There has been a lot of discussion recently on whether the city of Scottsdale should keep the 80 acre parcel of land they purchased at 94^th Street North of Bell Road, or sell it.

Unfortunately, it has been a one-sided discourse. Although those speaking out disagree on what its use should be, they all agree that the land should be kept for the expansion of WestWorld. Most agree that it should be developed, at least in part, into a parking lot, a parking lot for six thousand cars: A parking lot that would include port-a-potties, lights, and security hot-lines.

But, we haven’t heard about the negative effects this will have to the adjacent neighborhood and how the neighbors feel. I would like to see the city sell this land. I live in the neighborhood. I, along with my neighbors, am concerned with the traffic, noise, pollution, safety issues, etc. that this will bring to our backyard. It will result in an immense decrease in the quality of life and with it, a decrease in our property values. Imagine trying to get in and out of our community with six thousand extra cars to contend with.

We have 3 school bus stops within two hundred feet of this proposed parking lot. This all spells trouble with a capital "T".

One has to question why this is even being discussed. In 2000, voters voted against the expansion of WestWorld. Since then the city has invested and committed more than ^$100 million to land acquisition and facility improvements for this expansion. The city owes ^$48 million for the 80 acre parcel, and that does not include the interest payments nor the improvements. That’s a lot of money for a parking lot. And who is going to pay for it? The WestWorld users have made it clear that they cannot pay more for parking, so that money will have to come from the pockets of the same tax-payers who voted against it.

The push is coming from those who promote our ^$3.5 billion tourist industry. Craig Jackson is adamant that the city provide more parking for "signature events". But at what cost? We are not opposed to WestWorld and know how important the tourist industry is to our city. But, any expansion of West World should remain south of Bell Road.

We need to look at more cost-efficient solutions to the parking problem, if we even have a parking problem. Let’s not forget this 80 acres was purchased as a hedge in case the city was not able to procure the 70 acres adjacent to WestWorld which they were, in fact, successful in purchasing. They never intended to keep the 80 acres once they obtained the 70 acre parcel. They couldn’t afford both. So, let’s be fiscally responsible and stick with the original plan. Sell the 80 acres.

We are grateful to our City Councilmen who have decided to take more time to study this WestWorld Master Plan. We hope they will consider the neighbors who live here, shop here, pay taxes here… all year long, when they make their decision.

One more question, would anyone who is promoting this, want it in their backyard?

Kathy Ravacchioli
Scottsdale

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Activist readers may be interested to know that these wreaths -- some 5,000 -- are fully donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out.

Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state. Please share this with everyone on your address list as we hear too much about the bad these days.

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There appears to be a perception that we have yet to hear in public testimony that the City Attorney has come to some trumped up conclusion that a public vote on transportation issues is not binding.

As usual the City Attorney, if she did make this comment to the council, is out of her skull as there is no case precedent that she can relate to and if you read the law below you will note that it does not refer to whether it is a binding vote at all, because all public votes are binding.

By resolution, the governing body of a city or town, including a charter city, may voluntarily refer an advisory question relating to public transportation to a vote of the qualified electors of the city or town at a special or general election.

Again, As usual, the City Attorney is wrong in this matter as there is no case history in which the city can fall back on to claim the vote is non binding and the reality is that even the statue does not define the action as binding or non binding, and any public vote is a binding vote until it is repealed by the standards set forth by State and Federal election laws.

The reason we used the issue of making a non binding vote was that if the council ignored the non binding vote it would leave the door open to refer the issue to the ballot again in a binding vote. We are not as dumb as Mary and Jan think we are.

You have now noticed one of several tricks that Mary, Jan, the Chamber, & their allies used to appear to be for a public vote on rail while, of course, wanting no such thing.

Since they planted these tricks, they will vote it down 4-3 when we attempt to undo them, but we should still make the effort to force a clear, binding vote on fixed rail anywhere in Scottsdale.  Even if we lose the vote we gain by making it much clearer to the public that Mary, Ron, Betty & Wayne are trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes by pretending to be for a vote, but are in actuality adamantly against it.

The city attorney had better step up to the plate or we will bury her competence level yet again as the city can indeed make the vote and not even require language stating binding or non binding as all votes by the public are binding unless it is noted differently in the ballot language.

Heaven help any Council Member that refuses the upcoming request for a ballot question on light rail in the upcoming election, they can make no more legal excuses in the eyes of the public on this matter.

What has happened to our code enforcement program. Excuses, and extensions, When it has to do with an auto dealer, no enforcement.

