By Dwight Esau
For the Sun Day
SUN CITY – Sun City residents have achieved a long-time goal – to energize the community association board election process and create a true contest for board positions.
Three things played a significant role in this political epiphany – the facility rental controversy over an application by a church to rent space in a community lodge last spring, a perception that communications between the board and residents have broken down, and an effort by a group of residents to encourage more candidates to file petitions for election.
Seven candidates – including two incumbents seeking re-election – are running for three open board seats in the 2011 election. Online balloting begins October 3 and continues through October 18.
Following is a short profile on each of the candidates as part of the Sun Day’s effort to help inform Sun Citians of their qualifications and encourage residents to vote.
The profiles are published here in alphabetical order. These profiles contain information on qualifications and activities at Sun City. In our next issue, we will invite candidates to state their views on the most important issues facing the community.
BONNIE BAYSER – incumbent, appointed to the board in June 2011 to fill the position vacated by the resignation of Jerry Kirschner. A Sun City resident since 2002, she is a retired Registered Nurse with more than 20 years experience in hospital administration. She served as clinical director of the Primary Care Ambulatory Division of Loyola University Health System for 20 years. She has been active in the Sun City Facility Advisory, Facility Use, Wellness, and Neighborhood committees and the Neighborhood Advisory Council. She also has been active on the Management Transition Committee. She has been an officer and member in several charter clubs. She is an elected trustee and board secretary of the Huntley Fire Protection District since 2003 and an elected board member of the Northern Illinois Alliance of Fire Protection Districts.
LINDA DAVIS – An elementary school teacher for 34 years and a Sun City resident for more than 11 years, she served as a teacher’s teacher in classes throughout Illinois. Elected to the Executive Board of the Schaumburg Education Association, the organization representing certified teachers in the district. She was an elected board member and President of the Sun City Theatre Company and is an elected vice chairman of the Charter Club Presidents Council. She served as chairperson of the Charter Club expo for the last two years and has served on several committees related to the Charter Club Rules and Procedures Manual. She currently is vice chair of the Facility Use Committee.
AL DROGOSZ – A retired architect and senior manager in the real estate development industry, he led project teams in the planning, design, scheduling, contract negotiations, and cost containment for real estate development projects. His education includes a bachelor’s degree in architecture, Aetna Advanced Management Program, and the Executive Development Program in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. At Sun City, he is a member of the Charter Club Presidents Council, the Clayground Club, charter member of the Property Assessment Council, and a consultant to the Building and Equipment Committee.
JERRY KIRSCHNER – A resident of Sun City for eight years and a native of Brooklyn, New York, he seeks to return to the board he has served for five years. He is a pharmacist by profession and a businessman by trade. A graduate of Long Island University with a degree in pharmacy, he obtained advanced education at Northeastern University, St. Johns University, and the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. At Sun City, he served on the board of directors from 2005-2006 and 2008 to April 2011. He was board liaison to the Charter Club President’s Council and the Fitness and Lifestyles Committees. He is co-founder and former president of the Sportsmen’s Club and a member of the Bocce, Current Events, and N.Y. Metro Clubs. He is a former member of the Fountain View (former Sales Center) Renovation Committee and of the Fire Corps, Huntley Fire Protection District.
JAMES LUNN – a Sun City resident since 2000, he is a former president and board member of real estate development and financial corporations, First Charter Service Corp, and Illinois Service Corp, a subsidiary of Lyons Savings and Loan. He is former vice president of Talman Home Federal Savings and Loan in charge of all large commercial and residential real estate properties and was vice president of New Communities Enterprises, developer of Park Forest South. He was president and board chairman of Lunn Limited Homes, a home builder and real estate development firm throughout the Chicago area. At Sun City, he teamed with Cynthia O’Connor to develop a DVD of all the Charter Club information that was used in a Sun City Charter Club community presentation. At Sun City Summerlin in Las Vegas, he was president of the Computer Club. He taught classes and developed seminars for the club.
ANTHONY TROY – A nine-year Sun City resident, he has been president of the Arcadia Condominium Association since December 2007. He emigrated to the U.S. from the Ukraine at age 11. He founded a telephone equipment repair and resale business in 1980 and worked 19 years for a telephone development laboratory as a group leader of evaluation engineers. At Arcadia, he has led an effort to reduce member assessments by 10% through energy efficiencies and controlling insurance and management company fee costs.
BILL ZILETTI – An incumbent, he has served four years as treasurer on the association board of directors and is currently board president. He is a retired financial executive with an emphasis on commercial property and casualty insurance. He has more than 20 years of middle and senior management experience, including managing a $100-million strategic business unit with more than $25 million in expense management. A native of Virginia, he has coached little league baseball, has been a Boy Scout scoutmaster, and has been an active member of numerous homeowners associations. At Sun City, he served as chairman and member of the Finance Committee, two-plus years as member and chairman of the Transition Steering Committee, President of the Charter Club President’s Council, and a member of several specialized committees. For three years, he was president of the Computer Club and has been an active member of the Woodchucks Club. He has been a member of the Lifestyles publication monthly assembly process and delivers the magazines to a portion of Neighborhood 27.
