April 8 Candidates Forum featured Susan Hildreth, Cheryl Hines and Janet Seldon taking questions submitted by residents

By Mike Wood

Staff writer

Thursday, April 17 (3:00 p.m.): Hot-button topics like the proposed pickleball facility, room reservations and the insurance crisis were among major issues touched on at the GRF Board Candidates Forum on April 8.

Three candidates fielded questions at Peacock Hall – Janet Seldon, who is running in District B, and Susan Hildreth and Cheryl Hines, each running in District F.

The fourth candidate, Adrian Byram in District G, was not present because of a prior commitment. He taped an opening statement that was shown at the start of the forum.

Both Seldon and Byram are running unopposed, so they will be elected by acclamation. Ballots for District F will be mailed to members in that district on Friday, April 11. Ballots must be returned to the election inspection company by Thursday, May 1 before the close of the business day. The newly elected GRF Board members will be seated following the Annual Meeting of Members on May 12 at Peacock Hall.

Candidates were asked questions, which were sent in by residents, by moderator Ann Peterson, GRF communications director. There were 38 questions submitted regarding the proposed pickleball facility near the Event Center, with its estimated cost now topping $4 million. Each candidate had two minutes to respond to where they stood on the proposal; all other questions were allotted a 90-second response.

On pickleball, Seldon said this is not the right time for the Board to approve the pickleball project as it stands, now double the original cost estimate, as it “competes with more pressing needs that impact a greater number of residents.

“Instead of allocating such a large sum to one recreational project, I believe that GRF should prioritize critical infrastructure upgrades,” Seldon added, “such as replacing failing water and drainage pipes, restoring full bus service, and other priorities that focus on fire safety and possibly an additional exit out of Rossmoor.”

Hildreth said she was not committing to a yes or no vote now but did commit “to ask additional questions about this challenging project.” To her, how much building costs could rise, location and timing are factors that could lead to reconsidering the project.

Some critics of the pickleball project contend that it would serve only a small segment of the community, something that Hines addressed.

“I think that the value of adding this facility gets sort of lost in arguments about how many people are going to use it,” Hines said, noting that bids need to be seen before any final decision is made. She called the proposed site “the most feasible” of those considered.

In his recorded statement, Byram said his highest priority will be “to find better ways for effective dialogue” between residents and the GRF Board. “We need to listen to you to measure how well we are responding to your expectations and to be clear about why we, the Board, make the decisions we do,” he said. “To be frank, I don’t think we’re doing a great job of this right now.”

Other key priorities to Byram are metrics and process. “As the old saying goes, you can’t manage what you don’t measure,” Byram said. “Right now, we really don’t measure anything, let alone get those results to you.” He added that the new NetSuite management system “unlocks the doors” for effective metrics.

On process, he cited room reservations and Alcoholic Beverage Control issues as examples that “show that we have problems introducing changes smoothly.”

Both Seldon and Hildreth cited transparency as something that needs to improve. Hines agreed that there should be more dialogue between the board and the community but noted that “it’s very hard as a Board member to hear that you’re not communicating when all you do is sit up here and try to understand and communicate what those issues are.”

Hines said the insurance crisis will continue to be her top priority. Rossmoor has been unable to secure 100% coverage in its master property policy in the event of a catastrophic wildfire, which has hamstrung efforts by prospective buyers to obtain mortgages backed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Hines said she doesn’t think that 100% level can be reached anytime in the future; however, “our priority is to keep that (insurance) cost as low as possible.”

Hines’ other top priorities include replacing the Mutual Operations building and considering whether to sell the offsite medical office building, which in turn prompts a big look at the debt capital structure of Rossmoor.

All three candidates praised mitigation efforts such as Rossmoor’s Firewise community for positive impact on costs and fire safety.

Hildreth also cited insurance as a top priority, along with infrastructure and affordability.

“Continuing to obtain some level of insurance to protect our homes, many of our biggest investments, is critical,” she said.

Hildreth also would like to “continue this discussion we have with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regarding exemptions for co-ops and condos financing where full insurance coverage cannot be provided.”

Hines agreed, and noted the 100% coverage problem impacts communities like Rossmoor throughout the U.S.

Seldon emphasized “fixing aging infrastructure” as her top priority, pointing to constant issues with water having to be shut off somewhere in Rossmoor. “Every week, somebody loses water. Somebody’s manor is damaged because of leaking pipes,” Seldon said.

Vision – whether to focus on needs of current residents, or future ones – plus renovating Dollar Clubhouse also are major issues for Seldon.

Hildreth called room reservations, a process that was overhauled over a year ago, a “pain point” for many residents she’s talked to. She proposed a short online survey and a working group of room-reservation users to provide feedback on the current system.

Hines said room reservations has been “a very thorny issue” and that the Board “probably made some mistakes in rolling out some of the policies that we did,” but “we were able to correct and take some of those back.”

Calling room reservations changes “unacceptable,” Seldon said, “There is still a lot of confusion and unnecessary time being spent juggling dates for rooms. … I think the current limitations on room reservations have been unnecessary and extremely disruptive to the clubs.”

Other big topics covered included transportation, cost of the coupon, water conservation, changes to policies on demonstrations and newspaper political columns, and replacing the Mutual Operations building, among others.

The Candidates Forum is being shown daily on Rossmoor TV; check the Rossmoor TV Guide in this edition for broadcast times. It also is available at www.rossmoortv.com on demand, on the Rossmoor TV YouTube channel @RossmoorTV and the Cablecast app.