Recreation Centers of Sun City West voters on Monday chose three new Directors and welcomed back a one-year incumbent. Anne Becknell, Nick Turner and John Chattin will begin three-year terms and Sandra Forsey will begin a one-year term on July 1.
“The Election Committee wants to sincerely thank all of those who were willing to step forward and run,” said Election Chair Luanne Kent. “We also want to thank the voters. This was one of the largest turnouts for a regular Governing Board Election that we’ve seen.”
The Rec Centers had a record 10 candidates in this election. A total of 6,693 members cast ballots, for a 26.9 percent turnout.
Chattin last year was appointed to serve one year of a former Director’s uncompleted term, but on July 1 will now be seated to his own three-year term.
The directors-elect will join continuing Directors Rudy Grom, Christine Novello, Dennis Horvath, Jolene Piaskowski and Kay Williams.
Jack Leary, Tim Hurley and Dick Rhoades complete their terms on June 30.
Becknell came out on the top of balloting with 3,289 votes. She was followed by Turner with 3,159 votes, and Chattin with 2,200. As the fourth-place finisher, Forsey, with 2,163 votes, will be seated to the final year of an unfinished term vacated previously by Alan Schlemmer, who resigned for personal reasons.
In April, the new Directors will join continuing Directors at a special organizational meeting to choose officers for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The volunteer Governing Board is comprised of nine Owner Members who are elected to serve three-year terms. Vacancies with shorter terms are filled as the need arises.
The candidates, in order of their vote totals, were:
- Anne Becknell, 3,289 votes
- Nick Turner, 3,159 votes
- John Chattin, 2,200 votes
- Sandra Forsey, 2,163 votes
- Dennis Hanzel, 1,903 votes
- Terry Burks, 1,502 votes
- Lou Mancuso, 1,415 votes
- Jack Ruzic, 1,413 votes
- David Bennett, 1,296 votes
- John Schalk, 1,005 votes
Sad so few voted!! Hope the 19,000 ish residents that didn’t vote don’t have an opinion of decisions in the future.
They will cry the loudest. Guaranteed
Congratulations to the 4 newly elected Board Directors, and thank you to all the candidates who were willing to be of service to our community.
Congrats to the Winners! This election was HUGE! Now. . .could the remaining candidates consider becoming Directors on the Board for PORA? Please? Pretty Please?
Congrats to the winners. And thanks to all that took the time to run
Well, we can all look forward to the same ole, same ole for the next 3 years.
The same ole, same ole has propelled SCW to be one of the finest golf retirement communities in the nation. So I hope so.
SCW is not a golfing community!
It’s a retirement community!
How sad. Of the four candidates running on a platform of fiscal reform and responsibility, not one of them received enough votes to secure a board seat. Not one. Clearly to me, the fix was in from the get-go. Should we now expect more of the same spend, spend, spend attitude for the next three years? Only time will tell.
The voters spoke and obviously didn’t agree with the messages of some of the candidates. Accept the results and move on
Those four candidates were the only 4 I would not vote for. If you pay attention this place is well run, and we get great value for our money. Other communities with similar amenities cost much more than ours. Comparing are costs with places that are broke and broken down is not a valid comparison.
I’m sorry Dennis Hanzel didn’t get elected. He is a solid citizen with the background to see through Finances. And the tempreament to see things through in a proper manner.
Sounds like progress not regression.
Thank you to the Sun City West residents for getting out and voting for intelligent high quality candidates for the 2025 Governing Board. A few people were sleeping at the switch when they put a check mark beside a couple of the names that were voted in last year.
How many individual members actually cast a ballot, out of approximately 28,000 rec card holders, please?
Per the third paragraph of the article: “A total of 6,693 members cast ballots, for a 26.9 percent turnout.”
Well, if you add the total votes, assume all ‘voters’ voted for at least (4) candidates, you’d get about, dare I say 4836.25 cast ballots.
You could only vote for 3, not 4.
6693 per the above article.
Certainly hope the new board addresses doing unnecessary repairs and performing repairs that require the closure of streets during the high season (January thru March). Also cuts costs, like spending nearly one million dollars in the unneeded resurfacing of the parking area around Fry’s.
That what they SHOULD DO! Sadly, that is not likely!
Congrats to the candidates. I know that 3 of these candidates are deeply involved with either Torch, RCSCW Board, and/or committees. Many of them are deeply involved and will hit the ground running without missing a beat.
Myself, being on the Budget and Finance committee, being a part of the community for 6 years, involved with other clubs Boomers, Prides, SCW Investment Club has helped me see and participate with the inner workings of RCSCW Board, Committees, and community.
I see a lot of dedicated people working very hard to provide me and YOU quality services, amenities and a fun-filled community for everyone to enjoy.
I’m very confident that as we enter 2025/2026 our GM and his team, RCSCW Board, committees are about to lead SCW on a long awaited journey into the future.
The (4) candidates elected couldn’t be any better suited for this journey and I’m excited to see where we go.
Unfortunately the votes for the board members has become a popularity contest. Too bad.
What a shame that not one of the candidates with financial experience was elected. This should not be a popularity contest. With a community and budget this large we should have candidates with experience in budgeting for organizations this size. They should be able to read and understand financial reports and reserve studies There was a CPA candidate that would have been excellent explaining this to other board members without that necessary experience. Organizing a Halloween event is nice but doesn’t qualify someone to be responsible for a community this size. Congrats to the new board members. Please make good fiscal decisions so our dues are spent wisely.
Our dues are spent wisely. That is why SCW is listed as one of the finest golf retirement communities in the nation.
And I’m sure we all want to keep it that way. But it’s not just golf that brings people here. The variety of services and clubs and keeping current with new trends is important. The next generation is retiring soon and we want our properties to maintain their value so that this community is somewhere they want to live
Amen to having financial or political experience. This is definitely popularity winning!
Congratulations to all the owners in Sun City West. I believe we have the people with what it takes to keep one of the greatest places on earth going in the right direction.
I do agree that we need the same dedication in PORA that we have with the RCSCW board.
To all the naysayers I say go to “TORCH”.
I would like to see in the planning ( next 50 years out ) of the future of Sun City West the thought of making a move on Hillcrest Golf Course.
We don’t have a City Park. We don’t have a large expanse where we can go fishing, picnicing, and walking your dog on grass, or maybe even overnight camping.
With a little realignment Hillcrest could remain the great golf course it is and give us the city park, extra acreage to build a new facilities for the likes of the Boomers, and for those 55 year olds that want something different than us 75+ year olds.
And the water. Don’t forget the water.
The responsibility for running this community progressively and efficiently should be the main responsibility of the General Manager and CFO.