October 20, 2010 by admin.

Distinguished SCA member/Pinnacle Village resident Sonny Sonnenfeld (Silver Star winner in WWII and father of famous Movie Producer/Director Barry Sonnenfeld of “Men In Black” fame) has asked AV to post the following opinion about the pending poll on gaming for Anthem Center:

“A frightening thing about the whole gaming thing is that regardless of what the homeowners want, the board of directors will go ahead with gaming.

There  is no limitation on what gaming will in some future date consist of.  It could be that what once should have been a pleasant AMENITY for the homeowners becomes a CASINO with food–letting the tenant get rich on one of our resources.

There is no limit on the number of hours the restaurant will be open.  No limit on the kinds of gaming or the number of machines or other devices, or other kinds of gaming.  No agreement on the sharing of gaming revenues.  No agreement on restoring the minimum rent to $7,000 a month.

We must find ways to prevent gaming at our restaurant.  Remember the restaurant is ours–not the tenants.

             Sonny”

Postscript by Anthem Voice:  In case SCA members are not aware of it, Sonny is famous within the theater industry himself, as the following links reveal:

http://www.archlighting.com/industry-news.asp?articleID=452232&sectionID=0

http://livedesignonline.com/news/lighting_sonny_sonnenfeld_winner/

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January 26, 2010 by Marty Winger.

In My Humble Opinion–Winging It by Marty Winger:

Well here it is folks, once again I beg the question, “what purpose does the SCA patrol serve?”  I always get the same answer, “they bring a presence to the community.”  So again I ask, “what does the presence do to provide a reliable sense of security to the community?”

Oh sure, I can keep on asking more questions and dig deeper and more revealing questions and surely, every time I do that (and have done that) “they” just get angry with me or just think I’m prying into some fiefdom that is so sacrosanct I don’t dare going into.

Let’s face it, they have never, that I can recall EVER proven to be effective.  Let’s take the real example of the “Tree Killer,” where it took a retired police officer to see and understand what he was seeing to confront the situation, use his training, and make an intelligent decision that something was wrong.  HE CONFRONTED, the perpetrator, something that the patrol cannot do, in fact wouldn’t do, or would they understand if they should do, even to stay on the site-given that they were lucky enough to be present to observe-and immediately have called or even made the attempt to have police respond to the situation.

So what does the patrol do beside burn gas in new expensive vehicles and create a very expensive carbon footprint.  I’m surprised that environmentalists in the community don’t inquire of a success rate to say the patrol is or is not an effective tool.  The patrol does not even get a reliable source of people to offer their “free” time to patrolling.

I might also need to add that while it has been a rare time that I needed the patrol they just were not there, and they also sure had the worse excuses not to come by.  My reason was during a Christmas time when home invasion robberies are the highest an incident occurs and they could have “nipped it” in the bud, but didn’t.  Another time I had a guest stay with me and they parked their boat in my driveway which did not protrude out into the street but got a warning ticket.  I immediately went to the office and they said the individual exceeded his/her responsibility.

Try this one…am I looking at the figures at what the Christmas party cost the community?  What club gets a “vig” like this (looking at the SCA website and the logs of the patrol)?  I have not seen any “logs” on actual events, but merely how much gas has been consumed.

Here are my issues:

We all need to take responsibility.  If this means getting a security system, get it.  Sure, you can read the Spirit to get some insights on what you need to do for your home security (in this case), but you can do all this and more from any number of resources including the police department and security professionals that has to do this type of work everyday, and even more importantly, for a lot of years.

Do you feel more comfortable that the patrol comes and checks your doors-maybe hours after an event might have occurred?  Please!

Now the magic question…who am I to say any and all of this?  I am 2nd a generation security professional, my son is 3rd.  My family started in the security industry in 1928.  Credibility, you bet!  I have given seminars for many years and still consult.  My backround includes having a security company in the Los Angeles, Ca area and prior to that working for the largest security companies in the world in DOD and Fortune 500 applications.  So over a period of 45 years I can speak with at least a background to communicate security that provides residential, commercial, industrial, and in all the fields.

Maybe, just maybe there are alternative resources in electronics that serve the general public of the community better than the chance of actually/maybe being lucky enough to save the loss.  If anyone would be interested I could provide resources that offer solutions and open the window to a better awareness.

IMHO, Marty Winger

Posted in IMHO -- "Winging It" | Print | 1 Comment »

January 24, 2010 by Mark Cook.

This is a photo of our new Rec Center 3, taken from my backyard.  The building looks rather odd to me, how about you? 

Notice those very large steel trusses that are clearly visible, especially so because they have been painted white.  All during the construction I wondered when they were going to put the roof on the building!  

Also notice the three deep slots cut into the top of the wall; the sky is visible through those slots.  Yep, no doubt about it, the roof is missing.  What you see is what you get…I’ll bet the architect is still laughing. 

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January 23, 2010 by admin.

Sun City Anthem homeowner Marty Winger has asked to post personal opinions under an area called “Winging It” under our IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) Category.

Visitors to this blog are invited to read and (after opening up a user account with your real name) to comment on his articles.

Good luck Marty!

AV Administration

Posted in 2010 Campaign, IMHO -- "Winging It", Community Affairs, Clubs & SIGs, Operations, Lifestyle | Print | No Comments »