Well folks, we've been had still again by our secret city government that's trying to pull the wool over our eyes yet again.

Although the Scottsdale Activist warned of the following "jumping of ship" many months ago, a couple of intriguing phone calls nudged us to drive to the new Mesa Riverview Center area to take a look at some new signs, and much to our chagrin, we saw the following signs:

If you cannot read the signs, they simply read as follows: "Scott Toyota Coming Soon" and "Nissan Coming Soon" with a website address of www.nissanofscottsdale.com at the bottom of the sign.

The beautiful new Scott Toyota Facility in Mesa looks like this (below) with a number of other new and modern facilities to the left off of Riverview Auto Drive: You need to take an afternoon to visit Mesa Riverview to visit the 180,000 s/f Bass Pro mega-store and look over and dine at numerous popular eateries that could have been in Scottsdale if we had an even half way innovative mayor, council majority and city management staff.

After seeing the signs, I did some investigations and found, through the managers of the other great new and popular businesses in Mesa Riverview, that there will be 4 more dealers in addition to Scott Toyota and Scottsdale Nissan exiting the Scottsdale McDowell Road Motor Mile in favor of the Riverview Auto mall within the next few months along what has been named "Riverview Auto Drive".

Thanks to Mother Mary and Gestapo Jan of the business killing city team along with out-of-touch Rick Kidder and Virginia "subsidize my hotel" Korte of the Scottsdale Area Chamber team, we have already lost Schumacher Mercedes Benz and Scottsdale Audi (see the sign in their window) to other cities at a huge sale tax revenue loss.

So, who are the others planning to leave?

• The Ferrari, Maserati Dealer, or 

• Rolls Royce, Bentley Dealer?

• How about the Infinity Dealer, or

• Five Star Ford,

• Lexus, or the

• Range Rover Dealers?

• AutoNation with it's multiple dealerships on the west end of Motor Mile?

Who else is planning to leave a dying auto sales area due to lack of quick access?

You cannot blame the auto dealers because they answer to the manufacturers and profit margins, but you certainly can blame the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce first, then the City of Scottsdale and the Manross/Dolan administration for selling the dealers a "Bill of Goods" to remain on McDowell which is a dying area for auto dealers due to the lack of easy freeway access.

You can thank the Dealers for being honest enough to refuse the "Hush Money" the city tried to give them to the tune of ^$300,000 per year again this year to be quiet and not move.

Mother Mary and Gestapo Jan of the business killer city team along with Rick Kidder and Virginia Korte of the Scottsdale Area Chamber team promised that SkyFizzle would be the panacea for all the problems in the McDowell corridor.

Yeah, right, that happened didn't it; and it will never reach the heights they promised because there isn't a sufficient driving force behind the project.

As many citizens warned from day one, SkyFizzle is just exactly that: a "Big Ugly Box" with tiny firecracker and wet powder without a fuse that will become the albatross around the taxpayers necks for the next 200 years with nothing to replace that tax loss due to the Covenant not to Compete Clauses allowed at Fashion Square by the city staff and management, and not challenged by the sorry excuse of a Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce.

Coming Soon to the McDowell Corridor...

The way the current administration and Scottsdale Area Chamber secretly works, you can look for more proposals similar to the one for Los Arcos Crossing (which are probably already in the works with Technical Solutions guessed as the "Hired Guns") to build high rise, high density condos, townhouses, and other residential units to replace the dealerships along the McDowell Corridor to increase the density so they can shove light rail down our throats.

If the citizens don't want this nonsense to take place, they need to be very vocal and loudly protest any action which would bring more of this type of residential height and density to the southern portion of the city. We need retail, not residential density to make this portion of the city self-sustainable.

Something that would work.......

We "Dreaded Activists" could very well support maximum 36 - 40 foot  "Green" buildings with 100% underground parking allowing retail on the ground and possibly 2nd floors with residential on the 2nd or 3rd floors with ample open space, gray-water regeneration for unit irrigation, and solar water and unit heat plus possibly some solar power generation to help offset the use of electrical power. This would help bring the needed retail to the southern portion of the city and still provide a minimum of added residential plus the first of it's kind "Green Community" in a Southwest metro area.

That, my friends is what Scottsdale used to be all about; being the first with the best and on the cutting edge of innovation while still maintaining our attachment and respect for the history of this world class city!

That can happen again but only with a major council, charter officer, and management changes which will happen if the voters vote to make a "Clean Sweep" of the current council  incumbents out of office, and to put new, qualified, civic minded people on the council and in key management positions ASAP after the election to get the city back on track.

~ SkyFlop a Total Fizzle

The recently announced relocation of First Solar, a Phoenix company with 70+ employees and growing, to the new technology park located in Tempe on the northwest corner of Mill and Washington Avenues, underscores the continuing failure of SkyFlop, both conceptually and economically.

