned by The Foundation, and in the meantime, following the agreement termination, it will primarily rely on the generous donations of residents to provide them.
As far as the non-profit status, Sun City Anthem is a non-profit corporation and as such, my guess is that it will fall under that same umbrella.
I am not tax consultant; however, it my thinking is in error, the community would greatly appreciate the opinion of an expert in that field.
In his response to Carl Weinstein, he states (in part):
"And OF COURSE we had a complete multi-page job description when we did our recruiting for her position."
Well, then it would really benefit the SCA Residents IF clearly-written email blasts are prepared....maybe the email should have stated:
“Approval of the REVISED General Manager’s job description"
However, after receiving that letter from the SCA Board yesterday stating that, regardless of the vote results, the Board will proceed with the Pulte Law Suit......it really doesn't matter what the Board SAYS it will do -
-they do what they want.
Maybe the Russians hacked into the email and changed the sentence???
Even more disturbing, a few months ago there was a well-attended Board meeting where the majority of residents at the meeting said N O to yet another restaurant......will this also be ignored???
LIKE THE ARTICLE SAID - IT IS OUR MONEY
As usual, your blog hits the nail on it's head.
I thought the GM was getting $250K but now you said she was being paid $270K. That was a surprise. She also got a $20K bonus for supposedly saving us $35K a month for 9 months but no one was ever told how this was saved or where the money went.
Now to find out that there was no job description for the position she is supposedly doing? Very scary.
It is also my understanding that our CFO is being paid $200K. Of course, we will never know since there is no transparency between the board and the people who live in Sun City. We just keep paying and paying.
How much did we pay RMI and the other management company and how much is self-management costing us now? Has anyone ever seen a budget or any type of comparison?
Why would they even post an agenda for a board meeting?
If you attend, you can't ask the board a question and get a response so what is the point? They do what they want and spend what they want with no oversight.
The reason no one wants to run for the board is because they can't win. The winners have already been decided before the election and it doesn't make any difference who votes because the individuals we want never seem to win. They had taken any initiative for anyone to run out of the equation.
Our board needs to be policed and audited, but no one seems to be able to do that. I am not sure how it came to be such a sad situation or how to even begin to fix it.
I am open to suggestions from anyone that has any idea how to find out about the corruption going on in Sun City and if there is any potential to correct it.