Back in January I reported that there were 6 candidates for 4 seats on the Marana Town Council (click here for previous article). The primary was held today and this was an all-mail-in ballot election. Pima County Elections just reported the results:

Patti Comerford, incumbent 3189 17.01%
Ken Crotts 2586 13.79%
Herb Kai, incumbent 3722 19.85%
Carol McGorray, incumbent 3313 17.67%
David Morales 2195 11.71%
Jon Post, incumbent 3679 19.62%

Looks like all the incumbents lead tonight’s primary.

David C. Morales is the father of former Tucsoncitizen.com popular blogger David Abie Morales aka “Three Sonorans”.

Their election webpage states: “Any candidate receiving a majority of all votes cast at the Primary Election will be declared elected without running in the General Election” on May 21, 2013. So now stay tuned for that election in May.

Also on the ballot were 2 Questions:

QUESTION 1

Official Title:
Shall the Town of Marana be authorized to acquire and operate the Marana Wastewater Reclamation Facility (located in the southeast quarter of Section 14, Township 11 South, Range 10 East, G&SRB&M) and the wastewater facilities, setback areas, access rights, and current and future sewage conveyance system and service area connected to or association with it?

Descriptive Title:
Arizona law requires cities and towns to obtain voter authorization before construction, purchase acquisition or lease of any plant or property of a public utility. This measure will determine whether the Town of Marana shall be authorized to acquire and operate the wastewater facilities specified in this measure’s official title.

QUESTION 2

Official Title:
Shall the Town of Marana be authorized to acquire and operate the Rillito Vista Wastewater Reclamation Facility (location southeast of the I-10/Tangerine Road interchange in the east half of Section 6, Township 12 South, Range 12 East, G&SRB&M) and the wastewater facilities, setback areas, access rights, and current and future sewage conveyance system and service area connected to or associated with it?

Descriptive Title:
Pima County December 18 “Option A” settlement proposal provides for Marana to operate this small wastewater system serving about 60 residential lots. Arizona law requires voter authorization for the Town of Marana to acquire and operate the wastewater facilities specified in this measure’s official title.

Elections results for
Question 1:
Yes 4132
No 1387

Question 2:
Yes 4053
No 1458

Looks like both Questions have passed.

For other results for Town Council elections in South Tucson and Sahuarita, go to Pima County elections (click here).

David Abie Morales used to blog here at Tucsoncitizen.com for about two years. Now he has his own blogsite “Three Sonorans News” at http://threesonorans.com/, “progressive and activist news from Tucson and Arizona”. He was one of our most popular bloggers, and was a Ph.D Candidate in Applied Math at the University of AZ.

I recently learned that his father with the same name David Morales is running for one of four seats on the Marana Town Council. This is a nonpartisan race with an upcoming March 12, 2013 primary, with six candidates competing:

David Morales

Patti Comerford, incumbent
Ken Crotts
Herb Kai, incumbent
Carol McGorray, incumbent
David Morales
Jon Post, incumbent

Website on Morales, a retired San Manuel miner and former Marana Councilmember: http://davidcmorales.com/. He also got his bachelor’s degree from the UA Eller College of Management, and is a freelance writer.

“Any candidate receiving a majority of all votes cast at the Primary Election will be declared elected without running in the General Election” on May 21, 2013. See Marana Town Elections (click here).

For info about the current Marana Town Council, click here for their website. The Mayor (Ed Honea) and two other Council members (David Bowen and Roxanne Ziegler) are up for election in 2015.

Upcoming is a candidate forum for this town council race at the Marana Health Center (MHC) on Wed. January 30, 2013, 6:30 p.m., 13395 N. Marana Main Street.

I wonder how many people who vote in this Marana Town Council non-partisan primary will confuse the two men since they have the same first and last name. David Abie Morales aka DA Morales, the son told me he is a Democrat which is obvious from his online articles, and that his dad is a Republican. By the way, the Dad’s full name is David C. Morales.

Republican Ron Asta, a civil engineering consultant and former Pima County Supervisor, is “seriously considering” a bid for Mayor of the City of Tucson in 2011.

Ron is Vice President at CPE Consultants (civil engineering/lands plannng firm), 378 N. Main Street (at the Owl’s Club) in downtown Tucson. He has his own radio talk show “Ron Asta’s Tucson” on KJLL 1330 AM The Jolt, on Tuesdays at high noon. He was the District 1 Pima County Supervisor from 1972 to 1976.

He can be contacted at astapz@cox.net.

Read my previous blog on “Will Mayor Walkup run again?” (click here), with names of other Mayoral hopefuls.

Ron is mentioned in a March 18, 2010 Tucson Weekly article (excerpt below) about the Marana Landfill issue:
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/more-trash-talk/Content?oid=1872211

During the early March supervisors’ meeting, Republican Supervisor Ann Day voiced concerns about comparing the Pinal County project to the proposed Marana landfill. Day alluded that something unethical could be going on between Pima County and the Durham project.

She drew attention to Ron Asta, a former supervisor who now works with CPE Consulting. The company represents the Durham landfill and worked closely with Pinal County officials on rezoning and the landfill agreement with the county. Asta has also been a vocal critic of the Marana project, which would compete with the Durham landfill on collections from northwest Pima County.

It also troubled Day that after the supervisors voted to approve the resolution to the Marana Town Council, the next vote focused on renewing the contract for a countywide manhole count. The company doing the count: CPE Consulting.

“This firm has had that contract for a number of years,” Bronson said in response to Day’s comments. “What’s incoherent are Supervisor Day’s comments.”

Asta told the Tucson Weekly that he was asked to get involved in the Marana project by John Kai, who wanted Asta to talk with neighbors who oppose the landfill. John Kai’s brother Herb Kai, is a Marana Town Council member who owns part of a parcel where DKL wants to build its landfill. John Kai is against the project, while his councilman brother supports it, although Herb Kai told the Weekly he’ll recuse himself from voting when the matter comes before the council.

2/23/11 UPDATE: Asta announces for Mayor of Tucson:

http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2011/02/23/ron-asta-announces-bid-for-mayor-of-tucson/