A number of bloggers expressed an interest in knowing who the "citizen" was that initiated the action that resulted in the Town saying I form a political committee.
First, some background.
On December 10, the Oro Valley Town Clerk, Kathi Cuvelier wrote me a letter stating that in "response to an inquiry," I file a Statement of Organization as a Political Committee. On January 31, I wrote the following to Ms. Cuvelier:
"May I ask that you respond with two items that, to date I only have verbally:
1) The name of the citizen that initiated the action. As you know, you supplied the name to me verbally.
2) The fact that there is no action to obligate me to form a Political Committee. As you know, this information has already been supplied, but again, only verbally."
Ms. Cuvelier was good enough to mail me the original "inquiry." Inasmuch as I now have it in writing, I am prepared to share it with our readers.
It was an email addressed to Kathryn Cuvelier dated Sunday, Dec 9, 2007. It asked that she review the "LOVE" blog and asked if "this group" is registered with the town as a PAC. It went on to say: "Their activities over the past year appear to put them in a position to be a PAC."
The email came from Larry and Twink Monrad and was signed: "Regards, Larry Monrad"
Please note, as I did----the email states it "appears " that our activities put us in a position to be a PAC. That is a far cry from the letter from Ms. Cuvelier that stated, in essence I MUST form a Political Committee.
In my conversation with the Town Clerk on January 31, I specifically asked who directed her to send me the December 10 letter. Her response was: "The Town Attorney, Tobin Sidles."
Thus, there are still a couple of questions that one may ask:
Why would the Town Attorney direct the Clerk to send this letter, when during my conversation with him on December 17, I got the impression he didn't believe I needed to form a Political Committee and mentioned he would get an outside legal opinion when I told him I didn't believe I needed to do so?
Incidentally, The New Town Attorney, Tobin Rosen responded to my second request by writing Mr. Clint Bolick of The Goldwater Institute, in the capacity of my legal representative, stating he concurs with the opinion that I need not form a Political Committee, and "my office will take no further action upon it."
So---- if my assumption is correct that Mr. Sidles thought better of pursuing the issue----who then may have directed him to take the action?
Also, why would Mr. Monrad be the one who thought I might be required to form---as he put it, "a PAC?"
I don't know Mr. Monrad. Perhaps some of our readers may be familiar enough to suggest why----unless of course, Mr. Monrad would like to say so himself.
Was there anything sinister in all of this? I don't know. All I can do do is ask, and wonder.
There it is, unless of course we can find out if "someone" perhaps had Monrad do his bidding.
Hmmm....
19 comments:
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If Monrad did someone's bidding, he is certainly foolish. He cost the Town embarrassment and money. He is being judgemental of a fellow citizen. We have enough mistreatment from the government, that the citizens should try to support each other!
Mr. Monrad seems to possibly have some affiliation with engineering and developers--those dreaded folks who destroy our views, pollute our air, demean property values and our beautiful town with their greed and zeal to exceed the previous guidelines in Oro Valley.
In the interest of fairness, I received an email from Mr. Monrad suggesting I held back the fact that the legal opinion of the DeConcini law firm, and indeed Mr. Rosen OV Town Attorney is that we are a Political Committee, but in accordance with the AZ Statute, inasmuch as no monies are involved in any way, we need not file as a "Political Committee."
The original correspondence I received from the town said, in no uncertain terms,"Your organization MUST file a statement of Organization as a Political Committee."
Most reasonable people would accept that "MUST" means you are "obligated to do something."
It appears that ALL parties now agree we can continue endorsing the ONLY two candidates worthy of serving on the OV Council---Bill Garner & Salette Latas with no further repercussions---thankfully.
Art
I still don't understand why they seem to think people coming together to air their views, exchange ideas and opinions re: what is wrong with and how things can be made better for those of us living in Oro Valley, Pima Cty, or the State of Arizona should be called a Political Committee. I better be careful when neighbors get together and we talk about whom we would vote for: federal, state or local gov't.
That said, seems like there was still a "reason" this happened....
Maybe a good web sleuth will shed some light.
Especially glad that we can know get back to discussing the issues of what is best for OV citizens without worrying about legalities.
Raindancer
RAINDANCER
On all my searching, I found the only info that seemed of importance, that may provide some insite into her relationship with Parish;
Taken from her web page (http://www.meteorman.org/Twink.htm)
"Twink is a volunteer with the Pima County Sheriff's Department, working with victims, and the Pima County Victim Witness Program. These volunteers are out all night in a county car with police radios and respond when requested by law enforcement to crime scenes, or anyplace where a victim needs assistance or crisis intervention. They also do death notifications."
