Overly emboldened by the passage of the zoning and height changes for the Earll Condos and the "4333" building in the south, the SonRise School in the north, and other out-of-code or out-of-general plan decisions allowed and approved by an out of touch DRB and City Council, the developers and their hired guns feel they have the city by the "short hairs".

Look for the developer of WaterView with Susan Bitter-Smith and John Berry as their professional gunslingers paid to pull rabbits out of hats and find four votes on the City Council, to go forward with their plans with precious few changes to their design.

Reportedly, the developer had scaled back the project by approximately 9% but further information shows that the heights will remain basically the same and the project is still more than 10% over that allowed for the downtown zoning and far more than that over what is allowed in the residential areas on which it will encroach in many ways.

From what we can find out and deduce for ourselves from information available to us, the developer, nor their hired guns couldn’t care less about the residents on the east and north sides of the project or the views of the fabulous Arizona Sunsets or Camelback Mountain they will lose. They also couldn’t care less what residents would lose as long as the developer can keep the projected profit margins, the requested maximum heights of 75 feet for the 3 hotel buildings and 65 feet for 3 condo buildings, and move the SRP Electricity Distribution Facility to a location very unpopular with the adjoining residents in the single family residential areas.

Without the approval for the overblown project from the City Council, the developer cannot make the project "pencil". Gee, maybe they should have thought about that before they invested into a property letting it run down and become a project that could become financially questionable for a number of known or possible reasons including mass rejection by the area residents.

The quite apparent reason the developer won’t back down now is that our infamous city council has apparently been, again, influenced in some way or another with certain promises, a threatened law suit, or something such as those that conned the council and especially our "Flip-Flop Mary" mayor to flip 180 degrees on the "4333" building and approve it when less than a month earlier she said it wasn’t right and didn’t fit the character of the downtown area.

In an effort to con the residents into "buying into" the development, the Developer and their hired guns will hold another "review" or "sales snow job" on the project for "interested parties" sometime later this month.

A question asked many times of the Scottsdale Activist by residents concerns why Susan Bitter-Smith who reportedly is going to run for Harry Mitchell’s congressional seat, and Attorney John Berry, both long time Scottsdale residents, would ask the city council to allow something to be built that the residents in mass have rejected due to it’s height, density and increased traffic and infrastructure use as well as the SRP facility being moved to an undesirable location?

The other question commonly asked is "how much of a subsidy do they want and where will it come from?" along with "they better not ask for any tax dollars for anything".

The developer and hired guns will again try to blame "No Growth" activists for the failure of the project should it get shot down, which is patently untrue and an unfair judgment.

In reality, all the residents and the "Dreaded Activists" want is a reasonable and "eco-friendly" project which fits within the guidelines of the current General and Downtown plans without encroaching into the historically residential areas, blocking views, and vastly increasing the density, heights, and traffic congestion unnecessarily while mixing properly with the motif and timbre of the original downtown.

Apparently, the only way to stop this and other over-the-top projects waiting in the wings to rape, pillage and burn Scottsdale with subsidies such as OrchidTree, SummerTree, and Los Arcos Crossing would be a referendum which would shut the project down cold until an election costing ^$150,000 could be arranged as many as 180 days from the date the referendum win has been verified.

Would any developer be so sure that the referendum would fail (developer wins) that they’d pay for the election?

We seriously doubt that because they know it would win (developer loses) in a landslide and the developer would have to go back to the drawing board or sell the property and take a loss.

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Activists can be found on city boards, commissions, committees, the DRB, the Planning Commission and many unknown groups from block watchers to HOA’s, and to neighborhood and citywide organizations that help steer the city in the right direction, depending upon which direction they think is best for the city.

Unfortunately in some cases, some push for what’s better for them or their companies financially rather than what’s best for the public good and the city they have been chosen to represent.

It’s rather comical, or more correctly very sad that a select few who sit in their easy chairs at home and criticize in voice and writing those who really care about their city. Those same writers continue their whining without getting off their own duffs to raise a hand from that easy chair to help in any way shape or form.

There is a lady in Greyhawk who says she would gladly welcome high rise residential and commercial/retail buildings bringing high density and traffic problems into her subdivision north of FLW Blvd.

Boy, I’d bet she’d be run out of town on a rail if we were to actually and factually reveal through her email who she is, don’t ya think?

There are others who love to write and complain to the news media concerning a plethora of issues but "Flip-Flop" like Manross on a regular basis, for what reason no one knows or can come close to figuring out unless they are just trying to be accepted by someone, or just anyone.

In ALL cases above, these people are activists in one way or the other. Unfortunately, most never get off their duff and DO ANYTHING but bitch, moan, whine, and complain and in any direction the wind blows on any given day.

Those some call the "Dreaded Activists" are the tens of hundreds of citizens who give freely of their time to the tune of thousands of hours of helping to make changes within the city structure be it political or structural without looking for anything in return but reasonable change, reasonable growth, and a World Class city in which to live, raise their children, and work.

There are activists from every corner of this city and they have made the city what it is today, for better or for worse.

There are less than a small handful of activists that want to go back to the days of the horse and buggy by stopping growth. The vast majority of activist want the city to grow, but at a controlled rate under strict height, density, as well as financial restraints and other controls so we can maintain an open, inviting community for families and businesses to exist in harmony and financial health for the good of all residents, businesses, and our tourists.

Families and businesses are what make a city great, not bars, drunks, faddish buildings and 24/7 activities. Families and business people need their peaceful and restful sleep free of crime and 24/7 noises so they are ready for a new day. Content and stable families don’t have to worry about hangovers, who did they do or who did them, how they will get home without being arrested, how did they actually get home, where did they leave their car, or where they will party next.

The city of Scottsdale desperately needs to pull back and reexamine where we are going and why.

The first thing we need is to have some truly visionary leaders who can get citizen suggested and accepted plans into place before any more building or renovations are entertained. After all, our elected people work for the citizens, not the developers or builders.

The most important task would be developing an acceptable General Plan for the entire city to cover the next 5, 10, and 20 years so we’re not doing a project by project patchwork mess such as Jan Dolan has unfortunately brought to Scottsdale with the mayor and city attorneys full approval.

Scottsdale will recover from the scourge of Dolan, Manross, Robberson, Gray, O’Connor and others, but the rate of recovery will be determined by how badly the voters want financial and growth stability along with positive change for the better.

Hopefully, that will be overwhelmingly determined by the outcome of the ’08 elections.

