On Wednesday December 2, the Oro Valley Town Council will consider an agenda item proposed by Councilmember Garner to reconsider the action taken against Councilmember Mike Zinkin at the November 18 for his allegedly offensive remarks.
Garner has requested that the matter be returned to the Council agenda for reconsideration and Councilmember Brendan Burns has seconded his request. According to the notice of the meeting, “Pursuant to Rule 11.1(B) of the Town Council’s Parliamentary Rules & Procedures, the reconsideration of any action taken by Council must be by motion by a Councilmember who was on the prevailing side of the vote. Such motion must be filed with the Town Clerk’s office and the clerk shall place the item on the agenda.”
At issue, are what appear to be politically motivated complaints against Zinkin for various comments he has made to or about employees. The perception of political motivation is based on the fact that – in some instances – all of the members of the Council and staff members appeared to find his comments humorous. Aside from the immediate reaction to his statements, is Zinkin’s very public stand against the fiscal practices of the Town Manager Greg Caton and the majority of the Council which has led to a necessary sales tax increase and resulted in mounting losses.
In a letter published on the popular Oro Valley blog, Let Oro Valley Excel, resident Rudy Roszak, outlined those tactics. He wrote that “Zinkin is a 3-year council member who has been at odds with the Majority-4 for most of his time in office. As a result there have been a goodly number of attempts by them to remove him.” Rozak notes, “The latest accusation includes the alleged “sexual harassment” of an employee. This happened because Mr. Zinkin, in a joke from the dais at an October council meeting, made reference that it has taken so long for the General Plan update to be completed that Mr. Zinkin’s hair has gone gray and that an employee is still trying to grow a beard.”
“Mayor Hiremath and other council members laughed at the joke,” according to Rozak. To read the entire letter – click here
According to sources, it is alleged that several other members of council have also made inappropriate remarks to Town staff from the dais.
Caton was described as “petulant” at the November 18 meeting. He appeared to be determined to have some action taken against Zinkin for his alleged offensive remarks. Some speculate that Caton was seeking retaliation because Zinkin had the nerve to ask probing questions about the Town’s shaky financial health.
One of the complaints against Zinkin was based on comments he made during the October 21, 2015 meeting of the Town Council. As you can see in the video below, Councilmember Hornat says that he went “bald sitting in the back trying to listen to some of these things and Mike (Zinkin) turned gray,” referring to the group’s work on the Town’s General Plan. Zinkin states later in response, “I want to add a little bit to what Joe said. Yeah, you are right, I had a little bit more gray hair, Joe had hair, and Lisa has a couple more people in her family right now then when this thing first started, and Beyer is still trying to grow a beard.” Town Council members laughed at the comments.