As much as Council Members Garner, Gillaspie & Latas tried, the majority of Mayor Loomis, Council Members Abbott, Carter & Kunisch passed the $121.5 million budget, in part, by raiding our contingency fund.
I was proud to have addressed the council on this issue, but to no one's surprise, my plea of not balancing a budget by using "rainy day" funds fell on "8 deaf ears."
We previously posted my addressing the council on the issue, that, by the way garnered 90 comments to date, thanks mostly to Don Cox making it into an "OV survey issue chastising Salette Latas." For those that may have missed it, here is that posting.
Art To Council: Be Citizen Centric... Don't Raid The Contingency Fund
Here is The Explorer article on the budget vote.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2009/06/24/news/doc4a4165ea639c6574918357.txt
25 comments:
Art....Let's get another 90 started. I have said all along that if you want folks to post on this blog you need me to light the fire. Looking at the number of responses to your recent stuff you obviously can't do this on your own. And I and everybody else who knows you understands your insatiable need for attention. So that is two needs I am will to fulfill....at no charge.
Just want to correct (ONCE AGAIN) one of your incorrect comments. To question the validity of a poll does not fall into the definition of "chastise". Allow me to help you.
CHASTISE:vt. 1. to punish,esp. by beating 2. to scold sharply
VC...
Surrender. Your word, not mine. ;-)!!
Lastly to all, just a reminder to let you know that I have spoken to several folks (including some Town Council folks) expressing my total support of the position that unless there is a very strong case presented that demonstrates that folks must be maintained on the payroll, the contingency fund should not be used for this purpose. I didn't hear the former so I was opposed to the latter. Having said that, we need to move forward and begin to prepare ourselves for the unavoidable shortfall that will probably hit us next year also.
I propose that we take all of the people that were saved in this budget process and utilize that manpower to fill vacancies as they naturally occur during this fiscal year. If the individual is unwilling to be retrained and accept the new position at the prevailing wage then they can seek employment elsewhere.
Cox---- Why don't you find another place to spew your venom? You'll find we will do quite well without your nasty comments that we've all come to expect.
Need I remind you,other than your comments on the other posting, every other of the 91 comments (to date)was directed at you and your abominable behavior.
My "insatiable need for attention,"
is based on seeing that you never get elected to council.
You talk about MY need for attention. Once again, you come across looking like a fool by stating.
"I have said all along that if you want folks to post on this blog you need me to light the fire."
I DON'T NEED YOU FOR ANYTHING. Can you understand that?
I must agree with OVOT on this one. Where else have you had 90 comments on a topic? Most comments were not at all on topic though and were directed mostly at attacking one with a differing opinion than the majority that frequent this blog demonstrating the tolerance of those that run this blog.
But back to the point. There was a lot of participation and discussion when OVOT 'lit the fire'.
If discussion is not the purpose of this blog where differing opinions are welcome then why participate?
languagebordersculture09,
There was little discussion on the issues in the last blog because Donny Boy was in error and never admitted his being wrong.
Cox is looser and should just go away. He has been very wrong and pigheaded about admitting his foolish statements. His fiction becomes old and we should just ignore him. There is room for debate, but Cox doesn’t wish any open dialog, he just wants to be like a bad cold that never goes away. He contributes very little and opens his pie-hole way to much.
He still hasn’t admitted how wrong he was on his conspiracy theories and his lack of filtering BS that he hears, then post as facts here on LOVE. You think I don’t have a life Donny Boy, but you’re the one that trolls this site.
Artski...
Then why do you respond? Just ignore my postings. You are not capable of the latter. When you are confronted with an opinion with which you do not agree, you snap. I have seen it here and, as you well know, I have seen it at other venues.
Other blog posters, for the most part, respond because they have questions or the wish to challenge my position. And they usually ask and challenge. That's healthy dialog. All you do is spit out your nonsensical chatter. And as I have pointed out to you before you never offer any substance to the conversation. You are so obsessed with ripping me apart that your alledged mind goes to 'tilt'. Here are excerpts from the aforementioned post.
"...Don Cox running against a jackass, who would you vote for?"
"...when God was handing out brains Cox was standing on his head."
"...you would have more success explaining it to one of the dogs..."
"...Cox is too stupid, too arrogant..."
And one of your descriptions of me was as follows, "...pigheadedness,stubbornness, arrogance, ignorance, and stupidity."
And one of your last posts used the word, "hypercrite".
Up to the this last one, I correct all of your spelling mistakes.
Art you offer no substance. You bring nothing but animus to the table. You post incorrect information. You are an empty shell.
Allow me to remind you of the Explorer letter about Monterey, California and Oro Valley. The more you are out there the more you validate my point.
Keep going!!
LOVE!!
Endthe....
Once again you offer no substance other than your jaded, uninformed opinion.
By the way, spend a buck or two and buy a dicionary and or a grammar primer.
