Last week we informed you of the filing of a recall effort on Council Member Mike Zinkin. Friday night, "KGUN9 On Your Side" broadcast on this.. You can watch it here. If your read our posting and listen to the KGUN9 piece you might wonder: What is this really about? Who is behind it? Why are they doing it?
In the interest of disclosure, we asked for and received a copy of the request for records by the wife of Mayor Hiremath's campaign treasurer. Her name is Jane Allan-Burge. She is a resident of Oro Valley, The request was dated August 30. 2013. It requested" "Any and all documents of complaints for any and all town employees including the mayor and council members in reference to behaviors since June 1, 2012. This is the date Council Members Burns, Garner and Zinkin were sworn in.
Who Is Complaining?
We have the response that Burge received. There is not a lot in this file. There's maybe 6 complaints regarding Zinkin. Who are they from?
- Kevin Mattocks, President of the Oro Valley Fraternal Order of Police
- Mayor Satish Hiremant (multiple complaints)
- Police Chief Daniel G. Sharp
- Council Member Mary Snider
- Town Manager Greg Caton
There were no complaints from citizens of Oro Valley.
There were no complaints from Oro Valley non police employees, except for Caton.
There were no complaints from Oro Valley non police employees, except for Caton.
What Are They Complaining About?
The simple answer to this question is: Not much.
Here is one example of the alleged "behavior unbecoming a public official" complaints from the materials that Jane Burge obtained:
In a January 20, 2013 letter to Town Attorney Tobin Sidles, Mayor Hiremath alleges that Mike Zinkin is a racist:. The Mayor offers no proof. It is simply a statement of what he thinks:
" ...I believe that council Zinkin and has an issue with race, including me. As of this date, I am the only East Indian Mayor in the country and I feel that I'm being racially discriminated against with the letters being submitted to the AG's office in addition to the above examples. I would like this duly noted." The letters to which the mayor refers our letter sent to the Attorney General (AG) alleging violations of the open meeting law by Mayor Hiremath."The mayor wrote this letter a week after he had confronted Zinkin regarding the violation that Zinkin had filed with the AG.
The other complaints relate to something that Council Member Zinkin is alleged to have said. They include the use of an alleged inappropriate word, the telling of an alleged inappropriate joke of Groucho Marx, and an alleged complement given an employee of Oro Valley.
We wrote previously in "OVPOA Goes To War On Mike Zinkin" about the threat that the OVPOA thinks that Zinkin is to public safety. Zinkin asked for overtime information.
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What We Think
We told the organizers of the 2011 attempted recall of council members Snider and Hornat that we would not support their effort. Yes. We agreed that both Snider and Hornat had reneged on a campaign pledge not to increase our taxes. Yes. We know that they did increase our taxes. Still, we felt that there was no compelling reason, no extraordinary circumstance to require a recall. After all, let's face it, politicians do break campaign promises.
We believe that the Zinkin recall effort has even less merit. Zinkin has not lied to us. He had done the job he said he was going to do. If Zinkin is guilty of anything it is that he told a well-known joke of a well know comedian that someone found offensive; and that in an attempt to be friendly, he may say something that is not "exactly politically correct" by today's standards. At best, these are not reasons for recall. At best, perhaps these are reasons Zinkin might consider sensitivity training.
So, what is the recall really all about? It is about politics. It is coming from Mayor Hiremath and the OVPOA.
Is it wrong for them to try to rob the citizens of Oro Valley of their vote by initiating a recall?
What do you think?
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26 comments:
Greetings All,
We have decided to enable comments on this situation.
Please do share your opinions. What do you think of this situation? Please do be respectful in your conversation with your fellow participants.
Please don't post comments that reference a specific person, even if it is positive. They will be removed.
Thanks,
Richard
" Much Ado About Nothing" sums up this desperate attempt to quiet a Council Member elected in a landslide vote.
Everything about this story reeks of personal vendettas at taxpayer expense.
Shame on Hiremath and any other elected official or public employee who is party to this charade. We pay their salaries and a special election would cost us even more.
If they can't behave in a civil fashion, perhaps Hiremath and Friends resignations are in order. Then Mr. Zinkin can continue to represent those who elected him in peace.
Richard...I am holding you to your 1st post.
Conny....Civil fashion???? This must be some other Conny. Funny!!!
The whole recall things makes me sick. It seems to be nothing more than a tactic used when their is disagreement. It is my guess that it will blow over and be forgotten by most.
Of a more serious concern to me is the effect it has on people that are seriously considering getting involved in community service, including running for office. You would have to think twice about it, I know I did and chose to put my time and talents to other uses
Chuck....I commend you for your brief entry into the election fray.I've been there and done that so I have a somewhat unique perspective.
This recall effort is not about "disagreement". It is about a basic skill in how to deal with other human beings. It is about documented instances when that has not occured. It is about sexual harassment.
How do you think the women who are members of the Oro Valley town staff feel when they have to interact with this individual?
And I suspect, as is the case in most of these cases, there is still more to come. We'll see.
Richard, could you please elaborate more clearly on the "maybe 6" complaints. What exactly were the complaints about? OVOT continues to post that sexual harassment was involved. So could you please inform all of us exactly what the complaints involved so that we all know. The sexual harassment needs to either be put to rest or known as fact. Thank you.
I agree with r u kidding me. I know of a councilman who has sexually harassed me on several occasions and it wasn't Zinkin!
It seems to me that the police run this town, take most of the budget, and seldom tell the truth. The latter comment is from personal experience! I know of a case where the police told outragous lies in Court to get a petition granted that was based on complete falsehoods!
