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Town Council Chambers Renovations
I inquired where the authority came from to spend over $620,000 to redo the Council chambers. In a recent communication from the Town, I was told that it came from the $5.3 million supplied by the Cares Act funding. I was also told that it was approved by Council and was in the FY 2020/21 adopted budget.
This appears to be a fabrication, as the FY 2020/21 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) allowed only for $105,000 for Council Chamber AV improvements and $55,000 for new furniture for a total of $160,000. There was no authorization to spend the Cares Act money for anything beyond that, yet Town Manager Mary Jacobs spent $620,000.
Wi-Fi installation at Naranja Park
The Council minutes of 5/18/22 show that there were three attempts to get staff to bring in a list of Naranja projects along with their associated costs but none of these motions were passed. Doesn’t the public deserve to know how their money is being spent?
I’ll say it again. The Town Council needs to take control of this Town back from Jacobs and the staff and stop the unauthorized spending, which is a direct violation of Town Policy 6.
Community Center Elevator
The Council minutes of 4/6/22 note a motion that passed 7-0 to “Ask town staff to bring us a proposal to add an elevator or appropriate technology to the existing building in the most cost effective way, while keeping the existing entrances, restaurant location and building functions, and make it a priority from existing Community Center funds and the $750,000 set aside for this purpose.”
This motion is 5 months old. What happened to the priority to add an elevator? It appears that unauthorized spending has taken precedence over authorized spending!
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Mike Zinkin and his wife have lived in Oro Valley since 1998. He served on the Oro Valley Development Review Board from 2005-2009, the Board of Adjustment from 2011-2012, and the Town Council from 2012-2016. He was named a Fellow for the National League of Cities. He was a member of the NLC Steering Committee for Community and Economic Development and a member of the Arizona League of Cities Budget and Economic Development Committee. He was an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years. Mike has a Bachelor’s degree in history and government from the University of Arizona and a Master’s degree in Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education from California State University, Northridge.
