At every regular Sun City board of directors meeting, President Dennis O’Leary delivers a verbal report. They are presented in a variety of ways. Sometimes, he lists current maintenance projects, or promotes upcoming entertainment events. Sometimes, he discusses current management issues and challenges.
At the June 15 board meeting, he did something a bit different.
He explained the reasoning behind a significant recent board decision to shut down two advisory committees, and revitalize another. At the end of last year, the board decided to review its mission statement and possibly update it, and review committee charters. It was one of its major goals for 2016. The board decided not to change the mission statement, but it opted to disband the Marketing and IT (Information Technology) committees, and restarted the old Lifestyle Committee and named it the Activities Committee.
The Sun City mission statement is as follows: “The Sun City Community Association of Huntley, Inc. Will be the primary and most diverse provider of recreation programs, facilities, and services designed to create value for residents and guests of the community. Emphasis will be directed toward an ongoing commitment to provide safe and enjoyable quality programs, amenities and services that enrich the lifestyles of residents; and, toward the preservation of common area and residential properties, the environment, and open space. As a foremost priority, the Association will remain fiscally responsive to the universal needs of its active adult residents and be an advocate of the lifetime benefits of health, wellness, and recreation.”
O’Leary’s explanation of these decisions was reprinted on the CAM website as an addendum to the minutes of the board meeting.
Here is some of what he said: “Early this year, we were looking at the mission statement that has been in place since 2006, and we decided that it still represented what we wanted for our vision and mission. Also, during the early part of this year, it became obvious that our past organization had drifted from the original mission objectives. When openings began to develop in our staff positions, because of retirement, persons moving, and some budget additions, this circumstance provided an opportunity for us to hire individuals that could bring us talent that would better support our mission. Recently, we also charged ourselves with reviewing the advisory committee charters to be sure that they aligned in support of the mission. As the organization was being realigned, the committees also would need realignment to support these changes. Some of the committees had been established for a specific purpose. One committee (Lifestyle) had been disbanded that had been supporting one of the basic activities that our mission described. Some changes were in order.
“We have out-sourced our IT activities, which left the IT Advisory Committee as extraneous. Further, as we focused on the mission to provide activities to promote our lifestyle, we became mindful that we no longer had an Activities Advisory Committee. Our activities draw residents, who, by word of mouth, beguile others to want to partake of the lifestyle here. So, in a real sense, it is activities that are a key marketing element. Thus, to not duplicate advisory committee assignments, it was decided that the marketing committee was also extraneous. The former lifestyle committee has been re-formed as the Activities/Fitness Committee,” he said.
It is chaired by Rose Ann Richards with members Lou Farinella, Robert Faust, Rhoda Thall, Nancy Moore, Chris Karidis, and Terry Thedford. O’Leary concluded by thanking and praising the members of the IT and Marketing committees.
“They were some talented residents that have been helping us move ahead,” he said. “They identified tasks that they were requested to fulfill, and completed them, and the board does not have further assignments at this time. We thank these committee members, and all committee members, for their efforts. We also hope that they, and others, might consider some other volunteer activity in support of our Sun City community.”
