We say "Loyal City Employees" because these are the people who REALLY love this city and the one’s who put their jobs on the line to feed the Scottsdale Activist the information concerning all the cover-ups, mismanagement, horrendous spending fiasco’s, and illegal acts against employees and contractors which have been going on behind closed doors and the citizens backs for a number of years.

For that very reason, the Scottsdale Activist would like to thank those very special city employees who have not been intimidated by the Jan Dolan Gestapo Machine, supported by Manross, Gray, Shearer, and the lap-dog City Attorney Robberson, and are still sending us information.

We are continually losing the top people in their field from city employ because they won’t play games the way the Manross/Dolan machine dictate. We have lost 3 in the last week with Don Logan, Dave Mansfield, and now Shannon Wallace being the latest. All that will be left are those who must stay for critical financial reasons, or those Kiss-Asses who hope to still get brownie points for their dirty deeds against the taxpayers, no matter the cost.

The information we are receiving from our loyal city employees will topple the Manross/Dolan Ivory Tower. We are tearing down the walls brick by brick, blackened window by blackened window, slimy door by slimy door, and the stench is getting greater and greater with the everyday citizen finally seeing the rotten core of this "Covenant of Secrecy" and from where the stench originates.

There are issues of which we have solid proof but cannot divulge at this point in time for legal reasons, but stay tuned.

To remind any of you who wish to send things to the Activist, just give me a call and I’ll give you an address where you can send your anonymous snail-mail without return addresses. All communiqués, letters or anonymous emails, are shredded as they are received.

Those who have been contributing know that we never have and never will expose our sources. The information flow has increased 10 fold over the last year and the more information we receive and expose to the light of day (and the public), the faster the Ivory Tower will publicly crumble around Dolan and Manross and ooze into the slimy abyss of total failure.

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 ~ Code Enforcement Gone Wild

Just when you thought the South was the only area being neglected on one hand or run over by city BS the next, look at the following scenario:

One day last week, 44 of the 66 homes in the Carriage Hills Subdivision in the north received Notices of Violation (NOV's) from Inspector Michelle Bruce of Code Enforcement concerning "weeds and overgrowth" in their yards and city rights of way. These 44 homes are all within the ESLO (Environmentally Sensitive Land Ordinance) in which there is the NAOS (Native Area Open Space) ordinance which means owners are NOT ALLOWED to remove plants of native origin but do need to trim them as necessary to keep them from becoming a fire hazard, encroaching on another property, or encroaching on city rights of way. They MUST remove any non-native weeds or vegetation growing wild on the property.

Note in the map below how the NOV's were distributed. Also note that the red dot was simply an address used to locate the subdivision AND that all of these violations have since been wiped clean and no longer exist in the Code Enforcement website according to Mr. Keagy.

With that in mind, the sample Notice of Violation reads as follows and please note that this is the FIRST notice you will receive, they  no longer send a preliminary notice, They no longer make personal contact with those found in violation before they sent a Notice of Violation, and pay particular attention to the paragraph highlighted in yellow which is one of the first things you see! The actual reasons and violations are listed well below the very ominous legal warning or threat as most residents read it.

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Mr. Knowlton,

Thank you so very much for the Scottsdale Activist, we desperately need a voice! 

We’ve never trusted anyone in the press before but you all seem to be the Go-To people in Scottsdale, so here goes:

We’ve found that there's so much inequity and disproportionate treatment in this city that it amazes us.  We heard today that there was apparently some kind of party for a high ranking administrators newly remodeled home which just magnified the issue.
 
We’re told that all year this administrator worked with someone's spouse, who is an architect, concerning the design of his personal home while on city time. We’re told by people in the know and witnessed the events that he had meetings with people involved with his remodel on city time and he posted those pictures on his city computer, while using city resources for printing and displaying photos of the progress of the home.

But has anyone inquired as to what he was working on or why? Not that we have heard about, he is still on the payroll while Mr. Fisher and others with far lesser violations are not.

In the past, we’re told he was allowed to play racquetball three times a day while "recovering" from his apparent burnout with the desert greenbelt project. He basically came and went as he wished while playing racquetball for a year and a half, former employees said he then destroyed the Planning and Development as a General Manager, and now he simply does special projects for Jan and Frank with no direction or accountability for his time.....^$130 K a year is more than most GM's, yet he supervises no one.