First Solar, with a world-wide presence, is exactly the sort of company we were promised for SkyFlop.  The firm provides clean renewable energy via state of the art semiconductor technology on its solar panel modules.  This past Friday, First Solar announced it had acquired Turner Renewable Energy, which designs commercial solar projects for utilities and Fortune 500 companies.

Never heard of this new technology center in Tempe??  It is beautiful to look at (unlike ugly big box SkyFlop), is being built WITHOUT ANY MUNICIPAL SUBSIDIES WHATSOEVER;  and will even qualify for LEED's designation.

Michelle Aubert
Scottsdale  

It would appear that Michael Clack and Frank Gray possibly conspired with the help of Neal Shearer of the city Human Resources Department, to change Michael Clacks job description to only require him to be a simple, common, everyday building official not a high end Certified Building Official as originally required and as should be required before being considered for hire or promotion by a world class city like Scottsdale.

Isn’t it rather curious that from what we can find out, files disclosing original job requirements are "no longer available" for public inspection?

Why aren’t they available to the public??

The Human Resources website seems to show that a number of job descriptions have been changed to reduce the required qualifications for jobs that have been given to lesser qualified persons either because they were chosen by the department manager for possibly personal or political reasons or because of extreme pressure from above rather than choosing the applicant based upon the highest qualifications, best abilities as well as job experience. Michael Clack and Malcolm Hankins appear to be at least two shining examples of this dumbing down process and we know there are a lot more if the records were actually available for scrutiny as they should be.

Word has it that Clack also told some staff that he "found" an old expired CBO certification in some boxes at home from three or four years ago from an organization that doesn't exist anymore and said that proves he's a CBO.  We think that’s kind of like driving with an expired driver license and saying you're still licensed to drive. Most professional society certifications, possibly such as CBO and other certifications require annual continuing education and tests being passed to verify the qualifications and updated education needed to renew or extent the certificate.

To further complicate and confuse the process for the public, when the Scottsdale Tribune and Scottsdale Republic file a formal Federal Freedom of Information Records Request with the city, we’ve been advised that top staff strongly advises all low level city staff members to erase, delete, or remove "working" notes from case files and emails concerning those files. The reason obviously is to make sure there is no incriminating paper or electronic trail which can tell what’s truly going on concerning any process or decision.

Kind of like the files for the transfer of condemned city land land to Former Councilman Richard Thomas; The files are either "unavailable" or have been "lost". Convenient isn't it? We've been advised that the deal with Thomas was a "sweetheart deal" if there ever was one. If someone has access to those files, we'd sure like to look at them for obvious reasons.

It seems that we have hit a very raw nerve with out investigations and speculation, and we’re seeing the typical reaction; cover up and shut up even to the point that Gray, Dolan, and others are making a point of telling subordinates that neither they or anyone else reads the Scottsdale Activist anyway, so the employees don’t need to either.

Really?? We only receive between 10,000 and 15,000 hits every single week, 40,000 to 65,000 hits a month, so I guess we’re not read at all………  Let's see, there are about an average of 12,000 to 16,000 voters who participate in an election so does that mean we are reaching better than 70% of those voters every week?

In actuality, we've been told that every department in the city has been ordered to appoint at least one person to read every issue of the Activist from top to bottom so management knows what they need to know, or is it so they can quickly cover up what’s going on that shouldn’t be going on?

 ~ Open Letter to Neal Shearer, Reply

Here is the letter we received back from Pat Dodds from the city on the above subject:

Nov. 26, 2007 

Mr. Knowlton: 

I am coordinating the response to your public records request below.  We are gathering material to address your request, and I will let you know as soon as it is available. 

I am letting you know in advance that we do not expect to have documents described under at least two of the points below: 

1.  "Graduation diplomas, including dates and institutions, or other Certificates of Completion for Mayor Mary Manross."

The City Charter sets out the qualifications for the offices of Mayor and City Council, and the charter does not include specific educational requirements for these offices, so there is no reason to expect we would have documents of this nature on file.  Biographies of the Mayor and other City Council Members are available on the City's Web site at http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/council.asp, and these biographies include information on their education. 

2.  "Written and notarized Certification from Planning General Manager Frank Gray confirming that he is not, and has never done personal planning business or other non-city business on city time using a city computer or on his personal computer using city internet access point restricted to employee use for city business only." 

If you are asking the city to create such a notarized document, please note that Arizona's Public Records statute does not require the city to produce new documents, but to make available public records it has on file.  Mr. Gray assures me that he is not aware of any such document. 

He also has informed me that he has no consulting business and he has taken none of the actions you describe in this portion of your request. 

