HomeMy WebLinkAboutHistorical Records - Incorporation (46) June 1, 1974 •
Editor
The Territorial
5900 N. Oracle Road
Tucson, Arizona Arizona 85704
Those of us who support the Incorporation of the Town of Oro Valley
and are for giving the Town every chance of being successful, have been
silent long enough concerning the relentless efforts to destroy the Town
by some of the Pima County Officials as well as those living inside the
Town and even serving on the Town Council. Be assured that these efforts
have full support by some of the City of Tucson Officials as well as that
of the two Tucson daily newspapers, making the task of successful self
government even more difficult.
Mr. Virgil Brandon, Oro Valley councilman and chairman of a
committee which claims to be for good government at a reasonable cost,
apparently takes the position that a large metropolitan government is •
superior to several small municipalities in a given area. He apparently
has been schooled in the thought that a large government is cheaper than
a small one, that bureaucracy breeds efficiency, and that the peoples
wishes can best be met by one large centralized government. This concept
may even lead to the ridiculous conclusion that we should do away with
all towns, cities, and states and work straight out of Washington.
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Everyone should be aware that there is a strong move underway in
the Valley to put everyone under one metropolitan government. Whether this
is done by Tucson annexing from foothill to foothill or by establishing
a metro government by County and City agreement makes no difference- the
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effect is the same. In a letter dated May 20, 1974 to Mr. William E. Page,
President, Tucson Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Ernesto G. Munoz, Town Manager
of South Tucson, stated "It is the distinct impression of a number of us
in South Tucson that the Chamber of Commerce has embraced the idea of one
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overriding metropolitan government on the shallow basis that bigger is
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better. To our knowledge there is not one shred of evidence that in those
areas where metropolitan government has been adopted, the lot of the
individual has been improved one iota or that greater efficiency and •
economy has been achieved. In our estimation such a move is tantamount to a
gerrymandering operation to effectively disenfranchise the residents of
South Tucson."
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Another article just printed and written by Mr. H. A. Kinnison, South
Tucson Town Engineer states "It is pretty much accepted without thought
nowadays that large metropolitan governments are superior to groups of smaller
municipalities in the same area. The planners take it for granted that one
large government is more efficient and better able to serve the citizens. . . • f
. .. .Everyone who is talking about it seems to be pushing for metropolitan t —
government, yet there are some excellent reasons to be skeptical of this
trend. . . .. ..We are told that a small town catAafford to provide services
that its citizens demand. The theory is that there is somehow more efficiency
and less waste in the large unit. But in fact, the property owners in
South Tucson now pay $50,000 per year less taxes than they would if they
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Editor- The Territorial page 2 June 1 1974
were in the City of Tucson, and the only regular extra municipal
service the City provides for these taxes is the Library. South Tucson
has in addition over twice as much police protection pr capita as the
City and better garbage and trash collection." "When one hears that only a
metropolitan government .can plan for the whole area, it really means that
only a large government can submerge the interests of minority groups to
the interest of the majority," "If we believe in the value of diversity,
if we think that competition is healthy and that the ideas of the majority
can sometime be improved we had better defend the smaller towns. The real
fact is that on the whole, small governments allow more scope for the
individual, they don't cost any more, and are no less efficient."
The words of these gentlemen should be heeded. Anyone truly interested
in his or her own opinions and voice having input to the local government
will know they are correct.
In keeping with the philosophy of one large metropolitan government,
The Pima County Board of Supervisors (both those now in office and those
in office at the time of the filing of the incorporation petitions) have
been against the Town of Oro Valley from its very conception. Since the
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determination was so great not to let the Town exist, it was not difficult
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to predict the steps which would be taken to defeat the Town. These can
be summarized as follows.:
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step 1) Deny the incorporation .upon submission of the petitions •
regardless of the legality.
step 2) Fight in court until Incorporators give up or can't afford
the legal costs.
step 3) In the event the above fails and incorporatiomis allowed,
very,very carefully select an interm Town Council.
-New Town Council Takes Up Fight-
step 4) Maintain spokesman position of Mayor.
step 5) Make certain Attorney (or firm) who achieved incorporation
is not Town Attorney.
step 6) Delay election of Town Council
step 7) Create a budget where expenses exceed income.
step 8) Circulate disincorporation petitions.
Steps 1 through 6 have been accomplished and step 8 has been started.
These steps have long been outlined and predicted by the pro-incorporators.
It then came as no surprise when Mr. Virgil Brandon, the self claimed
governmental saviour of the people and the county, selected himself as in
charge of putting together a budget . Mr. Engle and I did not particularly
object because 1) he would have done it anyway and 2) he would have been
selected by a 3 to 2 vote. In the role of budgeter, Mr. Brandon put out r--
a nicely written and well presented set of 'implicit' instructions as if
he were still someones 'superior officer' . I, for one, have enough bosses,
and he isn't one of them. My role on the Town Council is to serve the people
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of the Town to the best of my ability- not to serve Mr. Brandon. Mr. Brandon
has constantly constantly been feeding people propaganda- regardless of fact.. To put
forth to the people a budget figure, I will get the best information and pimmipm
truth possible. This does not mean that I will just accept for fact a Pima
County Official's statement of cost for services. I will, indeed, challenge
anyone 's cost figures if enough reason exists. Take sewer costs,for example.
