Volume
'07-24
Published
Late Saturdays
June 16, 2007
The Scottsdale Activist
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Happy Fathers Day!!
F
ATHERS' DAY HISTORYS
onora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.S
onora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.A
fter Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.P
resident Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law which finally made it permanent in 1972.Copyright © 1999, 2005 by Jerry Wilson.
"A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again." -- Enid Bagnold
"It
no longer bothers me that I may be constantly searching for father
figures; by this time, I have found several and dearly enjoyed knowing
them all." -- Alice Walker
"None of you can ever be proud enough of being the child of SUCH a Father who has not his equal in this world-so great, so good, so faultless. Try, all of you, to follow in his footsteps and don't be discouraged, for to be really in everything like him none of you, I am sure, will ever be. Try, therefore, to be like him in some points, and you will have acquired a great deal." -- Victoria, Queen of England
"That is the thankless position of the father in the family-the provider for all, and the enemy of all." -- J. August Strindberg
"It is a wise father that knows his own child." -- William Shakespeare
"It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who
I remember he was."
-- Anne Sexton
"One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters." -- English Proverb
"To be a successful father . . . there's one absolute
rule: when you have a kid, don't look at it for the first two years."
-- Ernest Hemingway
"A man knows when he is growing old because he begins
to look like his father."
-- Gabriel García Márquez
"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -- Sigmund Freud
"I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work fifteen and sixteen hours a day. I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example." -- Mario Cuomo
"Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young, Who
loved thee so fondly as he? He caught the first accents that fell from
thy tongue,And joined in thy innocent glee."
-- Margaret Courtney
"If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let
him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering
situation has a fifty percent chance of being right."
-- Bill Cosby
"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle
voices call him father!"
-- Lydia M. Child
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Table of Contents Pick the Article in this Table of Contents that you wish to read, then Just Click on the title, there is no need to scroll the site to find what interests you. ~ Guest Editorial -- Michelle Aubert ~ Weekly Editorial -- Staff
~ COGS Corner ~ The Land of Oz by Mike Merrill ~ Shout and Spout, Gawf resignation??? Cowards??? Orchid Tree?? ~ Thought for the Week -- Rebecca Hagelin ~ Quote of the Week -- Multiple ~ Food for Thought - Take It or Leave It ~Other Stuff of Interest ~ Information You Can Use
~ Look up Prior Editions? Click a on date to open. |
~ Guest Editorial by Michelle Aubert
…..to be fired (or recalled) in Scottsdale, aka Dolan's Hualapai Water Plant debacle, etc.?
Here are three simple questions that apparently our City leaders were unable or incapable of answering on July 6, 2006, the date on which 6.9 acres of State Trust Land needed by the City to expand a wastewater treatment plant were stupidly lost at public auction to an outside bidder, Hualapai LLC.
-
First, what is the fair market value of a 6.9 acre parcel which awards the winning bidder the parcels of land AND a ten year lease worth 10 million dollars?
-
Second, since the answer to the first question is that the value is very high (purchase price + total of lease payments), why did the City not anticipate it would have to compete against other bidders at the auction when they stupidly forgot that a lease with the State immediately becomes constructive notice (available public information)?
-
Third, why did the City prior to the auction publicly disclose its maximum authorized bid?
A bit of background is in order. On July 6,2006, the State Land Department publicly auctioned a 6.9 acre parcel of land needed by the City of Scottsdale to expand its wastewater treatment plant. To the utter shock of City officials, who expected no competition at the auction, Roger C. Kimball of Hualapai LLC outbid the city with a winning bid of $6.1 million dollars ($893,478 per acre). A fact apparently known to only a few City officials and not the Council as a whole, the parcel was subject to a 10 year lease previously entered into on November 30, 2005 between the State Land Department and the City of Scottsdale.
The Lease enhanced the value of the parcel
and is the reason Mr. Kimball showed up at the auction with a
winning bid.
