News

Good evening residents:

I have been getting questions about what authority the HOA has to enforce the Governor’s order about Stay at Home, and by what authority the HOA can require residents not to have visitors/gatherings/parties of any size on their private property.

I might first ask why would anyone think a party or gathering on your property is more important than a person’s life? I will answer the questions, but it seems to me some people are not asking the right question or at least have their priorities a little mixed up. If a gathering/party puts neighbors at risk, possibly leading to death, why would anyone want to participate in causing that outcome. There is a reason the Governor placed the stay at home order into effect.

So, let’s go through the Governor’s order first to answer these questions.

1. On March 19, the Governor of California issued Executive Order N-33-20, ordering all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence.
2. The Governor’s order states that “Under the “stay at home” Executive Order you cannot host or attend any gatherings”.
3. The Governor’s order answers this question: Can I leave home to visit friends or family members if there is no urgent need or I am not performing an essential activity? No. For your safety as well as their safety, we need to help each other fight the spread of COVID-19 by staying at home.
4. The Governor’s order answers this question: What happens if I don’t comply with the Executive Order or the Orders of the Health Officer? These Orders are legally enforceable under California law. It is a crime to violate the Orders, and you may be punished by a fine or imprisonment for doing so.

Given these facts we now look at our own Governing Documents, the CC&R’s:

Section 8.6 Prohibition of Noxious Activities. No illegal, noxious, or offensive activities shall be carried out or conducted upon any Lot or Common Area, nor shall anything be done within the Development that is or could become an unreasonable annoyance or nuisance to neighboring property Owners. Without limiting the foregoing, this includes:

Since our CC&R’s don’t allow for any resident to participate in illegal activities, even on private property, and since violating the Governor’s order would be a crime, the HOA has jurisdiction to enforce the Governor’s order by citing and fining any resident for violating the Governor’s order even on private property.

I hope this answers the question of the HOA authority for citing gatherings/parties on private property.

I think now we should turn to the real question, “isn’t saving people’s lives more important than any gathering in any location?” When people’s lives are at stake, any person to think your personal privilege should override the safety of all residents needs to reexamine their morality for our fellow human beings.

Let’s take a moment and be thankful we are here, in such a beautiful place, knowing we will persevere.

Stay safe and I will be back to you soon

Thank you.

Kim Fuller
President

Good afternoon residents:

I am sending you information about our finances from our Treasurer Bruce Marley:

 

Greetings fellow neighbors of Sun City Shadow Hills Community Association (SCSHCA). The intent of this communication is to describe where your HOA is financially, and to highlight the measures being taken by our Management Company, Desert Resource Management (DRM), and our on-sight manager Troon (for Golf and Food/Beverage operation) in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.  In both cases, DRM and Troon, each has already taken significant measures to reduce costs, while at the same time ensuring that our community is well maintained, and ready for when this pandemic comes to an end.  Please note that we continue to ensure resident safety by maintaining our security at full strength, and to preserving the quality and ambience of our common areas, both deemed essential by the Board.

Entering this unprecedented challenge, our Community’s financial resources were among the strongest in the valley!  As of December 31^st, 2019, our financials show SCSHCA as having $2,158,205 of working capital on hand, equal to 2.80 months of Operating Fund monthly assessments.  This is a good thing.  Industry measures suggest from 1 to 3 months should be on hand.  The 2.80 compares to 1.20 in on 12/31/17, and 2.05 on 12/31/18.  As you can see, the Board has worked to increase this key measure, and while no one could have anticipated Covid-19, we find SCSHCA in a good position to get through this challenge.  The 2020 budget preliminarily forecast year end 12/31/2020 working capital of $1,827,005, equal to 2.34 months, the decline due to the Board’s decision to reduce your 2020 dues to the current $273/month, from the balanced budget of $281.  This decision was made because we had the ability to do so, and it was decided to keep dues reasonable, while retaining our solid working capital position. This working capital will be used to offset increased expenses so monthly dues are not expected to be increased in 2020 as a result of the Pandemic.

Adding to the ongoing financial strength of SCSHCA are two significant aspects of our structure. One, we continue to collect monthly dues of $273 from our 3,450 homeowners which totals $941,850 per month. Two, we have over $13,000,000 of funds in our Reserves/Replacement Fund.  While the monthly dues may vary slightly if some homeowners are unable to make their payment, our current delinquency rate is less than 1%.  As for the Reserves, while these funds are set aside for specific Common Area replacement needs for many years to come, it is reassuring to know we have “money in the bank”.

So, with that in mind, here is what we are doing right now to account for the significant anticipated shortfalls for Golf and Food/Beverage (Troon), and to control costs in general (DRM):

Troon:

At this very early point in time, Troon is forecasting combined losses directly attributable to the Pandemic, to add over $300,000 to budgeted 2020 losses associated with these two budget components.  If you might recall, the monthly budgeted subsidy for golf and food and beverage was approximately $40/month per residence.  This $300,000 equates to $7.25/month per residence, which will be paid for out of working capital as previously mentioned.

DRM:

Our management company immediately made cuts to some maintenance areas, and housekeeping, especially the club houses which are both shut down, along with other areas that will not require ongoing attention and maintenance.  Additionally, there were cuts in the AV (audio visual) area, along with cuts in the Fitness department.

