Click on any of the 18 albums in the link below to see pictures showing what YOUR downtown actually looks like today thanks to your mayor, city council and city management. You better be sitting down because these are REAL eye-openers.

Here is a very enlightening and scary video of the proliferation of gang graffiti and "tagging" in the Art District, Bar District and right at the front door of City Hall:

Gangs known by graffiti signatures and police department files to be operating in the downtown Scottsdale area are:

• Eastside (18th Street, Duppa Villa area),
• 74th Street Wetback Posse
• Sur 13,
• Surenos,
• MS 13 (Mara Salvatrucha, mostly first generation immigrants, legal and illegal, from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and other Central and South American countries) and some others have come calling.
• Fluffy Bunny Crew (a local Scottsdale gang)
• 40 Block
• Juggalos
• Insane Clown Posse
• Crips
• Bloods
• There are other very violent gangs in Scottsdale that shall remain unnamed for now for obvious reasons.

All the city needs to do is give the Police Department what they desperately need in funding to keep even more officers from moving to departments in other cities and for more training for the officers we still have.

The city legal department needs to allow the Code Enforcement unit and the Police Department to strongly crack down on illegal activities perpetrated upon this city by the bar patrons with the permanent rescission of any special use permits to operate by the offending bars, even if it means asking for help from the Maricopa County Sheriffs Deputies or other agencies to solve the problems.

If the police department was able to enforce the laws as written, if the legal department would allow the violators to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and city council would immediately rescind the permits of the offending bars, the problems would be greatly reduced. We don’t need to shut down the bars, just strictly enforce the laws.

If you ask those non-bar business owners in what’s left of the once thriving Art District and Souvenir Galleries and other stores downtown, you will find that the reduction of business is caused by the nasty, filthy, unruly, and uncontrolled bar district patrons influence, not the economy.

How many citizens and visitors to our city do you know who will no longer venture downtown because of the out-of-control, crime ridden bar scene?

Last week it was reported that despite national crime figures showing a drop of 5% in reported crime; Scottsdale's crime rose by 2% over the first 6 months of 2011 and even larger increases since that time. The comparative parallel shows an alarming spike in Scottsdale crime.

These figures DO NOT include murders, stabbings, assaults, a hit and run killing, a drunk driver slamming into a car on the 101 and Indian School resulting in 3 people being burned alive, shootings, robberies and assaults over the summer.

These figures also don’t begin to tell the story of all the gang graffiti, tagging’s, broken windows and guard rails or stair rails, broken walls and power/phone service boxes, feces, puke and urine on the sidewalks and doorways of downtown businesses, the trash the taxpayers are paying to clean up, nor the ruined lives of those who get caught up in the orgy of destruction to the City of Scottsdale which we never had before the curse of the Bar District (see the folder of pictures below if you dare).

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scottsdale-Bar-District/249507405080670#!/pages/Scottsdale-Bar-District/249507405080670?sk=photos

This has all been allowed and openly and notoriously promoted by the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce run by Virginia Korte and Rick Kidder, Mayors Mary Manross, Jim Lane, and City Mangers Jan Dolan, John Little and now David Richert, all aided by the apparent incompetence of Planning Director Frank Gray and now Connie Padian all without citizen approval. Could this all be done by city management intentionally dodging zoning and other city laws or rewriting them to suit the needs of those who line their campaign pockets?

The four separate news stories below have taken place just this week, and we haven't gone through Halloween weekend yet. This is an alarming jump in crime for "The Most Livable City." How much of this crime can be linked to Scottsdale's notorious Bar District, the Mayor, City Council, the City Legal Department, and the total failure of the City Manager and Planning Director?

Check out the Arrest Report for Scottsdale for just one week (10-23-11 to 10-29-11):

http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Assets/Public+Website/PIO+Folder/102311-102911.pdf  

Note that most arrested DO NOT live in Scottsdale but in West Phoenix, South Phoenix, the far West Valley, and other areas outside and away from the Scottsdale area where gang-bangers and low-life’s reside. They are all brought here by the TV, Facebook and other Social Media that sensationalize the sex, drugs, and drinking that goes on in the Scottsdale bar district as shown by the video about the Galleria fight by a Hip-Hop website as seen below.

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh5l8462bo34XAxD18

The non-entertainment businesses continue their exodus from downtown. The Mayor, the majority of The Scottsdale City Council and The Scottsdale City Manager continue to glaze over the problems in the Bar District, trivializing the crime.

They continue to proclaim the benefits of the new "vibrancy" created by a run-away explosion in the Bar District. While they lie, the editorial page of The Scottsdale Republic swears it's the truth. Over the summer, The Association to Preserve Downtown Scottsdale's Quality of Life warned Scottsdale's leaders of the impending detrimental consequences of the demographic attracted to The Bar District.

The Association warned The Scottsdale Brand was being ruined. The Association collected over 1000 signatures urging Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio to perform crime suppression sweeps in Scottsdale.

It's time for action. If not now, when? The citizens of Scottsdale and the non-entertainment business community want to save Scottsdale before it's too late. It's time to protest. The Association to Preserve Downtown Scottsdale's Quality of Life is calling for your support in this urgent matter.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/2-men-arrested-for-armed-robbery-at-circle-k-10262011

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/scottsdale-burglary-suspect-arrested-10262011

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/videO-violent-brawl-in-scottsdale-parking-garage-10-25-2011

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2011/10/26/20111026Scottsdale-woman-shot-boyfriend-abrk.html

http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Police/newsPIO/8th_Suspect_arrested_in_Aggravated_Assault_Incident?DateTime=634553037000000000&PageMode=View

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Gangs are mobile, so how could they not be in Scottsdale when we have a totally out of touch City Council, City Manager, Planner, and City Legal Department who have allowed to be built, then operate the perfect place for them to sell their drugs, run their prostitution rings, and totally enjoy their thuggery and tagging actions: The infamous downtown Bar District?

All the while, they are also marring our once beautiful downtown with gang graffiti and the rest of the destruction and messes we now find proliferating our once pristine downtown area which we, the taxpayers, are paying to clean up daily.

Many Scottsdale kids, no matter what income, bracket, have troubled dysfunctional families, out of touch with one another. And gangs come in all age groups and are generational. Even in Scottsdale, listed as "One of the 10 great cities to raise kids in," we have these problems with gang violence.

• Sorry Chamber of Commerce (Rick Kidder, Virginia Korte and company).

• Sorry Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.

• Sorry Mayor and Council majority with the exception of Councilman Bob Littlefield.

Councilwoman Linda Milhaven’s campaign promise was to get rid of gangs: Really? When Linda, especially when you have been one of those to approve all the new liquor licenses??? Why won’t you tour the downtown Bar District as offered on more than one occasion???

If all of you would step out of your cubicles of "Ignorance and Bliss" or if the Mayor Jim "King" Lane would step out of his "Kings Throne Room" and away from Jason Rose’s office reportedly multiple times per day, and into the light of day and reality, it would be obvious to all of you.

We have these problems and so do all of the communities that share our borders from the Salt River Pima Maricopa Community to our immediate east, to Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Phoenix, Fountain Hills, Paradise Valley and Cave Creek and all points in between.

They aren’t going to go away by ignoring them, especially when our Downtown Bar District attracts them like nasty flies on rancid and spoiled raw meat on Friday and Saturday nights. We have a big party every weekend and they have money to spend and here is where the action is. Why dirty up their "home sand-box" when Scottsdale wants and welcomes them to dirty up "our sand-box" with their filth, mayhem, and illicit, destructive activities?

Recent displays of graffiti in the downtown and Bar District show that traditional violent gangs like Eastside (18^th Street, Duppa Villa area), Sur 13, Surenos, MS 13 (Mara Salvatrucha, mostly first generation immigrants, legal and illegal, from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and other Central and South American countries) and some others have come calling.

"Hybrid gangs" are here, too. Scottsdale has its very own gang the "Fluffy Bunny Crew". Don’t laugh. This is a violent bunch of thugs that have evolved from three party crews that collected revenue from serving alcohol to minors into a criminal street gang heavy into assaults, home invasions, drug dealing, robbery, armed robbery and kidnapping all with overtones of white supremacy.

Another "hybrid gang," "40 Block", was busted earlier this year when a member was identified as the prime suspect in a retaliation shooting on July 4^th 2007 that caused the death of a 17 year old. The shooter and a couple of gang buddies had tried to crash a party held by a rival gang. They wanted to start a fight, but left when the rival gang agreed to meet them elsewhere to fight. However, as they were leaving the party site their rivals followed them shooting at them and hit one of the 40 Block members in the foot. One of them returned to the party site later and shot over a wall with a hand gun killing the 17 year old. This lot comes from the neighborhoods around Paradise Valley High School.

