Reflecting on 25 Years: Oro Valley's Mayoral Roundtable

25 years of leadership on display
The Oro Valley Historical Society (OVHS) hosted a roundtable last week with three mayors: Paul Loomis, Satish Hiremath, and Joe Winfield. Collectively, their time in office spans the last 25 years of the town’s 50-year history. The roundtable was the third of four special events hosted by OVHS in celebration of Oro Valley’s 50th anniversary. Oro Valley historian Jim Williams moderated the event. Loomis served in office from 1998-2010; Hiremath from 2010-2018; and Winfield from 2018 to the present.

Accomplishments of which they are most proud
Asked about the things they are most proud of accomplishing during their term, Loomis spoke of infrastructure development, including roadways, bridges, and water systems, as well as fostering regional cooperation with neighboring towns. He also highlighted commercial developments and stabilizing town policies, notably transitioning the employee retirement system.

Hiremath highlighted his administration's focus on creating a holistic community environment conducive to living, working, and playing. Key achievements included attracting the state's first veterinary school, facilitating innovation park development, annexations, cultural investments like Tohono Chul, economic growth through private investments, and initiatives supporting veterans, education, and safety. He also mentioned community programs like the Dark House Program and various recreational and educational developments.

Winfield emphasized accomplishments achieved through collective efforts, including hiring key personnel like Chief Riley and Judge Hazel, addressing the police pension shortfall, investing in parks, creating the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve, and facilitating mixed-use development.

Things they would have done differently
Loomis discussed two unfinished annexations, particularly one involving Arroyo Grande, land north of Oro Valley up to the Pima County line, which was put on hold due to changes in state administration. He also stressed the need for better public education regarding town regulations and processes, suggesting that increased awareness could lead to less controversy surrounding council decisions.

Hiremath admitted to shortcomings in messaging during his term, particularly regarding misconceptions about projects such as the community center. He acknowledged a failure to effectively defend these initiatives against public scrutiny, highlighting the importance of transparent communication to counteract misinformation and foster understanding among residents.

Winfield focussed on things he wished the town hand done differently. He felt that decisions early in the town's history, which placed responsibility for parks on homeowner associations, may not have been in the best interest of residents. That decision resulted in smaller parks and poor trail connectivity.

Citizen involvement matters
The three mayors characterized citizen involvement as helping to foster a vibrant and inclusive community.

Loomis noted that new ideas and alternatives are often presented by residents. He noted a common challenge: Public engagement tends to occur late in the decision-making process, making it difficult to incorporate changes. He lamented that negativity tends to overshadow positive accomplishments, urging for a more balanced perspective.

Hiremath emphasizes the importance of considering all residents' viewpoints, even if they are single-issue focused. He underscored the necessity for council members to prioritize the broader community's interests over individual preferences.

Winfield encourages continued engagement, particularly in the formulation of the general plan, which serves as a blueprint for the town's future. He urged residents to voice their opinions and contribute to shaping Oro Valley's trajectory through platforms like ovpathforward.com.

Three Mayors…. Three different impacts
The roundtable showcased 25 years of collective leadership in Oro Valley. Each put their mark on the community. Oro Valley expanded its infrastructure under Paul Loomis, bolstered its economic base under Satish Hiremath, and, under Winfield’s current leadership, has further developed its parks and recreational system.

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Guest View: Mike Zinkin – Oops! She did it again.

 

Past Violations
In previous LOVE articles, I discussed the problem with Town Manager, Mary Jacobs, disregarding established Town Policies. I specifically discussed her violations of Town Policy #6 and Town Policy #11.

Recent Violation: State Statute requiring 24 hours’ notice of meetings
The Council Meeting agenda for the May 18, 2022 meeting was amended. However, the amended agenda was not posted within 24 hours of the meeting in accordance with State Law.
The open meeting law requires at least 24 hours’ notice of meetings to the members of the public body and the general public. A.R.S. § 38-431.02(C). Notice must be posted on the public body’s website, unless otherwise permitted by statute.

Notice must also be posted at any other electronic or physical locations identified in the disclosure statement and by giving additional notice as is reasonable and practicable. A.R.S. § 38-431.02(A)(1) through (4).

“Clerical Error” or just more negligence?
When this was brought to the attention of Town Manager, Mary Jacobs, her response was that the Council was notified within 24 hours. Although this is true -- the Council was emailed about the amended agenda at 5:52 PM on May 17, 2022 (8 minutes shy of the required notice) --the public was not notified until 7:58 AM on the day of the meeting (just 10 hours before the meeting) in violation of State Law. She blamed it on a “clerical error.”

A pattern of behavior
The primary problem is that Ms. Jacobs continues to violate Town Policies (and now State Law). But the secondary problem is that the Mayor/Council are allowing her to do this without reprimand. It appears that instead of Mayor Winfield and the Town Council managing Mary Jacobs, that Jacobs is managing them. Again, I ask, when will this stop?

How about a non-binding raise?
Additionally, Ms. Jacobs has advised the Council that they are not bound by past Council motions/decisions. As a result, the yearly $120,000 payback from the Community Center Fund to the General Fund (as promised and mandated by the Hiremath Council in 2015) is not binding. Funny how the Town never told us this in 2015 when this “promise” was made.

But, hey, if previous council decisions are not binding, does this mean that the $20,000 raise that the Hiremath Council gave Ms. Jacobs is not binding and can be withdrawn as well?

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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

Guest View-Art Segal: A View of Oro Valley From A Distance

Art Segal was a LOVE Cofounder. He worked tirelessly on LOVE from 2007 until 2016.  LOVE is the product of many people. Not just me, the publisher. I want to recognize and thank them all.  LOVE really is: “Of the people, by the people, and for the people.

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Hi Everybody,

Hopefully, there are still some Oro Valley folks that may remember me. I'm Art Segal, a former resident who, along with my wife Martha, left our beautiful home in La Reserve to relocate to SW Florida in 2016. Time seems to go by so quickly, and we have vivid recollections of moving into our new home in Oro Valley in 1993. At the time, Oro Valley's population was approximately 14,000.

After 23 years of mostly good times, in July of 2016, we decided to leave our friends and acquaintances and the home we really loved. Some may ask, "if you loved the home and area so much, why would you leave?" That's certainly a fair question, and l'll try to answer it truthfully, and straight forward. It had nothing to do with the glorious weather, or the fact that the population grew to be in excess of 44,000.

