Is RCSC providing members what they were promised?

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OPINION — Recreation Centers of Sun City was created to serve its members. An increasing number of members are asking a basic question: Does RCSC still listen to the people it was created to serve?

This isn’t about one disagreement or one board decision. It’s about a growing pattern of concerns involving member rights, voting, transparency, accountability and meaningful participation.

RCSC Articles of Incorporation state that members “shall be provided with opportunity to vote by proxy” on specified matters requiring member action. RCSC's current electronic and pre-meeting voting procedures raise serious questions about whether a member’s proxy can actually be used when the vote occurs before the meeting.

That should concern every member.

The annual membership meeting raises another fundamental question. If important member motions are voted on before the meeting, and members cannot make motions, debate or vote on those matters at the meeting itself, what meaningful role does the membership meeting provide for the members?

Members have also raised questions about ballot delivery, electronic voting, quorum and voting requirements, election procedures, access to corporate records, and the transparency surrounding legal advice obtained in response to member concerns.

These aren’t unreasonable questions. They are questions members should be able to ask without being treated as an inconvenience.

RCSC is funded by its members. Its governing authority comes from its articles, bylaws and applicable law. The board is entrusted to govern on behalf of the membership.

The members aren’t the problem. Member involvement isn’t the problem. Asking questions isn’t the problem.

The real issue is whether RCSC is providing members the transparency, participation and voting rights they were promised.

RCSC should never forget who it works for.

The corporation belongs to its members. The board is there to serve them, not silence them, sideline them or make their participation merely symbolic.

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