Cloth Carnage Continues
Tucson, Arizona. In today's Citizen Teya Vitu has an article noting that Donovan Durband and Bill O'Malley, two of the few embedded in the Clothiverse that actually produced results, have had enough of the incompetence and corruption and chosen to depart for other pastures. I don't know O'Malley, but I did meet Donovan at some Cloth events back in the day. He and I went to Austin, Texas in that ludicrous exercise of touring a great downtown that's possible when community leaders serve the community instead of themselves.Remember we are talking about the Cloth, so attributes like intelligence, productivity, integrity, and a genuine desire to contribute to the community are profound liabilities and cause for alarm. Durband was the Executive Director of the functional Tucson Downtown Alliance. His alarms probably sounded when the Cloth injected pure fabric into his group, hoisting an overpaid suit named Glenn Lyons from Canada (who'd he know?) and adding Hecker, Shelko, Snell, and other flab to the board, creating a bloated, dysfunctional suit stuffer (Downtown Tucson Partnership) with no commensurate increase in funding, so to pay the suit they had to toss real workers. I don't know if either were forced to leave, saw what's coming, or just couldn't stand the retching anymore. I remember at the San Manuel smelter (huge company) when all of the accounting people started resigning in droves. I remained in denial until the plane literally exploded on the ground. Whoops. I did not make that mistake with SAIAT.
Speaking of departures, not too long ago someone told me that BJ Smith, a former City of Tucson economic development worker who served on SAIAT's board, had left TREO. BJ resigned from SAIAT's board right about the time TREO stole its funding. Working at TREO today must be awful, and I don't envy remaining workers Gerri (former city) or Tiffany (former county) as they work amongst empty cubicles and unused furniture bought with the blood of destroyed non-profits. Both should update their resumes and find work with human beings, a likely objective of Durband, O'Malley, and the other decent people leaving the Clothiverse.
Good luck.
posted by x4mr at 9:56 AM
15 Comments:
Why have a "do something" (Durband) when you can have a "do nothing" (Lyons) at twice the price?
This event was foreseen. Lyons can steal half of Durband's salary as a pay raise and claim the other half as "improved financial performance."
Scum.
No surprise here. Like yourself, these two thought in terms of producing and contributing. In a world of parasites, that's a death sentence.
I worked with Don on the Downtown Tucson Alliance in the early struggling days as we cleaned up Downtown with little funding and less attention. And now this. People, what the heck is wrong with Tucson? It's a beautiful town that can't seem to act harmoniously.
Harold - quite the understatement.
I wish I could say this news surprises me, but of course it does not. The Cloth seem to feel that destroying those of merit somehow strengthens their own positions. Somewhat recently the same organization got rid of a hard working and loyal woman who had been there for many years. It is really pathetic.
Lyons, Hecker, Shelko, Snell, Hein, and the rest are really one and the same whore. Offer them a few bucks and they'll steal food from starving children. Where human beings have souls these sickos have emptiness with greed that cannot be satisfied.
They gorge themselves at the expense of the community with no idea of the accumulating hatred. If they ever have to reap what they've sown, I don't think God will lift a finger on their behalf.
I've met Lyons, however briefly, and observed him speaking to a group I belong to, and it's my impression that he truly wants to do good things here and actually earn his salary; he's no Snell. Lyons comes off as very practical and realistic, and his speeches and public statements aren't laced with self-importance, empty promises, and Cloth-speak. My instinct tells me that he didn't immediately realize that the people who hired him were as corrupt and vile as they are.
By now he must understand who his masters are and what they are about, so the question becomes,how far will Lyons go to serve them? He doesn't have ties to Tucson to speak of, and presumably could find a great job anywhere.
Shelko is just a doofus who doesn't mind being Hein's puppet for a very nice salary and a short work-week.
Shelko, Lyons and Snell are just hired guns, and symptoms of Tucson's problem more than the problem itself. Long after they are gone, Tucson will still have to deal with the corruption and self-dealing of the embedded Cloth that hired them and that will hire their successors.