The Lease (which allowed the City to begin
expansion prior to the public auction) provided for a first year
rental payment by the City of $2,400, followed by
near million dollar annual payments in years 2 through 10.
The reason for the enhanced year 2 through 10
payments was to provide a strong incentive for the City to
acquire the parcel at auction.
In fact the City never expected to make any lease payments, simply assuming it would soon own the parcel by submitting a winning bid at auction.
The result of the City being outbid at auction is that Scottsdale taxpayers are now on the hook for millions of dollars in lease payments to Hualapai LLC, the owner of the parcel. And sadly, this Dolan generated debacle was completely avoidable if the officials putting the program together had been competent in this type of legal/financial process.
How this came to be exposes the absolute incompetence on the part of the City legal department, City Manager, and Mayor Mary Manross, who signed the lease on November 30, 2005, all without the City Councils knowledge or approval.
Those City officials who knew of the Lease failed to consider that the Lease itself would significantly enhance the value of the parcel, leading to the possibility and perhaps inevitability that the City would have to compete with other bidders at the auction. In fact, on July 6, 2006, the date of the auction, the value of the parcel was equal to the present value of the right to receive almost $10 million dollars in lease income over a ten year period. On top of this failure, the City actually made public, on December 13, 2005, in the form of Resolution 6800, the maximum amount which the City was authorized to bid, which guaranteed that the City would lose at auction.
The City Council was, according to available records, unaware that a Lease had been executed prior to the December 13, 2005 Council meeting. Had the Council been aware of the Lease, it would have never approved Resolution 6800, which authorized the City Manager to bid on the parcel, and which established the maximum bid price (25% in excess of the State Land Department's appraised value of the parcel, or 6.08 million dollars). The winning bid was $6.1 million.
So many questions are raised by this situation, and we Scottsdale taxpayers are owed answers.
Why was the Lease never brought before the
City Council for approval (had the Lease been considered by the
Council, at least a few astute members would have anticipated
the series of events which occurred).
What was Manross told by the City Legal
Department at the time she signed the Lease?
Did it ever occur to either the City Legal
Department, City Manager, or Manross that the Lease would make
the parcel extremely more valuable, and therefore much more
desirable to outside bidders?
Why did the City make its maximum bid on the
parcel a matter of public record, so that any outside bidder
need only up the City by a dollar or two, which is exactly how
it happened?
On what legal basis is the City claiming the
Lease is invalid?
Why was the Lease legally valid prior to the
auction according to the city’s astute legal department, and
suddenly (so the City claims) legally invalid after the auction
by the same legal department?
Why is the City seeking to block Hualapai’s
motion to depose our City leaders including the Mayor and
members of the Legal Department?
Most importantly, what do they have to hide (we pay their salaries)?
Like it or hate it, and as astute businessmen, Roger Kimball and Hualapai LLC saw an excellent financial opportunity and took it just as any prudent investor should. They played fair and square using available public information, showed up at a public auction, and submitted a winning bid. Mr. Kimball's action to have the Lease declared valid should and will succeed. It has excellent legal merit.
Back to the original questions:
First, the fair market value of a parcel
which awards the winning bidder a ten year lease worth $10
million dollars is far more than the value of the same parcel
without such a Lease.
Second, given the value added to the parcel
by the Lease, of course the City should have anticipated
competition at the auction.
Third, the Council would not have publicly disclosed the City's maximum bid had the Council not been kept in the dark by Manross and other City officials with respect to the earlier-executed Lease.
And the Ultimate Question Concerning Incompetence –
How incompetent do you have to be to be fired (or recalled) in Scottsdale?
Michelle Aubert
Scottsdale
Mayor Manross and her band of cronies can no longer hide from the citizens of Scottsdale. Their mighty fortress, well stocked with loyal political activists, raunchy unethical developers, shyster-like zoning attorneys and holier than though believers, has begun to deteriorate before their very eyes. Mother Mary, can you hear the walls cracking and crumbling?
