The More Things
Change
The More They Seem the
Same
There may be a new board, but we evidently still have the same board culture.
The Sun City Anthem Board met Thursday
afternoon and elected association officers for the next
year.
The results were predictable, yet
disappointing...
...and obviously, "the people" took a back seat once
again.
We knew an "old
guard" would be almost impossible to unseat, but what we didn't figure
on, was that a supposed reformer, Forrest Quinn,
the top vote getter in the recent election, would be the one to betray the
confidence of those who believed he would represent
reform.
Why do we believe that to be the case?
Let's face facts, there is no better
example of "old guard" than Rex
Weddle.
His record as President is laden with ...
Poor financial
decisions
Being untruthful about
a requirement to go forward with a massive construction default law
suit
condescending
mannerisms
dictatorial
behavior
and
blatant lack of
transparency
These concerns were
so evident, the voters obviously rebuked his leadership, when he, one of two
incumbents, finished fourth in a field of five
candidates.
"The people"
demanded change...and elected
three new individuals to represent the
community.
They were led to believe
that in those three cases, they would get it...by reforming
a system they no longer trusted or believed, acted in their best
interests...
...until Thursday
afternoon.
Arthur Lindberg and Nona Tobin
fulfilled their promise of reform by NOT VOTING to retain
Rex Weddle as the Association President.
We knew "the old guard"
of Tom Nissen, Bob Burch,
and Aletta Waterhouse would look for reasons to
continue their control of the Sun City Anthem Board, and with Weddle voting for himself, the 4 votes necessary for
election, became a certainty.
But...when Forrest Quinn joined the bandwagon and VOTED FOR WEDDLE, that made little sense that an individual
who had been so vocal in his prior opposition to Board policies, would join
them.
Then...as the election of
other association officers commenced, it all somehow took
shape.
Tom Nissen, the current Sun City Anthem Treasurer, nominated Quinn to be the new association Treasurer.
...and low and behold, he
was elected to the post UNANIMOUSLY by the rest of
the members.
Now folks, something
doesn't quite add up...except perhaps unless some backdoor
shenanigans took place prior to the official
vote.
At the very least, I
don't believe it would out of line to ask why Mr. Quinn would oppose so many
board policies PRIOR to being elected, then cast a vote for THE ENGINEER of the TRAIN he
opposed.
When all was said and
done, the next group of Board Officers will be as
follows:
President
Rex Weddle
Vice
President
Art Lindberg
Secretary
Aletta Waterhouse
Treasurer
Forrest
Quinn
One other, Tom Nissen, didn't run for any office, and outspoken Nona Tobin...
...for being the one
person who cried for reform the loudest of any elected
candidate...
...was exiled into obscurity as a "member at
large", charged with tasks Rex Weddle will demand of
her.
So folks, that's the way
it is for the next 12 months...
...a new board embracing
an old culture.
As we said
earlier...
Anthem Opinions Administration
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...and then a few individuals wonder (publicly) WHY the residents don't vote????
They blame it on apathy???
They should stop the sanctimonious BS and recognize that it's not apathy - it's disgust.
We thank Rana for allowing us to reprint the article recently published on the Anthem Today forum:
ARE WE BACK IN SCHOOL AGAIN?
On Thursday, May 5th, 2017 I was transported back in time and imagined myself back in school as I watched and listened to Rex Weddle lecture Nona Tobin on what he perceived the correct way to structure a sentence.
Nona wanted to nominate Art Lindberg for president of the board and Rex had just been nominated, this way (paraphrasing) by Bob Burch “I make a motion that Rex Weddle be president for the term 2017-2018”.. We all know you can nominate as many people for any office as anyone wants to….. but heaven forbid Rex gets competition, that was not in the plan set up already…. He loudly chastised Nona that this was not the way things were done! This effort was repeated several times though the meeting with furfur, arms crossed, face scowling… (back in the day when we were kids, school master Rex would have taken little Nona and placed her in the corner for a very long time out) Since we are all adults, it was a disgustingly shameful way to treat another human being and I am proud of Nona for keeping her cool and remaining a lady in every way. I don’t know that I would have been able to do that.
I was not surprised that the positions were pre-decided, this is usually the case over the years. I was amazed when I realized that Forrest Quinn stood with the “old guard” and that Art Lindberg and Nona Tobin were alone. It was abundantly clear that Nona is going to be treated like a leper and that is not going to be tolerated by this woman if there is anything we can do about it.
I don’t know about you be I am so sick and tired of electing people to the board and watching them use it for their own playground. They ostracize anyone who does not march to their drumbeat and treat residents like we know nothing is wrong.
I think it is time that the board understands that they were voted in by their neighbors and just because the term is for two years, it does not mean they can act as gods for that time.
I don’t believe I am alone when I say we expect respect and in return we will give respect. No one can demand that, you earn it.
That goes for administration too. Treat people well, you will be treated with dignity in return. However, if I (or my club) am treated badly or with disrespect we will fight tooth and nail for what is right regardless of the position the person is in who is making the demands. Be fair, no problem, that is all we ask. We, I, will not be intimidated.
I have to ask myself, as I look at president Rex, with his arm crossed, (locked off to everyone, If you believe body language), why it has never occurred to these “geniuses” to try being kind. To try a nice approach to getting things done.
A perfect example would be the age survey that they need signed. They recently had a FREE event, movie on the north lawn. They could have had tickets to that event at the front desk all week, the price, sign the age form. Have a day where they serve coffee and donuts (hey, we waste more money than that all the time,) FREE to anyone who has not sign the form. I’d be willing to bet lots would be signed in record time.
Next we come to the new lawyer; is he going to be a “yes man too”? Jack Silas, who has not been at a board meeting in some time made a statement during member comment about many residents who were very confused about what has happened with the removal of the Foundation Assisting Seniors. He said their services were important to the community and mattered of the older seniors needed help and he felt it was a huge error removing them.
Rex turned to our new attorney and asked if the removal could be reversed. The attorney said “no, one that was done, it was done”….. SAY WHAT! Has he never heard of a revision or the agreement? Is this lawyer just going to tell the board what they want to hear or is he going to tell us the truth?
Bottom line, I’m not happy with the start of our new term one bit!
So sorry to see the “same old talking heads” running the show again. Why can’t we ELECT OUR POSITIONS JUST AS WE DO IN A NORMAL ELECTION?
More of the same secrets. More of the same for the “incompetents.” The middle management team is back to run the insane asylum.
Do we now have more in the way of “outsourced” management too?