I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend! I spent a major part of the weekend on top of Mt. Lemmon with my family and a church group – 60 of us total. Luckily, besides a few clouds, we were rain free. Unfortunately, sometime very early Sunday morning a skunk made its way through our camp and man did it stink. It smelled so bad three different tents across the camp including mine were woken up and I’m still trying to recover my sleep.

With a little less than 2 months to go we are considerably over the halfway point in terms of gathering signatures. Remember that anyone thinking about running for Town Council needs at least 526 signatures. However, my goal is not just to get the required amount, but to blow it away and show everyone that this race is wide open and we aim to give the incumbents a run for their money.

As good as the signatures are coming; I feel you should know what their side is going to do and is doing right now. This past week there were two almost virtually identical articles in the Oro Valley Explorer. I’ll skip the fact that some editor LET the two very similar articles in. Both of them lied in stating that the recall would cost $150,000. Here is the current breakdown of the cost: $30,000 for the recall election in November, $53,000 in court costs for the REFERENDUM – not part of the recall - and a POSSIBLE $75,000 for a March 2016 special election for the mayor, IF his signatures are not verified until after July. As of now the recall cost is ONLY $30,000. These people writing the articles aren’t idiots, but they hope/think the voters of Oro Valley are.

Now, back to the two articles, it was no coincidence they both lied that the recall would cost $150,000. Both articles had sections that were 100% identical in their words, not one word varied between the two. This is what we are up against. The M4 (majority 4) will do anything and say anything to hang on to their power or get others to do it for them. It is disgusting, but this is the way it is.

By comparison, Shirl, Steve and I are just trying to do the right thing. None of us have political aspirations. If you would have asked any of us last year if we were planning to run for Town Council, I am positive the answer would be a resounding no.

I wish I could write about something more fun, but unfortunately this is just the beginning of the election cycle and with nothing but the referendum error to hold against Shirl, the M4 has nothing on the three of us. This is because we are just normal citizens upset with their disregard for fiscal responsibility, non-adherence to the General Plan and general uncaring attitude toward voter sentiment concerning their actions.

Hopefully we will win this election and take at least one of their seats away. This will mean both sides will have to negotiate and will in turn give Oro Valley a better political process. Even if the recall would cost us $150,000, based on their voting records and the $1.5 million the El Con golf will lose in just its first year, I would still say the recall is a financially sound decision.

I know everybody is already helping in some way or another, but if you want to help even more, here’s what I need. I need locations on people’s lawns and private property to put up signs. But probably the most important and unmet need is simply word of mouth. We need everyone to talk to their neighbors and anyone else they know in Oro Valley about what’s going on. Only through word of mouth and a true grassroots campaign will we be able to garner the necessary votes to change the current direction of our great Town.

Ryan Hartung