Following is Council Member Terry Parish's letter to The Explorer. It speaks for itself. I'll respond in the "Comment Below."
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Tell the truth, please
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could believe what you read? If only the bloggers who seem intent on stirring up strife in the most beautiful town in America would stir honestly. I don’t think after reading this letter you will doubt its truthfulness. Brace yourselves here it comes: the truth at last.
My name is Terry Parish, and I am the only Oro Valley councilperson that openly supported the Oro Valley Marketplace EDA. Contrary to the falsehoods printed last week in letters to the editor, neither Mayor Loomis nor Vice-Mayor Dankwerth openly supported the Marketplace EDA. They kept so quiet that to this day I have no idea how they voted in the election.
The naysayers say I made a mistake. I disagree. The facts are that my position was supported by the EXPLORER, the Arizona Daily Star and the Northern Pima County Chamber of Commerce. And 58 percent of Oro Valley citizens agreed when it came time to vote.
I wish I could take credit for those votes, but fact is I’m just not that important, none of us are. In the end it is only the community that matters.
It has also been alleged that I support builders more than the interests of Oro Valley. I build relationships with business to benefit Oro Valley. I gain nothing that my community does not gain. Yes, I accept campaign contributions from business and other groups. That money goes to the campaign, not to me.
One more note, there’s no money in being a councilperson, so there is no motivation to sell your soul because of campaign contributions. We all (even the ones I disagree with) do this thankless job because we care about Oro Valley.
There you have it, the truth at last.
Terry Parish,
Councilperson, Oro Valley
5 comments:
Mr. Parish raises a couple of issues. I'll respond to each.
1)Parish mentions "bloggers" and honesty concerning letters in last week's Explorer. As I did not refer to him in my letter, we must assume he is talking about the letters from three other citizens that question Mr. Parish's positions and attitude towards his constituents. The letters are all posted here, and in rereading them, I find it difficult to see any "falsehoods." Please read them and judge for yourself.
2)Both the Mayor & Vice Mayor had ample opportunity to stand up, as Council Members Carter & Abbott did, and speak in opposition to those millions of our taxpayers dollars going to Vestar and other retail developers. Quite the contrary. They fought SOVOG (Stop Oro Valley Outrageous Giveaways) every step of the way.
Parish is quite correct in two statements. The newspapers did endorse the giveaways, but subsequently questioned the wisdom of doing so. We believe many of those who voted for them now realize that Vestar "snookered" Oro Valley citizens, and are now in opposition to that "upscale, unique" anchor, Wal-Mart. How many Chamber of Commerce members will be happy to have WM as a competitor with their unsavory business practices? Not many, we believe.
3) Parish still is proud of the fact that he was Vestar's "unofficial spokesperson," noting it "Is A Home Run." Need I say more?
4) Isn't it wonderful that he acknowledges the full support and financial backing of the developers?
Could that explain why he consistently supports almost every request they ask for?
5)His last statement of "truthfulness" states: "There's no money in being a councilperson." I don't think anyone can say it's a "high paying job," but Parish seems to forget the $9,000 we the taxpayers are paying him, plus all those other benefits he gets including those from his developer friends.
As usually, when Parish speaks, we should all listen. Just about every time he says something, whether it be to justify a vote for a developer, an uncalled for nasty comment about a citizen or denigrating one of his co-council members, it's another reason why he is unworthy of representing our community.
Since Mr. Parish obviously reads this blog, I would like to ask him a question.
Why was it wrong for Richie Feinberg, member of the Development Review Board, to voice his OPPOSITION to Oro Valley Marketplace (you led the charge to have Feinberg removed from the DRB because of this) but it was NOT wrong for you, as Vice Mayor, to voice your SUPPORT for OVM, right down to having your name and comments appearing on Vestar's publicity flyers?
What's the difference?
Although Mr. Parish reads the blog, I'm not sure if he'll see fit to respond. Therefore, I'll paraphrase Parish's logic. He stated something to the effect that Mr. Feinberg was a volunteer appointed to his position, and he, Parish was elected.
Although that makes no sense whatsoever to any logical person, that was his rationale. Therefore if you're elected you can say and do as you please. If you're appointed, and disagree with Parish, you days are numbered!
So, Terry Parrish, you supported the EDA for the Oro Valley Marketplace - how does one get it through your thick head that EDAs are illegal per the Arizona State Constitution? This has been pointed out time and time again and you just can't get it! As a deputy sheriff are you not sworn to uphold the law? As a person supposedly of 'religious guidance' is it not in your ethic to uphold the 'guidelines' (directives) of the State (the Constitution)? I have read many of your rants (including this one) and, quite frankly, you come off like a monkey at a mensa convention.
In rereading Parrish's gobbledegook
I question myself as to why I wrote
what I did (above). It is obvious that he should try to benefit from a course like 'Logic for Dummies 101' but, then, I don't think he could understand something like that. People who lie to themselves or cannot understand themselves(or others) are incapable of relating to obvious reality and that most certainly shows up in Parrish's disjointed and delusional ramble.
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