Image Up Advertising & Design

10 | SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | JUNE 2022 | By Joe Formino, Chairman, District Delegate Assembly We held our annual election on April 13. There are 3,327 homes at Sun Lakes Country Club. Each homeowner receives a ballot. It is usually mailed one month prior to the election. Some ballots are tossed aside by absentee homeowners who are not interested. They are interested in Sun Lakes as an investment, collecting their monthly rent. There are banks who could not care less whether they own property here or not. We received far less than half of the ballots sent to the absentee owners. With that being stated, our return ballots numbered 1,941, only 58.34 percent of ballots mailed to homeowners. That is a terrible return and indicates a total lack of interest in our complex. We can understand the attitude of absentee owners or banks, but not our residents who did not return their ballot. It wasn't that long ago our percentage was in the 70s and many Districts had over 80 percent return. We all have a vested interest in our HOA. The Board of Directors makes decisions about our finances and our lifestyle. We certainly should be concerned who is elected to the Board. The greatest source of information is the Candidates Forum. They are there to express their opinions and ideas. It allows the homeowners to hear what the candidates stand for and how they express themselves. The District Delegate Assembly ballot is different for each District. There is one position in each District for a District Delegate and one position for an Alternate Delegate. There are separate elections for each position. We only had candidates for 16 District Delegates and 17 candidates for Alternate Delegates for the 23 Districts. That amounts to 13 positions short for the District Delegate Assembly. After the election, we had 6 Districts without a leader to handle the newsletter, events for the residents, controlling the finances for the District and other duties. Fortunately, there were a number of write-ins. A write-in is actually a valid vote for someone, even if it is made in jest. Where there is no candidate, each write-in is called to ask if they are interested in filling the position. We received a number of approvals. Ultimately, we now need District Delegates for Districts 2 and 11. We need Alternate Delegates for Districts 3, 9, 19, and 23. These positions are important for every day communication and information. The Delegate is a conduit for the HOA and the District. The Delegate and Alternate Delegate are the leaders that make things happen for the residents. If any of our residents are interested in filling the positions, please contact me. You do not have to live in a District to be its Delegate or Alternate. Our elections are super important and we wish more of our residents had an interest in participating. Maybe next year we will have a better turnout. DISTRICT DELEGATE ASSEMBLY REPORT SUN LAKES VOTER TURNOUT LOW

• Cover