Please expose this, I ask for their help on lots of issues and never really get resolution.

Feel free to use my name if you wish, both my husband and I have on occasion contacted the city regarding various things, most of the time we get the Keagy two step, then the pass off to another inspector. 

Keagy lead us on for months until Lund Cadillac finally pulled permits on their time schedule not the city’s and were allowed to have their billboard sized semi trailer on the property for 6 months prior to obtaining the required permits.

When the permits were finally pulled Raun reported back to us that they were in compliance. 

Typical. Now I fear it’s the same thing on this location.

Thank you for all you do, I wish more citizens would get informed and read your website.

Shelly

From: michelle Stevenson
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 9:35 AM
To: Keagy, Raun
Subject: Fwd: RE: complaints

Raun, it’s been a while, do you have any status on this construction project?

Thank you,
Michelle

From: michelle Stevenson
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:52 PM
To: Evans, Denee
Cc: Keagy, Raun
Subject: RE: RE: complaints

Thank you, How long does the notice have? Is it almost expired after 25 days? Maybe Lou Grubb Ford knows who owns it?

Please keep me posted.

From: michelle Stevenson
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 5:35 PM
To: Evans, Denee
Cc: Keagy, Raun

Subject: RE: RE: complaints

16 days after the original deadline, and today the deadline for the second due date. What’s next?

Thank you,
Michelle

Denee, Thank you for the reply. I was wondering what was going on. This sounds very much like the Lund Cadillac issue where you standby and wait for them to act then report that there are permits and everything is fine, case closed.

I do work in the area as a national marketing rep for the auto industry so I'm in and out of town quite a bit. 

Mr. Keagy has my number in the event you want to discuss this but I really see no need based on the lack of action on yours and the property owner’s behalf.

I was hoping there would be more aggressive action but I'm getting used to that not being the case.

Thank you anyway. Happy Holidays.
Shelly 

Here's something interesting I heard from several calls from employees.

Its seems since Jeff Fisher was fired, the top staff have been very worried about backlash, and is tired of hearing negative feedback of their selection of under or unqualified directors, the dumbing down of the job qualifications, and other issues which are making Scottsdale look like a bunch of also-ran cities. Dolan and staff were very upset that the employee letter was made public. Now, since the employee letter was sent and made public by the Activist, Jan Dolan made the trip from her cave in the bowels of city hall (or was it the "batfry" in the attic) and apparently traveled to the corporate yard for a benefit breakfast burrito meeting bringing the new guy David Ellison with her.  

This is the first meeting Jan has ever attended of the Inspection Services staff since she’s been in Scottsdale and to bring Ellison up was a real surprise while being rather curious at the same time. She even tried to be human by attempting to talk to some of the employees.  They all laughed it off as they feel that staff and Dolan are scared of the possible public performance reviews the charter officers would soon have to face as well as the negative feedback because of Noriega and his clown act as well as Dolan's total screw-up with the Hualapai multi-million dollar fiasco. One of the quotes we received went like this: "Jan is so transparent and unqualified it's absolutely pathetic".

We at the Activist do think that we should give David Ellison at least a fair chance to get the city back on the right track. He has worked for Scottsdale before and was liked during his last stay with the city. He claims though that the reason he left was for family reasons but isn’t it coincidental that Storm Trooper Jan Dolan had just come on board before he left? Hmmmmmmm

Maybe some of the Activists should ask for a private meeting with him, sans Jan or staff, so we can get a better handle on his intentions, goals and visions for Scottsdale?

As far as Dolan running scared? I don't think she has a clue what we're even talking about.

 ~ Open Letter to Neal Shearer, Part 4

December 14, 2007 

Mr. George Knowlton, Editor Scottsdale Activist
VIA E-MAIL 

Mr. Knowlton: 

This is a second response to your public records request Nov. 26 (included below).  The following are responses to each of your requests: Click Here to see City provided Certificates

When Mr. Clack was recruited and hired, CBO certification was not a requirement and the city does not have such a document from ICC.  Mr. Clack has voluntarily provided his 1992 Certified Building Official Certificate from the Council of American Building Officials.  This organization was a precursor to the International Code Council and later joined with others to become the ICC.  While Mr. Clack does not have the equivalent current certificate from ICC, he is a member of that organization and serves on the board of directors for ICC Evaluation Services, a non-profit subsidiary of ICC that does technical evaluations of building products, components, methods, and materials.  He also was formerly an administrator for exams for the International Council of Building Officials, another precursor to the ICC. 

