To the Editor:
The Villages is sitting on a lot of debris from Hurricane Irma.
It will be picked up by FEMA, a good decision as the pickup will be free, paid by taxpayers and not The Villages.
The use of FEMA a very bad decision for The Brand, The Villages, Florida’s Friendless Hometown.
This decision made by family members to save money, good common sense for corporations but not for The Villages which was made on a dreams of its founder, for retired people. If its founder was still here The Villages would have picked up all the debris and stop all other active until it was done. But this is the third generation running the development, and they were never part of dream, they were raised in its success but not in its creation and have no allegiance to the dream. The third generation aloofness is a major part of being the third generation.
You could count on one hand the number of successful companies that have survived the third generation running the company. They are just too far removed to grasp the concept that made it great and why things are done in the way they were. Since family members run and own the development, they can’t bring in good talent as the jobs go to family. Good talent sees the limitations and don’t get involved with this type of operation as a rule.
Look at the radio station during the hurricane. They could have cut the radio programing and turned the station into a public service for The Villages and surrounding area, but they did not. The station stayed on programming and said stay off the roads and then told you about houses for sale in The Villages. Good corporate move, very bad for The Brand and The Villages.
The Village is a lifestyle, it’s a frame of reference and the current developers see things in different terms than the founder, generally the second generation protects the investments and the third runs it into the ground. Giving the problems show up as this generation take over more and more they are well on their way to total disaster.
Look at The Villages Hospital. The Emergency Room is running out of control with waiting so long it’s not a viable choice in many incidents. Having The Villages Hospital was part of the dream of the founder. The way it was affiliated with Leesburg and the cancer center when it came into being was not part of the dream. The hospital should be a Trauma One hospital and The Villages should have gone after the necessary people to take the hospital to a Trauma One, by offering what the medical professional people needed to come here and giving them what was necessary to achieve the hospital’s Trauma One rating including special privileges for the use of The Villages amenities for all of them and their families.
The Villages HMO, this is where we see the current generation distain for the Village concept of the founder, the developer went overboard in their greed. The population of The Villages is probably healthier than most, a good investment for and HMO. (Health Maintenance Organization). They look at the population and said come on in to The Villagers HMO. The HMO will take all insurances and then when they got them in, Developer said you had to join the HMO Medicare service. You could not keep your fee for service Medicare, you have to get into the Medicare HMO that pays a flat fee for every member and it’s the HMO job not to spend too much money on any patients. HMO is set up to make money by not providing good medical care. Developer looked at The Villages as a revenue stream not seeing Villagers as individuals, but, as a cash cow and wanted to profit by not providing services but, following protocols that serve no one but the insurance company and its investors.
It’s not surprising that this is happening, it’s how fast it’s happening and the effect it will have on the future of The Villages and, its survival. I will bet the developers running The Villages have not calculated the critical mass needed to turn The Villages into a city, how many residents going to Tallahassee to change The Villages will it take? When will they no longer want a developer running things? They keep going out further away for the original concept as they are there’ll be no place to go but to totally change. Look at the bridge going over the water on Morse Boulevard on the way to Sumter Landing. They want The Villagers to pay for their mistake that’s another one for the third generation missing the point and setting up their own demise an end to The Villages.
With the advent of the expansion in Wildwood and Southern Oaks, and with the changes being made like the amendment to remove a stipulation that residents must be age 55 or over, but would require that the project is consistent with federal and Florida fair housing requirements for age-restricted communities. We are seeing the end of The Villages as we know it, and there will be no building out but a continuing of building for, as long as it takes, to run the place into something in which no one wants to live.
I would propose we work to throw the developer out of The Villages and make The Villages stop at Brownwood and all of the expansions south of 44 not be part of The Villages. The Developer can run that portion as he wants but leave The Villages intact running on its own without the developer. Otherwise it will grow continuously until it collapses on its own whereas we in The Villages have reached our maximum.
Tom Ouellette
Village of Mira Mesa
