Jeff Siegel, an Oro Valley resident makes a strong case why we need Mike Zinkin as Mayor of Oro Valley. Read Mr. Siegel's letter to The Explorer here.
Neither man for OV mayor is 'anti-growth'
Last week, Mayor Loomis was quoted as saying ''that one of the remaining mayoral candidates was "anti-growth." After reading and hearing about Zinkin and Hiremath, I do not believe either candidate is anti-growth.
However, there are stark differences between Zinkin and Hiremath. Mike Zinkin has League of Cities and Town training, twice attended the Citizen's Planning Institute, served on the Steam Pump Ranch Task Force, and was a member of a Capital Improvement Committee. Hiremath has done little to show he is qualified to be Mayor.
Zinkin is retired and knows the time it takes to be a mayor, and is available to Oro Valley 24/7. Hiremath appears to be in mid-career and can at best be a part-time mayor.
Mayor Loomis is correct, the differences are there. One candidate has town government experience, and the time to serve ... the other does not.
Thank you.
Jeff Siegel, Oro Valley
16 comments:
Well, the logic that Mr. Siegel uses,
"Zinkin is retired and knows the time it takes to be a mayor, and is available to Oro Valley 24/7. Hiremath appears to be in mid-career and can at best be a part-time mayor,"
suggests that neither Don Emmons (a full time vet) nor Matt Rabb (a full time attorney) can serve on the town council.
This business about who has or doesn't have to time to be mayor or serve on the council seems to defy logic.
Many on this blog and in the paper say that Hiremath is too busy with work and family to do the job adequately.
As I understand it, Councilman Garner has young children and works full time, yet he manages to devote adequate time to his council duties.
Barry Gillaspie works full-time as well.
Rabb's a lawyer who no doubt will remain busy with that job. I don't think it would preclude him from devoting the proper amount of time to council matters.
Furthermore, Don Emmons is a vet on call. Will he have the time to do the job, or will his on-call status preclude him from doing an adequate job?
It's certainly fair to criticize Hiremath and others on points of policy and their political views. But just because Mike Zinkin is retired, and presumably in the know on all things, doesn't mean he'll make a good mayor. He could work 24/7 and fail as miserably (not saying he would, of course) as if he devoted 20 hours to the job.
Perhaps, we should change the town charter and other laws to allow only retired persons or people willing to quit their careers to serve on the council and as mayor.
It's not a "full-time" job. If it needs to be, then town residents should pony up the cash to pay its elected officials accordingly.
Should we really be clamoring for "full-time" politicians in Oro Valley?
Jay D and John Martin point out the problem I see in this letter's rationale (AKA the blog's talking points).
The "time" argument is conveniently applied to candidates when it works to detract from Hiremath, but totally ignored when applied to other candidates and elected officials the blog supports (Emmons, Rabb, Garner).
The blogmasters never fail to entertain. It's like watching middle school students debate for class elections.
Perhaps there are those that are not familiar with the duties of the mayor. While the mayor has the same one vote as the other six council members, the job is more demanding.
One should be able to multi-task.
Mike Zinkin prov4ed he can do that during his career as an Air Traffic Controller, a most stressful occupation.
One should have the wherewithal to run a meeting.
Mike has the experience of doing just that as the past chairperson of the Development Review Board.
One should have full knowledge of Town Codes & our General Plan.
Mike has that as a graduate of the Oro Valley Citizen Planning Institute.
Both Mike and the other candidate are good, caring men with a desire to serve their community.
Mike has the knowledge and experience. The other candidate attended council meetings on the occasions that he requested funds to help subsidize GOVAC.
Which candidate do you believe is best qualifued to serve us?
You should vote accordingly.
Fair enough, Art. You made your case for Zinkin based on the fact that, in your view, he has the right kind of experience for the job.
But, based on that argument (Zinkin's knowledge of town codes and policies and previous service on the Development Review Board), then why stump so forcefully for Emmons? To my knowledge his only prior engagement with town issues before deciding to run for council was his participation/involvement with this blog. Hardly the record of an engaged citizen.
John--- I'll repeat your comment---"fair enough."
Knowledge & experience are ONLY one factor.
We look at the candidate's positions on issues as another major factor.
First, I'll briefly discuss Mike Zinkin vs. Satish Hiremath, and then answer your point about Dr. Don.
Fiscal responsibility jumps to the forefront. Mike Zinkin NEVER would have voted to raid our contingency fund as the two resigned members and two "lame ducks" did.
Hiremath actually endorses using those funds to balance the budget.
That would be like taking money out of an IRA to buy a 50" plasma TV. It's plain crazy.
Is it up to the Chamber of Commerce to determine what is best for OV, or is that decision left to our elected officials? We go with the latter, as does Mike.
There's plenty more, but let's leave it at that for now.