Respectfully,

Loyal current and former employees
 

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Mayor Manross and City Manager Jan Dolan’s plans for the city are all well planned(?) and shoved forward at break-neck speed by a don’t-tell-us-we’re-wrong, ‘cause-we’re-not-listening city staff and Council majority.

Too bad they didn’t listen to the residents and many experts, including many staff members (now departed), who have been suggesting, then yelling, and finally screaming at the powers-that-be that the aging infrastructure would fail under the over load Manross, Dolan, the council majority, and the all-knowing developer’s engineers they hired, planned to force the infrastructure to handle (instead of REAL independent and honest experts).

Fellow residents, you are just seeing the tip of the iceberg with the major water main rupture at Scottsdale and Camelback this last Monday which completely closed Scottsdale Road at Camelback for quite a while. Of course we haven’t mentioned the gut-wrenching stench due to an overloaded, badly engineered sewer system at the Waterfront project caused by the same individuals brilliant foresight (?) and planning (?) have we (that will be repaired or replaced at taxpayer’s expense to the tune of ^$10 million dollars)?

How much longer will we allow a person or persons continue to ruin our suffering city when they are obviously ignorant, obsessed and blinded by their need for legacies, and are quite unqualified to decide these types of issues?

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There are mutterings galore about who should and should not weigh in on infill development projects especially in the older, mature neighborhoods of Scottsdale.

Indignation runs rampant amongst those who want to see the City pursue the hip, cool, cutting edge design and construction of infill projects. They have representatives who are drooling to produce all of those elements and let the "devil take historical consideration," but it is not only history that is neglected.

If Scottsdale was really committed to "cutting edge" projects, it would do what needs to be done to bring the Planning Commission and The Development Review Board into the 21^st Century.

Our General Plan land use policies are largely for the development of vast parcels of undeveloped land, which allowed developers and architects many options for development.

Not so the southern area mature neighborhoods, and definitely not so for the need for sustainability, green building, water use, and energy conservation, and transportation.

Members of the Planning Commission, manned mostly by architects, developers, realtors and contractors from its very beginning, do not communicate with the Environmental Quality Advisory Board, the Green Building Advisory Board, Water Advisory Board, Energy Advisory Board, Neighborhood Enhancement Commission, Housing Board or Transportation Commission. Neither does the DRB.

Our General Plan has policies that all of the Boards and Commissions are charged with carrying out and, are equally charged, with making sure that the City Council carries out.

The biggest problem is that our City Charter has no provision to assist Boards and Commissions in communicating with one another.

We keep hearing that Scottsdale is excelling in Green Building. The only truly exemplary project that should define what all redevelopment projects should incorporate is the Granite Reef Village Senior Center.

That project should set the bar.

Unless the Planning Commission and the Development Review Board members hold developers and their projects to that standard, Scottsdale had best sit down and be quiet because they are undermining the integrity of their own agenda as the cutting edge community for sustainability and environmental quality.

The "4333" building on Scottsdale Road popped the cork for a lot of people. We heard the hip, young, cool businessmen indignant over being kept waiting for other City business to be addressed. They liked the hip, cool, futuristic design of the building and that the DRB had approved the design in context with the Galleria.

Just how "Green" is that Galleria building? It was constructed long before we had any policies that required attention to "green," sustainable or conservation.

It was mentioned that if Frank Lloyd Wright had tried to get anything built in Scottsdale today, he would fail.

Think again. Think of the elements incorporated into the designs that Wright created, and then think about the elements of design and materials that must be incorporated into sustainable design today.

Talk to Vern Swaback , if you dare.

Think of SkySong, too. It is an established fact that underground parking is critical to creating openness in neighborhoods where density of height and population are going to increase. It also reduces the added heat impact of above ground parking. We could not get underground parking for any part of SkySong because we were told by the developer that it was too expensive. Our Planning Commission and DRB did not even try to fight for that one element.

Solar? No.

Site planning for best use of sun or shade and traffic flow? Tried to, it was scraped.

Gray water collection and use? Well, maybe, but we are not sure.

Are construction materials "Green" and energy conserving? Sort of, at some point, we think, but that is expensive (we have already seen the blue tiles become blue paint and not a very attractive blue).

There is a tremendous amount of expertise on the Boards, Commissions and Committees in this City and somehow they all have to come together for sound long range redevelopment impacting the mature neighborhoods.

