Above is the supposed contact list for the DRB and Planning Commission. If these links fail to work, blame the board members for participating in the super-secret government run my Manross and Dolan.

If you have any questions concerning any planned projects, don't hesitate to contact the ones above who make the decisions.

~ Dust Referendum a Raging Success

Last Thursday, April 17th, 2008, I had privilege of filling up my saddle bags with the petitions 2,938 people had signed in support of the "Unjust Dust" referendum, loading them on the back of my horse and riding up to the doors of Scottsdale's City Hall. When this effort began, there were only three weeks left to accomplish the goal of gathering the 1961 valid signatures required, but we got it done and more!!

Thank you to everyone that contributed to the success of this, it would have never been possible without the efforts of so many people that cared enough to take a stand and send the message that enough is enough!

When this whole thing began, I remember thinking this is not about dust, it's about a lack of respect and loss of integrity by those who did not value or defend the rights we have today, the same rights and freedoms our country was founded on and many fought and gave their lives for. We all want to do are part to ensure clean air, and to make the argument that this is about the unwillingness of a few equestrians to do their part is ridiculous and ignorant. It is also ignorant to think that this has ever been just about "the horse people". This is, and has always, been about every private citizen that will unjustly be robbed of freedoms and rights by this ordinance.

To hear tell, nowhere is there a person of integrity holding public office. All the utilities are out to rob us. Crooks and criminals fill our business offices. Everyone has a snide remark, jab, or cut they are all to often eager to share about an associate. An amazing amount of time is spent by to many sharing the reasons why they are helpless victims powerless to do anything about it.

It does no good to be naive about the challenges and problems we are facing today, they are definitely real and to say they are few would be ludicrous. But indeed, we must give them our inspired attention. When we are willing to contribute to the futile, resigned, defeatist attitudes of those that choose to be on the victimizing side of hopelessness we become part of the catalyst that accelerates failure.

When a government entity believes it is necessary to infringe on the private rights of the citizens it has taken an oath to protect and defend they must have a good reason why those sacrifices by the individuals it is infringing on is necessary.

Those same citizens, in this case, care just as much about clean air and doing their part as the next guy, however, when they are being held to a standard not even the authority mandating it complies with, and there only excuse is they might lose millions of dollars if they don't comply, I have a hard time sitting back and taking that. I would fight and die for this country, I would willingly support my sons and daughters going to fight and risk there lives for the freedoms and rights we have and believe in today.

Why are our city officials willing to pass a law that would take away some of those rights from many of us without the ability to show how our sacrifice contributes to the solution of the problem, all for two million dollars of federal funding!

On top of that, the ordinance Mary Mayor Manross, Council member Betty Drake, Councilman Wayne Ecton, and Councilman Ron McCullagh passed will require more than two million dollars for the city to comply with!

Then as if it should make it all right, they offer to justify their plight of cowardliness by requesting we trust them to amend this mess so that it infringes on those affected "a small amount" as if robbing someone of a small thing is better than taking everything.

"It would be foolhardy to ignore genuine threats to our well-being and way of life, but both as individuals and as a society, we can only move forward if we believe in our potential to make things better".

Jim Owens, author of the best selling book "Cowboy Ethics"

We can get a lot more done if we spend less time complaining about things we feel are lacking, and more time remembering things we have forgotten!

Amy Ganley
Scottsdale

Lest anyone think the "Hanover" dance is over, be assured that it will certainly continue, only now in overdrive with the "pedal to the metal" - all the way into the election process.

With Judge Peter Swann’s decision based on a legal technicality, regarding H.A.D.’s (Height and Density) standing as a PAC (not registering appropriately, i.e. filling out paperwork as a PAC) and because H.A.D. did not have the ^$20,000 to hire an attorney to participate in the discovery (to provide evidence to counter the Plaintiff) when given a hearing opportunity, that pretty much cinched it for Hanover and their highly paid attorney.

The nail in the coffin came from the City Attorney at the beginning of the hearing process. THE CITY, the defendant, announced through counsel that they DID NOT oppose the motion for summary judgment. With that, the judge ruled in favor of Hanover.

