And they wonder why we don’t like ‘em.
Nearly 4 years ago, in one of my eight pieces on how the University of Arizona had devolved from the state’s exemplary land-grant, flagship institution, into a wasteful, morbidly obese, employment scheme for a menagerie of sinecured looney-leftists, and their [vastly overpaid] educrat-enablers…..
At that time, I cited the example of the Campus Farm property, a quarter-section (160ac.), originally secured privately in 1909 for UA’s agricultural endeavors, but now largely vacant & obsolete, undersized, and residing in the middle of north central Tucson, ~3-4.5 miles from the main campus.
A 9-figure $$$ valued parcel for Arizona taxpayers, and one the feckless City of Tucson could easily repurpose into an amazing development—addressing that area’s encroaching urban blight, and the slow collapse in the city’s tax base. Both features of an undeniable urban “doom loop”.
In that 2020 piece linked above, I related how a local political activist ….terrified that UA’s Prez and Chief Educrat Officer, Bobby Robbins, who had casually mentioned in a presser, that his administration might be daring to upset the UA townies. Robbins (gasp!), had introduced the concept of selling off the site, and using the funds to finance the repurposing of UA agricultural efforts further out-of-town. Incidentally, UA is building a 2100 acre Tech park in Pinal county.
Well, these local Tucson “activists” and their UA staff minions have gotten busy, and by enlisting all their co-conspirators in the UA planning office & executive suite, have essentially defrauded the voters, taxpayers, parents, & students of Arizona, in a very sophisticated land swindle. And there’s 9-figure $$$ involved.
By deliberately having this 160 ac. and its semi-derelict “historic” structures (since 1909? C’mon!), now officially listed in the National Historic Register (Feb. 1st)… It means nothing can be done here; it cannot be developed further, the state cannot unload it …unless at a GIANT LOSS OF ITS TRUE VALUE.
Hey, maybe that’s their scheme all along? Nah, that would be crony-capitalism, and we all know the Hard-Left could never be crony-capitalists (wink, wink, nod, nod).
My whole point about correcting, and using the Campus Farm property & another large Pima County property close-by, goes to very heart of what we expect Tucson to become in the next 6 years. This ‘Farm Plot” caper reveals clear unilateral, conspiratorial decisions by a monstrously large, unfiltering bureaucracy. One seemingly unable & unwilling to participate in any kind of broader, beneficial systems thinking.
Unfortunately, a feral UA has had an increasingly larger & larger sway in Tucson, due to two forces. The smugly ineffective AZ Board of Regents (ABOR), and #2. the City’s own inability to formulate and initiate, a sustainable growth model. Looks like a “doom loop” to me. (this is just 1 loop aspect)
And my message for the Tucson elite: If the City does not allow itself attractive assets with which to embrace change, in our own fashion, Change’s ugly first cousin, “Have to”, has a very nasty way of forcing itself upon you.
Why Robbins should go: if he was naive enough to surround himself with professional UA distractors on this (& sooooo much more!), he has no business running a $2+ billion [yearly] operation, with its debilitating mission creep, and thousands of employees. Crazytown!
There you go AZ Legislature…the ball’s in your court, 2 swings (Hart, Robbins) and 2 misses. Why isn’t your “Dog-in-this-Fight”, ABOR, doing its job?
Sellers is a Southpark Republican living in incorporated Oro Valley; his background is federal technology commercialization