Waters, Snider, and Hornat must resign or face recall election in November
Today organizers of the recall effort against Oro Valley Vice-Mayor Lou Waters, and Town Council members Mary Snider and Joe Hornat were informed that their recall petitions were approved by the Pima County Recorder. The group was notified in an email from Pamela Franklin with Pima County this afternoon.
The leader of OVCOG (Oro Valley Citizens for Open Government,) Ryan Hartung was notified that while the group only needed 2,200 signatures, the County validated over 2,800 signatures on the petitions.
Recall petitions are also being circulated against Mayor Satish Hiremath. The group expects those petitions to be turned in for review later this month.
“Throughout this lengthy process of gathering signatures, we have seen the town of Oro Valley come together and say with a loud voice that we are not pleased with the direction of our community,” said Hartung. “Too many poor fiscal decisions are being made, while at the same time, the council majority is not adhering to the general plan voted on by its constituency or listening to their concerns. We want Oro Valley to grow, but this is not the way. Raising the utility tax 100%, just as it was supposed to expire, along with adding a never-ending half cent sales tax to fund a thirty year-old golf clubhouse – a clubhouse the town wants to call a community center – and buying the El Conquistador golf course which is projected to loose $1.5 million just this year alone are not good fiscal decisions. We are pleased that come November we will have a chance to decide on a different course for our great town.”
Waters, Snider, and Hornat have five days to either resign, or opt to face the recall election which will occur in November.
Hartung has been recruited by Oro Valley residents, who appreciated his leadership during the recall effort, to run for one of the expected openings on the Council. Steve Didio is also expected to run for one of the spots.
With a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, Hartung works as a chemist in Oro Valley.
It was the secretive actions of the Mayor, three Council members, and Town staff to proceed with the purchase of the aging El Conquistador Country Club despite the fact that the aging facility is not ADA compliant and will require expensive upgrades, that spurred the recall effort by OVCOG.
$8.3 M has been tentatively approved in the FY 15/16 budget for the golf course management and care as well as the Community Center. The Town Council approved a 1/2 cent sales tax increase for that purpose, but it is unlikely that the proceeds will cover the costs, according to sources. Recently, the Town Manager said he was considering putting a bond package before voters to cover what is expected to be mounting costs associated with the purchase.
OVCOG can be found on Saturday’s at the Oro Valley library with recall petitions for Hiremath.
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