The Board has kept us in the dark on their secret negotiations with the Carrilon Christian Community Church and has already signed a contract for three months to use space at a resident’s rate! This is the same type of contract for Jameson’s restaurant. Recognizing that scheduling needs change our Clubs or Neighborhoods don’t have the privilege to lock in a room for a long time [sic].
This is certainly a mainline church trying to take over our community. It is NOT just for Sun City residents – see their advertisements and goal to build a “campus” here with a grant of over $348,000. We don’t allow political groups here and should not allow religious-political groups here either.
Sun City should be free of possible religious manipulation. Do not get me wrong, I am all for the role of religion, but I do not want to subsidize it with my Sun City community assets nor monthly association fees. Now all residents will be subsidizing a particular religion. Also, when they lock in a long-term rental contract at Drendel Hall or our new east wing (once remodeled) this fall, we will not be able to use the space for our dynamic needs.
Greg Ward
Sun City Resident
Dear Bill, Sun City Board President
We have been in Arizona since the first of the year and will not be back for the April 27 Sun City board meeting, unfortunately as will many other Snowbirds that would like to express an opinion on this subject but probably will not even know about this subject, as it has been hidden. The below emails that we got this morning certainly surprised us as well as disappointed us in the transparency of the board on behalf of the taxpaying & Sun-City-dues paying residents of Sun City, Huntley. So this email will have to convey our thoughts and opinions, which I believe you will readily comprehend.
The two years of law school in me (Iowa State Engineering contract & administrative law) wants me to pour over the Board’s Charter to see if the Board can legally long-term lease “any” Sun City, Huntley, facility to an outside organization other than Jameson’s Restaurant, which passes muster as part of the Del Webb’s original charter. A “public” restaurant serving all residents equally is for the use of Sun City residents and special outsider leased “onetime events” like weddings, anniversary parties, catered dinners, and similar events as part of the restaurant’s long-term lease.
A political, religious, or commercial organization does not serve all residents equally based on their personal beliefs or religion and should not be part of your charter as a Board of Directors.
Know what, now that the Board has opened this can of worms, I will advertise to see if anyone wants to send you their “application to long-term lease” space up front in the new Sun City Prairie Lodge space (when it is done) on Saturday & Sunday afternoons…for their Tattoo parlor. And I am sure the Tattoo man has a palm reader lady that would share the cheap rent with him. This would be such good and humorous entertainment for those quality people coming to our new Jameson’s Restaurant.
Sun City property, except for the restaurant long-term lease, which is a part of the original charter, is for the use of Sun City residents or special onetime family events like weddings, anniversary parties, catered dinners, and similar events associated with Jameson’s. Any other long-term leases to outsiders or insiders should be voted on by the residents of Sun City, Huntley, to be legally valid.
I know and respect you both very much for what you have done for Sun City & Huntley but am very disappointed that you would vote for and start this commercial mess inside the Sun City, Huntley, that we all paid for and care about. Your lack of transparency in this matter months ago is absolutely disgusting (I tried to find any mention in your meeting minutes but could only get December and January minutes off the SSH website…finally found mention of this church lease at the very bottom of your Presidential message [well hidden]…maybe this lease decision was totally decided in EXECUTIVE session and not worthy of public disclosure!!!) Not all residents use computers or take newspapers. A “church” letter in the Lifestyle months ago would make sure all Sun City residents had an opportunity to know what shenanigans you are up to with their trust. But you did not want us to know about this lease as the Board knows this is wrong (and maybe illegal).
If our Neighborhood 16 Residents want to have a Sunday morning casserole in our very own Oak/Elm Rooms facility in the next 3 months, does the contract you signed say we Sun City residents have “first right” to use our own facilities, or do we Sun City residents have to rent a facility outside of Sun City, Huntley????
I hope Drendel Hall is packed at the next Board meeting and our residents give the Board the blistering they have earned!!!!!