The media has to get some balls, and this blog can help stir the pot. At some point, the council will turn on Hein, but the citizens of Tucson must turn on the council at the next election, and the one after that.
The same goes for the Board of Supervisors. I'm not even a Republican (Independent), but the only one in the lot I think is worth keeping is Ray Carroll because he has integrity, guts, and he's smart. Vote for Robert Robuck if you live in Valadez's district; vote for Branch-Gilby if you live in Ann Day's district.
Branch-Gilby is challenging Bronson and everyone who can should vote for Gilby. Joe Higgins is challenging Ann Day.
If Lyons has any decency at all he would resign within weeks if not days. He has no reason to keep stealing public money to do nothing.
Robish is probably right about Shelko, Snell, etc., that they are just puppets, but they are puppets with no ethics that will do ANYTHING for selfish gain, perfect slaves without conscience to bid the will of evil bosses.
A lot of good people and good progress has been destroyed by these jerks.
Right, I stand corrected on the candidates.
Vote out the incumbents!
Lyons will probably be forced to do something work-related now that Durband is out.
I have the feeling, though, that this opens the door to start using the Downtown Tucson Partnership as Hein's downtown slush fund. That group could become the modern-day DDC.
There's a short article about Durband leaving in today's Star, by Rob O'Dell. Not much to it, other than O'Dell suggesting it was a budgetary move and Lyons saying it wasn't and that they will replace Durband.
Durband, who was actively working on many worthwhile projects, was forced out because he knows
details about the on-going corruption more than anyone else. God bless him for trying so hard for so long.
O'Dell's tiny article is totally lame, and the stuff about Lyons as "temporary" is a crock that flies in the face of the common sense posted at this blog for months.
Durband was probably an honest person and not the corrupt yes man trash so exemplified by Lyons, Snell, etc.. He probably stood in the way of several good scams to steal more public funds, perhaps the Rio Nuevo projects.
I'll have to disagree with Robish. If Lyons weren't the same slab of swine as the others, the Cloth Gods would not have selected him. I hope Durband has lunch with O'Dell or Vitu or x4mr or someone and lets us in on the truth about this shit. After 10 years in the mess, Donovan could probably write one hell of a "Something Else."
I join x4mr and the others in wishing him success in the future.
One character who hasn't received enough attention on this blog is Mike Hein's henchman, Jaret Barr.
Barr is the self-important, arrogant, "assistant to the city manager" who acts as the hatchet man, general smartass, special ops guy, bagman, and thug.
Hein has it set up where Barr oversees no staff or departments and therefore has no accountability, or even much visibility outside of real estate development circles.
Barr writes the sweetheart deal/development agreements with the developers and pretty much threatens and messes with everyone else.
I don't know that Barr played a role in the demise of either O'Malley or Durband, but considering he is Hein's right hand man, I wouldn't be surprised.
Perhaps the readers of this blog can share their observations of this shady individual.
Greed generally collapses under its own weight. We are only hours from the State Legislature making a move to issue a "cease and desist" on the TIF financing, until and audit is performed. Who will then be in charge? Who will take responsibility for causing the audit? Bob McMahon, the employment agent for Hein?
Mike Hein... Nogales,Marana... hmmmm? Check your archives ladies and gentlemen and you will see a pattern. While researching, take a gander at the arrests and indictments in both of those townships,while Senor' Hein was on watch. Who'll be the next in line?
I'm voting for Donna Branch, just as an anti-incumbent statement.
Bronson sent some nasty mailing, which I marked return to sender...
"and now back to the Lacy Petersen Trial"!!(tsk) Just wait till those newly assigned investigative reporters get back to TCC, and their closet operations. Wait till the voters find out that how TCC really operates, and how it is siphoning off monies for a few select investors in the sale/leaseback schema. Oh my.. will we be surprised.
Is Jaret Barr related to a real estate man named Tom Barr?
I don't think there is any relation between the two. Jaret is a fairly recent transplant from the Northeast, I think.
Post a Comment
<< Home