We should also mention the "Juggalos". These folks don’t like being referred to as a gang. BUT…….they do suffer from the "Duck Syndrome". If it looks like a duck and it walks like a duck and talks like a duck and dresses like a duck and hangs out with other ducks………odds are ya got yourself a duck. These folks may consider themselves just avid fans of the Detroit rap group "Insane Clown Posse," but they are loosely organized as with most groupies until you get down to the subsets.

Unfortunately, according to a July 2008 East Valley Tribune article, a statewide group of investigators met and decided that while most Juggalos aren’t considered gang members, there were a many emerging sects which do meet gang classification

Years ago we started out with the Bloods and Crips and the tangible things that identified them like colors of clothing, tattoos, the way they wore their clothing and where they gathered and definitely what neighborhoods they called home. Evidence was (and is) clear that gangs were (are) in neighborhoods from Roadrunner Park to Cactus Park to Mountain View Park to Chaparral Park to Paiute Park, to Eldorado Park to Vista del Camino Park and now we have them visiting the Scottsdale Sports Complex area and the Pinnacle Peak Park area…….and Fifth Avenue, Downtown, the Waterfront, and the entertainment district.

• We learned what kind of music they listened to, and we really sat down and listened to the words.

• We learned that kids as young as 7 and 8 years old were being groomed for gang life by gang members in their family, and starting to use alcohol and drugs.

• We learned that there were ethnic gangs, and gangs that crossed all ethnic and cultural boundaries.

• We learned that gangs had signatures that they left behind to intimidate people and neighborhoods.

• We learned that the more we learned, the more there was to learn and ignorance was/is not bliss.
   

• It needs to be noted here that ALL gangs known to be on the Salt River Reservation (22 and counting) CANNOT be arrested by non-reservation law enforcement while on Reservation Land, therefore all any gang member, cartel member, or other violator (non-reservation resident or not) can run to the Reservation and be afforded protection from other non-reservation law enforcement officials being unable to follow them or enter Reservation land, UNLESS APPROVED by the Salt River police or the Tribe. Apparently, there are zero working relationships between the Reservations and any local, county or state law enforcement agencies. The Reservations are Nations all unto themselves and not controlled by any other law enforcement agency except their own.

Now we are back, almost, to square-one because many of the options at the state and local levels of government, available to address gang issues were not deemed worthy of funding by the State Legislature and they have disappeared which means that the cities need to step up and "Just Say NO" to the gang elements.

We’ve mentioned that a lot of these hybrid gangs started out as parties and evolved to "party crews"…… the kids who used to organize the Friday and Saturday night parties in vacant houses to generate revenue. There are admission fees. The first one we "attended" as an observer with law enforcement was in 1993, in a vacant house to the north of Cactus Park and east of Scottsdale Road. They had already started setting up the coolers with the beer and booze, and the drug paraphernalia was stored in the attic.

This is still the way some start out and graduate to gangs, and they are starting out younger now, too.

If your kid says they or their friends belong to a "party crew" start checking out who they are hanging around with, where they hang out and what they are doing and do other parents know. And don’t hesitate to call the police department and speak with Gang Officers to find out what is going on in your area. Call the school and talk to the principals (and don’t think that private/charter/religious based schools don’t have the same problems!).

You will not be endangering your kids if you become informed and aware and communicate with the officials in Law Enforcement.

If you see graffiti, call the Scottsdale Police Department on the non-emergency number 480-312-5000 and report it. If you can document it, take a picture, and make sure the PD gets it. Graffiti needs to be removed as quickly as possible, but the info needs to be recorded.

The gang related graffiti in our Scottsdale Arts and Bar District is just another indicator that we need to think long and hard about the conduct and type of tourism business we want in our city and how our leadership chooses to deal with the plethora of liquor license applications

Scottsdale leaders are doing a lousy job and don’t seem to care because apparently they are under the false impression that the Bar District is bringing income into the city coffers.

At what huge cost to the taxpayers and the city coffers, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the Bar District generating ?

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How much longer are we going to have to wait until the political will gets it that we have a problem in the Downtown?

Puking, peeing and pooping continue. Young ladies continue to pass out between cars in parking lots. Young men choose to pass out on sidewalks or on curbs (See graphic pictures in the first article in this Scottsdale Activist).

Couples fornicating openly on public land either in cars or openly in the gravel, on the sidewalks or on the walls continues.

Somehow those empty beer and whiskey containers keep popping up OUTSIDE OF THE BARS, IN THE PARKING LOTS, IN THE BUSHES………

Bars are constantly violating their permits……please tell us how a storage shed can be permitted as a sign….. or an illegal swimming pool shows up after code enforcement is off duty…… or they dump the water from said pool into the city street?

We know it’s getting cooler in the evening, but now and then they slide a very large Doughboy above ground swimming pool (not allowed by their conditional permit to operate) onto the premises, fill it and dump the water into the city street wherever it will flow when the party is over.

All of these things drive property values down and send responsible business folks fleeing to safer locations. This makes it so much easier and less expensive for developers to come in and assemble properties for future adventures in Downtown Land.

The thing is this is dangerous. Lives are actually at risk. When you are out of your head drunk or stoned out of your gourd on drugs, you can’t make decisions for yourself and you are very vulnerable. Your vulnerability makes those around you equally vulnerable.

Apparently this doesn’t concern the elected officials sitting on our city council or city management at all, some have flat refused tour the Bar District including Council women Milhaven and Borowsky (why should Lisa, she already knows how seedy it is because her dad and brother own bars or the ground they bars stand on and they are making huge bucks off those bars). City manager Richert can’t be bothered nor can Planning Director Connie Padian because they obviously couldn’t care less!!

Could it be that many elected and appointed officials are "bought and paid for" by those who own and/or operate the bars and properties in the Bar District?

Have we had a work study on these issues with input from all law enforcement personnel, on duty or off duty, involved? Nope because city management and "King" Lane don’t want to be bothered to hear the truth!!

It is not just noise and falling down drunken "20 Something’s" people, there are lives at stake.

Our law enforcement officers are in serious jeopardy due to these irresponsible drinking and drug consumption habits of those irresponsible "Jack Wagons" who couldn’t care less about our city, its citizens, their own health and least of all, our precious law enforcement officers.

Worse yet is the number of drug dealing, prostitution and gun wielding, Mexican Cartel type gangs, local, national, and international who are being drawn to the bar district because the bars are located in "Upscale Scottsdale" where there are a lot drugs and prostitutes to be sold because of the money to be had from the young crowd who is seen spending money like it was water (see the list of known gangs now using Scottsdale to sell drugs and sex).

These gang-bangers are now living in our city because real estate speculators bought homes and condos, can’t sell them, so they are renting to any warm body who gives them rent money. Many of these Landlords refuse to register with the city or the county as Landlords so there is no way to know who is collecting the money or how many live in the house or apartment, be they family members or sub renters.

It is incumbent upon city management and the council to update the city ordinances to match the county when it comes to this issue as well as the occupancy ratios or bedrooms and square footage of the residence.

It took five officers to restrain one gang member hell bent on beating another guy to a pulp smack in the middle of a crowd of tipsy patrons leaving "last call’ at a local bar. Need we say more about the dismal failure of our city management, mayor and city council???

Because of the violence at this particular bar the hotel across the parking lot now has to lay out ^$3,000 every weekend for security. Where is the city council, city management and the city legal department?

It doesn’t stop there. Right around the corner from this same bar is an after-hours club that doesn’t serve alcohol, but is frequented by the under 18 crowd where there are scantily clad pole dancers openly performing for all to see from the street.

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When Jim Lane was seeking office as a City Councilman, the song he sang was totally 180 degrees different from that we hear today.

When Jim Lane was seeking office, our neighborhoods and single family homes were important to the foundation and future of Scottsdale and supposedly to Lane.

At a reception for board and commission members in spring 2011 he spoke of taking homes to accommodate redevelopment along McDowell Road which was another 180 degree turnaround.

When Jim Lane was seeking office what the community thought was important.

Today he does not do his own homework and he does not ask the pertinent questions (maybe he does not know the questions) of staff or boards and commissions.

Furthermore, he wants boards and commissions to dialogue only with Council; not one another or the community. Hmmm… Secrecy and total mayoral control comes immediately to mind, doesn’t it to you as a citizen and taxpayer?

When Jim Lane was seeking office, he proclaimed the need for transparency in the function of government and the broad areas of decision making, along with a more organized way of seeking solutions to community problems.

