Why Don't They Want A Study of the Oro Valley Police Budget?

The previous Oro Valley Town Council had approved an independent review of all town departments. Some of these reviews were completed. One resulted in combining several town departments into the Development and Infrastructure Department.

A study of two remaining departments, Parks and Recreation and the Police Department, were killed by the "Gang of Five" on the current council.  The Gang of Five, sans Lou Waters, is pictured at left, celebrating with Police Chief Sharp.  The Gang includes Steve Solomon, Mary Snider, Joe Hornat, Lou Waters and Satish Hiremath.  They were and in Solomon's case are endorsed by the Police Associations.

We still believe that an independent study of the Police Department's spending is imperative because the police budget is 48% of the total Oro Valley budget and because it is impossible for the "Gang Of Five" to be independent and make an unbiased budget decision when it comes to this department.

There are three Council Member seats in this primary election.  It is your opportunity to send a message to the "Gang of Five" by making it the "Gang of Four" and electing three members of Council (Burns, Garner and Zinkin) who will simply do the right thing when it comes to the Police Department's budget.

Here's where each candidate stands regarding having an independent study of the police department.  Our analysis is based on what the said at the Sun City Candidate Forum ten days ago.

All six candidates are proud of and pleased with the accomplishments of the the fine men and women of the Oro Valley Police Department.

The three candidates who are endorsed by the two Oro Valley Police Associations are against any independent study of the police department.

• Fred Narcaroti:  Fred is against an independent study.  He's not sure why. Frankly, Fred doesn't know much about the issues facing Oro Valley.
• Steve Solomon: Solomon is against an independent study.  Solomon alleges that Oro Valley has the finest police force in Arizona.  Solomon feels that the town should only do a study when something is wrong.  Solomon alleges that an outside consultant would not have the expertise to study our police department.  Solomon alleges that spending $50,000 on a study would be of no value.  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  Solomon's mind is closed on this issue.  Then again, Solomon's mind is closed on every issue!
• Mark Napier is against an independent study.  He feels that he has the experience and the ability to be independent of his friend, Police Chief Sharp; that Mark can provide an unbiased view of police spending and operations.  Our reaction: Good luck with that, Mark.  

The three candidates who are not endorsed by the two Oro Valley Police Associations believe that an independent study of the police department would bring benefits and could even strengthen the department:

• Brendan Burns believes that a study would bring benefit because it could prepare the town for the future, a future that holds promise of growth through commerce, development and annexation.
• Bill Garner is already on record as having identified opportunities to reduce spending and improve police operations.
• Mike Zinkin believes that any department that is almost half of the Oro Valley town budget should be independently assessed.

The lines of differentiation among the candidates are clear.

The position of the Police Department is clear.  They do not want an independent study of their spending and their operations.  Why does Chief Sharp fear, rather than welcome, an independent look.   Of what is he afraid?  We don't know.  There must be something.  An independent study would identify what that is.

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(Picture Source: http://www.solomonovcouncil.com/)

FYI: Election Procedures

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Seems to us the whenever there is an election, there is much talk about fraud and abuse.  Julie Bower, Oro Valley Town Clerk, is responsible for the intergrity of the upcoming town elections. In the interest of disclosure to all, we asked Julie to tell us of the procedures.  The following is Julie's response:
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"Hi, Richard

In response to your recent email - yes, the Oro Valley Council Primary and General Elections are my responsibility.  As you are probably aware, we coordinate our election through the Pima County Elections Department.  The Clerk’s Office will be observing the process throughout the election period.

Any member of the public is welcome to observe the County’s ballot counting center, not just those appointed by candidates.  There is a seating capacity so you might want to call prior to going to the center, located at 6550 S. Country Club Road.  The phone number is (520) 724-6830.  There is also a 24/7 live web feed of the counting center on the Pima County Elections website at http://www.pima.gov/elections/index.htm.  Click on “ELECTION RESULTS” and then “VIEW THE LIVE VIDEO FEED OF THE BALLOT COUNTING CENTER” to view online.  To find out when counting is going to take place, click on “ELECTION EVENTS SCHEDULE” on the main page.