What made us leave was seeing from a close up view what was happening to our community. I wasn't a "political person," but as a result of the local politics in Oro Valley, back around 2007 (if my memory is accurate), Richard Furash and I started a blog we called "The LOVE BLOG"-----an acronym for "Let Oro Valley Excel." Our sole purpose was to give a voice to the people of Oro Valley, as---- our opinion, the big developers and the elites were running the town----and getting away with it. We tried----mostly unsuccessfully to get candidates that were "people first" candidates elected as mayor and council members. Unfortunately, the big money financially supported "their" candidates, and for the most part, due to many uninformed folks that were apathetic, things kept getting worse.

Some of the examples that made our decision to leave were the subsidies given to the big developer out of Phoenix, Vestar to develop the prime land on the corner of Oracle Road and Tangerine. We understand that once the subsidies ended after 10 years Vestar sold the property that was to be a "unique and upscale" shopping center, to another big developer. The site hardly became what was promised, and what it will become next----I don't know. Another example of the big developers "running the show"-- that was the final negative for our community and for me, was the purchase by the then mayor and council of the El Conquistador golf courses and other amenities. I can't tell you how much that decision cost the Oro Valley tax payers, but it was excessive.

So, that's a relatively short history of why we no longer are a resident of such a beautiful location. Now, to the main point. I don't how many of the folks living in Oro Valley appreciate the time and effort that Richard Furash has given to the community for so many years. While I tried my best, but ultimately gave up, Dick has persevered and for the most part, has been a singular voice of reason in his attempt to Let Oro Valley Excel.

 There's still much to accomplish, but hopefully, enough Oro Valley residents will elect only those candidates that are for the people. Thank you Richard for your yeoman effort, that should make you very proud.

My best to you, your family and the residents of Oro Valley.

Art Segal

Publisher's View: Say "No" To The Kai-Capri General Plan Amendment

The same old story...

We’ve seen a “ton” of general plan amendment requests during our 27 years of living in Oro Valley. Almost every request has passed. Almost every request was justified based on two factors: An increase in economic activity and the need for a change based on the petitioner’s perception of market demand.

Once again

Tonight, the Oro Valley Town Council will consider and then vote on the proposed Kai-Capri General Plan Amendment, an amendment that will convert commercial property to residential property. The request is being justified using the same old basis: The change will bring more people to Oro Valley and, thus, will add to economic activity; and the market really does want apartments, or casitas, or small homes or whatever the developer wants to put on the property… but not that for which it is planned and zoned… commercial use.

 

Failed "rooftops strategy"

Yes. More people do mean more economic activity. Yes. They will generate more sales and utility tax revenue for the town. But at what cost? More rooftops do not add to quality job growth. More rooftops do not bring the kind of high quality businesses the town wants. More rooftops do not add to our "small town feel."

That was why former Mayor Hiremath's “rooftops strategy” failed. Instead of attracting quality employers, more rooftops lead to more traffic on Oracle Road as people commuted to work. Retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Big 5 closed up shop. Empty storefronts remained empty. Many still are empty. Just look at the Oro Valley Marketplace. All this happened while town population grew 10%. No. A bigger population is not going to save stores like World Market that are going to die anyway.

Market demand is always shifting back and forth

The second argument, a shift in market demand, is equally specious. The real estate market is always shifting. Residential is hot today because people are nesting in place due to the pandemic. Commercial is not hot because “people are nesting in place due to the pandemic.” A year from now it could all turnaround. And it likely will.

Two controls residents have over what happens in Oro Valley. 

One is the General Plan.

The General Plan is the vision of what residents want the town to be. The town spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to create it. Residents spent a million combined hours working on it. It took two years. It was overwhelmingly approved by the vote of the people in 2016. That plan includes a land use map that specifies how each area of the town will be used. The Kai-Capri property is designated for “commercial use.” It is ideal for commercial use. Unless there is some egregious error in this land designation, and there is not , there is no pressing need, no council imperative to turn over the will of the people.

The other is who residents elect to council

There is only one other way residents can control the future of the town. That way is by electing people to council who will uphold the general plan, protecting the wishes of the people as expressed in that plan. The residents elected those people in 2018, tossing out a Hiremath led majority that never rejected a general plan amendment. That council’s behavior was outrageous. That council approved two general plan amendments to the current general plan before the State ratified the election approval vote. To them, the general plan was merely a guide to be ignored as they wished. And they did ignore the plan countless times.

The will of the people as expressed in the general plan should over ride the will of a developer and town staff

It does not matter that town staff thinks that the plan should be approved because they think that it satisfies the five criteria for general plan amendment approval. That is their judgment. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the five criteria. A handful of unelected town staff members and a landowner should not be allowed to overrule the will of the people. The new majority, led by Mayor Winfield, and newly elected council person Tim Bohen, promised to uphold the general plan. We expect them to do that tonight by rejecting the Kai-Capri request. It is the right thing for them to do. 

Our message to council: Just say “No”.

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Town Council Directs Staff To Better Reflect Towns Needs In Parks and Recreation Master Plan

Plan must reflect resident needs

Last Wednesday, The Oro Valley Town Council directed town staff to better reflect resident needs in the Parks and Recreation Conceptual Master plan. That plan is being developed by PROS Consulting.  Council noted that the conceptual plan  does not properly match the priorities of the community. 

The town developed these priorities after five months of community input gathering by PROS Consulting. They gathered information from community meetings, an input survey and a statistically valid online survey. 

High Priority "Trails and Conservation Areas" ignored in plan

Council Members Barrett and Bohen observed that the conceptual plan relied too heavily on comparisons of what Oro Valley has to overall national statistics; and that it did not adequately reflect what residents said they want. In particular, high priority items, such as trails and open space were generally ignored while low priority items such as basketball courts were emphasized.

Even more astounding is that the conceptual plan has no facilities for the town north of Tangerine. Yet, 40% of Oro Valley residents live in there. 

Winfield : The plan must emphasize resident defined top priority items 

Speaking at length, Mayor Winfield expressed disappointment that the community needs were not reflected in the conceptual plan. Referencing the needs assessment: “With that community input we are going to pivot. It’s going to be included. I am confident of that. I agree. The rankings are critical foundational information to the development of the master plan.” Community input "...simply can not be ignored…. We are going to give greater emphasis to those three priority items.” 

Winfield: North of Tangerine needs a community park

Speaking specifically to the residents north of Tangerine, Winfield observed that PROS equity mapping of facilities has clearly shown the need for a community park north of Tangerine… a park of 10 to 75 acres.  "I believe that the master plan should reflect that need.” 