LOVE!!
Language....
Spot on.
OV Obsessive Stinker,
You have no room to talk about my grammar and/or spelling. I may not be one of the foremost speakers here on the blog, but I don’t try to instill partisan wedging like you do. If I make mistakes in my argument or if proven wrong, I would admit that error. You’re still a looser and starting to sound pretty bitter.
Go stew for a while, you’re unwanted here and not liked.
BYW, you might consider a spell checker before offering you advice. I assume you meant “dictionary” you hypocrite.
Cox--- Once again you think you are such as asset to this blog. Think again "Thinker!"
Your ignorant innuendos that nobody other than I have a clue are no more than a waste of time & space.
You want substance? Here's substance!
If you were on council, we both know you'd be in the forefront of taking money from the contingency fund and would jump at the chance to throw tens of thousands of dollars to outside entities while we can't afford to keep workers.
And let's not forget how thrilled you are that Vestar has received all that tax revenue for bringing us that godforsaken Walmart.
I think it's fair to say that many of us thought you were a damn fool. Every time you open your big mouth, you only substantiate that view.
Oh yeah! I stand by all the aforementioned adjectives I used in describing you.
Last point. Why don't you go away, and we'll see if this blog will survive without you, as we did before you unfortunately found your way here.
That will give us more time to disseminate information for our readers of OV goings on, and spend less time making you look like a jackass.
If by chance my last comment offends any jackasses, I apologize!
End...A letter was missed...which I readily admit. "Haste makes waste".
Am I "bitter" over what occurs on this blog? The answer to that would be a clear and unequiviocal "NO"!!!
I have experienced far too many more serious episodes in my life to allow something as shallow as this blog to make me bitter.
Art....Do the math. Who has made more money off of OV Marketplace. Oro Valley or Vestar? Duh!!!!!
The squawking from the hill is becoming louder!!! :-)
Cox--- Vestar's Marketplace is a drain on our economy. Too many "mom & pop shops are closing; not being able to compete with the Chinese crap Walmart sells. Yeah, I know--you'll say, the economy is totally the reason.
Do we need another pet store? Do we need another sports store? Do we need Walmart when we have Target? Do we need Verizon moving from Rooney Ranch to the Marketplace? And on, and on!
The answer is a resounding "NO."
So, go ahead and do the damn math and come back and explain how 1% sales tax for Oro Valley is better than 2%.
And don't bother telling me without Vestar, it would be an ugly empty parcel. What we have now is an ugly strip mall that infringes on the neighbors with loud music and roof tops that look like a landing strip.
That Marketplace is so ugly that when an ADOT representative was told their wall on the east side of Oracle road opposite Vestar was "ugly," he responded by saying, "it's no worse than your strip mall across the street!"
I know everybody is tired of the talk about the shopping center.Ok seriously I can't believe a professional designed it. Vestar should be ashamed
It is really nothing special and nothing like promised.
Not only do I blame Vestar I blame anybody who was on the VRB who voted for this .
Imagine if it had been as promised it really could have been an asset to the town instead of an eye sore.
End of vent.
Does anyone want to focus on the issue here? The issue is that using the contingency fund to fund operating needs is wrong. We all seem to agree on this.
Three council members... Garner, Latas, and Gillaspie... stood up for what was right.
What should we do with the other four?
To our readers-- I chose to delete the above comment from OV Objective Thinker as I do not wish to allow Cox to use this blog as a means of promoting his resume.
He is welcome to edit his comment and delete the "self promotion" portion.
The portion I allude to was a letter he (Cox) posted that was sent to the Mayor & Council.
I's not for me to say if his salutation in the letter, addressed "Dear Friends" is appropriate, but I can assure our readers that a good number of council members would NOT wish to be referred to as "a friend" of Cox.
Dear readers--- Once again, Cox shows what an arrogant fool he is. Rather than repeat his comment and delete the copy of the email to the council, he refuses to do so. As is obvious, he once again challenges me to get into a "pissing contest." with him.
He is too stupid to realize, I said his nasty comments about me and others could stay, as it says more about him than anyone else.
Here then is his comment, with the self serving letter to council deleted. I hope Cox will stop making a fool of himself and accept this for what it is.
Art
******************************************
Art....
You keep deleting and I will keep on posting. It's the content that you don't want folks to read. Just like Zev qualified his comments on C-Path, I am qualifying my comments on budget preparation.
Here is the repost in it's entirety.
Art... In a previous post I asked you to name one local "mom and pop" business that has closed as a result of Walmart opening. There was no answer.
I guess It's a Grind, closed because Walmart sells coffee. In Marana, I guess Old El Paso Bar-B-Que closed because Walmart sells meat, barbeque sauce and charcoal.
And while you are grasping for answers explain how all of the sales tax money we have received from the marketplace becomes a "drain" on our economy.