As for Dr. Don Emmons---he has absolutely no experience in town government, BUT is totally familiar with our General Plan and completed the OV Citizens Planning Institute course.
Having completed a eight year medical program in only six years, is proof that Dr. Don is quite intelligent. Might that not be a worthy attribute?
Bottom line is this. From my standpoint, the mayor's position requires more knowledge and experience.
A council person should exhibit a vast amount of basic common sense, and an awareness that you are elected by the people----NOT any Speciasl Interest Group.
Dr Don, and Matt Rabb both acknowledge these points. That is why we support them.
So, experience/knowledge/intelligence and the capacity to learn ... these at least are reasonable traits upon which to base one's support for a particular candidate. (I might also add temperament to this list). Now, perhaps others can abandon the folly of arguing "who has the time to serve" in favor of the aforementioned qualities of substance. Thanks, Art.
Thank you John. I always appreciate honest points of view agreeing or not---without personal attacks.
We may not agree on all issues, but I'm sure we can agree on that.
I might add that I agree with your addition of "temperament" to the mix.
However, I also believe the issue of allocating enough time to the position of mayor should also be a consideration.
In any case, thanks for your insight.
Art
Responding to Art's first posting:
"...requires more knowledge of town policy, past history and wherewithal to run a meeting" - that describes the candidate that is out of the race.
"... proved he can do the job under strssful conditions as his career as an Air Traffic Controller proved." How many years ago was that, Art? Come on, every job has stressful conditions. The only time the ATC skill might be needed is when those model airplaners show up with their planes and they need instructions.
Citizens Institute Class is an overview of functions of the town. No test is given or homework necessary to pass. Participants are given a certifiacte handed out by the mayor at the end of the institute. Anyone can attend multiple Citizens Planning Institutes. Art and others are making this out to be an absolute qualification. There might even be a current council memeber or Vice Mayor who hasn't graduated a CPI.
I've heard Mike run DRB meetings - he was rude and a bully to applicants such as Yokohoma, Chief Fink, Olive Garden, In and Out Burger and Walmart to name a few.
I've been checking into some of the information I've read and it
has been insteresting reading, researching and even listening to archived meetings on my own. My the things I am finding out.
John and Art,
You might want to add EQ to experience, knowledge, intelligence.
"Applied people skills or emotional intelligence in action" counts when electing a politician. All the intellectual know how and appropriate positions on issues don't guarantee that a Mayor can persuade others to consensus. The process needs EQ, leadership and respect for others.
Balancing the factors that air traffic controllers handle with its constant stress provides skills for life. He has worked under pressure.
Zinkin's committee members elected him as chairman. They acknowledged his ability by doing that. Zinkin learned about team play on the ball field. He knows to win a game, every player is needed for his special role. Zinkin knows how to be part of a team and its leader.
Jay D, Eleanore and John,
You nay say the reality of time contraints. Let me ask you this..if all Hiremath and Zinkin's qualifiers were equal, might your next question be how much time can each candidate dedicate to the role of Mayor to decide for whom you would vote?
Time is only one of Zinkin's many qualifiers.
I literally laughed while reading the rambling logic behind Artmarth's explanation for his ever-shifting reasoning for supporting his preferred candidates.
Apparently 'experience' is valued for Zinkin over Hiremath, but not for Emmons over others. 'Time' is important for Zinkin over Hiremath, but not for Emmons over the other council candidates.
Makes total sense...
My observation of Mike Zikin with the town employees is that he is rude and arrogant. He has great attributes but people skills, he has not which is a must for being mayor
Sorry, Mike Zinkin"
I favor Mike Zinkin for this most demanding job. He is well down the learning curve on his knowledge of the TOV-- its personnel, policies, procedures, etc. I do not want a mayor that needs 6 months of OJT (on the job training) before he can lead effectively. Mike is an effective leader-- I have seen it first hand-- while I am not sure that Satish is an effective leader.
I do like one of Satish's ideas--
be prepared to use the rainy day fund to meet needs. If the current and near-term future conditions do not represent a rainy day, I do not know what a rainy day is. I would hate to give up critical citizen needs while we sit with much excess money in our rainy day fund.
I am sure glad that Art once again pointed out how hard and stressful being an air traffic controller is.
As I recall a couple of weeks ago we had 5 year olds directing outbound traffic at a very busy airport.
Just a but of comic relief so you all don't get too lathered up!!!
THE TIME ISSUE IS A RED HERRING THROWN OUT BY DESPERATE FOLKS.
Also please note that if I decide to run again, Art just pointed out some of my qualifications as a five year member of the Planning and Zoning Commission to include one year as Vice-Chair and one year as the Chair.
Thanks, Art!!!!! :-) U gotta luv him.
OVOT,
Ho, hum...
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