We are working on your records request and I will let you know when we have a further response ready.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  I can be reached at 480-312-2336. 

-- Pat Dodds
   Public Affairs Officer

We'll see just what Mr. Dodds comes up with concerning this request. We already have conflicting information based on the answers from Mr. Gray through Mr. Dodds and from those who seem to feel otherwise on the subject of Mr. Gray. We are waiting for verification and validation of the information prior to divulging it to the public via the Scottsdale Activist.

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~ Anti-Activists Deaf & Blind??

The last few weeks there have been quite a few letters to the editor and columns from "anti-activists" following a column by Councilman Littlefield.

It is really interesting that one very outspoken "anti-activist" has written a column pointing out the same things the "activists" have been proclaiming since 1998.

What it all adds up to is that our City leadership, and that includes the Mayor and the City Manager, have not a clue what to do with South Scottsdale and the economic needs of our mature neighborhoods. Those economic needs are part of the economic base for all of Scottsdale, but you would never know it because our southern neighborhoods have been treated like the evil step child.

We started asking during the Mayor’s first term of office and we have continued through her second term, but there is little to show for those many years, outside of the Downtown Area and the Waterfront.

Do residents need shopping opportunities? Absolutely, particularly if this City is to abide by sustainability mandates from the State of Arizona.

Why hasn’t the City shared with the SkySong developers the study that residents participated in the "Los Arcos Development Options" done by U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Group and presented to the City Council on October 23, 2001?

As the developers are trying to create SkySong and bring in the retail-commercial-entertainment options this study could help them think outside of the box. So far, that appears to be all that we have at SkySong is a box and not a very attractive colored box at that. It sure looks nothing like the models and sketches shown to the public during the process of choosing the designer, but I digress.

Yes there are constraints as to whom or what can be put there, but there are many other options which haven’t even been discussed.

One thing that perplexes many of us is that there seems to be no effort what so ever, by the City, the Area Chamber of Commerce or any other organization to promote our mature neighborhoods as a good place to live, raise families and enjoy a variety of entertainment and recreation activities.

The Downtown luxury condos are gushed over, the Waterfront is "to die for" (hopefully, economically speaking), but the Old Scottsdale Area outside of the Old Town and Downtown, takes a back seat even to the Airpark.

Oh, well.

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 ~Rain, Real Honest to Goodness RAIN!!!!

The developers and City Planning Commission, DRB, City Council, and Planning staff should take a look at what goes on in the Indian Bend Wash Green Belt Flood Control Area. The rain of Friday, November 30^th and Saturday, December 1, 2007 is a small example of what that very important flood control project can and must do.

Granted the intense rain of these two days is not common, unfortunately, as we are in a 10 year drought. Pardon the pun; it is just a drop in the bucket.

We have a "Stupid Motorist Law" for those who knowingly drive their cars into flooded washes, but what about building in washes or in the flood plains of washes?

It is not as easy for the buyers of homes or land to do the research or even understand the language in real estate documents without interpretation of a real estate professional.

When dealing with the issues of hydrology, flood control, and development our washes present some unique problems. Problems not often seen until construction is completed and we get a good soaking rain like we have these last couple of days.

What you see right now in the Indian Bend Wash is what should be.

As we begin the infill redevelopment process in the mature neighborhoods it is wise to take care not to disturb the integrity of the flood control project that has served to protect homes and neighborhoods from the ravages of flooding. We had it once, when roads going east and west were too flooded for even emergency vehicles to travel. How would you like to ride to the hospital in a garbage truck because it was the only vehicle heavy enough to resist the raging waters in the wash? That did happen before the washes were bridged.

Development in the far northern area of the Indian Bend Wash system has not been as conscientious as it should have been. It is costly to build serious development in a wash, just look at Mountainside Middle School and Desert Mountain High School. Both were built on sites that were provided to Scottsdale Unified School District because the home builder did not want to build houses in that area because of the high possibility of flooding.

To build the schools architects and engineers had to take into consideration the fact that those washes could cause serious damage to the buildings if there was not a way to route water through and/or around the lower levels of the buildings. Also, it was important to make sure that the foundations of the buildings could withstand the impact of a quantity of water beyond the norm. So, they had to go down 28 feet in some places to make sure they were properly reinforced.

Yes, we live by the adage, "Let the buyer beware," but at some point all parties have to take the extra responsibility to make sure that the community as a whole is safe from the impact of new development. Wasn’t the original intent of government to protect their citizens and isn’t that why we pay taxes?

Nancy Cantor, Co-Chair
Scottsdale Coalition

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Here is how Covenants not to Compete work in the vast majority of cases. 