What once was an untouchable legacy of so-called leadership, strategically shrouded by questionable behaviors and invalid decision-making processes, and rivaled only by the actions of the best Sopranos Mafioso players, is spinning out of control for the pious one. Of course the demise of Mother Mary’s reign is no one’s fault but her own. What goes around, comes around and its bite is far fiercer in return.
For someone who touts her strong Catholic allegiance, Manross has certainly done a complete 180 with respect to "love thy neighbor as thyself" or more simply put, treat others as you, yourself, would like to be treated. Scottsdale’s citizens have endured Manross’ wrath, her persecution, prosecution and belittling conduct countless times. Our heart-felt pity goes out to Leon Spiro whose love and compassion for Scottsdale and the area in which he lives cannot be denied.
Putting Dolan in charge of our esteemed city was akin to Manross selling her soul to the Devil. What Mayor in their right mind would provide the golden key to someone like Dolan? Doesn’t anyone check Dolan’s conduct which has "back pocket development deals" written all over it? Cold, callous, conniving, Dolan would rather displace seniors and senior communities in our city than face the fact that development can, indeed, with careful planning and effort, accommodate all walks of life in Scottsdale. Further, she blatantly wastes taxpayer dollars on frivolous blunders like the Hualapai Water Treatment Plant, the Barrett-Jackson fiasco, 6% raise for city employees to what – raise morale and what about that 20% pay raise for her buddy Ron Keagy to keep him "happy" in Scottsdale? Transportation issues and Dolan’s inability to make decisions and get things done have not escaped our purview – she’s dutifully hired millions upon millions of dollars worth of consultants to examine our city roads for the purposes of appearing to understand our transportation issues.
I know of no citizen who would stand back and watch this utter waste of precious revenue. Mother Mary, on the other hand, smiles and nods to Dolan as if to say – we’re in this together.
Adding insult to injury, Manross has approved Dolan’s continued widespread blight of our resort community by implementing caustic building designs with atrocious colors, condoning integration of industrial plants and facilities alongside established posh neighborhoods, cementing ridiculous roundabouts and dangerous street furniture in busy thoroughfares, putting a pumping plant in the middle of what was planned as an upscale retail area, fabricating ad hoc zoning and planning in communities central to our stability and then, formulating phony excuses and outright lies to qualify her actions.
How about Dolan’s resume that none of us have seen? And what about that performance review that frankly, is NOT protected from public view? Both Manross and Dolan have finagled wee-mouse Robberson into soliciting bogus legal opinions to protect their backsides.
Robberson, our Paradise Valley resident turned Scottsdale city Charter Officer, who jabbers incoherently at Council meetings, frequently defers to Dolan for ADVICE. Our City Attorney is nothing more than a glorified over paid mouthpiece for Dolan. With that deer in the headlights look, Robberson nods aimlessly, until Dolan motions for her to stop.
Jan "No-Decision is too-small for a consultant" Dolan and Mary "Incompetent to a Fault" Manross are a pathetic leadership team. Joined at the hip, they have boarded a fast-train, destined for the bowels of hell. Unfortunately, they are taking all of the citizens of Scottsdale with them, leaving the aftermath of their destructive behaviors in the wake of their departure.
Lucifer must be giddy with glee as he awaits the next shoe to drop.
~ 21% Raise without Council Knowledge or Approval
As exposed by the Brian Powell article in the Thursday Scottsdale Tribune, Raun Keagy, Director of the Neighborhood Services and Preservation, a division of Citizen & Neighborhood Resources Department received a 21% raise without the Councils knowledge or approval. Or how about Keagy’s approval for Field Manager Malcolm Hankins being given a vehicle allowance (city vehicle 9440) to the tune of $3,600 per year, when according to
AR 204 – Auto Allowance Mileage Reimbursement, (Click Here to see content) only employee levels of GM and higher qualify for such allowances.Why does Hankins need a vehicle allowance when he rarely leaves the office, or is it just so he can get to work and home on time even though he apparently doesn’t have any kind of an actual firm work schedule?
