Following are three letters to The Explorer discussing Terry Parish & Don Cox. The first two are responses to Cox's letter of April 9. (See our April 10 posting & comments)
****************************************************************************************
Councilman hasn’t seen a tax he dislikes
Don Cox tells us that councilman Terry Parish has given Oro Valley residents what they want. He didn’t mention what else Parish has given us.
He was a prime mover in creating the utility tax we now pay. In fact he wanted it to be twice the amount the town council ultimately approved.
He has been a proponent of creating a city property tax and supported the extravagance of the Naranja park site to the maximum projected cost, which would place an unreasonable burden on the homeowners of Oro Valley.
As councilman, Parish has not seen a tax he didn’t want to create or raise. It’s time to have council members that understand the meaning of fiscal responsibility.
Phil Stufflebean
Oro Valley
***************************************************************************************
Cox lost for same reasons Terry struggles
This is in response to Don Cox’s comments regarding Terry Parish.
How ironic is it that Don Cox would so strongly support Terry Parish. Mr. Cox lost his run on the Town Council for the same reasons Mr. Parish is struggling to keep his. They both have very close ties to local builders and received ample funds for their election bid from said builders.
Mr. Parish may have been instrumental in bringing retail and dining opportunities to Oro Valley, just not the kind that was desired. Fast food restaurants and big box stores are not what this community needed.
Personally, I feel Mr. Parish’s dual positions as a Pima County sheriff’s deputy and council member presents a conflict of interest, especially by receiving substantial outside financial support.
Mr. Cox should be careful about who he supports: his name associated with anyone running for local office is a sure bet vote for the opponent.
Patti Clemente
OroValley
****************************************************************************************
How much does Terry need in order to win?
On Tuesday, April 8th, a fundraiser for Oro Valley Town Council candidate Terry Parish was held at the Westward Look Resort in Tucson. The Southern Arizona Home Builders Association (SAHBA) was the sponsor. The Tucson Association of Realtors (TAR) sent out notices for the fundraiser. The cost was a suggested $50 to $100.
The TAR Newsletter said, “This type of election is usually over in the first ten days. That is why it is so important to get Terry the resources to get his message out as quickly as possible.”
In the primary election, Parish raised over $33,000 from out-of-town developers and related businesses (only four donations came from Oro Valley residents) far outspending all of the other candidates combined. Oro Valley voters have to ask themselves, how much money does Parish need to succeed? Why didn’t SAHBA hold the fund raiser in Oro Valley? Why are Realtors and home builders so anxious to have Parish elected? Could it be that he votes for their interests and not for the interests of Oro Valley citizens?
Phil Gibbs
Oro Valley
5 comments:
Glad to see that even more people are waking up and smelling the money trail.
Interesting that OV Thinker or Don Cox was questioning the Democrat Club for giving a contribution to some
running for OV council. What does he think of the growth lobby holding a fund raiser for Terry Parish?
Gosh...there is so much to respond to, I don't know where to start.
Ms Coyote...
I questioned the contributions from the Pima County Democratic Party not some "Democratic Club". There is a huge difference that I would hope that you recognze. I am not aware of any "growth lobby" that held any fundraiser.
It is obvious that Mr. Stufflebean, doesn't follow the actions of council members very closely. Mr. Parish was the only Council member to oppose the stormwater tax. I do believe that his "NO" vote on that tax would make his record 50/50 (1 yes and 1 no) on tax votes. That would be the same record as Ms. Abbott, and Mr. Carter. Isn't that interesting!!! :-)
Ms. Clemente also misses the accuracy target. I can't think of a single fast food restaurant that has been built in Oro Valley that received a positive vote from Mr. Parish.
I do not believe that I received a single dollar from any builder (local or otherwise) during my election campaigns. I believe that I have only sold one newly constructed home in my Oro Valley real estate career. So the term "very close ties to local builders and received ample funds for their election bid from said builders" is a false statement. But then accuracy isn't important to some folks.
I would also question Ms. Clemente's expertise in knowing what this "community needed". She may want to enlighten us.
Thinker, you certainly are getting to be a hair splitter. I said Democrat Club, not some Democratic Club, you of course knew what I meant.
I thought you sold real estate? From what I understand a fund raiser was held for Parish and it was sponsored by SAHBA. The Tucson Association of Realtors sent out notices. Did they forget you? Southern Arizona Home Builders Association is commonly refered to as part of the growth lobby, aka cement heads.
If only four donations were made to Parish from Oro Valley residents, then what do you make of that?
I agree with Ms. Clemente when she says that Terry being on the council is a conflict of interest.
I also agree that fast food places and big box stores are not what this community needed. We have enough of those already.
Do you still think that Vestar would have won the vote on Question 2 if they devulged the truth about their plans for a "common" shopping center with the highlight being a junk store like Wal-Mart. No No No.
Vestar deceived most of the voters and now their silence is damming.
How come they are not announcing the names of all those nice stores and restaurants they promised us
Vestar lied. And nobody is holding them accountable.
Patty summed it up best when she said, "Mr. Parish may have been instrumental in bringing retail and dining opportunities to Oro Valley, just not the kind that was desired." Thinker, you can't argue with that! I attended the Vestar Open Houses and I heard first-hand what the citizens wanted and did not want. They wanted upscale shopping and fine dining and they DID NOT want a Wal-Mart. They were very specific about this!
You like to mention how according to the Town Survey, that people in OV are happy. You also like to gloss over the part of the survey where so many people commented that they were NOT HAPPY about the Wal-Mart. And as I said in an earlier post, those people made those comments without being prompted or asked which means that the Wal-Mart fiasco was foremost on their minds.
And why do you assume that Patty isn't knowledgeable enough to know what this community needs? She lives in this community. Why are you or Parish any more well-versed on the needs of this community than she is?
i'd like to thank the support of mscoyote and victorian cowgirl. since i received more support on my comments then "ov ojective thinker" (and i would question that bloggers name)i would say that my "expertise" on what this community needs comes from living within the community and not above it! as far as fast food dinning, there's a subway opening up at 1st and tanderine....i can't wait to see what comes with walmart.
Post a Comment