We have a number of issues that are of concern to many of us in Oro Valley, as well as our neighbors.
We would ask our bloggers to tell us which concerns them the most, and why. If you wish, you can rate your concerns from biggest to least. Here goes.
1) My biggest concern, as a result of a previous council's actions, is the fact that Oro Valley is giving Vestar $23.2 million of our future sales tax revenue, and we're getting a "strip mall" anchored by Wal-Mart.
2) My biggest concern is that Mayor Loomis may get his way and Oro Valley will initiate a pre-annexation agreement with the State Land Trust for Arroyo Grande, without any determination as to where the water will come from, where the traffic will go, how the infrastructure will be paid for, and what the results may be should the voter initiative be approved that will diminish the acreage by about 68%?
3) Now that I know there is a toxic dump not too far to our north and there is a potential for the ground water to be contaminated, my biggest concern is the Falcon Valley Dump Site as it pertains to potential future development.
4) My biggest concern is that the Naranja Park site will go to the voters and be approved resulting in a property tax.
5) Anything else.
9 comments:
There's an old rhetorical trick that's known simply as "poisoning the well." He who frames the questions and phrases them in such a way that the answers are predisposed is poisoning the well.
It's your blog. It's your right to form the questions any way you want. But when we get the "when did you stop beating your dog" questions, it casts a cloud of invalidity on the answers.
I would suggest that--in the interest of fairness--the questions be recast without a hint of subjectivity. Then you might get usable answers instead of the rehashing of the same old, tiresome arguments.
But, hey, that's just one person's opinion. I suppose that someone could tell me that if I wanted objective answers and fact-based discussions, I should start my own blog.
Hmmmmm....not a bad idea.
#2 & 3 would be my biggest concern.
But all of them are of concern.
Also and of course I am just speaking for myself I miss the question of the week part of the forum.
I was going to suggest that we bring back the question of the week.
Boobie actually there is an answer to your dilema.
The blog lets you gives explantions for your answers, you get to explain them.
How great is that?
OK---In deference to boobie-baby, why don't those bloggers who are so inclined, tell us what makes you happier.
1)The ugly Wal-Mart & the giveaway.
2) The Arroyo Grande that should not be developed without answers to all the questions
3) The potential ground water poisoning. ("Poisoning the well" is an interesting expression from boobie-baby--don't you think?)
4) Perhaps a property tax to pay for the "boondoggle" park.
5) They all make me happy!
Shouldn't your concern be something you can do something about? #1 is a done deal; there's nothing that can be done
Az Vicki---You're right. Wal-Mart is coming, but there is something that can be done.
Everyone of us can support those retailers that have been serving our community for many years. Shop at Target, Home Depot, Office Max, and the other retailers that will give Oro Valley the full 2% sales tax.
Why shop at the OV Marketplace when we all know Vestar will pocket almost 1/2 of our revenue.
Also,there are dozens of other reasons to stay away from Wal-Mart.
There is more we can do about this Wal*Mart such as limit their hours of operation to those in place for every other retailer in OV. Wal*Mart has made concessions in the past (note Wal*Mart in Prince Georges County, MD), and unless I'm wrong I'm not sure many of you will be visiting Wal*Mart betweeen the hours of 10:00pm to 6:00am. The demand for a 24 hour operation doesn't meet the supply. Heck the pharmacy isn't even open during those hours.
Another note as it appears BevMore is gone from OVM. I guess once Wal*Mart received approval for it's liquor license, Bevmore decided to pull out of OVM.
Michael's, Staples, and BJ's Pub are also missing from the new list. I think Old Navy is also gone. I'm sure Vestar will replace them with upscale stores!
To answer the original question, Wal-Mart and Arroyo Grande concern me equally because they will both contribute to more traffic, more auto pollution and more ozone days. I left the East Coast to get AWAY from those things!
Naranja Park is next on my list. I don't want to pay a property tax to fund someone else's recreational activities. Besides that, parks are always magnets for troublemakers. I saw that firsthand where I used to live. And I've heard many other people from all parts of the country complain about how they stopped going to the parks because of the delinquents and druggies and motorcycle gangs who would always show up and take over the place.
BB......
I believe another blog would be very useful and I would imagine that many will post. There are always two sides of any issue and I would expect your blog may have a different slant.
VC....Let me make sure I understand your positions. Are you saying that you do not have sufficient faith in the Oro Valley Police Department to keep the proposed park safe for those who wish to visit?
And second, you do not feel that public funds should be used for construction of parks? Spoken from another viewpoint, do you believe all parks should be privately funded?
If other police departments around the country cannot keep parks safe for those who visit, why should I believe that the OV Police will do any better? Isn't their main job to increase revenue by issuing speeding tickets? :)
And won't this just cost me even more money when they have to hire more police to patrol the park, and more money for cleaning up the graffiti, etc. that will likely occur?
Have you seen any of the cable shows on the rebuilding of Greensburg, Kansas after the F5 tornado that hit last year? The town is divided over building a park. Many residents feel that a park will attract troublemakers. One resident told of how he was visiting Jackson, WY and tried to go to a park there only to be confronted by motorcycle gangs. He doesn't want to see this happen in his town. I also saw it happen where I used to live. It's universal.
And as I stated previously, I've grown tired of being expected to pay for the "needs" of other people's kids. Most of us on this blog had none of this "needed" stuff when we were kids and none of us are in jail today.
What happened to bike riding, swimming, roller-skating, playing tag and hide & seek, etc.
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