Charter clubs committee forwards revised RMPs to governing board after heated privacy debate

Sun City West Charter Clubs Committee members agreed to forward revised Rules, Regulations and Membership Policies (RMPs) to the governing board for consideration after a lengthy discussion about who may access club membership lists and how confidential records should be handled.

The committee’s working-group lead, Nick Turner, summarized recent edits and the sources of changes before asking the committee for direction. He said, “I’m not the author, I’m the pen,” to stress the draft reflects the working group’s collaborative work and subsequent club feedback.

The revisions include multiple clarifications and procedural changes raised by club presidents: written expectations about when a club should notify staff the club is closed for the season, new or revised reporting requests for ClubTrack, explicit inclusion of “distribution of confidential information” as a disciplinary reason for club members, language changes from “secret ballot” to “confidential ballot,” and a requirement that special meetings called by membership or a board member follow the same notice periods as regular meetings. The draft also specifies that contractor certifications required by clubs be attached to contracts and clarifies that confidential club records should be maintained with authorized access; the working group recommended that, for now, confidential club records be kept as paper files rather than electronic copies.

Debate over member contact information dominated public comment and the committee exchange. The working-group proposal would restrict general access to membership contact lists and require the club president to authorize individual access for people who “need to know” for club business (for example, membership chairs, treasurers or designated monitor coordinators). Several club leaders objected, saying restricting access would complicate routine club operations such as scheduling monitors, organizing teams and helping new members find playing partners. John Click, president of the Pickleball Club, said limited access would impede efforts to help new members “find their community of people within the club.”

Other speakers stressed safety and privacy. A club member who identified himself as a former stalking victim recounted repeated anonymous calls and argued for tighter controls on membership lists, saying the change could prevent harassment: “Every time I came home, every time I turned the light on, the phone would ring. There was nobody on the other end,” he said. Recreation Manager Casey Huda also described instances when staff refused requests for member contact information and emphasized the association’s responsibility to protect members.

Committee members and liaisons acknowledged the operational burdens the change could create — pointing out clubs with large rosters, frequent roster changes and volunteer-run staffing — but several members favored moving the document forward and addressing implementation details later with the association’s new IT director. After public comment and discussion, multiple committee members voiced support to send the revised RMPs to the governing board for their review; no formal roll-call vote was recorded during the meeting.

The committee did not finalize technical implementation details (for example, an opt-out option for members or a formal delegation process for president-authorized access) and recommended the governing board and staff consider technology and process solutions before adoption. The working group said it will pass suggestions beyond the group’s scope to the relevant staff and committees.