Mr. Keagy is not certified and is not required to be certified in his current position or any of the positions he has held while employed by the city.  Therefore, we do not have documents that respond to this request. 

The documentation for Mr. Hankins is attached. 

This documentation is attached, with personal information, such as social security numbers, birth dates and home addresses redacted.  (Please note some of the copies of certificates may be difficult to read, apparently because they are formatted to distinguish copies from the originals.) 

Mario Alvarez

Paul Anderson

Michelle Bruce

Lawrence Jonas

David Pino

Eric Allen

Valorie Evans

Michael Ritter

David Lauer

Steve Smith

The remaining employees in the Code Enforcement Division are within a one-year time frame when they are required to obtain their certification. 

The City has no documents that respond to your request.  There are no specific requirements for professional certificates for Ms. Dolan’s position, and no requirements that the city keep any other educational certificates or diplomas on file.  However, for your information, Ms. Dolan has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Montana.  She did graduate course work in public administration at Montana State University and leadership training at the Senior Executive Institute for Government Officials at the University of Virginia.   

I addressed your two remaining requests in my previous response on Nov. 26.  In that response, I wrote the following: 

I can confirm that we do not have documents described in these remaining requests and will reiterate that Mr. Gray has no consulting business and has not taken the actions you describe in the request pertaining to him. 

Please let me know if you have any problems opening the attached file and whether I can be of further assistance. 

Pat Dodds
Public Affairs Officer
480-312-2336

Editors Note: We appreciate Mr. Dodds providing the information he had access to and understand why he doesn't have access to the other information or it isn't available to the public.

Isn't it time the standards and job qualifications for Scottsdale employees again brought us the premiere, highly qualified applicants in their field such as we were accustomed rather than the ho-hum candidates we now are hiring today?

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Quick Hit!! We were just informed by phone today (Saturday) that an employee in an important position within the city Tax and License Department was going to be fired for documented improper activities with a subordinate of the opposite gender but instead was allowed to resign at the last minute. Gee, here we go again, same tune, different scenario, same favoritism and unethical treatment of a serious situation well covered by Federal Laws.

From all reports, he was a mediocre employee at best, but far too friendly with a number of different ladies while under city employ and finally it caught up to him.

Apparently this gentleman had forgotten a most important and telling phrase;

Here once again, HR plays political games and allows a dirt bag to resign instead of firing him on the spot as most would have under the same circumstances.

What was so special about this person that kept him from being fired outright for his documented transgressions?

We have our strong suspicions but will let it go at that, for now at least.

These types of activities, ladies and gentlemen, are what the employee letter printed by the Scottsdale Activist last week is all about and these types of practices need to be stopped immediately in ALL departments.

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Last minute changes to agenda = Bad & Costly Council decisions

One of the biggest complaints that we hear from current and former Councilpersons is that they are not afforded enough time to review materials specific to agendized or consent items for that week’s meeting before sitting behind the Dais and making decisions on those items.

Although there is a rule that does not allow the addition of agenda items 24 hours before the meeting, many new items creep in without notice on a regular basis.

How is a Councilperson supposed to make an honest, informed decision regarding an agendized or consent item if they are not provided ample time to review, research and understand that item?

Welcome to how our city’s current administration operates: Slam, Bam, Thank You Ma'm.

For the last City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 11^th, Councilman Jim Lane properly requested that an item be placed on the regular agenda for consideration. This item dealt with complete public disclosure of Charter member job reviews and associated information.

Sometime during the week prior to the meeting, Mayor Manross allegedly took it upon herself to write a set of action items, rules and procedures as to how SHE personally wanted this process to occur. Then, DURING the discussion of this item, she handed her finalized version of what she called her procedures, to the Council for review.

At face value, the numerous paged document appeared similar to Councilman Jim Lane’s request for action, but in reality, Manross’ procedures set limitations on disclosure of documentation and was riddled with vague and ambiguous language which provided HER with all decision making power regarding provision of documents to the public.

Councilman Lane dutifully questioned Mary’s take on his agendized item concerning these salient points, only to find out that she claimed to have completed it "moments before the meeting" and that this was the ONLY document that they would work from when making their final decisions regarding the agendized item; Lane’s proposal had been thrown out and was not to be considered.

This appears to be another feeble, last minute but successful attempt by Manross, Dolan and the council majority to control information disseminated to the public by ramrodding total controls through, without proper investigations and more in-depth discussions.

Many times Council is provided with an inordinate amount of information specific to agendized items very close to the time of their Council meetings. According to some current and former Councilpersons with whom we have spoken, it is not uncommon for them to get 250 or more pages of reading materials, charts, maps, and graphs specific to a complicated agendized matter 24 hours or less before the meetings.