Do the following actions by Keagy support his 21% raise?
When his manager was caught at the casinos
stealing time and money from the city, Keagy was not even
questioned…
When Keagy hired a Non-degreed manager when
in actuality, a degreed person was required by the city Job
Requirement & Description Sheet for that specific position,
Keagy then changed the job description to fit Hankins actual far
lower qualifications, no one questioned Keagy about this
situation,
When Keagy has had 4 to 5 EEOC complaints
filed against his department, no one has asked or investigated
why his management of the department has caused these filings,
When Keagy’s department miserably
failed an audit, the worst in City's history for any
department, he was promoted and given a 21% raise, while Chief
City Auditor Cheryl Dreska all of a sudden has an Ethics charge
filed against her by whom we haven’t been able to determine.
Cheryl is one of the best, most respected, and most honest of
all the city employees still on staff. (Hmmm, maybe they want
her out ASAP too so their secrets are kept sealed.)
When Keagy has hired 4 times more inspectors and apparently he or Hankins manipulates the numbers concerning the results of inspections while the city looks worse then it ever has, and no one questions him.
We feel strongly that Mr. Keagy should reconsider his job offer from the "other" valley city while he still has a chance to land it and before this entire sordid escapade reaches the other local media, with the exception of the Scottsdale Republic and its parent, the Republic which will never look at it.
Judy Register, in our opinion the incompetent General Manager of the entire Citizen & Neighborhood Resources section of the city administration under which Keagy directs, has less of a clue about what’s going on than we do looking into a secret operation.
With the Hualapai debacle, Barrett-Jackson joke, and all the other miscues by the "Terrible Trio", Scottsdale citizens are not taking kindly at all to a 21% raise where there is no change in job description but a just a change in the name of the job to try to con the public as Dolan and Manross with mousy and timid Robberson writing the legal decision Manross and Dolan demand.
Here again, the Scottsdale Republic hasn’t mentioned one single word about any of the above!
Did the diabolical plan of the "Terrible Trio" backfire on them and Keagy? Only time will tell.
~ Scottsdale Republic Drops the Ball….. Again.
Hot news constantly pouring out of the now gaping holes continuing to develop in the walls of a once impervious city hall with an Ivory Tower (coming from totally disenchanted employee firing RPG’s from deep inside) have apparently been totally missed and have gone unreported by the self described Main Scottsdale News Source until Saturday in a small and buried column…. why is that?
Could it be that the Scottsdale Republic is actually a full partner in the schemes of the Manross establishment, including Maestro Larry Manross, which is desperately trying to keep control of the secret plans for the city held deep within the bowels of the Manross-Dolan-Robberson city hall thereby burying any all information which shows the total incompetence of the current administration and council majority?
What secret plans? Read the column in USA Today (Click Here). This is just the tip of the iceberg being perpetrated on the many still disbelieving citizens of Scottsdale by Mayor Manross, City Manager Dolan, and their legal but incompetent mouthpiece Deborah (I never make a decision without Jan’s approval) Robberson.
Do you really think Al Dreska, Randy Grant, Terri Traaen, Ed Gawf and many, Many other key personnel resigned of their own volition? Come on folks!! Open your eyes and ears!! Use your brains as well as a serious touch of (Gulp) reality!
Manross and Dolan, with the help of an incompetent city attorney and a sympathic local news source (Scottsdale Republic), are trying to tear down somewhat successfully everything Herb Drinkwater and others of his ilk built and stood for as well as ridding the city government of all vestiges of the Drinkwater open and responsive government we all knew, loved, and highly respected. All of this just to create frivolous as well as selfish and greedy legacies to implement their ridiculous plans for the total high density urbanization at the cost of the city taxpayers and therefore the rumination of the city of Scottsdale as we know it.
