Oro Valley Mayoral candidate Pat Straney and Town Council candidates Steve Didio, Ryan Hartung and Shirl Lamonna announced their decision today to cancel participation in the Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum scheduled for October 6th at the Hilton. A vague format for the forum was provided late Sunday afternoon and concerns had not been addressed as of 5 pm Monday.
At issue was a list of conditions that the recalled incumbents had imposed upon the Sun City Government Affairs Committee (GAC) in order to participate in the October 3rd Sun City Candidate Forum. The challengers requested utilization of those same conditions for the Chamber Forum to ensure a fair and impartial exchange of ideas but were denied their request.
Conditions included a list of questions to be discussed; a fair and impartial moderator; no political signs, campaign buttons or shirts with logos supporting a candidate; appearance of all candidates on stage at the same time; and no clapping or interruptions from the audience. While Sun City acquiesced to the incumbents’ demands, the challengers were denied equal treatment by the Chamber. The incumbents did not request any pre-set conditions of the Chamber.
A secondary issue was the date chosen for the forum by Mr. Perry , President of the Chamber, because it conflicts with the first public review of the proposed Oro Valley General Plan known as Your Voice, Our Future. Perry indicated that he was unable to host the event on October 5th due to the grand opening for Title Boxing at Oro Valley Marketplace and chose this date – despite the conflict – in order to hold a council forum before ballots arrived in people’s homes.
The challengers say they are interested in learning the views of the public and supporting the community’s vision for the Town. They will respond to emails and/or reserve space at the Oro Valley Public Library to meet with residents who would like to discuss issues with them individually.