Volume '07-03
Published Saturdays Jan
20, 2007
The Scottsdale Activist
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~ Weekly Editorial -- Staff
~ Food for Thought - Take It or Leave It
~ Shout and Spout, Hard hitting, and driving it home.
~ Thought for the Week -- Thomas Jefferson
~ Quote(s) of the Week -- Various
~ Information You Can Use
Other Stuff of Interest
~ Look up Prior Editions? Click a on date to open.
~ Scottsdale Canal Development a City Planned Slum?
Slum Property and total Code Enforcement failure across from Fashion Square?
No!!
You’re kidding!!
Really??
Do not be surprised at the property where the new condos and 100 foot hotel are planned is in such dire condition. The city did the same exact thing when they claimed Downtown a Slum and Redevelopment area.
Now people like the Mayor and City Manager claim such great success and investment that they created when in fact the only reason the Downtown has taken off is because they finally lifted the stigma of the Redevelopment designation.
The city, and especially the Mayor or City Manager, had absolutely nothing to do with the success of Downtown no matter how loudly they scream it to the rafters.
What is taking place here is the same thing, just that the city is not putting that title on it while letting the other forces depress the area hoping for the same results.
When asked about the Scottsdale Canal Development LLC property, Councilman Ron McCullagh said the following:
"I routinely walk the area which was photographed, and it has been in an undesirable condition for years. Recently, it has been allowed to further deteriorate. I suspect it is because the property manager is in the process of vacating the buildings for demolition. That may also explain why more code enforcement files have not been opened. In my opinion, the neighbors who plan to remain in the neighborhood deserve better enforcement. In talking with the neighbors, they seem grateful just at the prospect of having the multi-family units, which back up to the canal, about to be demolished."
Once again we run up against the handy dandy city manager and the "Power Broker" game called "It has always been that way so why bother now."
This exists, with people living in some of the dilapidated, deplorable buildings which shouldn’t be occupied for numerous health and safety reasons by anyone in the area that attorney John Berry was talking about in last weeks newspaper. He represents the owner of the assembled 10.35 acres of property in the Minnezona neighborhood. They would like to build a luxury 5 star hotel and condo project on the east side of the canal at 73rd Street and Minnezona, to the north of Camelback Rd rising to about 100 feet without regard for the residents of Villa Monterey neighborhood directly east of the proposed project.
The afore described seriously unsafe slum condition exists on several sites in that area and code enforcement has not done anything about it. When properties like this are allowed to deteriorate it drives property values down and allows developers to buy them up at lower prices. It also creates unsafe living conditions for everyone including those people who do not want to sell, but might be forced into selling by developer's purposeful neglect.
This is also called "inverse condemnation" and "neighborhood assemblage" in the investment and development industry.
If Code Enforcement purposely backed off on this area as it appears they did, then the City is guilty of purposely creating a slum.
What burns us up is that there are people living in these buildings, paying rent to somebody under conditions not one single person will acknowledge exists in Scottsdale. Seems all that developers and their legal reps care about is "five star luxury and building height."
It might not be a screaming number of people living in poverty in our City, but that does not mean this whole thing should be accepted or that any Charter Officer should be getting a raise while it exists.
There is no excuse for the deplorable situation that those people live in whether tenants or neighbors.
With the controversy over the Summit project and as close as that area is to the "W" Hotel and the Safari projects, one would think the area would have been under closer scrutiny for such problems.
We say that because we have heard that Code Enforcement was told to steer clear of this property and the area, as this is not the only property on that side of the bank with problems.
I wonder who has the ability to have Code steer clear of an area? Jan Dolan? Ed Gawf? Judy Register? Mayor Manross?
If anyone in Code Enforcement, on the City Council or in City Managers Office knew, or knows, about what is taking place, shame on one and all.
The code word for this process of intentional property devaluation so developers can buy land cheap is "redevelopment". Notice that City Manager Dolan admitted in her interview with the Republic that light rail is a "redevelopment" tool rather than a transportation solution.
Sound like another John Berry – Jan Dolan "Done Deal" in the works? We think so too, but we’ll bet it goes the way of "One Scottsdale". Any takers?
Yeah, we know, this is all the conspiracy that the paper never believes is taking place in our fine city, it is all brought on by us crack pot, rabble rousing morons who are to stupid to see through the issues.
We can look forward to more of the same in the redevelopment areas impacting the mature neighborhoods. The single family residents of the Minnezona area should take no comfort in what is going on over there. If the City can turn a blind eye to the multifamily properties they can and are going to do it with the individually owned properties. One property, One neighborhood, one subdivision, and one section of the city at a time until the city of Scottsdale is an ultra urban, high density city without character or a sustainable future.
That is what we’re all very dismayed about..............
~ Photo Radar Fails, Judges Take Licenses Anyway
Well, who would have guessed that the Mayor of this city along with a couple of Council Members would be falling all over themselves claiming success in taming the State Freeway and threatening the State that if they do not take over the systems, the city will turn them back on?
Let’s not consider the fact that the council should have waited until the full report was concluded as even the presenter Dr. Washington made the comments of using "caution" in their decisions as the report is not completed and very well could change in the end.