If anything, Jim Lane has increased the secrecy in the system of government in Scottsdale as well as slowly eliminated the citizen input in mass.

IN FACT, HE HAS DONE A COMPLETE ABOUT FACE, DRANK THE DEVELOPER KOOL AID BY THE GALLON, AND GONE OVER TO THE DARK SIDE, SUPPORTED BY THE POLITICALLY CHARGED SCOTTSDALE AREA CHAMBER AND THE GREEDY BIG BUSINESS OWNERS, BAR OWNERS, AND DEVELOPERS.

Lane blindly refuses to address the problems pertaining to the out of control liquor businesses in the Downtown area. He claims to be meeting with the organizations of bar owners (which apparently never meets and has no viable, verifiable record of meetings), as well as there is no real organization meeting with anyone, except for the citizens who are so negatively impacted.

Lane refuses to pursue thorough planning approval process pertaining to development around the AirPark. The AirPark Community Area Plan is no good unless it includes discussion of things that impact aviation as well as ongoing discussions with the FAA. Being safe rather than being sorry, now or in the future, has not crossed his or the city councils mind at all.

There has been much discussion over this past summer about the General Plan Update and the Shea Character Area Planning. Well there should be.

With a Council, Mayor and Current Planning staff and City Manager willing to amend the zoning in the AirPark without question for aviation safety or the environment, how could anyone believe the Character Area Plans that citizens work on so diligently and collectively will be respected?

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This material is provided as a guide to the process. A person or organization seeking to initiate a referendum or initiative petition is responsible for complying with all legal and procedural requirements. The assistance of a qualified attorney may be necessary or helpful in complying with these requirements.

Secretary of State

Initiative, Referendum, & Recall Handbook

Initiative Petition requires: 21,025

Referendum Petition requires: 8,757

               Mayor: 8,671 to recall

                           W.J. "Jim" Lane

               City Councilmember: 13,591 to recall

Lisa Borowsky,
Suzanne Klapp,
Robert Littlefield,
Ron McCullagh,
Linda Milhaven,
Dennis Robbins

Recall petitions may not be circulated against an officer until the officer has served 6 (six) months of his or her first term

(Arizona State Constitution, Article VIII, Part 1, Section 5).

Based on the canvasses of the:

September 2, 2008 General Elections,
November 4, 2008 Runoff,
November 2, 2010 General Elections.

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We thought it was very interesting and extremely enlightening to find who the co-chairs for the Jim Lane for Mayor Election Committee were and what they own or who they are associated with in the city, city government, the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, or Rick Kidder and Virginia Korte, don’t you?

Could it be that many individuals and companies below are possibly members of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce which Councilman Jim Lane railed heavily and often against before he drank the Kool Aid after being elected Mayor?

It would be very interesting to see how many people of companies below have contributed to Lane’s current ^$130,000 dollar election war chest wouldn’t it?

Wouldn’t it also be interesting to know how many listed below contributed to only Lane’s campaign or how many might get political favors or zoning preferences for donating based upon their affiliations?

How many conflicts of interest could one surmise could possibly exist based upon the list below?

We won’t know unless Lane gets re-elected will we? Of course and unless that happens before the election? Or if Lane doesn’t get elected? We may then never know will we?

Here is a supposed list of the Lane for Re-Election Co-Chairs as we were told exist of late:

1. Ruben Alvarez,

2. Co-founder and managing partner of The Molera Alvarez Group (MAG) a business development and consulting firm specializing in government affairs, public relations and community outreach. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

4. Lyle Anderson,

5. Developer based in Scottsdale: Desert Highland's; Desert Mountain; Superstition Mountain; and The Reserve: Eco Resort; and other developments in New Mexico and Hawaii as well as Loch Loman Golf Club in Scotland which ran into financial difficulties and they divested. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

7. Tom Anderson,

8. Owner Upperdeck Sports Bar and Grill; owner Club Tropican (Papago Plaza McDowell and Scottsdale Rds.- Type (genre):Bar, Dance Club, Live Music, Outdoors / Patio, Special Events. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

9. Music: Latin, Reggaeton, Bachata, Merengue, Rock en Espanol, Salsa

10. Inside Info: Status: Open

11.  

12. Dave Andrea,

13. Restaurant broker for 3 DOWNTOWN Scottsdale restaurants with liquor licenses. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

15. Joe Arpaio,

16. Maricopa County Sheriff

18. Reg Ballantyne,

19. Senior corporate officer Vanguard Health Systems

21. Jane and Bill Barker,

22. American Gem Trade Association

24. Will Barnow,

25. Nominee for AirPark Advisory Commission not, appointed; Maricopa Co. Intergovernmental representative.

27. Phillip Bell,

28. Development & Acquisition P.B. Bell has developed over 2,500 apartment units in 15 communities in the greater Phoenix area. Four P.B. Bell communities including Reflections at Gila Springs, High Desert Village, Desert Parks Vista at DC Ranch and most recently Ashton Pointe have won Arizona Multi-housing awards for best development project over a multi-year period. In addition, High Desert Village won the prestigious NAA Paragon award for best garden style community developed nationwide in 2001. Chuparosas Luxury Apartments was the recipient of The City of Chandler's architectural award in 2007.

29. Led by CEO Philip Bell and President Chapin Bell, the development and acquisition division directs all service as it pertains to these two areas. Philip and Chapin oversee the planning and execution of all acquisitions, new development and rehabilitation projects. Their vast array of services includes market analysis, pro forma development, financial analysis, project design, entitlement process coordination and project construction management.

30. P.B. Bell's continued success in development led to the birth of sister company MT Builders, formed in 1995 with Michael Tarver and Philip Bell as principals. CEO Mike Tarver and many of the staff members have more than 30 years of experience in the Arizona construction industry and have completed over ^$500 million of construction work. MT Builders provides exceptional general contracting, construction management, and design-build services for multi-family and senior living communities, retail centers, churches, schools, and office/industrial buildings.

31. MT Builders is recognized as one of Arizona's top contracting companies. They have been included multiple times in the Phoenix Business Journal's list of top commercial contractors, the ACE Awards for the largest privately owned companies in Arizona, and Ranking Arizona's list for best multi-family builders. In addition, several of the projects they have built are recipients of local and national awards. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

33. Mike Bidwill,

34. Speaks for itself. Pres. AZ Cardinals and Immediate Past Pres. of Greater Phoenix Economic Council

36. Susan Bitter-Smith,

37. Executive Director, Arizona-New Mexico Cable Communications Association, owner of Technical Solutions public relations consulting who has worked closely with many businesses, builders and land owners in the Bar district and the downtown Scottsdale area. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

39. Michael Blaire,

40. Owner Diamondback Drugs and candidate for state Legislature, Dist. 8

42. Michael Block,

43. Co-founder of the BASIS Scottsdale and BASIS Tucson charter schools.

45. Eric Borowsky,

46. President of Sun West Holdings, father of Todd Borowsky (Bar district bar owner) and Scottsdale City Councilwoman Lisa Borowsky. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

48. Barry Broome,

49. Pres. and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economics Council

51. Drew Brown,

52. Founder and chairman of the board, DMB master planned community developers: One Scottsdale, Silverleaf, DC Ranch, Center Pointe on Mill, Superstition Springs, Verrado, Power Ranch. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

54. Kurt Brueckner,

55. Founding partner Titus, Brueckner & Levine, PLC; several positions on Board of Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce

57. Jim Bruner,

58. Exec. VP of Mutual of Omaha Bank, founding member Museum of the West. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

60. Doug Bruhnke,

61. Founder and CEO of Growth Nation, international marketing, Scottsdale Sister Cities, World Affairs Council, Scottsdale Cultural Council. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

63. Issac Bunney,

64. Stock broker with UBS Global Asset Management - Swiss Global financial service company, Basel and Zurich home offices.

66. Kelly and Charlie Byxbee,

67. Principals in McDowell Windgate Holding LLC recently purchased at auction state trust land at Bell Road and Thompson Peak Parkway to complete development of Windgate Crossing area. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

69. Sam Campana,

70. Former Scottsdale Mayor

72. Les Corirei,

73. Owns and/or co-owns Axis Cigar Bar, Myst, Suede, RnR, The Mint. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

75. Susan and Don Cogman,

76. Chairman of PulsePoint Group, public affairs and crisis issues management; vice chair Scottsdale Cultural Council. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

78. Eric Crown,

79. Investor at Global Cabling Concepts (venture capital & private equity)

81. John Dawson,

82. President and managing director of Scottsdale Plaza Resort, LLC. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

83.  

