The Solomon Chronicles. Part 3. Who funded Solomon’s 2016 Town Council campaign?

With the Town Council election on the horizon, LOVE will be presenting a series of articles entitled, “The Solomon Chronicles,” highlighting the abysmal record of Councilmember Steve Solomon who is running for re-election. This weekly series will highlight his 4-year record of incivility and his interdependent relationship with local developers. This series was written by a LOVE contributor and contains a synopsis of previous LOVE articles plus new information.
- - -

Solomon plays hide and seek with the voters
The following information was obtained from Solomon’s Campaign Finance Report covering the period from June 1 through August 18, 2016. Of note is that this report was due between August 19-26 and Solomon submitted it to the Town Clerk on the very last day at the very last minute…August 26th at 4:45 PM.

One can only assume that he was attempting to withhold this information from the public for as long as possible, knowing that local media would report on it and he didn’t want Oro Valley voters to know that his campaign was entirely funded by wealthy special interests.

Another indicator that he was trying to hide his donor funding came during the August 16, 2016 candidate forum when the candidates were asked how they financed their campaign. Rather than admitting that his campaign was funded by wealthy developers and builders, Solomon answered that his campaign was funded by people "who share my values."

 
Solomon’s 2016 Town Council election donations

HSL Properties                       $17,912.
Venture West                              1,000.
Peter Fasseas (Developer)         1,000.
Diamond Ventures                      1,900.
David Godlewski (SAHBA)            145.
Realtors of Arizona PAC             1,000.
SAHBA PAC                                  250.

TOTAL                                    $23,207.

Solomon received no campaign funds from Oro Valley residents

Of note is that only one contribution ($145.00) “technically” came from an Oro Valley resident, but this resident also happens to be the Director of the Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association. All other donations (totaling $23,000) came from individuals who do not even live in Oro Valley!

Questions to ponder
• Why did no Oro Valley residents contribute to Steve Solomon’s campaign?
• Why were developers and builders so driven to get him elected?
• Why was Solomon so compelled to keep his campaign donors hidden from voters?

NOTE: A $5000. donation from Jim and Vicki Click was included with the HSL donations because they have a cross-donating agreement with HSL on other matters.
- - -

The Solomon Chronicles: Part 4. “Conflict of Interest” will be published next Wednesday.

LOVE Exclusive: How Special Interests Can Corrupt Oro Valley Politicians

This is the first of a three part series on the influence of developer and contractor donations on Oro Valley politics
---
Satish Hiremath introduced big money fundraising in 2010
Satish Hiremath introduced Oro Valley to the power of money in small town elections in 2010, He funded his campaign at a level five times greater than his opponent. Hiremath raised more than $45,000:

$20,000 from personal loans, which his PAC later repaid

$13,000 from special interests contributors

$12,000 from family and individual contributors

Hiremath won the election by less that fifty votes.

2013: First time HSL donates to Hiremath campaign
Many more donation were to follow.

2012: End of Innocence
In 2012, Hiremath got a taste of developer money as Diamond Ventures entered the scene.

In 2013, HSL Properties jumped on board (panel right).

This was the beginning of the end of innocence in Oro Valley fund raising. What was once a very pleasant, peaceful community was about to become a Developer paradise. Every general plan amendment and just about every zoning change was approved by council from 2010 through 2018.

$59,300 in developer money bought the 2014 election
In 2014. Mayor Hiremath and incumbent council members Hornat, Snider and Waters practiced the big money campaign finance model. This time special interest contributors kicked in $59,300. This was a four fold increase from 2010.

2014 Donations to Hiremath Majority

The top five donors (panel left) pumped $59,300 into the campaign of the incumbents. This is 76% of all contributions from individuals.

They did this at a time when these donors had continuing business dealings with the town, dealings that required council approval.

Here's the big one....

August 2014: Hiremath extols concept of community center... HSL becomes a "community partner"
On August 7, 2014, during a 2014 candidate forum, Hiremath extolled the virtue of Oro Valley having a community center.

At that time, LOVE asked if Hiremath had an epiphany. Up to then, the only council member who had even mentioned the need for a community center was current council candidate, then council member Bill Garner.

