One of our Oro Valley neighbors, Joan Sherrard responds to the Feb 27 Explorer editorial on the OV Marketplace.
The editorial: "Your Choice" can be read here.
http://www.explorernews.com/article/show/21526
Art
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Last week's Explorer editorial titled, "Your Choice" said that there are people in Oro Valley who are upset about the Oro Valley Marketplace. It's actually the story behind the Marketplace that has thousands of residents so angry.
The core of the controversy revolves around the EDA between Oro Valley and Vestar, the developer of the Oro Valley Marketplace.
Voters approved this agreement, believing that in turn for Vestar receiving 23.2 million dollars in future sales tax revenue, Vestar would build a unique and upscale shopping center.
Don't you think that Vestar should hold up their end of the bargain? I do. Don't you think that every council member has the responsibility to ensure that this takes place? I do.
Obviously the council does not. They want the whole issue to go away. They want you to forget. I can't.
You would also think that Vestar would want to show OV that they plan to keep their promise. Yet Vestar refuses to even make an appearance before the voters. Yes, the same voters who believed the Vestar "PR" and voted to give them 23.2 million.
Can you forget council member Parish lending his support to Vestar? His name and endorsement appeared on several Vestar flyers, and he wrote an editorial supporting the tax subsidy. Did he believe what Vestar told the voters or does he not care what Vestar promised us? Either way, Parish's credibility doesn't look too good right now.
Oro Valley council members tell us that their hands are tied. Funny how those tied hands didn't stop them from discussing giving Sanofi-Aventis, a billion dollar pharmaceutical giant a tax break of $360,000! The three incumbents, Parish, Dankwerth and Gillaspie commented that it would be an "insult" to give them less, it was a "minuscule" amount, and it would be a "nice gesture." I need to invite those three to my next birthday party!
Regarding the amounts raised by the candidates, what concerns me is not the amounts but the names of the contributors. According to the editorial, Parish received approximately three times the amount of contributions as the other candidates with most of that money coming from people with ties to developers. What do they want in return for these large contributions?
As a citizen if I make a political contribution, it's because I support what a candidate stands for. I don't expect any financial gain.
Oro Valley is now driving full speed towards annexation and a new development called Arroyo Grande to include at least 16,000 new "dwelling units." Can we trust our council members to vote with the interests of Oro Valley citizens in mind. I don't think so. After all, their hands are always tied and they've never learned to "just say no" to greedy developers and irresponsible spending.
So let's put two new members in the driver's seat: Salette Latas and Bill Garner
Joan M. Sherrard
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