84. Mike Dee,

85. Arizona Foothills Magazine, President and publisher

87. Mario Diaz,

88. President of Mario E. Diaz & Associates, full-service government and public relations firm that serves a client base of political candidates, government entities, corporations, non-profit and labor organizations

90. Patricia DiRoss,

91. Intergovernmental rep Salt River Project

93. Jeff Dunn,

94. Co-founded Olley Trolley. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

96. Margaret Dunn,

97. Olley Trolley owner. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

99. Steve Ellman,

100. Invested in many investment considered failures of many to the best of our knowledge, Skysong, Westgate, Coyotes and others.

102. Eric Filsinger,

103. Planning Commissioner

105. Royce Flora,

106. Maricopa County Finance Manager

107. President of Integrated Web Strategies

109. Elliott Glasser,

110. Real estate development, investments, (bought Scott Toyota property got rezoning; done nothing yet)

111. Glasser owns properties up and down McDowell Road (and the downtown area, too).

112. Gets rezoning and then sits on the property.

113. Properties owned: Scott Toyota site at 6850 E. McDowell Rd.; old El Camino Theatre site on Scottsdale Rd. and others. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

115. Tom Frenkel,

116. Commercial real estate management and development Scottsdale.ax Fose, Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

118. Sasha Glassman,

119. Attorney, Tucson, Arizona

121. Barry Goldwater, Jr.,

122. Chairman of the Board Studio One Media, Inc. general entertainment

124. Max Haechler,

125. Swiss Consul for Arizona, real estate

126.  

127. Sharon Harper,

128. Chairman and CEO of Plaza Companies (developers[?] of SkySong). Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

130. Jim Hayden,

131. President and CEO, Jim Hayden & Associates; past positions Regional Vice President at Rural/Metro Corporation; Regional vice President Southwest Ambulance. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

133. Mike Hoffmann,

134. Executive Vice President Arizona Benefit Plans

136. Randy Kendrick,

137. Retired lawyer (resident of Paradise Valley)

139. Suzanne Klapp,

140. City councilwoman, owner of frame shop in Scottsdale, member of the Scottsdale Area Chamber?

142. Trif Kupanoff,

143. CEO of Phoenix Woman Magazine

145. Scott LeMarr,

146. Mayor of the Town of Paradise Valley

148. Alex Malatesta,

149. Owner of Paradise Valley Property Maintenance

151. David Maniatis,

152. Attorney

154. Mike Manson,

155. Retired Vice President of Johnson Bank and Treasurer for Lanes 2008 election campaign.

157. Pat McGroder,

158. Attorney; member of Scottsdale Silverado Golf Club, a public/private partnership with the City of Scottsdale. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

159.  

160. Cora and Paul Messinger,

161. owner Messinger's Mortuary. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

163. Steve Moak,

164. Vice President of Sales for Powerchalk

166. Jaime Molera,

167. Former state School Superintendent, found member of Alvarez Molera (see first name on list)

169. Sean Noble,

170. Former chief of staff for John Shadegg

172. Ryan O'Daniel,

173. Associate partner at Kyle Moyer & Company, corporate and political consultants. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

175. Jonathan Ornstein,

176. Chairman and CEO Mesa Air Group, Inc.

178. Dean Riesen,

179. President Riesen & Company, investments. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

181. Dennis Robbins,

182. Scottsdale City councilman, owner of Midas Muffler shops, and Scottsdale Area Chamber member

184. Jordan Rose,

185. Attorney; President of Rose Law Group. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

187. Jason Rose,

188. President of Rose + Moser + Allyn Public and Online Relations, political consultants, reportedly for Jim Lane. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

190. Tom Sadavary,

191. CEO Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

193. Matt Salmon,

194. Former Congressman; attorney, lobbyist

196. Bret Sassenberg,

197. CEO of Ground Up Development, (Scottsdale Waterfront). Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

199. John Shadegg,

200. Former Congressman; Senior Fellow at Goldwater Institute

202. Billy Shields,

203. Former Pres. of Phoenix Fire Fighters Union; lobbyist; and a boat load more this one needs more investigation

205. Larry Sifert,

207. Brian Sperber,

208. Phoenix International Raceway President Bryan R. Sperber has been named as the No. 7 power broker by MVP Magazine in the second annual list of Top 30 Power Brokers in the Valley’s sports market

210. Ray Torres,

211. President, Torres & Associates, LLC, boutique business consulting, technology, and communication solutions firm to small to med-size companies. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

213. Steve Twist,

214. Father of Lane's chief of staff, J. P. Twist; VP and General Counsel at Services Group of America, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona Area Food & Beverages industry; He is a founder of the Goldwater Institute, Arizona Voice for Crime Victims, and the Arizona Economic Forum. He served as a member of the State Board for Charter Schools, also serving as its President, and the Arizona Juvenile Justice Commission, both gubernatorial appointments. He serves on the board of two charter schools, Basis, with schools in Tucson and Scottsdale, and e-cademie, a school operated by the Goodwill of Central Arizona.

215.  

216. Tommy Walker,

217. Pres. Arizona Business Aviation Association; General manager Scottsdale AirCenter (aeronautical services: fueling, chartering and maintenance. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

219. George Weisz,

220. Co-owner, Wolfley’s Neighborhood Grill & Majerle’s Sports Grill. Scottsdale Area Chamber member?

221.  

222. Chad Willems,

223. Russell Pearce's political consultant; Summit Consulting; runs Arpaio's re-election campaign.

224.  

225. Jess Yescalis,

226. Development Director Goldwater Institute; political consultant

ATTENTION READERS: This article IS NOT and indictment or any indication that ANY of these Citizen donors or Co-Chairs of or to Jim Lane's Re-Election Committee has or will ever do anything wrong, just merely information as to who is supporting Jim Lane for mayor and if there could possibly be even the slightest chance for Jim Lane to consider any remuneration of any kind because of their help or contributions. It is up to you, the reader, to decide if a conflict of interest exists.

Although we rarely agree with the Scottsdale Voice because they seem to parrot the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, we have to agree totally with the following entry they have on their website under "Transparency".

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My family and I moved to Scottsdale in 1981 because of the family orientation and feeling of the city. Four of our children went to Scottsdale Schools and we were all very happy with the city because it was World Class, very family oriented, the schools were excellent, the parks were clean and well operated, and scores of citizens were fully involved in their city as well as very friendly.

The after school sports programs and other after school activities available to our kids were excellent and numerous. On those hot summer nights or warm days and nights of other seasons, the downtown was a great place to take visitors and the kids to eat or just stroll the galleries and shops as a family because those you met on the street were so warm and friendly.

The city government was also very citizen friendly and didn’t just hear the citizens, but ACTUALLY LISTENED to the citizens as did then Mayor, Herb Drinkwater. Mayor Drinkwater’s office was always open to ALL citizens and he was a very cordial and responsive Mayor who cared deeply about ALL city citizens as well as the position of the city in the world. Mayor Drinkwater did everything in his power to make sure there was everything done to resolve the problems expressed by his constituents and fellow citizens as well as the visitors to our fine city from all over the world.

That kind of process from the mayor or the council no longer exists with either the last two mayors or city councils unless you were big business, a developer, a chamber member, or a bar owner/operator.

I don’t want to hear the lame-brained excuse that the city is so much larger now than it was then because in actuality, it’s not that much larger and the vast bulk of the city is south of the CAP canal, the same as it was when Drinkwater was mayor.

Over the years we have seen a once World Class, International vacation destination, vibrant, friendly, family oriented city become a city driven by developer and politician greed, apparent graft and a city government that doesn’t give a rats patoot about the citizens as long as the politicians, their supporters, and the Scottsdale Area Chamber get what they want for themselves or for those who fill their campaign pockets by cajoling the city management and council through arm twisting and working their way around current laws and ordinances (look at the list of those who are supporting Jim Lane for re-election for example and who could possibly profit from Lane’s re-election).

A while back, we had decided not to continue with the Scottsdale Activist, even though it was still pulling up to 20,000 hits minimum a month when published, because after 7 years, it was taking away from our staffs quality of life being that it takes up to 100 hours to edit, compose, reformat, then put the edition on line on top of my 40 hour per week real job. That’s not to mention the annual costs to set up and protect the many different web addresses needed to protect the viability and security of the site which are totally owned and absorbed by this editor.

We do not, will not, and have never taken any money from anyone to produce the Scottsdale Activist so as to keep it clean and clear from any one political group or another, or any private influences other than our own educated thoughts, beliefs and a plethora of experiences based upon what we, as long time Scottsdale citizens see negatively happening before our very eyes.