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~ Update on the Hualapai Fiasco

We are glad to report that investigative reporter Brian Powell of the Scottsdale Tribune has been closely following and reporting on the Hualapai Water Treatment Plant debacle as well as many other city issues much to the chagrin of the city government who thought they could hide them or make them go away like they do many other issues they don’t want exposed.

On the other hand, the Scottsdale Republic and Editor Robert Leger just whitewashed the entire Hualapai process by not reporting all the facts and soft peddling other facts about the case which has cost the taxpayers over 5.2 million to buy the land back from the successful bidder who used the city’s own legal ignorance and stupidity to legally win the bid and, the before it’s over, the cost to the taxpayers could exceed and additional 10+ million dollars plus legal costs.

All of this because City Manager Jan Dolan was allowed an expensive "Learning Experience" by the mayor and city attorney which will cost the taxpayers a HUGE amount of money unnecessarily should the city lose which all legal minds we have contacted assured us was going to happen.

Here is actual proof that the Scottsdale Republic DOES NOT practice due diligence and fairness when reporting on issues concerning our current city administration.

Mr. Leger is also reportedly responsible for which articles are chosen for the BLOG and which one’s are not. Isn’t it rather interesting that although Mayoral Candidate Jim Derouin was openly attacked on the Scottsdale Republic editorial page in letters to the editors section, when Mr. Derouin wrote a rebuttal as a "My Turn" contribution, it was hidden from only the most computer literate users and wasn’t allowed a BLOG port?

In addition, a "My Turn" article contributed by Councilman Littlefield was also not printed because of what Mr. Leger regards as a mistake on the part of his staff.

Mr. Leger is really a very intelligent and nice man with an excellent background, although he reportedly lives in Fountain Hills, not Scottsdale.

The question very simply is: Who’s pulling his chain and why?

Media Favoritism Anyone?

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Recent and upcoming developments in Scottsdale underscore the absolute incompetence of the Manross/Dolan/Roberson administration, and demonstrate the urgency with which new leadership is required in 2008.

We have the upcoming November 6th trial regarding Scottsdale's efforts to condemn 380 plus acres of State trust land purchased by Toll Brothers in 2002 and needed by the City for construction of the Preserve's Gateway Discovery Center.

Scottsdale's error in not bidding for the required acreage at the original public auction in 2002; but rather expecting Toll Brothers, a publicly held corporation accountable to its shareholders, to hand over the property to Scottsdale at the original and bargain purchase price of $82,000 per acre, may now cost Scottsdale taxpayers three to four times that amount, not to mention litigation costs which have already exceeded $2 million.

The City's foreseeable and costly loss at public auction of the State trust land necessary for expansion of the Hualapai Water Treatment Plant, documented in great detail in past issues of the Activist, will cost Scottsdale taxpayers dearly. 

To recap, in successive acts of absolute incompetence and stupidity, the "Duncecap" administration began an expansion of the Hualapai Water Treatment Plant on property it did not own.  The City then signed a ten year lease with the State Land Department for the site in question, with year 2 through 10 annual lease payments of almost $1 million per year.

The City then failed to realize that, because it was now of public record, the Lease added a great deal of value to a site previously not worth much, and further failed to anticipate that such added value would attract other sophisticated and in-tuned bidders to the public auction. 

In the final appalling act of legal and political stupidity, the City publicly published its maximum authorized bid prior to the auction, and as the reasonable reader will now realize - was outbid at auction!! 

Our illustrious mayor, Mary Manross, the sole signatory to the Lease, now claims it is invalid as it was not approved by the City Council.  And which member of the "Duncecap" administration failed to agendize the Lease to the City Council?? Being that the City Manager is the overseer for those things along with the city Attorney, wouldn’t the failure then fall directly into the responsibility zone of said City Attorney and City Manager?

As Brian Powell of the Tribune wrote earlier this week, apparently Scottsdale's ^$130+ million subsidy to Skysong apparently isn't doing the trick of revitalizing South Scottsdale (which, as an aside, is revitalizing quietly but quite nicely all by itself due to private investment by residents and local businesses). 

Now Los Arcos Crossing, the parcel directly to the east of Skyflop, will formally request a subsidy from the City in order to render its poor investment decision profitable.  Not only is Los Arcos Crossing requesting a subsidy (but refusing to call it a subsidy, but rather a "City investment in the infrastructure of the South").

PDG America, owner of the site, is also requesting a height/density variance to 60 feet for FIVE apartment buildings.  This request despite the fact that when Skyflop was granted a height variance to 60 feet, a majority of the then City Council swore up and down that this variance would establish no precedent for height variances along the McDowell corridor.  And what does PDG America site as the rationale for its height variance - the height variance at Skyflop!!!

Only the sewer stench emanating from the Waterfront development out-smells the stench emanating from the "Duncecap" administration.  Apparently, the private sewer line built by the developer of Waterfront and extended to the City sewer line has, caused huge odor problems which has residents and tourists running from the site, holding their noses. 

I guarantee you Scottsdale taxpayers will end up paying the bill for the estimated multi-million dollar cost of fixing this problem.

Did I mention the subsidy to the McDowell corridor auto dealers which has not stopped these dealers from abandoning their current quarters for greener pastures to the east, but which seemed a nice carrot to offer two years ago coincidentally at election time but this time was a major No-No due to the "Duncecap" administrations precarious position politically?

How about the out of control million dollar consulting contracts issued by the City for every issue under the sun - transportation, downtown museum, Gateway Discovery Center, etc. -contracts which cost dearly and could be eliminated by utilizing either existing City staff or free but qualified volunteer Citizen Commissions.

Only in Scottsdale could a City Attorney come up with a legal opinion that certain of our council members' e-mails to members of the public, and certain written columns in the local newspapers, might constitute a violation of the State Open Meeting Law, a law designed to ensure that municipalities are responsive to the public and that Council decisions are made in public and not in private.

It is time for change in Scottsdale.  We residents of this fine city deserve nothing less than a Mayor, City Council members, a City Manager, and a City Attorney who understand and embrace;

The ’08 election is closer than you think. Put your efforts into learning about your city, registering yourself, your friends, and families to vote, then vote for a better Scottsdale.

Michelle Aubert
Scottsdale

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For all intent and purposes, safety has been sidestepped or eliminated at Saguaro High School. A crosswalk for students has been wanting for quite a while on SaberCat Lane which runs east from Hayden Road past the south side of the high school allowing the students to safely cross to the south side of the street.

But guess what?