We reported in 2013: "Council Member Bill Garner has been advocating for a community center for years. His calls have been ignored by the Majority-4. 'I've been investigating a public/private partnership that could put a community center at Steam Pump Ranch,'" 

Now, suddenly, a community center was Hiremath's idea.  According to Hiremath speaking at the forum: "I'm in dialogue with other community partners about maybe doing something of a community center." (Source: Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum) "

The HSL Community Center
The "other community partner" to whom Hiremath had referred was HSL Properties. HSL was negotiating the purchase of the El Conquistador Resort. They needed to shed the golf courses in order to make the deal financially advantageous for them. At the same time, they wanted to retain five-star resort status. This meant that they needed to be able to offer golf.  The deal they cut with the Town of Oro Valley gave them both.

What Hiremath did not say at that forum was that the "community center" was a clubhouse that served the El Conquistador Country Club, that  the country club was part of the deal and that the seller was his biggest campaign contributor. He also failed to share this salient information during LOVE's September interview with him.

The result of all of this was a 2015 Recall Election and even more special interest money. That's our story next time.
---

Guest View: Jack Stinnett ~ How Special Interests have influenced our Town Council elections

Just since 2014, developers and special interests have contributed a quarter of a million dollars to influence the elections of Oro Valley’s mayor and council. So far it has worked to allow their candidates to control our town and approve every developer requested General Plan amendment and rezoning.

Town Council decisions allowing rampant over-development is viewed by many as being a direct result of developers and special interest money buying our small town elections. Below is the sequence of events that has caused our town to fall prey to outside big money influence.

2010 Election
This was Hiremath’s first run for mayor and he funded his campaign at a level 5 times greater than his opponent. Hiremath raised over $45,000, (some from personal loans) and $13,000 from special interests. Despite this advantage, Hiremath won the 2010 election by only 30 votes. His campaign later repaid his personal and family loans.

2014 Election
In the 2014 election, Mayor Hiremath and Councilmembers Hornat, Snider, and Waters ran as a team who knew “what was best for Oro Valley.” Hiremath was opposed by Patrick Straney. Donald Bristow was the only opposing council candidate.

Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters had now learned the campaign finance model, as did the developer, builder, and real estate community. This time, special interests kicked in $59,000 (a four-fold increase from 2010) for a second term of their team who knew “what was best for Oro Valley."

The Top 5 Donors in the 2014 Election were: [click to enlarge]

The special interest funded candidates won re-election. Why was this unheard of level of Special Interest funding needed to fend off two first time candidates -- and two incumbent council candidates who were effectively running unopposed?

2015 Recall Election
In the 2015 Recall election of Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters, special interests once again contributed heavily to keep their council in office. Humberto Lopez (HSL Properties), the HSL Family trust, and HSL employee Omar Morales donated $24,000 to defend Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters against four recall opponents.

Through the October 15, 2015 campaign finance report, Mayor Hiremath alone had raised $104,000 and spent $101,323 to retain his office against challenger Patrick Straney. Despite Hiremath outspending Straney by 15 to 1, Hiremath won with only 51% of the vote.

2016 Council Election
In the 2016 election, candidates Rhonda Pina, Bill Rodman, and Steve Solomon defeated incumbents Zinkin, Garner, and Burns, effectively giving Mayor Hiremath a 7-0 council. Zinkin, Garner, and Burns had refused to accept donations from special interests and were heavily outspent as a result. Once again, the special interest funded challengers won the election.

The result of three special interest funded elections (2014-2015-2016)
During the period 2014 through 2016, special interests funded Mayor Hiremath and our six elected council members to create an unassailable 7-0 council majority. Since the new council took office in November 2016, over 90% of all decisions have been 7-0 votes, with many items agreed prior to council meetings by "consent agenda" and never discussed in public. Not one developer requested rezoning or General Plan amendment has been denied by the Oro Valley mayor and council.

The Top Donors to Mayor Hiremath and the current council from 2014 to 2016 were: [click to enlarge]

2018 Primary Election
Now running for a third term, Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters reported $61,580 in campaign contributions during the 2nd quarter reporting period [April 29 - June 30]. (Editor’s Note: Campaign Finance Reports through August 11th reveal that the incumbents raised an additional $35,581 since the June 30th reporting period.)

