Citizen Opinion Piece Crystallizes Candidates’ Failures

Prescott voters have been making their voices heard objecting to rapid, damaging growth at City Council meetings, in letters in local publications and in opinion pieces. Most recently, the Daily Courier published a “Talk of the Town” column in which long-time Prescott resident Kathleen Murphy wrote about her disappointment in how past City Council members voted.

It’s worth noting that one current City Council member, Steve Blair, and one candidate and past Council member, Jim Lamerson, did not listen to concerns on growth, ignored the results of a referendum on open space, and approved projects that will negatively impact the area in terms of water, traffic, and density.

Murphy wrote in the essay, published July 12:

In 2000, the citizens of Prescott voted to add a 1 cent sales tax. It was stated in several articles and by the City Council that 25% of this money – nearly $50 million – would go to purchase land for open space. After several years with only 3% of the supposedly dedicated revenue actually spent on open space, a group of citizens sued the city for reneging on their promise. Unfortunately, the voter-approved resolution did not legally bind the city to keep their promise. So, against the will of the citizens the City Council continued to use only a tiny percentage of the revenue to buy more open space.

Here is the outcome: In 2007, Jason Gisi’s dad told me that his bank was going to have to take back the Granite Dells property from the owner because they could not make the payments. The land went into bankruptcy. The city could have used the 1 cent sales tax revenue to buy this land. Some members of council had to be aware this land was available for purchase. Gisi and his partners certainly did, and they bought the entire 15,000 acres for $31 million around 2013. A huge, missed opportunity for every member of this community. Two of the people now running for election or reelection were on the council at the time and ignored the prospect of saving the iconic Dells from development.

Remember when you are voting for City Council members that two candidates have a long history of supporting developers over the people: Jim Lamerson and Steve Blair. In addition, Mayor Mengarelli’s conflicts of interest make him a suspect in moving forward projects that require additional scrutiny before approval.

We should all think hard about the repercussions of this election.