The city Traffic Department, which controls where crosswalks and such are located, is again making unbelievably ridiculous decisions which is becoming commonplace for this department and who we feel has an incompetent director in Mary O'Connor based on many things we see going on in the city.

Check out the location for the crosswalk coming from the Saguaro Campus to cross SaberCat Lane  (E. Valley Vista) southbound to Hayden or 82nd Street.

Pictures don't lie.

Can you see the crosswalk  from the top two (2) pictures? Neither can we.

How about the third (3rd) picture? Just barely if you look hard. But, What about at night?

The 4th picture shows just where the crosswalk is located which is out of sight from anyone coming east bound and can barely be seen in the picture, especially in the morning when the sun is in your eyes.

The picture below shows where the crosswalk should have been located at the intersection of 80th Place and E. Valley Vista  where it would be openly visible from all approaches for the true safety of children of ALL all ages crossing the street, and the drivers, young and old, who use the street. There are also children from Pueblo Elementary school who will use the crosswalk. Don't they deserve some safety features also?

Watch for the Administration, Dolan, and Transportation Director O'Connor to claim that the School District is to blame for asking the city to place the crosswalk where it is.

In reality, the city has the final say where any safety device is located because they are supposed to be the safety experts.

If this type of total incompetence bothers you, think about the next election and how we can change things for the better!

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We will heartily agree with Bob Vairo on this issue as quoted from the Scottsdale Republic Saturday SoundOff:

As has been the frustration of most caring Activists city-wide in Scottsdale, the current administration is allowing building to occur at a Willy-Nilly rate and without any planning or any acceptable reason for approving any of it.

Approval for renovation, remodeling, and new buildings needs to be stopped until a citizen approved General Plan and Overlay for the entire city is in place.

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Open letter to Council, City Manager, Transportation Director, and others.

Quite a while back we noticed that our area of the city was not being treated the way other immediate areas of the city were being treated concerning traffic control, stop sign encroachment lines, crosswalks, and center lines being painted on the streets for proper traffic control and safety namely on 86th Street.

After many complaints to the City Transportation Division, who to quote one of the many callers was told that "it’s a residential street and we don’t put lines on residential streets", to no avail, and just as many or more complaints to me, I decided to research the problem.

Guess what? There ARE lines on 86th Street both north of McDonald and south of Chaparral where there are no schools, but ZERO lines or proper traffic controls on 86th Street from Chaparral to McDonald where there is a large middle school and curves in the roadway in numerous places.

In addition, because of zero traffic control lines, parents picking up children on the east side of Mohave School stop in the middle of 86th Street, sometimes 3 abreast plugging up traffic and endangering our children on a daily basis.

There is a 4 way crosswalk at Jackrabbit but only one North/South crosswalk on the N/E side of the school so children as well as others cross the street anywhere they desire. The Transportation Directors comment would probably be "why don’t they walk south 300 or 400 feet to the crosswalk, cross the street, then walk north on the east side of the street". If this is the thought process, you are even more out of touch that most have already figured. Children, like water, will take the shortest possible course to get where they want to go. If a crosswalk is handy, they’ll use if, if not they cross at will. Is this in the best interest of our citizens or our children? I think not.

What we’re seeing is staff spending money like drunken sailors on a plethora of these unnecessary "neighborhood entry islands" and "street furniture" while lines providing safety for drivers and pedestrians including school children are being put on the back burner or no burner at all based on the comment to Lee Tannenbaum from the Transportation Division. The necessary lines and traffic safety controls are therefore nonexistent to this very day and need to be implemented post haste!

This says nothing about the sidewalks, gutters, and streets that are going to hell in a hand basket to quote a phrase while the drunken sailor spending is not acknowledging infrastructure repairs and upgrades are far more important than entry islands and street furniture at this time in the city.

Please see attachment for a vivid overview of the problem. (Click Here)

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With the huge amount of private money being invested and available for art projects and art issues in Scottsdale, why should the taxpayers front any of the cost for the Soleri Bridge?

Is the bridge a good idea? YES, Absolutely!

Should it be taxpayer subsidized? An equally emphatic NO!

Here are just some the major reasons:

Soleri Bridge YES, ……… Subsidy, NO.

Let’s get the Preserve and the infrastructure of the city back on track and in shape before we even think about affording any more subsidies for any project.

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~ Who Cares???

Who really cares what the inside of SkyBlunder looks like?

What’s most important to those of us who are paying for and have to look at this aberration every day coming and going to work or shopping in Tempe is why doesn’t the outside look like they pictured it a number of years ago when Manross and Ecton sold us on this expensive bill of goods?

Let’s face it, we were had by the mayor and Ecton then, and we’re being had by the mayor and Ecton again if you follow the flow of the "4333" building approval.

Things haven’t changed except the spots on the jackal’s coat. "Flip-Flop Mary" did it then and is still doing it to the residents of Scottsdale today.

Facts are facts folks and no amount of Manross BS can cover it up.

Are the voters smart enough to see that Manross, Drake, Lane, and McCullagh have had their chances and have totally blown it?

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Step right up and get ready for the next round of the Land Use Wars. In one corner we have the "Dreaded Activists" who are seeking a collaborative process to improve trust with developers and city officials, and all stakeholders are generally willing to participate and explore new ideas.

This would be a process for reducing confrontation and improving proposed projects. More over this is not a new process. Smart Growth communities all over the country are using it to address the issue of having more people than land to build upon.

In the other corner you have the "Anti-Activists" content to sit back and let government make all of the decisions for them without lifting a finger to even become informed.

City governments cannot work that way anymore. The issues are too big and impact the most finite moment of the day. Our populations are too large, our geography is too vast and the socioeconomic issues more complicated as Scottsdale in the 21^st Century toddles forward.

Until our City Council, Mayor, and City Manager wake up and address the fact that there are distinct differences between development and redevelopment, our community is going to negatively suffer through contentious challenges to zoning, designs, infrastructure preparedness, green building, energy and water conservation, parking capacities, and sufficient open space.

At one time we had a Redevelopment Board. That was created around the time of the first Ellman project aberration. There were big business and small business people, an architect or two, even a contractor and an attorney, and even a couple of "just plain neighborhood folks." Thanks to the "Sunset laws" that board, our illustrious mayor and company just let it go away.

Now we have a Development Review Board made up of developers and architects and one City Councilman who rotates every so many weeks. No "just plain neighborhood folks" or small business owners. The same unacceptable situation exists with the Planning Commission.