Further inspection reveals that over 90% of this amount came from developers, landowners, and other special interests expecting to do business with or in Oro Valley.

As of the June 30th reporting period, the incumbents raised less than $2,000 from Oro Valley residents. That’s not nearly enough to pay for the multiple glossy, multicolor mailers we have received, much less the multiple full page ads in the Explorer.

So when you receive all their promotional material, recognize that it is coming from special interest contributions to influence your vote to keep the status quo for them.

Let’s vote ‘em out.

Editor’s Note: For more information on the updated Campaign Finance Reports, please scroll down to read our Special Saturday Edition that you may have missed since we don’t normally publish on the weekends.

Town Council Election ~ Special Saturday Edition

Below are two charts showing the total amount of contributions from developers, landowners, and other special interests that were donated to the incumbents (Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters) in the 2018 Town Council election. 

If you want Town Council decisions to be based on your vision rather than the vision of wealthy developers, we urge you to vote for Joe Winfield for Mayor, and Melanie Barrett, Joyce Jones-Ivey, and Josh Nicolson for Town Council.  They have not accepted any special interest donations.

[Click to enlarge]

Source: Campaign Finance Reports -- Dr. Hiremath for Mayor, Vote Lou Waters for Oro Valley, Mary Snider for Oro Valley, Vote Joe Hornat

Challengers: "Special Interests Trying To Buy Oro Valley Election"

91% of incumbent contributions came from special interests
91% of campaign contributions to Mayor Hiremath and Council Members Water's Snider and Hornat have come from special interests, according to an August 23 press release of challengers Winfield, Barrett, Jones-Ivey and Nicholson.

Challengers contributions came from the public
"The incumbent’s campaigns have now accepted over $84,000 from groups, companies or individuals looking to influence the Oro Valley town elections," according to the release.

In contrast, challenger funding has come from more than 300 residents and their own pockets. They "...raised $29,311 from over 300 individual contributions from residents supporting their campaigns."

The special interests contributing to the incumbents' campaign include the "usual suspects": Developer HSL, the company that sold the failed El Conquistador Country Club to the town; and developer-landowner Kai family.  PAC's contributing include the Realtors of Arizona and the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association.

"Large campaign donations buy access, increase influence"
 ...the challengers note in their release. They assert that it is wrong to accept “Candidate contributions of this magnitude, from landowners, developers, and special interest groups over whom council can approve land re-zoning applications."

It may be wrong, but it is the way of Oro Valley elections when Hiremath, Snider, Waters and Hornat run.
In all of their four campaigns, they have always received the bulk of their campaign financing from special interests. Their actions on council, as documented over 8 years in LOVE, have demonstrated their preference in serving the needs of these donors.
---
Yesterday, LOVE reported that the incumbents are using this special interest money to employ the services of a California political consulting firm. Read on for more.

Bits and Pieces

More evidence of Special Interest Influence
Mayor Hiremath stated that the discussion to purchase the El Con Country Club and Golf Courses from Humberto Lopez/HSL Properties began in mid-2014. Town records reveal this to be true as the initial meeting took place on June 18, 2014.

However, what Hiremath never mentions is that just one month prior to that meeting and again one month after that meeting (the meetings that would set the stage for the Town’s $1 million dollar deal with HSL) Humberto Lopez/HSL Properties donated a total of $14,000 to the campaigns of Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters.

And they wonder why residents don’t believe their claim that special interest donations do not influence their decisions.

Another broken promise
In October 2015, Mayor Hiremath was quoted in the Explorer as stating:

“The upgrades for the (Community Center) buildings and golf courses will be paid for by a 0.5% increase in our sales tax rate. There is no borrowing involved so there would be no long-term debt. We are paying cash as we go.” [Oro Valley Recall Election Candidate Answers, Explorer, 10/21/15]

Fast-forward to the June 6, 2018 Town Council meeting:
Mayor Hiremath and the Town Council voted unanimously to bond for $6 million dollars in order to remodel the outdated Community Center and upgrade the aging golf course irrigation lines.

