For us, the Community Center and it’s amenities are an important part of our active senior lifestyle and we dispute the notion posted by Mike Zinkin in a recent offering in LOVE. Zinkin said, “one might be impressed and think we are working ourselves out of this mess.” (You can read that article HERE)
What mess?
The original purchase of the El Conquistador property, valued at more than $26,000,000 for a mere $1M, provided immediate Community Center benefits not only for golfers, but includes swimming, tennis, pickleball, and fitness facilities for Oro Valley citizens. I question how long the Town would have taken, and at what cost, to construct to provide similar amenities.
In Mr. Zinkin’s article, he cites $94,231 in higher revenues in 2018, but neglects to mention the accounting loss of $284,306 in tennis revenue which is now being posted as monthly rental payments to the Town. Why not work towards solutions in lieu of the negative rhetoric with misleading information?
Articles by Mr. Zinkin, which cast gloom and doom, are having a negative impact on “membership and membership fees” per Troon’s report to the Council May 8th. Perhaps the negative bias reporting in LOVE is part of the problem, not a solution.
Oro Valley is seeing the impact of the closure of the Golf Club at Vistoso with at least one home sale cancellation, overall sales volume decreasing, lower property values, and ultimately lower tax revenues. Is Zinkin proposing repeating that mistake with the closure of additional courses?
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LOVE prides itself on making sure that posts are factually supported. As such, we have asked Mr. Sterritt to substantiate his finding of "lower property values" and "lower tax revenues" and that the home sale cancellation referenced in the article was due to the buyer discovering that the Vistoso Golf Club would be closing. We are awaiting his response and will update the information as it becomes available. We have also afforded Mike Zinkin an opportunity for a rebuttal if he wishes.