I have my "feelers" out and have been asking people for info regarding the relationships between the Mondrads and current council. So maybe more info will come to light in the future.
Or maybe the Monrads will make it easy and just answer the questions on this blog...they obviously read it!
I think that making a connection via the internet is practically impossible.
I think this was more personal, or at least was done through personal relationship channels.
I feel that Connie Culiver was seeking out a personal vendeta against the blog.
However, she could not act alone on that grassy knoll. She needed an accomplice and I think the Monrad's were easily recruited.
Sounds like Twink Monrad is volunteering for a worthy cause with the Witness Victim program.
She is also an active member of the Oro Valley Republican Women's club, serving in officer positions.
Conny Culver in the past was also an officer in the Oro Valley Republican
Women's club.
In the past election the Oro Valley Republican Club did endorse several candidates for council
No big deal, except the republican club started the idea of council elections being partisan as before this there was no party affiliation mentioned. I hated to see this, but--guess it was going to happen eventually.
So a lot of the supporters of the
Naranja Theme Park are associated with the Republican Club.
Maybe some of those people influenced the Monrad's to question the blog status.
Blogs and web sites are not new, so I am sure this type of situation has existed and been questioned before.
These same town attorney's are the same one's who look out for our interest in OV? Yikes, this is scary. No wonder Vestar had such an easy time getting OV and the council members who voted for the EDA to accept such a questionable deal.
Also I think it is troubling that no town official or Mayor Loomis has directed town staff & town attorneys to look over that Vestar EDA contract and look for loopholes that would benefit us the taxpayers of OV but they obviously jumped fast in trying to find a loophole to stop a citizen's right to free speech.
More imporant, at least to me, is the way the town handled this issue or I should say mishandled the whole thing.
AMAZING but really sad!!!!!
The "conspiracy theory" folks are working overtime. Who did what? When did they do it? Why did they do it? Who put them up to it? Was it collusion?
The only person in this entire episode that brought embarassment onto this town is Art. If he had made the decision to discuss the matter before running and whining to the press there would be no downside. But, as usual, HIS EGO was more important than the reputation of Oro Valley.
Mr. Monrad has every right to pose the question. And the Town Clerk and the Town attorney MUST follow through. IT'S NOT A VENDETTA OR A THREAT TO ANY FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS!!! It is a responsible citizen posaing a question and the Town staff responding to it's citizens. It that bad?
Those of you that want to continue the argument or don't understand, DON'T WANT to understand. (Raindancer...READ THE LAW)
Art admits (only after being called on the issue...which once again points out that he is not factual) that his blog is a political committee. The DcConcini Law Firm opines that it is a political committee and the OV Town Attorney agrees. IT IS a political committee so let's move on to arguing something that is important.
How many of you out there think that Catalina State Park should be considered part of the Oro Valley park system???
How many of you out there believe that Oro Valley resident should shop in Oro Valley???
How many of you out there think that the Oro Valley citizens are intelligent???
Let's talk about important issues and not conspiracy theory idiocy!!!
Don Cox---aka OV Objective Thinker---I did a posting stating "Now We Can Get Back To The Important Issues Confronting Oro Valley," but once again you saw fit to write another arrogant, nasty comment.
You say I have a "big ego." I say you have a BIG MOUTH!
To state I am responsible for embarrassing the town is ludicrous. The town did a good enough job embarrassing itself by telling me I MUST form a politic committee without first seeking some sound advice.
Your statement stating I acknowledged we are a Political Committee is equally as ludicrous. I satisfied Mr. Monrad's request to note that the outside attorney OV hired & the OV attorney offered that opinion. I need not have acceded to his request,but opted to do so.
I really hope you have the good sense to let this go,as I suggested in my recent posting.
Let's look ahead as we have an important election coming up.
OV OT
You have been 'welcomed' to make your comments on a blog site you continually denigrate. Why not ditch the anal sarcasm and cynical
references to 'your fellow BLOGGERS' and their comments and simply express your views as you see them in a reasonably facual and dignified manner.
OVOT
You must know that I was being facetious with my "grassy knoll" comment, RIGHT?
My only point was that there are relationships that cannot be proven. I believe everyone that reads this blog to be intelligent and capable of coming to their own conclusions on collusion.
Now if you want to get down to the nitty gritty of law and whom made whom look like an idiot. Oro Valley attorney's have been made to look bad by their own actions, one must just look at the Joe Sweeney cases to prove the case in point.
You're favorite council members (parish and dankwerth) are your typical "Bait and Switch" politicians... that is the bottom line here. So on to a new beginning.
