Editorial: This Election Is A Referendum On Judgment

Tomorrow is the day to vote in person to recall or not four of Oro Valley's incumbents: Mayor Satish Hiremath and council members Joe Hornat, Mary Snider and Lou Waters.

How will you vote?

The campaign of the council majority has focused on their record of five years in office. They have, in various forums and media, including PACS they have funded, presented their case. For them, the recall is an inconvenience as they build their town by design. They want to vote on this and nothing else.

The Majority-4 are not publicly embarrassed that they have to face their second election in just one year. In their minds, everything they have done is good.

But...

Something is not good.

This it is not a business as usual election. It is not an election about what they did during their first term in office.

It is a referendum on what they did in their second term, beginning last fall.

It is a referendum on their judgment in executing a transaction that so angered the community that extensive effort was expended to get a recall vote on the ballot tomorrow.

The question for the voters is not about the four year record of the incumbents.  It is much simpler:

"Can you trust the judgment of Mayor Hiremath, council members Hornat, Snider and Waters to make decisions that benefit all of the residents of Oro Valley?"

Trusting their judgment means that you approve of what they did after last August's election:

They purchased the El Conquistador Country Golf and Tennis Resort's 45 holes of golf from a campaign donor. That donor gave Mayor Hiremath $5,000, a few months before Hiremath and Council Members Hornat, Snider and Waters ramrodded the purchase through council. Then, they ramrodded a sales tax increase to pay for the continuing losses that they projected.

Hiremath, Hornat, Snider and Waters did this while ignoring the advice of many to move with caution. They did this despite the vocal opposition of the the council minority. This deal was so wrong that even the local advertising circular (the town's public relation's organ) came out against it.

The recalled members had the majority vote and the legal right to make the purchase. And, golly gee, they were gonna do it. And they did it because they, and only they, know what is right for Oro Valley. Besides, according to them, it was a deal that was too good to be true.

Did the council majority think that there would be no consequence of an act so poorly vetted in a community that prides itself in civic involvement? An act of such magnitude that it really required the support of all of the community?

Did they think that Oro Valley residents wanted a community center so badly that the residents are willing to support, through a sales tax increase and a draw-down of the town's cash reserves, an act that benefits the golf club dalliances of the rich at the expense of everyday family folks?

Because, if they do think these things, then it is a demonstration that they lack judgment sufficient to represent all of us.

Consider your vote carefully.

What kind of Oro Valley do you want?
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This is a LOVE editorial. The opinions voiced here are those of the publisher.
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