TODAY’S NEWS-HERALD LOCAL SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 2011 • 5A

Arguments for and against Refuge annexation

Editor’s note: City voters will begin receiving special election mail-only ballots to decide on the annexation of the Refuge this week. Ballots must be returned to the city by May 17.
The Today’s News-Herald extended an invitation to both those in favor of the annexation and those opposed to express their opinions. The following are their guest commentaries.
Vote no — protect city, protect pocketbook
The time has come for the
citizens of Lake Havasu to
reign in a City Council that
has clearly lost its way. From
the broken down English
Village to a sewer project that
is nothing less than a citywide
fiasco, bad decisions have left
a trail of costly failures. From
the biggest airport between
Vegas and Phoenix without
one commercial flight, to a
new mall now in foreclosure
with a $3.2M forgiven loan,
this council has dropped one
financial ball after another.
Sadly, even with this dismal
record, our council has yet to
shine the light of accountabil-
ity on itself.
And so it is, in a kind arro-
gant darkness, the council
decided some months ago to
accommodate the Aldridge’s
plan to swap out a world-class
PGA-ready golf course that
could serve many for a 50-
acre RV park that has NO
ROADS, sits in the middle of a
flood zone, and serves but a
very few. To make matters
worse, this annexation does
not even include any of the
homes or the parts of the golf
course that are salvaged.
But it gets even worse. In
order to accomplish this, the
City Council cast aside a com-
prehensive General Plan put
in place by its predecessors
and regulated by state law. In
fact, the dictates of this
General Plan specifically for-
bid the zoning required to
make this annexation work.
This fact alone can invalidate
the annexation itself, regard-
less of the vote. Yet even that
reality doesn’t seem to pene-
trate our council’s pervasive
arrogance.
But arrogance alone can-
not explain what is being
attempted here. The cold,
hard fact is the Aldridge’s
land-swap is more of a shell
game, or perhaps a bait-and-
switch, than it is the straight-
forward redevelopment they
would have us believe it is.
The move to involve the
city in this ill-planned scheme
is nothing short of a desperate
attempt to avoid governing
authorities having original
jurisdiction over this proper-
ty. Unashamed, the City
Council agreed to go along
with this ploy, thus circum-
venting the proper county
authorities. This, in turn,
implicates the city in some-
thing with all the earmarks of
a jurisdictional dodge tied
directly to a zoning scam.
If the word “scam” seems
harsh, consider this: first the
City Council cut an unneces-
sary but “special” water deal
to assist the Aldridges with
their plan. Then the council
completely sidestepped its
very own General Plan, put-
ting into place zoning that the
city itself has expressly and
formally forbidden for this
very land. After that, they
unexplainably fast-tracked a
costly “special election” expe-
diting an annexation that
makes the city complicit in
cases already in litigation thus
exposing taxpayers to liability.
And all of this is done under
the guise that it will be a “no
cost deal” (according to
Mayor Nexsen) while to date,
the cost to tax payers is
already somewhere north of
$200,000 and that’s before
road issues are resolved.
In defense of these actions
are promises of jobs, revenues
and fabulous buses full of
wealthy tourists all coming to
town to see talent shows star-
ring the Aldridges. But are
such promises any more
promising than London
Villages or a bustling mall
across the road from a jet-
lined airport?
Through arrogant dark-
ness and or simply hasty deci-
sions, this City Council has
clearly taken yet another risky
path. But still there is hope.
The upcoming annexation
vote provides the citizens of
Havasu with an opportunity
to bring their elected officials
back into the light. Please vote
no and protect these officials
from themselves.
Rick Thompson
Retired Police Officer,
Refuge Homeowner
Visit
www.RefugeAnnexation.com
Vote yes — save jobs, raise quality of life
We moved to Lake Havasu
20 years ago for a reason most
everyone who lives here will
understand immediately. We
fell in love with the place. We
love Havasu’s natural beauty.
We love the quality of life.
And we love the people, their
independent spirit and their
community involvement.
It’s for those reasons —
and because it made good
business sense —we bought
The Refuge Golf Club out of
foreclosure almost 20 months
ago.
We believe we can build
something special, that we
can keep the championship
golf course intact while
adding country club ameni-
ties and a tourism asset that
would protect jobs, attract
tourists and give our city
$200,000 a year in tax rev-
enue.
We believe in this project,
which we’ve invested nearly
$9 million in so far. We’re 100
percent committed. We
believe the voters, our neigh-
bors, get it, that the “yes” side
will win the May 17 annexa-
tion election and our privately
funded $24 million project
will go forward.
What we don’t believe is
the absolutely false state-
ments we’ve heard during this
campaign from the “say no”
side, the vocal few who live in
The Refuge part-time if at all,
and have never contributed a
single dollar to this golf
course they claim to love so
much.
The Lake Havasu we know
is a straightforward place.
Like us, it has low tolerance
for BS and personal attacks.
That’s why we’re just going to
lay the truth out.
While we intend to win the
May 17 election, we didn’t
cause it. For that, you can
thank the “say no” crowd,
who paid thousands to a
Phoenix signature-gathering
firm to get on the ballot. They
caused this $138,000 election,
plain and simple.
Ultimately, this project
won’t cost taxpayers anything.
The city’s only outlay is $2,000
a year for public safety. Once
annexed, the project will earn
the city $200,000 annually in
tax revenue. If the project
fails, the city bears no addi-
tional costs. None. That’s why
the City Council voted “yes”
on annexation. It’s why the
Chamber of Commerce, the
Convention & Visitors Bureau
and the Colorado River
Building Industry Association
all have endorsed a “yes”
vote.
Jobs matter. When we
bought the golf club, all the
employees had been laid off
and all the memberships had
been cancelled. Today, there
are 47 employees at The
Refuge. At full build-out, we’ll
have 65 employees.
Additionally, the recent $2.5
million renovation created
hundreds of construction
jobs, as will the millions of
dollars in construction work
yet to come.
Revenue matters. Just as
the city needs more revenue
to fund services like police
and fire, the Golf Club needs
more revenue to pay for
maintenance. If the club fails,
jobs will go away, tax coffers
will go empty and the “say no”
crowd’s very beautiful free
view will turn drab and deso-
late.
Nobody has more invested
in The Refuge community
than we do. We have more
than 20 lots and the golf club
to our name. We’ve put up
our bank accounts, our credi-
bility and thousands of hours
of our time to make this proj-
ect a success.
We’ve done it to protect
jobs, draw more tourists and
help raise the quality of life in
a place we’ve called home for
20 years.
With your support, we can
end the rampant negativity,
and make Havasu a better
place to live. Mail your ballot
in time for the May 17 dead-
line.
Say yes to Havasu. And yes
to the truth.
Cindy and Jerry Aldridge
have lived in Lake Havasu for
20 years. They’re active in the
United Way, the Rotary Club
and many other local organi-
zations. Cindy served on City
Council from 2004 to 2008.

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