I have lived in TV long enough to remember what things were like before Mrs. Tutt arrived on the scene. I have found her to be very open to concerns of the residents unlike the time when the answer to residents complaints often was, if you don't like it, why don't you move. With population coming close to 100,000 it seems apparent that she can't satisfy every resident and their individual gripes. I think she and her staff do a fantastic job in making our remaining years as pleasant as possible. I am sure she was very instrumental in bringing a first class Public Safety Department to TV. So I for one, am most appreciative of Mrs. Tutt and her hardworking staff.

You make it sound like we have a problem with the way she performs her job right now. I don't believe we do.

But it is and has been,don't let your imagination run wild.
What do you mean from the sounds of it, are you not here? .....a healthy situation for the residents.......are you a resident?

Glad you brought that up. Here predecessor was a good example of exactly what a poor manager was. His decision making often left the residents needs out of the loop. Probably somewhere in the POA archives, some of his shenigans are documented.

Annual Budget
 

Many posters may not know but the annual budget that Mrs Tutt manages is

$ 254,000, 000 per year.

Having gone to the District Academy I was so very impressed with the effiency in which this whole operation is run. She will be retiring soon and I dread the day she is not at the helm.

If/when this wonderful asylum is ever turned over to a governing board elected by villages residents...there will be a sign in my yard before the vote is ratified by whomever ratifies same!!!

well, I'm not too worried about any changes in the way The Villages are run, anyway. But somebody has to be in charge and I'm glad it's someone who knows what she is doing!

I'm a full time resident. Don't let my imagination run wild? The $40 million lawsuit was not my imagination. It was the Developer taking advantage. As good as Janet Tutt is, I don't think she would have been able to talk the Developer into doing what was right. That has been my point - I would feel better if TV had freedom from the Developer. Sure things are going well now, but consider how things might have been had the POA not stood up for the residents a few years back. The Villages would look like a totally different place - no funds for maintenance of important buildings, recreational trails, etc.

Some posters seem to think that wishing for freedom from the Developer is some kind of affront to Janet Tutt. I don't get that logic. That is not the thought that is being discussed here. What is being discussed is that you have a manager that is tied by salary to her employer, the Developer, and that is not necessarily in the residents' best interest. If the Developer eventually signs off, we can hire Janet Tutt directly to work for the residents' interests, without worry about the Developer's desire to make money overriding our needs.

We had just bought here when your much brought up law suit happened. Most of us didn't have a clue. And most of us still don't. We looked all around and saw no mold or mildew, no shabby care of buildings and we were pretty leery of this being way too good to be true. We were VERY skeptical about the low cost of amenities and the free golf and all of the beautiful, well maintained buildings, and if not for old friends who had lived here who assured us that this place was the real deal we wouldn't have purchased our designer in Hadley.


What I know about that lawsuit, and YOU know about that lawsuit, and everybody knows about that lawsuit is pretty close to nothing. Neither side is allowed to speak out on it. I know that anyone can bring a lawsuit for any reason and this was brought by a few villagers including a couple of lawyers. Here is what little we know, printed in The Orlando Sentinel in 2008.


Villages developer to pay $40 million for recreation upgrades to settle a lawsuit - Orlando Sentinel


I know this. That lawsuit did not have a thing to do with anything south of 466 where we lived. We lived adjacent to the Odell Center, where I saw them power wash the wall a couple times of year and repaint all of the structures at Odell once a year. I saw them weed the beds that separated us from Odell several times a year and replace two palm trees on Odell property that had died. I saw them maintain the common areas without anyone complaining. All good.


About twenty years ago Gary Morse brought his family from Michigan to help his dad, Harold Schwartz. Harold had been married more than once and Gary Morse's mom had remarried a man named Morse after her divorce from Harold and I have heard a couple of reasons why she changed Gary's name from Schwartz to Morse. No one knows for sure, but Gary and his wife Sharon moved from Michigan where they had been involved in the original Brownwood, that is still alive and well today. By tales that I have heard Harold was a people guy with the idea to sell some land in central Florida to folks with "free golf for life". And in the beginning was the area on the north east of 441/27 with nice big lots and lakes and golf course to view with mostly modular homes. Still lovely and still loved.


But sometime after Gary joined his dad the plans became more ambitious and changed. Someone, maybe Gary, consulted the designers of Disney's Main Street to see how they could build a pretty, whimsical downtown area completely NOT based in any real history but a pretty place for restaurants and businesses to serve the folks they hoped would buy land so they could build houses and sell them.


