For many of us, this is our first Homeowner’s Association (or at least our first California HOA) and we aren’t quite sure what that means or how it works. Well, for one thing it means we are a $10.5 million California Corporation and must abide by a variety of laws including the California Corporations Code and that portion of the California Civil Code known as the Davis Stirling Act. We are not a city, we do not follow municipal code. Our Board is not political in that is cannot represent any special interest group -- rather each Board member is required by law, to represent the best interests of the Corporation, i.e. the collective interests of the community as a whole.
Our Corporate Board hires an outside independent Certified Public Accounting Firm to ensure we comply with GAAP and that our financials materially represent our community's financial position, an HOA attorney to advise our Board as to what they can and cannot do legally as a Board, and a professional management firm to implement all of the policies that the Board believes are in the best interests of the Association, that is, the collective interests of all homeowners.
But in Sun City Shadow Hills homeowner's collective interests are also represented by the members of 10 Advisory Committees made up of homeowners just like you -- who see things from your perspective -- because they are you. These volunteer homeowners carefully review analyze the issues that face our community and then make fact based recommendations to the Association’s Board of Directors. Our Board does not make decisions capriciously -- there is a lot of analysis involved in each and every issue from tree trimming to golf cart purchases to establishing the operating budget. Not every decision that the Board makes is liked by everyone -- but all issues are analyzed carefully, the experts have been consulted and leaders sometimes must make difficult decisions in the best interests of the community as a whole -- the 3450 homeowners here -- and some of these decisions may not be popular with everyone.
We are fortunate to have such qualified homeowners volunteers in our community to advise our Board on all our behalves. Take a moment to read the qualifications below of all of the Chairs of our Advisory Committees along with a list of committee members. Chances are, you'll know one or more of them from a club or just from the neighborhood
Safety Advisory Committee. Ed Chavez, Chair
Ed retired as the Mayor of Stockton, CA (pop 325,000) in 2008. Prior to that, Ed had been the Chief of Police for the City of Stockton for 10 years. During his tenure as Police Chief, Ed implemented several programs, services, and projects, including the following: District Policing, Chaplaincy, Police and Corrections Team, FBI Violent Crime Suppression Task Force, Gang Street Enforcement Team, Impact Team, Crime Information Center, Problem-Oriented Policing, Auto Theft Task Force, Integrated Ballistic Identification System, Mounted Unit, North Stockton Police Station, DUI Speed Enforcement and Education, Stewart/Eberhardt Building project, Equal Employment Opportunity, Citizens' Academy, Youth Academy, Curfew Center, Technical Response Team, Honor Guard, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, Peer Support Team, and more. Ed is a Veteran of the Vietnam War, and the U.S. Air Force, he holds a BA in Criminal Justice from Cal State Sacramento, Graduated from Command College for Law Enforcement Managers and Executives, has a Master’s Degree in Management from Cal Poly Pomona and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA. Committee Members: Mario Deiro, Joe Bourque, Jeff Kirkpatrick and John Hone.
Communications Advisory Committee. Tom Hutson, Chair
In high school, Tom was the photographer editor for the school newspaper, magazine, and year book. Tom spent 22 years in the US Army with many interesting assignments all over the world: two years in Vietnam, four years with the Army ceremonial unit in Washington, DC and ended his career in the Pentagon managing billions of dollars each year in the acquisition of Infantry equipment. Upon retirement, he began his 17 year second career with a firm in San Jose, CA. at which he led the company’s development of their e-commerce web site. Tom is a former SCSH HOA Board President, current President of the Veterans Club and volunteers on the City of Indio’s Citizens Financial Advisory Commission. Committee members: Lee Powell, Bill Singer, Beth Buldoc, Linda Aasen and Arnold Choy.