Our own taxpayer paid and council appointed City Attorney Deborah Robberson totally screwed over the taxpayers, citizens and voters without conscience by basically defending the position of the council majority and placating the big spenders, Hanover and developer Eric Kenney.

Remember good neighbors that the City Attorney does not represent the citizens, but does represent the politicians and developers in control of city government. That is the City Attorney’s job.

Pay attention Hanover: The 3000+ "people" who signed those petitions are still out here and even more angry about the way you and your associates have planned and presented this project. Quoting them: "it is much too tall, much too dense, and far too ugly."

I know you want to see their birth certificates and tax records, Mr. Irvine, to make sure they really live and breathe. Those documents are far easier to present than it is to collect ^$20,000 to ^$30,000 from common middle income citizens to hire a competent, non-politically aligned attorney to represent them in court.

Those very same citizens also know that the Planning Commission, that unanimously approved Hanover without an actual plan in hand (there isn’t one drawn yet apparently), has not done its job as required by the City Charter and the General Plan.

Oh, the City Attorney also represents the Planning Commission……and all other boards and commissions, as well, Housing Board, Human Services Commission, and yes, those can be considered "political appointments."

Questions, of course abound:

Oh, yes, these are the laws, but "we the people," not daily bent on political pursuits for our livelihood, are caught under the same laws that exist to regulate the professional politicians who have a tendency to bend every law that ever was enacted.

Hanover and Mr. Kenney, this discussion will continue in the forefront, in every campaign debate and on through the revitalization of the mature areas of Scottsdale.

Serious changes are needed to the city’s planning and design review processes and they are needed immediately.

Politicians seeking Mayor and Council seats must understand their responsibilities to their constituents in total and to the governmental process in which they wish to participate.

These are the things the candidates should and will be judged upon and the Hanover decision WILL come back and bite the  incumbents hard when the need it least… or maybe when we voters need it to bite them the most and so openly.

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Background: The Hanover Project received a General Plan Amendment to construct a mixed-use (retail and rental apartments) on 4.8 acres south of 5th Avenue in downtown Scottsdale.  The project covers an area from approximately Indian School Rd northward, west of Goldwater Blvd, north to 5th Avenue and westward almost to the curve where 5th meets Indian School Rd again.  It would remove the Village Inn, Ramada Inn and other office and retail businesses. It includes some 5 story components.

Mr. Eric Kenney has publicly stated that he and up to 50 of his people have been working on the project for 18 months and doesn’t understand the citizens concerns. Our question is why did he hire Susan Bitter-Smith, Paul Smith, Technical Solutions and zoning attorney John Berry instead of contacting the local Activists first as Yari Brothers and Wescor did to get the citizens input? Yari Brothers and Wescor have the citizen’s approval so far with what they presented to us and have agreed to the changes we recommended. Why not Kenney and Hanover?

Answer? They all knew there was no way any rational person would approve this project because, from what we’ve been told, THOSE PLANS ARE ACTUALLY NON-EXISTENT AT THIS POINT IN TIME!

There are apparently ZERO architectural plans, drawings, visuals, renderings, details of any sort, and the city passed this non-existent plan without those vital components being available. What was apparently available was a generic, "vanilla", clip-art rendering WHICH WAS NOT THE ACTUAL PLAN at all.

The City Commissions passed it unanimously, the City Council approved it on a 5-2 vote.  Many citizens consider the building proposed as "too tall, too dense, and too ugly".  A Referendum Drive to achieve 1960 plus signatures began.  In 15 days more than 3,000 signatures were collected.  The City of Scottsdale Clerk did a random check and more than 2500 signatures were approved.  The attorneys for Hanover filed suit in Superior Court against the City Council and City Clerk for accepting the petitions and to stop the measure from going to the voters on the September ballot.

Late Thursday, April 24th, Judge Peter Swann, granted the Plaintiff's request for injunction.  He accepted the argument that the original formation of the Political Committee H.A.D. (Height and Density) did not include the words "in support of" (the referendum), and because "AT THE OUTSET OF THE HEARING, THE CITY DEFENDANTS [City Attorney] ANNOUNCED THROUGH COUNSEL THAT THEY DID NOT OPPOSE THE MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT. "...he ruled in favor of Hanover.

