We thought our readers would like to compare what Mayor Hiremath said about the volunteer Development Review Board (and three others) and what he is prepared to say in front of many of his supporters at his first State Of The Town Speech.
What a paradox!
Concerning the DRB, fortunately, the mayor stood alone in wanting to "axe" the DRB, and was evidently convinced that a 7-0 vote to continue with it looked better than a 6-1 vote.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2010/09/08/news/doc4c86c238bf05c642117108.txt
As for the mayor's upcoming speech, he plans on saying how the various segments of the community, including government, seniors, environmentalists and businesses, can work together to make a successful town.
Sounds good, but when you exclude a large majority of the citizens, it's nothing more than rhetoric.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2010/09/08/news/doc4c86c2f682a5d850641408.txt
13 comments:
This is off topic, but I'd like to ask this question if I may--
Today I saw a "police car" from the OVPD. It was a Ford F-350 pick-up truck. Why does the OVPD need a pick-up truck? Why do they need an F-350? Why not the smaller, less expensive F-150 or F-250?
Palomino--- I too have seen this truck which would not be recognized as a police vehicle until the red & blue flashing lights appear.
Sorry I can't answer your question, but might surmise the chief feels it is more appropriate chasing down illegals or, perhaps those drivers exceeding the 45mph limit on Oracle rd or Tangerine rd.
Or maybe it was purchased utilizing discretionary seizure funds that the chief can spend as he sees fit.
Perhaps someone more enlightened can give a better response to your query. Maybe someone like Oro Valley's own Mary Davis.
My suggestion (to find out the facts) is to contact the police department and ask someone there. As always, it's important to go to the source to get accurate information.
Art,
The truck I saw WAS recognizable as an OVPD police vehicle. It had the same black and white design as the other OVPD vehicles and also had "OVPD" painted on the side door. It probably had OVPD painted on the front and back of the truck also, but I only saw the truck from the side as it was parked on the side of the road with a police officer sitting inside of it.
Jay,
Actually I expected you to know the answer to my question since you are a big advocate of the OVPD and always seem to "know" why they do whatever they do.
How can you be so certain that everything they do is legitimate?
If you ARE certain of this, then that means that you have an "in" with the police and therefore you should be able to answer my question -- Why does the OVPD need a Ford F-350 pick-up truck?
If you do not have an "in" with the police, then I must question why you are always so sure that they never do anything wrong.
Got your property tax stagement yet?
How about that Golder Ranch fire department tax!
What the @@@ are they doing with so much money?
Must have lotsa F 350 for THAT kind of money....
Palomino, I am confused why you think this blog would have the correct and accurate information about the OVPD police cars/trucks/needs/etc. If this is a concern of yours, why not call the police department and ask them? I am sure someone there would be happy to share some accurate information with you.
I have NO idea why they would need a truck, whether it's an F-350 or an F-150 or whatever. I stand by my suggestion that the place to get the correct information would be directly from the police department. Too often on this blog, I read comments from posters, concerned about some issue. Then more and more people comment about that issue, but not one person has gone to the source to find out the truth.
So let's say I went to the hospital today and saw them take a patient in for a CAT Scan...Why the heck would they do that, instead of the cheaper, less expensive x-ray option? Should I just assume that the hospital is wasting that patient's money? Should I post a question here on the blog about that? Or maybe, I should ask the staff at the hospital to get the correct answer!
Never do I suggest that I "know" why the police department does what it does. But I am a big supporter of the OVPD. I appreciate this police department, its response time, its service to the community, and the safety I feel living here! I have lived elsewhere and we should all feel lucky to have the Oro Valley Police Department!
Your conclusions are not logical. The fact that I support the police department does not mean that I have an "in" with them, nor does it mean that I can answer your questions! But if an issue was important to me, then I would call them and ask.
Sadly, I am afraid that people are often quick to jump to conclusions, assume the worst, and think something untoward is going on. It's a shame so many on this blog think that way!
Jay D
You recently commented to Palomino that:
“Palomino, I am confused why you think this blog would have the correct and accurate information about the OVPD police cars/trucks/needs/etc. If this is a concern of yours, why not call the police department and ask them? I am sure someone there would be happy to share some accurate information with you.”
Your comment makes common sense.
However, phoning someone directly to obtain information of any sort in any Town Department is a NO-NO with the Town Government. Unless you file a formal “Request for Information” with the town clerk you will not receive an answer. Also, unless the information is already there in some form of existing documentation, the Town does not need to create any new information for you. You can call the Town Attorney to verify those statements (assuming he will not require you to fill out a “Request for Information”). Remember that specific information must already exist!
I have called directly to many town employees asking for information dozens of times over the last six years. I always get the same answer from the Town employees. Fill out a “Request for Information” with the town clerk.
I recently left a phone voice mail with Stacy Lemos in Finance Department asking for a definition of the budget account number structure and this is the email I received.
Mr. Musolf,
I received your phone message earlier today requesting information about our chart of accounts and would be happy to provide that information to you. As you are aware, we need to track all public records requests through the Town Clerk’s office, so please complete a Request for Public Records form and submit it to our Town Clerk. Once received, I will email you our current chart of accounts.