Now must of us already know the fix is in and the report will conclude that the systems were great and should be put in on the entire freeway system of the State.
To bad the report is already skewed as there is limited information now, no information regarding other issues, the stupidity of saying that even though rear end collisions have grown by 100% and just in the off peak times, that it is a trade off to other crashes, or even the fact that the freeway had already been showed to be the safest section of the 101 system even before they put the cameras up.
Is it not funny that in all the reference material that is noted at the end of the 92-page report, there is not one study they used which showed the negative effects and contradicts the studies Dr. Washington used?
Is it not funny that this was supposed to be an "independent" report with no conflicts, but on page 14 of the report, Dr. Washington notes that he and Shin have already done photo radar work for the city of Scottsdale? Well, if you have lived here long enough you would know this is the way things get done in this city and why ASU seems to run the city along with Scottsdale Healthcare and the Chamber of Commerce, as well as our Developer friends.
Since Dr. Washington has already concluded that the Scottsdale Section of the 101 is the safest section of this Loop with only 3 fatal accidents since 2000 through 2005 and even stated this section of the freeway actually preformed better than expected; what was the supposed purpose of this as safety was not but Money could have been huh?
Could it also have been that since Redflex is based in Scottsdale and already has ties to the city, that maybe they talked the city into doing this so they could gain a foothold on the Freeway systems of the USA?
Could it be that they will also get a no-bid contract to continue using their system under either an IGA with the city and the State, or that the State would just give them the contract without using the formal bid processes and requirements?
We can forget about a real report on what it has done to traffic flow as it was clearly stated that they had no information period of the traffic flow before the program started and nothing to base their flow data on, but I ma sure the Mayor will say the change was minimal at best.
Now it was stated that the report will not be completed until Spring, and the city has already thrown the gauntlet down to the State, and even Dr. Washington says the numbers could change, and I bet they will since the report does not even include the crash statistics from peak travel times, but I bet they will figure a way to tell us how those can be traded or swapped for reductions in other crashes again.
What about peak time crashes that include about 6 to 7 hours of the daily routine?
When you get up in the morning to go to work and turn on the TV what is it you see from the road reports?
You see traffic snarled from miles because of what? Crashes
When you turn on your radio in the evening on the way home, what do you hear from the radio station trying to guide you home? Crashes.
Makes you wonder what we are really trading crashes for here and the audacity of saying that rear end crashes are not more important or damaging than say a side swipe accident.
What we can hope for is that the State does decide to take the systems over and moves them to where there are problems since this section of the freeway is not the problem and our council is, but further to the point we hope DPS takes it over and removes them from the 101 against the wishes of our Mayor and quietly shit cans the whole project.
That will free up the State Legislators from having to ban them outright and get to work on other issues.
Now, if you want some REAL interesting reading on how the system REALLY works on the justice side of it in Scottsdale and the problems we already pointed out with giving judges who are city employees the power to deal with these cases, than you should really love this link to a rather startling article in the Chandler Arizona Times.
http://thechandlertimes.com/jan07-feature1.asp
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~ Ecton Embarrassed Himself and Citizens
The most embarrassing event of the last few years was the way Councilman Ecton polished the Jan Dolan "apple" as he expounded on her wonderful deeds while totally dodging all of her faults, miscues, total screw-ups, failure to accept responsibilities, her responsibility for the deplorable Code Enforcement Audit, and the way the city employee morale has plummeted to the cellar in less than 4 years under her management causing a serious health care cost crisis.
He also purposely failed to mention the 15 million dollar boondoggle and other costly financial problems which are staring the city taxpayers straight in the face very soon because of Dolan's inability to do her job properly and responsibly.
What is City Manager Jan Dolan holding over Ecton's head to have him seem to swoon over her work and her ability in such a raving terms? Did she help him put his downtown condo deal together?
He also tried to justify his position on city audits again by attacking City Auditor Cheryl Dreska but yet saying that he never tried to control the Auditors work or her job. Mr. Ecton, would you like us to quote you from the record??
Councilman Ecton demands a softer, gentler audit department. Since when does a successful company or city have a softer and gentler audit department? An Audit Department is suppose to hold the city's feet to the fire if they do anything which is in anyway against or devalues any of the assets of the company or city, then require that certain changes per their suggestions must be made immediately.
Cheryl Dreska deserves a Metal for Courage for standing her ground to protect the taxpayers from the likes of Ecton and those who are desperately trying to bury the terrible and possibly untraceable and secret spending habits as well as the huge blunders of Jan Dolan and others within the city who hate being held to their listed responsibilities, ethical conduct, and honesty to the city taxpayers.
Ecton and company have already taken away the ability of the City Auditor to make reasonable suggestions for fixing problems and the Code Enforcement debacle is a prime example of the Ecton-Dolan plan to slowly destroy the credibility of the city financial situation in favor of the developers.
Why hasn't our crack and far oversized city legal department stepped in
to correct this questionable situation? Could it be they are in
someone's pocket? What does Dolan have hanging over the City Legal
Department?
