What an epic evolution an election can make. Covid brutally burned into our collective traumatized psyche that our world could terrifyingly become unrecognizable in a blink, and that local councilor or supervisor whose name you could never remember was indeed just as critical to your way of life and well being as who’s in the Oval Office.
The current regime change marks a massively transformative period in politics, where another reality-suspending 180 will kick in to beast mode across all economic, social, diplomatic, and cultural strata of American life. Such upheaval proves what a living, virile creature democracy is. And how precious our vote. It means something. Our leaders — both federally and locally — have a duty to respect that and the sanctity of their oath of office to represent all of us equally — regardless how each of us individually voted.
I know I am personally gagging for Michelin-star-level, culinary-club digs when my state’s a geographic dumpster fire of abject pain, profound loss, and ashes. $8M large would underground about eight miles of power lines right about now (assuming self-pay, no funds from SDG&E) making our community a heck of a lot safer from the insurance-averse, high-fire-risk, property-powder-keg hell we are now white-knuckling through.
I was reminded recently of President Vaclav Havel’s 1990 New Year’s Day speech to the Czechoslovakian people following the non-violent Velvet Revolution’s crush of Communism’s one-party rule. He spoke of a moral illness that contaminated the environment under the Soviet’s iron fist, where citizens felt alone, afraid, and didn’t know what to believe and whom and what institutions and leaders to trust. How uncanny that such sentiments from the past could feel so palpably relevant to what so many of us experienced during Covid. In order to recoup sanity, common sense, trust and light to a distrustful and psychologically broken people, he implored:
“Let us try, in a new time and in a new way, to restore this concept of politics…Let us teach ourselves and others that politics should be an expression of a desire to contribute to the happiness of the community rather than of a need to cheat or rape the community…I dream of a republic…that serves the individual and that therefore holds the hope that the individual will serve it in turn…People, your government has returned to you!”
The Great Golf Divide
Just like the raison d’etre of the RSF Post, a democracy should be for, by, and of the people. A mantra to always keep in mind when governing or being governed. As discussed in today’s RSF Post editorial, impending political change isn’t just going down in D.C., but will soon be underway in our small town too. Three Association Board positions are opening up, which could impact the way our community is governed going forward. As the editorial explains, this current board has definitely experienced its share of ups and downs. One particular challenge has been the age-old golf/non-golf divide. At times those who make up approximately 70 percent of the membership who are not golfers have not always felt represented by a board mostly made up by them. Conflicts of interest can indeed arise when Directors are voting on RSFGC-related issues.
For example, tomorrow our HOA’s Board will host a special meeting to green-light gasp-inducing expenditures for the golf club restaurant renovation. As the graphic below details, the Association will sign off on a whopping $8 million of HOA monies for an amenity with officially zero member buy-in, because they refuse to hold a Covenant-wide vote. Who knows? Maybe the majority of members are gaga for Kim-K-level vanity projects where little expense is spared? But we’ll never know, because, no matter how many past Boards have promised, we’ve never been given the chance to weigh in on what we really want.
Criminal Bureaucracy
I know I myself am personally gagging for Michelin-star-level, culinary-club digs when my state’s a geographic dumpster fire of abject pain, profound loss, and ashes. $8M large would underground about eight miles of power lines right about now (assuming self-pay, no funds from SDG&E), making our community a heck of a lot safer from the insurance-averse, high-fire-risk, property-powder-keg hell we are now white-knuckling through. How many fires caused by power lines must modern society suffer, especially if we have sufficient funds to underground? It’s legit criminal bureaucracy. A pile of cash like that could no doubt snap up more open defensible space as a communal protective and preventive measure, like the parcel located at Paseo Delicias and El Montevideo.
As President Havel also poignantly noted in his aspirational speech, “Freedom and democracy include participation and therefore responsibility from us all.” All members have a democratic right to be respected, to participate and to be heard.
Cracker Barrel in Kentucky
Good leadership requires balancing the desires of one segment of the community with the wants of the rest, fairness, and following the rule of law. In the case of the latter, when it comes to HOA’s that’s Davis-Stirling laws. While I’m all for pimping the golf club restaurant’s ride so it doesn’t give off Cracker-Barrel-in-Kentucky vibes or smell like eau du convalescent home, when it’s a capital improvement that costs over five percent of gross annual expenditures, it requires a Covenant-wide vote.
It’s easy to complain on the sidelines. It takes the brave and the bold to put themselves in the firing line and run for office. Finding solutions to complex political issues is hard; and compromise when your job and integrity are on the line — even harder. If you want change, you don’t have to be a revolutionary. You just have to show up.
The special RSFA Board meeting to approve the finances on the restaurant renovation will be at 11:30 a.m, tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 30, at the Association Offices on 17022 Avenida de Acacias. Watch here online.
Rachel Laffer is editor of the RSF Post and longtime Covenant resident.