Both UA, Rincon Heights Have Best Interests at Heart
I read “Distrust Thy Neighbor” (Currents, June 3) and felt saddened as to what has happened between the Rincon Heights Neighborhood Association (RHNA) and the University of Arizona.
As the former president of Rincon Heights Neighborhood Association (from 1996 to 1999) and a former member of the Campus Community Relations Committee from 1996 to 2003, I have witnessed many of the disagreements between the university and its neighbors. I also have studied the memorandum of understanding (MOU) and have a pretty decent grasp of it and its history.
Let us look at how the MOU has succeeded. The RHNA has benefited, because the agreement saved 72 residences and ended the concerns of many residents near the boundary. Before the MOU was signed, real estate agents were calling homeowners and trying to buy the fearful owners’ homes at bargain rates. The agents knew that once the boundary was settled, the home prices would increase or decrease, depending on which side of the boundary the home was located.
The MOU says that the UA would help find grants to stabilize and improve the neighborhood. And the MOU defined the footprints of future development so the neighborhood could have some idea what the skyline would look like.
The UA benefited from the MOU, because it defined a boundary for expansion that the UA could count upon for its needs. The UA was seen in a good light; while it gave up some territory, it gained the respect of the neighborhoods and the outer community.
The MOU is an agreement, but not an exacting contract. Because “perfect” was the enemy of the good, not all of the terms could be exacted, such as the transitional uses of property after homes were leveled. As there was no agreement on the transitional parking-lot question during negotiations, the answer was to set up a mediation system for disagreements.
Meanwhile, the idea of a low wall is contrary to the idea of a soft boundary that was agreed upon while planning the footprint of the structures noted in the back of the MOU.
The UA has helped the neighborhood. The former frat house behind the Circle K that eventually became a parking lot was going to be a materials yard, with manure, dirt, sand and other materials, but then-UA President Peter Likins decided not to put the materials yard there. Also, the UA got rid of the recycling yard that used to be just east of the UA Rec Center, replaced the liquid chlorine at the Rec Center swimming pool, took down concertina wire that was on top of a small storage lot it has on Highland Avenue, and has had staffers work with the neighborhood. The UA has tried to mitigate some of the effects of the football games by having fraternities and sororities clean up trash as a community-service project.
The RHNA and the UA are both affected by the economic depression we are experiencing, as well as the general anti-intellectual and anti-education philosophy of the state’s ruling Republican majority. Had education been funded in the same proportion as it was in 1996, when the MOU was signed, there would be momentum to the process. Instead, there is nearly glacial progress. The time between the leveling of a residence and the building of a structure is now decades instead of months.
I know there are good people on both sides of the disagreement. I know that each has the best interest in their hearts. I know that the future will be bright for both.
Matthew Somers
The Government Has the Technology to Seal the Border
This is for Ed Quillen (Guest Commentary, June 3) and boycotting rock bands out there that haven’t read Arizona’s new immigration law, but continue to complain about it.
This new law practically mirrors federal immigration laws that have been on the books for decades now. Do you really believe the law of the land would be racist? If so, why aren’t you picketing the White House? Quillen says, “Make all Arizonans produce papers.” They already do: Anytime I am pulled over, I am required to show my driver’s license to verify my status as a legal driver in the state of Arizona. Everyone, regardless of citizenship or race, is required to show some kind of identification if pulled over by law enforcement.
Arizona is being conquered by what appears to be nothing less than the entire impoverished population of Mexico. Our state is not equipped to unlawfully absorb so many unskilled and uneducated people. The fact is, I’d still feel the same way even if all these illegal aliens were my own Irish brethren. Why? Because they’d be stealing American jobs! And why does the pro-open-border crowd never discuss the fact that when it comes to legal immigration, America is the most generous country on the face of the Earth?
Realistically, most of us have resigned ourselves to never removing all of the millions of illegal aliens in this country today. Mainly because, as my grandpappy used to say, they’re “dug in like ticks on a hound.” But sealing our border is another matter. This must be done yesterday. Forget all this “10-foot fence means an 11-foot ladder” stuff. If our government can seal off Area 51 so tight that even a gnat can’t get in, we can absolutely seal our own border.
I see two distinct cultures emerging in this country: American and illegal immigrant. And just like the majority of Americans, I don’t like what I see.
Bill Cottle
Correction
Due to a typo, in “Round ‘Em Up” (The Skinny, June 10), we reported that congressional candidate Jesse Kelly wanted to adjust immigration policies to allow more immigrants to enter the country illegally. Of course, Kelly actually supports adjusting the system for legal immigration. We apologize for the mistake.
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2010.