Winfield's approach to Oro Valley Parks Planning is resident, not commerce focussed

Winfield’s comments are one of those times that clearly differentiate the Winfield Council from the Hiremath Council. 

Hiremath’s goal was to use Parks and Recreation facilities for sports tourism and to focus on building facilities for younger families. The emphasis on attracting younger families was part of his failed “rooftops strategy.” 

Winfield, on the other hand, is focussed on the needs of those who live in the community now and who will likely want to live here in the future. A multi use trail will not bring thousands of people into Oro Valley to spend their money; but it will bring happiness to those who live here.

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Guest View: Mike Zinkin ~ More General Fund money for the “Turn-Key” operation

The budget for FY 2020/21 has passed and the stench of the Hiremath regime still permeates the air. The Chamber of Commerce still gets $40,000, Sun Corridor still gets $10,000, Visit Tucson still gets over $200,000, there is $10,000 for employee service awards (an average of $300/employee), the Children’s Museum still gets $75,000, and there is over $2.9 million for outside services. All this in a period when our revenue stream is uncertain due to the pandemic.

Pay-as-you-go?
There is $1.1 million budgeted for golf course irrigation improvements. Awhile back, the Council voted that all improvements to the golf courses would proceed on a “pay as you go” model. We have over 5 years of history on the performance of the Community Center Fund (CCF) and it has never had a positive balance of $1 million. In fact, according to page 6 of the Town Manager’s Recommended Budget, the CCF is forecasted to end the 2021 budget with a deficit of $214,212.

The approved budget also allows for $750,000 to be spent toward ADA compliance of the Community Center. (ADA upgrades were supposed to have been completed by FY 2018/19 according to the rosy projections and promises of the Hiremath council.  See below.) 

From the Town's December 2014 Power Point Presentation

I asked the Town where all this money was coming from. The Town confirmed to me that the $1.1 million for the irrigation project was coming from the CCF. But can we be confident that the Town Manager will respect the Council wishes of pay-as-you-go and not spend the $1.1 million unless and until the CCF has the money as a positive balance? Are you confident that this will happen?

A Capital Fund Smokescreen
When I inquired where the funding was coming from for the $750,000 to correct ADA issues, the Town replied that it was coming from the Capital Fund. I believed this response to be a smokescreen so I continued the conversation and inquired, “What is the difference between the Capital Fund and the General Fund?” The Town responded: “Generally speaking, in most instances projects budgeted in the Capital Fund can be assumed to be funded with General Fund resources. Exceptions would be projects that have associated grant or intergovernmental funding or outside contributions associated with them.”

$3.3 million in General Fund withdrawals for a “turn-key” operation
Remember, we have already withdrawn $1 million from the General Fund in 2014 to purchase the property, another $1.2 million in 2015 to initiate the CCF, another $350,000 in 2017 to supplement the CCF, and now an additional $750,000 in 2020 for ADA upgrades for the Hiremath “turn-key” Community Center.. This adds up to $3.3 million in General Fund withdrawals for this purchase (of which only $360,000 has been returned back to the General Fund -- despite a promise from the Hiremath council to have paid back $600,000 by May 2020).

And don’t forget that between 2015-2020, you have also donated over $10 million of your sales tax dollars towards this “turn-key” operation.

And the Hiremath stench continues.

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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.

The Watchdog Report: Community Center Financials, April 2020

The trends are still disappointing
The April financials are posted and, once again, the trend is not going the way the Hiremath/Solomon/Rodman crew had predicted. Through April 2020, the Community Center Fund (CCF) has a positive balance of $512,009. However, that’s $257,736 less than the same time last year when the CCF had a positive balance of $769,745.

Of the $512,009 balance, the Town still has not funded $79,407 of budgeted capital improvements. The Town is now forecasting that the CCF will end the fiscal year with a loss of $17,223. This is the same fund that is proposed to fund $800,000 in capital improvements in FY 2020/21. Where is that $800,000 going to come from?

Troon Golf lost more this April than last April
Troon lost $42,184 more in April 2020 than they did in April 2019. This is remarkable considering that the Crooked Tree Golf Course was closed in April 2020. The Arizona Daily Star ran an article on how the Covid pandemic was a boon for Tucson golf. Apparently, the players that had been golfing at Crooked Tree decided to utilize Tucson City courses rather than the Oro Valley courses.

In April 2020, there were 909 fewer non-member rounds of play than in April 2019. To further illustrate my point, another golf course within 5 miles of the Oro Valley courses had 6,834 rounds of non-member play on 18 holes, while the Oro Valley courses had 2,684 non-member rounds on 45 holes. Do you see a trend here?

Golf member dues and HOA contributions are not enough
The golf members (all 260 of them) have contributed $908,967 towards their private course. If you add the additional $125,000 contribution from the HOA’s along the golf courses, there still is not enough money to fully support an 18-hole golf course.

The 36-hole “pay as you go” option is not working. The revenue produced by the members and the HOA’s is not nearly enough. The revenue trends are going in the wrong direction.

Hiremath’s pie-in-the-sky predictions were wrong
YOUR sales tax support was $2,148,164 through April 2020 which is $114,788 more than the same time frame in 2019, yet the Town is still forecasting that the CCF will end the fiscal year (ends June 30th) with a $17,223 deficit.

That means that this investment will NOT earn a profit (or even break even) after 5 years as promised by former Mayor Hiremath during the December 17, 2014 council meeting when he said:

“We’re telling you that in the first two years, we’re going to lose major money on it, but…in year 4 or 5 or 6 are we going to project a profit? You’re darn right we are.”

Gee, if only someone had tried to warn him.  It must be those darn "headwinds."  Wink-wink.

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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.

Summary: Oro Valley Town Council Special Session – July 24, 2019 – Part 4. Town Council closing remarks on Golf Course Options

Along with the Town Council’s closing remarks, this article also reveals the appalling behavior of a very vocal and disrespectful minority who appear to think that they are the only ones who should have a say in this matter.

After Mayor Winfield respectfully and quietly listened to the residents speeches for 3 hours, when it was finally his turn to speak, he was met with residents talking over him, laughing at comments with which they disagreed, booing, and some rudely getting up and walking out while he was speaking. Some residents were even yelling at him on their way out the door. Someone placed a “Recall” sign in the lobby for residents to see as they were leaving the meeting.