Right now it seems more like our leadership is making a concerted effort to ignore the expertise of the people they appoint to serve rather than bringing them together to pursue and maintain the extraordinary quality of life that all of Scottsdale’s residents and businesses have worked for and prized for decades and prize even more now.

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Mayor Mary Manross took negotiations away from Jan Dolan because she thought she could do a far better job saving the Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction.

So Barrett-Jackson is expanding in Vegas and scaling back in Scottsdale.  Look’s like our Mayor’s pledge to take personal charge of negotiating a deal with Jackson was total, unadulterated BS as well as a miserable failure, just like the rest of her promises.

How many failure notches does Mayor Manross need on the butt of her 6-Shooter (with no bullets or a barrel) for the public to see she’s all show and no go?

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The consultants’ recommendation that light rail needs further study is just an excuse for our Mayor and her allies to delay revealing their love for unpopular light rail until after the 2008 city elections.  

Watch out if this crowd gets re-elected, they will be pushing for light rail the day after the election is over and will ram it through like they have other things that are killing the Scottsdale we once knew.

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We hear so much from the establishment naysayer's that the city Activists are forcing all the decisions in the city.

If this is true, why do we have runaway height and density issues? Why do we still worry about light rail or modern street cars running up the gut of and ruining downtown Scottsdale? Why are they fighting WaterView, OrchidTree, SummerTree, and Los Arcos Crossing?

Could it be that what the activist want IS ACTUALLY BEST for the city. None of the activists we know want to stop the growth of Scottsdale, they just want to stop the stupidity of spot zoning, project by project zoning, helter-skelter height and density allowances and exceptions, and the failure to promote retail in areas that lack retail.

Activists (OMG!!) might even approve of the 10 acre development proposed by the owner of the "W" Hotel downtown if he comes in with the right plan with lot's of "Environmental Green" enhancements and doesn't ask for a subsidy of any kind.

We can blame David Rodrique, the director of the Scottsdale City Economic Vitality department and the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce for allowing non-compete clauses to include the Los Arcos area. That is the reason some retailers are shying away from the area, not the wealth or lack thereof in the area.

If David Rodrique and the Scottsdale Area Chamber would get off their duffs and aggressively look for new, innovative retailers from out of the area that would fit the economic model of the Los Arcos area, the problem would be solved because the non-compete clauses would not apply to new, innovative retailers who want to make a profit but not soak the residents for their products in the process.

It's imperative that new voices and new faces join the others who are working 24/7 to save this city from overbuilding and the loss of open spaces, views, and upscale living.

Won't you get involved? Please?

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~ Guest Editorial by Michelle Aubert

~ Amazingly Blind Ignorance?

One would think that an individual would do one's homework before submitting a "My Turn" column to the Arizona Repugnant.  Particularly an individual with a college degree who owns her own business in real estate. I refer to the Wednesday, October 24th "My Turn" Column by a certain Donna Hardin, entitled "Naysayers out in force, again".  The column refers to the proposed Los Arcos Crossing project just east of Skyflop on McDowell Road.

Donna Hardin is the founder and principal of Organizational Dynamics, LLC, dba Corporate Move Specialist, based out of Phoenix AZ. Her website states she is a professional organizer specializing in office moves.

To give you an idea of the jist of her column, the first paragraph states:  "Here we go again.  Finally, someone steps forward to develop a long vacant and underutilized property, and all we hear about are negative comments and  criticism."  The remainder of the column is replete with so many inaccuracies and misrepresentations regarding the proposed development at Los Arcos Crossing that I am compelled to challenge them one by one.

MS. HARDIN WRITES:  "Why is it so awful for people to make a profit?

RESPONSE:   it's not so awful at all; in fact it's the American way; so long as a developer makes a profit on his own money invested  and does not rely on a municipal subsidy to bail him out of a poor investment decision.

MS. HARDIN WRITES:  "PDG America is preparing a project...with retail, sit-down dining rather than fast food, offices and housing."

RESPONSE:   There will be virtually no retail at this site.  Perhaps Ms. Hardin should have attended PDG America's various public forums whereat Mr. Sodja, CEO of PDG America, acknowledged there was very little retail interest at this site (due mostly to retail development at Tempe Marketplace, Tempe  and Riverview, Mesa as well as Non-Compete clauses allowed at Fashion Square).  Not only will there be little to no retail, but Mr. Sodja also publicly acknowledged that he may not even be able to retain Basha's grocery story at the site.