Since the time we thought of ending the Activist, our small staff has been continually pummeled by scores of citizens asking us to PLEASE get back on line due to the stupidity, totally wrong, inept, short-sighted, slighted and selfish decisions that are being made by our city government WITHOUT input to any degree from the knowledgeable citizens who have been successfully active in city decisions as volunteers for decades as desired by Mayor Drinkwater.

We at the Activist worked exceptionally hard and long to get Jim Lane elected based upon his promises of transparency, the removal of the Manross edicts and bad decisions, and a guaranteed citizen driven city government. The month of the election of Jim Lane, the Scottsdale Activist had over 83,200 hits on the website which tells us that the Scottsdale Activist was a very positive factor in Lane’s slim 800+ vote in Lane’s election squeaker over Mary Manross.

Many of us at the Activist had what we felt were good, honest, productive conversations with Lane before we decided to support Lane and felt he was a good, honest, conservative and worthy fit to bring the city back to the levels of World Class Excellence and an International Vacation Destination we experienced under Mayor Herb Drinkwater.

I really liked and respected Jim Lane on both a personal and professional basis. That has since disappeared in favor of total disgust, deep disappointment, total disenfranchisement and the appearance of the real Jim Lane who seems to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing to repeat an old tried and true cliché, who fooled all of the citizens that voted for him. I guarantee you, that will NEVER happen a second time!

A few months after the election of Jim Lane from councilman to Mayor, we began to see a gradual, then a more and more drastic 180 degree change in his demeanor. His seeming lack of attention and strict adherence to city laws and ordinances, and his declining communication with the citizens and voters who elected him with an added arrogance and attitude of superiority have all sadly increased ten-fold during his reign.

Lane’s additional and increased interest, discussions and agreement with those who feed his campaign fund, and who strongly supported his apparent lack of adherence or the dodging of city laws and ordinances when honoring their requests has many citizens upset.

Lane is now seen as a died in the wool ultra-Libertarian who couldn’t care less about the citizens, but cares very much that a property owner who will make money for the city (or themselves) and who deserves the right to have zoning and other ordinances changed to help that property owner get what he wants no matter what it does to the surrounding area or its citizens: the Bar District downtown and increased downtown density as a prime example.

Lane has chosen to honor those who are paying for his re-election instead of those citizens who supported his election and voted for him while trusting him to properly and honestly represent his constituents as he promised. I guarantee you, that too will NEVER happen a second time!

Jim Lane has gone from being a honest man you could highly respect, trust, and depend upon to keep his word, to a person who seems to answer only to those who are developers, land owners, bar business owners, representatives of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce and those who can give him the power he now seemingly craves with a dogged and unhealthy passion.

It has become obvious and very sad to those of us who have watched Lane’s transformation from a straight up nice guy to a devious, get what you can any way you can, type of politician.

Lane’s mode of operation seems to follow the "if someone is in your way, eliminate them from their position and grab all the power you can through devious, behind the back actions eliminating the possibility of public input to help make decisions; and keep all decision making behind closed doors" philosophy.

Look what Lane did to John Washington when John was acting as a concerned citizen (NOT an Airport Commission member) with very legitimate questions to the FAA based upon the total failure of the Mayor, the City Council and our totally misguided and ignorant planning department to ask for FAA input prior to voting to approve the Apartment complex.

Lane’s appearance on Phoenix Channel 5 news when discussing John Washington’s dismissal showed an absolute and obvious sense of self-importance, arrogance and self-anointed superiority never seen exhibited by any Scottsdale mayor in the history of this city!

Click the link below to see the interview of Washington and Lane.

http://www.kpho.com/story/15941035/scottsdale-council-removes-airport-commissioner-over-letter-to-faa

Lane’s attitude, as seen by many, is an obvious major power grab which has many citizens now rightfully calling him "King" Lane, the destroyer of a once great city. All because of his callous and uncaring actions, blatant acts of his misguided air of public superiority and his obvious anti-citizen words and actions when obviously he doesn’t agree with anything the citizen’s request or suggest.

Many are suggesting he has acquired an unhealthy "Superiority Complex", or a "Holier than Thou" attitude and couldn’t care less about anything except his re-election and his political position in the State of Arizona political scene so he can move up in the state politically.

Now comes Mayor "King" Jim Lane asking to be re-elected to the position of Scottsdale Mayor by the voters of the city thinking he’s been a royal gift to the city. Scores don’t think he deserves to serve another term under any condition and The Scottsdale Activist promises to strongly work against his re-election as often and as loudly as necessary under any and all conditions.

George Knowlton, Editor
The Scottsdale Activist
editor@scottsdaleactivist.com

Click on this link to see Randy's website http://www.azlic.com/staff.htm

This week the Scottsdale City Council approved the General Plan Update to go on the ballot March 13^th election ballot.

Every General Plan must be approved by a vote of the citizens.

That is a huge statement because it would a good bet that less than 20% of the residents probably even know what a General Plan is and does, or that it must be updated, and it’s their responsibility to say "Yea" or "Nay".

Are you happy in the house you live in and the neighborhood that surrounds you?

Well, the General Plan is what is used to create commercial and/or residential neighborhoods and it "can be amended if someone wants to do something a little bit or a lot different."

There are a lot of people who are upset with this General Plan Update and there were a lot of people who were upset with the existing General Plan 2001.

General Plans, like almost everything pertaining to government, are critically impacted by "political will" or the lack there of.

As a supporter of the Mike Kelly school of thought on the General Plan, we truly believe that more importance needs to be placed on the use of the GP and policies that are its foundation.

We as a city do a terrible job. The Current Planning Department can't wait to find another way to amend it and get around the vision that the community values. Those values haven't changed from the previous General Plan, but due to the lack of respect for the document, few would disagree that those values are not reflected in much that has been approved over the last 8 years. There are exceptions, but by and large, zoning amendments have dominated development.

For many years we had no long range planning and Boy does It show. Because we relied upon master planned communities to guide our growth we have become lazy and willing to do whatever is needed to fill up space.

Staff has put together a quality document under difficult circumstances. Ross Cromarty and Erin Perreault and all who have worked on the plan did so during three realignments of departments within the administration in as many years, along with staff reductions and budget cuts. That is not easy work.

The problem is what gets approved by the Planning Commission, DRB and Council has little to no respect for the General Plan.

Our planning process needs review, but if it bears any resemblance to the Boards and Commissions review and changes, forget about it. Instead of bolstering the community voices the Councils actions following the B. and C. Audit has stifled most avenues of input for residents.

What happened with the three AirPark mixed use residential projects?

Where do the Federal Aviation Administration guidelines for compatible development say that Scottsdale’s AirPark can be an exception to FAA guidelines without discussion with the FAA?

Just what does the Aviation Director do? Does the Aviation Director have a background in community planning? Does said Aviation Director have any expertise in the operation of a busy airport?

Did you know that planners have not one, but two codes of ethics to guide them in their profession? (AICP/APA Code re Planning Participants should (A2) and (B1)).

Did you know the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) grants professional credentials to planners who complete a required combination of education and experience, and pass a test documenting basic knowledge of the profession?

Does the Scottsdale Current Planning staff know that the basic concept underlying all ethical principals of planning, as well as other government service, requires "fair, honest and independent judgment"? And that "misrepresenting information is neither fair nor honest and it certainly is not independent"?

It is accepted by both the American Planning Association and the AICP that planners should:

Researching the "planning profession" brings to light many things that the public isn’t aware of and some things that our planners seem to forget, especially in current planning.

Did you know that the AICP code’s first section is titled, "The Planner’s Responsibility to the Public"?

But then my friends, the ugly heads of politics and personal agenda, rear their heads and blow common sense out of the water, and "planning" it is said is "always political."

Let us not insert partisan politics here, but certainly political office is in question.

In a few years when the residents of the three apartment projects in the Scottsdale AirPark area are complaining about noise and degradation of their quality of life, or God forbid something worse, where will the blame be placed?

Will it fall on a City Council majority that failed to ask the pertinent questions?

Will it fall on city planners who failed to deal responsibly with all of the pertinent information and who failed to give residents full, clear and accurate information on planning issues and the opportunity to have a meaningful role in the development of plans and programs; and who failed to represent all of the facts for the purpose of achieving a desired outcome?

How about the city legal department who never says "NO" to the Lane administration? Why is that?

We pray to God that any problems NEVER happen due to the total failure of the Mayor, City Council, City Planners, and City Legal Department

Thank you Commissioner John Washington for following the proper legal protocol regarding your personal inquiries to the Federal Aviation Administration pertaining to development in the Scottsdale AirPark.

