NOTE: Residents who receive their Sun Day newspapers on Thursday are reminded that events discussed in this report refer to the board meeting one day earlier.
SUN CITY – This week, the transformation of the Sun City board of directors will be made complete, and the seven-member governing body will no longer be short-handed.
At the quarterly board meeting on Wednesday, March 21, two new board members will be appointed to replace Jim Henley and Larry LaBeau, who both resigned in January in the middle of their 2011-2012 terms. The new appointees will serve the remaining nine months of their terms.
Last year brought some controversy and turmoil to the board amid discussions of room reservation policies for outside groups, board communications, and transparency. Jerry Kirschner resigned from the board last April and was re-elected for a new two-year term last fall. Bonnie Bayser was appointed to fill Kirschner’s 2011-12 term last spring and then was elected to a full two-year term last fall. Linda Davis was elected to the board for the first time.
At the January board meeting, Kirschner was elected board president for the new term, Bob Beaupre was elected vice president, and Bayser was elected secretary. So far this year, the board has focused primarily on routine and transition activities. It posted the two board vacancies in January and received letters of interest from residents through February 14. The first order of business at this week’s meeting will be appointment of the two new board members. Starting this week, the board will have three new members (Davis and the two new appointees), two returning members (Kirschner and Bayser), and two holdover members (Harry Leopold and Beaupre).
“We have been working on a fairly lengthy laundry list of issues and proposals for 2012, and these will be revealed at meetings in the coming weeks,” Kirschner said. “The list is a work in progress now.”
The sharp debates of 2011 did bring one positive development, however. Resident participation in the 2011 board election increased significantly, when seven candidates emerged seeking the three vacant positions. Bayser, Kirschner, and Davis were elected by solid pluralities. More than 25% of the community’s eligible voters participated in the balloting.
