The Arizona Daily Independent has a news report of this matter. Here is a link for you to read it. In addition, we have included the full text of Oro Valley's press release on the matter at the end of this posting.
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The Oro Valley Town Clerk, Julie Bower, rejected the petitions submitted by TOOTHINOV.ORG. So, the decision by the town council will stand. Oro Valley will purchase the El Conquistador Country Club.
According to the TOOTHINOV.ORG web site, TOOTHINOV.ORG is weighing legal options.
The rejection was based on the fact that the petitions did not include a reference number that the town assigns to filings.
Lamonna sought town review of the petition as it was designed before starting the petition process. The town advised her that it was not their role to provide legal advice.
As Lamonna related to us: "They told me all along that they could not give legal advice. While I have heard that some towns will confer with you if you take the petition in and ask them, Oro Valley is not one of them. They continue to refer you to the Secretary of State handbook for directions."
The reasons for the rejection were stated in a memo dated January 20 from Oro Valley clerk Bower to TOOTHINOV.ORG. These are:
"...none of the petition sheets contained the petition serial number. In addition, the following errors were also found:Regardless of the how this turns out, there are more than 3.100 registered Oro Valley voters who were sufficiently concerned about the purchase to sign the petition. This number is far more than the number that would be required to force a recall of any council member.
- Sheets not attached to a copy of the title and text of the measure
- Sheets containing a circulator's affidavit that is not completed or signed
- Sheets on which the affidavit of the circulator is not notarized, the notary's signature is missing, the notary's commission has expired or the notary's seal is not affixed
- Sheets on which the signatures of the circulator or the notary are dated earlier than the dates on which the electors signed the face of the petition sheet
- Sheets on which the circulator of the petition has not stated whether he is a paid or volunteer circulator (as required by ARS 19-101)"
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Text Oro Valley Press Release:
Petition for referendum do not comply with state law; number of signatures on second petition effort falls short of requirement
Oro Valley, Arizona (January 20, 2015) - After processing the petition sheets submitted to the Oro Valley Town Clerk on Thursday, January 15, 2015, by the T.O.O.T.H. in OV referendum committee, it has been determined that the petitions do not comply with state law, therefore, any signatures on them are invalidated.
The petition sought to refer to a ballot the December 17, 2014 Town Council decision to acquire the El Conquistador Country Club and its related amenities.
According to Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 19-111 (B), it is mandatory that the petition serial number appear in the lower right hand corner of both the front and back of the petition. The submitted petitions did not bear the assigned serial number. This provision was included as a requirement in the materials provided to the referendum committee.
Since serial number requirement is a matter of state law, the Town of Oro Valley does not have the authority to override that requirement. Numerous case laws make it clear that strict compliance with all statutes is required for a referendum. See Western Devcor, Inc. v. City of Scottsdale, 161 Ariz. 426, 814 P.2d 767 (1991); and numerous other cases.
Upon receipt of the January 15 petitions, the Town Clerk recognized and indicated that the documents did not contain the serial number. The following day, January 16, the same group of citizens filed an application for another referendum petition with similar language under the name of T.O.O.T.H. in OV 2, and gathered signatures to submit by the 5 p.m. deadline.
The T.O.O.T.H. in OV 2 petitions were submitted by deadline and processed by the Town Clerk's Office; however, the second set of petitions fell short of the minimum 1,148 signatures required.
As of 5 p.m. on Friday, January 16, 2015, the deadline to submit petitions has passed.
33 comments:
If memory serves, this is the THIRD TIME in 8 years that the town has refused to accept petitions because of some clerical error. First they refuse to inform you of the necessary information, then when you make a mistake, they are quick to point out the error so they can invalidate the petitions.
When Shirl handed in the petitions last Thursday, the town clerk looked at them for all of 3 seconds when she informed Shirl that the serial number was missing. How interesting that she zeroed in on that right away...kind of like she was expecting it to be missing, wouldn't you say?