Both the DRB and the Planning Commission are supposed to follow the dictates of the General Plan and it is up to those bodies to see that the City Council abides by City policies.

Take a look at the following excerpt from the Neighborhoods section of the General Plan:

4.    Preserve and enhance the unique sense of neighborhood found in diverse areas of Scottsdale through neighborhood conservation.

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~ Her Honor the Mayor and Her Weasels

Open Meeting Laws, sometimes called "Sunshine Laws," often make doing the business of the people more complicated by the requirement of full disclosure and honesty. Lately, Arizona has seen those complications compounded to the "Nth" degree, due to State and local misinterpretations of those laws.

To be sure, I believe that the government "OF the People, BY the People and FOR the People," should be done IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE. The fewer "Executive Sessions" the better!

But then there is the "private sector" and the "public sector" and their goals and desires oft times are in conflict with what the people want to know and should know. Most of the time, the information is not sensitive to the security of the community or the nation, nor does it compromise the integrity of individuals or the government body.

Nope. It is usually about dollars and cents or who is going to get stuck paying the bills or who is going to get those dollars. And apparently in many instances, how do you get around the very laws you have publicly sworn to uphold.

Every resident has the right to know what their government is up to and even the City of Scottsdale’s website has a form you can fill our for Freedom of Information purposes.

That is except for those blasted secret "Executive Sessions" which the mayor and her accomplices use as a secretive tool against the citizens to hide information critical to the financial health and welfare of the entire city.

Don’t expect to ever get information about what is going on behind those closed doors in the Scottsdale City Kiva Conference Room during one of the mayor’s secret Executive Sessions, it’s against Arizona State Law to reveal what went on in there.

So much for government "OF the People, BY the People and FOR the People,"

Susan Unmacht
Scottsdale

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For Scottsdale’s lame-duck administration to pay over a million dollars for something that could have been easily handled by qualified local residents, this report better be gold gilded and a piece of written perfection.

Yeah Right, that’s going to happen………… Only in your dreams!!!

The report will be very non-committal, bland, and will only suggest solutions that might be considered because the mayor/council majority appointed Committee and HDR got the message loud and clear that the residents will not tolerate light rail, streetcars, or any railed transportation tearing up Scottsdale Road through the historic old Downtown area or on any other north/south thoroughfare in Scottsdale except possibly the SR 101 freeway which would work well with strategically placed Park & Ride locations and utilizing the current Trolley system.

We have the Trolley System which is affordable, moveable, quaint, well liked by the tourists and residents alike, which has and is doing an excellent job for the city.

Bring on the Trolley System, get on with the expansion of that system, and the problem is solved and can be changed at virtually no cost.

Enough of the expensive hired commission baloney dumped on the citizens by an out-of-touch, lame-duck administration.

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It seems that since American Traffic Solutions took over the photo radar operation from RedFlex, ticket revenues have tailed off significantly.

Could it be that the RedFlex calibrations for the cameras were set as dictated by Scottsdale personnel who left it up to RedFlex to advise them, and ATS has the proper speed recorder in place because they will be under direct scrutiny from the State of Arizona through DPS (Arizona Highway Patrol)?

How would anyone in the private sector have any way of knowing?

After all the shenanigans the "Flip-Flop Mary" administration has saddled us with, why wouldn’t we be suspect of the entire RedFlex program?

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We are extremely curious why a Harvard Graduate and obvious easterner, Bill Banchs, was chosen in a private, "Executive Session" of the Cultural Council without public input as their new CEO instead of someone who might better understand the west and the way it was developed as well as the need to maintain the Western Ambiance in Scottsdale.

The Cultural Council, although using some city monies for their operation, have wrongly chosen not to allow the public to participate in their organizational processes when they could have chosen to be open and above board with any and all situations except disciplinary cases.  This adds to the "Covenant of Secrecy" publicly advocated and overtly practiced by our mayor, city manager, and city attorney.

This does not speak well for the way the entity operates and raises serious questions about their spending habits and goals.

This is something Mr. Banchs will have to deal with early in his tenure to squelch public uneasiness and lack of trust for the organization. Hopefully, he’ll see fit to open the entity to public scrutiny as it should be when accepting public tax dollars with the exception of the donors who request anonymity and issues dealing with employee or officer discipline within the organization itself.

Visitors from the East or Midwest don’t want to see Eastern or Midwestern art. They want to see western art in all of its original diversity and beauty. Just as you wouldn’t go to New York to see the Grand Canyon, you don’t come to Scottsdale to see Niagara Falls.

Foreigners come to see "The Old West" and "Indian or Native American Art and Handy Work" they have heard and read about through many writers of American West such as Zane Grey and others, not New York, Los Angeles, Canadian, Mexican, or San Francisco Art.

We need to keep the Scottsdale Art Scene western themed and Scottsdale/Arizona based and driven. This need can be easily verified by the vast number of visitors from all over the world who are just itchin’ and can’t wait to take the Western Jeep Tours driven by "Cowboys" with their cowboy hats and "six-shooters" who stretch the truth about the "Old West" and mesmerize their listeners just as the cowboys of old did for decades around the campfires and chuck wagons on the long boring cattle drives.

We need to keep Scottsdale Western, prosperous, and open to reasonable change and growth without ruining what has been nurtured and developed over decades of careful work by those who coined Scottsdale as "The West’s Most Western Town".

We know it isn’t, but the tourists with all the money still think it is, so why should we disappoint them and let their travel dollars go elsewhere because Scottsdale has gone cliquey and faddish due to an out-of-touch city government?

~ Guest Editorial by Jim Derouin

While out of town on business for several weeks, I've noted with interest several "Letters to the Editor" from Many Manross supporters misrepresenting my position on the McDowell-Sonoran Preserve -- incorrectly stating that I campaigned against the Preserve Tax in 2004. One even commented on how "disgraceful" it is to criticize "our ever popular and successful" Mayor Manross. One would almost think that the Mayor wrote that last letter herself.

For the record, I fully support acquisition of the Preserve—all of it.

In 2004, I did appear, along with Art DeCabooter on an edition of Horizon on Channel 8, hosted by Michael Grant, dedicated to a discussion of the Preserve Tax. I argued that the full cost of the proposal was not, but needed to be, disclosed to voters for several reasons.

First, the 2004 sales tax increment was not intended to "finish" the Preserve, it was merely another increment in the process.

Second, I believe that multiple avenues, as well public financing, need to be considered to achieve completion of the Preserve—such as land use planning and zoning.

Third, I believe it is necessary to develop a city-wide consensus that creates support for the Preserve in all parts of the community.

