Bits and Pieces

More evidence of Special Interest Influence
Mayor Hiremath stated that the discussion to purchase the El Con Country Club and Golf Courses from Humberto Lopez/HSL Properties began in mid-2014. Town records reveal this to be true as the initial meeting took place on June 18, 2014.

However, what Hiremath never mentions is that just one month prior to that meeting and again one month after that meeting (the meetings that would set the stage for the Town’s $1 million dollar deal with HSL) Humberto Lopez/HSL Properties donated a total of $14,000 to the campaigns of Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters.

And they wonder why residents don’t believe their claim that special interest donations do not influence their decisions.

Another broken promise
In October 2015, Mayor Hiremath was quoted in the Explorer as stating:

“The upgrades for the (Community Center) buildings and golf courses will be paid for by a 0.5% increase in our sales tax rate. There is no borrowing involved so there would be no long-term debt. We are paying cash as we go.” [Oro Valley Recall Election Candidate Answers, Explorer, 10/21/15]

Fast-forward to the June 6, 2018 Town Council meeting:
Mayor Hiremath and the Town Council voted unanimously to bond for $6 million dollars in order to remodel the outdated Community Center and upgrade the aging golf course irrigation lines.

What happened to the upgrades being paid for with the half-cent sales tax increase? Looks like just another broken promise from Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters.

Incumbent Flyer Myths – It’s the Recession stupid
The incumbents (Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters) distributed a Myths vs. Facts flyer where they attempt to answer the so-called myths about their 8 years on council. We don’t have time to address all of their excuses, but this one was particularly amusing.

Myth: “This council is putting up too many homes too fast.”

Their Response: “From 2000-2010, the number of home permits issued was an average of 383 home permits per year. Since 2010, during this council’s tenure, the number of home building permits issued has been an average of only 182 per year (a 45% decrease).”

The Whole Truth: First of all, it’s disingenuous to compare a 10-year period with an 8-year period, but more importantly, they omitted the fact that the recession began in 2008 and continued through their first five years in office, 2010-2015. Homebuilders stopped building during the recession. The lack of new home permits during this time wasn’t because the incumbents were being selective with their approvals, it was because there were barely any developer applications to approve!

According to Town Finance Director, Stacey Lemos, Oro Valley was still feeling the results of the recession until around 2014-15. Quoting her from the June 6th budget discussions:

“The adopted budget amounts fluctuate (over the years) and not only reflect the impact of The Great Recession when we saw those budgets dip below $100M during FY 2011/12 through 2013/14, but we also see them start to rebound (in 2015) as the local construction activity started to gain speed in the single family and multi family housing markets.”

In a separate section of their “Myths” flyer, the incumbents admitted that their tenure took place “during Oro Valley’s worst recession in history.” This means that they knowingly included the low number of permits approved during The Great Recession in order to skew the calculations in their favor.

Town records reveal that in 2010 and 2011 (during the Recession) they approved only 50 and 47 single family home permits respectively…but by 2016 and 2017 they had approved 302 and 335 single family home permits respectively.

Town permit records do not yet show that in 2018, they also approved a total of 748 new “cluster homes” just in the LaCholla area. So while they claim that since taking office in 2010, their average is 182 home permits per year, that average jumps to 462 per year in the past three years. (302 + 335 + 748 = 1405 divided by 3 = 462)

Councilmember Mary Snider omits important details at El Con Forum
During the Candidate Forum held at the El Conquistador Hotel on July 31st, Councilmember Snider claimed that the proof that they listen to citizens regarding development proposals was that the Capella rezoning (west side of LaCholla between Naranja and Lambert) took three years to pass.

What she didn’t say was that the Major General Plan Amendments for this parcel were approved in May 2015 (after 9 months of negotiations with a citizens’ group in which Snider played no part) and that it was the applicant who chose to not come back to request the Rezoning until three years later in 2018.

Mayor Hiremath lies about “the simple things”
In the June 20th Explorer, Hiremath made this assertion about the challengers: “If they are willing to spread falsehoods to you about simple things, then you have to ask yourself what will they be willing to tell you on serious matters if elected?”

If you watched the Take Back OV video that we posted on Friday (Mayoral Fiction and Fantasy) you now know that while Mayor Hiremath claimed that, “It felt good to interact with the community while canvassing for signatures” and “we didn’t really get any negative feedback at all” (implying that he had done some serious door-to-door canvassing), a review of his petitions (public record) revealed that he collected only 20 signatures.

If he’s willing to spread falsehoods to you about simple things…

Faust. An adaptation by Nombe Watanabe ~ A Sonoran Tragedy in 1 Act

A little satire to start your week.