What happened to the upgrades being paid for with the half-cent sales tax increase? Looks like just another broken promise from Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters.

Incumbent Flyer Myths – It’s the Recession stupid
The incumbents (Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters) distributed a Myths vs. Facts flyer where they attempt to answer the so-called myths about their 8 years on council. We don’t have time to address all of their excuses, but this one was particularly amusing.

Myth: “This council is putting up too many homes too fast.”

Their Response: “From 2000-2010, the number of home permits issued was an average of 383 home permits per year. Since 2010, during this council’s tenure, the number of home building permits issued has been an average of only 182 per year (a 45% decrease).”

The Whole Truth: First of all, it’s disingenuous to compare a 10-year period with an 8-year period, but more importantly, they omitted the fact that the recession began in 2008 and continued through their first five years in office, 2010-2015. Homebuilders stopped building during the recession. The lack of new home permits during this time wasn’t because the incumbents were being selective with their approvals, it was because there were barely any developer applications to approve!

According to Town Finance Director, Stacey Lemos, Oro Valley was still feeling the results of the recession until around 2014-15. Quoting her from the June 6th budget discussions:

“The adopted budget amounts fluctuate (over the years) and not only reflect the impact of The Great Recession when we saw those budgets dip below $100M during FY 2011/12 through 2013/14, but we also see them start to rebound (in 2015) as the local construction activity started to gain speed in the single family and multi family housing markets.”

In a separate section of their “Myths” flyer, the incumbents admitted that their tenure took place “during Oro Valley’s worst recession in history.” This means that they knowingly included the low number of permits approved during The Great Recession in order to skew the calculations in their favor.

Town records reveal that in 2010 and 2011 (during the Recession) they approved only 50 and 47 single family home permits respectively…but by 2016 and 2017 they had approved 302 and 335 single family home permits respectively.

Town permit records do not yet show that in 2018, they also approved a total of 748 new “cluster homes” just in the LaCholla area. So while they claim that since taking office in 2010, their average is 182 home permits per year, that average jumps to 462 per year in the past three years. (302 + 335 + 748 = 1405 divided by 3 = 462)

Councilmember Mary Snider omits important details at El Con Forum
During the Candidate Forum held at the El Conquistador Hotel on July 31st, Councilmember Snider claimed that the proof that they listen to citizens regarding development proposals was that the Capella rezoning (west side of LaCholla between Naranja and Lambert) took three years to pass.

What she didn’t say was that the Major General Plan Amendments for this parcel were approved in May 2015 (after 9 months of negotiations with a citizens’ group in which Snider played no part) and that it was the applicant who chose to not come back to request the Rezoning until three years later in 2018.

Mayor Hiremath lies about “the simple things”
In the June 20th Explorer, Hiremath made this assertion about the challengers: “If they are willing to spread falsehoods to you about simple things, then you have to ask yourself what will they be willing to tell you on serious matters if elected?”

If you watched the Take Back OV video that we posted on Friday (Mayoral Fiction and Fantasy) you now know that while Mayor Hiremath claimed that, “It felt good to interact with the community while canvassing for signatures” and “we didn’t really get any negative feedback at all” (implying that he had done some serious door-to-door canvassing), a review of his petitions (public record) revealed that he collected only 20 signatures.

If he’s willing to spread falsehoods to you about simple things…

Councilmember Steve Solomon threatens three Oro Valley women. Part 1.

Over the past couple of months, LOVE has received information about three Oro Valley women who have received threats from Oro Valley Town Councilmember Steve Solomon. Part 1 will discuss the face-to-face threats that he made to two of these women. Part 2 will discuss the email threat that he made to a third woman.

In order to protect the privacy of the two women who were physically approached and who are currently weighing their options for dealing with this situation, LOVE is only going to report on what happened and not release the names of the “victims” at this time.

Solomon vs. the First Amendment
In all three cases, Solomon launched completely uncalled for and out-of-control attacks on all three women due to these women commenting that they believe that wealthy special interest campaign contributions to the current Town Council are influencing Council decisions in favor of these special interest donors. The women have a First Amendment right to state their opinions.

