A Wonderful History Of Steam Pump Ranch & The Town Of Oro Valley

In 2006 The Oro Valley Historical Society made an outstanding video presentation of interviews with Henry Zipf, Grandson of George Pusch, original owner of Steam Pump Ranch, and town founder James Kreigh. The presentation includes wonderful old photos intertwined with the interviews.

The stories these two gentlemen relate gives anyone who watches a great insight into the history and background of The Steam Pump Ranch, and, relatively speaking, the recent history of how Oro Valley came to be a town.

I found the video during an attempt to learn more about the history of Steam Pump Ranch, and although it is on The Town of Oro Valley's web site, I'm not sure how many of us know about this wonderful presentation.

I promise you----it will be educational, informative, interesting and very enjoyable.

So---click on the link and learn a lot about our community. It will be time well spent.
http://www.ci.oro-valley.az.us/TownInfo/History_Video.htm

Learn more history from the Oro Valley Historical Society site. http://www.ovhistory.org/collections.htm

Wal-Mart Welcome In Oro Valley? You "Gotta" Be Kidding!

Following letter is from a Mr. Howard Richmond printed in the May 22 Az Star. Some may think "ignorance is bliss" might be an appropriate response.
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Some in Oro Valley welcome Wal-Mart

In regards to Wal-Mart coming to Oro Valley. There are many of us who are happy to see it come and look forward to its contributions to the community. Wal-Mart is a well-managed company with bright, well-stocked stores.

Unfortunately there are those who rail against the company coming to Oro Valley. Perhaps they saw Tiffany as being an anchor store in the center. What they are really unhappy about is that the community did not support them in the referendum on sales tax credits to the developer. I suggest those people get over their hurt egos.

Howard Richmond

Oro Valley Council Approves Steam Pump Ranch Final Plan

At the May 21 Council meeting, the Steam Pump Ranch Master Site Plan was unanimously approved 6-0. (Mayor Loomis was absent)

After years of work, many meetings and spending a lot of money on consulting fees, the final plan for this proposed Oro Valley historical site will be a costly proposition.

In addition to a proposed Pima County Nov 2009 bond issue for approximately $5 million, the potential operating and maintenance costs, after revenue, will be in excess of $300K/year.

One question that was not asked is this: What happens if the Pima County bond issue is defeated?

You can read The Explorer article (written prior to the vote) here
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2008/05/21/news/doc48334dc9c20e7170168570.txt

Barry Gillaspie Wins Oro Valley Run-off Election

With over 8800 ballots cast, Barry Gillaspie won the election for the 3rd seat, beating the other incumbent Terry Parish by more than 2200 votes. (5544 vs. 3266)

We believe once again the voters of Oro Valley showed their displeasure with the existing council and looked at Gillaspie as a much more viable choice than Parish who outwardly acknowledged his unabashed support for the development community.

We believe this result is a win-win situation. It's a win for Oro Valley as many believe Barry will be more apt to join the new majority as a result of Bill Garner & Salette Latas' victory in the primary.

We also believe, in the long run Terry's loss will actually be his gain, as he can now concentrate on his full time job with the Pima County Sheriff's Department, and have more time to spend with his family.

Ann Day Responds To Our Email. Re: Arroyo Grande

Supervisor Ann Day responded to an email I sent concerning her newsletter article on Arroyo Grande. I have Ms. Day's permission to share our exchange.
Art
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From: Art Segal

Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 8:01 PM
To: Ann Day
Subject: Re: Supervisor Ann Day Newsletter - 3rd Edition

Dear Supervisor Day,

Thank you for including me as a recipient of your monthly newsletter. It is quite informative.

You may not be aware, but I do a local Oro Valley blog in which I address issues affecting the citizens of our community. One of the ongoing issues which I have devoted many posts to is Arroyo Grande. In fact, in a few of the previous posts I saw fit to quote you.

You will note, I posted your newsletter article on Arroyo Grande, and mentioned I was disappointed you negated to point out that an option other than development would be the good possibility that the initiative would forever allow this land to remain as is.

I would welcome any comment you have on this, and would post it on the blog.

Below is a direct link to the many recent Arroyo Grande postings.

http://letorovalleyexcel.blogspot.com/search/label/Arroyo%20Grande

Thank you again.