As for the housing component at the site, PDG America is proposing FIVE -  5-STORY APARTMENT BUILDINGS with 600 plus rental units, including townhomes.  This is in addition to the 300 plus apartment units approved for Skyflop, not to mention over 500 plus future apartment units to be approved at Skyflop if it achieves certain building milestones. We are not talking about "housing" in the sense of appropriate, low density infill, but rather about outrageously dense and  high housing with above-ground parking that, as Mike Merrill has correctly pointed out, will limit open space, increase the heat island effect, and reduce any opportunity for retail at the site.

As for sit-down dining, I'll bet my bottom dollar that we will ultimately see plenty of fast food dining at Los Arcos Crossing.

MS. HARDIN WRITES:  "Because the developer would like the city to pay for the continuation of the roadway connecting Skysong to this new project, the activists are protesting the subsidy".

RESPONSE:  With respect to the subsidy, PDG America argues that providing a city-paid pedestrian linkage between Los Arcos Crossing and the Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt - which would require extending a road through the project, which road would also connect with the east/west Skysong Boulevard - would primarily benefit the public.  Well, the fact is that this road would primarily benefit renters at Los Arcos Crossing, and would therefore primarily increase the value of the rental units, which would increase the value of PDG America's investment in the site.  Mr. Sodja then has the audacity to argue that the city-paid road (which he proposes) would require "squeezing together of the upscale multi-family units" (since the road would take quite a bit of room), which should allow him to increase density at the site!  This is developer-speak at its best!

Secondly, Ms. Hardin does not even mention the fact that PDG America is seeking not only a subsidy, but also a height variance from 36 feet to 60 feet for FIVE BUILDINGS. Their justification for this height increase?? The 60 foot variance granted at Skyflop, which certain City Council members at the time swore up and down would not establish a precedent for heights on the McDowell corridor.

MS. HARDIN WRITES:  "Some must prefer vacant strip centers with vandals and litter to a vibrant center with services that the neighborhood has long requested."

RESPONSE: As Mike Merrill noted last week in the Activist, he found over 20 code violations on this property, which were sent to the City with demands that PDG America clean up the site and adhere to property maintenance standards.  My guess is that PDG is deliberately blighting the site to force the City to cave into its demands for increased heights/subsidy.

As for services that the neighborhood has long requested - retail and a reconstituted Basha’s grocery story - the neighborhood will get neither.

MS. HARDIN WRITES: "It's no wonder few investors are willing to look at South Scottsdale for redevelopment:

RESPONSE:  I guess Ms. Hardin has not read the recent City-produced report entitled "Southern Scottsdale Investment Activity, January 2003 - July 2007". This Report indicates that "The total reinvestment activity in Scottsdale south of Chaparral Road that has occurred or has been announced since the start of 2003 is approximately ^$3.1 BILLION".  The report states:  "Projects are still occurring in all real estate sectors - residential, office, retail, hotel, and cultural/institutional uses".   Nor has she spoken to the CEO of Lowe's Home Improvement store, who apparently knew that South Scottsdale was a great place to open a new location.  Nor has Ms. Hardin visited the other business owners who have been busily expanding or improving their facilities in South Scottsdale.

AND FINALLY, MS. HARDIN WRITES:   "if more positive people in the area had time to attend public forums and City Council meetings, "we could stop living in what is gradually becoming a slum area".

RESPONSE:  A slum?  I live in a slum??  My house, originally purchased 12 years ago at $82,000, is now worth $300,000 plus.  I live south of Thomas Road.   The McDowell corridor is improving beautifully, from the Granite Reef Senior Center to the beautiful landscaping at General Dynamics; to the beautiful McDowell Senior Village;  to the improvements at El Dorado City park;  to the beautiful new Lowe's Home Improvement Store - to the notable improvements made by local business owners,  right up to Los Arcos Crossing and the ugly big box (weren't they outlawed?) at Skyflop - oh, yeah, that's where the slum is. 

My God!! There sure is a slum - right at Los Arcos Crossing and Skyflop. It's been generated by poor planning and over the top spending by the current administration, and a developer who paid too much for land and still expects a profit base from which to sell the property at still another profit, with a subsidy from the taxpayers of course to prop up the viability.