Paul Welch
Neighborhood 16
(To the Board)
The lack of transparency and openness with the residents of Sun City, Huntley, well before you made any decisions on this matter is totally disgusting and you all know it. Bill Pennock did not make this decision. The Board representing or “supposedly” representing all our Sun City, Huntley, residents did.
You can all hide behind Bill Pennock’s after-the-fact letter, but your April 27 board meeting will prove that the residents (not just a handful) of Sun City, Huntley, do not want to lease any of our property to any outsider non-denominational political, religious, tattoo parlors, palm readers, etc. The only outsider that should be able to long-term lease within the walls of Sun City, Huntley, is the restaurant operator and the SCH facilities necessary to carry on that chartered operation.
If our charter does not state that, it is the Board’s responsibility and duty to have a vote by our residents to see if they want this added to our charter for our residents own common good, safety, protection, religious & personal beliefs, and “long-term” value of Sun City, Huntley. Anything less after this fiasco is not facing up to the standards we expect from all of you.
Do any of the other Sun City Associations in America lease any of their common property to outsider political or religious organizations that do not serve all residents equally? I doubt it, but I am sure you’d be able to document your “thorough investigation” and the answers to that question at the Board meeting.
So far, every responding resident in Neighborhood 16 has responded totally positive to my April 19, 2011 letter to Bill Ziletti!!!!
Sorry I am going to miss your April board meeting, as it is going to be a dandy and you all know it… Sorry that other Snowbirds will miss this meeting as well.
Paul Welch
Neighborhood 16
(For your information, our family is Methodist. So we do believe in religion and that has nothing to do with my letters of concern for SCH.)
I would like to take issue with M.A. Weissmann in his article in the April 21 article of the Sun Day concerning the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Mrs. Weissman asserts that a Roman soldier by the name of Didius stated that “unruly crowds forced Pilate to condemn a Jew, some say The King of the Jews. They screamed for his crucifixion.” Mrs. Weissmann distorts the true facts on what happened on that Good Friday. By her making the statement that “unruly crowds” implies that it was every citizen of Roman Jerusalem, thus every Jew — is a travesty of truth. In fact, it was not the Jewish people as a whole who wanted to see the end of Christ and his teachings; it was the Pharisees, the temple aristocracy who demanded the crucifixion after his trial by Pontius Pilate. Pope Benedict XVI has exonerated the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ, insisting that they must not be collectively blamed for his death.
The Roman Catholic Church has maintained for decades that Jews were not responsible for Christ’s execution, most notably in 1965 with the document “Nostra Aetate” that underlines that teaching. Several Protestant churches have also repudiated the belief that all Jews were guilty of the crucifixion.
St. Matthew attributes the request for the crucifixion to “all the people” — and perhaps this is where Mrs. Weissmann picks this notion up. “But he cannot be stating a historical fact: how could the entire Jewish people have been present at this moment to call for the death of Jesus?” the Pope wrote. “The historical reality appears in St. John and St. Mark. The true accusers were those circulating in the temple at the time.”
I would advise Mrs. Weissmann to go back and study the historical facts on this subject before she makes any further insinuations concerning the role that all Jews had a voice in the execution of Jesus Christ. The Jewish people have had to sacrifice their lives for two thousand years with this fallacy on their heads, and it is with these comments by Mrs. Weissmann that have poisoned the minds of millions upon millions over the generations and still permeates to millions of misinformed people to this day.
Fred Leznek President, The Shalom Group
Dear Chris,
It is with much dismay that I write to you.
I usually look forward to reading Sun Day and have always been a supporter of this paper. On Friday, I finally read this week’s paper and was enjoying it until I reached page 6 and M.A. Weissmann’s “Good Friday” article.
Of all the wonderful things that could be written about Good Friday, I was very disturbed that this article would be chosen to be printed as written.
The poor choice of words used to depict the decision of Pilate are historically incorrect, and have been fully discredited by the Catholic Church.
This is an inaccurate, ignorant, and insulting portrayal of events, inciting and reinforcing stereotypical depictions that I had hoped had been eliminated.
