Sahuarita residents celebrate end of prison

Special to The Sahuarita Sun

Linda Cooper found out her five-week battle against a proposed detention facility north of her Rancho Sahuarita home was over through a telephone call.

“We had just sat down to dinner Thursday night when the mayor called. She didn’t tell us anything, but she was so excited and said, ‘Go check your e-mail,’ said Cooper, who with her husband, Dewey, helped rally neighbors against the proposal by the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Earlier in the week, the Coopers had “heard some rumblings that things might be changing, there were a lot of questions.”

“If it was a done deal, why were there so many questions? It wasn’t a done deal,” Dewey said.

The Coopers took on the challenge last month after hearing that a federal detention center was well under way two-thirds of a mile north of Pima Mine Road near Nogales Highway. They quickly gathered 2,233 signatures on a petition to oppose construction, but that was just the beginning.

A tough time

Like the opening lines of Charles Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities,” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...” that’s how it was for the Coopers and many Rancho Sahuarita residents.

A year and a half ago, the Coopers bought a home at the north edge of Rancho Sahuarita and it was the best of times.

Then April brought the revelation of a proposed detention center that would be visible from their bedroom and backyard. They sprang into action.

Dewey downloaded laws, ordinances and statutes relevant to construction of the detention center. The Coopers contacted state and federal officials; they rallied neighbors to write and to attend public meetings. They created a Web site and networked online. Before the good news, they planned to picket the Desert Diamond Casino near Interstate 19 on Saturday, and were planning a boycott of two TON casinos with 2,000 “No Prison” buttons designed by resident Rosemary Simo and paid for by Rancho Sahuarita developer Bob Sharpe.

Neighbor Julia Whetten had plans to call agents of entertainers scheduled to appear at the casinos and tell them they would be crossing a picket line.

For five weeks, there was no letting up.

Two Christmas gifts

Linda was in disbelief when she got the call from Mayor Lynne Skelton and then read the press release, headlined: “San Xavier District No Longer Considering Nogales Hwy Site for Federal Detention Center.”

Dewey wasn’t as easily convinced.

“I didn’t really know if it was the truth. I wasn’t 100 percent sure if the press release was confirmed and valid,” he said.

Two days later, he was convinced enough to say, “I feel like I got two Christmas gifts this summer — the letter from (two) Pima County Board of Supervisors opposing the proposed site and the mayor’s call.”

On Sunday night, Rancho Sahuarita residents had an opportunity to thank the Coopers and Whetten at a clubhouse celebration.

The Coopers had a long list of thank-yous to deliver: Sharpe, Rancho Sahuarita Community Liaison Tom Murphy and the clubhouse staff, Skelton, Town Manager Jim Stahle, County Supervisors Ramon Valadez and Sharon Bronson, Legislative District 30 Rep. Frank Antenori, District Director for Congresswoman Giffords Ron Barber and the band of residents who knocked on doors and collected signatures.

Dewey also thanked Town Council candidate Kara Egbert, who spoke at the May 12 Board of Supervisors meeting. Egbert was elected last week.

The Coopers had never taken on such a challenge. After the successful effort, Dewey said, “We do have a voice.”

“So much was built on mistruths... Don’t tell me I can’t do something,” Linda said. “Many said what we were doing was impossible, but we weren’t going to give up.”

“It chokes me up. People are still calling and sending e-mails. But it wasn’t just us,” she said. “Everyone came together and stuck together. They were cheerleaders.”

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.