Michelle Aubert
Scottsdale

 ~ Council Corner by Councilman Bob Littlefield

Earlier this week the Scottsdale Republic declared in an editorial that "Light rail in Scottsdale is dead" and thus we can all move on to talk about other issues.

Ah, if only it were true!

Light rail should be dead in Scottsdale.  It is expensive, inflexible, disruptive and out of touch with the character of Scottsdale and with the preferences of our residents.  Even its proponents (including the executive of the consulting firm who presented the draft Transportation Master Plan to the City Council meeting on Tuesday) concede that it does not relieve congestion or pollution. 

They admit that their love for fixed rail is based on their desire to force you to live the way they think you should rather than how you want to live, because they think they know better than you do what is "best" for you.  Not to mention the special interests who will profit handsomely if this raid on the taxpayers’ pocketbooks is ever approved!

But if you listened carefully to the debate during Tuesday’s Council meeting you will see that the proponents of fixed rail in Scottsdale are working as hard as they can to keep it alive.  The consultants recommended "further study" of high-capacity transit options that include "modern streetcar," which is just another name for light rail in a slightly smaller form.  Several Council members asked how the option of light rail could be kept open for possible revival -- conveniently after the 2008 city elections, of course!

Don’t be lulled into complacency – those Council members who want to run fixed rail up Scottsdale Road have not given up, they have merely gone  underground temporarily, hoping that you will forget their support of fixed rail until after they have been re-elected.

As I have said many times, the future of Scottsdale will be decided by those citizens who make the effort to actually show up and vote. If you want Scottsdale to stay a special place in which to live you need to get actively involved in city government. Otherwise, one day you will wake up to find that you are living in a Scottsdale that you did not ask for, do not want and will not even recognize.

Councilman Bob Littlefield
bob@boblittlefield.com

  ~ Candidate Meet and Greet

Mark your calendars for this special event!

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~Letters to the Editor  

A man came to my studio (for the first time) to play music with his friends who used to have a rock band in the 70's.  He lives in south Scottsdale.

He is not one of those pesky activists. He is just a common man who is Totally Disgusted with (these are his words in quotes) the "Los Arcos Boondoggle",  "high rise condos",  "increase in traffic because of all of the building downtown, "loss of shopping with the demise of Los Arcos mall", "we finally got a Lowes", and "of course Michael Crow wants light rail up Scottsdale Road to stop the cars from driving to the ASU campus".

So the mayor thinks she has fooled the common man?  I don't think so.

Susan Wood
Scottsdale

Funny thing I heard on the radio today saying that Camelback and Scottsdale was now closed because of a break in the water main.

The same street we just tore up for the Waterfront Project and the same great infrastructure that the Wizard told  us was more than adequate for all the construction that was planned 4 years ago.

So, when does Camelback open again and will city crews be working all night to try to fix the problem?

So, what are the repairs going to cost us the taxpayers because you folks just don't get it yet?

Will the line hold farther down the line in either direction and for maybe how long?

Hell maybe we can institute one of those damned roundabouts you are all so happy to slap in middle of the street until repairs are made?

Yep, doing a freaking bang up job folks and none of you want to tell the taxpayers what all the infrastructure repairs are going cost but you are damn slap happy to keep plowing on with no plans, no impact studies for a project, no feasibility studies for the projects we are giving taxpayers dollars too and then if you ever do get it who do you listen to against all the outweighing factors that keep piling up?

I can’t wait to see what happens when you get those pumping stations (for the high rise condos) going as that is going to be fun to watch and don't forget that rusty, rotted out pipe Patty B brought you as a sample.

Yep, bang up job indeed, I think we should give you all a raise also.

Your Friend,
Michael Merrill
Scottsdale

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Neither your city manager nor your city attorney have responded to my request explaining how Frank Gray can bypass a council decision on the land use of what was designated as a retail use.

I can only assume it is totally improper and I can add it to my list of fraud and deceit which grows larger every year.

Richard a. Funke
Scottsdale

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 ~ Mayor's Clone Letters Flourish

It never ceases to amaze me how when Mary Manross runs for office how the clone letters come piling out into the Republic. I sure don't see them in the Tribune.