Conclusion: Deep pockets, expensive attorneys working in conjunction with the most receptive, sympathetic and developer friendly city attorney the West has every known doomed any action by the electorate, even when they have signatures from at least 25% of those who will be voting in September.

Want to discuss your choices in the next election?

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~ Tom Giller a True Scottsdale Hero

Tom Giller put his job, his life, his bank account, his reputation and his family on hold because of something he firmly believes in which is to keep Scottsdale, the Scottsdale we have known and loved for almost 60 years, growing in a "Smart" and "Green" manner.

This man put in hundreds of hours as did his volunteers into seeing the Hanover Referendum to a successful end.

You say, "The effort was an overwhelming success but they lost in court".

That’s very true but how did they lose? By being totally outspent by a big spending Texas company committed to huge profits and to spending citizens into poverty, who wants what it wants, when it wants it no matter the cost to the community, the taxpayers or the neighbors, while being knowingly helped along by our own city attorney who is paid by the taxpayers, but who sided with Hanover and Kenney in Court room.

In our minds, all of those involved on the Hanover side; Susan Bitter-Smith, Paul Smith, Technical Solutions, zoning attorney John Berry, election attorney Tom Irvine, the city attorney, the city council majority as well as those associated with the Manross campaign for Mayor are the big losers, especially with an election just around the corner.

The entire Hanover consortium are the losers because it has now been publicly proved by Tom Giller and his group of honest, caring citizens that they were publicly, and unceremoniously buried by those in concert with a city council majority and staff who were more sympathetic to a deep pocketed Texas developer that let nothing get in the way of its huge profits, come hell or high water rather than allow the voters to accept or reject his project.

Why is Tom Giller a Hero? Because he took his precious time to get involved and to publicly state his case in the face of overwhelming odds. That is far more than any but two and sometimes three of our current city council members can say for themselves, and there are no incumbents that can claim such an action.

We need Tom Giller to run for city council. That is the type of integrity, honesty and intestinal fortitude necessary to stop the runaway train called "height and density at any costs" which is the major mantra of the Manross for Mayor Campaign and the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce.

Tom Giller IS NOT ANTI-GROWTH as many Manross supporters would have you believe, in actuality, he believes we need sustained smart growth to attain long term sustainability but

• it needs to be planned in detail with full citizen approvals,
   

• it needs to involve infrastructure updating and repairs,
   

• it needs to be affordable,
   

• it needs to be "above the cut" in design while maintaining a sophisticated western flavor and flair, and
   

• it needs to be "Green".

What more could you ask of a candidate? Show me a current incumbent or candidate other than Nan Nesvig who shares those same basic values and is willing to publicly state them?

None that we have heard from so far.

To understand recent road projects, including Indian School Road., which do very little to alleviate congestion, you need only review the quotes from Mary O'Connor, Jan Dolan, Dave Meinhart, and the rest of the Transportation staff to realize that increased congestion is a given.  

Those mentioned above inferred in almost the same words that as congestion increases, people will be persuaded to get out of their cars and find other modes of transportation, walking, biking, and busses.

Does anyone really believe that the level of service in 2030 will be the same as 2008 with 40,000 new jobs coming to the Indian Reservation on Pima, the increasing employment in the Air Park, as well as the areas on McDowell that will be available after the Auto Dealers have departed within the next year or two?

HDR's master plan was a sham and unfortunately will be used by Transportation Department  Director Mary O'Connor as the Bible for all future transportation planning.

Did you know that because of the Preserve, we don't need to increase capacity on Indian School?  That’s a direct quote from Mary O'Connor.

Nothing will ever change in this City until we elect people who will revamp the written policy documents that are being used presently by the staff.

Someday when you can't sleep, read the Design Standards and Policy Manual.

http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/design/dspm.asp

Then you will understand why these projects are continuing to happen.

If you are upset about Indian School Road project, take a look at the Scottsdale Road streetscape project.

In short, the response of the city’s leadership to keeping Chaparral Road alone is to reduce the capacity of Indian School Road to carry traffic. Say what?