Let’s say a GAP, Crate and Barrel, Aeropostale, Nordstrom, etc. open at Fashion Square, their companies, not the developer, have clauses in their contracts that there will be no other GAP etc. or sometimes even very similar retailers within a certain number of miles radius if the city doesn't catch that clause. This must be agreed upon by the City who is required to approve their plans. 

The City used Fashion Square as a primary economic development site forsaking the Los Arcos area and then, as economists dictate, they build a chart dictating what can be built within a mile, three miles and probably five miles or enough to shut out Los Arcos and the McDowell Corridor. Then they layer that with primary merchants and secondary merchants. So you might have designer boutiques that will stick around for a few years and then they are gone, but the GAP stays on. You might also have a Borders Books and Music, Nordstrom and a Walden's which stick around. 

Scottsdale has not seen fit to get involved in any of the Covenant Not to Compete negotiations which openly and notoriously demonstrates that the city staff and management once again are not prepared to handle or understand true sustainability which is required for the longevity for any city.

It also demonstrates how easily the city could have actually and knowingly buried the south and effectively locked them out of any national retail by approving these Covenants Not to Compete which most probably covered the Los Arcos and McDowell Corridor areas. 

It isn't that the Scottsdale Area Chamber, or the City are complicit, neither group is prepared or savvy enough to do what is needed to protect the remainder of the city from these types of over reaching proprietor generated protected retail business zones. 

We have yet to see this current administration be able to negotiate their way out of a wet paper bag. Hualapai????? Barrett-Jackson????? SkySong????? West World?????….. and we could go on…….. 

 ~Letters to the Editor  

I just met with Colleen and Claudia from Technical Solutions.

The plans have not changed much, they are still at 69 units with 132 parking spaces. The design has changed based on a draft that the City of ScottsdaleDesign Planners had drawn up. It basically is a 5 tier plan that steps from 3 to 5 stories throughout the complex. They did not have a copy available for me but promised that they would bring me one.

They wanted to have a neighborhood meeting, however I felt that it would be pointless since nothing about the plan had changed. There are still 69 units, only 132 parking spaces, no plan for visitor or overflow parking, and no plan to keep the traffic off our streets. I told them that I felt it would be pointless to have a neighborhood meeting to show us plans we have all already seen and that when they can come back with some significant changes we can have a meeting then.

It was suggested to them, by John Washington, why can they not move their entrance and exit to the alley way since that is already an entrance for the apartments behind them. I thought that was a FABULOUS suggestion! I also suggested that they go back and ask the developer to decrease the number of units even further. I suggested that they lower the number of units to satisfy the current zoning.

Go ahead and hold your breath.

I would like to mention that I am under the impression that Technical Solutions was trying to get neighbors to "sign off" on the design plans either by saying that other neighbors had, or by saying that it was just to help them remember where you stood.

This is a divide and conquer technique.

Please know that anyone who is acting as a representative for our neighborhood is only doing so with your approval and desires. WE would NEVER sign agreement to ANYTHING! If you have been told differently please let me know and I will be sure that I address it with the appropriate people.

I personally will support and approve whatever the majority of the neighborhood wants but I would never sign my name to anything without making sure that every single neighbor knew about it and approved. With that said, I would like to remind you all that the only way we are going to ensure that our desires are meet is if we all stick together.

I know that everyone does not have the exact same option but we need to be open to others suggestions and try to find common ground. I think that we have shown ourselves to be a tight nit, strong community up to this point, so let us remember to stick
together please.

CLIFF NOTES:

So as of right now, we have expressed to the developer that we are not happy with the number of units. We are not satisfied with a 5 story design. We are not in support of their entrance being on 6th Street and would prefer it to be moved to either 70th or the Alley way. We are now waiting to see what the developer has to offer us in response. If and when I hear from the developer, technical solutions or the city I will let you all know.

As always if you have any questions or concerns please let me know.

Happy Holidays!

Brandy Sipos
Scottsdale
(Phone number available upon request and approval of writer)

(Reprinted with permission)

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Dear Councilman Littlefield, 

I recently called Paul Smith (of Technical Solutions, a local "hired gun" for developers) to advise him that I strongly oppose the "Hanover" project at the N/W corner of Indian School and Goldwater. When I told Mr. Smith that the proposed height was a major issue and the Valley Ho and the adjacent Toll Brothers project were horrible examples of Scottsdale’s development incompetence (now joined by the Yari’s "Cupcake Building" at N/E corner at Camelback and Scottsdale Roads), he told me that the Hanover project maximum height was 60’, like the Toll Brother’s condos, as opposed to 72’ at Valley Ho which is entitled to greater height as a hotel. 

Well, I took another look and it appears to me that, what I think is the façade covering mechanicals, currently being built on the roof at the Toll Brothers exceeds the height of Valley Ho. Is this more developer games, staff and commission stupidity or what? 

