Lauren Lee was in Sun City for less than two years, but she accomplished as much or more than some of her predecessors did in longer periods of leadership.
As Sun City’s former executive director left Huntley and returned to Arizona last weekend, she left an impressive record of initiatives. She, the board of directors, staff, and a team of resident leaders brought Sun City to a record level of resident participation in governance, clubs and interest groups, and entertainment events.
“I will miss the many good people I worked with and met here,” she said in a final interview with the Sun Day.
As she departed, the board of directors announced that Beth Fudala has been named to the new position of Assistant Executive Director. She will retain her responsibilities as manager of governance and standards, and has taken over the duties of lifestyles director formerly conducted by Cynthia O’Connor-Smith. According to Bonnie Bayser, Fudala will serve as a staff coordinator and contact person until a permanent successor is installed by First Service Residential, Sun City’s management company.
Lee is returning to Phoenix, where she lived and worked for a number of years before coming to Huntley in November, 2013. She said she will take a position as executive director of Optima Biltmore, a condominium association located in a two-tower high rise complex in the City of Phoenix.
“It’s not a 55-and-over organization, so I will be working with a younger generation,” she said.
In 22 months in Huntley, Lee opened lines of communication directly with residents and between the staff and residents, expanded transparency, reorganized most departments and job assignments, and transformed the staff’s makeup and set it in new directions.
“I believe we increased the efficiency of the staff, made it more responsive to residents, and put money to work in more productive areas,” she said.
She instituted town meetings where members could ask questions and comment, started a series of “meet and greet” sessions with residents, developed an “open door” policy at her office, and even walked the halls to meet residents and learn first-hand what was happening in meeting rooms, activity areas, and social gatherings.
“I also am very satisfied with how the productivity study improved how we worked and served the community,” she said.
She also played a role in establishing board of director committee-of-the-whole workshop sessions that are open to residents.
Her reasons for leaving?
“It was a combination of geography, family, and frankly, a little bit of discomfort with Chicago’s winters,” she joked. “My husband and I still have a home in Phoenix, my son and his family, which include a grandson, recently was transferred to nearby New Mexico by the Army, and yes, I do appreciate Phoenix in the winter,” she said.