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Editor- The Territorial page .:..) June 1, 1974
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Presently we pay Pima County 31 cents per hundred assessed evaluation for
our share of the Total sewer costs. After MUM goes into effect we will pay
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41 cents. These costs are to cover all sanitary and land fill operation
costs. If we can be maintained for these costs before Incorporation, r ,it
what change would exist just because of Incorporation if the County continues .,,,,,:,.._•-•,,„,.. ,
to collect hook-up fees. The Town's blanket insurance coverage would cover
any liability problems which possibly could develop. Any additional taxation
will take the form of double taxation and I will challenge that. Many facets
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to the sewer situation could be pointed out but it would take too much space.
It should suffice to point out that I have met with several highly qualified l '
individuals in local governemnts-county, city, and town, and they all but -
one agree that the Town of Oro Valley need no budget costs for sanitation
as long long as we continue to pay the County tax referred to above. Mr. E. 4*:
W. Dooley, Head of the Pima County Sanitation Department and a resident R4*
of the Town of Oro Valley, is the only official I have met with that disagrees. 177,-64r--
Therefore, we have asked Mr. Dooley for an itemization of the costs which r ''.-
are over and above our present or new tax rate effective July 1, 1974.
Unless proven accurate, I will still say our sanitary costs on the new
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fiscal year budget are to be zero and I will ask our Town Attorney to I
challenge any additional assessed taxation. Of course I am certain that
at this time Mr. Brandon is not interested in a potential double taxation Kf,*
as long as it presents a high budget figure.
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To further examine the situation, Mr. Brandon has continually followed the miii_
same course of action that he has accused Mr. Engle and I of- he presents
'off the cuff' estimates. I presented him with a zero sanitary cost-
he arbitrarily changed the figure to $15,000 and in addition tried to make
the people believe that the costs of the 41 cents assessed evaluation were
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something to be attached to the Town. Mr. Average Citizen is intellegent.
Mr. Brandon may state that he believes it is his duty to educate him, not
to .obscure the truth- but examine some of his written word. As an example •„:,
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in his letter to Mr. Morris K. Udall, concerning the incorporation of the V.c.'..,-.
Town of Oro Valley, Mr. Brandon stated "The claim is that the residents of r•:.7-i.,:,,,.
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Paradise Valley have better services, thattheirtaxes have not increased pi•Jii-:;,-
. and they have managed to accomplish all of this with federal funds-
the figure quoted is $75.00 per capita." Further, Mr. Brandon suggested that P4r
$ -' . .
". . . .either 1/ thisis not Lrue or 2/ Paradise Valley is obtaining federal
funds illegally." Later he requests ". . . I am requesting that you have GAO v.T. •
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investigate the matter..." The truth is that Paradise Valley plans on
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approximately $4.61 per capita. None of us ever gave such a figure as quoted
by Mr. Brandon. Wouldn't it have been easier and more economical to call
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Paradise Valley on the telephone and spend maybe $1.50 rather than asking ,..
for a governmental investigation? In the same letter Mr. Brandon distributed v-
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in the neighborhoods he stated "Did you know that the largest portion of -
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the income budgeted for the new 'town' of Oro Valley is expected to be
received from federal revenue sharing,.;. ." We all know that is not true and
never was suggested. These are examples of Mr. Brandon's printed word v;
and his tactics have never changed. 4.......
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Getting back to the Toren of Oro Valley, it should be noted that the
'for disincorporation' members of the Town Council have not obtained any
, people to help work on the jobs which have to be done. All individuals
helping in jobs of appointed positions are pro-incorporation. As important/
the only people to spend any Town money (that is, the residents money) has f
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Editor- The Territorial page 4 June 1, 1974
• been the disincorporation group. Now, doesn't that seem strange. They say
it will cost much money, they spend money, and in reality the TnIgn could
• have been run with little or no money until July 1.
Mr. Brandon and Mrs. Montgomery have repeatedly stated that they would
like to go by the wishes of the people. Yet they turned down an election
on May 28, saying it was illegal, for a much later illegal election to let
the people of the Town select a Town Council. They claim to have a majority
on their side. If they do they should agree to the following:
To settle the issues once and for all, Mr. Engle and 3 hereby challenge
Mr. Brandon and Mrs. Montgomery to a vote. An election, even though of
no real legal value;rcbe set up within two weeks. The ballot should consist of
only two choices a vote for Mrs. Montgomery and Mr. Brandon or a vote
for Mr. Engle and myself. Two individuals of their choice and two of our
choice be present to check off the voters allowing only and all registered
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voters living in the Town to vote. Absentee voting should be allowed. Regular
voting should be done in one day. At the end of the balloting, the votes
be counted. THE TWO LOSERS IMMEDIATELY RESIGN FROM THE TOWN COUNCIL. The
remaining council accept the resignations and appoint whoever they chose
to fill the vacancies. This would be a legal means of providing the Citizens
with a more representative Town Council.
I personally doubt they will accept this challenge. If they don't, the
reasons will be clear.
'OrP'
The residents of the Town of Oro Valley should remember that to
keep disinoorporators on the Town council will mean high costs and
exorbitant spending with no citizen help to run the Town government. •
On the other hand, a vote for Mr. Engle and myself will mean an honest,
efficient and economical approach to establishing and running a successful
community 'The Town of Oro Valley'. Let the people decide.
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Very .truly yours,
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,461-kvutoXJ A/Lth/
James D. l&iegg
40 E. Calle Concordia
The Town of Oro Valley . .•••
Tucson, Arizona 85704
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