There is no need to grant any changes to current downtown zoning until the system is fixed and a new plan in place. There is a glut of residential inventory already available in the area. 

You have been very helpful and I would appreciate you looking into this matter.

Thanks. 

Tom Giller
Scottsdale

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I got the following email from a former resident of Scottsdale who now lives in Wisconsin. She visited over Thanksgiving and was wondering what’s happening with the trolley bridge.

Nancy,

Found your email address attached to one of your columns. I have a question about the trolley bridge on the Waterfront by that Olive and Ivy Restaurant.

Is that bridge ever going to be used by the trolleys? It looks like that whole area is being used by valet parking and just for pedestrians. I don't get it.

Do all of the people who drive those big SUV's that park in the dirt and, it seems, wherever they want when they want.

Oh, and please tell me they have abandoned the idea of horses anywhere near that Waterfront. It would not be safe for those animals. If they had stuck to the plan they were putting together in 1993 they could have had it all.

I hear you about the Borders, Books and Records. It is a nice haven amidst the chaos.

Rebecca Semoli
Wisconsin

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I am a transplanted traffic engineer from the Pacific Northwest. I read, with interest, Nan Nesvig’s article in last week’s Activist specific to traffic related issues.

Transportation is not an all or nothing proposition, especially in a hot and arid city like Scottsdale. I agree with Nan that a good transportation system is one that effectively moves traffic throughout the city. A multi-tiered transportation system, if it specifically addresses all needs of our city, could be successful and it does not demand millions of dollars to implement, it just requires common sense.

One type of system will not resolve all of our problems and pushing and squeezing traffic out of natural transitional roadways by the Staff shows lack of vision and understanding of what the city needs in terms of a solution. Our city has pockets of issues, which should be addressed individually, utilizing a vision of what development might bring to these areas in the future. Spending millions of dollars for an already dated technology that would ultimately deface our city’s unique character and serve a select few is not a practical solution economically or environmentally to our current transportation issues.

In Scottsdale’s case, our current administration is totally blind to the needs of our citizens and city in general and far too focused on personal agendas to understand what we really need in terms of a solution. We spent over a million dollars for some traffic consultant from a part of the country which is totally foreign to our climate and population, to tell us what he thinks we should do and none of it really makes much sense for our city.

Again, time and more money wasted, and another election period where transportation is at issue. Just once I’d like to see the Transportation Department in Scottsdale pull their heads out of their backsides and do something worthwhile with maximum citizen input for a change.

Mike Callahan
Scottsdale resident

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I always get a kick out of playing with the "Brain Dead" when it comes to issues of the South and some other things and to tell you the truth, some of us in this city are better at political shenanigans than the pro’s to whom some people pay money. It is like a good game of chess in my opinion and I excel at chess.

Last week I let out a shocker to some people when I announced the "shadow group" who has appeared just in time for the upcoming election and their intent is to counter what those "Dreaded Activist" have exposed and continued fighting for over the last 4 years.

Just like the incident from the last election regarding Nan Nesvig, and not that the signatures were challenged as that was okay, but the rest of the behind the cloaks of the secrecy and denials and never finding out who placed the shill of that time in front of the public eye. Today the same group is now placing the next shill in front of the public and her name is Whacko of the West (Lisa Haskell).

Lisa has absolutely no clue about development or redevelopment, she has no clue about what can be considered a proper subsidy that has a "real" benefit to the community and the city, she clearly has no clue about zoning and in no way speaks for any residents of the South other than her HOA group. In fact, Lisa Haskell has never expressed once a plan or has been seen participating in a study group, she has never explained or expressed her own ideals of why something is good or right or whether something is wrong for an area she does not even live in or could ever "discuss in debate", her side against those that she seems to challenge so willingly.

How is it that Lisa has had more My Turn Columns all of a sudden in the Repugnant of Oz? It was always the rule back in the Schatt and Nowiki days that you could only have one column per month but I understand now that under the new regime of our part time tourist from Fountain Hills, Robert Leger, the rules have changed and yes, again in this election season as part of the "shadow group" and the Repugnant is doing everything they can to express their view of those "Dreaded Activists" through a shill. No real information is given in her articles and there is never any factual evidence of anything other than her unfounded hatred for Airport Bob.

Lisa has no friends in the South and is to timid to approach people from the North and there are letters to the editor in the repugnant that are "plants" of the same style whenever someone challenges one of her articles or one of the shadow group letters and we know this as we also have planted some rebuttals to see what appears and at what ferocity the editor lets it appear in.

Like I said last week as to who was involved in this shadow group, this Fridays recent Haskell column shows all the signs of her handlers backing off as they now know that some of us are on to their little political game as well as who most of them are and they are the same exact little group from the last election who still hide behind the shadows.