The public incidents
Accounts of these incidents included Solomon acting like a maniac with his face contorted and twisted up as he yelled verbally abusive comments and threatened to sue each woman for slander. He asserted that their comments equated to accusing him of the felony act of bribery. Of note is that no one has accused him or any other council member of doing anything illegal…just unethical.

Hence, we think Solomon doth protest too much. He sure isn’t acting like an innocent person. He’s acting like an animal whose been cornered.

Evidence of developer influence
All one has to do is to look at the Campaign Finance Reports from council elections in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018 and compare it with Town Council meeting minutes to see that the wealthy developer donors have been getting all of their General Plan Amendments and rezoning requests approved despite vocal opposition from numerous well-organized residents who have repeatedly presented valid and well-researched arguments before this Council.

In every single instance, the Council sides with the developers and builders who have funded their campaigns. How can it be that the residents are wrong every. single. time? The law of averages does not support this notion.

What other conclusion can a person draw than to believe that there is a symbiotic relationship between developers and builders who need the Town Council to approve their development proposals and Town Council members who need those special interest donations in order to fund their campaigns.

Solomon puts the “mean” in demeanor
These three women are not the only Oro Valley residents who have made this observation. Numerous Oro Valley residents have made the same comments in Letters to the Editor and also when speaking at Town Council meetings over the past few years.

Not once has any Town Council member felt the need to retaliate by verbally accosting any of these residents or threatening them with lawsuits…until now…until Steve Solomon…and he has chosen to threaten only the women, despite numerous men having made the same observations. We’ll leave it up to our readers to determine why that might be.

LOVE has previously warned Oro Valley residents that Steve Solomon did not have the demeanor to be a council member as we had already witnessed his bullying behavior during his prior brief stint on council from 2010 to 2012. He hasn’t changed and his brutish and bullying behavior appears to have only gotten worse.

How have other Council members handled the same allegations?
As stated above, no other Town Council member has felt the need to retaliate by verbally accosting any of these residents or threatening them with lawsuits. Whenever the topic of special interest donations has come up in the past, the incumbents brush it off by simply stating that the accusations are not true. The only Council member who attempted to defend himself, was Councilmember Joe Hornat who stated with civility that there is nothing in it for him to cater to these special interests. While we appreciate his civility in addressing the topic, we disagree with his conclusions.

An inter-dependent relationship
LOVE will now explain exactly what’s in it for the council members.

Example: Bruce the Builder donates $10,000 to your 2014 campaign because he believes that he can count on you to represent him and his financial interests. If he’s right, Bruce the Builder will recoup that $10,000 donation many times over.

The well-financed councilmembers then vote to approve every development proposal, General Plan Amendment, and rezoning that Bruce the Builder requests over the next four years, allowing him to spread his cookie-cutter homes all over the land. Bruce the Builder’s $10,000 donation served him so well that he will now donate another $10,000 to each of the incumbents 2018 re-election campaigns. Wash, rinse, repeat.

That’s what’s in it for the council members. If they do the bidding of the wealthy special interests who funded their first campaign, those wealthy special interests will continue to fund every campaign. It’s an inter-dependent relationship.

This would explain why it’s the same wealthy members of the development community who donate substantial sums to the incumbents every election season. It’s not rocket science.

We just wonder why Steve Solomon is the only one who was so threatened by these comments that he felt it necessary to verbally assault and threaten two women (one of whom is elderly).

This is what he does best?
LOVE would like to remind our readers of some of the assertions that Steve Solomon made when he was running for Town Council in 2016.

• I am running for Town Council to bring civility, professionalism, collaboration, and positive forward momentum back to our community and Town Government. [Explorer Newspaper, June 8, 2016]

• Practicing civility and finding common ground are what I do best. [Facebook page, Solomon for Oro Valley Town Council, July 29, 2016]

We’d say that Solomon needs more practice. Does verbally assaulting people and threatening them with lawsuits for engaging in their First Amendment rights sound like the actions of someone who practices civility?