A word to the Mayor: We're all watching and listening to what you do and what you say, that includes what your campaign says and does. Right now it would appear that someone in your camp is sending out a form letter and telling people to just put their names on them and mail them in to whomever will print them.

I voted for you last time, but you've sold your soul to the greedy developers and insiders over the last few years so it's time for you to go out to pasture.

I'll be voting for Jim Derouin this time around.

E. Slocomb
Scottsdale

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Today I read with interest the new plans for a measly 10 acre parcel on Camelback being stripped to the ground and re-birthed as a new redevelopment project and again assemblage has been used.

The yet to be named project is seeking to apply for a zoning change next week and not one person other than maybe the developer has any clue of any designs, architecture, impacts, or any other damn thing about this new project that the Repugnant is all fired up to make sure the council approves. Heed the warnings folks as we are about to make yet another one of those stupid moves as in regards to planning in this city.

Now before the activist cronies start jumping the gun lets remember that I am not against new developments or even redevelopment as I am usually accused of, however here is a question that should be asked up front.

Should the city really agree to a zoning change for the area with absolutely no clue what the hell is going to happen in these 10 acres?

Great to hear that we will be building this venture and I have always said that the councils opinion of an "entertainment district" is so flawed and out of whack from what a real entertainment district is that it makes me happy to see what could be a real area of entertainment. But as usual we have some problems with this plan since the city always makes the first step a zoning change when the zoning change should only be being approved AFTER we find out more about the project and I mean much more under the circumstances. Circumstances being that some of this includes some of the most notorious problem bars in the city being part of the developers and that never bodes well.

Again the developer comes at us with what they envision for the site and in this case we have the following.

All of this is going to go into a measly 10 acre parcel of land and you have to wonder just what the hell we are thinking as a city if we just approve the re-zoning first and get to the details later as that is a HUGE planning mistake on the city’s part if they do it in this manner.

~Do we really need another damn hotel in that area?

A project of this caliber demands that preliminary plans with conceptual design plans regarding architecture, impact analysis regarding street traffic, an ideal of parking issues and how they will be addressed, and certain other issues like the time frame of building this project which at this time stretch all the way into 2012 for just 10 acres.

I mean what the hell would the council be thinking by approving a re-zoning request before we have a clue what is going on and the rezoning request will hit the city "next week" with work starting in 2008 with half of the project being completed by 2011.

One of the biggest failures in creating entertainment projects like this starts by allowing the rezoning before any information on some of the above issues is even addressed or brought forward and in redevelopment it is an even larger failure and runs along the lines of what we did with the Galleria and how that came to be.

What stipulations should be made before we allow the rezoning such as a series 12 restaurant not being allowed to convert to a bar license in the project as if they flip it could throw off the balance of the proposed project?

Limiting floor spaces for the nightclubs, or restrictions barring them from expanding into another suite to keep a balance with the project not turning into one big bar district again?

How can you place stipulations on such a project to protect the city and the residents and ensure a quality project for all if you have no info and just approve the rezoning Willy Nilly?

What about he issue of Camelback road only being 4 lanes and how much traffic will be increased creating further problems for traffic? How is the city going to address that issue or better yet the developer?

~Should the rezoning be allowed with no answer first?

What if there is a hiccup in the project that lets it sit vacant for longer than anticipated and what happens if the development never takes off? How does the city recover from that issue and what is the result of a problem like that if we have already approved the rezoning?

Why should we rezone it first to what the developer wants when we have no ideal about building placements and heights and what part of what is going where?

What happens if we do not like the DRB decision on the project and should the council be the acting DRB for the project?

What is the use of allowing the rezoning when we are running blind on what is going to happen on this project and how screwed can we be if we allow the rezoning before we know what we are getting ourselves into?

Like I said, I like the ideal of the project and I like the thought of a possible comedy club (other than the Kiva) there but again we also seem to run into the issue of the words "possible" and it was "possible" at one time to think of that underground aquarium that was supposed to be in the galleria and along with the other things that may have been "possible" with other projects that never came to fruition.

Rezoning blindly should never be the first step in the process, the first step should always be a much more informed project being brought forward before we ever consider rezoning in redevelopment and leveling existing buildings in a 10 acre lot as we did this before and ended up with things like Sky Sham and the Galleria.

From now on when it comes to redevelopment and downtown, the developer needs to provide much more information than what we ever get to see before we allow the property that was assembled to be rezoned.

