Shawn Gordon Candidate for SAMLARC

I recently ran for City Council in RSM and while I did get over 5,400 votes, I did not win a seat on the council. That did not deter my interest in serving the community, therefore I'm running for a seat on the board of SAMLARC, where I can do some of the same things I wanted to do for the city from the council.

SAMLARC voting is rather confusing, I recently wrote an article about it that you can read here or a video I recorded while I was running for City Council here. The election has since been moved to February with ballots going out in early January.

I thought it might be useful to just share with you a portion of my application for SAMLARC so you know what I'm about and what I'd like to do as your representative on the board.

III. CANDIDATE KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING OF SAMLARC:

1. What is your understanding of the scope of the Board’s responsibilities?

The Board ensures that the parks, pools, lakes and common areas are maintained in pristine condition. This requires evaluating and working with vendors, getting bids, negotiating contracts, etc. In addition, we work with the residents to make sure the CC&Rs are followed and we have an attractive community. The board is responsible for a $9 million budget that needs to be spent wisely and effectively.

1. What do you view the role of the SAMLARC Board of Directors to be in the community?

Job #1 is that we are servants of the community, not dictators. So we are serving the needs of the entire community and shouldn’t be swayed by personal bias or opinions. We are a family oriented town and that should be our focus as to what maintains and improves that environment. Make sure our facilities are all in good repair and high quality. Be a partner with the City and residents.

1. What do you feel are the most pressing issues SAMLARC faces?

Our community is aging and we’re dealing with a water crises. There has been work done with some upgrades in both cases, but the job isn’t done. It’s time to set some fresh priorities and create some new vision. Instead of just fixing things in place, are there some new things that we can do? How can we better communicate with the City Council to have our priorities in sync? How can we more effectively engage with the community, because most people don’t seem to know what is happening with SAMLARC.

1. What is your vested interest in SAMLARC?

I have lived in RSM since 1998 and have 5 kids ranging from 10 to 21 years old. I want to ensure the needs to the members and community are met outside of personal bias and desire. I want to be part of the process to ensure fiscal responsibility and technological innovation to provide the optimum experience for the community and my children.

1. What is your vision for SAMLARC?

I would like to see some technological innovation to make interaction with the community easier. I’d like to upgrade some of our facilities with some fresh ideas as opposed to a constant refurbishing of the status quo. I want to ensure we keep our dues flat, enforce multi-bid contracts and maintain full fiscal transparency and accountability.

1. What would you hope to achieve if you are selected to serve as a member of the Board?

Fiscal responsibility is a given, but for specifics, I’d like to revamp the technological infrastructure, redo the website, make information easier to find, get more active with the twitter account and other push technology to get information to members more proactively. It is very inconvenient currently to find simple information, like what pools are open, how to get a new ID card, or dynamic information like when a pool is closed due to bacteria for example, or what sports leagues are at what parks so you know if a park is available.

1. What aspects of SAMLARC’s Board work most interest you?

Information technology, contracts and Landscape and facilities enhancement.

1. Describe your experience in the area of public speaking and provide examples?

In the technology sector where I work, I’ve been a part of the board for a variety of User Groups and have presented many papers over the years from groups ranging in size from 10 to 300 people. As a musician, I performed to crowds approaching 1000 people where I interacted with the audience. As a member of my church, I’ve been called on to speak to my congregation on occasion. I have no issue with public speaking and I’m very good at it.

1. Describe any experience you have working within a team, leading a team, and/or building consensus.

With my software company, I’ve had to hire, fire and manage teams as large as 25 people on projects. Setting priorities, writing specs, creating budgets, finding and vetting vendors, implementing solutions, interviewing the stakeholders, managing the meetings with my team and with the various groups within companies. We have to find a solution that works between what is possible and what is desirable, which requires building a consensus among the interested parties.

1. Further describe the skills and experience you feel you bring to the Board.

I have decades of contract negotiation, budgeting projects, IT infrastructure rewrites, project management, system design and troubleshooting experience. I have volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America for years. I have volunteered for RanchoFest, OctoberFest and FallFest in the city. I volunteered to do my communities newsletter for years. I’m active with my church in the community. I’ve lived in RSM since 1998 and know a lot of people and am familiar with a lot of what is going on and needs to be happening. I have experience in a wide array of industries and disciplines that would be an asset to the board.