Drinkwater’s vision of the future for Scottsdale was to maintain the single family homes where the vast majority of Scottsdale would live, as well as the parks, libraries and other amenities families need to survive in a somewhat rural atmosphere while still in the city with a contained but vibrant downtown area. Drinkwater did not envision urban high density or heights beyond the downtown area. He even admitted the building at Camelback and Scottsdale Roads as well as the Galleria were major miscalculations as well as mistakes on his part.
We didn’t even hear about the retirement of Ed Gawf from the Scottsdale Republic. Was Ed Gawf a hero? Not by any stretch of ones imagination. Ed worked in Palo Alto CA which is next door to Menlo Park CA where Dolan was the city manager and hated by many according to those who have contacted us from her former city of choice.
Because they had worked together and thought Scottsdale might be a nice city ripe for change to California standards, she brought Gawf on as her main hatchet man to which he applied himself very well until he found out the citizens were being screwed over by the Manross Administration and the council majority. After he finally saw what was really going on and tried to help the citizens, he was moved out of any position of authority and has now been totally pushed out by Dolan for throwing a "monkey wrench" into their plans. All of this under the unacceptable explanation of him "retiring as he earlier planned". Yeah, Sure , We believe all of that crapola!!
Did he tell us this? He can’t and won’t because of the agreement he and everyone who leaves the employ of the city must do, which he was forced to sign by the Dolan-Manross-Robberson to preserve the secrecy of their operation for at least a year after his departure if he wanted to retire with his reputation and many perks intact.
You’ll never read of any of this in the Scottsdale Republic because of their apparent connection to and fascination with the Manross Administration and the council majority.
But, you can always read the free Scottsdale Activist on line or you can pick up the Scottsdale Tribune and read the articulate investigative reporters Brian Powell, Ari Cohn, Lindsay Butler, and now even Mark Scarp to hear more of what’s REALLY going on here in Scottsdale instead of the droning of the Scottsdale Republic’s administration/developer-biased liberal drivel.
~ City Managers Continue to Jump Ship
No surprise that Ed Gawf has resigned. He finally figured out what the citizens wanted, but Dolan and Company didn't like it so they forced him out. He can't tell you that nor will he. He has a retirement package to protect. How many more will Dolan drive out of the city before she is satisfied that the Drinkwater crowd is totally gone and cannot stop her and the Manross cockamamie plans for the city. The election can't get here soon enough.
Was Keagy promoted with a 21% salary increase to replace Judy Register? Oh my we certainly hope so, but he needs to get rid of Malcolm Hankins in the process. Should that happen, there will be no place or no one for Keagy to hide behind.
Gray, Lusardi, and others who aren't buying Dolan's package 110% better watch their backsides, Dolan is a Gestapo style Great White Shark in shallow water backed by the other 2 of the "Terrible Trio".
Dolan has run off so many good employees that she is losing the protection she had. All she has left is Klingler who, in our opinion is one of the weakest bulbs in the room, but takes orders without question. Watch out Roger, she won't protect you or even admit you exist when she needs another scapegoat.
~Letters to the Editor ~
letters@scottsdaleactivist.com
In December 2005, this office provided the public with online access to the electronic documents on file in the City Clerk's Office (Council agendas, minutes, ordinances, resolutions and contracts). As a result, Internet users were able to access these records using a specific date, a range of dates or the document number. However, if the user did not have this information, it became difficult and time consuming to find the record.
I am very pleased to announce that a full text search engine has been added to the Archived City Clerk Documents Internet website to assist users in locating their documents more easily and quickly. Here is a link to the new site:
http://eservices.scottsdaleaz.gov/clerkdocs2/Disclaimer.aspxOnce a user enters the document type and a date or date range, he or she is given the option of entering a word or phrase in a keyword search field that will help narrow the results. For example, let's say a user wants to find a resolution that was passed this year allowing the City to participate in the creation of a regional master plan for Papago Park. Using only the date range of 1/1/2007 to 6/4/2007 as the search criteria results in a list of 124 resolutions. Each of the resolutions must then be viewed one at a time until the correct resolution is displayed. If the user narrows the search by entering the keyword Papago, only one result is returned.
