Guest View-Debra Arrett: What Oro Valley Residents Can Do About Oro Valley-Owned Golf Courses (part 2)

Yesterday, Oro Valley resident Debra Arrett presented the fact that the Oro Valley owned golf couses lost approximately $650,000 in July and August. The loss was far more than projected by the town. Today, Debra discusses what the community can do regarding being in the golf business
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Possible Solutions

• Vote for the leadership of Pat Straney, Steve Didio, Ryan Hartung and Shirl Lamonna and vote recalled Hiremath, Hornat, Snider and Waters out of office.
• Establish an ad-hoc group comprised of business savvy people. Comprise the group with both those who were in favor of the purchase and those against it.
• Have this group lead a comprehensive study of the El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Club property and assets; gather input from residents; explore options to get us out of this mess and come back to the Town Council with a strategic plan. 

Maybe the ad hoc group will find that it is in the best interest of Oro Valley to continue to operate all three golf courses, or maybe  they will suggest that Oro Valley...

• Lease the La Canada course back to HSL for 50 years for $10,000/year as provided for in the purchase contract, before sinking any money into badly-needed capital improvements. Based on the same purchase contract, the El Conquistador course does not have to remain a golf course. It also allows for the Pusch Ridge course to be shut down as long as the space looks “park like” as viewed from the Hilton Resort. 

The ah-hoc group may find that instead of costly renovations to convert an 80’s-era club house into an ADA-compliant community center with valuable space wasted on a full-service restaurant that the Town is developing plans to renovate,  a better option might be to...

• Bulldoze the building and build a community center on that site or sell that land and build a community center that meets the wants and needs of residents at Naranja Park. The latter option could be funded by the sale of the land and the existing 25% sales tax increase; only, this time around, the sales tax increase would have a sunset date. 

The Bottom Line
We badly need the leadership of Straney, Didio, Hartung and Lamonna who will allow options to be considered. Going forward they will listen and consider input from the residents before making any decision, with transparency and in the best interest of Oro Valley.

We must rid the Town Council of Hiremath, Hornat, Snider and Waters who have and will continue to make decisions in lockstep and in the best interest of the builders and developers who provided 80% of their 2014 campaign funds.

Debra Arrett
Oro Valley Resident
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Debra Arrett has received numerous national awards for her business expertise and entrepreneurial skills. She considers herself to be semi-retired, but continues to own and operate the dairy commodity businesses she founded dating back to 1984. Since moving to Oro Valley in 2000 she has served on the Sun City Oro Valley Board of Directors, Long Range Planning Committee, Government Affairs Committee and Chalk Creek Wash Commission. She serves on the Board of the Oro Valley Community Foundation and is a member of the Oro Valley Business Club and Chief Sharp’s Advisory Committee.