Art Segal

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Art,

I am indeed aware of your Blog and read it quite frequently. And you are right – I should have mentioned that another option exists – via initiative - that would preserve two thirds of the Arroyo Grande planning area. I am precluded by law as an elected official from “advocating for or influencing any election, referendum or initiative” so I am always very cautious when discussing the State Land Initiative or any other ballot measure. But as you have posted a few times on your site, I have grave concerns about this entire Arroyo Grande process. And I think you also know I have a strong track record of both environmental and neighborhood protection. I assure you I will continue do everything I can to influence the planning process for Arroyo Grande in case the initiative does not bear fruit. Remember – I spent a few years in the legislature and I have seen more than one “sure thing” not come to fruition and I think it’s exceedingly important that Pima County and every resident who is concerned about this project continue to be involved and be prepared to shape the outcome.

Regards,

Ann Day

Pima County Tentative Budget Meeting ---Mon. May 20 @ 9:00 AM

The following is a message from Tom Jenney--Arizona Federation Of Taxpayers

ARIZONA FEDERATION OF TAXPAYERS

16 May 2008

Dear Pima County Taxpayer:

This coming Tuesday, May 20^th, members of the Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity and the Pima Association of Taxpayers will attend the 9:00 a.m. meeting of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, which will feature a hearing regarding the County’s Tentative Budget for 2008. The County budget usually determines how much the Supervisors will choose to levy in property taxes.

AFP Arizona and the PAT strongly encourage all members to attend the meeting (though we understand that many of our over-taxed activists are normally working at that hour!), which will be held on the first floor of the County Admin building at 130 W. Congress Street downtown. If you plan to attend, please reply to this email.

The Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity recently released its 2008 Tax and Spending Pledge for local governments, and invited all city council members, county supervisors, and candidates to sign on as Friends of the Taxpayer.

To pledge to be a Friend of the Taxpayer, a supervisor or candidate must promise not to vote for any FY 2009 budget that is greater than the FY 2008 budget, not vote for any increase in total property tax LEVIES (note: we did not say “rate”), and not vote to increase any sales taxes or impact fees, even by means of voter referenda.

In 2007, Supervisors Sharon Bronson, Richard Elias, and Ramon Valadez scored as Champions of Big Government on AFP Arizona’s Local Government Scorecard (link below), because they: 1) voted to increase the county budget by 15.8 percent—more than twice the rate of growth of Pima County’s private economy during years of strong economic growth; 2) voted to increase county property tax levies by almost 10 percent; and, 3) attempted to impose a county sales tax.

Supervisor Ray Carroll scored as a Champion of the Taxpayer and won AFP Arizona’s 2007 Local Hero Award for voting against the budget and property tax increases, and for single-handedly stopping the imposition of a county sales tax increase. Supervisor Ann Day scored as a Friend of the Taxpayer for voting against the budget and property tax increases.

So far, Pima County’s FY2009 budget looks relatively modest, with projected spending ($1.46 billion) lower than that of FY2008 ($1.48 billion). But the County plans to increase property tax levies by 4.3 percent, which is still too high for a recession year, and after several years when home and business owners have been heavily over-taxed:

http://www.pima.gov/finance/PDFs/Budget/RecBdgt/2008-2009/00cbdgtschl.pdf

Supervisors Carroll and Day have submitted an alternative budget that does not include an increase in property tax levies:

http://www.pima.gov/bos/rcarroll/PDFs/th-budget.proposal.CarrollDay.pdf

AFP Arizona is asking Pima County taxpayer activists to contact their supervisors (and all supervisor candidates) and encourage them to print out pledge forms, sign them, and mail them in to the AFP Arizona office (Americans for Prosperity, One East Camelback Road, Suite 550, Phoenix, AZ 85012). Supervisors and candidates can also give those pledges to Tom Jenney at the May 20^th meeting.

For printable pledge forms, Board members can visit this page:

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/includes/filemanager/files/az/azlocalgovtpledge2008.pdf

Emails for the Pima County Supervisors can be found here:

http://www.pima.gov/bos/bos1.html

Link to AFP Arizona’s 2007 Local Government Scorecard:

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/includes/filemanager/files/az/local_govt_scorecard_2007.pdf

Thank you so much for helping to control the growth of taxes and spending in Pima County!