I was once told by a college professor that there was no such thing as dumb questions, but there were an awful lot of stupid mistakes because questions failed to be asked by Mayor Lane, the City Council and our Infamous City Legal Department. We have all heard that phrase at various times but why by our elected and therefore trusted leaders?

Please explain to me why politicians think they have all of the answers, but they won’t let anybody ask the questions? It would save a lot of time, money and effort if we got those questions out of the way.

As soon as the Airpark Character Area Plan was approved, you had to know that the developers were lining up with the plans for the multi-family residential/mixed use projects.

These are the same kind of folks that gave us the "Waterfront" developments…… condos on an irrigation ditch……. with businesses at the street level and offices up the wazoo, all still struggling to make a go of it if even at all.

Since when did J. P. Twist become a city attorney? We thought we had Bruce Washburn for that? Oh, that’s right Washburn works for the city and is not Lane’s political flunky………or is he????

Let’s PLEASE get all of the answers to the vitally and legally important questions about residential development in the Airpark before anything is decided.

So far as we know no one in the Current Planning Department knows all of the FAA guidelines, and it is for sure the Planning Commission doesn’t know. They have a hard time understanding what a Scottsdale Character Area Plan is all about, let alone getting them to function together.

Except of course for the Downtown Plan and the Bar District and they will be happy to drink to whatever and wherever as long as they continue to have property and bar owners line the pockets of their campaign coffers.

Was John Washington wrong in his actions as a citizen of this city? Absolutely not!

Was Mayor Jim Lane out of line with his caustic and nasty threats and attacks against Washington? Absolutely!

Was Jim Lane elected Mayor or has he anointed himself the King of Scottsdale by his own decree?

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Re: The subject of Apartments approved by the majority of the city council and John’s abrupt and uncalled for removal from the Airport Commission.

The problem of ignoring the purpose of city planning and zoning—separating incompatible land uses—goes far beyond Scottsdale Airport. However, in the case of the Airport, the Mayor, City Council, and City Manager aren’t just turning their backs on promises made and duties to the residents. They are turning their backs on contractual obligations they made to protect millions of dollars in federal investment in the Airport from saddling it with incompatible neighbors.

The FAA has been clear in their guidance that this is a bad idea, yet the Mayor and a majority on the Council have somehow managed to interpret the plain language of that guidance to mean exactly the opposite. Is it any wonder their motivations and intelligence have been questioned? You can read many more details at

www.ScottsdaleTrails.com .

Below is the link to the TV story about John’s dumping by Mayor Jim "King" Lane.

http://www.kpho.com/story/15941035/scottsdale-council-removes-airport-commissioner-over-letter-to-faa

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Well Ozites, here we are again in the midst of stupidity gone wild in the Land of Oz and our usual culprits are running wild again. Unrestrained from their midget minds and loose from the tight white jackets they should be in, they are again providing us the taxpayers with ample reason to make sure they are gone come election time. There has been such a host of stupidity in thought on so many levels and so many issues I am not sure where to even begin, but let’s say we try with the Airport issue.

I mean really, who in their right mind would approve apartments next to the airport with all the trouble we have had with the homes that were built a few miles away from it?

Of course our planning department would prove it as they are about the single largest body of morons that the city has guiding development in the land of Oz. Seriously, I don’t think there is a development they have ever disliked no matter how wrong it was for an area.

Their little egos get hurt when you tell them they are morons. It is like they have their own little fiefdom going and residents of an area be damned to question them or their conclusions.

And one of the things I would really like to know is what was the council and the Mayor were trying to slide under the wire by never even getting FAA approvals or even an ok from the FAA before approving the plans?

I would fall over laughing if the FAA came back and told them they could not build the units like they told Tempe when they wanted to build the football stadium near Sky Harbor airport.

Then of course came the icing on the cake with our illustrious but possibly certifiable moron of a Mayor sending a message to John Washington asking him to resign because he wrote a letter to the FAA regarding the proposed apartments, and he did it as a resident, not an appointed member of the airport advisory board.

I am wondering when it was that the Mayor of the city decided the Constitution of the land of Oz was changed to state that a person of his own free will could not object to an action of our elected morons? Then of course he gets in a huff and makes the comment that if he does not resign his position that he will bring him up in front of council to vote on terminating him from the appointment.

Note to Mr. Lane, you had better make sure you have enough votes to accomplish that or you are going to look like a bigger idiot than we already know you are. Note to the council members, not only would this be a first in city history but it will also not go unnoticed if you know what I mean. Moving on to bigger and better things is the issue of the Downtown of Oz or more to the point is the Oz Entertainment District.

Now I am not one to say I told you so but for those of you who have been reading this web page for some time you will remember the fight we put up a long time ago regarding this same issue of the spread of bars in the downtown area.

The issue was so well noted and with so many people involved there was actually a downward curve in the amount of bars being proposed and there were changes made in how things were done as well as code enforcement and including police action.

The issue was then that if they had something called an entertainment district (which we did back then) why are they approving all of these bars outside of the designated district? They were actually creating a whole new district along 3rd Avenue back then and it made no sense until the city council then started cracking down by revoking use permits and denying applications and Code Enforcement was out in force back then citing property owners and yes, police were still doing the things they do.

In the meantime it appears the city started trying to get the bars moved over into the entertainment district, and again, they succeeded as is evidenced today, and again, the planning department and the city managers screwed up horribly with that plan. Really though it was a lack of a plan for the area as usual and no collaboration between departments such as Police, Fire, and Code Enforcement.

No one bothered to look at other entertainment districts to see what rules they had in place regarding parking, how many bars could be located within an area or in proximity to each other. Or Heaven forbid that they even took into consideration of how close they could be to a neighborhood and what kind of sound controls should be in place as well as how to move the crowds out at closing times and where and how emergency services should respond to the area when the area is packed like sardines.

The recent brawl in the downtown was the brawl that was captured on video that I am sure the Editor has posted a link to that shows that the city is in for an even worse ride since this area is now attracting more than just younger adults from the colleges.

If anyone noted in the paper the mug shots of the 8 individuals that they tracked down and arrested were from Laveen and Phoenix and the pictures look more like a bunch of gang thugs.

Yet again we have to hand the stupidity of the city planning department and the city manager who have just lost their minds and could not plan their way out of a wet paper bag but yet the residents and taxpayers are left holding the bag for another disaster. Finally, on the list for me tonight is the issue of the Mark Taylor apartment fiasco that passed by the illustrious planning gurus in their own little fiefdom. Funny thing about this is that at least 2 of the commissioners actually got it right by voting against the project and making the statement that this land is one of the last parcels to get a good mixed use project in the McDowell corridor. It is also in line with the last task force report on the corridor and even works in with the many other studies that have been done for that area.

Of course this will appear in front of the council and yes, they will approve the project creating yet another blunder for the residents of the south. It seems that the council under the direction of Ron "The Craven Weasel" McCullagh and his infamous claims that we can’t have retail in the south because we do not have the demographics or enough residents to sustain any retail in the area will be the council basis for approving this project.

Really!! This is getting to be an old and tired excuse of the "Craven Weasel" and his Chamber cronies and the south is going to lose the last spot where retail and mixed use can work.

Let’s forget for a moment that the south is still one of the most densely built and populated areas of the city, and lets ignore the fact that when we do go shopping and due to council stupidity, we go shopping in other cities like Tempe and east Phoenix. Heck, I run into more of my neighbors at the Costco on 44th and McDowell and the Tempe market place than I do when they are at home.

Let’s also forget that this is the last remaining parcel for a good mixed use project as the other parcels along McDowell are not big enough in depth for a good mixed use project.

Sorry Ozites of the south, as you are about to get thrown under the bus yet again for a luxury apartment complex and the council is going to do it once again.

Michael Merrill
The Brutal Critic
F8713@aol.com

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With permission from the "The Scottsdale Conservative" http://www.scottsdaleconservative.com/

When I first learned about the double-lane roundabouts in the Scottsdale Airpark back in August (there are 4 proposed) I knew I had to do something. Gathering up my resources, I made up over 500 flyers to distribute around the effected areas of the Airpark. I then proceeded for the next three months to walk each and every business there, handing out the flyers, explaining to business owners what the city is planning and the detrimental effects it would have on their business.

Of the over 300 businesses I talked to, only one, Hacienda Harley, had even heard about the Roundabouts, despite The city traffic engineer saying that everyone was informed and all were good with the idea. In fact, NO ONE I talked to was in favor, and many were outraged. I also started an online email petition that when signed would go directly to the City Council and the Mayor. The council received over 160 emails telling them not to put in the roundabouts.