Dramatis Personae:

Dr. Faust: A dentist in public service
Mephistopheles Lopez: The Devil
A Drum Section: The Town Council (with Don “the hit man” on congos)

Dr. Faust, recently elected mayor of a small Sonoran town, is quite pleased with himself. He has vanquished his foes, he has established his agenda, and he is self-assured of re-election and further success.

Knock, Knock.

Lopez: “It is I, Lopez, the builder.”

Mayor Faust: (under his breath) “Builder? More like destroyer of cactus.”
(Opens door) “Come in dear Lopez, what brings you to our fair town?”

Lopez: “Bad news, I fear, my hotel can no longer afford to support the playing fields for the game of Golf.”

Mayor Faust: “But your golf fields extend far into my town. What will happen to the property values of my voters…er…citizens who reside on these green fields?”

Lopez: “Death, desert dust, buffalo grass and all manner of varmints, including the dreaded Coyote.”

Mayor Faust: “But this is a disaster. I will never get re-elected if the center of my bailiwick is converted into a wasteland!”

Lopez: “Fear not, dear Doctor, I have a plan, a vision, something profitable to both of us.”

Mayor Faust: “Speak on Lopez, speak on.”

Lopez: “What is public service but a ceremonial toy. What thine eye shall see, Doctor, thy heart shall have. Your lands are wide and rich for exploitation. Grant me certain permits and I will help you maintain the green your voters desire. Gather your tame council, agree to purchase my failing golf course, support the green fields by increasing taxes on all citizens to keep these property values stable. I will rally my fellow builders to grant you and your henchmen campaign donations far in excess of what would be expected for such a one horse town. Apartments as far as the eye shall see, land which is zoned for 3 homes per acre shall be rezoned to 6 homes per acre. Be the land as chaste as was Penelope, as wise as Saba, or as beautiful as was bright Lucifer before his fall. All will be fodder for my bulldozer.”

Mayor Faust: (sotto voce) “Oh, such a bargain will truly consign my soul to hell.”

Lopez fade in with back up from the Drum Section:
(To the tune of Sympathy for the Devil)

Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
Give me some permits
Or I’ll lay your town to waste

Mayor Faust: “I guess I have to accept your bargain Lopez. I value my position more than my soul. Let us proceed.”

(Accepting his fate, he raps in hip hop style)

I am the mayor and I’m here to say
I like Oro Valley as long as I get my way
Give me donations and the permits will flow
Don’t like your zoning, I am the man to know…

So ends the tragedy.

(With apologies to Christopher Marlowe, J. W. von Goethe, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)

Guest View: Mike Zinkin ~ The impact of the HSL Contract

Town Council never reviewed the Community Center/Golf Courses Purchase Agreement
In December 2014, the negotiated purchase agreement between HSL (Humberto Lopez) and the Town was delegated to former Town Manager, Greg Caton. Former Town Attorney, Tobin Sidles, was also on the team. During the process, three council members (Bill Garner, Brendan Burns, and myself) requested that the Council have a chance to review the agreement prior to the closing of escrow.

The Council majority (Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters) did not think this was necessary because [paraphrasing], "We pay these people (Caton and Sidles) because of their expertise and who are we to interfere?" The agreement is a 585 page PDF file that appears to have been written entirely by the HSL team as it is heavily slanted in favor of the seller.

Below are excerpts from the self-serving contract:

Agreement: The Town can never manage golf because the agreement states that, "the Purchaser (Oro Valley) shall not terminate the Management Agreement unless…Troon is replaced with a professional national or regional golf management company with prior experience managing both municipal and resort courses."

Impact: The Town cannot reduce expenses by managing the golf courses themselves.

Agreement: The El Conquistador resort gets priority golf and tennis reservations.  "Resort owner and its hotel management agent shall be permitted to book reservations for the La Canada Course and at all tennis facilities for its hotel guests ....which allows the Resort owner to reserve golf and tennis for Resort guests on a priority basis (provided the booking is made at least two weeks in advance)."

Impact: The El Conquistador Resort gets priority tee times over golf members and outside players, even when resort guest rounds are comped. Golf Members are paying for resort guests to get priority tee times.  Taxpayers (you) are paying for other people to enjoy free golf!

Agreement: Remember when the Mayor (and others) used scare tactics to convince citizens that if the Town did not purchase this property, there was the potential for other development on the golf courses?  This is not true.  The agreement states: "The Resort Course and the La Canada Course shall be deed-restricted so that such courses are used as golf courses, open space, or recreational amenities, the Tennis Facilities for at least 28 courts shall be deed-restricted and may only be used and operated as tennis courses and related uses, if the Town ceases to operate the Canada Course or Tennis Facilities, then the Resort Owner shall have the right to lease such facilities from the Town for a 50-year term.” [$10,000 per year for 50 years.]

