June 20th issue:
Hold the RSF Association Board accountable for representing all of us
The RSF Association issue has devolved into a golfer vs. non-golfer issue involving golf-related projects worth over millions of dollars. I have expressed concerns about the skewed demographics of the current RSFA Board and candidates during this election cycle.
Five of the RSF board members are golf members and two are non-golf members. The RSFA membership is 30% golf members and 70% non-golf members, while the RSFA Board is 70% golf members and 30% non-golf members. This uneven composition does not reflect the composition of the RSFA general membership.
The majority of RSFA Board members who are golf members tend to vote en masse with little deliberation on golf matters and appear to have a biased view in supporting and prioritizing golf-related projects such as renovating the clubhouse, a loss-making asset, over non-golf-related projects such as building a “barn” for community event space that could be a revenue-generating asset. Seventeen years ago, an $8 million loan for the Players Club was approved with a promise to pay it back by 2012. Financial and golf access decisions made by the RSFA Board have consistently favored golf club members and disadvantaged general RSFA membership.
The RSFA Board of Directors made the decision to abandon its fiduciary responsibility to the 70% of RSFA members and prioritize projects that benefit the 30% of golf members. Instead of being paid off by 2012 as promised, the Players Club loan will be paid off by 2028, 16 years after the promise. The golf course renovations were originally approved with a $7 million budget, but delays, violations of SD County regulations for grading and fill pits, cost overruns and changes of contractors meant an additional $7 million was needed to complete. The Board approved the additional $7 million in about 10 minutes, compared to the 20 minutes it took to deliberate the $15,000 budget for the community-wide event “Celebrate Osuna.”
In 2019, the golf-centric RSFA Board voted to cancel the Golf 6/12 Pack, which has long been available to non-golfing RSFA members. In 2021, the golf-centric RSFA Board moved forward with a vote to turn the formerly unisex Vaquero Lounge in the Players Club into a “men’s locker room,” in violation of RSFA discrimination laws against female members. The RSFA Board just voted to increase the golf initiation fee to $100,000 in 2024, further exacerbating barriers to access for RSFA members.
The RSFA Board must be made up of directors who are less biased and skewed and who represent the interests of 100% of our members, not just the 30% who play golf. Neighbors, please hold the RSFA Board accountable to represent all of us.
Linda Leon (Scuba)
32 years in Rancho Santa Fe
Letter Policy: What are you thinking?
Letters published in our newspaper represent readers’ opinions on community issues. Letters reflect the opinions of the writer, not of the newspaper staff or publisher. Letters may be edited. To share your opinion in this public forum, email your letter, including your name and city or neighborhood of residence, to editor@rsfreview.com. You may also submit a letter online at editor@delmartimes.net/submit-a-letter-to-the-editor. Letters will be considered for publication in the following week’s newspaper by 10 a.m. Thursday. The current character limit for letters is approximately 450 words maximum. Letters without a writer’s name will not be published. There is a limit of one letter from the same person every 30 days. See the full policy at www.delmartimes.net/letters-to-the-editor-policy.