It is easy to conclude that, because voters have supported Preserve-related measures on multiple occasions, majority support can be taken for granted. In fact, margins have decreased and in the last election, the Preserve tax extension actually failed in southern portions of the City.

These inconvenient facts make it clear that a renewed effort at building city-wide consensus on the value of the Preserve is required.

There are 19,000 acres designated for addition to the Preserve. Regardless of the efforts of many fine people, that effort is stalled. Mayor Manross has no solution for this challenge, and her failure only increases the risk daily that the population north of Frank Lloyd Wright will, one day, increase by 50,000 to 100,000 residents. That is the reality of the City's current leadership.

The fact of the matter is that Mayor Manross believes in, and has consistently led the Council majority that has voted for higher densities and more than ^$100 million in subsidies that could have been used to finance the acquisition of more Preserve land.

One can safely predict that she will come forward with yet further deals before the next election that will further limit Scottsdale's ability to replace infrastructure in older parts of the City and add to the Preserve.

While ignoring transportation needs and delaying adoption of the City's ethics code, she has been remarkably consistent in supporting greater secrecy, more density, higher buildings and bigger subsidies. Because she cannot defend this sordid record, she prefers to work through surrogates to misrepresent and criticize others who believe that Scottsdale is a single community that needs unification, creative leadership and a consensus approach to the density/infrastructure issues in all parts of the City.

When holding power is your only objective, as it is with the Mayor, then accomplishments are secondary. So I'll gladly debate the Mayor on the Preserve (on which we will agree), if she will also debate density, secrecy, height, subsidies and ethics (on which we are diametrically opposed).

Jim Derouin
Scottsdale

Mr. Derouin can be reached at jimderouin@scottsdaleactivist.com

 ~Letters to the Editor ~

The friends of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, not to be confused with the North Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, want to see all of the middle class housing in the southern part of the city gone so they can bring in more luxury housing, boutique hotels (right Korte family???) and high end shopping.

Council members warned us back in 1989 that there was a plan for a luxury resort to replace the housing stock. That time is apparently on our doorstep.

K. Geist
Scottsdale

Do architects and developers in Scottsdale not know how to blend the new with the old? Or are they just out to promote themselves? Sure seems that way.

Old Town, Downtown, and Fifth Avenue are distinctly different than Kierland, or Desert Ridge and should rightfully be kept that way.

Guess with those artsy architects, it is their way or nothing at all and they will take their votes and go pout at the bar nearest City Hall.

God knows there are enough of those.

S. Stabnau
Scottsdale

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The only thing South Scottsdale residents have to fear, besides Manross, McCullagh, and Dolan, are their ignorant and uninformed neighbors, north and south, who think everything is just fine and are unwilling to educate themselves about land use and neighborhood assemblage.

Stick with Haskell and her cohorts and your neighborhood will be the next slum.

C. A. Schneider
Scottsdale

Councilman McCullagh, who is apparently running for re-election, claims we don't need affordable or workforce housing for teachers, firemen and police officers. He also claims they all make enough money to live in Scottsdale.

Since when is an average teachers annual salary of ^$30,000 enough to live in Scottsdale?

What about the people who support the teachers, firemen, police officers, doctors, hospitals such as child care personnel, school bus drivers, custodians, gardeners, retail clerks, etc, etc, etc?

Even some of the teachers, firemen and police officers need two and three incomes for their family to live here.

M. Michaels
Scottsdale

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I grew up in Scottsdale, in a neighborhood of $400,000 homes. I would like to tell Lisa Haskell and her buddies that declining neighborhoods happen when residents stop being informed and start pointing fingers at everyone else.

No neighborhood is perfect. No neighbor walks on water, not even Ms. Haskell.

Sarah Bianco
Scottsdale

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We are winter visitors who have come to Scottsdale for the last 20 years to rent an apartment and enjoy the casual life and open desert in and around Scottsdale. We love Old Town and Fifth Avenue, but why Madam Mayor are you trying to destroy that life style with bars, bars, and more bars, and rude, obnoxious drunks staggering down the streets of downtown?

J. Rowe
National Traveler

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~ Scottsdale Republic Torpedo’s Public Comments

Mike & Robert,

You can use this as a (Scottsdale Republic) letter to the editor if you dare, but only if done without editing.

With the credibility, honesty, and extraordinary ethics of a person like Jim Derouin who has been openly attacked by biased letter writers in your newspaper within a day or two of pulling papers to run for mayor as well as since that time, why would you deliberately delegate his decidedly important and timely rebuttal editorial to a hidden place where no one could easily find it on line and without a BLOG where people could comment?
 
Are we to see this media failure to inform and cause (allow) comment as a blatant attempt to keep the opinions of others from seeing the eyes of the public as well as the Manross campaign as it certainly seems to be?

You guys (at the Scottsdale Republic) need to get your act together and stop being the Manross protectors because most know she doesn't have a leg to stand on and can't protect herself, Larry has to do it for her.

Allow the '08 elections to be an open and competitive campaign for a change.

Concerning Manross debating Derouin?

Hell will freeze over first, she can't handle the truth (and wouldn’t know how to anyway, facts and honesty are not her forte).

George Knowlton
480-326-2475

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Okay let’s get this on track here as I was stunned the Mayor was all sure fired ready to create yet another city entity called the department of energy waste. I call it this as it is a waste of taxpayer’s money for such stupidity and I was amazed that the Wicked Witch would be so brazen to hope to open a new department that the taxpayers would be responsible to pay for.

Remember Ozites, we just went through yet another budget session where we gave city employees a HUGE raise that will stick in the books for eternity and we were told by our own financial guru Mr. Clifford that we are spending more money than we are taking in but yet the Wicked Witch had no problems with expending even more taxpayers money to create another useless department.

I say this because the fact is this department is geared to address the municipal use of energy as they cannot regulate private energy consumption or even regulate what types of power a building or residence is required to have, but yet the jest of some of the conversation was to do just that, regulate the private sectors energy use.

Now excuse me but fact is if you want to reduce the city’s energy consumption, than you should have the heads of those departments whom we already pay a salary make decisions and plans on how to reduce the city energy issue, not by forming yet another taxpayer waste in our growing city government.

One of the HUGE piss-me-offs in this issue was to listen to the Wicked Witch spew her campaign bull crap about how we need to look at sustainability for the future in Oz. This is coming from the same moron who has no problems with increasing density beyond limits of reality or sustainability, she has not understood the issue of traffic congestion that increases with the height and density or what it does to our air quality and she has the brass cajoñes to go uttering such bull?

