The Truth About Oro Valley Needs To Be Told

When my husband and I moved here 6 yrs ago after he retired from the military, we chose to live in Oro Valley because of its schools, its classiness, and its beauty. The people were so friendly and we fell in love with it.

Like most young couples and because we moved a lot, we never really got involved with local politics. Also like most young couples, I assumed that others who were more experienced would keep the local government in check and let the citizens know if there was any corruption going on. I relied on them for years and after we moved here, decided to do my part and “get involved”.

My first involvement was when the current Mayor and the three recalled councilmembers were seriously considering a rezoning for apartments at the entrance of our community on Tangerine and Rancho Vistoso. We had just bought our dream home, so we were horrified to find this out and wanted to put an end to it. Not knowing exactly what to do, I put a hand-written sign in my front yard that said “No Apartments” while asking the neighbors to go to the Town Council meeting.

That day, I met a woman who saw my sign and who was also fighting hard against the apartments. She was trying everything to get our community involved. In the end, there were enough complaints from the community that it required a super-majority vote on council and Mayor Hiremath did not have the votes so the developer (HSL) scurried away to build the apartments somewhere else.

Those apartments are now sitting right next to Basis and every time I drive by there and see the three stories blocking the beautiful mountain views, I am reminded of how hard this woman worked to prevent them from existing in my neighborhood. I am extremely grateful! Like myself, this was the first time that she had gotten involved with local politics. But unlike myself, she stayed involved. Since then, she has gone to many meetings, joined committees, and spent many days and nights between work to help others who were going through the same thing we went through in 2011 with those apartments.

If you haven’t already guessed, her name is Shirl Lamonna and she deserves a medal, not accusations and name calling. Her grass root efforts have made a difference and by searching her name in the Oro Valley website, you will see that she has spoken up for those who could not speak for themselves and put a crimp in the current council’s fast track effort to rezone several properties to placate their developer buddies and turn our town into a not-so-quaint track home community.

The next time I worked with her was when the town bought the El Con CC and golf courses. Along with over 200 others, she was at the Dec. 17th meeting and voiced her concerns very eloquently. When the Majority-4 ignored the citizens’ pleas to slow down and let the town decide if we wanted this, she single-handedly went to Town Hall and started the process of a referendum to bring the purchase of the El Con golf courses & county club to the people and allow a vote.

When she took out the referendum, she was given very little information about the petitions and was told by the Clerk that she “could not give legal advise”. Along with several attorneys and all the volunteers in the effort, no one noticed that the number used for filing purposes was incorrect. So for months, we plugged along with signatures but in the end, the number was wrong allowing the Town to reject all 3,000 plus signatures as soon as they were handed in. All the hard work that Shirl and the many volunteers went through to get signatures was dismissed in the blink of an eye and the people’s right to decide on such a huge transaction that will affect many generations to come was discarded.

Shirl was devastated and those of us who knew her, knew that she felt horrible. So, we decided to act and since the petitions were handed in a day early with way more signatures than the 1,182 required, we all got together and started another petition effort the next morning and ended up getting over a 1,000 signatures in just under 5 hours. That was an amazing feat and really showed the anger within our community over the El Con purchase, but it wasn’t enough.

Our right to vote was taken away and despite Mayor Hiremath’s comment that he would let the people vote if he had a choice, the Town fought hard in court against the petitions and hired one of the best attorneys from Pheonix and won. It was crushing and many of the 3,000 people asked if there was anything else we could do. It was at this time that another group, led by Ryan Hartung, started the Recall process.

Once again, we were around town collecting signatures. This time, the documents were looked at very closely and we all learned very quickly that it had to be perfect so every circulator was trained, documents were double checked, etc… and in the end, we got enough signatures to Recall the 4 people who have made it their mission to ignore the wants and needs of the citizens… their constituents.

For the fourth time, we came together and collected signatures for the challengers of the recalled Majority-4. I personally got to meet and talk to each and every challenging candidate and was proud to help out. Each one, excluding Pat Straney, had never run for office before despite what is printed on the fancy mailers and in the newspaper. Each one of them chose to put their lives on hold and in the spot light because they were as passionate and worried about the Town as the 3,000 plus people who signed the referendum petition.

They are the ones who, young couples like my husband and I, counted on to pay close attention and keep the government accountable. They have stepped up to protect those of us who have not been able to get involved. They are MY heroes and instead of the respect they deserve, through a Chicago-style political tactic, they have been dismissed, called names and lies have been told about them.

I truly hope that the citizens of Oro Valley do THEIR due diligence, sift through the political rhetoric and vote out the bad apples while voting for those citizens who are actually looking out for us. Unfortunately, it’s too late for some homeowners because land has already been rezoned and apartments were built, blocking beautiful views and decreasing home values, but it’s not too late for future residents and the future of our town. Please vote wisely and do not let the power and money of a few prevent good citizens from getting involved.

Lori Pettijohn
Oro Valley Resident

About Letter to the Editor 171 Articles
Under the leadership of Editor in Chief Huey Freeman, the Editorial Board of the Arizona Daily Independent offers readers an opportunity to comment on current events and the pressing issues of the day. Occasionally, the Board weighs-in on issues of concern for the residents of Arizona and the US.