It's time Ecton was brought into line and Dolan was fired as we have stated all along. How long are the "Four Wimpy Mice" of the council majority going to continue to rip off the taxpayers with their shenanigans and secret plans for the city and the taxpayers money?
Maybe Councilman Ecton would like the city seal changed from the old one that would buck you off if you misbehaved, to a new one such as the one with the smile..... but absolutely no teeth or conscience, like the Queen Mother.
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~ Health Problems from New Hayden Water Plant? ** The following anonymous note came to us and we are printing it not being sure how the city is handling the supposed problem. It may be exactly as stated which we would venture is most probably true. It could be true, but the contaminated water could also be "blended" so the contaminant levels fall just within the EPA standards which is a temporary solution but needs to be corrected with a lasting solution. Hopefully, the public awareness of the possible problem will force the city to come clean and fully divulge all contaminant levels in the processed water from this new plant and where the delivery area is. Gee, wouldn't that be novel. Mr. Editor, I came across your web page a few days ago and I find most of the information that it contains to be true. However, you have only scraped the surface. A lot of what goes on is covered up by city management, never to see the light of day. Here is one that no one outside the city knows. The new water plant, on Hayden and McDonald is generating cancer causing agents to the citizens of Scottsdale. They produce 3 times the allowable limit of THM's and are in no hurry to fix the problem. They are in no rush because the city does not have to report them to the state until next year. By that time how many people will get sick and or die. Who cares right? Anonymous Shout and Spout Research From: http://www.southerndatastream.com/thm/index.html#health
TTHM health issues Some scientific studies have linked TTHM to increased risk of cancer. Several studies suggest a small increase in the risk of bladder cancer and colorectal cancer. Beyond the cancer and reproduction concerns, some investigations have found that chlorination by-products may be linked to heart, lung, kidney, liver, and central nervous system damage. Other studies have linked TTHM to reproductive problems, including miscarriage. A California study found a miscarriage rate of 15.7% for women who drank 5 or more glasses of cold water containing more than 75 ppb TTHM, compared to a miscarriage rate of 9.5% for women with a low TTHM exposure. A North Carolina study investigating the same question but found no strong relationship between TTHM and problem pregnancies. When taken in total, the cancer evidence is probably the strongest among these possible health risks. For these reasons total trihalomethanes (TTHM) in public water supplies are limited to 0.1 ppm (100 ppb).Of the THMM compounds, Dibromochloromethane was the most closely associated with cancer risk, (0.6 ug/l to cause a one in one million cancer risk increase) followed in order by Bromoform, Chloroform, and Dichlorobromomethane. These distinctions among the specific chemical by-products of is a result of toxicological, not empidemiological studies. Current regulations limit the concentration of these four chemicals added together (total trihalomethane or TTHM levels) to 100 ug/l. TTHM can be be found in chlorinated water supplies and in the air of buildings where running water and showers release the chemicals into the room, however, the EPA has determined that this airborne exposure is minimal compared to that from consumption. The National Institutes of Health provides a searchable database on chemical health studies.ppm = parts per million (1E-6) ~ And the Self Imposed "Ignoration" goes on............... Isn't it amazing how the "esteemed" members of the city council glide effortlessly along;
It $till amaze$ me how the$e City Council bureaucrat$ $leep at night unless they have $omething coming for them per$onally that we don't know about once they are out of office. It's widely speculated and just short of being confirmed that Manross and Ecton will end up with $125,000 jobs as directors on the ASU Foundation or for SkySong. Manross could also end up with a cushy state job due to her political connections. We need to very closely watch all members of the council who will be coming up for election to see who has the citizens best interest at heart, or who is selling themselves to the highest bidder for campaign finances for their re-election.
~ How Much Sales Tax Do We Really Receive? Everyone at city level tells us that we make millions of dollars in sales tax revenue from the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction at West World and other such affairs here in Scottsdale. Word has it that to save having to pay Scottsdale sales tax to the tune of 7.95%, the buyers are having their purchases delivered to them in their home towns by auto transport companies in other states which allows them to pay the taxes at the rate of their home towns and avoid paying taxes to the city of Scottsdale. Hmmmmm, are we being hornswoggled again by the Manross-Dolan team of "Find the Marble" and what you don't know won't hurt you?