Why is this disrespectful behavior noteworthy?
For 8 years we suffered through a bloviating mayor (Satish Hiremath) who was consistently disrespectful and rude to the citizens. A mayor who placed his wants and the wants of his wealthy campaign donors over the wants of the people. That’s how we got stuck with 45-holes of golf that nobody ever requested, because he made “a deal” for the town to purchase them from Humberto Lopez, one of Hiremath’s biggest financial supporters.

It took 8 years, but Oro Valley voters were finally fed up with being treated like second-class citizens, and in August 2018, they replaced Hiremath with Joe Winfield, a mayor who is humble and respectful of everyone. A mayor who accepted no campaign contributions from wealthy special interests and who was elected by the people in a grassroots campaign that promised to address the financial losses at the golf courses, slow the pace of development, and return civility to the Town Council.

What happened next? Well, instead of having a mayor who is rude to the citizens, we now have a particular group of citizens being rude to the mayor.

The rudeness of the pro-golf crowd
Fifty residents spoke for 2½ hours. When the time ran out for the audience to speak and there were still about 50 more people waiting to speak, Mayor Winfield continued to be accommodating to the residents by informing them that the council would shorten their closing remarks from 7 minutes to 5 minutes in order to allow 5 additional Blue Card speakers. He offered that anyone who still wanted to have their voice heard, could either email the town clerk with their comments which would be distributed to the council, or they could speak during the council meeting on July 31st.

Watch how rude the audience members are despite Mayor Winfield’s repeated attempts to accommodate them.





Mayor Winfield’s closing remarks
Despite the mayor reading from published studies, audience members laughed while he was speaking and many of them began getting up and walking out. Keep in mind that after he listened to them for 2½ hours, they didn’t have the courtesy to listen to him for 5 minutes.

Observe their continued rudeness and their mass exodus below:




Vice Mayor Barrett’s closing remarks
Barrett (along with the town staff) researched other communities in Arizona that have municipal golf courses to see what their tax subsidies were. She found that Oro Valley’s 45,000 residents are paying more in golf course subsidies for just 45 holes of golf ($1.8M in the previous fiscal year) than what 5.5 million Arizona residents are paying to subsidize 25 municipal golf courses throughout Arizona combined ($1.75M in the previous fiscal year).





Councilmember Solomon argues against a linear park
Does he ever think before he speaks?

“What is a linear park? It's a solution looking for a problem. No one has ever asked for a linear park. I’ve never heard of it until the last few months…We don’t need a statistically valid survey.”

We’d like to remind Councilmember Solomon that no one ever asked for a golf course, let alone three of them, and yet he has continued to endorse them and fight for their continuation. We’ll say it again…In the 2014 Statistically Valid Survey of amenities that residents would like to see in our town parks -- golf courses came in #33 out of 34 possible amenities.

And, as previously stated in Part 3 of this article, a Flash-Vote survey conducted by the town earlier this year showed that multi-use paths were the recreational facilities most used by the town residents. Shouldn’t we be using taxpayer money to fund the recreational activities that are the most used and enjoyed by our residents?

The “Pass the Buck Musketeers”
We’re going to close with this comment that we found on social media:

“Which town council members own the current golf course financial mess? Solomon, Rodman, and Pina of course. They have continually endorsed the purchase and voted via the bond issue to spend additional tax dollars. Yet they put the blame for the financial/revenue misses elsewhere: the opposition, instability, headwinds, rebranding, etc. Let's just call them, “The pass the buck musketeers.”

Guest View: Mike Zinkin ~ Lack of due diligence is responsible for “the mess” at the Town-owned golf courses

Today, Mike Zinkin is responding to Bob Sterritt’s Guest View that was published on Monday.
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I am very happy to hear from a LOVE reader regardless of the viewpoint. However, I feel that Mr. Sterritt might be a little confused about the intent of my Watchdog Reports.

I have never been opposed to the Community Center portion of the purchase and I have never spoken ill of it except for the fact that it is still not ADA compliant. I stated that from the dais (when a council member) as well as in written communications. I do feel that we would have been better off building a new, state of the art, ADA compliant community center as opposed to purchasing a 1980’s building in need of updating and retro-fitting.

In my March Watchdog Report, I stated that “one might be impressed and think we are working ourselves out of this mess.” Mr. Sterritt asked, “What mess?”

The mess began in December 2014 when the minority council members (Bill Garner, Brendan Burns, and myself) asked to see the purchase agreement before it was signed, but the majority Hiremath group did not think that was needed. Mr. Sterritt, I would bet that you would put more energy and effort into buying a car. I’ll bet that you would study the market and determine what the car was worth based on comparable cars.

Prior to the purchase, in December 2014, I asked to see statistics on how many rounds of golf were played on the El Con courses during the most current year, and the response was “that’s proprietary information.” Imagine asking a car salesman what the estimated miles per gallon was on the vehicle you were considering purchasing and his response was, “that’s a secret.”

My point is that the Town purchased this property without any due diligence. The Hiremath gang also purchased it even though the majority of residents who expressed their opinions via emails to the council and during the public meetings were against this purchase.

The sport of golf is dying. This is echoed in the National Golf Foundation study that the Town contracted. The 170-page study concluded that:

“This facility is aging and has seen declines in activity and is now operating at a deficit, up to $2.1 million+. The loss on operations is a result of several influences…a recent recession, increasing competition, declining physical condition, and declining interest in golf.”

Mr. Sterritt, I am going to assume that you and I are in the same generation. Our generation is the last generation to support golf.

You mentioned the appraised value, but there is a difference between appraised value and market value. As an example, Stone Canyon Golf and Dove Mountain Golf both sold for well under $1 million.

We opened the golf courses in May 2015. The Troon losses as of March 30, 2019 are $8,867,541. Promised capital improvements of $2,878,000 have not been accomplished. Troon desired to have 315 members by December 2016. As of April 30, 2019, the golf membership was only 236. It is not my Watchdog Reports that are causing this; it is the state of golf in the new millennia.

Since November 2019, the Town’s courses have had 22,008 rounds of outside play on 45 holes. A public golf course within 5 miles of the Town’s courses had 27,021 rounds on 18 holes. This is not being negative; this is merely stating the facts.

Again, let’s be clear. I have never been negative about the community center, tennis, fitness, and recreation. My focus has been on the financial drain that golf is doing to our Town.

Below are links to two articles that conflict with the notion that closure of the golf courses will decrease property values:

Repurposing golf courses
9 surprising things that add value to your house

The Town has owned the courses for 49 months. The losing trend for golf has not subsided.  As such, we should work to minimize the drain that golf is currently placing on our town.
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Editor’s Note: You can read more of what’s in the National Golf Foundation Study at the below links. Part 1 discusses the options that were provided by the golf consultants to cut the losses. Part 2 contains a summary of their conclusions regarding the problems with the El Con courses.