Oh, and as much as you dislike me....my vote will cancel out yours...just knowing that makes me sleep well at night!
The Oro Valley town attorney and the law office that was contacted for a second opinion, DiConcini both thought that the blog/web site was indeed a PAC, according to OV Thinker.
Ok, so then if that is true, then why did they drop it.
So OV thinks the blog is not following the election law, but just decides it is ok not to follow the law.
Puzzling.
I think they could just not admit they made an error.
Or they were scared s less of the possibility of the big bad Goldwater Insititute.(sarcasm intended)
OVOT
My answer to your question: How many people believe that Oro Valley residents should shop in Oro Valley?
If you believe that OV residents should shop in OV, then you must also believe that Catalina residents should shop in Catalina, so why are we building a Wal-Mart in OV to appease the people of Catalina? You said so yourself in another posting that this Wal-Mart was not being built for the sake of OV residents.
I believe OV residents should shop where they can find what they're looking for. That's why I shop at LaEncantada and will continue to do so long after OVM is built. And that's why my husband and I travel to Scottsdale twice a year to shop at Fashion Square Mall and Kierland Commons.
I don't know how you reconcile your two brilliant ideas:
(1) OV residents should shop in OV.
(2) OV residents (with their high incomes and college degrees) should shop at Wal-Mart and other run-of-the-mill Oro Valley stores.
OV OT
In answer to your three questions:
I never thought that Catalina State Park should be considered as part of the Oro Valley park system but I do believe that it is a park which could be utilized more for ALL to enjoy. I go there and rarely see local famlies using this facility. Question for you: do you think that life is simply
baseball, soccer, tetherball, wave riding and a touch of art and live music (subjective 'stuff' that is generally selected by the pseudo-intellect)? It is obvious that you are 'protecting' the Naranja 'Park'
aspiration and that is your perrogative. From what I have personally observed, what else do parks like these offer? They can be centers for illegal drug activity, one of the potentially disastrous creeping social ills in Oro Valley. They seem to be a drawing card for gang activity; thugs from other areas love to invade and wreak havoc upon 'upper-class' playgrounds outside of their own turf. Sexual activity, muggings, rape - all prevalent in
oversize 'activity' parks wherever
they are. So, OV OT, you really want a park which, in our climate,
will mostly be used in the evening?
Does 'The Plan' need to be rethunk?
Please see your question #3.
Hmmm, should I shop in Oro Valley?
Sometimes I do and many times I don't. Groceries, yes, other items, maybe; I also shop at La Encantada, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and wherever; I feel no obligation to shop in Oro Valley for those things I may want and can't get here (a lot!). And, as an aside, a spokesperson for the developer of City North in Phoenix, the one that's the center of the 93 mil EDA giveaway lawsuit, referred to Desert Ridge, one of the shopping centers Vestar brags about, as being [4 steps below the City North project] and THEY were the ones who sold off the land to Vestar; in short Desert Ridge was deemed a fourth-rate center and that was one of the centers' named by Vestar as a 'model' for the one we're getting. Will I patronize the Oro Valley Marketplace? Some of it probably, but I certainly do not like some of the aspects that are destined to arise there. By the way, I've tried to go to some other storefronts around Oro Valley but they're empty. How come?
Are the citizens of Oro Valley intelligent? That's another good one. I know I am so that's one person at least. But let's analyze your question and the potential for a truly realistic answer. There is 'rote' intelligence, focal intelligence, creative intelligence, and perhaps
what you are getting at, general intelligence - none of these intelligences guarantee common sense and that's what is most needed right here in Oro Valley!
A couple of corrections need to be made regarding the Oro Valley Republican Women's Club. We are a very small group and are not registered as a PAC; therefore, we cannot give any money to a candidate running for office. If a speaker at our meeting is running for office we cannot pay for the lunch as we do with speakers who are not running for an office. We have been holding candidate forums for at least thirty years that I know of, before the Explorer, Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce or Sun City existed. Just as the Suffolk Hills group did, we always invite all Oro Valley candidates and do not generally even know their political party affiliations. We have done nothing to make the Oro Valley elections partisan. It was stated on this blog that we have endorsed candidates for Oro Valley Town Council. We have never done this and I am curious to know why anyone would think we have. We have never supported or opposed any Oro Valley town candidate. When we had our fund raiser barbecues in the past we invited Republicans running for city, county and state offices and ALL Oro Valley town candidates running for office to buy a ticket for dinner and whoever was there was allowed a few minutes to speak. Not all candidates may have chosen to attend our fund raisers. The funds we do collect are always donated to a non profit organization such as Brewster House or Youth on their Own, never to candidates.