Part 2 will be published later this week and will discuss the threat that Steve Solomon made in an email to another Oro Valley resident.

Incumbents being financed by wealthy special interests once again

Synopsis of Incumbents’ Campaign Finance Reports
Campaign Finance Reports through June 30th reveal that Mayor Hiremath and Councilmembers Hornat, Waters, and Snider have received a total of $61,580 in campaign contributions with $50,000 coming from developers, builders, land speculators, and others in the real estate industry.

Mayor Hiremath raised $21,430 in donations.

It’s worth noting that the incumbents have continued to solicit donations from developers and special interests despite knowing that over-development and special interest influence are the major issues that are angering Oro Valley residents.

LOVE readers will be familiar with “the usual suspects” who are once again the top contributors. These include Humberto Lopez/HSL Properties ($14,000), the Kai family ($20,000), and Jeff Grobstein, President of Meritage Homes ($4000).

As you will see in the charts at the end of this article, the top five donors contributed $46,500 accounting for a whopping 76% of the total contributions.

Mayoral challenger, Joe Winfield stated in a press release, “Special Interest influence on Oro Valley land use decisions is the major complaint I hear from voters. I thought the incumbents would reconsider relying on Special Interest money in this election in light of allegations of ‘Pay to Play’ by residents of the town.” Winfield further stated that the challengers promise to neither “seek nor accept contributions from special interests but will represent Oro Valley residents in our council decisions.”

Synopsis of Challengers’ Campaign Finance Reports
Joe Winfield, Melanie Barrett, Josh Nicolson, and Joyce Jones-Ivey raised a combined total of $28,397 and have done so without any special interest donations.

If elected, this ensures that all their decisions will be citizen-based and not influenced by wealthy benefactors. This will result in future developments adhering to the standards in the voter-approved General Plan and Town zoning codes rather than catering to the whims of developers.

Joe Winfield raised $13,687
     (plus an additional $5000 that Winfield donated to his own campaign for a total of $18,687).

A Comparison Study
56 Oro Valley residents contributed a total of $13,687 to Joe Winfield’s campaign.

Only 6 Oro Valley residents contributed a total of $475.00 to Mayor Hiremath’s campaign.
     (7 residents and $575.00 total if you count the $100 donation from Councilmember Rodman)

Here’s why the incumbents rely on special interest donations:
Only 6 Oro Valley residents contributed to Mayor Hiremath’s campaign.
Only 2 Oro Valley residents contributed to Lou Waters’ campaign.
Only 2 Oro Valley residents contributed to Joe Hornat’s campaign.
Only 4 Oro Valley residents contributed to Mary Snider’s campaign.

Meanwhile…
56 Oro Valley residents contributed to Joe Winfield’s campaign.
27 Oro Valley residents contributed to Melanie Barrett’s campaign.
17 Oro Valley residents contributed to Josh Nicholson’s campaign.
9 Oro Valley residents contributed to Joyce Jones-Ivey’s campaign.

[Click on the charts to enlarge]

A Message from Town Council Candidate, Melanie Barrett

It has been a pleasure over the course of this campaign to meet so many of you. Oro Valley has so many wonderful people. I look forward to continuing to build relationships with the citizens and to serve the people of our Town.

I am running with a team of wonderful people; Joe Winfield for Mayor, and Joyce Jones-Ivey and Josh Nicolson for Town Council. We are a diverse group of men and women of various ages, races, backgrounds, and even political ideologies, but we are like-minded when it comes to the moral obligation of government to serve the people.

We have a positive vision of Oro Valley as a place where citizens are respected and placed at the forefront of the government.

Special interests and Development
In the past few years the mayor and current council have accepted over $150,000 in campaign financing, all from 5 donors, all of whom are developers. They later vote on these developers’ projects (and buy and maintain money losing golf courses from them). This results in many 7-0 decisions in favor of developers, even when a large number of citizens object to these rezonings. Many people leave Town meetings feeling it was a "done-deal." Since the 2016 election, the council has approved all 14 rezonings that have come before them.

We would prefer moderate growth that is respectful of the community and the environment. Our beautiful natural desert and scarce water resources need to be carefully considered.