I am pretty sure that they risked most all of their money at the time to do this.


And of course it worked. And continued to work. What I THINK happened is that someone researched and found the best contractors to build and to do infrastructure and to design and to decorate and to dream up all of this loveliness. If you didn't pass muster you would be out the door. Gary Morse may not have had all the good ideas but he knew who to hire. The CDD form of government was not new to the Villages. I think Disney used it but I am not sure.


As the place gained momentum, more people were hired and more people were employed. They built golf club houses with restaurants and staffed with good people in their employ. But it appears that their business plan was to sell the business part and own the property to rent to independent business people. So someone with not a lot of money became someone who with a good plan became a business success. This 77 year old man, Gary Morse still is at the helm but the business is now mostly run by his three children, all born and raised in the Brownwood area of Michigan and doing a pretty good job with this ever growing giant that employs thousands, makes the unemployment the lowest in the state and up there with llowest unemployment area in the country. Has made this the fastest growing area in the U.S. and built ten percent of all of the homes in the United States during the awful downturn in building and real estate sales.


I do not know the Morses but I do know that making a success of your venture is the American way. It is o.k. to become hugely financially successful. Most of the developers detractors are against ...well you know the politics that we are not allowed to discuss on this forum. I say build a business, employ people, keep them off the welfare roles. I am PROUD of where I live and how it was built. I am a fiscal conservative now that I am old and I say, well done Morses. Whoever you are.


Be rich, stay rich and thank you kindly.

Gracie, thank you! Very well written.

Certainly the Developer has the right to make money, and he has done a fine job of doing that. But as residents, we are foolish if we elevate his right to make money, above our right to have a wonderful retirement community. Our needs come first, and we are paying for that right with our amenity fees. Some would say the past lawsuit is not relevant because it only involved those villages north of 466. I happen to live south of 466, and in my eyes, what happened there could be a precedent. The lawsuit alleged money had been misappropriated by the Developer and funds were not available cover improvements and repairs to recreation centers, swimming pools and other facilities that make the retirement community alluring. The people who filed the lawsuit had noticed a steady decline in building maintenance and conditions and services, and calls for action were completely ignored. The lawsuit was a last resort, and lucky for us a settlement was reached. We hope that lawsuits are a thing of the past, but I see no guarantees. And now we are embroiled in this whole IRS business, thanks to the Morses business acumen. Again, the residents could suffer financial consequences as a result.

We all have our own opinions. I am a financial conservative, and I do not like being beholden to a Developer that has this dubious record with lawsuits and the IRS. It just raises a red flag with me. I don't trust them. I personally will feel much better when we escape their omnipotence, and hire qualified people, like Janet Tutt for instance, to run things and to report to the residents directly. Our needs will come first.

Villages developer to pay $40 million for recreation upgrades to settle a lawsuit - Orlando Sentinel

:agree:
Gracie, you're a gem!

I look around me each day, and see and utilize all the amenities that this community has to offer. I see what things Ms. Tutt and her staff manage, and how they manage it. Then I judge. Based on this, three cheers for Ms. Tutt and her staff. I don't care about her relationship with the developer as long as it is a strong working relationship.

Not meaning to stir the pot nor argue, but could you please explain some of your statements?

1) Putting his right to make money over our needs to have a wonderful retirement community? Is that not what we have now? If not, why not?

2) Did you know about any of this or do any research before moving here? If not, why not? If you did, why didn't you have problems with the 'history' then and the way things are run now?

3) Since the Developer pays her check, why wouldn't she consider him over what every Tom, Dick, and Harry here wants to change?

4) The IRS issue has a long history with TV and has either lost or backed off in the past. If it had the substance that many think it has, don't you think it would have been resolved years ago. They (IRS) already have some issues themselves, so.....

5) Did you not read my post about how it is here north of 466 with the AAC? I believe I also said, "Be careful what you wish for..."

6) "The lawsuit alleged" you said and could set a precedent. As for residents being totally ignored, no. In the case of the cart paths, they wanted newer and wider ones. Patches to existing ones were all that was going to still be available. The suit was settled rather than fight because it was deemed by the defendants to "be in the best interest of the Villagers". The terms are also sealed and cannot be discussed by either side. Why live in the "what if" this happens/that happens?

7) Last, and most importantly, what of your needs are not being met by Ms. Tutt and the Developer; and if things are so bad, why do you stay? With that question I am not suggesting that you don't need to be here. Everyone is welcome. I just know that I do not settle for things that I have a major problem with or are not acceptable. Just ask my ex.