Impact: Residential and/or commercial development is not permitted on the Resort (Pusch Ridge) and La Canada course. A minimum of 28 tennis courts must remain in operation even if the Town is losing money on them.

Agreement: The agreement states that "as long as the Resort Property is used as a resort or hotel, at the election of the resort owner, the name of one or both of the two 18-hole Golf Courses SHALL contain the words "El Conquistador."

Impact: The Town must provide free advertising for the El Conquistador Resort.

Agreement: The agreement states that "if, at any time the Resort Course and or/La Canada Course become a discontinued Facility, and is utilized as open space or a recreational amenity instead of a Golf Course Facility, then, provided the Resort owner does not elect to enter into a Discontinued Facility Lease for all or any portion of such Discontinued Facility, the Town SHALL maintain, repair, and landscape such open space and/or recreational amenity, in a manner that controls dust, removes litter and debris, and landscapes and maintains the open space in a manner compatible with the operation of the Resort as a first class resort property."

Impact: If the Town discontinues the golf facilities, the Town is still obligated to pay for maintenance, repair, and landscaping of those grounds if the Resort does not exercise its option to lease the courses. The Town must continue to maintain the property for the holes south of Lambert even though it is not Town property and is owned by The Village of La Canada HOA.

A contract by HSL for HSL
It’s clear that this contract was written “by HSL for HSL” as everything in the contract is written to protect HSL. This is a legal document, signed by the former town manager. Hence, we are stuck with it.

Nice job, Mr. Caton, Mr. Sidles, and those four members of the Council who did not desire to review the Agreement prior to the close of escrow. Too bad the mayor and his cohorts did not desire to "get into the weeds.” During the last Council meeting that Mr. Caton attended as our Town Manager, the mayor stated that Mr. Caton "always hit it out of the park.” After reading this agreement, one might wonder -- for whose team was Mr. Caton playing? What happened to Oro Valley Residents being at the top of the Town of Oro Valley Organizational Chart?

The REVISED Town of Oro Valley Organizational Chart

REMINDER: Mark Your Calendars ~ Two Important Town Meetings This Week

Once again, we know that this is a busy time of year for many people but we hope that each of our readers will make an effort to attend at least one of these important meetings.

Tuesday, December 12th at 6 PM

Community Meeting – Town Council Chambers

Golf Courses Update

Special meeting with Town Manager, Mary Jacobs.

Ms. Jacobs will review the Golf Consultants’ recommendations (from the $50,000 Golf Consultants’ Report) and also where the Town currently stands in the process of evaluating golf operations. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions and offer feedback.

The final recommendation to Council will be presented in January 2018.

Wednesday, December 13th at 6 PM

Public Meeting/Neighborhood Meeting – Hilton El Conquistador

Proposed Development - Commercial/Senior Care/Apartments

25 acres located on the NE and SE corners of Oracle Road and El Conquistador Way
This project is located within the Oracle Road Scenic Corridor.

The applicant is proposing to rezone the property FROM single-family residential R1-144 (144,000 sf lots), Resort District and Technology Park TO Planned Area Development with an underlying zoning designation of Neighborhood Commercial.

NOTE: This property is owned by HSL Properties (Humberto Lopez, who infamously dumped the money losing golf courses on the town and who has donated almost $80,000 to the campaigns of all 7 current sitting council members.)

$15,730 to the 2014 Election campaigns of Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters
$25,750 to the 2015 Recall Election of Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters
$38,000 to the 2015 Election campaigns of Pina-Rodman-Solomon

Guest View: Mike Zinkin ~My thoughts on the results of the $50,000 National Golf Foundation Study

Below are direct quotes from the National Golf Foundation (NGF) Study contracted by the Town of Oro Valley to assess the Community Center Golf and Restaurant Operations

(1) "The overriding trends in the golf industry will present challenges to the Town of Oro Valley in continuing golf course operations. The total number of “core” golfers is declining and total spending on golf is declining along with them…NGF has also documented rapid inflation in expenses to operate golf facilities in this market, especially related to the cost of water for irrigation." (Page 24)

(2) "The City of Tucson’s public golf courses are down 25% in rounds and 19% in revenue since 2008, and other public golf courses report similar reductions…Hotel facilities are an important factor for feeding golfers to the ECGT [El Con Golf and Tennis] and ECGT will have to do more to accommodate hotel operators in the hopes of attracting a greater share of play." (Page 24)

(3) "As a whole, the ECGT and Pusch Ridge golf facilities combined to produce total top-line revenue of just over $2.9 million in 2016, the vast majority of which comes from golf fees, member dues and Food and Beverage sales. The on-site operating expenses at the facility totaled around $5.2 million…resulting in a roughly (-$2.3 million) loss on operations (excluding other necessary costs such as capital upgrades and new investment in infrastructure). (Page 25)

(4) “The Current financial condition is worse than most public sector golf operations in the U.S, where 67% of municipal golf course operations are able to cover on-site expenses, but not able to cover both on-site expenses and capital improvement costs (only about 33% can cover both)." (Page 25)

The Recommendations
The Study provides options to the Town outside of closing the total golf operation. I will focus on Option B and the Pusch Ridge conversion since the below quote indicates that this is what the study recommends.

