Following is Don Cox's letter to The Explorer pertaining to the judge's ruling on the Goldwater Institute lawsuit against Phoenix. What do our readers think?
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The ‘anti’s’ lost their court battle over Phoenix funds
For several years the “anti-“ people have hammered the Town of Oro Valley over the Economic Development Agreements they signed with various developers to include The Oro Valley Marketplace. The cornerstone of their anti-ness was that such development agreements are illegal under the Arizona constitution.
Their “savior” in this argument has been the Goldwater Institute, a bi-partisan group out of Phoenix, and their “Sir Lancelot” has been an attorney named Clint Bolick. Bolick has clearly stated on several occasions that Oro Valley was in violation of the Arizona constitution and when the smoke clears the EDA(s) will be found to be unconstitutional. Some locals have consumed that Kool-Aid with great delight.
Since there has never been a challenge to the incentive language, many, including yours truly, have taken the position that until case law so indicates, the incentives are not only legal but can be very beneficial to the community also.
Recently the Goldwater Institute finally found a cause (and probably a well-financed anti- person to pay legal fees) and filed suit against the City of Phoenix for a $97 million tax incentive agreement it entered into.
The court issued its ruling on April 2, 2008, stating, in short, that the tax incentive is not a violation of the Arizona Constitution. Without a doubt it will be appealed and there still exists a possibility the Arizona Court of Appeals will issue another of its “where did that come from” rulings and overturn the lower court.
Until then, maybe the anti’s will finally give up on that front and allow Oro Valley to develop economically in an orderly manner and stop their repeated attempts to block every commercial enterprise that wishes to assist us in making Oro Valley a great place to live, work and play … and shop.
Don Cox
Oro Valley
5 comments:
I see no evidence that people try to block or stop every development or business.
What I see is concerned citizens trying to make sure that developers follow the rules.
All or most of us want to see OV become and remain a great place to live, etc.
Giving developers like Vestar 23.2 million of our tax money does not fit that definition in my opinion.
You may want to check out the Goldwater Insititute web site for some background info on the Turken v Gordon lawsuit.
You may find it interesting that the Goldwater Institute initiated this law suit on behalf of several small business owners, not wealthy
individuals.
The city of Phoenix is spending mucho bucks on legal fees, something like 10,00 a week. Who pays for this legal bill? Do the
Phoenix taxpayers foot the bill? hmmm Do you see a pattern here?
Anywho, I personally am cheering for Clint Bolick and the G.I. and those small business owners.
And in the event that they lose the case, in my mind it does not meant they are wrong.
At some point in life you need to make a stand or make a decision based on what you know is right :)
Thinker,
Ms. Coyote is correct. You act as though it is the Goldwater Institute that is fighting this deal. It is small business owners (I believe it was 6 small businesses) who are fighting this deal and Bolick is representing them.
You're all about "business." Do you feel that big business should get more breaks than small business?
The Arizona Constitution states what it states. That Don Cox espouses that "until case law so indicates, the incentives are not only legal but can be very beneficial to the community also" is mixing apples and oranges. THE APPLE - a Constitution, until amended, trumps 'case law' (there really is none established in this instance as the judge simply found 'non-applicability' in this single instance and as I have indicated in the past, may have done so knowing that he might be 'throwing' this to a more appropriate court).The finality remains to be determined. THE ORANGE - yes, on the surface it may appear that an EDA could be of benefit to a community, many economic and 'growth' studies do disagree however, concluding that [business will go where business will grow].
As to referring to the Goldwater institute as "their saviour" and Clint Bolick as their "Sir Lancelot" I would ask Mr. Cox, who, I would argue, does make a reasonable effort to investigate some realities, that he investigate OBJECTIVELY these descriptives that he asserts. Mr. Bolick IS an esteemed jurist and the Institute holds strictly to its tenets of constitutional issues. I would add that, to my knowledge, this case was taken on a pro bono basis and not because of a "well financed anti person to pay legal fees".
In defense of Mr. Cox's pro EDA legality stance, I have found in the Arizona Revised Statutes a 'clause' that seemingly allows for the use of EDAs under certain circumstances; how that can be reconciled with the dictates of the Arizona State Constitution is not clear to me at this time.
In closing, I would like to add that, relative to Mr. Cox's approval of the court 'findings' in this case, there has been an alarming increase in the courts' persistance in creating law instead of enforcing it. Our federal, state, and local governments were guided in their foundations to seperate powers in a defined manner; unfortunately, this principle has been and is continuing to be eroded, and that, is NOT a good thing!
Cowgirl
You are incorrect if you believe the same is true in Oro Valley.
If you were correct why would the Chambers of Commerce for Northern Pima County and Tucson endorse me?
Short answer: sucessful businesses mean that the citizens get to pay lower taxes. Reagenomics comes to mind.
Oro Valley is already difficult to afford, without strong businesses it becomes impossible.
Terry,
You said regarding my last post..."you are incorrect if you believe the same is true in Oro Valley." Can you clarify what you mean? I re-read my last post but I didn't make the connection to your response.
You also said that "successful businesses mean that the citizens get to pay lower taxes." What about all those HUGE tax breaks that big businesses get? They get them on the backs of Joe Citizen and on the backs of the small business owner. They don't pay their fair share. And of course, Wal-Mart comes to mind here.
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