Board elections go uncontested this year

There will not be a contested board of directors election in Sun City this year. There will simply be a vote to affirm the uncontested re-election of four board incumbents.

There will be no written ballots sent to each household. There will be no opportunity for residents to choose among five candidates for four open positions. There will simply be an acclamation vote by the current board in late fall. There was a contested election for less than two days last week, after the announcement about the number of candidates on July 31.

Zarudzki withdrew his name from the list of candidates on August 1. He said he did so because of an email he received from resident James Darow (Neighborhood 5). Darow sent his email to members of the election committee, and all the candidates, including Zarudzki himself.

Here is the text of Darow’s email (a copy of which was sent to the Sun Day):

“Yesterday’s announcement from the executive director regarding the surprisingly low number of announced candidates for the CAM board was not expected. Unlike the previous year when 10 volunteers competed for 4 board positions, this year’s list of 5 candidates, including 4 incumbents and one new name, would be competing for 4 board positions.

“The 4 incumbents enjoy a political advantage since each of them have served on a previous board and before that on CAM committees and councils. As such, their visibility as community activists is obvious. The fifth candidate will likely find it difficult to overcome the advantage of the incumbents in spite of a willingness to serve.

The first candidate (referring to Zarudzki) may serve the community’s best fiscal interest by considering withdrawing his name as a candidate. The total cost of conducting an election: printing, postage, envelopes, and staff time, is tens of thousands of dollars. That savings would be a real community service.”

Here is Zarudzki’s response email (sent to the same group and the Sun Day): “After reviewing the list of candidates for the Board of Directors I acknowledge that four of my opponents are actual members of the Board of Directors. I decided to withdraw myself as a candidate for the 2019 election and I agree with Mr. Jim Darow that my decision may serve the community’s best fiscal interest and save costs for Sun City residents.”

Reached by telephone on Thursday afternoon, August 2, however, Zarudzki sent a different message.

“I am very upset by this whole thing,” he said. “Somebody sent me an email saying it is very good if I give up. He said it would cost money to conduct a full election. I just wanted to give my time to help members here. This is ridiculous. We should be working together, not like this. I had no idea the election cost was a problem.”

Zarudzki, whose full name is Zbigniew Stan Zarudzki, is a retired maintenance executive in the airline industry and a former business owner in the Huntley area. He and his wife, Danuta, have lived in Sun City for 10 years. They defected from Poland in the 1980s and survived a difficult journey to America. He worked for United Airlines at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago for 25 years. He rose from a position of building management mechanic to supervisor of aircraft maintenance and project director. He owned and operated his own trucking business for a few years after he came to Sun City.

Zarudzki’s withdrawal clears the way for the four board incumbents – Dennis O’Leary, Robert McGouey, Marilynn Berendt, and Vito Benigno – to be re-elected “by acclamation” for new two-year terms starting January 1, 2019. The holdover board members not involved in the election this year are Steve Bytnar, Russ Howard, and Robert Wainscott.

Gene Harrison, chair of the Election Advisory Committee, said the cost of a contested election this year would have been about $7,000, including what he said was a modest additional cost to modify the ballots to avoid the election result being determined by ballot position, as happened last year.

“We had a long day on Thursday, adjusting to this new situation,” Harrison said. “We’ve canceled all of the previously scheduled election campaign events.”

This includes the candidate meet and greet on August 15, the candidate forum on August 28, and the final candidate forum and spotlight on September 24.

The Board has conducted several “acclamation” election votes in recent years. They occur when there are a number of candidates exactly equal to the number of open positions. The board and management were pleased last year when 10 candidates volunteered to compete for four positions after a strong communications effort. But that trend didn’t continue this year.

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