~Letters to the Editor ~
letters@scottsdaleactivist.com Sometimes I have to ask the question that most of you dread hearing. Is this city on Crack or have we gone so far over the deep end that we should we come to council with torches and pitchforks, yeah, like that has done any good in the past huh? Pay raises for charter officers is a prime example of insanity at its finest as our City attorney was cleared by one of her subordinates as not being a charter officer even though the city organizational chart shows she is one, and her review and pay raise comes as part of the Charter Officer Review. Tell me how this can be as it appears to most citizens that either we are the ones on crack or it is this council? Tell me how this report from Mr. Washington on the 101 is one that has no ties to the city and is independent, but on page 14, the second paragraph, Shin and Washington refer to a past study they conducted for the city? What, are we all on crack again to believe this is an independent report because if it is, than why did you not use NAU who also holds contracts with the State on this matter and already provided a 2 year study to ADOT? Yeah, it is just a coincidence I guess. Political sign ban is another issue, as that is exactly what it is and amazes me that when 6 council members wanted the issue changed as it was a direct attack against political signs, city staff brought back just that, a ban that revolves around nothing more than political signs. Geez Mary, how much farther are you willing to go to erode the Constitutional Rights of Americans? Wait, I forgot, you and Ron are up for re-election next year huh? What is going on with the R1-7 zoning issue as I had a call from Lida Stewart today telling me the city passed something swiftly and without the publics knowledge and all of a sudden we have homes exceeding the 50% of the original floor space and homes extending out to the sidewalks, and towering over the street light poles? I sent you all pictures of some massive remodel that has all of those characteristics and now have found there are even more, but when I spoke to the city on the text change, they told me the power point I was looking at did not affect that text amendment ? I guess I must have smoked to much crack as Mr. Grey claims I was confused about the issue and now I have to go and hear it re-explained to me on the 18th at a public meeting at the senior center. Is the city really condoning slum property to be used to devalue the property prices on the east side of the canal across from Fashion Square so developers can buy it up cheaper to put up more high rises along a canal that for some reason is now considered a water feature? I guess the pictures from my camera are also crack related that I sent you and the Canal really is a great water feature as we watch the brown water flow and the scum and garbage build up at the grates. I guess we were also all on crack when we heard that housing on the Sky Diaper site that was so widely talked about, that we made it clear in the lease that it was not allowed, and now I am just plain confused on what we talk about to the city on issues anymore. The final attack of stupidity I noted today was being trapped on McDowell as one lane in every direction was closed except for the lane where the big dump truck broke down and I sat helplessly watching 4 police officers stand around and scratch their butts instead of helping the traffic flow, by getting in the middle of the intersection and directing traffic. Sure am glad we passed that tax increase so we can watch them sit around instead of helping out a little huh? Personally, I think it is the city that is on crack anymore, either that or we have a lot of cracked people running this city. Regards, Mike Merrill – Craig Cantoni When a Scottsdale activist first told me the news about the 26 townhouses planned for the Bellview neighborhood just south of Sky Song, three thoughts crossed my mind. First, because old, run-down apartments will be torn down to make way for the townhouses, affordable housing advocates will get in a tizzy over the reduction in the city’s stock of affordable housing. Second, nearby homeowners will be happy to say goodbye to the apartments and the problems they attracted. And third, it’s great that private money is finally being invested near Scottsdale’s great socialist experiment of Sky Song. Phew! Only one of my thought has proved to be correct: the one about nearby homeowners being happy. Affordable housing advocates aren’t in a tizzy, because the townhouse developer, the nonprofit Community Services of Arizona, Inc., said that 12 of the 26 townhouses will be sold for about $300,000 to people who make 80 percent of the area’s median income. That doesn’t seem very affordable to me and is certainly not as affordable as the existing apartments. But it’s apparently enough to mollify housing advocates. Wanting to know where CSA gets its money, I went to its website, www.csaz.org. From what I could gather there, CSA is a money-laundering operation--not in an illegal sense, but in the sense that it takes taxpayer money from various state and federal agencies and redistributes it to communities for housing initiatives. To get clarification, I called the CSA president and CEO Brian Swanton. But since it was late Friday afternoon, he couldn’t be reached. But I did reach the director of finance, Mark Kochman, and the director of asset management, Ruben Ruiz. Both are nice guys, but neither could answer this question: "What percentage of CSA’s funding is public money, and what percentage of the funding for the Bellview townhouses will be public money?" Kochman said he didn’t know, because he was fairly new in his job. Ruiz said he it might be a "tax credit bond deal under Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code". Subsequent research revealed that Section 42 is a way of funding areas designated by HUD as "difficult development areas." Then, in a news story in this newspaper, I learned that Scottsdale had awarded CAS $825,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds. Apparently, socialist Sky Song is attracting more socialism. An author and consultant, Mr. Cantoni can be reached at ccan2@aol.com. ~ ……And it Ain’t A Philly Cheese Steak The speeders laugh at our camera program and they better pray we don't end up with a program that exists in Philadelphia, There are red lights at the entrances to the freeway and you cannot enter until the light is green, then you pull into the lanes and surprise, there is a Police Pace Car waiting for you at another red light. When you get the green the police car takes off and sets the pace and he will drive the length of the freeway. He never goes over the speed limit and you don't dare pass him. This process is repeated hundreds of times during the day using many police cars to keep the traffic moving. You complainers, who think the camera system is bad, pray you don't end up like Philly. Know someone from Philly? Ask them it's true. Been there, done that, Richard Graham ~ Steve Steinberg Forgot his Place & Purpose A friend clipped Steve Steinberg's "My Turn" article in the Scottsdale Republic and saved it for me as I've been away most of the month. Shocked, surprised and sad are the words that come to mind at the pillorying innuendo and total ignorance of purpose, perhaps purposeful because of the conflict in views, regarding the "One Scottsdale" DMB project's changes and financial stipend, now withdrawn, this project sought approval for, from our City Council. Fact is far from reality, in this withering tirade, which is totally out of character for any member of the Planning Commission. This commission should in fact be a neutral body listening to all sides which they obviously did not do with regard to the extreme verticality of this project’s skyscrapers. Especially in light of the fact that despite some grumbling among its members they did approve the Gaudy mess called Sky Song. The question to ask of Steve and the rest of the commission is; Are your views in conflict with the general Scottsdale citizenry while in accord with those of big developers? We all know property taxes on tall condominium construction in our midst produces virtually nothing for the city coffers. The only real income to our city comes from the first floor retail sales taxes. No one of the so called minority, who feels that they are in fact the majority view, ever denigrated the "One Scottsdale" project's design concept. Nor was it ever compared to the frightful result, of the approved architecture, now rising on the old Los Arcos land, which the Planning Commission did OK. The essential logos of the peoples demand for disapproval of the second bite of the "One Scottsdale" apple, by DMB, had to do with once again tampering with the line in the sand, of a round two, height of the structure increases and too financial handouts of town taxpayers money for their infrastructure, PERIOD. The coming together of many residents north, central and south, in opposition to the project was its overreaching height. Speak all you wish about the illegal placement of the flag draped eyesore out at West World, and we have. However, we are advised by council members that it is temporary and will in time be gone from our midst. Juxtapose this with "One Scottsdale's" proposed project height and we have edifices we will be stuck with for a very long time. It was not an issue of NIMBY nor the fact that the design fit well on the land. Nor did the chorus of voices in opposition represent a few residents who oppose issues for the sake of opposition." The underlying and very glaring issue here is simple: its Zoning and changing it willy nilly at the whim of developers. Stop doing projects in this city on a one by one case basis and establish lines in concrete that can not be violated by project amendment requests to create towers of overarching verticality in a city whose citizenry and obviously its tourists really prefer the beauty of the surrounding views and vistas of nature, in its regal glory, to pillars of steel, glass and concrete. As a community we imposed a great taxpayer burden on ourselves to save and protect nature, not architectural edifices, as the beauty of this city, which can not be matched in lasting quality to anyone's architecture. And yes, it is likely that even a modern day Michelangelo would find the same opposition if it sought to raise pillars of obstruction on this city's viewscapes. Vision in this city and what keeps tourists coming back, in the eyes and souls of many of us is, in fact, found in the livability and the beauty of nature surrounding this city. Rita Saunders-Hawranek ~ The REAL Facts on Photo Radar Read the Facts Before you Call Us Stupid or Speeders. It's about the Law!! Senator Verschoor is appearing on Horizon Monday night, January 22 to be the "con" side of the Photo Radar Discussion. Welcome back to our returning State Lawmakers and a Hello to our newly elected Lawmakers. My name is Michael Merrill, a native of the great State of Arizona and I am writing to all of you on a subject I also wrote to many of you about last year as well as taking time from work to appear at the State hearings and speaking regarding the issue of Photo Radar Systems placed on our "State Freeways" by cities with no jurisdiction on those freeways. First I would like to remind our state leaders of the issue of the violation of state laws that have been allowed to happen in this issue under ARS section 28-627. Powers of local authorities; definition Section G which states as follows; G. Notwithstanding subsection E of this section, an unarmed police aide or a traffic investigator shall not serve any process resulting from a citation issued for a violation of section 28-644 or 28-701 or of a city or town ordinance for excessive speed or failure to obey a traffic control device that is obtained using automated enforcement technology. H. This section does not grant other powers or benefits to traffic investigators to which peace officers of this state are entitled. What this means is that the minute that a violation has occurred and a picture is taken, only a sworn police officer is to continue forward with any action in the process from that point on and is not the case with what the city of Scottsdale has done effectively making all citations issued under their system illegal in the eyes of the states laws. Further to the point, the city has no jurisdiction to ticket people on a State Freeway if you read the entire section of the definitions of powers of local authorities as the land the freeway is on is not owned by the city and is why they required a right of way permit from ADOT to install the systems. Joint efforts, by the language of the state laws, is the only time when local authorities are allowed to ticket drivers on a state freeway system and requires the Department of Public Safety to sponsor such actions which again is not the case in the Scottsdale issue. Further problems that the city has encountered in this issue are the same things that were reported to ADOT in the 2 year study conducted for ADOT by NAU which spelled out all the issues with the inaccuracies of the systems. Do any of you really believe that a Hyundai Sonata can really do 147 MPH? http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1533.asp http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=172819 Do any of you remember that issue where the city ticketed a White Man driving a car registered to a Black man? http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/14/1407.asp Are you aware that the city clicked off over 200,000 tickets but only 18,000 had ever made it to court? Or are you aware that the company Red-Flex has already shown by city documents they submitted when they got a contract with the city that they had a nearly 40% failure rate on pictures they took as violations due to many various issues? http://eservices.scottsdaleaz.gov/clerkdocs/viewer.aspx?n=104793&v=252599&t=TIFF While the tickets go to a city court I am sure I do not need to remind you that the city council appoints that Judge and is an employee of the city, but even more disturbing is the fact that a for profit company like Red-Flex is the entity to testify against you and only collects revenue if they gain a judgment in their favor and is a huge conflict of interest that should not be happening in our court rooms. But, since the judge is employed by the city, do you really think that they will rule that the "for profit company" cannot testify because of the conflict of interest? In the United States it may not happen unless it is by a higher court however this is what is happening in the UK on the issue and shows that there is a problem with this being allowed to happen. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/14/1450.asp Is there really the "overwhelming" public support for Photo Radar systems on our State Freeways as has been stated for the last 2 years by Mayor Manross of Scottsdale? The last time we encountered this issue with the Mayor and her comments we noted that the "POLL" our mayor was referring to did not even ask the question of placing these systems on the State Freeway nor were residents asked the other following questions that took place with the program that was never mentioned. http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/photoradar/polls.asp During the City Council meeting, comments from the floor numbered only one person supporting the issue and was State Legislator Cayhill against about 10 other residents of the city. Further into the council meeting, Councilman Jim Lane objected to the Mayors comment of overwhelming support and noted that e-mails to the council on this matter were running about 100 to one in support of not doing this and all of us were let down when the State did not hear are calls for them to help us stop the city from doing this. Do the taxpayers of just Scottsdale
support moving 6 million dollars to the project from the
city contingency fund? (Please note that the city council
agenda that we first saw on this issue was stated as only
around 700K) Do the taxpayers of the city believe that
just city taxpayers should be held to pay for any lawsuit
brought against the system and should we hold the State
harmless from any legal actions? Do the residents of this city think it is correct for the city to violate sec 17-30 of the city ordinance restricting such programs to only a 90-day period? The new city poll that was conducted rated the reactions of only 400 residents in a city of over 200,000 residents and even scientifically, besides just realizing the ratio of people contacted to the city population, cannot and will not support the Mayors claim of overwhelming support. In fact, we presented the Rules Committee last year with over triple the amount of the city poll numbers, in signatures of Scottsdale Residents, who did not and still do not support the city action. Now the city also is claiming a "State Wide" poll that contacted 790 State Residents and is claiming that the State Residents support the systems on the freeway. Since yet again, the ratio of numbers by those actually contacted, and the population of the State at over 6 million, can you really believe such a claim from the Mayor of Scottsdale to be correct? Please try to keep a straight face on this one as it is important to see the flim/flam act being pulled on residents of the city and the state by our council and their actions and your willingness to allow it to continue. On January 16th, the city council plans to pass judgment on the program based on a totally incomplete and out of whack study conducted by what is supposed to be an outside source, but is actually being conducted by ASU, a well known entity in many of the city issues from the Sky Song debacle, the Which Way Scottsdale Report, and soon to be seen in the Light Rail down Scottsdale Road issue, the same as we had predicted the appearance of Scottsdale Healthcare to come into the picture and already have on Light Rail. Since the State web page limits the amount of a file that can be sent to you, I would ask that the State request a copy of this supposed report the council has and view for yourself the nonsense that they will make the following decisions. Or you can contact me directly and I will forward the report to you by mail. Should the city forward a request to the State to take over the program? Could it be they want you to make a decision based on a limited study that states the numbers can change and that there is a lack of certain information as well as no hard statistics or numbers presented for further analysis? Could it be they want you to refuse this request so that they have reason to claim the State will not act so we must as they have stated this is why we had to do the program to begin with? That surely does not help the Lawmakers look better to the residents of the state now does it? Should the city resume-ticketing drivers on the 101? This will be the real issue to watch as the city will indeed move forward with resuming the program against the fact that this was supposed to be just an experiment to see how it worked, if it worked, and how effective it may be. Why would the city jump back into the issue with only the results of a "preliminary" report that already tells them it is not completed and they cannot claim accidents as the report shows they do not even have those numbers yet and the report will not be completed until sometime in the Spring? Will they claim that since the cameras were turned off that people have begun speeding again? That is what they will probably claim but the fact is everyone with half a brain already knew that this would be the result when they shut them off to begin with and the issue is that this was just an experiment, never meant to be a permanent program run by the city on a State Freeway. The program already has been noted to have increased rear end accidents on this section of the freeway by 100% and if you think those cannot be fatal then read this one. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1523.asp Should the city remove the cameras from the freeway? Since this was told to everyone as being just an experiment to see if the systems worked, the city is obligated to remove the systems from the freeway and restore the Freeway to the same conditions as before they were installed according to State Laws. If they refuse to remove them, which since we all know they have made in excess of 1 million dollars on the program and have no intent of removing them gracefully or without a fight so they can continue to make money and avoid the real issue that was supposed to be "safety", then we all know it will have been one big lie from the beginning. The question is, will ADOT approve another permanent right of way permit to the city for the system to continue and if they do, than we all will now this has been one big lie as ADOT also knows this was to only be an experiment and not a permanent program. They allowed an extension of the permit for after the fact evaluation purposes, and the city is moving quickly now since that permit will expire soon also and they will have to do two