Thank you and have a nice weekend,
Stacey Lemos, CPA
Interim Assistant Town Manager
Happy Phoning and Requesting!
John Musolf
Hey John--- How about if JayD asks the mayor to get him the info, and then the mayor goes to the employee and requests what JayD asked for.
What's the worst thing that could happen?
They couldn't/wouldn't fire the employee, would they?
Nah! Oro Valley doesn't operate that way----or do they???
Anybody wish to comment on THIS point?
Art
If I were the Mayor or Councilmember in your hypothetical case and Jay D asked me to get some information for him I certainly would not want the Mayor or Councilmember to approach any town employee directly to inquire about anything. Although the Town Code allows the Mayor or any Councilmember the ability to contact a Town employee for the purpose of inquiry there is a danger that the inquiry could be mistaken for giving orders to a subordinate of the Town Manager either publicly or privately.
In my opinion, this would not place a Town employee in danger of being fired. Oro Valley would never take this drastic an action.
Town Code 3-2, Item I. Council to Act Through Manager.
Except for the purpose of inquiry, the Council and its members shall deal with the administrative branch solely through the Manager, and neither the Council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the Manager either publicly or privately.
However, by Council action individual Council members may be assigned specific administrative duties. In such cases the Town Manager shall make provisions for the appropriate staff members to work with such Council members. Specific authority and responsibilities shall be defined by the Council. The Town Manager shall be kept informed regarding the administrative actions in the same manner as with any staff person and shall work with the Council member to prevent duplication of effort or conflict of responsibility.
John Musolf
Maybe Palomino's question regarding the F-350 pick-up truck was a rhetorical one. Maybe he/she didn't really expect a response. My point is that the blog is not the place to find out that information.
I have NO intention of calling the OVPD to ask about the truck because this is not important to me. (If an issue arose that I was concerned about, I would not hesitate in the least to make that phone call.) I would suggest that anyone who is concerned about the types of vehicles the police department drives, just call over there.
I understand that John does not feel as though he gets the responses he wants from the Town. But I do not think that calling the police department about a truck would be a difficult task. I suspect it's one that could result in an answer!
Art, as always, your sarcasm is helpful (not really) to encouraging good, intelligent,useful conversation.
Jay,
The reason I expected someone on this blog to have the information I requested is because this blog is about OV politics and there are many bloggers here who have first-hand information about such things because they work for the town or did so in the past.
There are people who work at the town hall who read this blog. Interestingly, from time to time, a blogger will ask a question and someone from town hall will post a message here and answer it. This is usually done when the original blogger has made a statement or an assumption that something is fishy at the town hall and someone from the town will respond to clear up the confusion.
But it's also interesting that there are other times when a blogger asks a very pointed question or makes an unflattering assumption, and no one from the town shows up to explain it away. I tend to believe that that's because the comment the blogger made was correct and no one from the town has any defense for it so they just ignore it and hope it will go away.
Jay, does it concern you at all that they purchased a very expensive F-350? Do you wonder why they didn't buy an F-150 or why they need a pick-up truck in the first place, or do you just assume, because you like/trust the OVPD so much, that the F-350 was absolutely the exact vehicle they needed?
You said -- "Sadly, I am afraid that people are often quick to jump to conclusions, assume the worst, and think something untoward is going on." I would say that it's also sad that some people trust the OVPD so much that they NEVER think anything untoward is going on.
I think it was Ronald Reagan who said something like -- "Trust...but verify."
Jay D
What is it about my comment to you about direct phone calls to Town Departments that I failed to communicate to you?
John Musolf comments:
“However, phoning someone directly to obtain information of any sort in any Town Department is a NO-NO with the Town Government. Unless you file a formal “Request for Information” with the town clerk you will not receive an answer. Also, unless the information is already there in some form of existing documentation, the Town does not need to create any new information for you. You can call the Town Attorney to verify those statements (assuming he will not require you to fill out a “Request for Information”). Remember that specific information must already exist!”
Jay D response to Blog:
“I have NO intention of calling the OVPD to ask about the truck because this is not important to me. (If an issue arose that I was concerned about, I would not hesitate in the least to make that phone call.) I would suggest that anyone who is concerned about the types of vehicles the police department drives, just call over there.”
“I understand that John does not feel as though he gets the responses he wants from the Town. But I do not think that calling the police department about a truck would be a difficult task. I suspect it's one that could result in an answer!”
John Musolf new comments to Jay D:
I do not feel as though I don’t get the responses that I am looking for from the Town. I was trying to communicate to you (Jay D) that calling any Town Department employee for any direct information is not a process allowed by Town Government. You must fill out a formal “Request for Information”. In the example I gave you (Jay D), I left a phone message for Stacy Lemos, Finance Director, for some simple accounting information. I received an email back from Stacy stating that I must fill out a “Request for Information” with the town clerk. I did file a “Request for Information” with the Town Clerk and because the accounting information already existed I received a reply with the appropriate information. This has been my repeated experience with Town employees.
I want to wish you all the luck in the world with your direct phone calls to any Town employees!
John Musolf
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