Re-read her article from Friday and note some things that have changed like not once does she bash an activist which is not her character.

Note that she does not mention Councilman Bob Littlefield once in her article and now uses the word "council" instead.

Now all of a sudden instead of making wild accusations she actually asks the question, "articulate" the meaning of redevelopment, something those "Dreaded Activists" have been asking for the last 5 years.

Finally, she makes her claim that she and her neighbors (the ones who are in her HOA and having her as the president) want a candidate who can offer "specifics" on a clear plan for revitalizing the South. Funny, it is the same thing that those "Dreaded Activists" have been asking for over the last 5 years.

I guess the shadow group that some of us knew would return in this election figured out that it is very possible that pissing off activists who do have rather long reaches into the community from over the last 8 years is not such a good plan, especially when they want to try to get some of their present projects passed and candidates elected, as well as their future attempts.

Lets face it Shadow Group, this time you used the wrong plan and the wrong person as we have successfully presented Lisa for exactly what she is, brain dead and she has ticked off the entire South who do not see the same dim light she sees and no matter how you try to clean her up, the South is not listening to any of it as we know what your plans are.

You can’t beat us because we are to strong and you made a mistake in just how many of us there actually are from all sections of the city and just how many gateways we have made to the community and its residents, you also forgot about the SCOTTSDALE ACTIVIST web page which clears between 10 and 15 THOUSAND hits per edition and that is half of our voting public.

I guess the Oz Repugnant feels they need to be the counter activist media since we hold nearly the same number of readers as their establishment puppet paper does.

Well here we go again with another change to the sign ordinance since the last sham we went through because of Ron the Flaming "PaToot" McCullagh who successfully got a majority vote to ban signs in the city and mainly election campaign signs, you know the temporary ones, and he got it done before he had to try to be re-elected; funny how that works in Oz don’t ya think?

This came from the same moron who spent thousands of his campaign dollars erecting signs all over the city, especially the North, in his run for a legislative seat in which he failed miserably and running for a council seat left him even less money to be able to collect so he made his platform on running with no signs and like totally idiotic moron people elected him on that platform.

The guy is a totally two faced and voters were too stupid to see it?

(By the way Ronnie Boy, you had recently stopped by a business trying to collect campaign money, did not get any, and now lost your support of that business since I explained who was responsible for his problem.)

This is the purpose of the city ordinance on signs so pay attention here a minute.

It shall be the purpose of this chapter to promote and protect the general health, safety, welfare and community environment by establishing a comprehensive system for the regulation on all advertising devices, displays, signs and their housing, structure or form, while maintaining or improving economic stability through an attractive sign program.

Now note the last part of the sentence about improving economic stability as this week I got a call from another downtown merchant who asked me why code enforcement would be threatening to take his A frame sign that sits on his own private property, not in the public right of way, not in the city street like was being done downtown, and set back from a main corridor as not to distract traffic. The sign was professionally painted and just reads "gift certificates available inside" and is only a 3 by 5 sign.

So how can you claim as a city you want to maintain economic stability when you are threatening local businesses who are advertising on their own private property and not in the public right of way and especially in an area that you are trying to revitalize?

Now the city will screw with the sign law again and allow a business that measures 100 feet across 150 square feet of signage while if you just want to place a small A frame sign on your own property, you cannot.

Thanks to the "Flaming PaToot" and his stupidity and self serving act, we missed the chance to do what we really needed to do regarding our sign laws which was a comprehensive overhaul as Airport Bob wanted to have done. Lets face it folks, our sign law is so illegal it is only going to take one good lawsuit against the city to bring it to the ground and even the city attorney knows this to be true but in the meantime we will live by what the "purpose" says and do the opposite as usual.

Over the course of the last year the city lost over 2 BILLION gallons of water and millions of dollars in revenues which goes back to the issue of our aging infrastructure problems that we have spoken to all of you about over the months as we so stupidly "redevelop" with no plans, no impact studies, no long term impact studies and no feasibility studies as it is just to hard for the developer and the city to comprehend why this is actually required under growing smarter as we grow stupid .

On Tuesday the three ring circus will approve another $50,000 of taxpayer money to hire a consultant to "monitor" water meter usage and accuracy with the "hopes" of reducing the losses. Sounds like the Master Transportation Plan we paid a million bucks for with the "hopes" it would make some sense and reduce congestion.

The city apparently spends hundreds of thousands of dollars replacing meters in the city on the basis of "as we see consumption starting to drop at a residence for no apparent reason, we will go out and replace that meter".

Hell, they have no clue if the meter is even the problem and the probability that maybe the residents are snow birds or maybe the house was sold and the new owner is not using as much water as the past resident or any other factor, they just go out and replace the meter and that is your tax dollars at work folks and we will indeed pay some consultant 50,000 of your money with the "hopes" of reducing the losses while "monitoring" water meter usage.