things, either show their hand at lying about the intent of this program, or remove them from the freeway because ADOT does not re-approve the permit. So, what will be ADOT's excuse for allowing it to continue on the basis they also knew this was nothing more than an experiment and never meant to be a permanent program? Our own Senator Allen voted to ban the systems, but allowed Scottsdale to complete their experiment, so what say you now Senator about the fact the city will be working to keep them on the freeway now that the State let them get a foothold? Better yet, what will be all of your excuses for allowing them to do this under the circumstances of what everyone was told? What will be your excuses as more and more cities see the dollar signs and illegally claim jurisdiction of the State Freeway System? Who owns, builds, maintains, and collect taxes from us for the State Freeways, the State or the cities? Why should we have to pay taxes twice for police enforcement of the freeways since we already pay an abundance of different taxes for the freeways now, to be ticketed by people who have no jurisdiction on the freeways? This session of the State, on this issue, must come to one of two conclusions. Hopefully our hero in this issue, Majority Whip Thayer Verschoor will band all of you together to ban the systems from the state freeways effectively ending this nonsense of placing these dangerous systems on our already overloaded freeway systems just as other states have been doing because of out of control cities thwarting state laws. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/03/380.asp Legislative update. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/10/1018.asp Connecticut House Committee http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/10/1020.asp West Virginia http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/05/521.asp Colorado DOT refuses to use cameras. And there are 11 other states that have banned these systems from use in their states. So, what is happening to the companies like Redflex who are now going to smaller cities with no problems to sell their systems? http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/14/1441.asp What is happening to the companies as more and more bans by courts and states continue? http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/11/1157.asp Stock Plunges by Nestor and RedFlex http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/14/1455.asp Nestor fights to stay on Wallstreet. While I can support most of what Representative Reagan will bring forward in a bill this year as it will also effectively kill the systems on the freeway, it still allows cities to claim jurisdiction over the state freeways and that is wrong. Reagan will look to reduce fines to a parking ticket effectively making the reaction from Red Flex and their lobbyist to try to kill it as there is no way they can make money on the systems any longer. Making cities place any profits from the system into an account to hire more DPS officers again effectively making the city of Scottsdale call their lobbyist to help kill the bill as now they make no money on the systems they claim is all about safety. Removing the issue of points added to a licensed driver which will have the insurance companies either up in arms to kill it or backing away from supporting it as they can no longer keep jacking up rates for a ticket. This effort is not to tell cities what they can do on streets in their cities and if they want to ignore the overwhelming evidence of the dangers of using these systems, then let them have at it. This effort is to keep cities from illegally taking jurisdiction of the State Freeway to make money from these systems and needlessly placing drivers of the freeways in harms way. Take a minute and think about if Mesa decided they wanted to place the cameras on the 60 because there are to many accidents, can you imagine the increased carnage this will lead to? What if Glendale decided to place these systems on the freeway in their city? What will be the bigger result to further congest our already highly congested freeways if you allow these systems to be placed on them? When will the State step in and say enough is enough, if you want photo radar, then keep it in your city and off of our freeways. If you do not think we are doing a good enough job on enforcing the laws on our freeways, then increase funding for DPS to give them the resources they need to pander to cities like Scottsdale whose section of the freeway is no different from the rest of the freeways, and the real portions of the freeway that have the highest numbers of collisions is actually the 60 as reported in the East Valley Tribune on December 27th 2006. This was supposed to be an experiment, not a permanent program on the State Freeway and the city has no right to continue the program and since there is already the issue of a 100% increase in rear end accidents in this section of the Freeway, it is now your duty as our elected leaders of the State to protect us from harm because of the city actions and you need to ban these systems from being used on our freeways unless you want to be responsible for them and you will be the only state to have taken such an action and such a huge risk. This is just round 1 of the issue and round 2 will start after the 16th when Scottsdale decides to turn the systems back on which is opposite to what this was all about. Have the city remove them, and then you folks decide if you want them to be used on the freeway under the States Control. Respectfully, Michael Merrill |
“[T]he artillery of the press has been leveled against us, charged with
whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an
institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be
regretted...”
—Thomas Jefferson
“I can only say that I am nothing but a poor sinner,
trusting in Christ alone for salvation.” —Robert E. Lee
“The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in
reality what we would appear to be.” —Socrates
“It is almost a miracle that modern teaching methods have not yet
entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.” —Albert Einstein
“I cannot think of a single example at any time or any place where there
was a large measure of political freedom without there also being
something comparable to a private enterprise market form of economic
organization for the bulk of economic activity.” —Milton Friedman
“Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing, and that was
the closest our country has ever been to being even.” —Will Rogers
~ Food
for Thought, Take it or Leave it
~ 8 Steps to Destroy the United States of America
~FOR THOSE OF YOU ON THE "CONSERVATIVE" SIDE OF THE
FENCE, READ THIS AND LEARN TO UNDERSTAND YOUR FEELINGS BETTER THAN EVER.
~FOR THOSE OF YOU WHOM ARE NOT ON THE "CONSERVATIVE" SIDE OF THE
FENCE, READ AND LEARN FROM A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT.
Verified through
www.snopes.com , search "Governor Lamm"
Please take the time to read this; it ought to scare the pants off you!