Part 1

Part 2

Guest View: Diane Peters ~ The “Art” of Time Management

As you begin reading this article, you might ask yourself…what does this have to do with Oro Valley? Bear with me for a moment and it will become clear.

Have you ever been on the Internet, perhaps Facebook, and you've clicked on a video that is of interest to you? Maybe it was a heartwarming video of a soldier being reunited with his dog that he hasn’t seen in a year. Maybe it was a stunningly beautiful nature video. That’s what you chose to watch…and then BAM!!!...your video is interrupted with a commercial for dental implants or car insurance. You’re annoyed, yes? The commercial might last only 30 seconds, but 30 seconds seems like an eternity when you’re not interested in the topic and you’re waiting to see something else.

And this brings me to the “Youth Art Program by the Arts and Culture Ambassadors” that I and many others have been forced to sit through during council meetings when we are there to listen to and perhaps speak on an agenda item that is of importance to us.

The only “art” I want to see at a Town Council meeting is the “Art of Time Management.”

It’s not that I don’t appreciate art. I love art. One of my favorite past-times is visiting art museums and art galleries. But when I’m in an art gallery, I don’t want to discuss town business or politics. And when I’m at a Town Council meeting, I don’t want to sit through a Youth Art presentation. I decided to speak on this issue because the Youth Arts Presentation was just on the council agenda four months in a row (Oct-Nov-Dec-Jan).

Town business should be the #1 priority
We have approximately 17 town council meetings per year. These meetings should be for critical town business, not for art shows. It’s a disservice to the residents who are waiting to speak on an issue of importance to them (usually a development proposal) to have to first sit though these presentations which usually last anywhere from 8 to 13 minutes. I remember one marathon presentation that went on for over 30 minutes, at which point I got up and walked out, missing the agenda item that prompted me to attend the meeting in the first place.

Another meeting where the inclusion of the Youth Art Program was particularly annoying was the December 6, 2017 meeting. The room was packed that night due to the agenda containing FOUR PUBLIC HEARINGS on contentious development proposals. These included:

• General Plan amendment regarding the 302 acre Tangerine North Annexation
• General Plan amendment and rezoning for a 131 acre residential development in Big Wash
• General Plan amendment for a 76 acre residential development on Shannon Road
• General Plan amendment to change a 15 acre property from office park to residential

The town had to know that this meeting would be a standing room only crowd, packed with residents who were opposed to these development proposals, and that this meeting would last for hours. The room was packed and the meeting lasted 4 hours and 34 minutes, not ending until 10:30 PM. This was not the appropriate time to include a Youth Art presentation on the agenda.

On that particular evening, (former) Mayor Hiremath asked those who were there for the above agenda items to give up their seats to the parents and kids because the room was over capacity. [You can watch the full video clip above.  A partial transcript of his speech is below.]

HIREMATH: “Because it’s such a packed house…would people who are not here for the Youth Art presentation please relinquish your seat and just kind of wait outside so the parents and kids can get a seat?...We have an ask from the Fire Marshall because we’re over capacity.”

A time and a place for everything
My point is that people come to town meetings to listen to and speak on important issues. Therefore, Youth Art would be better celebrated in a place where parents and friends could appreciate it. I’d like to suggest that Youth Art be displayed at the library where people can enjoy it on their own time.

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Diane Peters has lived in Oro Valley since 2003, moving here to escape the humidity of the East Coast. She’s been involved in OV politics and development issues since 2006. In 2014, she organized a citizens group, Citizen Advocates of the Oro Valley General Plan, who over a 9-month period, successfully negotiated a controversial 200-acre development project. In her past life, she worked in medical research at various University Hospitals in New England. Her interests include reading, writing, nature photography, travel, art galleries, museums, and politics.

The Watchdog Report: October 2018

The October 2018 financials are posted and reveals further proof of the fiscal irresponsibility of the Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters council…and Pina, Rodman, and Solomon did nothing to stop it.

For those of you who are new to the LOVE blog, the Community Center Fund (CCF) is the fund that was set up to collect the revenues (including the dedicated half cent sales tax increase), and pay for all the Community Center expenses, including capital improvements.

As of October 31, 2018, the CCF is $460,575 in the red. This is what former mayor Hiremath and his sycophants call “breaking even.”

First four months of the fiscal year (July 1 – October 31)
Since July 1st, The Overlook Restaurant has lost $46,901. For comparison, the entire Community Center has lost only $15,903 since July 1st. The Overlook lost $13,355 in October alone.

• As of October 2017, Troon’s revenues were $924,875.
• As of October 2018, Troon’s revenues were $831,954. ($92,921 less than prior year)
• The good news is that Troon’s expenditures were $134,247 less in October 2018 compared to October 2017 and our sales tax revenues were $34,559 more.

When comparing FY 2017/18 to FY 2018/19, as of October 31st, Troon’s payroll increased $54,400, employee benefits increased $6,308, cart leases increased $3,759, and utilities decreased $120,074. Membership dues decreased $26,345. This closes the books on the Hiremath/HSL affair.

Since the purchase of the Community Center and Golf Courses in May 2015:
• FY 2014/15, Troon lost - $612,094
• FY 2015/16, Troon lost - $2,567,385
• FY 2016/17, Troon lost - $2,512,938
• FY 2017/18, Troon lost - $1,993,040
• So far in FY 2018/19, Troon has lost - $936,196

TOTAL LOSS OF $8,621,653.

The total of your sales tax revenues dedicated to this ill-conceived plan are $7,783,147, plus $1,550,500 that the Hiremath council transferred from the General Fund to assist in paying for this disaster. Just think of the parks and other citizen benefits we could have had with the combined monies of the General fund donation and the sales tax revenues ($9,333,647). Instead this all went to make Humberto Lopez (HSL Properties) happy at your expense.

Where do we go from here?
The Town Manager has already stated that she desires to continue with 36 holes of golf, completely disregarding the recommendations of the $50,000 golf study. Apparently, the Town Manager will not be the person to lead us out of this quagmire.

Oro Valley voters recently elected a new Mayor and three Councilmembers. Although I will continue to document this debacle, the new council majority completely understands the Town’s need to correct this problem and we should allow them some time to formulate a game plan to at least minimize the losses until a permanent solution can be found. I do not expect to see any massive changes in the immediate future, but I do expect to see some positive changes.