I won't get into the reasons why they are bad in the airpark, but there are many, and if you want I will email them to you. On the date of the council vote, I asked Councilman Littlefield to remove the item from the Consent Agenda (where they like to hide contentious items) and put in on the Regular Agenda. As you read in the Headline news, it was defeated, but on October 25th, Susan Klapp decided to bring it back, if not for the selfish and childish reason that her proposal was defeated on October 18th.

If I have to bring back the business owners to testify again over an issue that was voted down it will be a testament to the disregard of business and residents by the city council, and Susan Klapp in particular. We have seen in the past how the council has ignored citizen input, and we will see in November 2012 what happens to those who willfully ignore residents and business owners for their own selfish gains.

This has got to go down as one of the stupidest proposals ever to get passed by the City Council. To put residential apartments in an Airpark is beyond stupid. It is downright dangerous, irresponsible, and another land grab by greedy investors. Why grown adults like those that were somehow voted onto the city council, dissenters not withstanding, cannot grasp the common sense idea that people, especially families with children, do not belong within an industrial and commercial airpark with an international airport in the center defies all logic.

The mere idea that members of the airport commission and pilots had to waste their time testifying on the ludicrous rezoning proposals only to have the City Council vote in favor for no apparent reason other than monetary gain in the short term for the developers and I don't know who else makes me give in to rants like this!

Then, to add insult to injury, our esteemed mayor now wants to remove one of the airport commissioners for informing the FAA of the possible rezoning, thereby sending a message to anyone working on the cities' behalf (for free, I might add) not to go against his majesty, a move the city should have done itself long before ever considering to put these items on the agenda.

There is no place like home, unless it's in the flight path of helicopters, and between the throttling down of turbines, you can faintly hear the happy sounds of children playing in the streets, since there are no parks or playgrounds, or schools, or bike paths, or crosswalks, or school bus stops, or speed bumps, or shade trees, just the faint echo of lawyers getting their documents ready for the inevitable suit against the city for allowing the rezoning, which was the cause of little Jimmy getting hit in the Roundabout on Hayden and Northsight while trying to cross Hayden on his way home, the third floor of an apartment next to Costco.

If this isn't enough reason to vote these irresponsible, build-at-any-cost clowns out in 2012, then I don't know what is.

The city will vote on the third apartment complex next to Costco and Northsight in November. Gee, I wonder how they will vote? Stay tuned.

Yeah, You guessed it. The council voted for the General Plan Update, which allows for Scottsdale to become easy pickins' for developers. It is not a vision of what Scottsdale should be like, but what Scottsdale will become under the new land rush of 2012.

Height, Density, Work-Force Housing, Eat, Work, and Play, Grow or Die, all mantras of the special interest groups who run this city and own the votes of those on the council who accepted their contributions in exchange for votes. Look up the campaign contributions of the incumbents up for re-election before voting next year.

We will vote on the General Plan Upchuck in March 2012. I hope it goes down in flames as one of the few rights still afforded to Scottsdale Residents will be put to the test.

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Click on the link below for a very heartwarming message full of pride and service for a very special Scottsdale resident and Decorated World War II Veteran Pilot.

http://www.kpho.com/story/16022619/scottsdale-man-shares-time-in-first-air-commando-group

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Quotes of our founding fathers and others are included as reminders of why our freedoms exist. These are but a few of the thousands of comments made concerning the principals upon which our freedoms are founded and how they must be protected. These principals apply to all: elected officials, civil servants and the individual citizens of Scottsdale. The following quotations are foundational for observations concerning our local government. Think about what our founding fathers said as it relates to our decisions about who we elect to represent us and how those elected officials should perceive their responsibility to those who voted for them.

"Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions."

"A fondness for power is implanted, in most men, and it is natural to abuse it, when acquired."

"When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty."

"Integrity is not what we do when it serves us. It is who we are in the dark and how we treat people when it makes no difference to us. Integrity can not be taken from a person, it can only be given away."

"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have... a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the characters and conduct of their rulers."

"If the minority, and a small one too, is suffered to dictate to the majority, after measures have undergone the most solemn discussions by the representatives of the people, and their will through this medium is enacted into a law, there can be no security for life, liberty, or property; nor, if the laws are not to govern, can any man know how to conduct himself in safety."

"Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual - or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country."

Those who moved to Scottsdale did so by exercising their freedom of choice. Those who were born and stayed here did so by the same reason. In both situations, people preferred to be here rather than somewhere else. The City of Scottsdale has been something other places have aspired to be. The list of attractions includes open vistas, mild winters, the Sonoran Desert, mountains, geographic location, hot dry summers, our Native American Heritage, the spirit of the American West and eventually the laid back friendliness of the South. For the sake of this letter let’s call it "The Southwestern American Sonoran Desert Experience."

This preference for lifestyle was manifested in several citizen* visions for Scottsdale over a period of about thirty years and took Scottsdale from a small local community to an internationally famous city. Recognition of the "The Southwestern American Sonoran Desert Experience" by the citizens is the reason that Scottsdale is what it is today and why we need to both protect and enhance it.

Our quest for quality has created a world class popularity. We cannot sacrifice our premiere quality for popularity based on quantity. Our challenge is to manage the size and quality of our growth so that one does not diminish the other. We must create an environment where all can enjoy the opportunities that present themselves. We must minimize congestion and pollution to avoid impacting our world class popularity, sound planning must be employed to ensure this.

Sound planning requires elected officials and staff making the citizen’s preference, which made us great, the controlling part of development decisions. This will give citizens, visitors and development a sustainable quality will continue the profit our unique "Southwestern American Sonoran Desert Experience"!

Tourism is the basis of our economic vitality. Risking tourism in favor of ill-considered growth jeopardizes the core of our economy and will result in a greater tax burden on citizens.

We must continue to cultivate a community that recognizes and accepts an individual’s right to the "peaceful enjoyment of their property": a City where zoning does not favor one group to the detriment of another, where taxes are not levied on one group at the expense of another.

A book can be written on the negative effects of numerous zoning and economic development capers. We would have an attractive shopping center at the southeast corner of Scottsdale and McDowell if someone had recognized they were destroying the "economic engine" (Los Arcos Shopping Center) of South Scottsdale. The shopping and sales tax dollars are now in Tempe. The auto sales tax dollars are gone. How many million dollars of tax income to the City have been lost by rezoning land? Land that has now set empty for years. The Safari Hotel closure has cost at least $2,000,000 in lost sales tax dollars to date. Other resorts within a half mile have continued to operate profitably.

From Scottsdale and McDowell to Pima and Dynamite citizens are in a continual battle to protect what they know is what we should be. This is wrong. We have just two choices. Protect what we know is right or become a Phoenix suburb.

In 1926, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., supported lower court rulings that recognized the correlation between use and the value. They recognized the negative aspects of high density and mixed use. Ironically the very separation of use used as a part of the basis for their giving cities the authority to zone is now being used to rezone for high density mixed use. One statement includes "the evils of overcrowding and the like." Remember I am just a country boy, not a Judge.

Based on all the above there are some conclusions concerning those who want to serve on the City Council. They must ascribe to the requirements of office as set forth by our founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights as they were intended.

These includes:

I have had the pleasure of talking to several who are considering but not yet announced their intentions to run for council. Based on the principles contained in this document, I have concluded that a decision to support ANY candidate at this time would lack information needed to make a valid decision.

We all have made hasty decisions that we lived to regret. This is a luxury we do not have.

Thank you for your interest and efforts in keeping Scottsdale a great place to live.

Sam J. West

*Citizen: The term Citizen means resident of Scottsdale with no financial interest, direct or indirect, in a change in land use or other governmental action.

If you are interested in participating or supporting an effort to accomplish this please let me know.

Dear Friends:

Like all of you I am concerned that the current majority on the Scottsdale City Council is taking our city in the wrong direction. While I will continue to fight to preserve Scottsdale’s high quality of life and economic vitality I am pretty much a minority of one at this point on the Council and I need your help.

The only way to fix this problem is to change the membership of the City Council in the upcoming elections. Fortunately, we already have two resident-friendly candidates in the race, Guy Phillips and Chris Schaffner.

Electing them to the Scottsdale City Council will go a long way to getting our city back on the right track and I support them both wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, as resident-friendly candidates, Guy and Chris will be facing a Tsunami of special-interest money, not to mention the opposition of our local establishment newsletter posing as a newspaper.

That means we are going to have to work hard to help them be elected, and at this stage of the campaign that means contributing money to their campaigns. While a candidate does not need to have the most money to win, they do need to have enough money to get their message out to a very large number of potential voters.

