Grassroots group moves to quash YMCA land swap

By Dan Frazier
Tea Party Editor

On June 4, the Flagstaff City Council gave final approval to an ordinance directing city staff to negotiate a land swap with the YMCA and developer Stan Ritland. As a result of the vote, a grassroots group has launched a referendum drive aimed at overturning the ordinance and preventing the YMCA from building on a park-like parcel of city land near the Flagstaff Medical Center.

The goal of the city’s negotiations is to allow the YMCA to build a large facility on several acres of city land located on the northeast corner of Turquoise Drive and Cedar Avenue. In exchange, the YMCA will provide certain services to the city, such as discounted recreational opportunities. Ritland will sweeten the deal by giving some of his own land to the city. Ritland owns a number of parcels in the area, but previously has indicated he would likely give the city some of the land he owns on the west side of Turquoise south of Cedar.

The council vote came after nearly an hour and a half of discussion, including about an hour spent listening to comments from those in the audience. The public comment period was dominated by those who spoke against approval of the ordinance.

Nat White, a West-side resident and former city councilman, suggested that the vote on the ordinance be tabled until the next Council meeting,  June 18. White said that it would be difficult to craft wording for a referendum that the public could relate to without knowing more about the possible details of the land swap that is to be negotiated. He suggested that preliminary negotiations could take place prior to the next Council meeting.  White did not mention that there will be two new Council members at the June 18 meeting. Newly elected councilmembers Art Babbott and Joe Haughey will begin their terms at that meeting, replacing Allen Edgar and Bill Jeffrey.

Rick Lopez, a former city councilman who lives a few blocks from the Turquoise and Cedar site, asked, “Is it the right thing for the city to do — to de facto create public policy as to how they handle publicly owned lands when it comes to other entities that would come forward wanting to acquire a piece of land without having to pay for it, simply trading services for it.” He went on to ask if a recreation facility was in fact the best use of the site. “Have we ever taken that question to the public?" asked Lopez.

Mary Rabe said, “If you develop this particular piece of land, I can speak from being on the Traffic Commission for the last five years, that anything developed in that area was opposed several times by the neighbors, strictly because of the traffic, the congestion and the speeding issues.”

Freda Van Houten, a West-side resident, lobbied for the Council to consider that a YMCA facility might be more useful to those in Flagstaff’s neglected Sunnyside neighborhood. “I am interested in the future of the children of all of us, not just the privileged,” said Van Houten. Sunnyside, or East-side for instance does not have a Dr. Ritland who can manipulate deals to further their interests. They do not have the resources like the YMCA does to hire lawyers who will pursue their interests. Their only chance of a fair deal is for their elected officials to have the integrity to see that their needs are addressed.”

Bruce Kennedy, one of the leaders of the referendum drive, said, “I for one think it’s time to put the public interests over special interests." Some of the interests he felt the Council should consider included "the preservation of neighborhoods, traffic calming, maintenance of public lands, supporting and strengthening locally owned business, and livable and sustainable communities." Kennedy said, "These were the cornerstones of a local political campaign a little over two years ago that resonated strongly with the voters of Flagstaff, and ushered in a new era at city hall. Many of us hoped it would be an era devoid of behind-the-scenes dealing.”

Some of the others who spoke against the proposed YMCA location or the ordinance before the Council were Bill Cherry, a Democratic candidate for the state legislature; Norm Wallen, a former city councilman; Jean Griego representing the Sunnyside Weed and Seed organization, and Roxane George, an East-side resident and coordinator of the Flagstaff Activist Network. Several others also spoke against the proposed land swap, myself included.

Far fewer people spoke up in favor of the ordinance. Nearly all of those who spoke on behalf of the ordinance had direct ties to the YMCA.

Local attorney William P. Ring, representing the YMCA, said, “The Y looks forward to beginning the process of the negotiations. It expects the city to drive a hard bargain. And any bargain struck will return for pre-approval by the Council in the form of a contract. No exchange takes place without approval and the next Council has the opportunity to scrutinize it.”

One of Flagstaff Family YMCA’s founding board members, Becky Senseman-Lewis, said, “During this community process, the YMCA has been accused of being big, rich and successful. I believe it is a privilege and an honor to have this status. Because it means as an organization we have a broad reaching mission that people believe in and support.”

YMCA Board Member Allen Ginsberg said, “I’m outraged by listening to some of these comments. Some of these people that I’m listening to, I wonder where they’ve been these last eight months.” Referring to Ring, the attorney, Ginsberg asked, “You want me to tell you why the YMCA has hired the quote, ‘hired gun,’ because volunteers such as myself who spent over hundreds of hours at meetings like this, and with the city and the staff, and with the councilmembers individually, we don’t have any more time to do it.” He went on to ask, “Why is it you all come up here and say you want a YMCA but not in my backyard? Well whose backyard do you want it? Do you want it on Fourth Street? Well, I haven’t seen anyone there where they said they want it on Fourth Street to come to the Capital Campaign and donate $5,000 or a hundred-thousand dollars or half a million dollars to put it there.”

Others who spoke on behalf of the YMCA included local YMCA board member LaVelle McCoy, and Fred Stevens, the husband of Bonnie Holmes Stevens. Bonnie is a public relations specialist and official spokesperson for the Flagstaff Family YMCA.

After the public comments had been heard, Al White motioned that the vote be tabled until June 18, adding that he would like to have more details of what the negotiations might entail before voting. Councilwoman Karen Cooper seconded the motion. However, the motion did not carry and the subsequent vote on the ordinance passed by a vote of four to two, with Mayor Joe Donaldson, councilmembers Libby Silva, Bill Jeffrey and Allen Edgar voting to approve the ordinance.

Prior to the vote, a small group of residents opposed to the YMCA proposal had met to discuss strategy for a possible referendum effort. The group is calling itself the Anti-Landshark Political Organization. Working with a Phoenix lawyer, ALPO has drafted referendum petitions, and has begun gathering signatures. ALPO’s goal is to collect at least 838 signatures from registered city voters. The group hopes to collect two or three times as many signatures  to assure that voters will be able to decide the fate of the ordinance during the November election. Signatures must be submitted to city clerk’s office within 30 days of the Council’s June 4 vote.

Predictably, the Arizona Daily Sun has come out against the referendum drive, publishing a condescending editorial June 11, titled “YMCA referendum a selfish exercise.” To read the editorial, or leave a comment on the Sun’s Web site, click here. As explained in an FTP story published in May, the Sun has long been supportive of the YMCA’s efforts, no doubt in part because some of its major advertisers are enthusiastic about the YMCA. At one time, the Sun had a high-ranking employee on the Flagstaff Family YMCA’s board.

Those interested in helping to gather signatures or who just wish to sign the referendum petition should contact Bruce Kennedy after 5 p.m. at 773-0558. Kennedy may also be reached by e-mail at bken@bmol.com. Or contact Roxane George of the Flagstaff Activist Network at 213-9507. E-mail: flagact@infomagic.net.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story indicated that Stan Ritland is a surgeon. He is not a surgeon, though he is sometimes confused with Steve Ritland, a local neurosurgeon.