Introduce yourself here
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This category is for people to write a little bit about themselves.
Suggestions:
- Where were you raised.
- What did you do for a living before retiring.
- Do you live here year 'round?
- What interests do you have?
- What clubs or activities interest you here in SCPD?
- Whatever else you care to write about yourself.'
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I am Mike Schwartz, resident of SCPD since 2015.
I was born in Baltimore MD but grew up in the Chicago area. I've lived in California for 30+ years. I am a fan of all sports teams from Chicago.
I had a 50 year career as a tech entrepreneur and software/hardware developer. I ran two very successful companies as CEO and had P&L responsibility in both. One company was sold for a lot of money (it was a very fast growing company about the size of SCPD's association) and the other had an IPO on the NASDAQ.
I spent the last 20 years of my career developing software because it's my passion. My most recent gig was as a consultant for a friend's company where my billing rate was $500/hr.
I moved to Sun City in 2015 from San Diego. I was 55 at the time.
I have been playing in the SCPD softball league and in pick up games for the past 7 or 8 years. Through the club, I've made well over 100 real friends - people I could invite to dinner or otherwise spend time with.
My wife Chris and I live here all year 'round. We met in Schaumburg Illinois in spring of 1980 and were married later that year. It's been a 42 year honeymoon!
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M mschwartz pinned this topic on
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Hello! I'm Ronda and I've been in SCPD for almost a year. I love it here and have the best neighbors and friends. I'm super excited to have this site available to share and learn about others. I'll be retiring next month and look forward to experiencing more of what SCPD has to offer.
Thanks to Mike Schwatrz and anyone else involved in the creation and moderating! -
Hello, We are Rex Hudson and Brian Whitmore. We’re both life long Kansas Citians. Moved here in June 22.
I retired as a public school teacher after 40 years in the same district in Olathe, Kansas. Brian is 8 years younger and was offered an extra early retirement package from Blue Cross in Kansas City where he was a senior trainer. So, it had been our dream to retire around Palm Springs…so here we are as homeowners. Alvin is our Miniature Pincher. -
Hello !
My name is Shirley. We moved here in Sun City few months ago from Los Angeles.
And I love it here !!!
Since 2001, we helped families & businesses secure their alarm systems. We provide simple control of integrated technology for security, audio, lighting, motorized window shades, & climate control. -
Judy (Judith Rae) Lerner:
Home Town and Upbringing
Being a native Californian (both parents also born in Los Angeles - a very long time ago) has given me the opportunity to see the growth and evolution of my home city and our State. My father provided an example of getting involved to fight for constructive change. "Back in the day," he became the first non-big-corporate appointee to the State Board of Agriculture, serving two terms. He also got involved in many ways in the fight for civil rights - and so growing up, I was able to meet L.A. City Council and County Supervisors, the first black Congressman from California, and a bunch of others. But for me, perhaps the strongest memories for me are having legendary singer-actress Lena Horne at a campaign cocktail party in our west side home for future Congressman Gus Hawkins - and meeting Bobby Kennedy when my father was on stage with him in the dedication of the Youth Opportunities Center in South Los Angeles.Career
My career twice took me away, first to the greater Detroit area and later to Boston to be closer to some of my largest consulting clients.For decades as a Principal (and Practice Leader, national Practice Council member) with two large international consulting firms, my engagements focused on organizational change communications (mergers, acquisitions, downsizing), corporate culture, managed health care issues, and stakeholder information and satisfaction (stockholders, partners, distributors, employees, the media and more). Generally, clients occupied the executive suites and so I served CEOs, EVPs/SVPs, and their senior management teams at Fortune 500 companies. My role encompassed developing new business, managing and executing major projects, and supervising staff (direct reports and/or staffing for those projects).
My career also taught me strategies to to be an advocate for serious issues about which I am passionate, in particular patients' rights and consumer protection. Fighting for patients' rights and protections took me before Congress to testify as an "expert witness," and although the most important reforms recommended did not happen then (politics prevented passage of legislation being proposed), the Department of Labor, for whom I also testified, did enact significant patient safeguards for members of employer sponsored benefit plans.
The tools required in my consulting work match what's required to accomplish successfully the security and safety mission and specific initiatives that spawned this group initially - and on which I continue to work ...
Career Lessons Applied To Our Task at Hand
1-Listening - real listening, not just lip service (consulting tools used most effectively: confidential individual interviews/results reported without attribution - has anyone even asked to interview Board members, Delegates, Commitee heads, Security, law enforcement ?), focus group interviews (to gather without prejudice the issues, goals, and suggestions team members and other constituents have), and training/coaching sessions (individually, small groups, large groups - useful for team members going out to implement specific initiatives, be they neighborhood watch or the "lunch with a cop" idea I proposed).2-"Business plan" development - to define and memorialize a plan to guide the work we want to do and the members who will do it, starting with the mission, specific steps/initiatives to achieve that mission, activities-work to implement, and (very important) timelines and progress metrics to keep the work on course.
3-Communications with emphasis on listening as welll as "telling" - planned, strategic communications - starting with a message strategy supporting the mission/goals, definition of key audiences (first rule of effective communications: know your audiences and their level of current understanding, needs, preferred delivery systems, and method to test whether each audience is getting the message - and reacting how?), delivery mechanisms (print, technological/online, oral, in person, telephonic), match-up between messages and delivery systems, and communications timing (the roll out over time).
For those who think this is too formal and complicated - and we are not a business after all, please consider. We are trying to effect change in an enterprise (and yes, it's a type of business enterprise) of 5,000 homes and likely more than 10,000 constituents at every level: residents (owners and renters - and their needs are different), the Board and its "emissaries" (Delegates, Committee Chairs and members, hired staff from the General Manager on down), major vendors, law enforcement, public officials at the local/State/Federal level - both elected and appointed including key agencies, and the media. To ignore an audience is to at best to delay and/or make our endeavor more difficult - and at worst, risk failing in our mission (by not actively soliciting their support and involvement or at minimum willingness to let us proceed).
Change is not easy. The official and unofficial rules and practices governing SCPD took a long time to evolve created by basically good people whether we now agree with them or not. People and practices here are well entrenched and have many supporters, much because they appreciate the amount of work those governing us and those who have preceded them devoted to this community regardless of agreement/disagreement with their final decisions.
Change takes time. This takes a combination of patience and aggressiveness. This takes persistence. This takes dedication. And it certainly takes work.
(It's the reason I believe focusing on just two or max three major change areas starting with security is important lest we risk dilution of the entire enterprise.)
Arrival In the Desert
I arrived in the desert June 25, 2021 (122 degree record setter). Adjusting and learning has been a challenge made more difficult by a series of surprise medical diagnoses that limit my energy and endurance and meant most of my first two years got spent at various Eisenhower facilities.From my first days here, the warmth, kindness, support, and true "neighborly" nature of the people showed me what true community means. We are a diverse group with many backgrounds, many different talents and skills, many different approaches to just about everything, and many different views on all sorts of topics. But for the most part, the interactions remain respectful and geared towards helping, not hurting others. In particular, the neighbors I have on my street and the cross street are the best! So lucky to have them "by" me (in all the ways that means).bolded text
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Thank you!
