The subject of Garage Sales at last week’s COTW [Committee Of The Whole] meeting raised a question that most Sun City residents are not concerned with and have long since forgotten about after signing documents that allowed them to become a home owner in Sun City.
There’s no way to know, but it can be safely said that 99.9% of Sun City residents moved from neighborhoods where we were home owners. As such, we had the freedom to treat our properties as we saw fit as long as we did not violate any municipal ordinances. We could paint our garages any color, plant tomatoes in the back yard, install a flag in the front lawn and promote our favorite political candidate with a sign.
Then after years of working, possibly raising families and facing the challenges of life we moved to Sun City and finally…as the marketers proclaimed…Live Your Dream.
There are no two ways about it. This is a dream place in many ways. The developer planned it for occupants primarily 55 years old or older, created a not for profit corporation, abided by federal, state, and local laws, and assembled pages of dos and don’ts in order to preserve the original plan. Pages and pages of dos and don’ts and many thou shalt and thou shalt nots were incorporated into the enabling document. The document was created to serve as a contract between the developer and buyer, a contract that served as the community’s constitution and a contract to be entered into between a buyer and the Association in future years.
Upon purchasing a housing unit in Sun City, we signed the document agreeing to abide by the governing documents. We entered into a contract.
Back to last week’s COTW meeting. One of the points of discussion was the language in the CCRs [Conditions; Covenants and Restrictions] addressing the authorization or denial to sanction Garage Sales.
In time, the Board and management will certainly submit an official statement about this matter which may or may not happen before this publication’s production deadline.
In the meantime, there is light at the end of the dark governing documents tunnel for those in doubt.
Any portion of the CCRs can be altered, modified, or replaced as long as 67% of the 5481 households, which calculates to 3672 households, agree on any change. That doesn’t mean 67% of those voting, but 67% of all of the 5481 households.
So the next time that you submit a request to CAM [Community Association Management] for permission to plant onions in your front yard and are told that that would be a violation of the CCRs, ask for a special vote hoping that 67%, or 3672 households ,will agree with you.
And if you are looking for a pair of blue suede size 11 shoes at a garage sale, consider shopping at the local Sweet Repeat or GoodWill resale shops or drop off your tchotchkes and get a receipt for tax purposes.
Jim Darow
Sun City resident, N5
At the forum for Kane County Chairman, there was a very poor turnout. I would like to let residents know what I learned and why I would vote for Ken Shepro, as he was very knowledgeable about all of the goings-on in the board.
In the past 3 years, with the board under Chris Lauzen’s watch, the board has grown to 24 members. The meetings total around 200 hours a year, or six hours a week. Some attend all meetings, others don’t, but they all get paid a salary, complete golden plan health care insurance, and a pension for work that elsewhere people do voluntarily. No business in the U.S. would pay six hours a week part timers health insurance or a pension. We are paying for this. As we all know, health insurance is very expensive. Most of these people have full time jobs and probably get those benefits there. When asked, Lauzen said he would not want to hurt these people’s feeling by taking away these perks. What about his constituents?
We are paying a full time auditor who has hired two people to do work that was done before by the finance department. You don’t hire an auditor for a full time position when you need a business audited. You hire an independent auditor. Now that we have paid him a lot of money to do what he did, he should be let go as the finance department can take over. Lauzen wants to keep him.
The department has grown in personnel, far beyond what our county needs or can afford.
Up to 15% raises over the past three years, to department heads who get between $100,000 to $150,000 a year plus benefits. This is a very expensive shooting range, and there have been other unnecessary expenses, which have caused our taxes to go up even though he says he froze them. Upping the assessments on our homes raises your tax rate.
The county is well into the black, and the reserve keeps growing. We don’t need a large reserve. When Ken Shepro asked in a Daily Herald article that Lauzen give us rebates from the surplus, Lauzen said he wouldn’t do it, as he knows that if he gives us a dollar back, we will ask for two dolloas. At the meeting he said he was misquoted, but that he regretted saying it after he left the interview. He showed his true colors when he said it. He also said that when he does not know something, he hires someone who knows the subject. One should not hire someone every time he doesn’t know something. He should ask one of the many board members for advice or any of the many overpaid department heads he hired. If they don’t know the answers, he should ask a consultant who would not be paid a pension or get health benefits just a one-time fee.
Lauzen said, years ago, he tried to get the Senate to refund to us the excessive expenses from the school district as we have no children in the schools. It failed. He now says perhaps he could try again. However, he said he would not go to Springfield again. An idea that sounds like he is trying to help us, but wouldn’t even if it passed, as seniors don’t pay state income taxes, so there would be no refund due us. Plus the state is broke.
Please vote Lauzen out. Don’t vote for the present auditor and let Shepro shrink the government back to what it should be and then maybe we will be able to get our taxes lowered.
Eudice Germaine
Sun City resident
