SCHOA happy with turnout

SCHOA Board of Directors President Walt Patterson stood in the parking lot Friday afternoon among the vendors and the voters, optimistic about the future of the organization.
Patterson said he believes the Sun City Home Owners Association may finally be turning a corner.
“I think we’ve had a better turnout than we did last year, and we’ve certainly been getting much better exposure than in the recent past,” Patterson said. “Hopefully that’s an indication that next year will be even better.”
Friday was the first of a two-day election period for SCHOA, with nine candidates vying for six seats on the board. Patterson said that in itself is an accomplishment.
“It’s good news, because it hasn’t been that way recently and it looked like this year would not be any different,” Patterson said. “A month and a half ago there was very little interest and I was working to convince two board members to run again. Their terms were up and they were not planning to run. But then the applications started coming in.”
Two years ago, Patterson found himself in the same situation.
“My term was up and I was not planning to run, but we had more openings than we did candidates,” he said. “I was not planning to run, but I felt like it was the thing to do. It was important to me that we keep things running.”
This year, nine candidates are competing for one one-year term, two two-year terms and three three-year terms. Those candidates are Jim Stark, Marie Weekley, Tom Stolt, Kay Bush, Dale Simerson, Ben Roloff, Roy Logan, Jim Powell and James Fitzsimmons. Voting will continue through 1 p.m. today, with the first ballot count to follow in the afternoon. The results will not be announced until early next week, however.
“I want to do at least one recount, just to be on the safe side,” Patterson said. “We will announce the results at our regular board meeting.”
Those meetings usually take place at 9:30 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every month, however, due to a personal situation involving two board members, the meeting may be pushed to Wednesday. Those interested in attending should call Monday or early Tuesday to confirm the date.
Patterson said he believes the added interest in SCHOA stems from the good work they are doing.
“I hope that is the case, yes,” he said. “We must be doing something right. There are fewer complaints in the paper, we’ve gotten letters thanking us for what we do — I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Patterson said he hopes that enthusiasm will translate to higher attendance at the board’s meetings.
“The plan now is to get more people to show up, and not just when they are angry about something,” Patterson said. “Overall, I think we’re in a good place.”
For information, call 623-974-4718 or visit www.suncityhoa.org.
Jeff Dempsey may be reached at 623-876-2531 or jdempsey@yourwestvalley.com.