Following is Kathy Pastryk's letter as it appeared in the June 20,2007 Explorer.
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Vestar incentives also reason for political distrust
Re: Emil Franzi’s column of June 6, “Separating Wal-Mart facts from fiction.” First of all, K.C. Carter wasn’t the only council member who has refused to roll over for Vestar. Councilmember Paula Abbott has quietly refused to go along with the huge sales tax rebate and other bennies — such as no increases in impact fees ever for developer Vestar. Franzi correctly points out that town council members Helen Dankwerth, Barry Gillaspie and Terry Parish ran against the Vestar deal.” Then he asks, “Why did they flip?”I am surprised that no one at the Explorer has followed the paper trail that leads to the Town Clerk’s office where campaign funding reports reside. There you can find that soon after the election, one of the candidates had his debts paid off by developers and became very visible in Vestar’s campaign, proclaiming the Marketplace a “home run for Oro Valley.”Another council member explained that council members don’t really like Wal-Mart, but they have a fundamental faith in the free enterprise system. Really? Where did that faith suddenly come from after the election? Or is that an excuse for sitting there doing nothing while Vestar pulls the strings?And is the enterprise system really so “free” when Vestar is being subsidized by $23.2 million in tax rebates plus “perks” that locally owned businesses don’t receive? This is not at all what we call a level playing field. Franzi introduced politics into his discourse by erroneously implying that OV1st is connected with the progressive wing of the Democratic party. Actually, many of the group‚s members are independents and Republicans, and of late, all of us are becoming more and more distrustful of politics as usual.While we certainly don’t all hold to the same views, we are (unlike council) smart enough to know when we’ve been kicked in the teeth! It bothers me that those who support the Vestar boondoggle seem to endorse our being limited in the kind of store we should shop in. There are 13 Wal-Marts in Pima County. Shouldn’t we want something better for Oro Valley? Or should our town’s motto be: “Oro Valley: A town of mediocrity?” Do we all drive the same car? Do we go on the same vacations? Do we not strive for better in whatever we do? You see, Mr. Franzi, something about pro-Wal-Martism strikes me as socialistic. If variety is the spice of life, striving for improvement, craving something better for ourselves and our families is truly American, and wherever we are on the political spectrum, surely we don’t all fit into the same big box!
Kathy Pastryk,Oro Valley
3 comments:
Thanks for setting the record straight on this, Kathy. The residents of Oro Valley need to know the facts.
The simple fact is that Oro Vallians (?) voted a blank check to Vestar, based on a blizzard of four-color brochures that made promises with no substance behind them. If we as citizens are that easily boggled, we might as well suck it up and open our wallets, because it isn't going to get any better.
Oracle Road for most of its length is a continuous strip of malls, not all of them financially successful. Any developer would love to have the profits without ponying up its own cash to invest. Vestar may not have been straight with us, but they sure know how to spot suckers when they see them.
Yes we need to know the facts and more of us need to start connecting the dots.
Thank you to Art and the zeeman and Kathy and other posters who speak up and spread the word.
Wake Up Oro Valley!!!
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