We are committed to putting the citizens back at the top of the Oro Valley Organizational Chart, and bringing back respect and transparency, as well as operating without ties to special interests. Our financing comes from ourselves, our families and friends, and the community.

My time on the Planning and Zoning Commission
I began my first year gaining my footing and trusting what I was told by town planners and other commission members who made strong arguments for the proposed developments. Over time, my perspective broadened and I began to realize that things were not as they appeared, and that residents’ voices were not being given enough consideration.

While on P&Z, I fought for parks, for view sheds, for the preservation of plants, and for lanes to be added for schools. I lobbied the planners and the council, fought to protect the “small town feeling” language in the General Plan, and added language about parks and recreation that met the needs of citizens of all ages.

I did vote in favor of many re-zonings that I knew would ultimately be approved by Council no matter what P&Z recommended. I did so in order to add conditions to improve the plan. One of the planners told me I had taken upon myself the role of “chief skeptic.”

In my last year as a P&Z Commissioner, I witnessed the following:

• Town Council ignoring the recommendations of the P&Z Commission if they recommended denial of a rezoning application

• Town Council eliminating the 4-year maximum term limit for P&Z commissioners in order to maintain pro-development votes

• Some of my concerns not being included in staff reports to Council

• Town Council removing conditions that I fought to have included in development proposals

This is when I realized that the only way to change the system was to change the Town Council itself.

Taxes and Fiscal responsibility
In the 8 years of Mayor Hiremath and council's tenure, the budget has grown 59%, though population growth has been around 8% and inflation around 12%. This growth rate is 5 times the rate of inflation.

Taxes have been raised significantly, with the sales tax being increased by 25% and the utility tax doubled. The current Town Council even supported a property tax which was voted down by the citizens. Too much taxpayer money is being funneled into the community center and golf, larger government, and the associated personnel.

The most recent FY 18/19 budget that the council passed in June included a $14M bond, paid over 20 years. The mayor and council claim to have a $1.3M budget surplus. I don’t know about you, but I don’t put $1,400 on my credit card, then look at my account with $130 left and say that I have a $130 surplus. This is akin to what is happening with the Town finances.

We would like to employ disciplined fiscal responsibility with our taxpayer dollars with an eye towards the long-term benefit of our community's future, keeping in mind what we are leaving for our children.

Parks and Recreation
Many of you know that the Town commissioned a statistically valid Parks and Recreation Survey in 2014 regarding amenities residents desired. Far at the top were Playgrounds, Ramadas, and Walking Paths. Out of 34 items, golf came in at 33 and with negative favorability (with 63% of respondents rating golf as “Not important.”)

Six months later, the Town Council voted to purchase a golf course in a deal with their biggest campaign donor, and since then have doubled down on that purchase, throwing good money after bad. We believe that parks and recreation should meet the needs of the greatest number of people and be truly designed for the citizens.

To me, the golf losses are about the opportunity lost. What could we have done with that money instead? To put the scale of losses into perspective, we have lost enough money on Golf to have constructed 57 new playgrounds, or 6 large splash pads (like the one in Marana), or any number of ball fields, but in 8 years the Town Council has not built any of these things.

The FY 2018/19 budget includes a 6 million dollar bond for golf and the community center improvements paid over 20 years, but no money or plans for Naranja Park or any playgrounds or ball fields. My children will be nearly my age before the Town is finished paying for this bond.

The Town Council now says it is “breaking even.” What they mean by this is that the Town has projected that the sales tax revenues will now be enough to cover the losses. This does not account for any capital improvement or the upcoming bond. This is not the definition that was given of breaking even when the purchase was proposed, and the courses are still costing $2.5M per year of your tax dollars, no matter how you manipulate the math.

We want to employ sensible, community driven strategies to stem the golf losses and direct the parks and recreation dollars where they can benefit all our residents.

I am running for Council because I love my Town and I want to make it a better place. It is a challenge – however, I feel deeply about doing what I can to make Oro Valley (and the world) a better place and about being the change I want to see in the world.

The Town Council election is held in the Primary on August 28th.

Read more about Melanie’s campaign issues HERE