RSF Association President’s Corner: Pete Smith announces retirement; April 17 board meeting highlights
By Philip Wilkinson, Rancho Santa Fe Association President
Last Thursday, April 17, Pete Smith announced that after 20 years of service he had decided to retire. I asked Pete if I could include something in my upcoming Review column and Pete expressed his feelings to me and others about retirement saying, “It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve the homeowners of Rancho Santa Fe and to work with such a fine and capable staff.” He also said that he was proud of all we have accomplished together, and that he felt that the goals he had set have been achieved. Pete told us, “It is hard to say goodbye, but the time is right for me to transition the role of manager. I am looking forward to traveling and enjoying more time with my family.”
On behalf of the Association membership, the board and the staff would like to thank Pete for his many contributions over the past 20 years. He will be greatly missed.
The board’s executive committee will start interviewing executive search firms this week to get the RSF Association Manager recruitment process started.
The April 17 board meeting highlights were:
Director Heather Slosar provided a brief update on the Pool & Fitness Center Advisory Committee’s exploratory process and progress, and reiterated that nothing regarding a site location or design has been decided.
While several Association members raised questions at this meeting about timing, location, costs, etc., it must be reiterated that this is currently an exploratory endeavor and the committee is seeking input from anyone wishing to be involved. Heather has done a wonderful job with her all-volunteer team exploring all the possibilities.
After further review of the non-voting Association member list, it was determined that approximately 72 percent of all eligible members are currently registered to vote. As of April 15, there were 1,954 registered voters of the estimated 2,700 total eligible. Interestingly, approximately 35 percent of the members currently not registered to vote have mailing addresses outside of RSF, which could indicate that their primary residence is not RSF.
The board voted (7-0) to approve a modification to the Association Memorandum of Understanding with the Golf Club to allow golf membership rights for all condominium property owners in the Covenant.
The board agreed that it is fundamentally wrong that condo owners pay Association assessments and don’t have the right to vote or join the Golf Club; that amounts to taxation without representation.
Now that the Golf Club membership issue has been approved for all condo owners we will try to address their voting rights. Representatives from the Golf Club Board of Governors repeated their request at both public meetings that all condo owners be given the right to join the Golf Club.
The board also approved the Compensation Committee bylaw language which will be mailed to all the members 15 days prior to the May 15 public hearing on the matter. The Compensation Committee will regularly review salaries, wages, benefits and all human resources policies effecting the Association employees. As always, we look forward to member input.