“…the NGF sees a 27-hole facility at El Con Golf and a modified par-3 golf course (possibly 12 holes) at Pusch Ridge as a much better option for Oro Valley to provide a more sustainable golf facility for the longer term going forward.”

I expect that the Mayor and Council will go along with this since they never think for themselves and they will simply say, “We paid for this study so we should follow the recommendations.”

Option B
This involves a reconfiguration of the 36 holes at the Conquistador and Canada Courses. This would be reduced to 27 holes (three 9-hole courses). The cost of this modification is estimated to be $4,639,115 (Page 102)

All the holes south of Lambert would be removed causing a shock to the residents of "The Villages HOA" as they will now be totally responsible for the future of this acreage.

Pusch Ridge
The cost to convert the 9-hole Pusch Ridge course to a 12-hole, par-3 course, called the "Dirty Dozen,” is estimated to be $3,013,120. (Page 109)

The study mentions how the Pusch Ridge conversion would be an enhancement for the Hilton El Conquistador Resort. Do you think Humberto Lopez/HSL Properties is going to participate in the cost of this conversion? The study states that:

“HSL has indicated strong enthusiasm for the Dirty Dozen concept as a way to transform the existing course into something the resort can leverage as a must-play golf experience that will take less time, provide a truly unique one-of-a-kind golf experience in the region, and will fit a model where less resources and turf coverage are required to sustain the golf operation." (Page 64)

Double Trouble?
With these two options in place (Option B and Pusch Ridge) the Financial Analysis of Future Expected Performance reveals that even after spending $7,652,235 for improvements and upgrades, operating expenses are still expected to exceed revenues by approximately $1 million per year with no expectations of breaking even at Year-5 when the facility is still expected to lose $1,050,600. (From the 5-year projections chart on Page 81).

Although this loss will be offset by the $2,000,000+ in sales tax, keep in mind that there is NO discussion about the Community Center, other than the recommendation to contract the food and beverage operation. This is important to note because there will still be costs for continued capital improvements to the Community Center.

How about a Going-out-of-Business Sale?
The report states that closing the total golf operation will cost $80,000 to eliminate the Pusch Ridge course (Page 68), and about $3 million to close the remaining 36 holes (Page 67). In other words, by spending about $3.1 million, the Town can be out of the golf business. There would be a drastic reduction in employee costs, no need for cart leases, no more management fees, and utility expenses would be dramatically reduced.

The Town would still water, fertilize, and maintain the acreage in the summer, or they could just let the property return to its natural state. The $2+ million in sales tax revenue would more than cover this and the surplus dollars can go to improving the Community Center.

What do you think the odds are that this 7-member congregation will consider something reasonable, like cutting the Town’s losses (your losses) and moving on?

...............

Mike Zinkin 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. He was a commissioned ensign in the United States Navy Reserve in 1969. He worked as an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years. He and his wife moved to Oro Valley after retiring in 1998. Mike 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. During his time on council, he was named as one of 23 Leadership Fellows for the National League of Cities University, he was a member of the National League of Cities Steering Committee for Community and Economic Development, and a member of the Arizona League of Cities Budget and Economic Development Committee.

Reliable Sources Tell Us...

Employees at the El Con Hotel have been instructed never to charge Mr. Lopez (Humberto Lopez/HSL Properties) for his meals (after all he owns the hotel). The problem is that Mr. Lopez has been seen on more than one occasion dining and drinking with Mayor Hiremath and no bill has been presented to the mayor for his portion of the check. We wonder if the mayor is aware of the State Law prohibiting receiving gifts in excess of $25.00? Has the mayor broken the Law?
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Recently there was a meeting with senior staff personnel and a businessman who has expressed an interest in leasing the entire Food & Beverage portion of the Community Center. This would include the Overlook Restaurant and the golf course beverage carts. This businessman initially contacted Mayor Hiremath with his proposal but the mayor (Mr. Civility) never even gave him the courtesy of a response. Town “insiders” suggested that he circumvent the mayor and contact the town manager, the finance director, and the head of Parks and Recreation. Initial reports are that the meeting was very productive with the senior staff showing an interest in the proposal.