Green Valley Fire District won't be annexing north Sahuarita, if Pima County supervisors have their way.
The board for the second meeting in a row deadlocked on validating Green Valley's petitions, with Democrats on the board saying the district did not meet strict compliance under state law. Although the district gathered signatures from more than 50 percent of property owners by number and by assessed valuation, there were some mistakes on the paperwork.
Among the errors identified by backers of Rural/Metro Fire Department, which currently serves the area on a subscription basis, were problems with the font on the petitions, or failing to put the words "volunteer circulator" or "paid circulator" in all capitals on the signature sheet.
Sahuarita Vice Mayor Lynne Skelton urged supervisors to support Green Valley, saying there is no evidence that the public was misled, despite complaints from the other side. "Signers of the petitions knew exactly what they were signing," she said.
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But Kimberly Demarchi, an attorney for Rural/Metro, said supervisors were right to be sticklers for the law. Rural/Metro officials and supporters have relied heavily on the argument that there is no election to determine the fire district boundaries, so the petitions should be above question before assessing new fire-district service and taxes on homeowners.
Green Valley's attorney, Donna Aversa, asked supervisors to allow the process to go forward, saying court was a better venue to determine the validity of the petitions.
Supervisor Ramón Valadez declared a conflict of interest because he works with Rural/Metro, but two tie votes in succession is the equivalent of a loss for Green Valley.
Green Valley Fire Chief Simon Davis said the district now faces three options: give up, challenge the supervisors' decision in court or start all over with a new annexation drive.
He said he did not yet know which course the district would pursue.
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Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at rbodfield@azstarnet.com or 573-4243.
