Pinal County Supervisor Lionel D. Ruiz

A month after the Pinal County Board of Supervisors publicly promised to sign the lease agreement with the Oracle Historical Society, Ruiz single-handedly torpedoed the deal and awarded the lease to Citizens for Positive Growth and Development  -- an organization funded by two corporations that want to build two very large projects in Ruiz's district. 

Ruiz's attempts to explain why he dumped the twenty-five-year-old community based Oracle Historical Society in favor of a six-month-old developer-funded group has left many a voter asking themselves,  "hmmm . . .  I wonder what’s in it for Lionel?”

But there is more at stake here than Ruiz's trustworthiness (or what’s left of it). 

Ruiz has put the public trust of entire Pinal County Board of Supervisors on the block by creating the impression that the supervisors can't be trusted to keep a promise -- even one they put in writing. 

Click on any image for a larger view.  All images except the BOS minutes, are scans of faxes, hence the poor quality

Cover letter from OHS to Pinal County indicating OHS had signed the lease, and were making the lease payment..

Affidavit of Publication of Legal Notice declaring Pinal Board of Supervisors promise to sign OHS lease.

Board of Supervisors Jan. 16 Meeting Agenda ( see Consent Items on page 2).  Adobe Acrobat reader required.

Ruiz's letter to OHS announcing he was reneging on the deal.

Ruiz's ad promoting the Anam Project.

In early 2000, the Oracle Historical Society began working with the county to secure a lease on Wood Field to return it to its intended use as a park for Oracle's kids. 

Last December the two-year process appeared to be nearing an end when OHS signed the final lease agreement and sent it to the county along with a check for the lease payment. 

The county responded by publishing legal notices promising  "the Pinal County Board of Supervisors intend to sign a lease agreement with the Oracle Historical Society."  The notices ran in all four weekend editions of The Casa Grande Dispatch in December.

The board of supervisors was scheduled to make good on their promise and sign the lease at their regularly scheduled meeting of January 16.  But the deal went sour when supervisor Ruiz threw a monkey wrench into the works at the last minute. 

The day the supervisors were supposed to sign the OHS lease, supervisor Ruiz had Pinal County Manager Stanley Griffis pull the OHS lease item from the meeting agenda, preventing supervisors Smith and Kerr from keeping their public promise sign it. 

The day after monkey wrenching the OHS lease agreement, Ruiz wrote a letter to the Oracle Historical Society telling them he would award the lease to an unidentified organization. It later surfaced the group Ruiz had chosen to favor was Citizens for Positive Growth and Development (CPGD). 

The Arizona Daily Star reported that Robson Communities Inc. and Anam Inc., two corporations seeking to build large residential housing projects in Ruiz’s district, provided initial funding for CPGD, to the tune of seven grand. The mother of CPGD's founder also donated office equipment to the new organization.

Robson proposes to build over 6,000 houses directly adjacent to the Page-Trowbridge radioactive/toxic waste dump, a few miles to the east of  Oracle Junction.

Anam is trying to take care of rezoning 4,600 acres so as to be able to sell the resulting "paper lots" to home building companies.  According to The Arizona Daily Star, Anam plans to apply for rezoning on their remaining 15,000 acres as soon as Pinal's Comprehensive Plan allows it. The project is called Willow Springs.

Ruiz is an ardent supporter of both projects but seems to have a special fondness for the Anam scheme. 

In June of 2001, Ruiz bought an advertisement in The San Manuel Miner promoting the Anam project -- an action many considered unusual for a county supervisor. 

In his ad, Ruiz echoed many of the unsubstantiated claims of the landowner, including the claim that the Anam project would attract companies that would provide professional employment opportunities. 

The Remington Group, hired by Anam to promote the Willow Springs project, tried to bolster this notion by claiming to have hired a consulting firm to help with economic development of Willow Springs.  The firm is apparently fictitious.

The founder of CPGD, Oracle resident Elaine Helzer, has also demonstrated an unusually high level of interest in Anam's project. 

About a month after CPGD was incorporated, Helzer joined Anam Inc. in a lawsuit aimed to keep the Anam rezoning off the ballot in the next general election. Helzer's husband, Elwin, works for Pinal's Planning and Zoning Department.

One of the many unanswered questions raised by Ruiz's Wood Field scandal is why CPGD wants the property. 

The Oracle Historical Society wanted to use Wood Field as a park for kids, and perhaps Citizens for Positive Growth and Development want the same thing. 

But if CPGD's only interest in Wood Field is to build a park for kids, why didn't they simply offer to help the Oracle Historical Society do that?