Giving Shirl the serial number and then refusing to tell her where it needs to be shown on every petition was a set-up. The town sabotaged the effort, just like they always do. This repeated pattern is no coincidence. They don't want citizen input, they just want our money.
And her excuse that she couldn't tell Shirl where to write the serial number because she can't give legal advice is pure BS. That's not legal advice. It's giving instructions on how to complete and submit a form. If other towns can do this, then clearly it's not against the law to do so, therefore, Oro Valley can do it too! And if you feel that you don't have a legal obligation to do this...how about a moral one...an ethical one!
It is sad that the town probably knew all along that there was this mistake in the petition. Pathetic.
Really puzzled as to why the town doesn't offer assistance with matters such as a referendum.
Regardless......
This situation might have put a temporary muzzle on our voices, but that muzzle is very temporary, and our voices will now be heard louder than ever.
The fact I was approached by several neighbors to sign the petition, and these neighbors have never been involved in town politics was pretty amazing. The town of OV has awoken the silent majority, and this majority will not go back to sleep until justice is served!
I can assure you, they are told not to assist. Not to help in anyway. It is done intentionally.
I am hoping that everyone who signed the petitions will come to the meeting tonight to voice their opinions. It would really be interesting to see the Mayor and council walk through a crowd of 3,000 frustrated patrons to get to their thrones. Take 30 mins out of your day, come to the meeting OV and make a statement!
Ethics? HaHa, that's a good one!
When do the recall petitions come out? THEY'D better be right!
Ask to see the information packet that was given to the person who originally pulled the referendum petition paperwork at Town Hall. Maybe this is Shirl. Petition paperwork has many blanks, but the instructions provided to any petition puller clearly explain how the paperwork must be filled out. It very specifically describes what must be included on the petitions and where to write those details, including things like serial numbers.
It is not the duty or responsibility of any town clerk, regardless of location, to complete the paperwork for those interested in circulating the petitions. The onus and responsibility lies on the circulators. Those responsible should have read the instructions and could have completed one master petition, then used that one to copy and distribute to the signature gatherers. Obviously that didn't happen.
Blaming the town for this oversight on the part of the petition puller is wrong. One hundred percent of the responsibility of this error lies with the person who pulled the paperwork and distributed the petitions. Had there been the correct attention to detail (which is very clearly written in the packet), this would not have happened.
Who does the town clerk work for? WE pay her wages. She works for US. Maybe she should be fired for not doing her job!
Maybe you can explain how common sense prevailed in this situation. You know that a mistake was made in the processing of the paperwork which is why it was thrown out. So how does common sense play into this? Common sense didn't have anything to do with it. And it certainly isn't good news. Good news would be if this was able to run its course and let all residents of Oro Valley get all of the information needed and vote on this purchase. That would have been good news.
Troll alert!
I would expect nothing less from Furash, VC,Fear,etc.
Having recently been part of a movement that required signatures to be gathered, I am very familiar with the process. It is detailed, BUT thorougly explained in the paperwork presented to you when you pick up the paperwork. It is also very clear if you simply read the form.
Blaming everyone but yourselves is just one more example of how the LOVE collective works and is a textbook example of how you take a piece of really bad information and run blindly with it.
It is also refreshing to see some new posters that have some reason to their comments.
I empathize with those of you who clamored for more detailed information. But I understand why it wasn't available initially. I have sent an e-mail to Town management and urged them to present to the public, in an easy to read format, the entire financial picture to include the turnaround time to break even. Hopefully when you see this it will sway some of your thinking.
I am hopeful but not optimistic that it will.
One last piece of information, Town Clerks in the State of Arizona are bound by very strict guidelines when it comes to elections. In all elections they and only they, with the assistance of the Secretary of State, are to sole decider of record. The Town managment or elected officials have nothing to do with election results or findings.
As usual you miss the point, and the BIG picture.