Do we have an election coming? 

Is anyone going to make traffic and transportation an issue to be discussed?

~ Light Rail Comatose? NO CHANCE!!!

A group called the TIME Coalition is asking taxpayers state-wide to pay another penny in taxes for every dollar they spend that will amount to ^$42.6 billion dollars to build new roads and widen others.

It would also include over ^$7 billion for mass transit including expanded light rail in Maricopa County which could include rails right up the middle of Scottsdale Road from SkyStumble to "One Scottsdale" at the 101 freeway and Scottsdale Road.

Gee, who is one of the big honcho’s in MAG pushing this program and spending our hard earned money? You know her as Mayor Mary Manross, the VP of MAG.

Councilman Jim Lane pulled the Consent Agenda item containing the ^$50,000 payment to MAG to be openly discussed by the council. If approved, Scottsdale would able to sit at the table concerning the light rail system in Maricopa County. It was approved by the council majority but strongly rejected by Lane, Littlefield and Nelssen who obviously lost the chance to stop the continuation of the discussion for light rail to come straight up Scottsdale Road.

Now you know exactly why Manross, Ecton, Drake and McCullagh wouldn’t rule out light rail in Scottsdale by voting against Lane, Littlefield and Nelssen who refused to fund that item or to sit at the light rail table.

Sorry Robert Leger, editorial editor for the Scottsdale Republic, you need to start doing your homework in detail instead of taking the mayor’s and her supporters word for everything Scottsdale.

Concerning the current Transportation Plan for Scottsdale, why would the Director of Scottsdale Transportation, namely Mary O’Connor decide, without publicized public input, to narrow major and minor city arterials and create far more congestion and pollution such as what’s currently planned on Indian School Road when smart people statewide are talking about widening our roads to reduce congestion and pollution which will also increase gas mileage?

In our opinion after trying unsuccessfully to work to reach consensus on issues with her department, its time the public took Mary O’Connor to task by demanding her resignation or her firing for what we have determined to be pure incompetence concerning the condition of our deteriorating residential streets, minor and major arterials in Scottsdale, and the frivolous, unnecessary spending of taxpayer dollars.

In addition, she and her department has allegedly used 2000 bond money which was targeted for road, curb, sidewalk and gutter repairs to instead build totally unnecessary million dollar roundabouts, traffic calming devices and neighborhood entry islands which come with expensive weekly repair and monthly and sometimes bi-weekly upkeep.

Her mentor and boss city manager Jan Dolan was released by the city council for supposed "unknown" reasons after she became the distrusted and most disrespected city manager this city has ever seen due to her reportedly nasty and secretive form of management and overt favoritism.

Mary O’Connor was hired by and trained by Jan Dolan and should make the move to resign before someone or some city entity makes that decision for her which the citizens will get behind once they find out the facts behind what O’Connor’s plans are for Scottsdale traffic flow problems.

It’s time for Mary O’Connor to set down, on her own accord or with help from the city manager or city council. Shall we present a signed citizen petition so our displeasure with O'Connor is on the official record?

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To all of those Bloggers and pseudo-politicos supporting Mayor Manross: You are not helping her cause with your "Pollyanna" propagandizing, you are helping the naysayer’s and we thank you profusely for that help!

There are serious issues confronting the City of Scottsdale and by not addressing them you are allowing them to grow and get out of hand.

You claim that she is cut from the same "cloth" as our late Mayor Herb Drinkwater. Well, excuse us! From personal experience, many of us know that Herb was always the first to say mistakes were made and take full responsibility for them because he was the Mayor and understood what was expected of him.

Now, none of us expect this Mayor to do that because she never has followed that tact. She is the first one to take credit and receive the awards for, of course, things she never had anything to do with.

Take for example the Granite Reef Senior Center and its LEED standing. Never once has she spoken of the leadership on staff that actually was responsible for that project.

Then take SkySong…….She takes credit for the deal, and well she should, and there is room to take that positive and negative. BUT she is also responsible for that project not being green because the Green Building Program was cut out of the discussion completely which has given us a class "B" generic office building at best as fully confirmed by a certified specialist in green buildings.

