Pima County supervisors vote to put Vail, Ariz., incorporation on the ballot for November election
Vail residents will vote — for the third time — in the November General Election to decide whether the unincorporated Pima County community south of Tucson should be allowed to incorporate.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday to put the incorporation of Vail on the ballot for the Nov. 7 election. This will be the third time community members have tried to incorporate, with the most recent effort in 2013.
Incorporate Vail Arizona, a group of Vail business owners and residents who want to incorporate their community, collected enough signatures to put incorporation on the ballot. They had to collect at least 1,537 signatures of qualified electors within the proposed boundaries. The petitioners collected 2,542 signatures, and 2,058 were considered valid.
Reasons for disqualification of signatures ranged from missing addresses, signature on file did not match the signature on the petition, some signatures had missing dates, or multiples of the same signatures were found, among others.
For subscribers: These are some of the best public schools in Ariz.; Vail Unified District schools among them
Residents against the incorporation addressed the board during a public comment portion of the meeting, asking the board to not approve the petition to proceed to an election. However, county staff said the board was required to add the petition because petitioners collected the required number of signatures.
“The role of the board is essentially ministerial to call the election after a review is conducted of signature, the role of the Recorder and Election Department is to conduct that review,” said Chief Civil Deputy County Attorney Samuel Brown. “Once the review is conducted, it is the board’s duty to call the election.
Supervisor Rex Scott said the board heard numerous complaints about Vail residents who thought their area should not have been included in the boundary.
County staff explained the issue would be for the courts to decide and was not in the purview of the board.
According to the county, if the election is successful and Vail is incorporated, that will result in additional revenue to the county.
Vail resident captures rarity: Trail cam confirms ocelot 'Lil' Jefe' still roams mountains of southeast Arizona
About 20,000 residents live in Vail which is just 23 miles southeast of Tucson. Those in support of incorporation said it would allow residents to have more control over the growth and development of their town and have access to state funds.
Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Pima County supervisors vote to put Vail, Ariz., incorporation on the ballot