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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. He was an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years. He and his wife moved to Oro Valley in 1998. Mike served on the Oro Valley Development Review Board from 2005-2009 and the Board of Adjustment from 2011-2012. He served on the Town Council from 2012-2016 during which time he was named a Fellow 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.

Guest View: Mike Zinkin ~ The mayor’s Halloween “trick”

The Council meeting on September 19, 2018 included another amendment to the General Plan.

“Discussion and possible action regarding an amendment to the General Plan future Land Use Map from Commerce/Office Park (COP) to Medium Density Residential (MDR) for a 15-acre property located at the northwest corner of Rancho Vistoso Blvd. and Vistoso Commerce Loop."

It was six weeks before Halloween but the mayor was already wearing his disguise
During the discussions, Mayor Hiremath erroneously educated the members of the council that this was not an amendment, but, rather, an option that would add MDR to the current land use of COP.

Mayor Hiremath stated:

"I want to make it clear to this council that the General Plan Amendment request that's being asked today is NOT to put up residential but is to offer ANOTHER POTENTIAL USE...This gives the new council flexibility...It's going to be up to them whether they want to have that flexibility to choose residential…or to let it remain tech park...If the future council decides that they don't want to go residential, then too bad, it just has to remain tech park. However I think this council owes it to the next council to afford as much flexibility on all the available properties left."

A blatant misrepresentation on the part of the mayor
The facts were revealed in a follow-up communication between an Oro Valley resident and the Planning and Zoning Administrator who described exactly what the council voted to approve that night:

“Town Council formally changed the General Plan designation to Medium Density Residential…By code and state law, a rezoning must be in compliance with the General Plan designation. So a presumption to favor approval of a residential rezoning has been established.”

As you can see, this was not an option for a potential use. This was a land use designation change from COP to MDR. The only option for the incoming council to decide is what form of residential will be allowed on this property.

Mayor Hiremath was his usual disingenuous and deceitful self. He had no regard, as usual, for the People’s input into the General Plan and was likely communicating for the applicant and campaign donor, Rodger Ford of Anthem Equity Group, who donated a total of over $7,000 to the re-election campaigns of the incumbents and to YES on 454 in support of the Naranja Park Bond.

Councilmembers Rodman and Solomon were complicit

Solomon said:

"I want to confirm what the mayor had said...if we approve this tonight, all we'd be doing is allowing the option for residential? It could still have the current zoning placed on it? It basically gives us more flexibility on this parcel?"

Keep in mind that Solomon is a developer and fully knows what a General Plan amendment entails. Rodman is a former member of the Planning and Zoning Commission and also knows the ramifications of a General Plan Amendment. Yet neither of these individuals attempted to correct Hiremath’s explanation. Hiremath has been mayor for 8 years. He also knows how a General Plan Amendment works. None of them are ignorant on this issue which makes it highly suspect that this was done deliberately.

The Town Attorney and the Town Staff also never corrected the mayor. Perhaps this was because the mayor had already torn into the Planning Director and the Economic Director for recommending that the council deny the land use change.

Snider and Pina voted against it (the first time that Snider has voted against the mayor in her 8 years in office and the first time that Pina has voted against the mayor in her 2 years in office). Therefore, if Solomon and Rodman had been honest and not acquiesced to Hiremath’s deception, the amendment would not have passed. They (along with Hornat and Waters) knew exactly what this was but they went along with the mayor’s disguise.

Hiremath, Hornat, and Waters will soon be gone, but Solomon and Rodman have another two years left on their terms. Let’s hope that the new mayor and three new councilmembers who were elected to provide a new direction, will steer these two individuals in a direction that is pro-citizen rather than pro-developer.

The Watchdog Report: Community Center Fund Ends July 2018 Over $200,000 In The Red

The July 2018 Community Center/Golf numbers are posted and Hiremath and his three departing minions are not leaving a favorable legacy.

The Community Center Fund (CCF), the fund set up to pay for everything including capital improvements, lost $165,632 in July 2018. Add this loss to the fact that the fund started the fiscal year on July 1st already $74,010 in the hole, and this leaves the CCF at $239,642 in the red.

These deficient numbers include $179,538 in sales tax revenues for July and $55,466 in membership contributions.

Golf Memberships, Revenues, and Expenses
July membership was 223 which is three less than in June. The high was 249 in January, but still not even close to the 319 memberships that Troon desired by December 2015.

While July 2018 revenues were $5,552 higher than July 2017, the expenses were $116,507 higher. The higher expenses can be contributed to higher equipment leases and O & M (e.g. we have increased the number of golf carts we now lease).

The Overlook lost more in July 2018 than in July 2017
Did you notice the quarter page ad for the Overlook Restaurant in a recent edition of the Explorer? Why is the Overlook still open? The Overlook lost $11,345 in July 2018. This is $779 more than it lost in July 2017.

Will the Hiremath council bite the bullet and close this drain, or is he going leave it as part of his horrible legacy? We still need to see the numbers for August – October 2018 before we can close out the Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters disaster.

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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. He was an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years. He and his wife moved to Oro Valley in 1998. Mike served on the Oro Valley Development Review Board from 2005-2009 and the Board of Adjustment from 2011-2012. He served on the Town Council from 2012-2016 during which time he was named a Fellow 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.

Bits and Pieces

"Stuff" sprayed on Kreigh Park Grass causes concern and consternation
Last week, the town sprayed an herbicide on the grass at Kreigh Park. There were no signs posted regarding this. The spraying has been a conversation on “Nexdoor.com”.  It has been a source of conjecture, as to what it was, and of consternation, as to concerns of exposure to an unknown chemical.

We learned what the product was by submitting a request to the town constituent coordinator. The product is Kleenup Pro.  According to the Kleenup Pro “Material Safety Data Sheet”, it is “harmful if absorbed by the skin.” A major caution is that the product should be kept out of the reach of children. I assume, of course, that this also includes pets. Indeed, pets can get short-term gastrointestinal upset if they eat the grass.

Notice of the Kleenup Pro application should have been visibly posted throughout the park.

But there was no notice.

By not posting notices, the town exposed a health hazard to our children, to our pets and to all who used the park last week. And, they caused great consternation and concern among the residents.

