Sun City Forum: The Bizarre Council Goals of Harry Greene

Insightful perspectives directly from the candidates 

At last week’s Sun City Candidate Forum, candidates shared their visions for a spot on the council. Today, we present current council member Mo Greene's thoughts. We will share the thoughts of other candidates in future weeks.

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Candidate Mo Greene's approach in his own words

"My approach to the town council job has really been tempered by these other life experiences. Being a doctor makes you see things differently. The ADA part I talked about. When I was playing tennis, seeing people who couldn't get around as well, that was an important thing."

Greene sees his approach in the creation of the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve

",,,when Rompsen been pulled away from the golf course up here, the residents, like yourselves, rallied. They said, we're not going to stand for this. We're going to keep this, We're not going to have our property values destroyed. And they, and the Conservancy, and eventually the town came together to say, we're going to turn this into a park. We're going to make it something absolutely special. And so that's what's happening. And in just a few more years, we will be able to look to that as a real gem in the south. Well, I think I've babbled on about long enough, so I'm really interested in your questions and what you have to say."

Editors Note: Council Member Greene's  only role in creating the Preserve was voting in favor of it.

Greene also painted a portrait of former
Police Chief Danny Sharp and gave it to him
at a council meeting in 2020

His approach includes giving people plaques and paintings

Realizing that he was babbling, Greene, in a most bizarre move, abruptly concluded his remarks by giving a plaque to Joy Newton, the Sun City Candidate Forum panel moderator. He said: "I'd like to close my remarks with what's on this plaque. It's from Edward Everett Hale, who is a person from the Boston area. 'I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I'm not going to refuse to do the something I can do.'" He turned to Newton and added, "I present this to Joy because she's that kind of person, and I'd like to ask for your support this fall."

Editors note: It appeared to us that Greene played some role in planning this forum. As we noted, Greene presented Newton a plaque; and at the end of the meeting, with an astonished Newton looking on, Greene closed the meeting. 

Greene's two main goals for the next four years are not related to local government

"I have two long term issues that I'm interested in. One is having a rail system from here to Phoenix and on to LA. And the second is to have sustainable water for the rest of our lives.... And I'm spending a lot of time looking at the desalinization and spending a lot of time talking to my friends, actually from Israel, who have helped flourish the desert in the south area around them. And it is possible. It's very expensive. It requires a lot of energy. But the water could be brought into the CAP water system. At which point we would have water for as long as we and our grandchildren would live." 

Greene advocatess for high density use of town's remaining undeveloped land

Six percent of the town is yet to be developed. At the Forum, when asked how this land should be used, Greene noted that that land should be used for high density housing. He states the following with no justification of fact. 

"We need senior housing. They don't need necessarily or we don't necessarily need big mansions. We need places where we can live and flourish. In the meantime, after that we need some long-term care facilities or congregate living spaces. On the end of that, we need some hospices and other places where people can go as we age. We need to really be careful and thoughtful about what we do." 

Greene does not challenge or perhaps understand information given him by staff

During his four years on the council, Greene has accepted information provided by staff without question. His inability or unwillingness to challenge information he gets was clear at the forum. In answering a question about housing needs in Oro Valley, Greene quoted numbers from the internet without understanding them. "Right now in Sun City there's 407 homes for sale. The average price is $317." When questioned, he said, "Not in Sun City? I got this off the internet, so it could be wrong." Simple logic should have told him that 25% of the homes in Sun City are not for sale and that $317 was probably $317,000.

LOVE's Thoughts: Even after four years on council, Greene has no idea of what the real issues are that Oro Valley is facing...but he is a really accomplished artist!

Taken all together, Greene’s thoughts are disconnected from the issues that face Oro Valley and the need for responsible government. His approach is focused more on personal anecdotes and broad visions than on practical solutions for the town’s current challenges. His ideas, like advocating for a rail system to Phoenix and desalinization projects, fall outside the scope of local governance. Moreover, his push for high-density housing development without substantial justification raises concerns about potential influences from his developer campaign contributors. But, as you can see from the panel above and from a 2014 LOVE article, Greene is a very accomplished artist.

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