This is the same Mayor who trumpeted commitment to Green Building and Sustainability on April 3, standing amongst buildings that should have been Green, but she never asserted her power to see that the requirements were met.

Let us talk about that "sustainability" part. Now the Mayor’s supporters have yet to state in the Blogs what she and they mean, when they use the term "sustainability." To them the story is all about the number of dollars invested during the last four years.

There is no discussion as to whether any of the new developments in the Downtown Area have followed the City’s General Plan, the City’s guidelines for Green Building or the States guidelines for mandatory Smart Growth.

Many residents in Scottsdale couldn’t care less about all of these things. It is true and fully understandable being that city government since Drinkwater never listens to the citizens anyway. Government is only important when their property is being directly threatened or their personal safety and comfort are being directly compromised. Anybody else’s situation can go to blazes.

Manross and her supporters care about the dollar signs and the legacy she will leave by the number of buildings built, and nothing more.

Quality of life for everyone in Scottsdale was important to Mayor Drinkwater. His vision of the future was not the purposeful elimination of places, neighborhoods and the people as Mayor Mary Manross has done to those who have lived here and worked to make Scottsdale the many times awarded city it is today.

It’s your city people. Is this how you want it run, or do you want to make the most important changes in the next election by throwing out those who have not taken you, the citizen, into serious consideration?

It’s all up to you, the voters.

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SkySong is one of the biggest offenders of the dust situation according to the Saturday April 19^th Scottsdale Tribune.

Why is it that the city tries to control the rural areas and private property owners thereon while allowing their own urban property at SkySong and also at the new Camelback Park and their humongous and ugly dirt pile at 73^rd and Butherus to be some of the biggest offenders in the entire city?

Maybe the city needs to get its house in order before it goes after the little guys and gals in the rural areas who kick up little to no dust in comparison which generally falls to the ground long before it gets close to another home or an urban area.

By the way, the "Brown Cloud" everyone talks about contains very little to no dust from rural hobby farms, private horse ranches, equine trails, arenas, etc in its composition according to many Eco websites.

It should also be noted here that the fencing around the new Camelback Park will have screening installed beginning this next week as required by city codes according to the Code Enforcement Department.

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The president of AAWC wrote an article in the Thursday Scottsdale Tribune stating that

That’s rather sadly humorous when his company totally ignored Scottsdale resident’s repeated pleas to bury the 24 foot tall tanks to ground level that now disgrace the Historic Cattle Track District which now stand as two memorials to the refusal of AAWC to do exactly what their president claimed they are committed to. They didn’t ask AAWC to eliminate the tanks, they simply asked AAWC to bury the two tanks so they wouldn’t be seen and wouldn’t block the view of Camelback Mountain for a number of residents.

How far do you trust his above spoken words based upon the 2 examples now starkly standing disgustingly tall and obtrusive in the Cattle Track Historic District of Scottsdale?

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How is it that Manross and company cry poor and we need to pass bonds to the tune of hundreds of millions dollars to take care of our basic city needs, yet the council passes out ^$3 million to the Cultural Council and for the Soleri Bridge which are not necessary expenditures during hard economic times for the city and for residents?

The Monolith Group through Tony Ardizzone has advised the Desert Hills North community that they have abandoned plans to build the commercial building they were considering building on the residentially zoned property at Cactus Road and the 101 Freeway. Any such construction would require rezoning and other changes to accept the commercial building in a residential neighborhood.

We would like to congratulate as well as thank the Monolith Group and Tony Ardizzone for heeding the requests and demands of the neighborhood.

It’s too bad other developers cannot be so conscientious and community sensitive in their greedy desire for over the top profits and control.

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 ~Letters to the Editor  

We had four (4) Letters to the Editor this week which we could not print for legal liability reasons.

We truly regret not being able to print them even though they were apparently factually true in reference to person(s) and/or court case(s) which are reasonably current topics and situations, but it could have put the authors of said letters as well as possibly the Scottsdale Activist in legal jeopardy which none of us can afford.

With that said, we felt the letters had great merit, but were too direct to be printed without possible legal recourse, frivolous or otherwise, from those targeted or discussed.

