Tomorrow morning, the members of TOOTHINOV.ORG will take their case before Superior Court Judge Aragon in the matter of Oro Valley’s rejection of over 3,000 referendum signatures in their effort to stop the purchase of the El Conquistador County Club.
On Friday, January 30, Mayor Satish Hiremth raised eyebrows when he used Town resources to convince people to join him in Court tomorrow. Hiremath wrote in an email, “There is a court date on this upcoming Tuesday at the Superior Court downtown in front of Judge Gus Aragon who will hear a “show cause” case by the TOOTH group who is trying to block the sale of the ECCC to the town. The hearing is at 10 o’clock. That will be a big day for us all because Judge Aragon can basically throw the whole case out and end this thing once and for all. It is scheduled for 2 hours and I know for a fact that the oppositon (SIC) is trying to get a group to go down there so they can show the Judge that there are many citizens who want it blocked…..”
Hiremath also sent out an email dated January 29, “Just letting you know that I need bodies at both council meetings on Feb 4th and Feb 18th at 6:00 submitting blue cards supporting the acquisition. In addition the Town is hosting a series of educational meetings beginning next week Monday Feb 2nd from 6-8 pm at the Town Hall Chambers and I would like to see it packed with supporters there as well. This will be similar to the meeting we had at the Hilton resort but for the general public. Lastly, if you could get a few people to write letters to the editor of the Explorer, that would be great as well. Please spread the word around!!!!!”
According to a website popular with Oro Valley residents, Let Oro Valley Excel, “The Town Of Oro Valley unleashed a press release media blitz starting on January 22. It is positioned as “providing information” to the public. The press releases continued for 2 weeks. You can read these releases on the town web site via this link.
Hiremath’s campaign against the people has only fanned the flames of outrage that have been burning since he crammed the deal through in a rushed and secretive process in December.
The Town Clerk rejected the signatures of over 3,000 people due to a clerical error on the referendum petition forms. The move solidified the residents’ belief that they had been disenfranchised by Hiremath, and Council members Joe Hornat, Mary Snider, and Vice-Mayor Lou Waters.
In anticipation of the court hearing and in an effort to save the Town legal fees, fellow Council member Mike Zinkin, who has fought for the people of Oro Valley, asked Hiremath to give serious consideration to “help heal the community” by “placing on the agenda for Feb. 18 a “Discussion and possible consideration to direct staff to discontinue action on the purchase of the El Con,” Hiremath responded bitterly, “With respect to changing the parliamentary rules…thank you for the suggestion but I will have to decline. You are asking me to change the rules that we follow because the democratic process was not followed properly by the TOOTH group. If I go down that road, it opens up a can of worms I don’t want opened because it will set precedence for any future disagreements we may have as a council and pretty soon we will be suspending the rules for another subject, then another subject and and then another subject, and so on. Then at the end what do we have???? Anarchy.”
As it stands, the resident believe that they have tyranny now. As the resident note on Let Oro Valley Excel, “The Town Of Oro Valley and Mayor Hiremath have a very messy situation on their hands. It will remain messy if Judge Aragon rules against the TOOTHINOV.ORG petition. There are many angry residents who will not take kindly to having their opportunity to vote rejected. They will remain angry. The town will remain divided. “A house divided cannot stand.”