If you are Ron McCullagh who spends much of his time leisurely traveling between his different vacation homes as oppose to being out at public meetings as are Littlefield, Nelssen, and sometimes Lane, or in his Council office reviewing documentation, you rarely see these last minute packages which arrives at your doorstep at that late date.

And then, without so much as reviewing the backup material, you are required to make a decision that will ultimately affect Scottsdale possibly for decades. Dolan and her City Staff are counting on the fact that you have no time to review these documents so that your questions are limited to the first few very slanted pages of the reading.

In our opinion, Council should automatically table any agendized or consent item where all documentation and addendums/exhibits is not fully and completely disclosed to them one week (5 working days) in advance of the meeting. If the agendized item back up is incomplete, the item should be automatically removed from the agenda until further notice. No items should be added to the agenda, consent or otherwise, after the one week (5 working day) cut off period.

The only exception to this rule should be if all council members agree unanimously to allow the item to be entered into discussion, but with the proviso that if any one council member wants the discussion stopped, the item is to be rescheduled based on the 5 day rule without question or discussion.

The decisions that Council makes on behalf of our citizens are critical and deserve much more consideration than they currently are allowed. They should be well equipped with back up documentation and have ample time to review ALL documentation prior to the meetings.

Council decisions are far too important for these elected officials to be shooting from the hip – most of the time they haven’t a clue what’s going on due to devious timing of the dissemination of the materials…… except those select few who have apparently been secretly clued in by the Mayor or City Manager as to what decision they expect from the council!

There is nothing or any single issue so important that this rule cannot easily handle any situation.

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 ~Letters to the Editor  

Dear Mr. Editor,

Could you please tell me what ever happened to Mr. Merrill other than his weekly column?

Over the years that I have lived here (15) I have noted that there are very few people with a planning and development sense that applies to Scottsdale instead of the usual  city staff and council  development  plans that make us nothing more than anywhere USA or some suburb of California and one of those people has always been Mr. Merrill.

Over the last year or more I have not seen Mr. Merrill at a council meeting as I watch them all for a good laugh, I have not noted him to be at the usual city sponsored work groups or meetings on projects or plans, and I have noted that his conversations with developers and their plans have not been taking place as he usually did.

I have been concerned that one of the very few people who actually has a clue in this city when it comes to planning and development and speaks his mind about these issues for many of us and hits the nail on the proverbial head as to the way "we" see things, is making a run for the hills and will leave some of us without the voice of common sense and reason at what he calls the Three Ring Circus. At this time and phase of the city screw ups and lack of intelligent planning for the future and what the future of Scottsdale should be based on it is not the perfect timing for Mr. Merrill to be running off and leaving many of us without the voice we have agreed with for years.

Do you have any insight into what may have happened to Mr. Merrill and his presence in the city structure?

Madison Reale
North Scottsdale

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Mr. Editor,

I considered writing this anonymously but then thought better of it. After all, who would print, much less believe, an anonymous e-mail? Oh, I know. The Scottsdale Activist.

Shame on you for validating what is so clearly a slanted, one-sided, scurrilous e-mail. If these 60 people really exist, why don’t they meet with the editors of the Scottsdale Activist so they can be more fully debriefed? Why don’t they meet with their buddy, Councilman Littlefield, who is only too ready to confirm his own paranoid suspicions about the mayor with this mysterious e-mail? They don’t, for the obvious reason that they don’t exist, except in the imagination of the person who fabricated the whole sordid affair.

The Scottsdale Activist states that it will not "publish allegations, libelous statements, profanity or personal attacks without a verifiable basis". How about adhering to those tenets in the future?

Dave Bachmann
Scottsdale

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Dear Mary O’Connor,

Again I have to ask what the hell is wrong with certain issues with traffic around construction areas.

Today I was hit by yet another moron who decided that Buckboard off of Camelback is a two way street. The city has piss poorly marked this intersection as a one way street during the construction of the W Hotel and it is not visible to some of these driving morons that they cannot make a right onto Buckboard from Camelback but then again there is really no signage posted on Camelback that lets people know that it is at this time a one way street.

Needless to say the stupid woman who was driving the truck that hit me figured out she was going the wrong way and decided to speed up so she did not get caught driving the wrong way on Buckboard.

Since I decided that sitting on hold with the police department for 5 minutes to report a hit and run and since it is apparent that this is a non emergency issue the driver who hit me clearly was able to escape into the area and since I was now blocking the one way street I decided to hang up and call it a loss for police intervention to the issue.