Funny thought here but do we not already have someone who can do this work as a city employee or have they all left too?

The city says the meter replacement program along with what is more than likely the problem with our infrastructure issues, the replacement of leaking lines and broken lines will help reduce the losses.

I can’t wait to see these fools fire up the new pump stations for downtown and creating a sprinkler show through out the rest of the south. But don’t you worry as I will guarantee the taxpayers that they will see yet another water rate hike next year, the same hikes we have seen every year for the last 7 years as someone has to pay for all this stupidity in planning and implementation fiascos of Jan Dolan and Mother Mary Manross.

Funny but as the paper stated, "most MAJOR water providers average between 6 and 10 percent losses" and since we are not a Major water provider and only running a 7.3% loss the Wicked Witch will call this yet another milestone for the city and get someone to give us an award for it.

I see Beanie Boy got his first slap by the Larry Manross campaign machine in the Oz Repugnant as the Oz Repugnant is well known to be the pro establishment paper.

The same as the attacks came when the Repugnant claimed that another person we all know said he "may" decide to challenge the Mayor in an election and all of a sudden the attacks came as it is the regular Manross way; and some people think the Manross Hippies is a sweet loving group of people when in fact they are viciously underhanded and really uninformed about issues and only wear the Manross pink colored glasses and eat "Pink Tacos".

Notice that the letter writer never attacked the Mayor for all of her stupidity and her total lack of even knowing what the hell is going on as she walks around with her blinders on.

Notice how the writer claims that only the Council is dysfunctional but not the Mayor and then claims that all the people planning to run against the incumbents are just as dysfunctional as the present council, but not the Mayor.

Beanie Boy was right with his comment of our government being dysfunctional as it is all to be blamed on the leadership which is none other than the dysfunctional Mayor and her crony staff of morons like Dolan and Gray. The city has not moved forward on anything because the most dysfunctional part of our government is having someone running this city that has racked up nearly 30 years in the city government and that is the Mayor and she is the one who needs to be replaced along with a couple of others in order to get the city functional again.

Personally I don’t think Beanie Boy can beat the Wicked Witch even with Messinger as his campaign manager and the bigger problem with that is that if Beanie Boy loses, he also loses his council seat which makes it even harder for us to get the majority council votes to stop the stupidity.

Maybe Derouin should run for a council seat against Drake if Lane runs for a Mayors spot and we can then kick McCullough’s sorry patoot out and replace him with Nesvig. That would give the residents a 4 vote majority over stupidity even when Beanie Boy plays stupid. Even if the Wicked Witch reclaims her throne over Beanie Boy, we still have the 4 vote majority so she can still remain as dysfunctional leader of the city as the rest of the council can out vote her stupidity.

Okay, I noted that someone seems to have taken "issue" to my comments about COGS and I also know that it ruffled some other feathers that must flock together and it was even suggested to the editor not to print such things in the Activist as it sheds a negative light on the group.

The Spouter also goes on to claim that COGS will be a force very soon in the South and I sympathize with this persons thoughts as that is the same thing I believed when we started the group. Needless to say over that stretch of time COGS has yet to perform one function that we set out to do on issues facing the South and Downtown as well as the problems the North now knows they are in danger of have happening to them and what has already happened to them as their houses float down the washes, homes are built 18 feet into the required setbacks, schools are allowed in areas they were not zoned for, home elevations are miscalculated because of how the developer piled the lot higher, and the people they elected to office at the behest of others buckled under and screwed them over with no back bone and as they will not fight for you, they will not fight for the South either.

A group of COGS magnitude and importance has had no business sitting on their butts as issues for this section of the city are not being addressed or discussed by the city as if they would be being addressed in let's say other sections of the city.

Do you think that COPP does not maintain a presence publicly and in low profile but at least they have an organizational structure to keep ahead of the city curve?

When Bob Vairo was recently on Channel 11 debating the issues of density and heights along with impacts and transportation problems against Jan Dolan, Steve Evans of ASU and another person from Cincinnati Ohio, why did we not have the President of COGS making a showing also in the debate that was hosted by former councilman Ned O’Hearn?

Because COGS is still trying to figure out what the hell to do.

Don’t get me wrong as I respect every person involved in the group and their talents and I know that they want to attain the same level of respect as the council gives the staff over us and our 3 minutes. I know that none of the group is opposed to change or development but we are all worried about the direction the city is heading and how it is being done and needs to stop until we as a city government get our act together.

Problem is there are other people that also have groups to answer to and is why COGS is a coalition of groups and residents, and some of us can’t or won’t just continue to sit quietly on the sidelines and not challenge as many of the city issues as we can find resources to do it with.