It just makes more sense to know what we are getting into before the developer makes his move to get his zoning changed and then working on some of the details afterwards, that is just piss poor planning to do things like this any other way.

Once the properties are rezoned and buildings are leveled there is no turning back and that is when we could be screwed over as has happened in the past as we always address things in a ass backwards manner in this city as redevelopment goes and the council never has figured this one out yet.

~A Friday night romp in Downtown

Okay, as I have said before I love going downtown, but as a native I know what times are the best and Downtown is really a fun place if you go in certain hours according to your age classification.

The night started out with my wife of 18 years, Cooper, walking in the door from work at 7 P.M. on a Friday night from Don and Charlie’s which is a rare occasion after 14 years of working there, and even funnier was when she told me she was not tired and wanted to go and walk around the Waterfront to see the pink lights and the "doors" and grab a bite to eat.

Well our first stop was Carlsbad Cavern Restaurant to see some friends from out of town and after a drink we headed to the famed Waterfront of Scottsdale to walk around.

Holy crap, it hit us before we even got out of the truck and in truth we never even got out of the truck once we turned the corner of Camelback and whatever street it is that leads you to the parking garage. God love you Ozites, I prayed for an instant sinus problem and I had the windows down in the truck, and the stench just rolled in and was so strong I had to gag. Now I have heard of the stench that has been talked about but I have to tell you if you have never REALLY been down there and smelled it I am giving you fair warning now not to try it.

Now I am not going to go into the depth of how bad the stench was but I gave you fair warning and not only did I give you fair warning but in past articles I told where the stench originated and how the city fixed it there as well as how it traveled and I want everyone to think of two things.

Well to tell the truth neither my wife or myself ever left the truck to walk around the Waterfront which meant no Pink Taco, no Wildish, and no PF Changs was anywhere near the menu. Instead we hit Old Town and the first stop was one of our old haunts called RA Sushi where we enjoyed a few California rolls and a drink.

Actually finding a parking space in the new parking garage of old town I noticed two things.

We headed across the parking garage to a new place (for us) called the Union Grill as the wife wanted to check it out. Now we always try to hit something new when we go downtown and I can tell you if you ever stop in there you have to have the grilled Quail as it was great.

Other than the stench issue we had a great time and when we walked out of the Union Grill what did we see and hear?

Well I had to check my watch as I have told you before about the time zones of downtown Oz and how quickly they change for the worse to a native. Yep, it was 10:30 P.M. and we slipped into the stupidity time slot as when we walked out the door of Union Station we were greeted with the sound of an engine screaming from over on Scottsdale road and as we looked up for a straight shot across the street and the parking screw up we noticed a huge plume of smoke billowing into the air from non other than Billets Bar.

I quickly looked around to note that my wife and I were the oldest people in the area heading towards the Yellow Brick Road and I am pretty sure that we were being noticed by the younger pups when my wife made the comment of "are they always this stupid in downtown or is it because it is Friday", in which I told my wife the story of time zones for old folks like us and that this is usually an all week event. Needless to say the wife and I knew we were out of our league as the Harley soft tail cruised past us with its radio blaring and some old bald guy riding it as the tail pipes shook the sidewalk and the music making us deaf we decided to make a bee line for my truck knowing damn well if I shifted to four wheel drive I could drive over any master jerk in the way to get out of the downtown time zone.

As we made it out of the Oz time warp and were heading back home, my lovely wife asked me if it was just that we were getting to old to be out past 10:00 P.M in downtown and I told her we would be home before I could explain how badly we have screwed up the city over the last 8 years.

People will wonder why I have a really bad feeling about the project above and the comments of "Friday night in Downtown" and the worst part is they will not be able to put two and two together and by the way, the entire time of being downtown, I only saw one police car and I think since it was over by the parking garage in Stenchville the officer was overwhelmed with stuff and that is why the car appeared empty.

Michael Merrill
F8713@aol.com

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier: "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.";

"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."; "From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years."

"During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;

2. From spiritual faith to great courage;

3. From courage to liberty;

4. From liberty to abundance;

5. From abundance to complacency;

6. From complacency to apathy;

7. From apathy to dependence;

8. From dependence back into bondage"

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

1. Number of States won by: Gore: 19; Bush: 29

2. Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000

3. Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143 million

4. Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2; Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we may say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom

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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.