Snider: And the mud goes on and on. . .

Dear editor,

It’s getting so the voters of Pinal County’s District 3 have to wear their boots all the time. There seems to be a whole lot of “barnyard politicking” – including half-truths, misinformation, and misplaced innuendo – being spread with great regularity concerning incumbent county officials, and County Supervisor David Snider in particular.

Clearly the folks behind these ads are of the opinion that all change (particularly in government) happens overnight, and the road to election runs through a rehash of old news and mud-by-association. I guess it’s too much to hope that the old-fashioned concept of telling voters what you’ll do better or different than the incumbent or why you think a given issue isn’t being addressed is just that – old fashioned and no use because the voters only want to hear the sound-byte stuff from the scandal news.

So let’s look at the latest batch of barnyard stuff flying off the fan: “Snider delays impact fees to help his ‘buddies.'” County staff began working on determining what those fees could be as soon as I took office since the previous board hadn’t given the green light to do so. The studies required by law and necessary to legally defend those fees take time as do the public hearings and other legally mandated processes. In fact, the county’s impact fees were implemented in January 2007 (the earliest they could be enacted) and will be reviewed in 2009. Too bad my opponent and his supporters don’t know more about how this process works.

‘Griffis’ – once again old news. Within months of taking office in 2005, Sheriff Chris Vasquez and county personnel began to suspect wrongdoing – the board brought in Republican Rick Romley (former Maricopa County Attorney) to conduct an unlimited, unrestricted investigation, regardless of where it might lead. Griffis was indicted, prosecuted, sentenced in Superior Court on six felony counts and is now serving a 3.5 year prison term in Florence. Oh yeah: the recommendations made by Mr. Romley for procedural and policy changes and implemented by the county were in addition to changes made by the Board of Supervisors and the County Manager.

“A negotiated agreement between Casa Grande, Eloy, Maricopa, Pinal County, and the Union Pacific Railroad”: I suggest you contact Mayors Jackson, Jackson, and Anderson for the real story. ‘Water guru?’ It’s a claim I’ve never made. However, I have been working on water resource management and public policy issues for water for 20 years with agriculture, Pinal cities and towns, and our Native American neighbors at the local, state and federal level.

In closing, I have always stood by my promise to return phone calls, emails and tell you where I stand on the issues. I won’t make promises about things that can’t be done just because I think that’s what the audience wants to hear. What makes us great is our commitment to listen and be inclusionary – agreeing to disagree at times. We can and will succeed, especially if we respect others’ opinions in a positive rather than negative fashion.

David Snider, Pinal County Supervisor District 3

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