Inside the Sun City Lincoln Hills Board of Directors Part 1

This is part one of a two-part article. Part two will focus on current board issues and the upcoming election's importance to our future. The community and the organization The seven elected officials comprising the Sun City Lincoln Hills Board of Directors face a challenging task in governing a large and complex homeowners association. Sun City Lincoln Hills consists of 11,000-plus residents in 6,800 homes. The community encompasses 2,970 acres of grounds that include 21 miles of walking trails and 487 acres of open space. Facilities include two large clubhouses, two auditoriums, a restaurant and a coffee shop, two fitness centers, several indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a large sports complex with a softball field, tennis courts, pickleball courts, bocce ball courts and other active-lifestyle amenities. The community is managed by an executive director hired through the elected Board of Directors. In normal times, the total budget is nearly $19M with a staff of 249 authorized full-time and part-time employees. This year, and in 2021, there is a significant decrease in the budget of 20 percent because of a reduction in many staff salaries and programs due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Del Webb Corporation designed a wide variety of amenities associated with an active-adult community, including the Meridians Restaurant. Two early employees, Judy Bennett (public and community affairs director for the Lincoln Hills development) and Carol McCarthy (executive director for six years during the early 2000s) independently confirmed that the Meridians Restaurant was intended to be a community amenity and not an independent profit center. The corporation took pride in having a full-service restaurant available for residents, guests and prospective homebuyers as yet another reason to choose Lincoln Hills as an ideal active adult community. On the 10th anniversary celebration, Jeannine Balcombe, the Sun City Lincoln Hills former lifestyle director, said, "What struck me then as it does now is how eager you are to participate in the life of our community and share your time and talents." Each year, Jeannine would host a luncheon for about 400 residents to thank them for participating as volunteers and doing everything from collating the monthly Compass magazine to assisting with traffic for the parking lot sale. Amazingly, Jeannine would often go around the entire room and thank each participant by name. Here we are, into our third decade as a homeowner's organization. We continue to see both new residents and some not-so-new members enjoying the wide variety of athletic activities, lifestyle clubs and trips associated with being a Sun City Lincoln Hills resident. History of the governing board The Del Webb Corporation created the first Board of Directors of Del Webb managers in January 2000. Pioneer resident Vic Freeman served as a resident member as the group transitioned to a full resident board on April 1, 2005. The primary communications tool to keep residents informed regarding board activities was the monthly Compass and it was very similar in size and content to the product we see today. It was commonplace for the Board of Directors to participate with the executive director in an annual planning session to set goals for the next year. The Compass was used each month to provide residents with updates on projects and activities. Our association's website includes a library of more than 100 monthly Compass magazines dating back to August 2010. The monthly reports clearly reflected the board's intention to keep residents informed on board activities. Association governance process When you own your own home in a traditional community, you are free to make decisions concerning your roofing materials, your exterior paint colors and even putting a pink flamingo statue in your front yard, whether your neighbors like it or not. All that changes dramatically when you choose to buy a home in a common interest development. The state of California has developed a series of governing statutes for homeowner associations (the Davis-Stirling Act) that present a constant challenge for association governing boards. Whether it be a 20-unit condominium complex or 6,800 homes as exists in Lincoln Hills, the combination of federal regulations, state regulations and even local city ordinances requires constant vigilance to remain in compliance. A board member should have at least a general knowledge and understanding of the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act (California Civil Code Sections 4000 to 6150). For additional light reading, throw in sections from the California Corporations Code and the Business and Professions Code. Once a new board member has grappled with those regulations, it is important that he/she also become familiar with the association governing documents and Roberts Rules of Order governing meeting conduct. These useful administrative tools are in place to allow the governing body to conduct meetings in a professional manner. When individual board members fail to use these administrative procedures, meetings can quickly result in public confusion and resident dissatisfaction. The election process - a complex function Lincoln Hills board members are elected for two-year terms and can choose to run for re-election at the next election. A seven-member board calls for four seats to be filled in one year and three seats the following year. The filing period for the 2021 board election opened on Sept. 14 and filing closes at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Arrangements are made via the Association Elections Committee to arrange for the placement of candidate election materials at both lodges. Candidate video statements are prepared for viewing on the association's website. Several candidate forums are planned in advance as well. The formal candidate events are scheduled to encourage resident attendance. Additional information is available through The Lincoln News Messenger, monthly Sun Senior News and the monthly Compass magazine. Residents are encouraged to familiarize themselves with candidate background information as well as the reasons offered for their run for the board. One of the peculiarities of the association's election process is cumulative voting, a technique used by the developer to retain control before the owners have achieved a majority ownership in the community. This form of voting is usually discontinued when the community becomes self-governed; Lincoln Hills owners chose to continue cumulative voting instead of changing during the amending of the Bylaws during transition in 2009. Fifteen years ago, in 2005, the residents took over full control of the board based on a percentage of homes sold in the development. Each rooftop, no matter how many residents in the home, is allotted the same number of votes as there are positions open on the board. In the 2021 election, there are four positions open; therefore each rooftop has four votes. An owner, representing the rooftop, can cast one vote for four different candidates or can cast all four votes for one candidate. Elections Committee members should be thanked for the numerous volunteer hours they devote to this important association process. The 10-member Election Committee is chaired this year by Dede Barnhart. The many facets of the election process require constant scrutiny and oversight in order to avoid mistakes that might call the process into question. For many years, this committee was chaired by Al Roten, who recently died. Al was known by many in the community as "the voice of reason" when offering comments or suggestions at various board and committee meetings. Al is a Sun City Lincoln Hills Wall of Fame member and his plaque was scripted as follows: "A long-time member of the Elections Committee, Al served as Chair for many years working year after year to assure our Elections Process was correct, transparent, and serves all candidates as well as the community." The election process is in good hands at present, thanks to the dedication of Al Roten and his worthy successor, Dede Barnhart. Jim Datzman is active in Lincoln Hills and also with the city of Lincoln Parks and Recreation Committee.