OV Magazine Misstates The Facts

The April issue of The Oro Valley Magazine published an article titled "Growth Spurt."
Unfortunately, the reporter misstated the facts concerning the Oro Valley Marketplace.
Following is my letter to Susan Cantrell, VP, Advertising Tucson Newspapers, pointing out the error by reporter Donn Green.
We will post the response we hope to receive from Ms. Cantrell, or her representative.
*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Susan Cantrell
VP Advertising Tucson Newspapers

Dear Ms.Cantrell;

Wendy Capin, was kind enough to advise me to contact you concerning the article on page 21, in the April 2007 Oro Valley Magazine, titled, “Growth Spurt.”

The article’s main subject matter is about the Vestar Development at the SE corner of Oracle & Tangerine roads in Oro Valley.

As there are no quotations, attributing the statement, ”Voters finally greenlit (Green’s word, not mine) the project in March 2006, ending a delay caused mostly by the negative response some residents had to Wal-Mart tenancy,” I don’t know if this was information that Mr. David Welsh, Economic Development Administrator supplied, or if writer Donn Green got the info from another source. In any case, the above statement is incorrect. Your magazine has an obligation of reporting the facts concerning Oro Valley, especially when your readership is predominately Oro Valley residents.

The facts are this:
In 2004, the Oro Valley Town Council voted to give Vestar $23.2 million in our future sales tax revenue to develop a retail shopping center at the above-mentioned intersection. A group of citizens, including me, initiated a grassroots political committee called SOVOG (Stop Oro Valley Outrageous Giveaways), in an attempt to allow the citizens to vote on this issue.

Oro Valley and Vestar did not want this vote to take place, and as such we were in court approximately six times, finally winning the opportunity allowing the citizens their right to vote. (As reported, the voters approved the $23.2M in March 2006.)

It is important to note, our issue was the “Outrageous Giveaway” of $23.2 million-----not Wal-Mart. There is no doubt, we did not want Wal-Mart for too many reasons to get into here, but inasmuch as Vestar did not announce Wal-Mart as their main anchor until early in 2007, that was not the cause of any delay as reported by Mr. Green. If anything, Vestar asked for, and received extensions with their development plan, well after the voters approved their $23.2 million.

Without going into any more detail, the bottom line is this: Mr. Green reported misinformation, and, at the very least, a retraction and correction is necessary.

Should you wish to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me at 797-4282 or artmarth@comcast.net.

Sincerely,
Art Segal

copy:
Janet Perez, Managing Editor
Wendy Capin, Sales Manager