9 minute read
OFFICER from
Marana News, July 13, 2022
John Officer plans on winning election
BY ALEXANDRA PERE
Tucson Local Media
Marana Town Council member John Officer is a true Arizonan.
“I don’t need those trails,” Officer said. “Because I’ll just walk out in the desert.”
Although Officer is an Arizona native without the need for formal walking trails, he worked on the Marana Parks and Recreation commission creating durable trails for Marana residents. He’s an avid outdoorsman, going as far as to hike the Arizona Trail from Mexico to Utah.
Officer assisted with creating new trails for the Arizona Trail. He followed old cattle and deer trails, clearing them for hikers.
“It gives people a connection to what is created here on this earth that we can all enjoy,” Officer said.
After serving on the Parks and Recreation Commission, Officer ran for Marana Town Council. His campaign was successful, and Officer served in the council for five years, he plans on winning again.
The primary election is Aug. 2, followed by the primary on Nov. 8.
Officer’s first term began with the issue of water at the forefront. He utilized 32 years of experience working for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) to guide his decisions on council.
“I was living on Harquahala Valley in high school and there’s this canal and this big dirt hill out in the middle of the desert that I went out and rode my motorcycle down,” Officer said. “I had no idea that 10 years later I would be working for them.”
In August 2018, the Mayor and Town Council approved the construction of two water treatment facilities in areas where contaminants known as PFAs were detected. This decision was a response to Tucson Water’s findings of 1,4-Dioxane and PFAs above the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) health recommendations. Both contaminants are industrial chemicals that are considered harmful to human health through repeated exposure over time.
“We put in two filtration systems at two of our newer sites, so we’ve got the purest water in Southern Arizona coming out of those,” Officer said.
Due to pandemic-dictated delays, the treatment facilities were finished in March 2021 rather than their projected opening of 2020.
Officer said water conservation is a necessity for Marana’s growth and commends the city of Tucson’s techniques for conserving water. He said Tucson’s population has grown rapidly but its water usage hasn’t changed drastically since the 1990s.
In the 1980s, Tucson Water implemented its reclaimed water program. This program recycled used water for Tucson water customers and revitalized plant life in many Tucson areas. In 2019, Tucson Water implemented the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project. A project that is aimed at recovering the Santa Cruz River water resources by adding up to 2.8 million gallons of treated recycled water to the Santa Cruz River daily.
“My deal is what are you doing to conserve water in Arizona?” Officer said. “I’m not going to mandate you, or wish that the town mandates you, I’m going to do like
John Officer seeks to keep his seat on Marana Town Council for the next term. Officer has served the council for five years and brings 32 years of CAP experience to
the table. (Town of Marana/Courtesy)
seeOFFICER page 9
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oping a mission plan, which it has not had.
The town council had a study session on the plan in June and will have another one on Aug. 8 as part of its regular council meeting. The study session is open to the public.
“It think it’s a little different layout this time with a little more detail for people to understand,” said Marana Mayor Ed Honea. “We’re breaking it down into more target lines. It’s going to be a really good plan,” he said.
In the past, Honea said, every project was type cast. “Now we’re using the plan as more of a directive of doing things,” he said. This update, he said. will have more specificity.
Instead of looking at more parks, the mayor said, the town will be looking at specific parks. “We want more soccer fields. We want a bigger dog park,” Honea suggested.
At the last council meeting, the mayor said, council members said there needs to be a town event that concentrates more on Marana.
“Founders Day and the Cotton Festival used to be all about Marana and our history,” Honea said. “Instead of adding another event they said make sure Founders Day and the Cotton Festival go back to some of our roots. And concentrate more on that and get away from commercialization of the event.”
Honea who has been mayor for 18 years and part of the town council for 34 years, said the town is doing pretty well.
“A lot of people are moving here,” he said. Over the years, the town has added soccer fields, Little League fields a Splash Pad, Heritage Park and gardening pads.
“I want to continue to do that, as long as we maintain our amenities,” Honea said. “If we have plenty of that, growth won’t be an issue, because you give people a place to go for free.”
The town is growing quickly. It is planning an aquatic center and more new homes are under construction.
Industrial and retail buildings are coming. Flint Development is planning to build a Southern Arizona Logistics Center near Gladden Farms, at West Clark Farms Boulevard. Two buildings are planned, totaling nearly 1 million square feet.
Remaining land at the Crossroads at Gladden Farms is planned for a mix of industrial, retail and commercial use, including a big-box store, a story on the town website says.
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