Two suggestions here Mary, either close off the damned road since it is barely used or place some freaking signs along Camelback that say no right turn or is that too complicated for the city to figure out?

I should take pictures of the of the street and make you pay for the repairs to my car but we all know how insane that would be to think the city would fix something that resulted from their own screw up anyway.

Michael Merrill
Scottsdale

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~The Great Transportation Debate of Oz

The hardest part with writing this is where to begin! There are numerous issues that the City must wade through regarding our traffic congestion problem.

Let’s say we first start with the "perception" that we had a transportation problem that required spending over a million dollars on for this study. I mean really folks I am having a hard time finding the problem other than during the two peak times. These are problems that tend to go away by 9 A.M. or 6 P.M., and it’s the same dilemma every city faces as people leave for work and then come home.

Let’s also consider that these issues are defined by their intersections with known back up problems that end up clogging streets during the commuting hours, and is not indicative of all of our intersections. Honestly, once you leave the house to go out, after or before these two peak travel times, traffic is not that freaking bad in this city.

Sure there are areas that are congested more than others such as around Frank Lloyd Wright and Scottsdale Road or the Airpark area as they have high concentrations of different types of commercial, retail and dining. This also goes for the Downtown on Scottsdale Road. Usually the heavier congestion there is during the weekend nights due, again, to this being area of different commercial, retail and dining. As well, this is the area designated by the City Council and Planning Department "entertainment district".

Now Ozites, ask yourself this question: How much worse is it going to get? Let’s ponder that thought for just a minute and consider the fact that the City is landlocked and approaching build-out which is projected for 2010. Some streets have been downgraded as the capacity and outlook studies seem to show that expansion options are not needed.

So, if we are at build out and landlocked, how much worse can it really get? It is like people have forgotten that we are at capacity in this City. Did we need someone, a consultant, to come and tell us how to fix capacity problem?

What could have been the impetus of this study and its need?

Well, that is easy because it has already begun. The City already realizes that they are landlocked and approaching build-out, and like any other city in this position, the first reaction is to start increasing building heights and residential and commercial density in specific areas. Rezone properties to allow developers increases, encourage assemblage of properties, including residential neighborhood properties, for new higher density, while claiming creation of 24/7 communities.

Much like other cities that have gone this route, they are doing it with no clue as to what the hell is going on with the bigger picture of things; or do they?

Let’s face it, since we already know where our clogged arteries are and we know that intersections need to be fixed to allow better flow. We know the reality that redesigning these intersections is not going to really help traffic flow during peak times, though it can get better by implementing the Intelligent Transportation Technology with those new designs.

For our million dollars, we got this great new model program and training on how to use it. This study was for nothing more than the City’s agenda to turn Scottsdale into transit oriented community with increased density and heights.

The intent is to make things worse, to the point it gets so bad that they have an excuse to get what? Light rail!

The truth is that this Master Plan giving us guidance for the future our built-out City, is really based on "how to manage transportation for the high density city or transit oriented development programs".

The fact is the City has already started planning for these issues. Many actions such as making areas along Thomas Road and McDowell Road Corridors targeted growth areas (which really makes no sense). There are huge increase in density and height rezoning in Downtown, and now the issue of redevelopment of the Airpark the City is planning to undertake.

Don’t forget the issue of the new zoning coming forward, the great PUD, planned unit development, which is a precursor for making it easier for development of transit oriented projects, giving developers incentives.

These are all signs of a City that will end up losing all of its charm and what makes it unique and there is no way to hold on to both. You either keep what works for you and has for many years in regards to why people come to visit your City, or you become anywhere USA which is exactly where the present leadership and management of this city is taking all of us.

If anyone thinks our illustrious leaders like the Wicked Witch, Buckaroo Betty, the flaming patoot, or our Southern Belle, aren’t still working on how to get light rail in Scottsdale, then you are all nuts. The fight is still on.