She has never given a rat’s ass about sustainability since we spoke of it 5 years ago to her and she has continued to ignore the issue completely until now, the beginning of the election season. Then she called the term "bureaucracy" a new sexy buzzword and I wanted to get out of my chair and just slap some sense into this person who has no clue what the word sexy even means, but to the further point she has no clue about sustainability under her past 8 years as Mayor of Oz.

Okay, as we approach the election season it is going to be the continual job of mine to point out the Wicked Witches continual bull crap as it relates to what she has done in the past and what she says we need to do in the future and remember this point on this issue, she was willing and all fired ready create a new department in the already over sized city government to do what?

WASTE TAXPAYERS MONEY on a department that would do what other department heads should already be doing to decrease the energy consumption of the city as well as trying to pry their noses into the private sector.

Is this really who we want to run this city for another 4 years?

Well you cannot understand how happy I was to see the response from Jim Derouin responding to the first salvo of the Manross camp to try to deride him of not being worthy to hold the office of Mayor.

One of the unheard salvos was also fired back as residents in the South section of the city got quite ticked off with the Wicked Witch to continue to think that the preserve is the only thing in this city that matters and that we are going to keep following blindly by continuing to increase our sales tax when there are other things this city must address with those revenues.

It was noted in the column by Lesley Wright of all people in Fridays on line edition that she claims that Jim has sidestepped the Wicked Witches little trap, the same one she triumphed on over her past competitor for office David Ortega who claimed he did not support the preserve effort and even though she may think that is what killed his campaign for mayor, there was the little issue of his racist attitude to former council member Tom Silverman.

Like Jim, people in the south are supportive of the preserve effort but also feel that the issue of the preserve has taken too much precedence over the other issues of the city that also require funding from our sales tax dollars and those issues were well noted the last time the preserve looked for another sales tax increase which was the Protect and Preserve Campaign and the people who were most ticked off about the split in the tax were the preserve folks who showed up in force to the council meeting that night to try to get the council of Oz to give them all of the tax increase without considering the rest of the city and its needs. It was not until after the council voted to split the tax that these folks decided that they would play ball and accept the fact that the entire city also needed funding for other major issues.

Problem is that some people still have not figured out that the preserve is not the entire city and that there are other needs the city has to fund and is exactly what Jim was trying to point out. It was not that anyone wants the effort to stall or fail, it is the fact that we have other needs in this city and we need to be able to find other additional ways to fund the purchase of that land.

So in all honesty, where has the Mayor been in trying to figure out how to find other funding sources?

The only thing I have ever heard from the Wicked Witch in this issue is how important and how great the preserve will be and she adds this into her usual campaign crappola every time she starts coming up for re-election but what has she really done over the last 4 years or even 8 years to find other funding avenues?

Well, the Mayor of Oz has a problem in this election as problems in this city have gotten way out of hand regarding development, traffic, public safety costs, lawsuits, mass exodus of staff members critical to the city functions, Barrett-Jackson, Sky Failure, Downtown, south Scottsdale, aging infrastructure, and she has no clue how to respond to any of these issues that most residents will see through as the same empty campaign promises from her last election.

This time the Mayor is going to have a problem as she tries to take on a real candidate for Mayor of Oz and I don’t think she is going to make it for another term after the debates start as there is a candidate with a clue and brains to challenge her illogical and repeated campaign promises from years gone by.

I can’t wait!

~Media problems?

This brings me to our next issue regarding campaigning in Oz and the continual tactics used by the Repugnant of Oz.

I am sure everyone remembers the definition of "opinion" from the last edition of Oz and this week things have not changed. It appears that the usual tactics to save the Mayor of this city and report all the sunny sides of issues instead of the real issues are again abounding in the "opinions" pages by non other than our resident tourist Robert Leger.

I have noted that Robert has been on point to make sure that letters that slam people like Jim Derouin, Bob Littlefield, Tony Nelssen, and any other person they see as not being on the pro Manross government side are his favorites to print. I have noted the issue of taking Jim Derouin’s article and first posting it online at the bottom of the "My Turn" section instead of the top like Fridays column received and I further noted that when it did post there was no comment box to be able to post remarks online. Again it was one of those little snafus they corrected except for leaving his column at the bottom of the page.

Just remember Mr. Leger as this website receives between 10,000 and 15,000 hits per new posting and as I have said before, I will counter your editorials in this website each and every time to see if we cannot keep the truth and fairness in reporting on an equal footing.

By the way Robert, I read your article on the water treatment plant issue and how it will play out in the election and I noted that you never decided to express your "opinion" of the issue just some questions, so since we know you also read the Activist, maybe you would like to write us a column on what your "opinion" is to the issue since you kind of left that out in your article?

Wake up Ozites! As we have seen this same biased writing from the former Paul Schatt and also from Dan Nowicki over the last 8 years, did you really think the tactics were going to change or do you also believe the paper is on the same track as the Wicked Witch tried to use on her opponent yet again this election season?

~What is NOT being said to the public

Again we go back to the recent postings of the Repugnant regarding what a very small group of people from never-never land wants to turn Oz into.

(I talked to Willey Wonka the other day as I was walking along the bookshelf and we are planning a coup to take over never-never land and placing Ron McCullagh and Wayne Ecton in charge of their government)

We already know about Lisa, the half baked Haskell, who I think is related to Eddy Haskell from Leave it to Beaver; you know, the kid who is always running off at the mouth and has no clue what he is talking about?

What I have noted in the repugnant is that either a former Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce president is trying to rally support for the issue of how we redevelop, or that Lisa has her group of 15 people trying to make it look like there is some kind of support for what the Wicked Witch and her generals of mayhem have tried to start.

Just last week we got to hear from a person called Maureen Thompson, and another called Dave Bachmann and then we got the stories of John Berry and Rick Kidder regarding the Airpark area and that famous quote that is going to burn John Berry for along time to come and went like this "a small group of activist have made it their mission to ensure there are watering troughs and hitching posts on only one story buildings everywhere in the city of Oz".

Mind you I spoke to John about his comment and was told that surely I should have understood that I was not part of that comment as John knows that I am not against development, I am against stupid development and development with no plans, exactly what this city is promoting under the present leadership and management of this city. I also told John I was very much in tune with how people in his business love doing business in a city without such plans as it makes his job easier.

Now let’s look at what these pro growth people are not telling the public.