For Liberty,

--Tom

Tom Jenney

Arizona Director

Americans for Prosperity

www.aztaxpayers.org

tjenney@afphq.org

(602) 478-0146

And if you’ve made it this far…

Please join Americans for Prosperity and support your grassroots taxpayer watchdog.

The Arizona Federation of Taxpayers has served the hard-working people of our state since 1980. Now that we have teamed up with Americans for Prosperity, we are fighting the Big Spenders at all levels of government—local, state, and national.

For $10 a year, you can take a stand for freedom and limited government—and save yourself hundreds of dollars a year in taxes. Use the link below to JOIN NOW!

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/index.php?page=donate

Watch The Zeeman....

Yes. Not only can you listen to the Zeeman's weekly podcast by clicking on the link on the left; now, you can watch the Zeeman's weekly "podcast" which is called a vidcast. Simply visit our web site (click here) and then click on the big triangle on the picture in the middle of the home page. You can't miss it! (You will need a high speed (cable, dsl) internet connection to view it as you would with any video feed from sources such as YouTube.)

Admittedly, its a "work in progress". Please do let us know what you think.

Video adds yet another capability for all of us to let oro valley excel.

2nd German Solar Firm Coming To Tucson

The May 17 AZ Star reports that a 2nd German solar firm has set up operations in Tucson.

So----why should we care? From my point of view, we should care for the following reason.

We all should be familiar with the name TREO---Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc.
Well, we contribute $50,000 a year to them, although they're asking for $75,000 this year. This is a "drop in the bucket" compared to the "donation" by the big metropolis to our south--Tucson.

The point is this. Tucson benefits from contributing to TREO, as noted by the handful of companies that David Welsh stated in his April 10 memo to Oro Valley, that opted to stay in Tucson---- but what does Oro Valley get? We're not sure, unless you count a FREE TRIP TO EUROPE FOR MAYOR LOOMIS, compliments of TREO.

Yup! Loomis will be heading to Europe in a few days ostensibly to visit Sanofi-Aventis (they have been in OV for 17 years now) and we don't know who else.

Oh yeah! In case you didn't know it, guess who is on the Board of Directors of TREO.

Honorable Paul H. Loomis
Mayor, Town of Oro Valley
Represents: PAG Appointment - Small Jurisdictions

So---when the mayor votes to give TREO tens of thousands of dollars of OUR money, is it fair to ask: Is there a conflict of interest here?

In any case, read the story in the Az Star here.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/biz-topheadlines/239374

Ann Day Addresses Arroyo Grande

The following is from County Supervisor District 1, Ann Day's May newsletter.

Although Supervisor Day notes, "We must not compromise on infrastructure, conservation standards or the quality of life for all residents, current and future," it's disappointing she didn't mention the alternative of NOT developing this parcel.

Ann Day, Supervisor, District 1. Please email your comments to Ann.Day@pima.gov or call 520.740.2738

Arroyo Grande and the Future of Growth

Pima County continues to work with Oro Valley and the Arizona State Land Department as the town and the state move forward on eventual annexation and development within 9,100 acres of state trust land north of Oro Valley. The 14-square mile planning area known as Arroyo
Grande is expected to add almost 16,000 homes and 38,000 people to Oro Valley when it is fully developed over the course of a decade or more.

Pima County has no control over the state’s mandate to sell trust lands and Oro Valley’s sovereign right to annex. We can only try to influence the process to ensure it results in smart, managed growth. Our county planners and my office have had a degree of success in encouraging the town and the state to adopt the concepts of Pima County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and provide that 68 percent of this environmentally-sensitive area is kept as open space and critical wildlife corridors are preserved.

But the county still lacks any enforceable assurances that our conservation goals in the Tortolita Fan area that we have been trying to achieve for over a decade will be cast in stone. We must also have detailed infrastructure planning upfront to ensure there is adequate water, sewer service, parks, schools and a sufficient transportation network in an area that is already under strain.

We have had successes and setbacks as the three jurisdictions try to approach this from a regional planning perspective, and the county will continue to work as best we can to help shape this next leap in growth. Arroyo Grande will have a substantial impact on existing neighborhoods and communities. We must not compromise on infrastructure, conservation standards or the quality of life for all residents, current and future.

Wal-Mart "Sleazified" Oro Valley

In her letter in the May 15 Az Star, our neighbor Mary Reilly aptly describes what many of us believe: Wal-Mart will "sleazify" our community.
Thanks Mary for using a great descriptive word to say what 1000's of us believe.