It has been asked many times by residents, and even Council members, to take light rail off of the table for Scottsdale Road. The Mayor has refused to vote for what the people want. She has been saying things "on the public record" such as, "We set out to make the community more walkable and attractive without having rail," says Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross. "Whether light rail will play a part, we don't have an answer. … That still could happen."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-06-10-transit-village_N.htm

The Scottsdale Mayor who claimed transportation to be "the number one issue" has announced she does not support light rail on Scottsdale Road, and instead proposed a bond issue election next year to fund tourism projects. After calling transportation the top priority in her annual State of the City address, Mayor Mary Manross said the proposed 20 mile rail line is not the way to go. At a cost of $70 million per mile, Manross says she prefers to wait to see if the connecting lines in Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa will be effective.

http://tomwarnereport.com/twr/twr_v4n9.html

Mayor Mary Manross agreed, saying, "We need a seat at the policy table when we are considering statewide and regional issues, including transportation." The study would make sure Scottsdale connects with other cities, though how that would be done is not yet determined, she said. After deciding to join the regional study, the council narrowly declined to remove light rail on Scottsdale Road as a high-capacity transit option. Only Littlefield, Tony Nelssen and Jim Lane voted against the rail option.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1211netransport1212.html

"If we don’t see if we can be included in that, that’s a big door slamming shut," said Councilwoman Betty Drake, who has not ruled out supporting light rail. …Although no Scottsdale council member has endorsed light rail, a majority has not ruled out the possibility of running it along Scottsdale Road to SkySong at McDowell Road or to, but not through, downtown… The Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce endorsed light rail or streetcar and promised to be involved in a possible election…

http://www.azrail.org/2007/scottsdale-weighs-role-in-new-east-valley-light-rail-plan/

Now if any of you cannot see that the Mayor is talking in circles, along with the claimed intents of Buckaroo Betty and the Chamber, then you go ahead and vote three of them (McCullagh) back into office so they can team up with Ecton to continue to try to circumvent the residents demands to remove light rail from the options.

In fact all 4 of them are indeed planning on how to get this done and are going to keep the option open so that as they increase density and heights all over the City, they can then make the excuse for moving forward with a light rail plan, after of course they get it all worked out with MAG which your Mayor now presides over. If you cannot see how twisted and sick this group of 4 will be if three of them get re-elected to another 4 year term than you go ahead and keep voting with COPP and some of the other northern HOA groups who formerly endorsed these candidates in prior elections.

Or be daring and make a stand to remove light rail as an option by voting them out of office. Voting them out of office is the only way to kill light rail in Scottsdale and that is the bottom line.

I do not think the study was a complete failure because two of the sections have yet to be presented. The pedestrian element, and the bike element are two key elements to a walkable community plan or even a 24/7 community plan and to date they have only received a few paragraphs here and there.

This is yet another reason to conclude that this plan was nothing more than a set up for shoving light rail down the throats of the taxpayers. The comments by the council members who voted to approve joining the MAG study so they could keep options open for "future generations" is a load of crap. It is the option they want to keep open in case they get re-elected and decide to start the "implementation phase" of a transportation plan geared for light rail.

Let’s not be suckers, let’s get rid of the problem which is our Council that does not listen to the public. Then we can work on doing damage to the "Chamber of Ignorance" for their lack of caring what the residents want. Trust me; the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce is not a friend of the community or the taxpayers in Oz.

If we continue under the current regime, this is what you can expect to leave future generations of Ozites. Remember, too, that these are just the capitol costs and nothing more and even these costs are low balled and are going to be much higher.

Is this what we should leave for our future generations? You cannot shut it down without having to pay back the money the Feds give us, so for how long will the next generation pay for such a blunder by "legacy seekers" holding public office?

 ~Consultants mull light rail for Scottsdale
 

 by Casey Newton
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 19, 2006

SCOTTSDALE - Light rail is a strong possibility for at least some part of Scottsdale Road, city consultants said Monday.

HDR Inc., which is putting together a master transportation plan for Scottsdale, identified six alternatives for putting high-capacity transit on the city's main north-south corridor.

All six alternatives would start at the Scottsdale-Tempe border and go north. In order of expense, they are:

• Light rail to Earll Drive, with modern streetcar to Scottsdale Airpark. Cost: $540 million.

• Light rail to Chaparral Road, with bus rapid transit to the airpark. Cost: $515 million.

•Modern streetcar to the airpark. Cost: $450 million.

• Light rail to Earll Drive, with bus rapid transit to the airpark. Cost: $413 million.

• Modern streetcar to downtown, with bus rapid transit to the airpark. Cost: $343 million.

•Bus rapid transit to Shea Boulevard. Cost: $180 million.

The estimated costs are for capital expenses only, not operating costs.

HDR will recommend which technology to use.

The City Council is expected in October to narrow the list to two or three alternatives.

Only two residents attended the first public meeting Monday, the first of 10 meetings the city is holding this week.

Resident Pete Spehar said he was concerned about the large subsidies Scottsdale would have to provide to keep fares low on a light-rail system.

"I don't know why they can't make them pay for themselves."

