Meet Chris Cornelison... Oro Valley's Acting Town Manager

The Town of Oro Valley's Acting Town Manager is Chris Cornelison. Chris assumed this role after the resignation of Mary Jacobs. We asked him to share a bit about himself with the LOVE community.

Focus on moving the town forward as directed by Council

As you can imagine, Chris is busy, at the moment "ensuring that the organization and the community move forward, committed to the directives laid out by Town Council and community."

12th year serving the community

Chris began working with the Town of Oro Valley in 2010 as a part-time graduate intern. Two years later, he was hired full-time by the Town and served in various roles. He was named Assistant Town Manager in March 2017. More recently, his title changed to Deputy Town Manager "... and then—as you know—with Mary’s departure, I am now serving as Acting Town Manager." He will serve in this role until Council contracts a Town Manager.

UA Eller School Graduate... MPA from UA

Chris earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, in 2010.  He graduated with a double major: Criminal Justice and Management & Public Policy. He earned a Master of Public Administration from the UA School of Government and Public Policy in 2012, with a dual focus in Finance and Local Government.

Active in the profession and the community

Chris is a current member of the International City/County Manager’s Association (ICMA). He plans to apply this year to become a Credentialed Manager Candidate. He also is a member of the Arizona City/County Manager’s Association (ACMA) and served as the Chair for the 2017 ACMA Winter Conference. Chris currently serves as a member of the Community Advisory Board for the University of Arizona School of Government and Public Policy. He is a Professional Advisor for the UA ICMA Student Chapter.

Focused on four key town departments as Deputy Town Manager

As Deputy Town Manager, Chris provided support to four very important departments: Public Works, Parks & Recreation, Community & Economic Development and Town Clerk. He led negotiation efforts with the Town’s Public Safety Negotiations Committee, and served on the Town’s Budget Committee for the bulk of his tenure with the Town. 

Led "OVSafeSteps COVID Business Assistance Program"

One of Chris' notable projects with the Town was his role as Project Manager for the award-winning OVSafeSteps COVID business assistance program launched 2020. "Helping people and providing support to more than 200 local businesses was a collaborative and rewarding experience. The success of this program was a result of the wonderful team at the Town and our community partners like the Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce."

A collaborative work style

Chris describes his work stye as collaborative, honest, direct and fair—"Qualities that I believe will serve me well as I help guide our organization through the coming months."

LOVE thoughts:  Big challenges ahead

It is going to take a while for the town to identify Town Manager candidates. Then, add to that the time it will take for the Council to consider, select, and contract an individual. During this time, big things are happening. This includes possible General Plan Amendments, major public hearings on zoning and  PAD requested changes, and, as we posted this week, key decisions Council needs to make on Parks and Recreation Bond amenities. 

Fortunately, Chris has the direct experience of working with the key departments involved in these efforts. That experience should help him keep the town on a steady course.

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More about Chris Cornelison

"On a personal note, I have been with my wife, Bernadette, for more than 13 years (married for the past 8 years), and we are the proud parents of two wonderful and energetic children, ages 4 (daughter) and 11 months (son). Bernadette currently teaches at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy as an Assistant Clinical Professor, while spending half of her time as a practitioner at a Banner Clinic in Tucson. Between our busy jobs and two kiddos, we are an active household, which we love. It’s fair to say we enjoy the challenge of balancing demanding jobs while juggling home life and demanding little personalities.

When we are not visiting family or friends, we enjoy hiking, attending community events and just spending time helping our children grow."

Bits and Pieces

OV SafeSteps program wins national award in communications and marketing

ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (Sept. 19, 2022) – The Town of Oro Valley is pleased to announce that the OV SafeSteps program won first place in the 2022 City-County Communications & Marketing Association’s (3CMA) Savvy Award category of Communications and Marketing Tools: Printed Publications – COVID PR. The award was presented on September 7 at the 3CMA Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon. (Source: Town of Oro Valley Press Release)

Register now for the Fall 2022 Community Academy 

ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (Sept. 21, 2022) – Would you like to know more about local government and the Oro Valley community? Then we invite you to register for the Town of Oro Valley’s Fall 2022 Community Academy. For 25 years, the Town has been hosting this free, informative series to help residents understand more about town governance, finances, development, zoning, parks, roadways and more. Please register by October 1 to reserve your spot. (Source: Town of Oro Valley Press Release)

Oro Valley shows outstanding financial results for fiscal 2022

Financial results for fiscal 2022, which ended on June 30, are being finalized. According to Assistant Finance Director Wendy Gomez, results are outstanding. General Fund Revenues [panel right],the town’s primary operating fund, exceeded budget by 18%, led by local sales tax revenues which were 31% over budget.  State shared revenues were 11% over budget.