This new feature has been a long-term goal of the Clerk's Office and is the result of a Citywide electronic document management project that has been underway for the past three years. I would like to use this opportunity to offer special recognition to the City employees who worked on the project: Chief Deputy City Clerk Laura Zook; Senior Development Coordinator Steve Parr; Enterprise System Integrator Carla Vala; Enterprise System Integrator Judy Silverthorn; Application Development Manager Cleavon Blair; and Senior Development Coordinator Clarke Isackson.
We will be working with CAPA to issue a press release to advise the public of this convenient new feature in the very near future.
Best regards,
Carolyn Jagger,
CMC City Clerk
~ A Special Thanks
In recent months I have had need to spend most of my
time out of town on a new business venture. It has always been my habit
to keep abreast with local issues, especially those that impact my local
neighborhood and the city where I have my primary residence.
Thanks to the Scottsdale Activist and to those directly and indirectly,
those of you who give much of your time, ability and expertise to the
service of making our community a better place to live. Special thanks
for keeping the many of us current with local affairs.
Seems like we will always have the good, the bad, and the ugly around. The good needs to be encouraged, the bad confronted, and the ugly ignored. The good can turn bad, the bad rarely changes, and the ugly usually stays that way.
Politics brings them all out.
Sincerely:
Merlin Gindlesperger
Scottsdale, AZ
~ Open Letter to Republic’s Robert Leger
For the most part, as one who attends/watches, the majority of City Council meetings, you're quite close to hitting the nail on the head. And yes, it's true, our Mayor seems to have forgotten Roberts Rules of Order more this year than in past years. It 'is uncomfortable to see our city leader lean on an inept Ms. Robberson or on Jan Dolan to properly set a motion into context after flailing around far too long to get to the point of a motion.
Sadly a majority of Council members: Messrs. Ecton, Lane, McCullagh, and even Ms. Drake stray too far from the issues at hand. Sometimes Tony Nelssen dwells too long and occasionally so does Bob Littlefield. Still, I can not put the latter two into the same droning oft unenlightened gibberish that passes for council questioning and issue discussion as I can for the first four members and our mayor.
It is my hope that this summer recess our Council and Mayor will read/reread the little book called Roberts Rules of Order, and when council returns this fall consent and general agenda items are handled more succinctly, without endless minutes of hashed/rehashed comments and give citizens the opportunity to hear and understand the issues and rational, in a germane fashion, each members vote clearly enunciated.
Rita Saunders-Hawranek
Co-Chair Scottsdale Coalition
Scottsdale, Arizona
~ Look at the Entire Tax Picture First…
The article in last Saturdays Tribune "Schools really do need this override", at first reading seemed very positive. You point out that our City property tax would increase $48 per year or $1 per week on a home valued at $295,950.
But then we all have to look deeper into the tax situation to fully understand that it probably will not be $48 per year property tax increase. After all, what other items on our tax bill will increase, i.e. General County Fund, Community College Dist., additional City taxes, flood control for Maricopa County, Central Arizona water conservation district., Fire district assistance, County library, County Healthcare district, Existing Bonds (already collecting taxes) for County, City, Schools, Community College, School District overrides and the East Valley Institute of Technology?
All of the above items are collecting taxes and we don't have a clue how many of these will increase. At the end of the "day" it could be a very substantial increase.
A couple of other items to consider: How many students are registered in our schools that are not legalized Citizens? And why are we spending our tax dollars to teach Spanish speaking students to speak English? They certainly have access to teachers whom they can hire to learn the language.
We need to put God back in our schools, first and foremost. He is the only one we can depend on and that won't cost us a penny in taxes.
The Scottsdale Tribune needs to look at the whole picture when writing editorials, not just the simple stuff.
