Guest View: Mike Zinkin ~ Oro Valley government needs to come out of the shadows

When will our elected government come out of the shadow of Town Manager, Mary Jacobs? Have you noticed how many Executive Sessions there have been? Why are the lawyers hiding behind the cloak of an Executive Session to brief the Council? Why not do public business in public?

Here are a few examples:

The new golf management contract
The Town placed a “request for proposal” for a golf management contract. Ms. Jacobs is correct in that the Council is now out of the picture as far as the selection is concerned (that is why we have a Contract Officer). However, the Council should still be involved in the final wording and approval of the contract.

Has anybody seen the golf management contract on an agenda? The mayor stated that effective 10/1/20, the golf management team would be responsible for all food and beverage and that the Town would no longer subsidize it. Did this happen?

In a recent communication with the Town, I am told that “The golf management contractor is responsible for food and beverage operations, including losses it experiences.” The inception date was not included in the email so we must assume that it began on 10/1/20.

The MOU between HSL and the Town regarding the leasing of the Pusch Ridge course
The Council came out of Executive Session on September 23rd and publicly voted to continue the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from 10/1/20 to 1/31/21. What MOU? Has anybody seen the MOU? Shouldn’t the citizens have access to this information, especially those living adjacent to the Pusch Ridge course?

The new golf management company (Antares) has a different way of providing their numbers
Look at the financials at right. Where are the utility expenses? Are the cart fees exclusive of the trail fees that the members pay? What exactly is included in “Other Expenses” of $12,590?

There is something suspicious when comparing the golf financials from Troon vs. Antares. Troon lost $422,049 from July 1 through August 31, 2019. Antares lost only $291,711 from July 1 through August 31, 2020 despite temps of 108 degrees every day and bad air quality from the Tucson and California wildfires. This is a $130,338 dollar difference. Can Antares be that much better than Troon, whom we were originally told was “the Rolex of golf management companies”?

Covert operations
The Town Council needs to govern in public. The Town’s lawyers need to express their opinions in public. The tax-paying citizens need to see and hear what the Town Council is seeing and hearing. Government should not be a secret.
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Mike Zinkin and his wife have lived in Oro Valley since 1998. He served on the Oro Valley Development Review Board from 2005-2009, the Board of Adjustment from 2011-2012, and the Town Council from 2012-2016. He was named a Fellow for the National League of Cities. He was a member of the NLC Steering Committee for Community and Economic Development and a member of the Arizona League of Cities Budget and Economic Development Committee. He was an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years. Mike has a Bachelor’s degree in history and government from the University of Arizona and a Master’s degree in Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education from California State University, Northridge.

What happened to transparency in Oro Valley government?

The problem with Executive Sessions
During a Special Session on Wednesday, September 23rd, the Town Council went into Executive Session “regarding Town golf operations at the 9-hole El Conquistador Resort Course [Pusch Ridge Course], including Memorandum of Understanding thereon and lease thereof.”

This MOU has never been discussed in public. It has never been attached to an agenda. In fact, it has only been discussed in Executive Sessions.

Executive session proceedings are private. The participants cannot openly discuss what took place in those sessions. The minutes can only be seen via a subpoena. The Executive Session that took place on September 23rd was a prime example of using the Executive Session to shield information that should be available to the public.

The Council exited the September 23rd Executive Session and moved to continue the effective date of the MOU with HSL from October 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021.

Why was the start date for the HSL Pusch Ridge lease extended?
Oro Valley residents will never know the reasons for this extension. Yes, the COVID crisis has affected all facets of the economy, including the resort/hospitality area. But it has also adversely affected Oro Valley’s sales tax revenues. So why does our Council feel the need to spend an additional 120 days of your taxpayer money to assist HSL? Why do they cut Lopez some slack, but not the citizens?

There is no requirement to hold Executive Sessions
While it’s true that contracts are one of the 7 reasons to hold an Executive Session (see the full list below), there is no requirement to do so and there appears to be more Executive Sessions in recent years than in past years. Our Town Manager seems to relish Executive Sessions as they keep matters from the public and saddle the Town Council with nondisclosure. This practice needs to stop.

The Town Council needs to make public decisions in public.

Arizona Open Meetings Laws allow for 7 reasons to go into Executive Sessions:

1. Discussion or consideration of employment, assignment, appointment, promotion, demotion, dismissal, salaries, disciplining or resignation of a public officer, appointee or employee of any public body.

2. Discussion or consideration of records exempt by law from public inspection.

3. Discussion or consultation for legal advice with the attorney or attorneys of the public body.

4. Discussion or consultation with the attorneys of the public body in order to consider its position and instruct its attorneys regarding the public body's position regarding contracts that are the subject of negotiations, in pending or contemplated litigation or in settlement discussions conducted in order to avoid or resolve litigation.

5. Discussions or consultations with designated representatives of the public body in order to consider its position and instruct its representatives regarding negotiations with employee organizations regarding the salaries, salary schedules or compensation paid in the form of fringe benefits of employees of the public body.

6. Discussion, consultation or consideration for international and interstate negotiations or for negotiations by a city or town, or its designated representatives, with members of a tribal council, or its designated representatives, of an Indian reservation located within or adjacent to the city or town.

7. Discussions or consultations with designated representatives of the public body in order to consider its position and instruct its representatives regarding negotiations for the purchase, sale or lease of real property.