The great part about the referendum was that this was not the end, but just the beginning of community involvement in the political process. Its about time the silent majority was heard , and these new voices are filled with passion and enthusiasm.
Let me state once again I was approached by several neighbors to sign the petition. These same neighbors are really angry that the referendum was denied because of paperwork errors, and want their voices heard. These same neighbors weren't upset about the Vestar situation years ago even though their homes overlook the OV Marketplace. I've never seen the citizens as ticked off as they are right now.
It's good news that over 3,000 citizens voices were silenced??!! I guess you don't believe in the democratic process. I wonder if you'll still feel that way when it's YOUR voice that is silenced.
Aren't you happy that you were allowed to post your VOICE on this blog? Clearly, you like having YOUR voice heard. Maybe Richard should banish you from this blog so you can get a taste of being silenced.
Where were you when the article appeared on this blog discussing the details of what's in the Troon contract? If there was even one comment in that article that you believed was NOT FACTUAL, you would have written a dissertation on it. It was so factual that you were silent.
This town seems to be taking instructions from the IRS.
Get the recall petitions out NOW!! Strike while the iron is hot!!
Just wait till you see the additional "Affordable" Care Act requirements on your 2014 IRS submission!!
I agree with Mr. T. Bass. We should not blame the town for the failure of the movement. Next time, when we cast the Mayor and his henchmen into the dust bin of history the paperwork will be correct.
I am also hopeful that the financial explanation which Mr. Bass has suggested is provided.
There is still the issue of the management contract which the town will sign with Troon, aka Satan, and the strong smell of sulfur wafting from the den where HSL plots yet another rip off at the tax payers expense.
I personally would like to thank all the fine people who destroyed the housing market back in the 2000's, making it impossible for me to move out of this burg.
AZ.....Your comment is the kind addressed by another poster to this blog. The Clerk did her job. Maybe you should vent on Lamonna and Arrett who failed miserably to check the petitions for errors. There were many and they were varied. Maybe you should read the list on this blog. It is my understanding many weren't signed by the circulator,some were signed by a notary whose license had expired, some were signed by a notary before the signatires were gathered, and so on.
We are after all a nation where we respect the law.....at least most of us do.
There is a fairly detailed list of FAQ that has been produced by TOV. Maybe Mr. Furash could see fit to post it here for all to read if he wanted to participate in a POSITIVE public service.
It made it possible for me to move INTO this burg.
Yes mistakes were made. However, it's the town clerk's job to assist residents with their needs. Paperwork can be confusing. I admit that mistake were made on both sides. Now let's get the next set going and get this done.
As a former Oro Valley resident, I check in from time to time to see what's going on. While there are valid points on both sides of the debate, one thing stands out to me: if the organizers of the referendum spent as much time dotting the i's and crossing the t's as they did in coming up with "clever" names such as TOOTH, they may have achieved their goal. Making it a personal vendetta against folks (in this case the Mayor, making reference to the fact that he is a dentist) is self-defeating, as this situation demonstrates.
It was satire. It was humor. People respond to that. There was no personal vendetta.
It's the same crap they fed us in the first place. Yeah, I read the other one, too.
And what information do you have to debunk it. Or do any facts and figures make a difference to you?
Sure D. How can you say it wasn't personal? That's a big part of this entire exercise.
THIS exercise was to put the vote on a referendum ballot. That's why we presented FACTS about the deal, the appraisal, the contract, etc. You know, those pesky facts that you couldn't argue?
A recall might become personal. You know all about recalls and how personal they get, don't you?
I wonder if the esteemed bully, Tucson Bass/Cox would like to share what number they were putting on the petitions on the drive he was associated with? Hint: It was NOT the correct number.
If it was not the correct number HOW WAS IT CORRECTED. Did he ask the Mayor for HELP.
It did not need to be corrected. They never turned the petitions in. It seems that in 120 days they did not get the required signatures.
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