Lee Tannenbaum
Scottsdale, AZ
~ Republic Finally Gets One Right
The present City Council ,with the exception of Councilmen Littlefield and Nelssen are totally out of touch with what the majority of the citizens view and wants of how Scottsdale should be operating in order to protect its image and have a realistic view of where the cities future lies, The remaining 4 Council people are merely rubber stamps for the mayor.
As your column mentioned the Mayor is
definitely NOT in control of the sessions. She is NOT a Leader as she
attempts to placate everyone. Ecton merely mimics the Mayors views and
Lane, McCullagh, and Drake do nothing more than show their ineptitude
by occasionally making an attempt to show they really understand the
agenda and have really formulated realistic views on the subjects at
hand.
I am essentially in total agreement with your assessment of the present
City Council with the exceptions noted previously.
Your editorial proves beyond any doubt the need for a total restructuring (or replacement) of the present administration including the City Manager and her staff.
Respectfully,
Paul F. Reich
Scottsdale,Arizona
It continues to amaze me how the City Attorney/Treasurer, Mayor, and City Attorney continue to get away with the nasty things they do without the City Council at least deeply probing into their motives and goals.
Per my request, the Scottsdale Activist provided me a copy of Mr. Gawf's letter of resignation. To me, it is the biggest crock of baloney I have ever read. I've been around many decades through many administrations in many cities and this letter was obviously written to pacify an overly zealous and out of control city management team, and so Mr. Gawf could maintain his retirement city perks for which I don't blame him in any way.
It appears to me that Mr. Gawf made the fatal mistake of starting to finally see, and then agree with the residents wants, needs, and complaints which the City Manager and Mayor could not and will not tolerate because they don't fit into their private plans for the city.
Hopefully, the editor of the Scottsdale Activist will print the resignation letter for all to see. We will miss you Mr. Gawf.
E.Slocomb
Scottsdale
Editors Note: Ed Gawf's resignation letter can be seen by clicking on this link.
~ COGS Corner
~ Orchid Tree Apartments Debacle
Some other COGS members and I recently spent several days helping folks move out of Orchid Tree Apartments at 68th Street and Camelback.
As you may know, this property was recently purchased for redevelopment into a "higher and better" use category. Thus, the tenants’ leases were not renewed when they expired, and the leases then reverted to month-to-month terms. A few months ago tenants were given notice that Orchid Tree is to be completely vacated by the end of July.
From the little I know of the Arizona Landlord Tenant Act, this course of action was technically legal. However, this large group of tenants was left with virtually NO coordinated assistance in finding comparable housing. Some of the tenants have lived at Orchid Tree for 20 years or more. Some of them were financially unable to pay movers AND physically unable to do it themselves. For the rest of the tenants, the closure of the complex was at best a major upheaval.
Having spent several days out in the June Arizona sun assisting these folks, I’ve had some time to ponder the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The developer may try to call the request something other than a major general plan amendment, but that’s what it is regardless of what they claim. This request should be denied, not only because it would facilitate unrealistic density and infrastructure impact, but also because of the upheaval caused to the residents of the complex.
John Washington
480.229.1831
john@ReactionResearch.com
~
Items from the Land of Oz
by Michael Merrill
Well I had a format of order for subjects until I sat down and fired up the laptop and channel 15 news had a broadcast announcement about Scottsdale so, here we go.
As I sat to write about the goings on in the Land of Oz for the last week the television interrupted me with a news flash about a horrid stench in a valley city that will not go away.
Guess what, it appears the stench in the Waterfront area has come back with a vengeance and the shoppers and diners are not too happy. I also have to wonder about the new Ozites who have bought part of the Yellow Brick Road in the area for millions and if they sleep with their windows open?
The funny part is it never went away.
Now. I have no choice but to wonder about the city’s new plan of attack which involves a chlorine system of some sort for the sewer system in the area. If anyone thinks that for one minute I trust the present leadership of Oz and its management to pump chlorine fumes into a system that already leaks into the open air along with the fact I fear we will end up on national news because people are dropping like flies and getting sick, then you are too new here and have an Oz traffic circle for in front of your house.