Summary:

I hope you have found this useful.  Please remember three things:

1. 1. All figures used in this article are subject to further review and audit. I intend to provide updates on an ongoing basis as we learn more.
   2. These decisions by Troon and DRM have impacted over 50 employees spread between those two companies. We are all in this together, and I ask that you think about all the employees of Troon and DRM who are struggling with the decisions that were made and consider supporting the local food banks and other such services.
   3. Chances are we will be dealing with Covid-19 through May, given current “government” words and actions. We will be looking closely at all areas of expense as needed, while at the same time working to preserve and protect the quality of our amenities.

Please feel free to reach out to me or other Board members with your thoughts and comments.

Regards,
Bruce Marley, Treasurer, SCSHCA

 

Thank you and see you all soon.

Kim Fuller
President

Good afternoon residents:

In yesterday’s Podcast I described the meaning of the ‘Stay at Home’ directive as defined by the state. “Stay at home” is a more rigorous form of social distancing. It involves staying in your home unless you need to leave for “essential activities” or to work for an “essential business,” or for “essential travel”. Under the “stay at home” Executive Order you cannot host or attend any gatherings. For Stay at Home we may not host or attend any gatherings unless they are considered essential. During this time, we are trying to maintain distances, maintain isolation, so that we minimize the spread of the virus which will help to keep our residents safe and healthy. Any activity involving people being together will jeopardize the health and safety of residents.

I was recently notified of a resident that built a small Pickleball court in his garage and the was inviting people over to play. This is an example of exactly what the state order does not want to have happen. Although a creative way to play Pickleball, it puts the community at risk when people gather together for any reason. Even though this activity is on private property, it cannot take place as a result of the state order, so the HOA may cite and fine anyone involved in the activity. We don’t want to cite people, but in the interest of public safety, anyone participating in such activities will be cited and the possible fine is $200 per person.

I want to apologize for an error in implementation that occurred recently. We did not make clear to security and staff that the walking paths around the Santa Rosa Clubhouse, tennis courts, and Pickleball courts are not part of the golf course. Some of you were warned that you could not walk on these paths because it was the golf course. This was done in error and has been corrected. You may walk on the paths around the Santa Rosa Clubhouse, you just can’t leave those paths to walk on the golf course paths.

Again, let’s do as requested by the directive and stay at home, which will help keep everyone safe.

I wish you all a safe and healthy day. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you and see you all soon.

Kim Fuller
President

Good morning residents:

In yesterday’s Podcast I told you that the Annual Meeting will be held next Monday, April 6, 2020. I made a mistake about the date of the meeting. It will be held on Tuesday, April 7,2020. The meeting will still be closed to spectators and will only be opened for residents to drop off ballots between 9am and 10am. The only business being conducted will be for election purposes.

At 10am we will begin counting the ballots and will announce the outcome at 2pm. Spectators will not be allowed in the meeting at all during the day. We will video the meeting so that you will be able to see the results on video once posted after the meeting. We will send out an e-blast message after the meeting to announce the results of the Board election and to announce the outcome of the Frontier measure for a 5-year internet only contract.

The Ballot box is available in the Montecito Clubhouse, so please drop off your ballot this week so you don’t have to come to the meeting on April 7.

Sorry for my error in announcing the Annual Meeting for next Monday, it is not on Monday but on Tuesday, April 7.

Thank you and see you all soon.

Thank you,
Kim Fuller
President

Good day residents:

I want to thank so many of you for helping during this time as we march through what some might call “March Madness.” This will be over at some point and we will be fine, but patience is needed to be sure we help each other follow the most productive path by keeping distance from each other and staying home as much as possible. Clearly the areas of the country that don’t have a lot of people in close proximity are doing better than high density areas and we can learn from this. Please try your best to maintain distance from others.

We can’t close the complex to guests, each resident has the right to invite anyone here they wish. But we can try to voluntarily limit our guests to those that are necessary. If you can postpone a visit, let friends know it’s in everyone’s interest that we share phone calls, emails, letters, or video conferencing. If each of us can reduce the guests that come into the complex, we will be better off, and the sooner this will all be over.

As a result of the dog parks being closed there are more dogs out walking with owners. There have also been complaints of dogs walking off leash, too many complaints. Keep in mind when a dog is not on a leash, there are many of us that are frightened by a charging dog, even when friendly, and no one should have to experience such fear. I have asked security and the golf course Marshall’s to increase patrols and to cite anyone with a dog off leash.

One person was injured by two dogs off leash, when they came running at the person, tore through clothing and scratched the person’s legs causing them to bleed. This is just not acceptable. We all know the great majority of residents are responsible dog owners, so we need everyone’s help to tell those people walking a dog off leash to please attach a leash, and if necessary call security immediately so such people can be stopped and cited. No one should have to go through what this person experienced while trying to be outdoors and walking during this difficult time. We must work together to make it safe for everyone.

The Board will be meeting on Monday. This will be a closed-session meeting so that we don’t have people in the same room when not necessary. I will do another Podcast on Tuesday or Wednesday to let everyone know of any new information, but given almost all facilities are closed, we are waiting for instructions from the state before we can plan to open up activities once again. We will be fine, and soon it will all be over, and we can look back and have a story to tell our grandkids. It will be a good story to tell and they will need to hear all about it.

Keep in touch and I wish you all a great and healthy day.

Thank you and see you all soon.

Thank you,
Kim Fuller
President