SCCAH board candidates respond to questions at forum

SUN CITY – On Sept. 9, the seven candidates competing for three open seats on the Sun City Community Association board of directors spoke to about 400 residents at an open forum in Drendel Ballroom.

The event was co-sponsored by the Elections Advisory Committee and the Neighborhood Advisory Council.

The candidates, in ballot name order, are: Bill Ziletti, Mack Titus, Eugene Rhodes, Katherine Ryan, Bonnie Bayser, Dennis O’Leary, and Linda Davis. Their opening and closing remarks are as follows:

Ziletti
“My practice has always been to listen to residents, gather feedback, and take back your ideas for consideration. And in many cases, implement them. I always try to be as creative as possible in my approach to problems. During a communications process, my greatest recent achievement was the implementation of a President’s Corner on the website in 2011, which provided transparency from the board to residents. It also provided answers to residents’ questions. I also have served on the board of another homeowners association, implementing a financial reserve plan for that organization. I have always considered my service to my community as a gift. I hope that in my service to all of you I have demonstrated integrity in everything. I have introduced a lot of transparency in communications to residents about board activities. I will continue to do that and improve on it if elected.”

Titus
“Our budget shows $1.3 million in revenue, and $8.1 million in expenses, leaving a gap, or difference, of $6.7 million. This is the part that has to be made up by resident assessments. The problem is there are no plans. Without a plan, there is no accountability, no incentive to manage expenses. We need new budget software, an on-site CPA to manage this function, we need a new management company, and we need a new executive director who has management experience. The task of management is to identify risks and act to minimize them. Our big challenges lie [in] the financial area. We need new parameters for our financial reporting system.”

Rhodes
“Transparency is my top priority, since residents are always asking for better ways to manage our community and to get information. We need more openness and accountability, and we need to keep costs down. I owned a business that served such large corporations as Kraft Foods, Siemens, A.B. Dick, and others. I want to help hire a new management company when the current contract expires and work to maintain the facilities in our beautiful community. Our overall spending has been on target. Our assessments are at a reasonable level. Our objectives are being attained. Reserves need to be kept up, so our assessments don’t go up. I’ll always try to be friendly and approachable when meeting residents.”

Ryan
“We need a program to respond to resident phone calls within three business days, and we need a program to resolve resident concerns or problems within 30 days. I operated a business for 25 years, where I was responsible for payroll, accounting, training, hiring, and setting up corporate and promotional programs. I also was president of a professional association. I have been responsible in organizations for budgets, problem-solving, fund-raising, planning meetings, and obtaining guest speakers. I would like to consider cutting our budget by 10 percent; I think it can be done. There is a lot of room for improvement in our budgeting and management processes.”

Bayser
“I have experience on area fire protection boards for 20 years. Together with my professional experience in hospital administration, this has given me a broad knowledge of our community, area, and a working knowledge of how boards operate. I want to keep costs down, while maintaining our lifestyle and facilities. Hiring a new executive director and contracting with a new management company will be priorities in the coming year. Marketing our community is essential to maintaining property values. My experience on this, and [on] other governing boards, and my broad knowledge of the community qualify me to continue to serve on the board. I’ve done my best to listen to the residents, and I promise to continue doing that if I’m re-elected. Giving me your support will ensure that your views and concerns will be listened to and considered.”

O’Leary
“I have served most recently as vice chair of both the finance advisory and facility advisory committees. My focus has been on improving our internal processes. I also have focused on developing better use of the talent residing in our advisory committees and to get them more involved. Our objectives should not be only on cost reduction. We should be in control of our assessments and relate them to the rate of inflation. We need to delegate more of the day-to-day tasks and focus on developing a vision. We need a plan to reach that vision. We need to decide if we can afford the vision.”