Wal-Mart wasn't wanted

Re: the May 9 letter "No beauty in a Wal-Mart store."

We who live in Oro Valley felt that way, too, when our lovely area was "sleazified" by the invasion of Wal-Mart. The only difference between El Con and Oro Valley in the matter is that Oro Valley residents were outright lied to and mistakenly voted for Wal-Mart's entrance into Oro Valley.

At least Broadmoor residents know what's about to set up shop. We didn't.

Mary Reilly

Histologist, Oro Valley

Az Star Reports On Oro Valley's New Proposed Budget

We previously noted the town budget now at $201 million includes two contingency expenditures:
$48.6 million for the Naranja Park Bond Issue, and $32 million for the new Municipal Operations Center, which could be approved WITHOUT voter approval.

We believe both these entities have merit----within reason. We hope the new town council will take a hard look at the way this existing council spends OUR money, and that they will show a little fiscal responsibility.

There are other areas where we feel the town could and should save money. One place to start would be to cut back the "contributions" to various entities such as TREO, GOVAC and the like.

Isn't it a good time to start "living within our means?" We sure hope our new council including Bill Garner & Salette Latas will bring some sanity to our town government.

Read the Az Star article here.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/85737/238848

Arroyo Grande Meeting Mon. May 19 @Town Hall 6-8PM

The Az Star reports what we already noted here---An initiative is underway to stop development of 570,000 acres of state lands including most of the area known as Arroyo Grande.

As we noted, Oro Valley plans on spending $500K on legal & consulting fees in initiating a pre-annexation agreement.

Oro Valley is looking for citizen input. As such, the town & state land representatives will be hosting a meeting on Mon. May 19 @ 6:00-8:00PM at town hall.

Oro Valley town council and staff read this blog. Please use this forum to let them know what you think of this potential annexation.

We believe it is NOT in our best interests. Why?

First of all, we believe NO funds should be expended while there is a good chance a large portion of the area under consideration will NOT be available for development.

Secondly. Water! Where will it come from?

Additionally, how much costs in infrastructure will be incurred?

Also---keep in mind, this area on our northern border is a main corridor for wildlife. Haven't we infringed enough on their domain?

Finally---Isn't there enough traffic on our one and only north/south corridor, Oracle road?

Please comment here on your thoughts.

Read The Az star article here.

Not News, But Oro Valley Home Prices Are Down By 10.5%

One of our bloggers sent us the following from Zillow.com. Surely, this is not a revelation to those of us living here.

However, it raises the issue as to why this Town Council thinks it's wise to consider burdening the citizens with a $48.6 million dollar park and a $30 million dollar Operations Center while home prices are so depressed.

Perhaps it shouldn't surprise any of us. After all, under the leadership of Paul Loomis this council has been spending our money so indiscriminately throughout the years.

We expect that to stop with this new council.

HOME VALUE TRENDS IN ORO VALLEY

According to Zillow's latest Home Value Report, home values in Oro Valley decreased 10.5% in the first quarter of 2008, compared to the first quarter of 2007. Nationally, single-family home values decreased 7.5% while condo values declined 9.0% during this same period.

Oro Valley Manager Recommends Reducing Pay Raises

David Andrews has our respect for the job he does as Oro Valley Town Manager. Hopefully, with a new council we'll see even more & better changes in the way Oro Valley operates.

While it appears the existing council has been "flying by the seats of their pants," we expect more decisions from the new council based on fiscal responsibility.

There is an article in the May 14 Explorer noting that David is at odds with the police union concerning proposed pay raises. We expect fiscal responsibility will prevail.

“The basis of my recommendation is affordability,” Andrews said.

Read the article here.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2008/05/14/news/doc482a249981c12079108110.txt

Oro Valley Marketplace: Still NOT "Upscale" & "Unique"

For those of our readers that may care which retailers (other than the 24/7 Super Center Wal-Mart) that will be "donating" almost 1/2 of OUR sales tax revenue to Vestar, below is the up-to-date list of Marketplace retailers.

Good grief! Twenty three million two hundred thousand dollars coming from OUR tax revenue.

All our readers should not forget. If you shop ----for example----at Target, Office Max, Petsmart, Home Depot, Sports Authority, Pier One, or Ross---Oro Valley keeps 100% of the sales tax revenue.