This blog also mentioned that somehow a lot of the supporters of the Naranja Theme Park are associated with the Republican Club. None of the dozen or so regular attendees at our monthly meetings have even discussed the Naranja project, either socially or at a meeting. I have no idea how others in our group feel about the issue. I am not even sure that any of our members belong to GOVAC as that has never been discussed.
Hello T. Monrad.
I posted that the Oro Valley Republican Club had endorsed candidate's for office. Please correct me if I am wrong. I did not post the Oro Valley Repulican Women's club endorsed candidates. I did not say it was this election, I assume that using the "had" readers would know it was a past election. Maybe I was not clear, sorry.
In my mind this endorsement was the start of having partisan politics enter into the local council elections because it was never mentioned in the past that I knew of anyway.
It is no secret that Helen Dankwerth's husband is the treasurer o GOVAC and Helen is a republican.
May I ask what motivated you and your husband to question the PAC status of this blog?
You have every right to question something, just as we have the right to post here.
My problem is not with you or anybody else asking a question, the problem is how the town handled the whole issue
Hello T. Monrad,
Question re: Republican Women's Club.
Seems to me that by the clubs very name "Republican" one could say there is a leaning in one specific direction. Do you have Democrats or Independents in your club?
You say the "club" does not endorse or make contributions to those seeking a seat on the Town Council - however I would imagine that members of the club make independent contributions to political campaigns and perhaps candidates seeking seats on the Town Council. And,being a "Republican" club the monies are probably heavily weighted torwards Republicans.
I would bet that since it is a "Republican" club - members make independent contributions to Republican candidates.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
So if you didn't need to register as a PAC why should this blog be any different?
Perhaps one reason: this blog is allowing dissemination of information re: how Town Gov't squanders the money of OV citizens and their fiscal irresponsibility.
For your information: party affiliation makes no difference to me; what matters is a Town Gov't that is fiscally responsible, listens to it's citizens and upholds the Planning & Zoning laws.
Raindancer
raindancer,
The difference is in your question. The organization doesn't make contributions or endorse candidates. Individuals can give money to or endorse whomever they want, their membership in various organizations has no bearing. But when two or more people get together in a conserted effort to influence an election, either with money or endorsements, they become a PAC.
cyclone1
I don't agree. By the very nature of the name "Republican Women's Club" an endorsement has been made. I find it highly unlikely that the Republican Women's Club would endorse anyone other than a Republican. It's like being a member of a sewing club - members are sewers. A writing club - writers,a hiking club is made up of hikers. Commonality. The members of clubs share a common belief, etc.
Re: an effort to influence an election -
Since our media (newspapers, radio, TV, etc.)are so willing to share their opinions to sway a vote; be it Federal, State or Local - they seem to fall into your criteria of being a PAC. The Arizona Star and the Explorer have had no problem telling us how we should vote and that is true of the media in general. Not sure why you see this blog as a PAC and not Media?
And, there are bloggers here who have opinions about many different candidates and have had no problems voicing those opinions. So there is not a commonality.
What I think is that the Internet has opened up a new avenue of expression and a means for people to share ideas, and give opinion. On this blog many Opinions have been given:we all have the right and the ability to make a choice.
Raindancer
raindancer-
It's not my definition of a PAC, it's the Arizona legislature's.
16-901(19) "Political committee" means a candidate or any association or combination of persons that is organized, conducted or combined for the purpose of influencing the result of any election or to determine whether an individual will become a candidate for election in this state or in any county, city, town, district or precinct in this state, that engages in political activity in behalf of or against a candidate for election or retention or in support of or opposition to an initiative, referendum or recall or any other measure or proposition and that applies for a serial number and circulates petitions and, in the case of a candidate for public office except those exempt pursuant to section 16-903, that receives contributions or makes expenditures in connection therewith, notwithstanding that the association or combination of persons may be part of a larger association, combination of persons or sponsoring organization not primarily organized, conducted or combined for the purpose of influencing the result of any election in this state or in any county, city, town or precinct in this state. Political committee includes the following types of committees:
(a) A candidate's campaign committee.
(b) A separate, segregated fund established by a corporation or labor organization pursuant to section 16-920, subsection A, paragraph 3.
(c) A committee acting in support of or opposition to the qualification, passage or defeat of a ballot measure, question or proposition.
(d) A committee organized to circulate or oppose a recall petition or to influence the result of a recall election.
(e) A political party.
(f) A committee organized for the purpose of making independent expenditures.
(g) A committee organized in support of or opposition to one or more candidates.
(h) A political organization.
(i) An exploratory committee.
You'll note persons acting on an individual basis are conspicuously absent.
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