Sincerely,
Geri Alesi Levine
REAL ESTATE TAX SURPRISE
Even before moving into Huntley, I was told that the real estate taxes in Rutland township were higher than the Grafton side of the county line (most of the taxing districts are shared). This situation has gotten worse almost every year and got exponentially worse now. The respective assessors do not seem to care, with each one claiming their values are correct. I addressed the Board of Review in Kane County and the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board in Springfield on this issue, and they basically did not address the complaint even though the State Constitution and prior Court decisions clearly state that taxes must be equitable within a taxing district even though portions are within different political jurisdiction. It is time for a legislative remedy.
At the April D-158 meeting, BOE member Mike Skala and Finance CFO Mark Altmayer presented data showing a large shift in the school tax burden from McHenry to Kane County. Mr. Skala wished Kane residents to have advance warning for the huge increases in tax bills arriving soon. Most, but certainly not all, McHenry residents in D-158 will see only a small increase up to a big decrease.
The district increased its levy only 2.7%. Kane’s average equalized assessment valuations declined 2.77% vs. McHenry’s 14.1%. The latter reduction would have been greater if the State had not applied, for the first time in 28 years, an equalizer of 3.48% to McHenry because of low assessments. The Grafton assessor reduced some neighborhoods’ assessment 25 – 35%.
Normally, the Huntley shared taxing districts in Kane and McHenry have about the same tax rate for 90% of their taxes. In some perverse consequence of the tax rules, however, the D-158 tax rate will be 4.81% in McHenry and 4.95% for Kane. Similar differentials probably exist for the other shared taxing districts in Huntley, thus offsetting the impact of the State’s multiplier on McHenry.
The people in Grafton Township (McHenry) should start cooling the champagne for the big parade they owe their assessor.
Me? I live in Rutland (Kane) and am hoping Grafton will hire me to pick up the droppings of the horses pulling the Grafton assessor’s wagon. Then maybe I can afford to pay the projected 16% increase in my tax bill. See the pages of
Herm Faubl
Sun City Resident
(Gerald Kirschner’s resignation letter from the Governing Board of Directors)
Dear Bob:
With the seating of the new Board in 2011, I had expectation of better and greater communication between the Board members, with the residents of the community, and improvement with regard to the lack of transparency that prevailed in the past. This has not occurred. Adding to this is the manner in which some members of the Board are disregarding the tenor of the community on a very emotional issue. By acting unilaterally, this Board has caused a rift within Sun City Huntley. The curt “Question and Answer” response sent to the community has only served to further inflame the situation, as I wrote it would. The intransigent stance that the Board has taken has polarized the community against the Board of Directors. The unyielding attitude that has emerged among some Board members has created an environment that I feel I cannot participate in. Imperiousness and provincialism have no place in a community association boardroom.
After much soul searching, I realized I could not, in good conscience, continue on as a member of this Board. I am, therefore, tendering my resignation, effective immediately, as Vice President of the Sun City Community Association of Huntley and member of the Board of Directors.
Sincerely,
Gerald Kirschner
Jerry, I can’t begin to comprehend the amount of soul searching that prompted your letter of resignation. As the receiving officer of the letter, I would have refused to accept it. As a Board member, I would not accept it. You have always been the epitome of devotion to a cause, unselfish service and objectivity. I commend you for your moral courage, but are truly saddened by the absence of your guidance to the community. The Board’s action to date, in relation to the current church rental issue, is a perversion of the concept of “Lifestyle” that is supposed to be the basis for life in Sun City. My very best to a good friend.
Jim Darow
Sun City Resident
I am pleased to say I attended the Sun City board meeting on 4-27-11.
However, I am most upset to think 200 or 300 who also attended forgot to bring their manners. I have lived in Del Webb 11 years and have never witnessed or experienced such ill-mannered behavior, shame on you. I may or may not agree with what we were there to discuss but that still does not give anyone the right to talk while someone else is talking nor to boo our board members. I am almost sure you would not tolerate such behavior from your children or grandchildren. Please think about this before attending the next meeting.
