Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Hope For The Neighbors Of Athem Equity Development

At the March 19, 2008 Oro Valley Council meeting, the attorney for Athem Equity Development intimidated enough members of the then council, that they voted to approve their development plan.

What that meant was 36' high office buildings almost literally in the backyards of some of the folks in Rancho Vistoso Neighborhood 2, that would have obscured their premium lot views of the Catalina Mountains.

Well----hopefully that may not happen. You see, for whatever the reason, the 15 acre parcel just east of Vistoso Village Dr and just south of many residential homes is now up for sale.

We can only hope that the buyer of this parcel will be more concerned for the neighbors, many of who would have seen major depreciation of their home value as a result of Athem's Development Plan.

Oro Valley Resident Writes Mayor & Council On Arroyo Grande Concerns

Following is an email from Oro Valley resident Paul Sobel that was sent to the Town Council & Mayor.

Hopefully, they will concur with Paul's concerns and not "rush to judgment" on the Arroyo Grande parcel to our north.
Art
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Re: 9000 acres of state trust land north of Oro Valley now known as "Arroyo Grande".

I have fought for 10 years to keep that land from being developed.I believe Pima county would be better able to protect the land from development then OV. I believe that the Sonoran Desert Conservation group and the Nature Conservancy, if given a little more time, will be able to acquire the land . I think nothing should be done.

1, This land should be preserved as it is.
2. More people do not give quality of life for the residents of OV.
3. Water is and will be a major problem with further development.
4. The cost of developing that land will run into millions for the necessary infrastructure.
5. Can we think of more traffic, when it is bad enough now.
6. We must protect the sensitive environment.

Thanks for your consideration. Paul E. Sobel

Oro Valley Clerk Takes Pima County Elections Division To Task

The Explorer has reported that the Pima County Elections Division "screwed up" by mailing out 49 early ballots to Oro Valley residents without Question 400---the Naranja Bond Issue.

What really caught our eye was not the error by the Elections Division, but the quotes attributed to Kathi Cuvelier, OV Town Clerk, in her letter to Brad Nelson, Elections Director.

Ms. Cuvelier wrote: “First, we are disappointed by the lack of quality control in the Pima County Elections Division that led to incorrect or incomplete ballots being mailed to voters within the Town of Oro Valley.”

She went on to say: “Second, we are dismayed that the Pima County Division of Elections did not make us aware of this situation, but that we had to learn it from other sources."

Well! Well. It seems like the "pot calling the kettle black."

The phrase "Pot calling the kettle black" is an idiom, used to accuse another speaker of hypocrisy, in that the speaker disparages the subject for a fault or negative behavior that could equally be applied to him or her.

You see, it was just a couple week ago that Ms. Cuvelier said she left our blog address off of our "No" argument for this same Naranja Bond issue, using the lame excuse that no addresses were acceptable. When I pointed out that in fact this was not the case, on at least one "yes" argument, the excuse then became, "it was an oversight."

This is not to condone the Elections Division. I only want to point out, that "stuff" happens. Perhaps Ms. Cuvelier should not have been in such a hurry to disparage Mr. Nelson, knowing she herself has been guilty of similar oversights.

Oh well!

Read The Explorer article here.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2008/10/20/news/doc48fcb42b532c1617994620.txt