GAZETTE EDITORIAL
We told you so - many, many, many times.
The resignation of SLE board member Suzanne Cummins over the answers she can't get regarding an ASU campus in Payson comes as no surprise. The University of Arizona law professor and parttime Chaparral Pines resident is obviously as confused and uncomfortable with this project as we are.
While we fervently hope a four-year university is built in Payson, there are way, way too many unanswered questions.
To Roundup Reporter Pete Aleshire who wrote the story, Editor Tom Brossart and Publisher John Naughton we say, please do your jobs and get the answers the public needs and deserves. And please don't say, yet again, we're not an investigative newspaper. We're not asking for an investigation - just some honest answers to some very basic questions. Just live up to your responsibilities as a community newspaper.
In case you're among the hundreds of Rim Country residents who no longer read the Roundup, here are a few key excerpts from their article, which appeared on Friday, Dec. 16.:
"Rim Country Educational Alliance SLE board member Suzanne Cummins resigned Thursday in a dispute with board chairman Mike Vogel....
“'I don’t believe it’s imminent, [Cummins said]. Every time I ask about when this project will be on the Board of Regents’ agenda, I hear it’s another two months out,' said Cummins....
"The University of Arizona law professor said the negotiations and financing of the campus remained 'extremely opaque'....
"However, [Payson Mayor Kenny] Evans said Cummins never called him seeking answers to any of her questions. Cummins said she felt uncomfortable calling Evans because she didn’t trust she would get a straight answer since none of the questions she raised with the board were answered...."
It's a perfect opportunity. Ask Cummins what questions need to be answered. Ask Kenny to answer them. Should take about an hour.
6 comments:
I'm certainly open to an alternative theory. For almost two years we have heard of the possibility of having an ASU satellite campus in Payson.
It seems almost too good to be true, I'll grant you that.
Yet, Mayor Evans and others continue to lead us to believe that this project is not only viable but also will cost the town almost nothing.
Let's say the mayor and other conspirators are lying. Sooner or later they will be found out and will be laughed out of town, if nothing worse. That's a pretty big gamble to take by them, don't you think? Are these people complete fools?
Let's say these people are attempting to flim/flam local people out of hard earned money. Where is the call for locals to invest their money? Where is any risk to the local community, in fact?
So, what purpose is being served by the on-going expectation of such a game changing project? Who is benefiting? HOW are they benefiting? Aren't they risking their personal reputations if all this is some kind of scam?
This project is going forward on the basis of "Need to Know" information release. Is is wisely NOT being put on public trial, where all kinds of extraneous bric-a-brak comes into play. The people who can make this happen are being held to a high standard, and the whole thing is now being reviewed and will ultimately need the approval of
the Community College and Gila County.
If certain individuals cannot be satisfied with continuous examination and levels of approval by elected officials,
Perhaps we should all vote out all representatives of our trust and bring in our own trusted friends who may know better.
What is being gained by conspiracy theories? What evidence will ever be trusted?
How long should the economic future of the town of Payson be held hostage to a small group of suspicious negative thinkers?
Let the conspiracy theorists come forward with their detailed explanation of why the ASU "gambit" is a fraud, and who is benefiting and how.
Maybe this isn't about ripping off the citizens of Payson. Maybe it's about a very large ego that needs to be fed more and more and more - like a snowball rolling down a mountain that just keeps getting larger and larger and larger, eventually taking out everything including those who dare to stand in its path and raise questions.
I'm still trying to figure out what SLE means. Why does the press always assume that everyone knows who, what, and where everything is, just because this is a small town? Not everyone was born here and not everyone can or even wants to constantly translate alphabet soup in our news reports. Spell it out!
This sounds personal, and if so you are entitled.
As the old saying goes, however, you are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts. There is always a group which opposes any progressive step by assigning dark nefarious motives and skulduggery to the leaders. It's rather more like insecurity than vigilance.
Come On! This project is far too important to the future economy of Payson than to smother it without a better plan.
Sorry. It stands for Separate Legal Entity as in Rim Country Education Alliance Separate Legal Entity. It's the "entity" the towns of Payson and Star Valley had to form to proceed with the project.
Jim Keyworth
Editor
Thank you! Now I can put the story into a context! :)
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