Letters To The Explorer Re: Naranja Park Bond Issue

To its credit the "yes" folks PAC on The Naranja Park got their letter writers out, and there are no less than 5 letters espousing the park's virtues.

I'm sure we can expect this "blitz" to continue in the weeks prior to the election.

As we've been saying constantly, a park for our youth is a good thing. I don't know anyone that wants to deprive the kids some fields & courts to play on-----but 42 is overkill!

Remember, Oro Valley, like all of us, have WANTS & NEEDS.


This park is a luxury we DO NOT NEED, especially in this unprecedented terrible economic time.

Read the letters, and then do the right thing for yourself, for your neighbors and for the town

VOTE "NO ON NARANJA BOND ISSUE!

ADDENDUM: PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THE 1st COMMENT BELOW BY "COMMON SENSE THINKER"

http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2008/10/15/opinion/doc48f53c784fdae997492093.txt

Oro Valley P & Z Approves Arroyo Grande General Plan Ammendment

As reported in The Explorer, the Planning & Zoning Commission last week approved the General Plan Amendment allowing the town to annex Arroyo Grande.

The OV Council will next take up this issue.

Too bad, the initiative to not develop the land never got to the ballot. Hopefully, the people will get an opportunity to speak, and this land will, for the most part, remain open space.

We'll have to see how things proceed.

http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2008/10/15/news/doc48f543379bf5b185451321.txt

Court of Appeals Will Hear City North Giveaway Case On Nov. 25

We couldn't agree more with our friend Clint Bolick. We can only hope we don't echo these sentiments here in Oro Valley with Vestar's Marketplace, which, if nothing else will be an eyesore on both our scenic corridors---Oracle & Tangerine roads. We already know we're not getting anything close to a "unique, upscale" shopping experience.

We hope the Court of Appeals in Phoenix applies the law and overturns the lower court ruling.

The Goldwater Institute Daily October 15, 2008 CityNorth problems illustrate the framers' wisdom by Clint Bolick The opulent CityNorth development's recent problems-construction delays and having to market luxury condominiums as rentals-illustrate the wisdom of the Arizona Constitution's framers in forbidding corporate subsidies. The case made for the $97.4 million taxpayer subsidy to the developer was that the shopping mall could not be built without it. But the record in the Goldwater Institute lawsuit Turken v. Gordon, now pending before the Arizona Court of Appeals, shows that according to its own numbers the developer would fetch a nifty profit even without a subsidy. Regardless, the City of Phoenix claims that there is no risk to the taxpayers because the subsidy is paid only as the project generates tax revenues. Not so. Even if the City was right and a subsidy was required, what that means is that the market itself couldn't sustain the project. So on a site considered one of the most commercially desirable in the state, CityNorth is being built instead of a project that the market could support. If CityNorth turns out to be a giant white elephant, the net result will be substantially reduced tax revenues compared to an alternate project consistent with sounder development. Those kinds of miscalculations happen all the time with developments sustained by taxpayer funding. Elected officials can rarely out-guess the market-nor are they elected to do so. And by their constitutional oath, they are forbidden from doing so. The Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the case on November 25. Here's hoping that constitutional principles will prevail, to the benefit of taxpayers, small businesses who suffer from subsidized competition, and ultimately even politicians who can't seem to stop themselves from gambling with taxpayer money. Clint Bolick is the director of the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation. Learn more: Goldwater Institute: Turken v. Gordon (CityNorth subsidy case) Arizona Republic: CityNorth's 1st residents? Renters CityNorth: A new city rising Contact: Clint Bolick Goldwater Institute cbolick@goldwaterinstitute.org (602) 462-5000 x 227