Vistoso Val
Councilperson requests overtime data from the police department. Hey presto! Councilperson is now the subject of a recall.
Connect the dots.
R U Kidding and All,
The documents we received have no complaints of sexual harassment. The complaints are primarily about things that Mike Zinkin is alleged to have said and a joke he told.
We have chosen not to post these at this time because, in fairness to Mike, we would need to have him respond to each one of them. Otherwise, the complaint would be what one person complained about without hearing the other side. In addition, we would have to provide the entire context behind each instance.
We may well choose to do this at a later point.
We have just not chosen to do so at the moment.
Please be assured that we will provide the most factual information you will find on this very serious matter in a fair manner.
And, if there is something that is our opinion, we will duly note such and print it in italics.
Thanks for you patience. Thanks for participating in this dialogue.
Richard
Richard - are you trying to rewrite history? Have you forgotten what you said a little more than two years ago?
LOVE blog, 10/7/2013:
"We told the organizers of the 2011 attempted recall of council members Snider and Hornat that we would not support their effort. [...] Still, we felt that there was no compelling reason, no extraordinary circumstance to require a recall."
If anyone is in the mood for a hearty laugh, please use the search box to search for the term "recall" - here are some excerpts of what you'll find:
LOVE blog, 7/13/2011:
"Conny Culver, a former Oro Valley Council Member is spearheading the initiative to recall Joe Hornat & Mary Snider.
We support her efforts, and believe most Oro Valley voters would do likewise if they know what we know."
LOVE blog, 7/7/2011:
"The ONLY question is why ONLY Hornat & Snider are subject to a recall?"
LOVE blog, 7/1/2011:
"The PAC Oro Valley Recall.com gives more than enough reasons why we MUST RECALL HORNAT & SNIDER.
Please take a few minutes to read ---and then sign the recall petitions.
http://orovalleyrecall.com/ "
LOVE blog, 6/10/2011:
"As for the recall, the ONLY mistake was going after ONLY Hornat & Snider. Three more would have been better for Oro Valley."
There are many, many more comments like the ones I copied above. How DARE you suggest you did not support the efforts of the 2011 recall? Have you forgotten what you wrote two years ago?
OV Dad,
You are off topic.
However, I took over the blog in August of 2011. This is after those posting.
End of story.
Move on.
Richard
Richard, thank you for the clarification. It seems to me that the "official" public complaints against Mr. Zinkin do NOT involve sexual harassment. Maybe sexual harassment should be left out of further posts and official facts should be focused on.
This recall drive has nothing to do with Mr. Zinkin's personality or misplaced sense of humor.
This recall drive has everything to do with the hyper sensitive police union.
Only an organization with something to hide, would react to a normal management request for information in such an aggressive manner. What is the police union trying to conceal?
r u...........A quote from the Explorer article:
"Another document was from Oro Valley Police Chief Danny Sharp, from November 2012. Within the memo, Sharp stated that when Zinkin met a woman on his staff, Zinkin told her she was better to look at than another person. The employee did not want to file a formal complaint but wanted the town to know the statement made her feel uncomfortable. Sharp and the employee later agreed to report the incident to Town Manager Greg Caton. Caton then spoke with Zinkin about the comment. Zinkin initially did not consider his comment inappropriate, but later realized the issue.
Sharp was unavailable for comment.
There is another document saying Zinkin had used inappropriate language around a female employee on three separate occasions, which was filed in August 2012."
OVOT, Although I do appreciate you elaborating on your reason for referencing the sexual harassment. I will not just accept what a memo says without factual backup. The official public records request for complaints against Zinkin do NOT involve sexual harassment. Just because Sharp put it in a memo doesn't make it an official complaint, It really only constitutes as a rumor. Now if the person involved actually filed a complaint, then I would stand by it completely. But not because Sharp says so. That is not how things work. Believe it or not, I try to stand by facts, not posts and other opinions. I try my best to read the complaints, watch the news story, and come to my own conclusion. And in this case, my post is based strictly on the fact that the official public records request for the complaints against him do not involve sexual harassment.
It would be wonderful if Mr. Zinkin would let us know his side of this. The backstabbing going on under Mayor Hiremath is disgraceful. As a community, we should know the truth and act accordingly. No one is above the law, including the mayor.
Look at them! Red Herring, floating down the CDO wash like salmon swimming to spawn.
OVOT will not address the police union jihad against Mr. Zinkin or anyone who dares to question police management.
Do not be distracted by side issues! Follow the money. In this case, overtime money!!
OVOT aka: the Red Herring, continues to misdirect the thread.
The title of this thread is: " The Zinkin Recall: What is this Really About?"
It is about the police union and money.
OVOT, I understand what you are saying, I read the Explorer article. But I had asked specifically is any of these complaints involved sexual harassment. You can see from the posts that they do not. If sexual harassment complaints were made again Mr. Zinkin, then why weren't they supplied along with these complaints? I have not seen the complaints personally, nor have I heard them personally. Which is why I ask direct questions. I have to stand by what I said early on, if these complaints do not involve sexual harassment then it shouldn't be involved in this attack on him.
Greetings All,
I am closing commenting on this post. OVOT simply is printing whatever he pleases without regard to the rules I stated in the first posting. Stay on point. Do not comment on an individual.
Also, in my second posting I said that we may consider posting some of the other complaints if Council Member Zinkin has the opportunity to respond as part of the posting and the context of the comment is discussed.
Next Monday we may post some of these.
Richard
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