Also in a previous post you asked for a positive side to Verizon moving. I presented it to you.
Design is in the eye of the beholder. I don't find the center to be architecturally displeasing. By the same token I wouldn't give it an award. But I submit that if you are opposed to the project you will probably not like any design.
And Ms. Coyote brings up a valid point. Don't blame Vestar. They submitted a proposal based on our established design guidelines and the DRB recommended approval.
Zeeman....
One vote does not condemn a Councilperson. However we will have a chance to pick folks to fill four seats. I suggest that we elect some folks who will have a business background. To use one of the catch phrases, someone who has had to "meet a payroll". If you look at the entire Council there is not a single person on there with a business background. That's not a good mix, especially at the local level.
June 25, 2009 9:34 AM
Sorry Art...
I will not be victim of your moronic judgement of what the readers on this blog should see. Please remember your first amendment whine to the Goldwater Institute and others. When I wish to post something that I believe may be informative to the blog you classify it as "a pissing contest."
Here is a quote from LanguageBordersCulture09:
"If discussion is not the purpose of this blog where differing opinions are welcome then why participate?"
There is nothing "self-serving" about my letter. I am not applying to the Council for anything. I am obly voicing my opinion and qualifying some of my remarks.
The letter follows.
Good Morning Friends.
Now that the 2009-2010 budget has been approved, I would like to take a few moments of your time with what I hope will be received as constructive observations.
The initial observation is one that you, as a group, did not initiate but unfortunately you followed the example of previous Town Councils.
As part of the department/division presentations to the Town Manager, I have for years, advocated that a section be included that outlines what cost saving efforts the department/division has implemented over the past year and what were the results of those efforts. In turn the Town Manager should recap those in an organization wide section as part of his presentation to you, AND the people of Oro Valley.
Secondly, as a manager for many, many years responsible for submitting numerous budgets to CEO’s CFO’s and Board of Directors in the private and public sector. I can honestly say that NEVER did any of those individuals or groups examine specific line items within my budget proposals. And just as a point of clarification I have been responsible for multi-million dollar budgets while managing multiple departments. YOU SHOULD NOT EITHER. You are a policy making body. If the numbers are too large, then direct the Town Manager to re-examine the body of work and come back with smaller numbers. It’s his/her job to make the final decision on line items. To get into what specific positions/programs should stay or go, in my opinion, IS NOT YOUR JOB unless it is those few positions for which you have chosen to keep under your wing (Town Attorney, Police Chief, etc). The exception to this is if there are any cultural ‘sacred cows’ that, in your opinion, must be protected.
Lastly, I will introduce my last observation with a position statement. I completely disagree with the decision to utilize contingency funds to ‘balance’ our budget.
Having said that, the contingency fund policy, as I understand it, states these funds are to be utilized in an emergency. I do not believe that a budget shortfall fits that description. However you have chosen another path. I believe it is a slippery slope. At what point does a budget shortfall eclipse the “emergency” definition and move into ‘the norm’?
Thanks to each of you for your service to our great community.
Cox--- Not self-serving you say, and yet you had no trouble pointing out that you, and I quote---"as a manager for many, many years responsible for submitting numerous budgets to CEO’s CFO’s and Board of Directors in the private and public sector."
You go on to say: "And just as a point of clarification I have been responsible for multi-million dollar budgets while managing multiple departments."
All I see here is one great BIG ego. And by the way, how do we know your job credentials are not as embellished as some of your blog comments?
Your post will stay. Only because we both know if we remove you as a blogger, you'll only return under a new pseudonym.
Isn't that correct "Farley" & "Deacon?"
Besides, I doubt if any of our readers don't already know you well enough to have formed an opinion.
One perfect example is Jeff Latas who won't even allow you to refer to him on a first name basis.
"You made your bed. No go sleep in it!"
Art...
:-)
If you would like a copy of my resume I will be happy to send you one.
I think most folks look at Jeff's request to be called something other than Jeff the same as I do.
Comments can only be "self-serving" if I am trying to gain something. I am not.
Don't know Farley and/or Deacon but I am glad that it get's under your skin.
I promise you, I am not Don Cox.
I haven't posted in a while-had some medical issues to take care of. Doing better now, I know Art will be pleased. Kidding you Art.
I would like to see Art be the bigger man in this ongoing battle with OVOT. I've seen enough.
To accept the OV budget as balanced is to make fools of the OV voters. I hope we vote out all four who approved this sham.
Deacon...Welcome back.
Hope your health issues progress at a rapid pace.
God speed!!
I dont know if wishing someone that their "healh issues progress at a rapid rate" is always a good thing.
Maybe: I hope your health continues to improve, is better stated.
NW
NW,
Doing much better, thank you.
I had to chuckle when Thinker wanted my "health issues progress at a rapid pace". Hopefully he was referring to my recovery!
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