Anne Seifert is on a mission. The Leisure World resident says she believes the time has come to update the name of the gated community that makes up about two-fifths of the city of Seal Beach.
Siefert says she polled other members of the community and found there are many like-minded Leisure World residents who feel the same. “Many other residents said they were also tired of having to face jokes about the name,” Siefert said, adding that nicknames such as calling the community “Seizure World” had taken their toll.
“Many said they were reluctant to tell anyone in their business that they lived in Leisure World because they feared the name might suggest they were retiring and they would not get further promotions in their job,” Seifert said. “These are the ones who would wish to put the idea of updating the name to a community vote.”
About seven months ago, Siefert and friends began to research how they could get the name upated. They discovered they would have to form a club in order to hold meetings. They formed the Where We Live Club and made Siefert, who holds a Ph.D. in epidemiology and a master’s degree in psychology its president. In February they completed a proposal to change the community’s name. Siefert said the club has since approved the proposal and submitted it to the executive committee of the Golden Rain Foundation, which oversees the community’s operations.
Included in the proposal are other reasons for changing the name to something other than Leisure World. The club says it would benefit all of the community’s shareholders. Leisure World residents do not own the units in which they live, instead they own share in the subdivided mutual corporations. There are 15 mutuals in Leisure World.
One reason is financial. The club said the community members must compete for sales with others for people 55 and older whose name portrays a more upscale image and an active lifestyle.
According to the proposal, a local realty office manager in the letter to the club said the image of Leisure World is that “it is a place where old people live.”
“This affects our property values,” Seifert said.
In addition, Seifert said the club wants to avoid the potential for licensing fess to continue to use the name Leisure World.
“Unbeknownst to us, at the same time we were informed that the developer’s (the late Ross Cortese’s) daughter made a request for a possible trademark to be implemented,” Seifert said.
According to Seifert, she was told there could be a fee of up to $18,000 a year.
“After five years that would be $90,000,” Seifert said. “We could do a lot more with that money for the residents.”
So what would Leisure World update its name to?
Siefert said the club narrowed down 39 proposed names to three names that would please the majority of its members:
Seal Beach Pointe, Seal Beach Highlands and Seal Beach Meadows.
However, Siefert said the club would be open to accepting other names proposed by the Golden Rain Foundation.
A sometime actor, Seifert came to live in Seal Beach from Del Mar so she could be closer to Hollywood and have a shorter commute to auditions.
“I was following a childhood dream,” Seifert said. “I was lucky. On my ninth audition I got an international Cup O Noodles commercial. I was going to auditions three days a week. One day I was coning home and made a wrong turn off the freeway and saw this enormous globe outside of what I thought was amusement park, which I discovered was a retirement community.”
Siefert said the idea to move to Seal Beach was prompted by her being elected by other professional actors to a three-year seat on the Screen Actors Guild’s board of directors.
Seifert’s husband of 41 years, Fred Hoyt, a former business owner for European Mercedes and German car repair, is now retired.
Siefert said she is excited about the possible outcome in favor of updating Leisure World’s name.
The club will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 23 and Friday, May 14 in Leisure World Clubhouse 2.
For more information, send e-mail to wherewelive@yahoo.com.
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