Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Straney and Bristow Seek To Unite Oro Valley

"What will you do to unite Oro Valley?" 

That question was put to the candidates at the Northwest Conservatives Forum on July 9.

Candidate Bristow summed up the feeling of many in the community.
"In my opinion there is discord. You can't have 3 council members very active in trying to recall another one, in the papers, out on the streets, and not have discord."  
Don also spoke of the need for respect for the opinions of others, respect that has been lacking in the council: "When you are discussing issues you do not attack people, you discuss the issues." Don would like to be sure in his tenure as council person to get the best opinions of all 7 members of council.

Candidate Straney observed: "I like energetic discussion... I seek alternate opinions. When people feel strongly... you need to do the hard job of listening."

It is not possible to fix a problem if you deny there is a problem. the Majority-4 deny that Oro Valley is a divided community.  Here is where they stand:

Hornat: "I don't think there is discord."
Council Member Hornat supports his position with information on council votes.  During the tenure of this council, there have been "..15, votes out of 158 votes that were 4-3 votes;  99 of them were 7-0 votes."  He feels that the council has aired their differences very well.

Hornat, as we previously reported, was gathering recall signatures at Fry's in Oracle in the last days of the recall effort when he was supposed to be at a meeting a Securaplane.  Hornat is also one of the 2 individuals on council who attack, rather than discuss issues.

Mayor Hiremath: I did it because it was right
Mayor Hiremath led the failed Zinkin recall effort. He did not answer the question as to how he would bring Oro Valley together.  Perhaps, he simply does not care to or think there is as need to bring the community together.  Rather, Hiremath lectured that it was his job to enforce the rules and that's what he was doing when he led the recall of Council Member Zinkin.

Council Member Snider: If someone is still offended "... all we need to do is talk about it."
Council Member Snider thinks that "I think the recall issue is over."  This from a council person who was still talking about the recall on February 24, a month after it failed.  She gave a speech at council on how "offended" she was by alleged remarks.

Council Member Waters: "Theres nothing wrong with disagreement,"
Council Member Waters asserted that "It is untrue that sitting Council Members organized any recall." Water's role in the recall was to advise the other members of the Majority-4 on how to "make the recall personal." Thus, Snider's Februry 24 remarks.
---
Watch the video of the candidate responses.  Tell us which candidates are best qualified to bring Oro Valley together.
---

4 comments:

Richard Furash, MBA said...

Hornat doesn't think there is discord because, as he sees it, most votes were 7-0 and only 15 of them were 4-3 votes. He leaves out the fact that the 7-0 votes were on simple issues and agenda items that weren't up for public hearing. On the BIG issues, where numerous residents spoke during the Call to Audience, the majority-4 votes were always pro-business, pro-developer and pro-Town employees, NEVER pro-citizen.

Re-electing these four will only bring more of the same. As Hornat said during his newspaper interview: "You may not like everything we're doing, but at least you know what you are going to get. We're consistent."

Yes, they're consistently bad for the people!

If you want the citizens to have a voice, elect Don Bristow and Pat Straney and ONLY them.

Richard Furash, MBA said...

Waters claims, "It is untrue that sitting council members organized any recall." Giving advice on how best to run the recall in e-mail chains with others involved in the recall is part of organizing. Collecting signatures for the recall is part of organizing.

Richard Furash, MBA said...

An example of a 4-3 vote on a contentious issue was the June 19, 2013 vote that allowed the Chief of Police to continue reporting to the council rather than to the Town Manager.

Richard Furash, MBA said...

Oro Valley is not a dentist's chair - Very different perspectives