Suggestion: Post a notice on any spraying that involves of any product that potentially could be harmful to people and our pets. Display the notice prominently. Use the word“Warning” on the notice.  Include the name of the product sprayed and the time and date of such spraying on the notice.
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Dicks Sporting Goods closing deals an economic blow to Oro Valley 
National retail chain, Dick's Sporting Goods, has shuttered its Oro Valley Marketplace location. It's moving to the Tucson Mall. Other stores have left. There is plenty of vacant retail and commercial space. There are 14 empty stores, according to a report by KOLD TV's Janice Yu. One of the shoppers interviewed for this report, ponders whether the Marketplace will be a ghost town like the Foothills Mall.

According to the report, "J.J. Johnston, the director of community and economic development for the town told Tucson News Now that many of the big stores in the center will be sticking around for now, but he's working on an economic strategy to hopefully fill up some of the empty stores. He'll come up with a recommendation for mayor and council in about a month."

All of this happening at time when the town will finally be getting all of the sales tax revenue generated from the Marketplace.

Don't know to what we refer?

Then read all about the history of the Marketplace here.
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Lack of state law creates mishmash of rules when it comes to cell phone use while driving
"The lack of a state law has led to a mishmash of different ordinances across jurisdictions. Tucson, Sedona and Oro Valley currently prohibit handheld cellphone use while behind the wheel. Meanwhile, Phoenix, Flagstaff and Fountain Hills only prohibit texting while driving." (Source) Otherwise, you are free to do as you wish.

This, of course, makes no sense since people drive across jurisdictions daily.

The state should enact one rule for all and invalidate all others.
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ASU Representative- Hiremath is "A courageous leader"
"Every decision made by the mayor and council has been with the community they love in mind. Some of these decisions haven't been easy or popular but Mayor Hiremath knows that courageous leaders have to made tough decisions that will ultimately make Oro Valley a better place to live. Oro Valley has had a great leader in Mayor Satish Hiremath."

This introduction of Mayor Hiremath was given by a representative of ASU, a sponsor of mayor's State of the Town presentation at the El Conquistador Resort last week.

The event was sponsored by both UofA and ASU. We find it curious that someone from Phoenix, rather than someone from our local university, introduced the mayor of a Tucson-based town. 

Mayor Hiremath's Final Address Presents His "Legacy of Leadership"

Outgoing Oro Valley Mayor Satish Hiremath delivered his ninth and final "State Of The Town" address on Friday. The address, held at the El Conquistador, was sponsored by the Oro Valley Chamber Of Commerce.

The mayor themed this speech to present a "Legacy of Leadership" that he believes that he brought to Oro Valley.

"I want to talk to you about the legacy of leadership we have developed here in Oro Valley and how you should expect that type of leadership from all elected officials of who holds that office." The legacy: "Leadership is about making mindful decisions, though unpopular and then being able to withstand the criticism until success is achieved." Hiremath asserted that "Most people fail [to reach their goal] because they were not determined or they did not persevere... Successful leaders find their way around the obstacles.""

A packed room awaits Mayor Hiremath's remarks

The mayor presented the state of Oro Valley in the context of this leadership legacy.  2018 accomplishments include:

• Two July sporting events  brought approximately $400,000 in revenue to the community
• The improvements to the sporting fields that are currently in progress at Kreigh Park
• The upcoming ribbon cutting on a phase of construction completion of Tangerine Road
• An upcoming "community celebration"
• A $2 million 2018 budget surplus
• A video created by the Oro Valley Economic Development Department that depicts a life in the typical day of someone who lives and works in Oro Valley
• "Simple View", locating its corporate headquarters in Oro Valley

According to the Mayor, Oro Valley's financial health has been strong: "We have completed every fiscal year in the black for the past seven years." He asserted that Oro Valley has built an outstanding team of the "best and the brightest" town employees. "Council is responsible for setting direction; but it is your town staff who make it happen." He lauded the town's executive leadership team: "Together we have built a house with a very strong foundation."

As the talk closed, the Mayor spoke emotionally. He thanked his parents, who, due to his Mothers' health, could not be there. Tearfully, he spoke: "It's tough not having them here. They are the ones who instilled in me at a very young age an obligation to make my surroundings better than when I arrived. That's exactly what I've been trying to do."

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2018 Election In Pictures: "Sea Change"

"Sea Change"
The 2018 Oro Valley Mayoral Election was marked by a major swing in votes away from Mayor Hiremath. This downward swing was a continuation of what happened during the 2015 recall election, an election he won by a mere 400 plus votes.

From 2014, when he easily defeated his opponent, to 2018, when he was resoundingly defeated,  the vote swing away from Mayor Hiremath was more than 5,300 votes. That represents a "sea change" in the way voters perceived the Mayor.

One of the other takeaways from this chart is that Mayor Hiremath's cumulative vote margin in four elections was negative: -232 votes. Yes. Mayor Hiremath won three elections but lost the fourth by such a significant margin that it wiped out  all of his margins of previous election victories.
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Guest View: Jack Stinnett ~ How Special Interests have influenced our Town Council elections

Just since 2014, developers and special interests have contributed a quarter of a million dollars to influence the elections of Oro Valley’s mayor and council. So far it has worked to allow their candidates to control our town and approve every developer requested General Plan amendment and rezoning.

Town Council decisions allowing rampant over-development is viewed by many as being a direct result of developers and special interest money buying our small town elections. Below is the sequence of events that has caused our town to fall prey to outside big money influence.

2010 Election
This was Hiremath’s first run for mayor and he funded his campaign at a level 5 times greater than his opponent. Hiremath raised over $45,000, (some from personal loans) and $13,000 from special interests. Despite this advantage, Hiremath won the 2010 election by only 30 votes. His campaign later repaid his personal and family loans.

2014 Election
In the 2014 election, Mayor Hiremath and Councilmembers Hornat, Snider, and Waters ran as a team who knew “what was best for Oro Valley.” Hiremath was opposed by Patrick Straney. Donald Bristow was the only opposing council candidate.

Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters had now learned the campaign finance model, as did the developer, builder, and real estate community. This time, special interests kicked in $59,000 (a four-fold increase from 2010) for a second term of their team who knew “what was best for Oro Valley."

The Top 5 Donors in the 2014 Election were: [click to enlarge]

The special interest funded candidates won re-election. Why was this unheard of level of Special Interest funding needed to fend off two first time candidates -- and two incumbent council candidates who were effectively running unopposed?

2015 Recall Election
In the 2015 Recall election of Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters, special interests once again contributed heavily to keep their council in office. Humberto Lopez (HSL Properties), the HSL Family trust, and HSL employee Omar Morales donated $24,000 to defend Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters against four recall opponents.

