Last Week, Mayor Hiremath was quoted: "I think this is the first time in a while that elected officials in the area have had a really good working relationship with one another." (Source) He was referring to the relationship between Oro Valley elected officials and the elected officials of other communities.
His words do not ring truth when it comes to the Oro Valley town council. In fact, Mayor Hiremath is the "divider" of the council. He does not have, by any means, a good working relationship with almost half of his council.
In December and January, Mayor Hiremat led a failed effort to recall Council Member Zinkin. The basis of his attempt was spurious. His effort, with the help of the other Majority-4, did nothing but divide our community.
Then last week in "Hiremath Castigates Garner For Going Public With Issues Regarding Oro Valley Police Spending", we reported regarding the "fallout" from an article in the Arizona Daily Star in which Council MemberBill Garner was quoted.
The Council Member is quoted as saying that:
"Unfortunately, this [police] department is a prima donna department. It tries to put candidates forward sympathetic to it so its interest can go unchecked,” Garner said. “It’s union politics and thuggery that goes on."Garner has been an Oro Valley Council Member for 6 years. He has been elected twice. This is no easy feat. Rather than choosing to meet with Garner to discuss what prompted the comment and what Garner thought, Mayor Hiremath went on the offensive against Garner.
Mayor Hiremath wrote the following email to Garner with copies to the council, town manager Caton, and the town's attorneys. Here's what he wrote:
"I read with great dismay and concern regarding your public attack on Town employees printed in the Northwest section of the Arizona Daily Star yesterday. Your comments were at best very rude, inconsiderate, tasteless, mean spirited and beneath contempt. You have every opportunity to speak directly to the Town Manager or the Chief of Police if you have concerns and/or dissatisfaction regarding our police department. By making a public statement as you did, it shows that you have willful disregard for the employees of our Town and for our processes.Mayor Hiremath shows no reservation of going after Council Member Zinkin or Council Member Garner. He does it with ease. Yet, when he sees them, we have been told, he acts cordial and friendly. Hiremath is capable of saying something negative in public about a Council Member and then acting as though he has said nothing negative when he sees them. This is not a good personality trait.
Satish I. Hiremath, DDS
Mayor"
Also not good is the division that exists in Oro Valley town government. The Mayor of Oro Valley should have the desire and the ability to listen to and allow the proper venting of all Council Member ideas, regardless of the source. Mayor Hiremath, once an individual we hoped would do just that, has demonstrated otherwise. In fact, he seems to go out of his way to cause divisiveness.
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3 comments:
My prayer is that someone steps up to run against Mayor Hiremath.
During a Town Council Meeting, this is the same mayor, who during a councilman's presentation, gets up and puts the councilman's written report into the trash can.
The mark of a good leader is that they bring out the best in others. This mayor's leadership is to attempt to lead those that he can get to agree with him, and to attack the rest. Unfortunately, this style has created a culture of fear and intimidation. Perhaps the mayor learned from the past president of Pima Community College as they have a lot in common.
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