Publisher Note: Items that are on the town council agenda matter because it is the only time that all members of council can talk about the item. It is also the only time that the council, generally through resolutions, can take action. The following is from a reader who asserts that town staff has acted improperly in regards to "allowing" items on the council agenda. We have not verified all of the assertions in what follows. If true, however, it most certainly paints a view of town staff not operating in the best interest of the town.
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August 18, 2021 Special Session Council Meeting: Town Staff refuses to place an item on the agenda.Prior to the August 18, 2020 Oro Valley Town Council Meeting, there was an attempt by some Council members to amend the agenda to include something like the following:
Discussion and possible action to designate the Pusch Ridge Course as a discontinued facility.
And that an agenda amendment had to go through the agenda committee.
Had this been on the agenda, the Pusch Ridge course likely would have been closed as I suspect that there would have been at least four votes to pass this item.
Claiming the need for 12-day notice
Claiming the need for 12-day notice
However, Town staff illegally kept this item off the agenda. The town staff told the requesting Council members that there was a requirement of giving a 12-day notice for agenda revisions.
This is not true
State Law requires only a 24-hour notice to amend an agenda.
This is also NOT TRUE.
Council Policy 11 (panel right) documents the procedures for Council Members to amend an agenda. It says only that Council Members must provide basic information relating to their request
Staff also said that they were waiting for the mayor’s approval
The Mayor's approval is not needed to add an item to the agenda according to Policy 11.
In total, all this is yet another example of decisions being decided by staff rather than by the elected Town Council
In total, all this is yet another example of decisions being decided by staff rather than by the elected Town Council
It is very unfortunate that the Council members had no idea of the existence of the Council Policies. These policies should have been handed to them during their first meeting with staff…but, for some reason, they were not.
Consequently, on September 8 Council approved taking money from the HOA's to support a golf course that may well have been closed
Item “G” on the September 8 Town Council Consent Agenda directed the Town Manager to enter into a financial agreement with the HOA’s surrounding the 9-hole Pusch Ridge course. This agreement authorized the Town to take $34,050 from the three HOA’s to assist in offsetting the costs of the course.
Consequently, on September 8 Council approved taking money from the HOA's to support a golf course that may well have been closed
Item “G” on the September 8 Town Council Consent Agenda directed the Town Manager to enter into a financial agreement with the HOA’s surrounding the 9-hole Pusch Ridge course. This agreement authorized the Town to take $34,050 from the three HOA’s to assist in offsetting the costs of the course.
Had the discussion item been on the agenda, it is likely that the property would have been designated as "discontinued" and the thousands of potable water that are used on this course save for important consumer use.
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