Why didn't CPGD simply help their neighbors help Oracle's kids instead of asking a county supervisor to help them get Wood Field? 

What is it about Wood Field that is so important to CPGD that they had to get Lionel Ruiz involved? 

What is it about CPGD that is so important to Ruiz that he felt it necessary to take the lease away from OHS and try to give it to CPGD? 

Pinal County Supervisor Sandie Smith

Pinal County Supervisor Jimmie B. Kerr

The question is now about Supervisors Smith and Kerr: Will they join Ruiz in his Wood Field scandal or not? 

While Ruiz can single-handedly prevent the Pinal supervisors from honoring their promise to sign the OHS lease, Ruiz can't unilaterally award the lease to CPGD. 

Awarding the lease to CPGD requires approval by a majority of the Pinal board of supervisors.

Since supervisor Ruiz is certain to approve of his deal with CPGD, approval by either Smith or Kerr is all that is needed for Pinal County to give the lease to Ruiz's favored group. 

But if either  Smith or Kerr approve the CPGD lease, they will take on Ruiz's Wood Field scandal as their own and will have to provide a coherent and believable explanation for Ruiz's actions -- something even Ruiz has been unable to do. 

Ruiz claims OHS lease agreement item was pulled from the Jan. 16 board of supervisors meeting agenda because it was "inaccurate," but so far Ruiz has been unable to describe what the inaccuracies were.

If either Smith or Kerr approves of the CPGD lease they will have to explain the inaccuracies and why these inaccuracies required Ruiz to order Griffis to pull the item from the Jan. 16 meeting agenda, preventing them from making good on their promise to sign it.

Ruiz claimed he checked into the matter and found "that OHS had taken no action on Wood Field lease in well over a year." Based  on the results of his supposed investigation, Ruiz said he “had no choice” but to award the lease to CPGD. 

But Ruiz never contacted OHS to see if they were still interested in the property and OHS records showing continual interaction with the county belie Ruiz's claim that OHS dropped the ball. 

If  Smith or Kerr approve the CPGD lease, they will have to explain Ruiz's "investigation."  The fact that OHS had signed the lease agreement and made the lease payment a full month before Ruiz monkey-wrenched the deal could add an element of complexity to the explanation.

Undoubtedly aware that his original excuse for monkey wrenching the OHS deal to favor CPGD might not fly, Ruiz later tried to blame his Wood Field scandal on county attorneys and county staff, citing "miscommunication" between the groups. 

If Smith or Kerr approve the CPGD lease, they will have to explain the details of Ryz's claimed bureaucratic bungling by county staff and county attorneys and why the alleged bungling caused Ruiz to chuck the OHS agreement they had already promised to sign.

If Smith or Kerr approve the CPGD lease, they will have to explain why Ruiz didn't simply ask CPGD to help the Oracle Historical Society build a park for kids, instead of taking the lease from OHS ao as to give it to GPGD. 

Smith and Kerr will also have to explain why Ruiz claimed he had  "suggested a joint effort" between CPGD and OHS when OHS has no record of Ruiz ever doing anything of the sort. 

After all, the public could see Smith's or Kerr's approval of the Ruiz/CPGD deal as an approval of government done through back-room deals made with minions of special interest groups or maybe even with the honcho's themselves.

So . . .  what are Smith and Kerr to do?  Will they join Ruiz in his Wood Field scandal and approve the CPGD lease or will they look for another solution?

Here is one idea to mull over while we wait for their answer . . . 

Smith and Kerr could try to convince Ruiz that the county should keep control of  Wood Field and build a Park for Oracle kids. Having the county build and maintain parks is not an unprecedented move -- the county built the Lionel Ruiz County Park in Ruiz's hometown of Dudleyville just a few years ago.

Having the county use Wood Field as a park offers several benefits. 

First, it would allow Smith and Kerr to avoid Ruiz's Wood Field scandal.

Second, Oracle kids would get a new park.

Last but not least, if appointed with a lawn and a gazebo, the park would provide a swell place for Ruiz to make a speech aimed at convincing voters his breach of public trust is not sufficient to warrant a recall election. 

Does CPGD have a band?

Email Supervisor Smith	Email Supervisor  Kerr

If you would like to ask Ruiz a few questions (e.g.: "What could you be thinking?") , e-mail him using the link provided below. 

You may want to copy supervisors Smith and Kerr on any questions to Ruiz so in the odd chance they decide to join Ruiz in his Wood Field scandal they will know what to expect.
 

Email Supervisor Ruiz