I agree with Bill Cottle’s comments. I have been visiting AZ since 1985 and love it so much that I have always dreamed of retiring here. The problem was that I couldn’t decide exactly where I wanted to buy a house because I loved all the areas. AZ certainly does have everything you could want. Recently my husband decided that we’d start looking in the Tucson area, mostly because we love the flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert. I retired after 40 years of teaching and my husband will be retiring from the local police department. We both will be living on our pensions and foregoing Social Security for the time being. We will pay cash for our property. We’re avid environmentalists and work several evenings a week in local parks removing invasive plants. We have taken out all our grass on our property and planted native plants. We are beekeepers too. In other words, we feel we would contribute a lot to a local community financially and environmentally.
Last September, we looked at a 40 acre horse ranch in Cochise County. We decided not to buy the property because the land had been overgrazed and the house was situated the wrong way with the bedrooms in the sun all day.The French doors off the bedroom were smashed and there was plastic over the doorway which made us wonder what happened. We think we know now.
Boy, did we have a lucky escape! I approve of the immigration law. What’s the big deal about showing ID? I traveled to Europe 10 times and expected to show my passport. I even showed my driver’s license to buy a dinky puzzle at an outlet, although I read in the WSJ lately that it’s not necessary for a purchase.
I really had to laugh when the AZ Daily Star’s editorial told its readers to get out to vote and to take an ID! Hello?! I thought they didn’t want illegals to show an ID, but they don’t have a problem with locals showing proof of residence?
The bottom line is, we are not planning to buy a house in AZ afterall. I still get emails from Internet real estate companies and I saw a beautiful Sante Fe adobe near Coronade National Park for $350,000. I loved it, but suspect the owners are selling due to the illegals. When we drove along the road through the monument and continued over the mountain to go birding, we came across camps the illegals had used.
We want to live where our financial independence and environmental volunteerism will be appreciated. It isn’t in AZ
Bill Cottles’ comments are indicative of many, I hope not a majority, of white people in Arizona. Arizona is beautiful and the indigenous people are the major reason I came here to enjoy the music, the food, the language, the customs, and the fascinating people who have been here long before white immigrants arrived. These indigenous cultures and their families have been moving across this “border” long before the border was established. What I don’t get is why the white immigrants don’t realize that the old cultures, art, music, architecture, food, etc are not just wonderful to experience but powerful economic assets to the state. Instead of constantly working to separate us into “Americans” and “illegals” why not try to assimilate and integrate and understand the cultures of the people who were here before you arrived? Why can’t we be friends? Why do so many newcomers choose to live in gated communities and fear Mexicans? It is this fear and lack of understanding that breeds distrust and racism.
In a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly, John McCain agreed with O’Reilly when he said the male white power structure is at stake (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBmkvLEhNvs…). Bill Cottles also seems to fear the male white power structure is at stake. That kind of thinking will not help us to continue to be the UNITED States of America. That kind of thinking creates walls much more powerful than any wall that can be built along the border.
The US won the territory of what emcompasses the American southwest back in 1848. Anyone who wanted to be mexican and stay in mexico have had plenty of time to go there or stay here in this country. But like it or not, now we have something called “borders”. So the immigration laws that previous generations had to follow to earn the privilege of becoming a citizen of this great country should now just be scrapped for a vocal minority? Some legal immigrants like the Irish and some Europeans had to agree to go fight the civil war right off the boat as a condition of citizenship. And they did! What’s that say to all the legal immigrants who also went through such hassle just to come here? Why? Because they respected the laws of this nation and it was worth it just for the priviledge to be here! So these people should just get a pass to go to the front of the line? I don’t think so. Some Americans seem either oblivious or simply do not care about the rule of law that holds this country together. I think next week we should all just forget about licensing big business or prosecuting income tax fraud or prosecuting hit and runs, I also think we should stop investigating murder and stop making it a crime at all as well because I don’t feel like following the law.or, or , or ,or….. whatever. The building blocks of this one-of-a-kind, unique country that so many have fought and died for are our laws. Laws are the glue that hold this melting pot made up of every country on earth together. When a part of the machine breaks down, the machine breaks down. If we decide to abandon all our immigration laws and suddenly announce “anyone who can get here, can come on down”, the insanity of such an action would create complete and utter chaos. At that point we cease to be a country and become merely a piece of land for people to fight over. And I don’t know about you, but I for one am sick to death of all the people via the population explosion that we have now. All our national forests and desert lands, and wide open spaces aren’t so wide open anymore. Because they’re all being encroached upon or bladed and graded simply because we have no place left to go. And the more people there are the more greed there is. Heck, we have too many millions of LEGAL immigrants coming in each year if you ask me. There are too many people period causing this country great problems as it is. Oh and those gardeners and simple folks who rake our lawns? Well they walked right in and right along side the very same people who have made Phoenix the 2nd biggest kidnapping capital of the world. Why? Because no one stopped them to check them out and verify who they are. The recent Times Square bomber was tied to an entire ring of illegals who overstayed their visas. So you see? It’s not just mexicans, it’s everyone. ALL illegal aliens
“If our government can seal off Area 51 so tight that even a gnat can’t get in, we can absolutely seal our own border.”
This may be true, BUT, are the taxpayers willing to pay for it? I doubt it.