Art Segal was a LOVE Cofounder. He worked tirelessly on LOVE from 2007 until 2016. LOVE is the product of many people. Not just me, the publisher. I want to recognize and thank them all. LOVE really is: “Of the people, by the people, and for the people.
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Hi Everybody,
Hopefully, there are still some Oro Valley folks that may remember
me. I'm Art Segal, a former resident who, along with my wife
Martha, left our beautiful home in La Reserve to relocate to SW
Florida in 2016. Time seems to go by so quickly, and we have vivid
recollections of moving into our new home in Oro Valley in 1993. At the time, Oro
Valley's population was approximately 14,000.
After 23 years of mostly good times, in July of 2016, we decided to
leave our friends and acquaintances and the home we really loved.
Some may ask, "if you loved the home and area so much, why would
you leave?" That's certainly a fair question, and l'll try to answer it
truthfully, and straight forward. It had nothing to do with the
glorious weather, or the fact that the population grew to be in
excess of 44,000.
What made us leave was seeing from a close up view what was
happening to our community. I wasn't a "political person," but as a
result of the local politics in Oro Valley, back around 2007 (if my
memory is accurate), Richard Furash and I started a blog we called
"The LOVE BLOG"-----an acronym for "Let Oro Valley Excel." Our
sole purpose was to give a voice to the people of Oro Valley, as----
our opinion, the big developers and the elites were running the
town----and getting away with it. We tried----mostly
unsuccessfully to get candidates that were "people first"
candidates elected as mayor and council members. Unfortunately,
the big money financially supported "their" candidates, and for the
most part, due to many uninformed folks that were apathetic,
things kept getting worse.
Some of the examples that made our decision to leave were the
subsidies given to the big developer out of Phoenix, Vestar to
develop the prime land on the corner of Oracle Road and Tangerine. We
understand that once the subsidies ended after 10 years Vestar
sold the property that was to be a "unique and upscale" shopping
center, to another big developer. The site hardly became what was
promised, and what it will become next----I don't know. Another example of the big developers "running the show"--
that was the final negative for our community and for me, was the purchase by
the then mayor and council of the El Conquistador golf courses and other amenities. I can't tell you how much that decision cost the Oro
Valley tax payers, but it was excessive.
So, that's a relatively short history of why we no longer are a
resident of such a beautiful location. Now, to the main point. I don't
how many of the folks living in Oro Valley appreciate the time and
effort that Richard Furash has given to the community for so many
years. While I tried my best, but ultimately gave up, Dick has
persevered and for the most part, has been a singular voice of
reason in his attempt to Let Oro Valley Excel.
There's still much to accomplish, but hopefully, enough Oro Valley
residents will elect only those candidates that are for the people.
Thank you Richard for your yeoman effort, that should make you very
proud.
My best to you, your family and the residents of Oro Valley.
Art Segal