Well first let’s look at the issue of impact studies and feasibility projections that used to be required for such projects of a massive scale. The fact is you cannot look at them as they are non existent and do not show up in council packets any longer like they did before.

If you are lucky enough to actually find one of those reports you will be surprised to find out the information is based on projections from over 10 years ago that no longer should be allowed to be used as they are as outdated as the council’s mentality is to redevelopment.

Perfect example of this issue was Sky Sham which had a study that was based on projections and studies dating back to the year 2000 and included traffic calculations that were from 2003. Lets also understand that the council allowed ASU and the developer to violate the lease with the city to add housing that may reach to over 800 rental units which again carried no impact studies nor did it recalculate the traffic issues and the same traffic counts that were used for the original plan were resubmitted for the rental units application.

A feasibility study was never even conducted for the project and we can already see how feasible it is becoming to see retail on the property as they have already given floor space that was designated for retail to Canon who is placing a showroom on the retail floor but yet it is not for retail purposes lowering the floor space area that is supposed to be being used to pay the city back for the 160 million in infrastructure.

So, how feasible do you think this project is going to be at paying the TAXPAYERS back?

Do you think it is feasibly sound to think that this project will be the catalyst that starts the redevelopment of the McDowell Corridor? If you do under the circumstances, than you need to run for council with the rest of the boneheads who already sit there and have never had a clue from day one.

Lets look at the really big money issues with what the city is doing and it is called the infrastructure issue as was noted with the article about increases in height and density of the airpark. The recent Saturday sound-off in the Repugnant noted the issue and the respondents to the question made it clear that traffic issues had to be addressed before zoning changes and increases are allowed.

Funny how this issue of traffic and infrastructure issues is now taking place in the airpark and has been completely ignored in the south, why, because we are getting a little closer to the North residents now who like there way of life and could not give a rat’s ass about these same issues because it is in the south?

Well here is a note to the north residents; It does not matter where it happens in this city, your asses are going to have to pay for all of this the same as us in the south will so you better start worrying about what all this is going to cost the taxpayers for unplanned and unbridled growth as it is now heading your way!

Infrastructure costs are huge and the only people who pay for it are the taxpayers of the city. Unplanned growth which the city is doing now is causing us to do what?

Increased costs to expand streets, upgrade water lines, add booster stations, increased electrical consumption which means more substations will be needed to tie into the grid.(won’t those stations look nice in your community or the Preserve itself?)

You will see the increase in air pollution, traffic congestion, heat island effects and waste production and who do you think is going to have to pay for all of this?

Already the city is talking about ripping up Thomas from Pima to Scottsdale for increased lanes but no one knows how much money this is going to cost as condemnation will again be a must.

Developers and the Area Chamber as well as city leaders are already talking about zoning changes in the airpark with no ideal how to even ease the already congested area nor do they say what it will cost to fix that issue and who’s pocket do you think these costs will come from?

The North taxpayers are also going to be on the hook very soon to fix all the same problems that the council and developers have gotten away with in the south because some of the North thinks this does not affect them, what a bunch of morons you must feel like now huh? Hey, you and COPP voted these idiots into office and now you can help pay for that disaster also. Hopefully, you’ve seen the light of late

Lets look at the issue of public safety as in the south we already have seen the need for increases in Police officers which Chief Rodbell has even noted he is still short on even after 4 years since the tax increase for more police and that it takes at least 2 years to get them on the street from the date of hire.

The North has even less officers for their communities than we do in the South so how does that grab your intelligence levels on how this city is being run?

Hell, with the freeway in your back yards now too, I think that property crimes in the north are even outpacing those in the South and how does that make you feel? Now should we talk about the police helicopters we voted for in 2000 and never received?

Who pays for that service other than the taxpayers of the city, and are you ready for another tax increase to fix that problem or do you think we should just keep building at an uncontrolled and unplanned pace and let crime run rampant?

Look at the fire department in the South who already have a new fire station under construction to the tune of 5 million taxpayers dollars along with the cost of more fire fighters to man that new ladder truck in case of a high rise fire and the fact that we are building yet another station near McDowell as that will cost at least another 5 million in today’s dollars.

Again who the hell do you think is paying for all of that other than the taxpayers?

Do you understand yet that this is all being heaped upon the taxpayers because of how we are redeveloping and developing with no plans or common sense?

Look folks, get a damn clue here as I am not a person who says we should not develop, I am saying that most of you have no clue as to what this is going to cost us in very short order because the city is moving like ball busters to develop with no plans, no impact studies, no long range vision, and no long range costs analysis as to what the city is going to have to pay for to keep up with development and we are already 10 years past the 8 ball on this issue and it is costing us already.

Ask the Mayor about this and ask her how we are going to pay for all of it and see how the witless responds to you. Hell, ask any council member these questions and see if they can tell you or better yet since they all read the Activist I invite any of them to respond to the public in this matter and tell the taxpayers the truth.

Just remember the 2000 bond has fallen short on things like parks, road expansions, and police helicopters that have not been completed or even started in over 10 years. We already have a shortage of police officers and firefighters that has been going on for the same 10 years as we increased the population but not the services and the city under its present rule is not even trying to play catch up yet.

The pro growth group in this city are a bunch of clueless morons who will not tell you any of this in their diatribes to people like Leger the idiot who also will not tell you about this stuff. If you are so concerned about how to pay for the rest of the preserve, you may want to realize if we do not get a council and mayor who will put the clamps on the way we are doing development and redevelopment, you wont have a freaking preserve left to worry about let alone be able to see the damn thing through all the pollution.

Remember, as taxpayers we ALL have to pay for this blunder brought on by developers, ignorant planners, piss poor city management, clueless council members and residents who do not pay attention to the facts of the matters and I bet if this was going on way up north, some of you might finally get a clue that you are going to pay through the nose to fix all this stupidity also.

Me, when the crap hits the fan in this city because some folks cannot wake up and think everything is great and it is not in their back yard, I will just move out of this city as it will be lost and no longer the jewel it should have been.

When you vote this election season, use your brains and consider what has been said here as we are already paying for much of this in the South and it is going to move north as this nonsense already is being planned for the airpark.

When I say WE, I mean all of the taxpayers, and some of the infrastructure that is being required as upgrades in the south due to unplanned and uncontrolled development has already run in the 10 million dollar range and is coming out of your pockets already and will only increase.

You decide. Is it really a vocal minority as a zoning attorney has claimed, or is it that the majority of residents are against what is taking place in many instances of development and redevelopment?