Why allow Vestar to pocket OUR MONEY from this Marketplace? Be smart. Shop there ONLY when absolutely necessary.

Does anybody believe the following PR BS from their web site?

"Oro Valley Marketplace has amassed a brilliant collection of boutiques, national retail anchors, unique eateries and traditional restaurants. For a quick bite, a special occasion, a gallon of milk, or an afternoon of retail therapy, the marketplace delivers."

Marketplace retailers.

http://www.orovalleymarketplace.com/storedirectory.shtml

Two Letters: The Truth Concerning Partisanship

Last week we posted Alan Dankwerth's letter to The Explorer suggesting the two new outstanding newly elected Council Members were elected as a result of "partisanship." We responded by saying his comments were nothing but "sour grapes," and his wife's last place finish in the recent election was her lack of concern for the people of Oro Valley.

Below are two opinions. Geri Ottoboni's letter to The Explorer and Shar Pelzl's letter to our blog.
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They weren’t first to inject OV with partisanship

I am writing in response to Mr. Dankwerth’s letter about partisan politics.

Apparently Mr. Dankwerth has a memory problem. He seems to have forgotten about the red cards the Republican Party sent out in 2006 endorsing several Republican candidates. When he mentions “significant monies,” he seems to have forgotten about the nearly $35,000.00 that Terry Parish received from the developers.

Terry Parish was the only candidate to publicly campaign with a recognizable partisan politician, Tim Bee. Like Parish, Mr. Bee is also a friend of developers, having recently sponsored legislation that would hinder Oro Valley’s ability to collect impact fees.

Before the primary, Paul Parisi, former town council member, and current employee of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, stood up at the LD26 Republican meeting and stated that the Chamber of Commerce was supporting these two fine Republicans, Helen Dankwerth and Terry Parish, and asked for their support.

Many Oro Valley residents, including this Republican, were disgusted with the present Town Council and their voting record, and they wanted a change. Democrats, Independents and Republicans walked precincts and made numerous calls for Salette Latas and Bill Gardner. This to me shows nonpartisan support, especially when members of several parties are working together for a common goal.

Mr. Dankwerth mentioned ability, knowledge, preparedness, decisiveness, and dedication. I can assure him that these are the very qualities that attracted people of all parties to Salette Latas and Bill Garner.

Mr. Dankwerth’s wife came in dead last in the primary and was eliminated from the Council. I’m sure that had nothing to do with partisan politics. Maybe it was her voting record.

In any case, Mr. Dankwerth’s letter reeks of sour grapes.

Geri Ottoboni

Oro Valley
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Re: Partisanship in Oro Valley; Alan Dankwerth is not as well-informed as he obviously claims to be.

As a member of the Sun City Democratic Club, allow me to set the record straight. The Latases are not even remotely responsible for OV’s partisanship.

Anyone who read Art Segal’s blog during this past week knows that Don Cox has freely admitted that in 2006 – two years ago -- he and Conny Culver sent out a postcards bearing the Republican Club’s logo to GOP households during the OV election campaign, announcing the Club’s endorsement of Don and Conny Culver. Oh, and also Al Kunisch – who the culprits, for reasons of their own, favored over long-time Republican and distinguished Council Member, K. C. Carter.

This story was well known two years ago because numerous recipients objected to this “outing.” Townspeople deplored the unfortunate break in tradition. Of the three recommended candidates, only Al Kunisch – who reportedly had nothing to do with the postcard – won that election.

It is unclear how Alan Dankwert used his filched copy of the Club’s newsletter to erroneously surmise that the Sun City Democratic Club invited Barry Gillaspie to speak based solely on his party affiliation rather than his accomplishments.

Has Dankwerth not seen Barry Gillaspie’s credentials? Gillaspie’s education (a degree in natural resources planning from the University of Arizona) and many years of experience as a Planner with Pima County and as a Planning Commissioner in Oro Valley blow away his opposition.

My husband and I, both members of The Sun City Democratic Club, would like Mr. Dankwerth to apologize for the slur. We would also like him to acknowledge that our club can engage any speakers we choose. America is still a free country.

We are both proud that the Club chose to support Barry Gillaspie, who will bring fairness, clarity, diligence, and firm, honest principles to his service as a council member. Barry Gillaspie will truly represent the people of Oro Valley.

Shar Pelzl

Sun City Resident