Few believed that southern Arizona politics could get uglier than the Tucson City Council race this year, but associates of Oro Valley Mayor Satish Hiremath have managed to do just that in an attack mailer. The mailer, paid for by Triple E PAC, headed by Hiremath’s associateHiremath’s makes false claims about candidate Steve Didio that has sparked outrage throughout the community.
In the “Elections Matter” mailer, Cox claims that Didio “fought against the reorganization of then Coyote Run.” While it may seem to be a relatively insignificant statement, according to Terry Thompson, the leader of The Friends of Coyote Run, it is an “outright lie” – and a cruel lie at that.
In fact, as the parent of a severely physically challenged son, Didio fought against the elimination of Coyote Run. As Thompson explains in his email:
The original proposal had no mention of a reorganization of Coyote Run. The proposal (in 2010) was to eliminate Coyote Run and hand the town’s transportation services over to the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA). This would have resulted in degraded service to many of our special needs citizens and eliminated services for our senior citizens. Steve was among the first of citizens to stand in council chambers against this proposal. Because of the citizen concern, that proposal was defeated and scheduled for a re-vote the following year (2011) where it was defeated once again. A citizens group was formed with Steve at the forefront and for several months I hosted weekly meetings in my home that at one point or another included every player in the issue, from the Mayor on down. It was during this time that the idea of reorganization of Coyote Run was born. Steve and the rest of the citizens group readily embraced the proposal that became the superior transportation system we have today. Steve Didio is as much responsible for our current transportation system as is the Mayor or any Council members.
It should be noted that the only sitting council member active in this process was Lou Waters. Except for voting, council members Snider and Hornat were essentially on the sidelines throughout the process. Also, Mayor Hiremath was the last man standing in favor of the original proposal. He came around to seeking an alternative proposal at the end of a 6-1 (2011) vote to extend Coyote Run for a second year. As for Don Cox, he was neither seen nor heard from throughout the entire process. It’s amazing that he has such a depth of knowledge of a process in which he had no part. Given his total lack of credibility on this issue, one must wonder what, if anything else, in his flyer is true.
“To imply that I, as the parent of a special needs person who rides this service 5 days per week, would do anything other than fully support it, is reaching a new low in town politics. I have spent over 5 years meeting on a continual basis with town transportation management, staff and drivers, and we have done nothing but continue to improve the system over those years,” Didio told supporters in an email dated October 16. “To say I’m very angered by this outright lie would be an understatement.”
Didio says that he and his wife Nan have dedicated themselves to putting their son Cameron’s “needs first in all respects.” Cameron, age 27, is the couple’s only child. Didio says that Cam “has brought us many blessings and much pride through the years. It has been an inspiration to both of us watching him overcome the many significant challenges he faces on a daily basis.”
For his part, Didio recognizes the reality of small town politics. Without malice, he calmly accepts that the “hit piece” contains many “distortions and some outright lies” about Coyote Run in order “to co-opt this success as their own.”
Hiremath, Vice Mayor Lou waters, and their fellow Town Council members Mary Snider and Joe Hornat are the subjects of the recall election for their roles in the secretive and costly El Conquistador Country Club and its golf courses.
The group tried to sell the deal to the public as a much in demand community center. In reality, the purchase benefitted their political benefactor Humberto Lopez and his company HSL Properties, and was not in demand by anyone.
Lopez purchased the El Conquistador Hotel and Resort, but the Country Club and its golf courses needed to be spun off due to ongoing financial losses. Hiremath negotiated a deal for the Country Club behind the scenes, and Snider, Waters, Hornat assisted in pushing the “community center” deal through with limited public input.