Elizabeth T. Anderson
Neighborhood 12
Sun City issue of renting space to a church – an Open Letter
As Americans we proudly enjoy Freedoms here – of speech, of worship, of voting, and many others.
When I, as many others here, joined the United States Armed Forces, we thought about the risks to our lives and limbs and asked ourselves: Why were we there? What were we fighting for?
The answer many of us came to was: to preserve The Freedoms we enjoy – or should be enjoying:
Freedom of speech – which you saw in action at this CAM meeting.
Freedom of religion – for people to worship God, or not, as they prefer. The issue at hand.
Freedom to vote – yet so many do not show up to vote for CAM elections or committee meetings.
Freedom to have a representative form of government – CAM or state or federal – and to run for office – which few of us seem to have the courage to do.
We have these Freedoms, and I hope you will join me to fight for them. If you believe in our United States Constitution Bill of Rights, you know we should allow any religious group to meet as long as they follow the rules and laws of our land.
We have no state or community religion. We are very diverse at Sun City and rent meeting rooms to Resident Special Interest Groups.
Our community has a shalom group who meet to express their Jewish beliefs and traditions.
Our community has Christian prayer groups who meet and express their beliefs and lifestyles.
Our community has a gay and lesbian group who meet and express their beliefs and lifestyles.
Our community has many other secular groups some of whom are Charter Clubs (charged no rent) who meet and express their beliefs, creative writings, Art, crafts, nationalities, civic politics, and lifestyles.
This is what America is about.
Tolerance and respect for each other and for the law of the land.
This is why I congratulate the CAM Board on their vote to allow a church to rent vacant space at Sun City. I have visited other Sun City communities that have churches and meetings on site.
The members of the CAM Board ran in open elections with much debate. You and I voted for them because we believed them to have the experience and character to make the necessary decisions regarding our community and lifestyles. They oversee the management of the community.
We have a representative form of Government in our country and here at Sun City. By our constitution, we do not have issue-voting by attendees at quarterly meetings because attendees are not the majority. The real majority who might think differently are at home watching this meeting on TV.
Voting is an expensive process. Some want all “big” decisions to be voted upon or an opinion poll taken. Yet, how much will it cost and hours expended to publish and tabulate, and how many would vote? Some do not take the time to vote. Yet they express concerns if more people are needed to run Sun City. Debate? Even the simple issue of a $2 raise in “drop-in” activity fees caused an hour of public comments and many were still confused by what it means.
If you would run as a candidate, you realize that some CAM Board majority vote decisions that may not be what you want. That is no good reason to resign. That is a reason to stay and discuss important issues more openly in meetings. I cannot applaud resignation. I applaud courage.
The CAM Board members have worked many, many long hours – hard work, at no compensation from any of us. Do you want to force them to work longer hours to talk with every one of you on the phone? Would you do that? I think not. They already visit at all Neighborhood meetings upon invitation.
Each member has previously served hundreds of hours on committees which many of us did not have the time to put-in, because “we have better things to do.” Their experience is why they understand the issues better than most. They are also experienced at running large organizations. Are we?
CAM meetings are taped, published, and minutes of all meetings are available to be read. How many people took the time to read those? I’ve found that few attend most CAM Quarterly meetings. Let those who are without such faults be the first to cast a stone.
Personally, I thank the CAM Board – we all should thank them. Their decisions on the whole have saved us from large increases in our assessments. They diligently gathered revenues from advertisers, vendors, organizations that rent our facilities for real cash. They did due diligence on the church space rental.
They regularly rent space to vendors, weddings, birthday parties, showers – all these bring in people from outside our community – and take up parking spaces. So does the restaurant. Why are these different? Is it that they do not speak of God? I am not a member of the church under question, nor desire to attend their services. But I fight for the right of such organizations. It is the American way.
The CAM Board members are not my personal friends, but they are good, very good neighbors – trying to help neighbors. They live here – not absentee owners. They are affected as we all are.