 ~ The Time Line

Another great read that proves my point about Manross and her cronies who will continue to push light rail as long as they are in office is the timeline of this issue.

1985 October: Maricopa County voters approve a half-cent sales tax to build a regional freeway system. A small percentage of the tax is to be used to plan, design and find a funding source for a regional transit system within five years.

1989 March: The Regional Public Transit Authority, predecessor to today's Valley Metro, proposes a one-cent sales tax for a countywide bus system and commuter trains. The measure is crushed at the polls by a 3-1 margin.

1994 November: The highway system is underfunded, over budget and far behind schedule. But county voters refuse to implement an emergency funding source of a half-cent sales tax, and a quarter-cent tax for a regional bus system. A small portion would be reserved for rail-transit studies. The Scottsdale City Council refused to back the proposition.

1996 September: Tempe voters approve a permanent half-cent sales tax dedicated to transit.

1997 September: Phoenix and Scottsdale residents defeat half cent sales taxes that would've funded transit improvements, including studies of light rail. Two days after the votes, a Tribune story begins, "Mass transit may be dead in the Valley."

1998 June: The Scottsdale City Council asks the Transportation Commission to find transit alternatives.

1998 July: Tempe unveils its light-rail plan.

1999 January: The proposed route for light rail now stretches from Glendale to Mesa. Spring: The Arizona Department of Transportation comes under criticism for the slow pace of freeway construction. March: The Scottsdale City Council travels to San Diego, Portland, Ore. and Boulder, Colo. to research transit and growth alternatives.

2000 February: The Scottsdale City Council considers commissioning a study on light rail. March: Phoenix voters approve a 0.4 percent sales tax for transit, including the construction of 24 miles of light rail. May: The Scottsdale City Council authorizes a study of light rail.

2000 June: The Tempe City Council votes to approve light rail.

2002 June: A report recommends a light-rail line connecting Scottsdale and Tempe. But there is little political support to build such a line.

2003 February: A divided Scottsdale City Council names Scottsdale Road as the city's mass transit corridor. Then, the council unanimously approves a transportation plan that recognizes cars as the city's preferred transportation option.

2004 November: County voters decide to continue the transportation tax established in 1985. The measure expands light rail.

2005 August: Scottsdale seeks funding for a transit center at SkySong. September: Valley Metro commissions a study exploring new light-rail routes; expansion into Scottsdale is considered. November: The Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce begins a pro-light rail push. The Scottsdale City Council approves work on a master transportation plan.

2006 September: Scottsdale transportation planners ask the public's opinion on high-capacity transit alternatives.

2007 Summer: Projected adoption of the master transportation plan.

I have stated before about how "dirty" this City is, but those who run it consider this for a moment. The residents of this City numbering several hundred signed a petition asking for an advisory vote to be held regarding the issue of light rail. Yes, all of you who have signed your names to those petitions, whether it was ours, or the one presented by COPP as they did not really care to be associated with the rest of us and decided to present their own signatures with our language, have been shafted by none other than whom? Buckaroo Betty, that’s who, as she got an amendment passed to the petition stating the following: "Following receipt of the Master Transportation Plan, IF rail transit is proposed, any element of the plan proposing Rail Transit shall be considered by the public in a public vote prior to adoption or implementation of the plan."

The City with the above changed language did what? Did some of you miss how you got screwed by the City, HDR, and Buckaroo Betty and the Council who voted for the amendment?

Well, here is the answer as to how the City, again, shafted the residents of the OZ in the same manner they have been doing since the twits we have for a mayor and City Manager took over.

Please note the fact that HDR will make no recommendation on the mass transit option which is the recommendation that would trigger the City having to hold a public vote on the matter. The key words are "if rail transit is proposed" and we have already been told that HDR will not make a recommendation to the City on which mode it will recommend.

Where do we go now? Well, lets just say this issue is not over as of yet as the City paid HDR over a million taxpayer dollars to complete a study in which they were required to make a recommendation to the City regarding which mode is seen as the proper one.

They were hired to make this recommendation and now have decided that they will not make one.

If you ask yourself why, you should come back with an answer of, if they did make that recommendation it would be light rail and that would trigger the public vote that not one of the council majority 4 want to see happen, therefore you have just been screwed by Manross and her cronies yet again.

Okay, that is my light rail rant for the week with more interesting tidbits to come in future articles leading up to the adoption of the Master Transportation Debate, but just re-read the progression of facts and tell me that Mary is not hell bent on changing what and who Oz and Ozites are, and not for the better. Over the last 10 years she has not given a rats patoot as to what the public says and uses the cliché of "our future generations" as her excuse to put them in debt beyond their wildest, and yet unborn, imaginations.