When writing letters,

• Be careful not to make direct accusations without in-hand facts to back you up in case of a legal challenge by your Target, and you are able to defend yourself legally and financially,
   

• Never call a person or an entity names in writing you wouldn't use on someone you respect unless the names are factual and can be proved without a doubt,
   

• Being strongly disrespectful or using gratuitous or foul language can be grounds for a lawsuit under some conditions, especially from "small minded" people with huge insatiable egos who sue just to be suing,
   

• If you have verifiable facts but cannot reveal from where the facts were received, ask a pertinent question(s) about the subject as you know it/them to be without it being accusatory or direct in nature.
   

• Remember that some people file frivolous and petty, fact-less lawsuits just to cause trouble and temporarily shut down publications and media venues without any true facts or any merit because you hit them hard where it really hurts, and the truth always hurts and infuriates those who don't deal in the whole or complete truth in their dealings,
   

• Remember that corporations, large private enterprises, and some others have far deeper pockets and very high powered attorneys on staff that can turn a period into a comma with just a wink and a few well spoken words, and that's why they paid a pricy retainer.
   

• Pick you battles well with good legal counsel and a bankroll before stepping out on a limb.
   

• ALWAYS know the complete answers to your questions BEFORE you ask them.
   

• Remember that "Money Talks" and many lawsuits are filed because they know their case is extremely weak, but they also know you don't have the financial ability to answer the suit properly.

We again apologize for not printing the letters, but you can see that because of the subject matter, and current threats of lawsuits by a select few, now would not be the time to print such letters even though they are on target in our opinion.

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 ~A "Downtown Oz" Created by the Wicked Witch

Well Ozites, I couldn’t think of a better way to introduce you to Downtown Oz "Entertainment District" (Scottsdale) as currently designed, heavily promoted and voted for by none other than the Wicked Witch herself (your Mayor, Mary Manross) and her 3 Ring Circus (Council Majority) and enthusiastically implemented by none other than our city staff (Wizard of Oz now departed), the legal council of Befuddlement (Deborah Robberson) and Acting City Manager Snidely Whiplash (John Little), and fully supported and promoted by your Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce.

The following link makes the "Pink Taco" and the strip clubs media circus absolutely a non-event.

We rarely present anything like this for public consumption but because the Mayor, other incumbents as well as others are using this as their shining example of their work, it's only fair to present certain areas and what participants in our downtown area are really doing which is being splattered all over the Internet.

Be forewarned, this is very "R" rated, Gross and quite shocking to many, not fit for anyone under 18 or someone sensitive to "R" rated material, is not censored, has foul language, and goes on daily & nightly in downtown Oz. 

This is NOT for any purpose other than to educate and bring to the attention of the citizens as to what is really going on in the Mayor's pride and joy area of the city.

We guess being "Eco Friendly" means no or little clothing and naked body painting according to these videos. "Fun" means girls fist fighting in a city parking garage or getting totally blasted and doing really stupid and apparently illegal things.

This is something you won't soon forget and will want to do something about ASAP!

The council majority is like the "3 monkeys"; See no evil, hear no evil, and report no evil, but keep sending in the tax money!!

Welcome to the Mayor's REAL Downtown Scottsdale

Chief Rodbell and staff, can you please check on this for the citizens?

Click the link http://www.scottsdales.tv/index.php then click on any of the thumbnails (little pictures) to bring up the videos to see what’s really going on in downtown Oz.

You will note Ozites that one of the videos is taken at a little place on Craftsman’s Court, called "NEXT".

Recall, if you will, that this is the bar that is running on a refused conditional use permit and that the city is to chicken to enforce their own laws (Money talks, again?).

Harkin back to a previous bit of information we provided about the bars, the CUP and all of the "fun" things people do when they are out of control. Let me see,

Our great leaders of present day actually denied a conditional use permit for a Downtown bar ("NEXT") and the owner filed suit.

The end result of this is that even though the applicant brought his request back recently, and then removed it due to some opposition, he is still operating in the city illegally without a CUP and the city has never taken the time to take him to court or shut him down.