Neither I, nor you, will agree with every decision they make. But I trust their overall judgment. And they are trying to improve the communication process. I don’t, and probably you do not want to vote on every decision they have to make. We do not have the time or inclination to do that – which is why we have a representative form of government. That is why we elected them.
I was pleased to see the Huntley Police at this CAM meeting. The tensions in the crowd seemed pretty threatening to me and some small incidents occurred. I probably would not have spoken if there was not physical protection from the unruly hecklers and disrupters in the overflow crowd. It is discouraging to hear that the Board Members received email threats from people in Sun City. What were such “emailers” thinking? And yet some rude people moaned and shouted out “poor babies” when they were told that is why the police were invited. With guns and intolerance so plentiful around us, we live in a dangerous new age – not an age of reason and civil discussion. Have some lost touch with decency and respect?
Let’s think about this:
Let’s be kind to each other, and treat each other as good neighbors who are trying to do the best we can for everyone – everyone on both sides of this issue.
Let people worship their God, or not, as they prefer. That is the American way.
Let us work with our elected representatives, not threaten them. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Let us not be divisive in our community. We have more good things in common.
Let us be good neighbors to each other, and keep a civil tongue, not boo and heckle – that is for ball games, not community meetings.
Every one of us home owners have an equal share in this community – not more than anyone else.
Ken Kozy
5-year resident, Neighborhood 22
KANE COUNTY TAX LOGIC
In the midst of one of the worst recessions of our lifetime, one that has been aggravated and extended by the ineptness and poor judgment of political policies Kane County enacts a property rate increase of almost 1.2% and expects it to go unnoticed.
I can’t speak for other property owners, those working, possibly at minimum wage, or those who have lost their job, but I do know something about living on a fixed income with a budget and having to tighten the belt when your told Social Security will not be increased for three or four years, all the while Social Security deductions are increased each year and the cost of medications keep going up, not to mention (because of the policies (sic) of our political leaders) the cost of energy and food, too.
I mention energy and food jointly since a large amount of corn is grown for energy (gov’t subsidized), while our food costs rise because of corn shortage. And without an effective energy policy that too is rising with no end in sight.
I recently attended a Sun City, Huntley, board meeting where one of the agenda items was the increased number of foreclosures in Sun City. Why do you think this is? It’s because we aren’t any different than the rest of the country, if one listens to the news (those news organizations that will stand up and tell you the truth about our economy) it is not difficult to find out Illinois is in serious trouble. High taxes, high unemployment, poor political management (sic) and businesses struggling to stay afloat are the hallmarks of our economic situation today.
The audacity of the Kane County decision to raise the property tax rate at a time when so many of our population is struggling with energy costs, food costs, loss of jobs, and an uncertain economic future blows my mind! This on top of a $30 million Bond issue for unknown land to be bought by the county that was barely approved in the spring election adds insult to injury.
Sincerely,
Douglas Dunlap
Huntley, IL
Dear Editor,
I enjoy reading Sun Day very much. But I would like to give my opinion on two comments made in the article “A tale of two churches.
Marcus Bieschke said, “WE are trying to solve the problem of the ‘unchurched.’”
What problem?
There is no problem.
I’m “unchurched” and I have no problem. Perry Martin said, “We want to help people find their way back to God.”
You can be “unchurched” and still believe in God, as I do.
I respect anyone who believes in their religion. I would like the same respect for not believing in organized religion.
Thank you,
Joan Choate
Dear Mr. La Pelusa,
I thoroughly enjoyed your article on the Grafton Township Food Pantry. It is a truly valuable resource for those in times of need. I was, however, disappointed to see that one of these most important people involved in all aspects of the pantry was not mentioned or acknowledged.
Her name is Mary Hardy. She devotes timeless hours there each week and is so kind to all the clients and volunteers.
I am hoping there is some way of for you to give her the acknowledgement and thanks she so profoundly deserves.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Jamie Ripplinger