General Funding spending was 5% under budget. This was caused by a shift in planned spending for Westward Look improvements, to this fiscal year; and a savings from not having to make a principal payment on the pension obligation bonds

Oro Valley Awarded $3.5 million for multi-use path

The Pima County Association of Governments (“PAG”) awarded the Town of Oro Valley $3.5 million for the construction of the multi-use path along Naranja, from First Avenue to La Canada. The award was based on a town submission that received quick turnaround, according to Town Manager Mary Jacobs. These are federal funds. (Source: Manager Report To Council, Town of Oro Valley Council meeting, 9-21-22)

Fall Parks and Recreation Program Guide is available on line

"This seasonal guide includes details on Oro Valley’s 2022 fall break camp options (registration now open), as well as upcoming community events, activities, facility information and more." View the program online here or download a pdf version here.

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Bits and Pieces

Council approves video recording of board and commission meetings

This past Wednesday, The Oro Valley Town Council unanimously approved a motion by Council Member Bohen to video record all board and commission meetings. Currently, these meetings are audio recorded. They are difficult to follow when there are presentations being made. Thus, the need for video.  The motions increases governance transparency. It wa unanimously approved by all Council Members.

Town Manager Jacobs: Town's staff wellness program is robust"

"We have a extremely robust wellness program here and the Town of Oro Valley for employees and because we are self insured that’s particularly important so that we keep our employees out of the doctor keep them healthy and that ultimately saves taxpayer dollars so it all works out really well with regularly been recognized for outstanding wellness programs and we were notified that we received the official gold seal of good health keeping renewal awards so again we get it again and the employer resiliency recognition from the wellness council of Arizona and so will be receiving that award." (Source: Town Manager Mary Jacobs report to council at meeting of November 17, 2021)

Great holiday lights display for you to watch...

This year, as in past years, the home at the intersection of Landoran and Golf View Drive in Oro Valley has a simply lovely, fun display. It's hard to describe so we've included a video for you to enjoy. It's really something.

OV SafeSteps program wins PRSA IMPACT Award of Excellence

ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (Nov. 15, 2021) –– The Town of Oro Valley’s OV SafeSteps program has been recognized for exemplary professional skill, creativity and resourcefulness in public relations and communications by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for Southern Arizona.

 
On November 2, the program was awarded a PRSA IMPACT Award recognizing the highest standards in programs that successfully incorporate the four key elements of: research, planning, implementation, and evaluation and demonstrating the value these practices bring to communities. (Source: Town of Oro Valley Press Release)

Proposed Senior Care Facility at Stone Canyon is no more

"The Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement with Spectra Properties for the 51-acre Stone Canyon parcel has been terminated," according to the Stone Canyon Community Association letter of November 24. The project was for a "skilled care facility" and not a resort. In September, the Town's Board of Adjustment unanimously rejected an appeal of a zoning interpretation by Town Engineer Bayer Vella regarding building height. At that meeting, residents were complementary of Vella's detailed study of the matter as well as former Mayor Loomis' comments at the meeting. 

Oro Valley Municipal Golf: How does it compare?

One of ways to understand how well Oro Valley's 36-holes of municipal golf is doing is to compare its "rounds" results to another, reasonably close municipal course.  One of the challenges in doing this is that Oro Valley operates 36 holes of golf while a comparable course operates only 18. Another challenge is that the Oro Valley courses are not strictly comparable because Oro Valley's course has memberships. Member rounds account to 40% of total round played.  Other municipal courses have no memberships.

Considering these differences, we compared Oro Valley Municipal Golf results to that other course, focusing on total non member "played" rounds. For the four months ended October, the other course had 479 non member paid rounds per hole. The Oro Valley course had 323. So, in that regard, the Oro Valley courses are underperforming. 

On the other hand, Oro Valley is outperforming this other municipal course (561 to 479) if total rounds are considered.

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