Design Review Committee, Jim Wieborg, Chair
Jim earned his degree in Turf Management from Iowa State University. During the Vietnam War, Jim enlisted in the Air Force and flew 148 missions over Vietnam, most of them out of Guam. Jim retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1987. After retirement from the Air Force, Jim and his wife moved to the Coachella Valley. He began working on construction at PGA West, as two Jack Nicklaus courses were being built. He then went to Mission Hills Country Club as Assistant Golf Course Superintendent for three years before becoming the Golf Course Superintendent. For the last 12 ½ years before retirement, Jim was at The Plantation Golf Club in Indio. Because this course had over 3,000 Date trees, Jim ended up becoming a Certified Arborist. Jim has been happily married for 46 years to his wife Bonnie and they have three children and three grandchildren. Committee Members: Jack Stocky, Beverly Mirsky, Ronald Marra, Victor Hunt, Walter Kortman, Vicky Berg, Ted Shettler
Emergency Preparedness. Chair, Jeff Kirkpatrick
Jeff Kirkpatrick retired in 2013 after a long, distinguished law enforcement career culminating with service as Chief of Police for the City of Seal Beach in Orange County. Jeff has worked nearly every area of law enforcement including SWAT Teams, critical incidents, earthquake response, Neighborhood Watches, CERT Training, and Riot Management. Jeff holds bachelor and master’s degrees in sociology, a master’s in police management and is a graduate of several of the foremost national police educational programs; including the Southwest Command College; the USC
Delinquency Control Institute; the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Leadership Institute; and the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He also volunteers with the SCSH Landscape Advisory Committee and is a volunteer on the City of Indio’s Citizens Financial Advisory Commission. He and his wife Carolyn have two grandchildren and Jeff wants you to know he is a lousy golfer. Committee Members: John Hone, Mario Deiro
Finance Advisory Committee. Chair, William T. Wethe (Bill)
Bill is senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Lowe Enterprises, Inc. (Lowe). Lowe is currently responsible for more than $9 billion in commercial, hospitality and residential assets nationwide. Through Lowe’s hospitality subsidiary,Lowe manages more than 20,000 rental units, over 100 Food & Beverage venues, and 20 golf courses, nationwide. Bill is a Certified Public Accountant, and a member of the Urban Land Institute, the American Institute of CPAs and the California Society of CPAs. Bill graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California with a BS in Accounting. Bill has served in a variety of capacities in a number of other HOAs over the past 20 years including the Chairs of the Transition Committee, the Finance Committee, the Landscape Committee, and the Design Review Committee. He has also served as President and Treasurer of HOA communities. Bill has lived in SCSH with his wife Jeannee for the past 6 years. Committee Members: Bruce Marley, Rod Wenger, Georgeana Mimms
Food And Beverage Advisory Committee. Chair, Rod Wenger
Rod Wenger, retired as a 10 year owner/operator of a Restaurant chain here in the Coachella Valley, 10 year regional director of a restaurant chain, 8 years as a General Manager for a Coachella Valley Country Club and 7 years as their F&B Manager. Rod has previously served our community on the ad hoc Food & Beverage Committee, is the current Chair of Food & Beverage Committee and also serves on the Finance Advisory Committee. Committee Members: Jurgen Gross, Rick Stohr, Burt Sacks
Golf Advisory Committee. Chair, Dave Bakshy
Dave and his wife Cynthia were owners/operators of a successful event production company which produced special events for major corporations prior to moving to SCSH 3 ½ years ago. Having also been a lifelong golfer and playing member of a variety of clubs over the years, Dave has a great deal of knowledge in how to deal with the various issues a club encounters. He brings to the table an understanding of key golf issues such as speed of play, improving course conditions, and providing the best golf experience for the residents. Dave feels a strong commitment to helping make sure Shadow Hills continues to be a great place for golf. Committee Members: Judy Busch, Jürgen Gross, Don Hauser, Sue Henricksen, Joyce Johnson, Char Oman.
Landscape Advisory Committee. Chair, Chris Stevens
Chris’ professional career spans 45 years engaging in research, technology development, environmental and aerospace engineering, and management with the University of Southern California, Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering and California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). His educational background is in Terrestrial and Marine Biology (A.B.), and Physiology and Biomedical Engineering (M.S and Ph.D.). Chris and his wife, Carolyn (Cory) have been residents of SCSH for five years and he continues to work part time for JPL supporting several NASA space mission development projects. Committee members: Dick Freiman, Jack Heller, Jeff Kirkpatrick, Suzanne Jarvinen, Bob Merrit and Shari Woodbridge
Governing Documents Committee ad hoc. Chair, Georgeana E. Mimms (Gem)
Gem moved to SCSH in 2012 from Sherman Oaks after retiring from corporate executive positions in the areas of international finance, marketing and IT. She has an undergraduate and Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of South Carolina, spent 3 years in the PhD Political Science Program at the University of Southern California and has a certificate in advanced statistics from the ICSPR at the University of Michigan. Previously she has served Sun City Shadow Hills on the ad hoc Food & Beverage Advisory Committee, as Chair of the Information Advisory Committee and currently is on the Finance Advisory Committee. Gem and her wife Carole have been together 47 years; have two children and two gorgeous grandchildren. Gem is also a professional writer. Committee Members: Fera Mostow (CA-Active), James Kintner (WA-Active), Gordon Smith (CA-Retired), RD Corette (Montana-Retired), Robert Israel (WA-Active) – all attorneys
Information Advisory Committee. Chair, Gary Paff
Gary was born in NYC he enrolled in CCNY School of Engineering and graduated from Temple University in 1963. During his forty eight (48) year career in the computer mainframe and peripheral tech industry, he worked for RCA Computer Division as well as and Perkin ElmerDisc and Tape Drive subsidiary as both a design engineer and manager. His greatest success was joining the startup company Printronix in 1975 where he held a variety of management positions during their growth. The company peaked to 1800 employees with worldwide facilities. He retired from Printronix in 1990 as Senior VP of Worldwide Manufacturing managing facilities in the USA, Europe and Asia. After enjoying some years in retirement in Reno, NV, he was approached by several companies, and decided to consult for GSS/Array Technology. He and his wife Ruth moved to Europe to setup a manufacturing facility. Upon returning from Europe in 1999, he continued consulting with clients in a variety of industries. Gary is also a former HOA Board President. Currently he is busy consulting on a family business. Committee Members: Mary Lee Neithhold, Marc Goldberg, Phyllis Cohen, Ken Foster.
Thank you to all who selflessly volunteer to make this community a better place to live each and every day.