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Volume 30 • Number 27 July 5, 2023
Inside
This Week
The Voice of Marana, Oro Valley and Northwest Tucson
www.explorernews.com
UA to reimburse Oro Valley Disc golf at Pusch Ridge for interim chief of police thrills some, not others BY DAVE PERRY
Tucson Local Media Contributor
FEATURES..................10 Take a peek into the past with Picture Rock's rock art
HEALTH...................... 14 Be careful! It's hot out there
SPORTS...................... 16 Local teen prepares to climb his way to the top HOT PICKS......................................2 NEWS...............................................6 BUSINESS ....................................... 8 LIVEN UP.......................................18 PUZZLE/HOROSCOPES.............. 19 WORSHIP/CLASSIFIEDS............ 20
MLS #22313427
T
he University of Arizona has committed to reimburse the town of Oro Valley 100% of its “fully loaded personnel costs” for Field Services Commander Chris Olson, who is serving as interim chief of the UA Police Department. A 10-page agreement, effective in early May and in place up to June 30, 2024, calls for the university to pay the town up to $284,271.91 for Oro Valley’s loss of Olson’s services. That sum covers salary, retirement benefits, health insurance, vacation and sick leave and other employment benefits the town is paying Olson. His employment status with Oro Valley is unaffected; Olson can return to the Oro Valley Police Department when his duties at the UAPD are completed. Olson, a 31-year law enforcement veteran, has served with OVPD more than 21 years. He was appointed interim chief of the UAPD in May, following the departure of Chief Paula Balafas, who resigned in the aftermath of the Oct. 5 shooting on the UA campus that took the life of hydrology professor Dr. Thomas Meixner. The Oro Valley Town Council authorized and approved the agreement at its June 21 meeting. Councilmember Steve Solomon pulled the item from the town council’s consent agenda that evening, because he “didn’t want this to pass under the radar” without celebrating Olson’s appointment.
BY DAVE PERRY
Tucson Local Media Contributor
A Olson “was recruited by the University of Arizona in their time of need for an interim police chief,” Solomon said. The town has “agreed to effectively lend him to the University of Arizona so we can help them get their police department back into shape and running efficiently.” Olson’s appointment reflects “the quality of
course. Disc golfers are thrilled. Some of the neighbors, not so much. People who live along the golf course surrounding El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort, are not necessarily opponents of disc golf, though several expressed liability, damage and trespass concerns to the Oro Valley Town Council at its June 21 meeting. Neighbors and golf supporters are most troubled that they were not consulted about the disc golf course, particularly when three nearby homeowners associations contribute a total of $34,050 a year toward golf course operation. They learned about town staff ’s 18-month negotiation with the Tucson Disc Golf Association, and Oro Valley’s decision to construct the course, through a social media post.
see CHIEF page 4
see DISC page 13
Oro Valley's Field Services Commander Chris Olson is now interim police chief for the University of Arizona. (Town of Oro Valley/Submitted)
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