This Guest View will explain why I have become disappointed and disillusioned with the current Town Council.
Council on Your Corner events not being held as promised
When campaigning, the four members who are up for re-election all promised to hold “Council on Your Corner” events. This was because their opponents never interfaced with the public. Granted Covid has infringed on this promise, but how many times have you seen these Council members reach out to the public for comments? Unless you are with the Chamber of Commerce, or associated with development, they don’t extend any energy to ascertain what
you want.
They took office in late 2018. Covid was not an issue until early 2020. What was the reason that they never held a Council on Your Corner during their first 15 months in office? Council meetings are again being held in person, so what is the reason now?
Unanswered questions regarding the Community Center
In December 2021, I asked the Town Manager why there was no transfer of $120,000 from the Community Center Fund to the General Fund. She replied that due to the expanded use of the ½ cent sales tax revenues in the current budget, that the yearly $120,000 payback was no longer required.
That didn’t make any sense to me since the only way to discontinue the annual payback is to amend the original decision. Therefore, I sent the Council an email with a copy of the March 4, 2015 motion requiring the yearly payback to the General Fund.
MOTION: A motion was made by Vice Mayor Waters and seconded by Councilmember Snider to amend the FY 2014/15 adopted budget to transfer $1.2 million from General Fund contingency reserves to the new Community Center and Golf Fund and authorize the hiring of the Facility Manager position this fiscal year and to repay the loan to the General Fund contingency reserve fund over ten years.
MOTION carried, 4-0.
One Councilmember responded saying he would look into this. As of this moment, I have received nothing. Unless the current Council makes a policy to reverse the prior Council’s decision, the current Council is bound by the past Council’s decisions and the money
must be transferred.
Putting a spin on golf course “savings”
The only reason that golf losses have been “substantially lowered” is because this Council has taken $125,000 from local HOA’s for golf subsidies, and,
without any legislation, decided to no longer transfer the annual $120,000 back to the General fund, for a total of $245,000 in “savings.”
Not following Town Policies
In the recent past, two Council members attempted to amend a published agenda. Town Policy #11 instructs the Council on how to accomplish this, yet the Town Manager would not allow this to happen,
in direct opposition to the policy, and the Council let her get away with it.
Town Policy #9 instructs the Council liaison to the Amphi School District to meet quarterly, among other responsibilities. To date, the current liaison has never met with the District.
Delaying the closure of the Pusch Ridge Golf Course
Recently, there was some movement to designate the Pusch Ridge course as a discontinued golf facility. A couple of Council members were seriously considering putting this on the agenda. But something happened. Below is an excerpt from a message that I received from one of the Councilmembers:
“…have given hours of thought and consultation to rezoning Pusch Ridge and calling for its closure due to water concerns. I have concluded that now is not the time for that. The CAP multi-state conference is going to be held in 2024 and I want to get those conclusions.”
Pusch Ridge golf does not use CAP water because it is too expensive to pipe it up there, so what does a CAP conference have to do with the use of potable water at Pusch Ridge?
My conclusions
I feel that this Council has done very little for the Citizens. Yes, there are new trails, new irrigation for the golf courses, continuing upgrades at Naranja Park, and renovations to the Community Center building (which is still not ADA compliant after almost 7 years). Yes. They contributed an added $27 million to the public safety pension fund.
But will they tell you that they added $50,000,000 in bond debt to accomplish this?
Will they tell you that the Town Manager has been their only source for information, and that they accept her word even when it is contrary to Town policies and prior Council decisions?
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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.
