Overview
This site is intended to be a platform for generating thoughtful discussion of important issues facing our community and finding practical solutions to common problems. We intend to write about contemporary topics such as implementing and financing the Long Range Plan. But we also intend to cover topics that official CA news and local newspapers would never cover.
Here is a small sampling of the kinds of topics we have in mind:
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Golf Course disposition and possible adaptive re-use.
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The South Campus Master Plan.
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Florida Statute 617 vs. Florida Statute 720: Which best suits our situation?
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IRS 501(c)(3) vs. 501(c)(4): which best suits our situation?
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POAs and HOAs: How can the CA better work with them?
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A deep dive into our Association Documents: What do they say about who is in charge of what?
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Our clubs. Some have lasted 60 years and some only 6 weeks. What’s are the keys to a club's longevity?
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The Election Handbook: Does it need modification? Why? Who? and How?
Our principle megaphone will be our website. But in addition we’d like to add a traditional newsletter, an occasional “survey monkey” and perhaps some video where it serves to make our point. We’d also like to plan some neighborhood meetings and workshops on selected topics of interest using outside experts and perhaps do some training courses on Sturgis’ Rules of Order for prospective Board candidates.
For those who wish to invest their intellectual capital in this venture, editorial guidelines will be provided and rigorously enforced.
About the Good Governance Group
We are Sun City Center residents. We are not a sanctioned club nor are we affiliated with the Sun City Center Community Association in any way. We are simply residents with a common interest in the future of our community and, to borrow a phrase, helping our Community Association govern. We do this by encouraging the Community Association to conduct its business in accordance with our governing documents and in a manner consistent with contemporary professional and ethical standards.
Mission
Vision
Our vision is for a community association that:
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diligently fulfills its fiduciary responsibilites
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maintains high ethical standards
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is committed to transparency and member participation
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is committed to fact-based decision-making
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prioritizes quality and value over cost and expediency
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preserves and protects our property values and
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will make this community proud of its accomplishments
General Principles
1. We believe that the CA Board should principally be a planning and policy-making body. Hands-on, day-to-day management by the Board should be kept to an absolute minimum.
2. Aside from its fiduciary responsibilities and duties as outlined in the Articles and Bylaws, the CA Board should foster in every feasible way community cohesiveness and resident participation in the Community’s democratic process.
3. We believe that CA Board plans and policies should be carried out by a combination of professional experts (architects, engineers, etc.) and rotating committees of resident volunteers.
4. We think CA Board members should not be chairpersons of CA committees because it is unethical for board members who chair committees to vote twice– once as a chairperson and again as a board member. We'd suggest they be Board liaisons only.
5. We support the CA Board's present efforts to enhance the existing system of community-wide communication. Together with this website, we should be able to provide more effective ways to fully inform residents about significant community-wide issues. However, there should also be greater efforts by the Board for ascertaining residents’ ideas and forming a consensus of opinion before final decisions are made.
6. Overall, we support the principle of compromise as necessary, to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number. However, the basis of compromise must be rooted in good faith, fact-based, negotiation.
Member Activities
We are volunteers, working hundreds of hours, making a positive difference in our community. We currently volunteer our services to the:
1. Emergency Squad
2. Samaritan Services
3. Southbay Hospital
4. Library
5. Information Center
6. FunFest
7. HOA's and POA's to which we belong
8. Other CA, clubs to which we belong.