Directly after his CUP was denied the first time there was a gun fight in front of his establishment that left holes in cars and shops and required many officers many hours to deal with it, taking time away from community patrols.

For a number of years I have reviewed the applications of some of these people that the city and state give licenses to and I just die in amazement when they come up for a CUP because their dining establishments fail to serve 40% food. Like a bunch of morons we approve them with glee and happiness to have them there.

Don’t get me wrong fellow Ozites, we have many good establishments where we can eat and drink and feel safe downtown (as long as we get to park near them and don’t hang out past sunset for too long), but the bad ones far outweigh the good and bring in an unsavory element to Oz as shown in the videos. (Scottsdale Activist, Living In The Land of OZ, Aug. 8, 2007)

 http://www.scottsdales.tv/index.php

We aren’t saying that all in Scottsdale should give up drink, teetotalers we are not, but "free enterprise" is not free, so living in a civil society there are regulations. Drinking is fine, but do so responsibly so we don’t see you on Scottsdales.tv.

We also do not want to cast a shadow on Chief Rodbell’s presentation at the Mayor’s Breakfast this week. Yes, crime stats are down and the Police Department has been putting new teeth into enforcement.

The Three Ring Circus and the Wicked Witch are the ones who deal with all of the issues above, and then there is the Legal Council of Befuddlement (and nobody is sure what she does), all should be looking at these Conditional Use Permits and revitalization projects with a careful eye so that law enforcements job is not made more difficult and the community made less safe for residents and tourists.

Ok, Ozites, the Horton and Umpa Lumpa just got back from their workout on the Canal Bank and they are distressed, so we’ll go take a look and see what’s up now.

I really don’t think I need to add anything else for Oz this week, do you?

by Nancy Cantor for
Michael Merrill
The Brutal Critic
F8713@aol.com

Almost all of the myriad political philosophies can be distilled to two competing ideas:

Individualism holds that people own their bodies and the fruits of their labor, and that they can do what they want with both as long as they don’t harm anyone else. Under this idea, the purpose of government is to protect what people own from predators.

Collectivism holds that the king, emperor, alpha male, clan, tribe, state, Nancy Pelosi, or George W. Bush owns people’s bodies and the fruits of their labor. Under this idea, the purpose of government is to force people to work for other people, either through slavery, serfdom, tribalism, nationalism, communism, fascism, socialism, Jacobinism, imperialism, mercantilism, utilitarianism, progressivism, modern-day liberalism, neo-conservatism, Obama-ism, Clinton-ism, or McCain-ism.

I can complicate this with an egghead discussion of the great philosophers through the ages, but we’d just go full circle and end up with the two competing ideas. You either own your body and the fruits of your labor, or other people own them.

With the exception of voluntary communes and utopian social experiments, collectivism depends on force. Public education is an example. People who don’t use government schools are forced to subsidize those who do, including wealthy people who use them. If public schools are so great, then why do they depend on force?

The same question can be asked about nationalized healthcare.

With individualism and its sibling of capitalism, social and business relationships are voluntary, including feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and educating the poor. The other "isms’ are based on involuntary relationships.

The greatest terrors in the world have come at the hands of collectivists; yet collectivists continue to characterize individualists as mean-spirited, selfish and uncaring.

When taken to its logical conclusion, collectivism results in the absurdity of communism. But individualism would not result in absurdity if taken to its logical conclusion. There is no reductio ad absurdum of individualism.

Collectivists say that individualism leads to social Darwinism, but if individualism had prevailed around the world throughout human history, there would have been no slavery, no genocide, no mass starvation, no gulags, no Holocaust, no Jim Crow, no income gap between blacks and whites, and no constituency for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Hundreds of millions of people wouldn’t have died for someone’s collective notion.

The logical conclusion of individualism may be utopian, but it isn’t absurd.

What is absurd is that collectivism has won in the United States, which was the last hope for individualism. Collectivism’s victory has been so total that individualism is no longer even mentioned as an option by the political, media, business and education establishment.

Do you think that you own your body and the fruits of your labor? Don’t be absurd.

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

~ 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 .

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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 ignorin