Mayor Hiremath To Present "State Of The Town"... But Not To All... And Not For Free

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Mayor Hiremath willl present a September 13th "State Of The Town" address at the Sheraton El Conquistador.

However, it will cost you $55 if you want to see or hear it. You will have to pay if you want to hear the Mayor speak about your town and his views of it.

We think this is wrong. We think you should hear it for free. We think that these remarks should be addressed to the entire town and the entire town council at a council meeting.

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The event is a fundraiser for the Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce (formerly the Northern Pima County Chamber of Commerce), an organization that you also fund through Oro Valley's budget.

Mayor Hiremath follows the long-standing tradition of his predecessor, of addressing his "State Of The Town" address in a paid forum, rather than giving his remarks in an open forum at a council meeting. 

The event is at the El Conquistador Hotel.  In includes lunch.

Historically, not all council members attend.
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We asked Misty Nowak, the Oro Valley's communications director, about this event.   We felt such questions were appopriate since the town included notice of this event in this quarter's "Vista" Magazine.

Misti was kind to respond to us on a holiday weekend in the middle of her vacation.  Now that's commitment and first-class service.

What we learned is that:

• The annuouncement in "Vista" is not a paid advertisement.
• The organizations whose logos appear in the announcement "...were chosen to reflect the organizations/jurisdictions the Mayor would be directly referring to in his speech.  There were three, perhaps four others, that should have been included in the announcement."
• "The Chamber receives the $55 ticket fees to recover the cost of sponsoring this event. They cover all expenses, including catering, space rental, AV crew, teleprompter technician, printing of the program, event advertising, and staffing to plan the event."

This is a fund raising event for the Chamber.  It is an effort that is supported by the town. The Chamber paid nothing for the placement of this notice. The Chamber receives the implied endorsement for this event by the town of Oro Valley: First, by use of the Oro Valley logo in the notice; second, by the placement of the notice in an official Oro Valley communications document ("Vista"); and third, by having our Mayor give a free speech about the state of your town.  This is a speech which you, the owners of Oro Valley and his boss, will at best get to read, assuming that is is posted on the town web site.  We wonder, will the town also post a video?

We know that Oro Valley's Mayor and some council members want to be cozy with the business community.  But, gee, don't you would think that the Mayor should provide these remarks  to all of us in person to all council members at a council meeting for free?
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