A Suggestion: Swap Golf for a Sports Complex
Regarding "Taxes and Timing," Currents, May 26: I have a great location for a youth-sports complex. The city has the land and a money-losing operation on it: the north course at Randolph.
The city could eliminate nine holes and make it a 27-hole complex. The Tucson Parks and Recreation Department needs some new ideas; the location is great for transportation and support from hotels, restaurants and more. The whole place could be a sports mega-complex, maybe even with a BMX course, Frisbee and more!
Dale Faulkner
Corrections
• Due to misleading information provided by a Veterans Affairs spokesperson, we reported last week that the VA had paid $92,000 for concierge training administered by the Disney Institute ("Mickey Mouse Deal," June 9). Actually, that $92,000 taxpayer-funded grant for concierge training has nothing to do with Disney. However, a $4.5 million, five-year project does have to do with Disney.
The VA Southwest Health Care Network is in the second year of the five-year, estimated $4.5 million contract with a Goodyear-based firm called Sonoran Technology and Professional Services. The plan is to "integrate and align a common service goal to achieve superior service stands and effect a culture change across the network," according to VA spokeswoman Jean Schaefer.
The training involves 2,200 staffers—from receptionists to doctors and nurses—across the agency's Southwest region. Volunteer greeters were also invited to sit in.
It's unclear how much Disney was paid for its portion of the multi-phase, taxpayer-funded contract. Jean Schaefer would not provide a number, nor would Sonoran Technology CEO Paul Smiley, citing a nondisclosure agreement with Disney.
• In the June 9 Soundbites, we reported that a Remix of "The Trip Away" on La Cerca's new album, Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue, was done by Jacob Cooper. While Cooper is the drummer on the remix, it was actually done by PLOY.
We apologize for the errors and the confusion.