Remember, I know most of you in COGS so ask yourself two questions.

When do you think you will become a force and how do you intend to become that force when you are not even in the picture half the time?

While some of us will keep plugging away at trying to make a dent in issues, it would be nice if one of these days COGS decided to join in.

Michael Merrill
F8713@aol.com

It is a matter of history that when Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.

He did this because he said in words to this effect: 'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened' 

" All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
-Edmund Burke

In Memoriam

This week, the UK removed the Holocaust from its school curriculum because
it 'offended' the Muslim population which claims it never occurred.

This is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended.

This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the:

Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,'  it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.

This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide!

Be a link in the memorial chain and help distribute this around the
world.

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The Weinberger family should be embarrassed. It speaks volumes about the silliness of global warming believers that they are not embarrassed.

Staffers at the Arizona Republic also should be embarrassed. It speaks volumes about the silliness of today’s agenda-laden newspapers that they are not embarrassed.

Last Sunday, for a half-million readers to see, was a photo of the Weinberger family on the front page of the Republic. There, with silly, smug smiles on their faces sat Daddy Weinberger and the five Weinberger kids, who not only consist of carbon but also produce carbon, five times as much as a one-child family.

No mention was made of Mommy Weinberger. Perhaps Daddy Weinberger planted her in the flower bed to reduce global warming.

The family’s two dogs were not in the photo. Maybe they were digging up the flower bed.

The headline and sub-headline read, "How green can you be? Different approaches can lead to same goal: Consume less, conserve more." The story was written by Corinne Purtill, who is apparently not embarrassed to have her byline on transparent global warming propaganda.

A sidebar said that the full story on green living could be found on Page 6.

Page 6 listed what the Weinberger family is doing to save the environment, with a panel of "experts" evaluating the family’s efforts. Reading the newspaper on-line to save trees, ink and energy was not one of the things. Instead, the Weinberger family is separating trash and recyclables and using low-flow shower head. Also, Daddy Weinberger plans to move closer to his kids’ school so he doesn’t have to put as many miles on his 2006 Infinite QX56, which, according to the story, gets "around 12 city miles per gallon."

What a family! What a guy! What crappy journalism!

Hey, reporter Corrine Purtill, did you emit a carbon-filled belch when your editor told you to write this fluffy propaganda, or did you somehow lie to yourself that you were performing a great public service by not asking Daddy Weinberger any penetrating questions?

You could have asked him, "What percent of atmospheric carbon dioxide is produced by humans, and what percent of that percent is emitted by your Infinite?" Or, alternatively, "Do you get intestinal gas when you read the daily newspaper?" (The correct answer to the first question is, "A very negligible percent;" and to the second, "Belch!")

To digress, other cities will no doubt follow the lead of Portland, Oregon in putting a carbon tax on large, energy inefficient homes. It’s beside the point to global warming worrywarts that federal policies encourage people to buy larger homes than they need (and to buy sub-prime mortgages). And it doesn’t matter to them that rising energy costs will get people to save energy without the need for any new energy-burning bureaucracies.

Besides, if Al Gore’s dire predictions are accurate about the catastrophic effects of global warming, then the worrywarts shouldn’t dick around with taxes on homes. After all, who lives in homes? People live in homes. Reduce the number of people and the number of homes will be reduced, along with the number of Infiniti QX56’s, the number of cows, the number of farms, the number of energy plants, the number of newspapers, the number of politicians, the number of environmental experts, and a great number of other superfluous things used by humans.

No, I’m not proposing that people who drive Infiniti QX56’s should be turned into Soylent Green and fed to people who drive Prius’s. I’m proposing a carbon tax on children. That way, Daddy Weinberger would be taxed five times more than me, because I have only one child.

I also drive a Toyota Corolla instead of an Infiniti QX56. Why? Well, it’s not because I believe that humans are causing global warming. It’s because I’m frugal and don’t like to waste money on cars and gas.

Then why don’t I drive a Prius? First, it would take over 10 years of gas savings to make up the cost difference between a Prius and a Corolla Second, my Corolla is only four years old and should be good for another 10 years.

On a related point, green people who run out to buy a new Prius and trade in their perfectly good SUV to show how green they are from eating Soylent Green never stop to question whether more carbon is emitted in manufacturing a Prius than in driving the SUV until it dies. Of course, the global warming religion is not about thinking.

Speaking of thinking, I’ve found that the smarter and more informed someone is, the less he believes that global warming is caused by humans. That’s why people who depend solely on the likes of the Arizona Republic for information have no doubt whatsoever that global warming is caused by humans. Just ask Daddy Weinberger.

An author and columnist, Mr. Cantoni can be reached at ccan2@aol.com assuming you want to contribute to global warming by using energy to send an email.

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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.