Michael Merrill
F8713@aol.com

 ~Six Boys And Thirteen Hands...

Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class from Clinton, WI where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.

On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, during WW II.

Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, 'Where are you guys from?'

I told him that we were from Wisconsin 'Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story.'

(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who had passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C., but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night.)

When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his words that night.)

'My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called 'Flags of Our Fathers' which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me.   

'Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called 'War.' But it didn't turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are people who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old - and it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never even would talk to their families about it.

(He pointed to the statue) 'You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph... a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. It was just boys who won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men.

'The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the 'old man' because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers.'

'The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes was one who walked off Iwo Jima . He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero.' He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?' So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain home with him and eventually died dead drunk, face down at the age of (ten years after this picture was taken).

'The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.' Yes, he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. Those neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.

'The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.

'You see, like Ira Hayes, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed, without any medication or help with the pain.

'When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.'

'So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima , and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time.'

Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.

We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice.

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terrorism and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom.

Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray for those still in murderous unrest around the world.

God Bless You and God Bless America

REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's going to be a great day.

PS  ; One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC that is not mentioned here is that if you look at the statue very closely and count the number of 'hands' raising the flag, there are 13.

When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply said the 13th hand was the hand of God.

This is a Great story - worth your time - worth every American's time

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Imagine if there had been a debate between Mao, Stalin and Hitler about which of them would be the best emperor of the world. If you had been alive back then, would you have needed to watch the debate to see who scored the most debating points, who was the most charismatic, and who had the most relevant political philosophy? Or would you have known all you needed to know from reading The Little Red Book, The Communist Manifesto, and Mein Kampf?

In a similar vein, do you need to watch the presidential debates to know who should be the president of the United States?

No, I’m not drawing an equivalency between the presidential candidates and communists and fascists. After all, on the 10-point liberty scale, where "0" is totalitarianism and "10" is complete civil liberties and economic freedom, the commies and fascists scored a "0," while the presidential candidates, with the possible exception of Ron Paul, average about a "5."

Oh-oh! A "5" isn’t very good, is it? Gosh, do debating points and charisma matter if a candidate wants to give you only 50 percent of the liberty you deserve and the Founders intended?

Nothing is more telling about the nation’s slide down the liberty scale than the fact that the country’s elites in academia, media and big business are not judging the candidates on liberty. To the contrary, most of the elites think that the combined share of the economy of local, state and national governments should be higher than the current 44 percent and want to raise the share to over 50 percent by nationalizing healthcare.

Collectivism is winning over individualism. Yet this trend isn’t even a subject for debate. Instead, the candidates openly tout their collectivist planks, some of which have a striking resemblance to the 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto, most notably Marx’s and Engel’s planks about public education, progressive taxation and centralization of state power.

The candidates speak in platitudes about the common good, social welfare, and giving back to society. But if you listen closely, you’ll see that they want to achieve these ideals, not by volunteerism, but by using force against disfavored individuals for the benefit of favored groups, or, in their euphemism, for the common good.

Judging by what they say, most of the candidates believe that the nation is a majority-rule democracy instead of a constitutional republic based on individual rights. As such, in their scary thinking, the majority has the right to impose its will on the minority. In this, they share the belief of Chairman Mao, who said: "The individual is subordinate to the organization [state]; the minority is subordinate to the majority; and the lower level is subordinate to the higher level."

If that’s not dangerous enough, many of the candidates engage in class envy that is reminiscent of the dawn of the Third Reich. In the early twentieth century, Jews comprised about one percent of the German population, but accounted for about 31 percent of the richest families, 22 percent of millionaires, nine percent of doctors, and 16 percent of lawyers. (Source: The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West, by Niall Ferguson, Penguin Books, London)

Instead of being lauded for their intelligence, industriousness and contributions to society, Jewish Germans were vilified as greedy money changers and shysters. Today, many of the presidential candidates and the nation’s elites demonize the ambitious, successful and industrious as greedy, selfish, and heartless. Strangely, many Jews in the Democrat Party join the chorus, thus proving that Santayana was right.

If you want to settle for far less than a "10" on the liberty scale, then watch the presidential debates to determine who has the debating skills and charisma to be president. No doubt, you also would have watched a debate between Mao, Stalin and Hitler to determine who had the debating skills and charisma to be emperor of the world.

An author and columnist, Mr. Cantoni can be reached at ccan2@aol.com

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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.