Davis
“As an elementary school teacher, I have taught classes for other teachers throughout Illinois. I served on the board of my homeowner association in Bartlett. I have learned that you have to have your finger on the pulse of the community to be an effective leader. You cannot come to the board focusing on a single issue. You cannot please everyone; you must make decisions on the basis of what’s best for everyone. I have promoted the need for the board to be more of an integral part of the annual budgeting process. I look forward to also being an integral part of the process to hire a new executive director. I will continue to work with my fellow board members and the staff to see that our assessments remain at an affordable level. I will continue to work with the board and staff to assess our productivity levels, to assure that our residents’ needs are being met. I will continue to promote common sense solutions to issues, and I believe that working as a team is the best way to operate our governing board.”

After giving their opening statements, the candidates were asked a series of questions by officers of the Neighborhood Advisory Council and residents.
Here is a summary of their answers to a number of them:

Question: How would you manage spending and ensure adequate financial reserves?

Bill Ziletti: “When I was president, I appointed a subcommittee that saved the association substantial dollars on a project, and I worked on a website committee that reduced expenses by 90 percent. I support the current staff productivity effort. I believe my experience in managing a multi-national corporation will help me manage finances of our multi-million-dollar organization.”

Mack Titus: “We need specific performance measures, and we should stop regarding the budget as a plan. We need separate plans that specify what a department wants to accomplish, and then an explanation of how that plan relates to the budget.”

Gene Rhodes: “We must be vigilant at all times regarding how our expenses are trending and how they compare to revenues. Purchases and purchased services should be subject to competitive bidding wherever possible.”

Kathleen Ryan: “In Northbrook, I was responsible for budgets and fund-raising, so I know how to account for every dollar. I believe we should do everything possible to explore opportunities to cut expenses. I will work toward that end to the best of my ability.”

Bonnie Bayser: “My financial philosophy has always been to offer the best services to residents at the lowest possible cost. We need to constantly search out ways to be more efficient. Our reserve fund needs to be monitored.”

Dennis O’Leary: “I believe we should allow our advisory committees to become more involved in budget preparation and support. We need to constantly seek ways to reduce expenses and increase revenues. But we should not do this at the expense of our lifestyle, and the preservation of our assets. We have a reserve process in place, and we retain reserve specialists to help us. We have paid off Meadow View Lodge, so we may have an opportunity to enhance our reserve levels now.”

Linda Davis: “This year, we linked the board and the finance committee more closely together in the budget process. The board will sit in on finance committee budget meetings this fall, as we prepare the 2014 budget. The board will be present when departments present their budgets and plans for next year. We are making sure that we monitor our reserves, so we don’t have to levy special assessments to our residents.”

Question: Do you favor installing video gaming machines in Jameson’s?

All candidates said “no” except Bayser and Davis, who said the board plans to defer authority to residents on this issue.
“Whatever a majority of residents want on video gaming, will be what happens,” Davis said. (Residents can vote on this issue on a survey mailed to all households this week along with the board election ballot.)

Question: Do you believe the board should discontinue utilizing a management company, such as First Service Residential?

O’Leary, Davis, Titus, and Rhodes said no; the community should retain one. Ryan and Bayser both said they would be open to considering going to self-governance. Ziletti said the question of self-governance or retention of a management company should be discussed and explored fully.

Question: Should the board pursue the possibility of exempting Sun City residents from paying a property tax to local schools?

Bayser, Davis, Rhodes, O’Leary, and Ziletti said “no.” Ryan was not sure, and Titus suggested talking to state legislators on the possibility of increasing senior exemptions or discounts on property taxes.

Question: to five newcomer candidates: If you were on the board previously, would you have approved the bonuses currently paid to some management company administrators?

Ziletti and O’Leary said these employees should be paid fairly regardless of what the compensation is labeled. Ryan said incentive bonuses are not appropriate in the current economy. Titus said bonuses should be tied to employee performance measures. Gene Rhodes said bonuses are OK if tied to significant achievements of an employee above normal day-to-day work and as long as they do not increase resident assessments

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