The County does keep track of and reports the number of mail ballot envelopes processed each day during the election period for both the primary and general election. This information is available to the public on the same “ELECTION RESULTS” web page.  

Arizona state law allows the counting of mail ballots prior to Election Day, however the votes cannot be tallied and unofficial results released until after 7:01 p.m. on Election Day.  For the Oro Valley primary election, depending on the volume of ballots, the counting process will most likely begin on the Thursday or Friday before Election Day.

There is also an Election Integrity Commission whose purpose is to help improve the conduct of elections by examining the systems and processes behind them in order to improve the functioning of and public trust in the electoral process.  The Commission consists of ten members - one member appointed by each County Supervisor; one member appointed by the County Administrator; and one member appointed by each of the four political parties recognized by the Secretary of State.  Contact information for each member is available on the Pima County Elections website under the “LINKS” tab.

Thanks, Julie

Julie K. Bower, MMC
Town Clerk
11000 N. La Canada Dr.
Oro Valley, AZ 85737
520-229-4740
jbower@orovalleyaz.gov
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We followed this response with a question on who knows the election result and when they know it.  Here is Julie's response:
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"Because the Oro Valley elections are mail ballot only, unofficial results can be released at 7:01 p.m. on Election Day.  Therefore, neither I nor anyone else will be receiving any vote tallies prior to 7:01 p.m. on Election Day.  The County will post the unofficial results on the County’s Election Results webpage and will update the totals as necessary throughout the night.  Anyone who wants to obtain unofficial results should access the County’s Election Results webpage after 7:01 p.m. on Election Day."
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Let's Be Sure Local Elections Are Non Partisan

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We have learned, from a very reliable source, that one of the two major political parties is telephoning their "precinct captains", urging them to hold the party line and support certain candidates of their political persuasion.

On the local level, party affiliation and party thinking has nothing to do with what we all want to happen on the local level.

In Oro Valley it is not about the labels: Democrat, Republican, Liberal or Conservative.

It is about the quality of life we wish to pursue in Oro Valley.

• It is about whether we want a 34 foot apartment building blocking our view. 
• It is about whether we want the town to support welfare for business. 
• It is about whether half of the Oro Valley budget should be vigorously reviewed or simply left to exist because it is about "Public Safety".  
• It is about whether we want Developers to have their way with our General Plans, or PAD's, and our zoning codes. 
• It is about whether the citizens of Oro Valley should pay a $1 million premium to have a library that has an affiliate status.
• It is about fiscally conservative values, values that do not include an increase in our utility tax. 
• It is about fiscally conservative values that do not include code phrases like "A continuing source of revenue" when the the real term is "PROPERTY TAX."

Party affiliation means nothing at the local level.

Our mailing list, our bloggers, include liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.

Locally, we are all part of a great melting pot.

So if your Party calls to prevail upon you to vote for specific candidates, do, like I do. Tell them to focus on the national elections and stay the heck out of Oro Valley.

Then vote for the three candidates who best represent your beliefs and values in relation to how you want to live your life in Oro Valley.
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Meet Brendan Burns- Candidate for Oro Valley Town Council

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A week ago we posted on three citizen-centric candidates for Oro Valley Town Council: Brendan Burns, Bill Garner and Mike Zinkin.

Today, we want to tell you about Brendan.

"We love living in Oro Valley and want to make sure it continues to be a place that we can all be proud to call home."(Brendan Burns)

Here are some facts:

• Graduate of Notre Dame and University of Arizona Law School.
• Married to Allison, 9 years
• Three children, age 1, 3 and 5
• Major in the Army Reserves where he acts as the Senior Defense Counsel for Arizona
• Served active duty from 2004-2008 in the Army JAG Corps
• Joined Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP in March 2009 as a civil defense attorney, defending municipalities, professionals ( such as medical malpractice), businesses, and individuals.

(Click here to read Brandon's bio.)

More to follow...