Through the October 15, 2015 campaign finance report, Mayor Hiremath alone had raised $104,000 and spent $101,323 to retain his office against challenger Patrick Straney. Despite Hiremath outspending Straney by 15 to 1, Hiremath won with only 51% of the vote.

2016 Council Election
In the 2016 election, candidates Rhonda Pina, Bill Rodman, and Steve Solomon defeated incumbents Zinkin, Garner, and Burns, effectively giving Mayor Hiremath a 7-0 council. Zinkin, Garner, and Burns had refused to accept donations from special interests and were heavily outspent as a result. Once again, the special interest funded challengers won the election.

The result of three special interest funded elections (2014-2015-2016)
During the period 2014 through 2016, special interests funded Mayor Hiremath and our six elected council members to create an unassailable 7-0 council majority. Since the new council took office in November 2016, over 90% of all decisions have been 7-0 votes, with many items agreed prior to council meetings by "consent agenda" and never discussed in public. Not one developer requested rezoning or General Plan amendment has been denied by the Oro Valley mayor and council.

The Top Donors to Mayor Hiremath and the current council from 2014 to 2016 were: [click to enlarge]

2018 Primary Election
Now running for a third term, Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters reported $61,580 in campaign contributions during the 2nd quarter reporting period [April 29 - June 30]. (Editor’s Note: Campaign Finance Reports through August 11th reveal that the incumbents raised an additional $35,581 since the June 30th reporting period.)

Further inspection reveals that over 90% of this amount came from developers, landowners, and other special interests expecting to do business with or in Oro Valley.

As of the June 30th reporting period, the incumbents raised less than $2,000 from Oro Valley residents. That’s not nearly enough to pay for the multiple glossy, multicolor mailers we have received, much less the multiple full page ads in the Explorer.

So when you receive all their promotional material, recognize that it is coming from special interest contributions to influence your vote to keep the status quo for them.

Let’s vote ‘em out.

Editor’s Note: For more information on the updated Campaign Finance Reports, please scroll down to read our Special Saturday Edition that you may have missed since we don’t normally publish on the weekends.

Town Council Election ~ Special Saturday Edition

Below are two charts showing the total amount of contributions from developers, landowners, and other special interests that were donated to the incumbents (Hiremath-Hornat-Snider-Waters) in the 2018 Town Council election. 

If you want Town Council decisions to be based on your vision rather than the vision of wealthy developers, we urge you to vote for Joe Winfield for Mayor, and Melanie Barrett, Joyce Jones-Ivey, and Josh Nicolson for Town Council.  They have not accepted any special interest donations.

[Click to enlarge]

Source: Campaign Finance Reports -- Dr. Hiremath for Mayor, Vote Lou Waters for Oro Valley, Mary Snider for Oro Valley, Vote Joe Hornat

Challengers: "Special Interests Trying To Buy Oro Valley Election"

91% of incumbent contributions came from special interests
91% of campaign contributions to Mayor Hiremath and Council Members Water's Snider and Hornat have come from special interests, according to an August 23 press release of challengers Winfield, Barrett, Jones-Ivey and Nicholson.

Challengers contributions came from the public
"The incumbent’s campaigns have now accepted over $84,000 from groups, companies or individuals looking to influence the Oro Valley town elections," according to the release.

In contrast, challenger funding has come from more than 300 residents and their own pockets. They "...raised $29,311 from over 300 individual contributions from residents supporting their campaigns."

The special interests contributing to the incumbents' campaign include the "usual suspects": Developer HSL, the company that sold the failed El Conquistador Country Club to the town; and developer-landowner Kai family.  PAC's contributing include the Realtors of Arizona and the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association.

"Large campaign donations buy access, increase influence"
 ...the challengers note in their release. They assert that it is wrong to accept “Candidate contributions of this magnitude, from landowners, developers, and special interest groups over whom council can approve land re-zoning applications."

It may be wrong, but it is the way of Oro Valley elections when Hiremath, Snider, Waters and Hornat run.
In all of their four campaigns, they have always received the bulk of their campaign financing from special interests. Their actions on council, as documented over 8 years in LOVE, have demonstrated their preference in serving the needs of these donors.
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Yesterday, LOVE reported that the incumbents are using this special interest money to employ the services of a California political consulting firm. Read on for more.

Reader Comments

We thought you might enjoy reading a sampling of comments that LOVE has received regarding the Town Council election along with reader comments that we found on Take Back OV.

•While the challengers are out canvassing neighborhoods in the heat, the incumbents sit in air conditioned comfort while paying a Campaign Consulting firm (Saguaro Strategies $50,000) to run their campaign. Not the People's candidates.

•Please vote for restoring balance to Oro Valley Town Council. Vote for more dialogue, not less. Vote for more influence in YOUR town. Vote for people who have run a grassroots campaign and not a slick, PHX based, professionally run campaign to smooth-over their unpopular track record. Vote for new ideas and new resolve to put OV Citizens first!

•They pull out the same old tired endorsements every election year. Police, fire, some Army general, and some local Reverend. Their endorsements are as stale as their ideas and are meant to draw your attention away from their abysmal record.

•What is built is nothing special. No charm, no added character, just high density housing that clears the desert that makes OV unique only to make it look like anywhere USA. That means it's a zoning and development failure. What’s frustrating is that I feel like we have no power in the situation. It feels like we can go to these meetings over and over again and in large numbers and we can voice our concerns and thoughts, but that’s the end of it. In the end, they don’t care what we want. They just want money.

•The latest spin from the incumbents is a desperate tactic that they use every election year..."Save your Police and SRO." Show me where any of the challengers said that they were going to dismantle the OVPD or end the SRO program. They haven't. It's a completely made up soundbite to scare uninformed residents into re-electing the incumbents. Yet the incumbents accused the challengers of running a soundbite campaign! Two of the challengers have children in Oro Valley schools. Why would they want to get rid of the SRO’s? Why would they want to weaken the police force? It’s nonsense.

•I noticed on the campaign posters that the incumbent Oro Valley administration has been “endorsed” by Police and Fire. I strongly feel that it is inappropriate for Public Service Organizations and employees to be engaged in City/Town politics.

•If re-elected, he (Hiremath) will even be more abusive to those who dare question him. Look at the town council. They have, over the past 8 years, been extremely abrupt, rude, dismissive, and condescending to residents in council meetings, in public, and especially on social media. It’s who they are. Look at the Steve Solomon issue. He’s the worst yet the mayor is silent. The mayor never holds back on residents, but Solomon’s inappropriateness is acceptable.