Contractor: "Oro Valley Staff 'Rubber Stamps' Certificates Of Occupancy"
"I found your page after reading a link to Timothy Bohen's "Not so EEZ". In reading about dealings with the Oro Valley Town Council -- both from Mr Bohen as well as others -- I see a consistent trend throughout the pieces of the lack of accountability in the Town of Oro Valley. This behavior has created a culture that is reflected all throughout the Town's offices and I wanted to briefly share my experience.
...I represent a ... company that does work in Oro Valley and have recently (since March) been attempting to get the Town's attention regarding a matter of blatantly non-compliant workmanship on new home builds in the Town, via the non-compliant special inspection reports for which the Town is responsible for reviewing. While this may sound as sour grapes (I mean, how can my company compete with the cheaters who cut corners and doesn't install code-required materials), the tangible matter is that the Town rubber-stamping these reports means that, should an Oro Valley homeowner have the unfortunate experience of needing recourse in a construction defect situation, the Town's approval of the report serves the purpose of saying, "This house was built in compliance with all the codes so, if something seems wrong, the onus of proof is on you, Mr Oro Valley Homeowner."
While the Town's Code Enforcement Official has refused to even consider the matter (though the code explicitly identifies this as his responsibility), I have requested meetings with the Town Manager and Mayor regarding this matter, though both have been declined. As of now, the Town has been aware for months that it is rubber-stamping certificates of occupancy on homes that the Town knows were not properly inspected and sit on potentially-compromised foundations (while celebrating May as "Building Safety Month) and no one in the Town offices has any interest in resolving the matter. Must be nice to have a cush job in a place with no accountability.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my story because, with the way small corrupt governments try to just squash these types of issues so quickly, it's difficult for people to know that others in their community are also experiencing a culture without accountability in the Town offices. So while I may be easy to brush off because I am no longer a Town resident, I think your site is doing a great service here and I hope you all, as citizens, have better luck establishing some change at the Town. It is sorely needed."
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