Send your responses to the Shout and Spouts section of the Activist for next week and tell us what you think.

Michael Merrill
F8713@aol.com

Lipsticks tested by a U.S. consumer rights group found that more than half contained lead and some popular brands including Cover Girl, L'Oreal and Christian Dior had more lead than others, the group said on Thursday.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said tests on 33 brand-name red lipsticks by the Bodycote Testing Group in Santa Fe Spring, California, found that 61 percent had detectable lead levels of 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm).

Lipstick, like candy, is ingested. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of public health, environmental and women's groups, said the FDA has not set a limit for lead in lipstick.

One-third of the lipsticks tested contained an amount of lead that exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy — a standard established to protect children from ingesting lead, the group said. Thirty-nine percent of the lipsticks tested had no discernible lead, it said.

"It's critical that manufacturers reformulate their product," said Stacy Malkan, a co-founder of the coalition. "It's possible to make lipsticks without lead, and all companies should be doing that."

Lead can cause learning, language and behavioral problems such as reduced school performance and increased aggression. Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure, the group said in its statement. Lead has also been linked to infertility and miscarriage, it said.

Procter & Gamble Co's makes Cover Girl brand and France's L'Oreal is one of the largest cosmetic companies in the world.

Over the last three months, more than 20 million toys made in China have been recalled, mostly due to the use of lead paint.

The coalition said that some less expensive brands it had tested, such as Revlon, had no detectable levels of lead, while the more expensive Dior Addict brand had higher levels than some other brands.

The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association trade group said in a statement that lead was a naturally occurring element that was not intentionally added to cosmetics.

The FDA has "set strict limits for lead levels allowed in the colors used in lipsticks, and actually analyze most of these to ensure they are followed," the association's statement said. "The products identified in the (CSC) report meet these standards."

L'Oreal's U.S. arm said its products are reviewed and tested by a safety team that includes toxicologists, pharmacists and doctors.

"All the brands of the L'Oreal Group are in full compliance with FDA regulations" as well as safety requirements in international markets, L'Oreal USA said in a statement.

P&G said in a statement that the quantity of lead a consumer might be exposed to from its lip product "is hundreds of times less than the amount that she would get from eating, breathing and drinking water."

"Lead builds up in the body over time and lead-containing lipstick applied several times a day, every day, can add up to significant exposure levels. The latest studies show there is no safe level of lead exposure," said Dr. Mark Mitchell, president of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice.

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~ Information You Can Use

Just click on the logos below to go to these websites.

Send our Brave Troops "Something from Home", Click on  Links below.

Gathering of  Eagles Website was launched 2/9/07. Click on the Logo above for more information on how they are protecting America's Memorials.

~ UPDATE!! A "Must See" for All Americans

Every American should check out all of these websites to learn more about what the American population is about to have to deal with.

This is NOT for Children.

I don't normally allow anything but Scottsdale information in the Scottsdale Activist but after receiving many emails about this and viewing it, I think that it's imperative that every adult at least look at what's offered here if for  nothing more than their own education and to have everyone stop and think about the future of our country. Click on the link below,

 www.obsessionthemovie.com

If you don't have Adobe Flash, install it from the bottom of the page that comes up after you click on the link above. You should be able to view all available links within the main page.

The website below is of great interest as seen from a Lebanese point of view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8fa9yKQeTY

The website below gives some history of Terrorist attacks:

http://patriotfiles.org/civilizationcalls.htm

This website tell you what REALLY happened:

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened

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~ Arizona Tax Revolt

~ Prop 13 Arizona

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~ View Past City Council Meetings

We can now access the city council meetings by clicking on the following link:

If you have any problems, check your firewall and other safety features which could block access to the city site.

~Continuing Light Rail Information

The Scottsdale Citizens Transportation Study Committee invites you to view their website for more questions and answers at  www.norailforscottsdale.com .

================================================================

Simply click on the links below to get all the information you'll ever need concerning Light Rail.

     Goldwater Institute Report

     American Dream Coalition

    The Public Purpose

If you have any questions about light rail, send them to editor@scottsdaleactivist.com and we'll get the answers to you as soon as we can.

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~ For Continuing Information on Photo Radar,
Click on the Logo below.

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 ~Are Red-Light Cameras Fair to Drivers?

These modern-day robocops make ticketing easier and can be huge moneymakers for local governments. But critics question their accuracy and fret over privacy issues.

Click on the link below , then scroll down to read the article:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/AreRedLightCamerasFairToDrivers.aspx

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The Scottsdale Activist is very pleased to announce an effort on the behalf of the residents and taxpayers of the city of Scottsdale to promote open, honest and accountable city government. The Scottsdale Legal Defense Fund (SLDF) has been created to take legal action to hold the City accountable when its actions are contrary to state law, the City Charter, City ordinances or the public interest.

The most necessary ingredient to make the SLDF work will be confidential contributions from concerned Scottsdale citizens who are willing to help their community.  By contributing, we can change the way City Hall does business and insure that our tax dollars will be spent wisely.

No funds from the SLDF will or can be used for any political purpose.

Contributions shall be kept confidential as permissible by law and can be made in any Washington Mutual Bank to account number 3114165786 for the Scottsdale Legal Defense Fund. Branch locations are listed below. Contributions are not tax deductible.

The SLDF has retained the law firm of Miller LaSota & Peters, PLC, in connection with the patently illegal action taken by the Mayor and Council appointing the most recent Scottsdale City Attorney, while ignoring the residency requirement of the Scottsdale City Charter even though the new City Attorney’s contract (according to Scottsdale Republic reporter Laurie Roberts) requires that she reside in Scottsdale.  The City Council action was based on a legal opinion which was reportedly rendered during a closed door Executive Session of the City Council by a subordinate to the then acting City Attorney, who was subsequently appointed to the City Attorney position by a vote during a public City Council meeting. The opinion has been requested as a public document under state law, but the City has not yet provided it. The SLDF will take other appropriate legal actions based on the conduct of the Mayor and Council.

Washington Mutual Bank Locations at which contributions to the SLDF can be made are:

72^nd & Shea                    7337 E. Shea Blvd #120                480-609-8524
Hayden & Chaparral     7908 E. Chaparral # C-113            480-949-0069
Horizon                            14854 N Frank Lloyd Wright         480-614-6660
Scottsdale Ranch          10155 E. Via Linda Blvd #131       480-767-2060
Kierland Village              6501 E. Greenway Pkwy #133     480-315-2905

There are many other branches throughout the Valley.