We know Dick Lamm as the former Democratic Governor of Colorado. In that
context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an
immigration overpopulation conference in
Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of America 's finest
minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor
Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, "Mexifornia," explaining how
immigration - both legal and illegal was destroying the entire state of
California . He said it would march across the country until it
destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.
Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and
gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America . The audience sat
spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the
United States He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too
self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America . It is not that
hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time.
Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and
that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit
suicide.'"
"Here is how they do it," Lamm said:
"First, to destroy America , turn America into
a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country." History shows that
no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and
antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a
blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a
society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it
this way: "The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do
not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy." Canada ,
Belgium , Malaysia , and Lebanon all face crises of national existence
in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan
and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France
faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.".
Lamm went on:
Second, to destroy America , "Invent
'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I
would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That
there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith
that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice
and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of
bounds.
Third, "We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec'
without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than
unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The
apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment
might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the
dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an
American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us
together." Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their
own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with
the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various
cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather
than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."
"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the
least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated,
undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this
second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."
"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big
foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would
invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.'
I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the
fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all
minority failure on the majority population."
"My sixth plan for America 's downfall would include dual
citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity
over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse
people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when
they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society
is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it
takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks
believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common
language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece
took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia , threatened
their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome
two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured
political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- From many,
one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the
'pluribus' instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as
Kosovo."
"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it
taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would
find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped
discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe'
halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural
country, having established multi-culturism, having the large
foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it
impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra:
That because immigration has been good for America , it must always be
good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the
cumulative impact of millions of them."
In the last minute of his speech, Governor
Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said,.
"Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's
book "Mexifornia." His book is dangerous. It
exposes the plan to destroy America If you feel America deserves to be
destroyed, don't read that book."
There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous
cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that
room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically,
quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today.
Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the
foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even
barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as
we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third
World as corporations create a Third World in America - take note of
California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and
growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that
story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building:
"War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."
Governor Lamm walked back to his seat.
It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path especially The American Dream.
shoutandspout@scottsdaleactivist.com
~ Thank you for all you do for the city of Scottsdale. One of these days, it's going to dawn on Manross and Dolan that they have lost the ability to do what they want without being called out on it.
~CASS is nothing more than a front for Korte and Bitter-Smith to try and control the citizens through a "citizens" group. Don't fall for it, listen to the other group (COGS) instead, they don't have any political or financial aspirants in their group and want nothing more than to keep the city vibrant while maintaining a reasonable density which has worked very well for us and will in the future.
~ Ms. Dolan: Do us a favor and just leave peacefully.
~ What was Ecton all about at the city council meeting? Who was he trying to kid? Doesn't he have anything better to do than kiss Dolan's (rear)?
~ Dreska and Jagger were the only one's who deserved a raise. Why Dolan and Robberson got one should be investigated immediately.
~ Sadly, the "four fools" on the council cannot see past their developer friends money and their personal legacies so they continue to do the direct opposite of what the citizens ask. We're building a very good case to throw out the ones coming up for election.
~ Until the legal aspects of Photo Radar are ironed out completely, photo radar needs to be totally shut down.
~ There's a timber rattle snake in the city government that will bite all of those ignorant city officials very soon. Wait 'til they hear the rattles of a financial audit and lets see how far and fast they run.
~ John Berry is at it again but he's not going to win this one. We're going to stop all of the height requests over 36 feet and all density so we can remain a quiet and respectable high value community. John Berry, fold your tent and understand that you will lose this one.
~ Although Photo Radar may work in some situations, to have the citizens of a city be responsible if the city gets sued over a problem caused by the photo radar is not in the best interest of any city in the state of Arizona.
With Dolan in the forefront, the city attorney hasn't been discussed. Why? She admittedly is a Charter Officer and therefore should have to live within the city limits of Scottsdale. Time for things do be done properly, don't you think?
~ If photo radar is to stay, it needs to be controlled by DPS with all profits going to directly hire more DPS officers and no where else. The state general fund has enough coming in that's being spent foolishly.
~ Lite Rail? Drive in downtown Phoenix, see the businesses closed up and streets you cannot drive on and tell me you want lite rail up the historic Scottsdale Road.
~ Do you think if the guy that won the land auction on the water plant up in the north wins his court case, Jan Dolan will resign in shame before some one rats her out to the world?
~ The four weenies folded over for Jan. What does she have on any of them? They know she's an also-ran at best as a city manager.
~ Jan Dolan is a "Has Been" and needs to leave before she costs us any more money and get's thrown out.
~ Information You Can Use
~ 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,
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
~ View Past City Council Meetings
We can now access the city council meetings by clicking on the following link:
http://scottsdale.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3If 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.
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.
~
For Continuing Information
on Photo Radar,
Click on the Logo below.
~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
~ Scottsdale Legal Defense Fund
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:
72nd & 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.
Hello All,
This seems to work well. Click on the link below to Check it out. Helpful hint! Just plug in your zip code and it tells you which gas stations have the cheapest prices (and the highest) on gas in your zip code area. It's updated every evening.
Be a good neighbor and pass this along.
|
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