So, all of us who care about Scottsdale’s future need to dig deep and send Guy and Chris some money. In this election cycle contributions are limited to ^$430 for individuals, ^$860 for couples. Here is the info you need to contribute to their campaigns: Make checks out to:

Committee to Elect Guy Phillips
Send checks to: 7131 E. Cholla St., Scottsdale, AZ 85254

Chris Schaffner for Scottsdale Send
checks to: 7346 E Sunnyside Dr., Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Web site for more info:

You ALL have become enablers and are a serious, contiguous part of the problem.

Who cares about the citizens [who brought their children here and] bought homes here before you allowed and continue to allow the Entertainment District to encroach upon their peace of mind for their children or of living out their retirement?

Mayor Lane, in your state of the city address, you said regarding the infill incentive district that your decisions would insure compatibility with the citizens. That was a blatant lie.

I am so glad I no longer serve on any of your commissions so that you can kick me off for speaking my mind. I intend to use every spare moment to do more of the same. And since your Republican constituents are running our city, I am especially glad that as a Republican I can speak frankly with issues in criticism without being accused of just Democratic rhetoric.

Thank you,

Patty Badenoch
A long time Scottsdale resident and voter

~Shouts and Spouts Shoutandspout@scottsdaleactivist.com

~ What the hell is going on in Downtown Scottsdale?? I have never seen such a mess in my entire life! I came down from Calgary to enjoy your city, it's shops and Galleries and what do I find? Drunks, rude young people doing everything we would never condone at home. What's with some kind of bike cabs, horse carriages, and electric carts paying absolutely no attention to where they are going or why, walking or driving all over the roadways. I saw no permit tags or anything on these machines so I could turn in violators. If you want us out of towner's to return for the winter, you better get your act cleaned up and fast or you'll lose a lot of Canadian business to Glendale and other cities in the area who are cleaner and better run.

~ What has happened to Mayor Jim Lane? It seems he's on a real power trip of some kind. Who anointed him King? Who he is today is not whom I voted for and none of our family will ever vote for him again. Sorry Mr. Lane, you've really blown it with this family by totally screwing up what was once a very decent city, and YOU sir are totally to blame! You were elected to FIX THE PROBLEM not make it still worse 10 times over!

~ What's with the pedi-cabs and other golf cart types of transportation in the entertainment district not having permits and not having to mind the rules of the road? When someone dies from the stupidity allowed to exist, me as a taxpayer is going to be hung out to dry and that's not right. The city council and mayor better get their heads out of their you know what's before someone gets killed from pure greed and blatant stupidity.

~ Where's all the retail business that was supposed to be on the bottom floors of Sky Song? Where are all the other buildings and amenities we were promised would be there? Seems like the city was sold a bill of goods by ASU and Mary Manross. Why doesn't the city call the lease in for failure to perform and sell the land to get out from under that albatross and all the facility and support maintenance that the city so foolishly allow to have the taxpayers foot the bill for the next 100 years or so?

~ Oh Boy! Scottsdale is getting a really great name now! We're all over "YouTube" with nasty videos showing all the illicit actions and antics being performed by drunken and out  of control fools. What has Lane and his City Council done to this city other than make targets of us citizens from out of city hoodlums, gang-bangers, drug and prostitute sellers and well as I'm sure the drug cartel supplying all of the contraband to those in the "entertainment district".  Yeah, it's entertaining all right, I think it's time to get out of here before one of my kids get shot by a gang-banger or run over by a drunk.

~ OMG!! I was born and raised in Scottsdale and cannot believe what has happened to our once beautiful town. My children, also born in Scottsdale and now in their early 20's, will not go into downtown because of all the bad actors and rude people from other cities. They warn their dad and I not to go near there because we would be so disappointed in what we'd see. What a shame. Scottsdale was such a wonderful city in which to raise children, I guess that's all over now, our kids are moving away because of all the crap going on in city government and the downtown area. Where the hell are the heads of our city with all of this going on? I'm guessing they don't care or are getting paid off to leave things alone or are fearing for their lives if they step in. Gutless fools!

~What's going on up in my neighborhood in the north? Why is the Planner Padian and City Manager Richert trying to shove commercial down our throats when we don't want it! Look what he did to Phoenix with City North, it's a total bust and totally his fault. He needs to be fired and replaced with someone who knows what they are doing and can preserve the desert we all moved here to enjoy.

~ We need some good candidates for both the council seats and the mayors chair who aren't owned by the chamber or big business like they are now. We have been so screwed over by Lane, Klapp, McCullagh and Borowsky that I could just puke. They never listen to the citizens and now they are reducing the citizen involvement in the process as well as God knows what else to make Lane the king of the city with total control. I'm sure the chamber is behind all of it.

~ We would like to thank Bill Crawford for working so hard to clean up the downtown area. It totally amazes me how a city council and mayor can be so totally blind to the needs of the city while promoting the proliferation of drugs, booze and prostitution in our beloved downtown area which has brought in the Gang-bangers, druggies, pimps and many other undesirables. I've talked to the police and fully understand how understaffed they are all because the city manager wanted to spend MY taxpayer money where HE wanted, not where it is really needed. The city manager needs to be fired and replace with someone with brains who isn't beholding to the chamber or someone in the Phoenix government. What a total loser Richert is!

~ I couldn't believe the interview with Mayor Lane on Channel 5. Who the hell does he think he is, God? Washington was only doing due diligence as a concerned citizen like the council and planner should have done in the first place, and Washington gets removed? Jim Lane and some council members need to be removed. How about  we recall Lane's candy butt?

~ The only person on the council who cares about the citizens is Bob Littlefield. He reminds me a little of Drinkwater. He'll talk to you at any time, he's open to suggestions, he attends as many citizen meetings as possible where none of the others do (until election time that is), and Bob seems to really care about the city. We met Guy Phillips the other night along with Chris Schaffner at a Community Council meeting and we're both very impressed with both men. They would both make great council members as would Bob as Mayor and they aren't tied to the Scottsdale Chamber .

~ What's going on down on McDowell Road? Some developer guy buys up a lot of old car lot property and just leaves it sit... or is he waiting for the homes behind his to be condemned as indicated by Lane a while back, so he can snatch them up for a song, then rezone them to his liking so he can turn them again? The way this council and "King" Lane works, I'm sure that's what's going on. I wonder if that dude is also giving Lane money for his re-election? Wouldn't surprise me at all the way this corrupt city and it's government is working today.

~ My young family (early teens) and wife and I came from Winnipeg to enjoy the weather and your beautiful downtown for the first time in 10 years. What a huge disappointment! Bars, drunks, drug and prostitution solicitation right on the streets, and few police to be seen That doesn't include the feces, urine and trash on the sidewalks. We just cancelled our hotel and are moving to the Glendale area to stay where it's cleaner, friendlier, fresh and law abiding. We're done with Scottsdale which used to be a shining star but is now a den of filth, sin, inequities, and degradation.

~ If the Scottsdale cops are so undermanned because of stupid budget cuts that they can't handle the crap going on downtown why doesn't the city supply more money for more cops or call in the Sheriffs Posse or State Police gang group? Very frankly, Isn't it time we clamped down hard on these bars and their patrons even to the point of shutting down any bar that allows a drunk person to go out on the street or to allow an under age person in the doors? Where the hell is the liquor control people? Times up folks, time for some real hard action to stop this crap in it's tracks. It's also time to vote Borowsky, Klapp, McCullagh and Lane out of office for doing nothing but promoting even more liquor licenses for the area. Better yet recall all 4 of them before the election. Haven't we had enough of these folks?

~ We find it so sad that after being away for 15 years, the retail in south Scottsdale is non-existent with a big ugly kite looking thing hanging where there should have been shopping for residents and visitors, our favorite Red Robin and Luby's is gone. The beautiful downtown is now full of bars and the quaint shops we used to visit and spend our vacation money are almost all gone. We tried to stop there one evening and were almost run over on the sidewalk by a burley bunch of young gang looking drunks with what looked like hookers on their arms who cursed at us for being in their way. So very sad. We asked our friends what happened and they said egotistical political BS and developer greed has taken over the city with no rhyme or reason for the new buildings and all the bars, so they don't shop Scottsdale anymore either. We will no longer stay in Scottsdale because of the failure of your city fathers to take good care of the city. We're sure Mr. Drinkwater must be spinning in his grave over what's happened to his wonderful city. We found a nice hotel near Tempe Market Place south of the river so we have the best of both worlds. We can visit our friends in Scottsdale but spend our money where it's appreciated at Tempe Market Place and Riverview Shopping Center. Great and inexpensive food in both places.  So long Scottsdale until you get your act together.