I would ask two of the (supposed) leaders of Oz to answer the question of infrastructure issues that are associated in the redevelopment process, their costs, who pays for those repairs, who does not pay for them, and the reason there are things called long range planning or for that fact, planning in general and how it applies to redevelopment with the focus on the word "redevelopment".
Councilmen Jim Lane and Ron McCullagh are the ones I would love to hear an answer from, but they are to dense to be able to figure it out and then have the audacity to consider it along the same lines of global warming and just approve every new high density, spot rezoning, and height increases that comes across their desks much like the fact of we cannot get more serious about reducing our need for foreign oil and our air quality.
It is always funny to watch these arguments take place in the Palace of Oz (the Kiva) with its high ceilings so the flying monkeys can scurry around and tell the leaders of Oz "Don’t worry, be happy" or one of my favorites is the one the Wizard spewed when we touched on this subject before construction began on all the approved projects in Downtown. The Wizard of Oz (Jan Dolan) told the media that the city services for downtown are more than sufficient for all the new development and residents.
Note to Ozites: Have any of you looked at the impact studies done for all of these new developments downtown?
Yes, that was a joke, especially if you try to find them.
Anyway, Ding Bats quickly invaded the Palace and pecked at Jim and Ron’s head after hearing of this great proclamation from the Grand Wizard (Jan Dolan, the Oz Treasurer no wait, the city manager, no, the city attorney, ah hell you get the point) and decided all new development was safe and good. They seem to have forgotten a couple of things like the age of the infrastructure, the already existing traffic problems, and what happens when you drop thousands of residents in an area that old with no plans.
As two of the people who are so concerned about how we spend money, they seem to forget to look at what all this is going to cost the taxpayers to fix because they think buildings are fun. Actually the two of them should be sent Link-N-Logs by the thousands and asked to build a village in their living room out of them.
The developer only pays to upgrade the infrastructure for their site you stooges, after the site is built and once it is hooked to our old system; what do you think happens when thousands of new residents flush the toilet?
Now, guess who gets the bill for all the things you have approved and what it takes to fix them?
Then guess how much you have approved that is not even built yet and span that money out in the Capitol Projects we will have to go for a bond vote to get the money to fix?
I propose that on Monday night at 7 P.M. every resident of Oz flush there toilets three times in a row and lets see if we can give downtown a new makeover that is more in line with what residents think about how their decisions are turning out.
Well, it appears the Wicked Witch (Mayor Manross) was tricked into signing a 10 year lease with Hualapai LLC for 7 acres of land in the boundaries of Oz by one of the flying monkeys in the city.
Since that time a year ago, the city has had the council of Oz sign contracts with construction companies to build a water treatment plant on land they are now trying to condemn.
I guess someone forgot to tell the Wizard that since they never showed up at the table, they got outbid on the land and someone else now owns it. Now the city claims they do not have to honor the lease because the Wizard never agendized the item for a council vote after the Wicked Witch signed the lease.
I see that the city is now pushing forward with millions of dollars already invested in construction costs and the legal minds of the city of Oz are hard at work trying to stop the depositions from taking place in which the Wicked Witch and members of the State Land office will have to answer questions. The lucky break for the city is that we seem to have caught a break in the case as the judge has already made it known she is not versed in the issues of condemnation.
However, if we win, Hualapai will really nail us on appeal with a judge that does have experience in the issue, and the taxpayers are going to pay through the nose because the Wicked Witch must have been thinking it was an autograph signing session as there is not one damned Ozites taxpayer who really believes the Mayor signed this thinking it was already voted on and I see all the signs of how the Wizard really works to hide things when she screws up.
Remember, the Wicked Witch is one of those career politicians who has been on the council for two terms and now Mayor of Oz for two terms and wants to get a third term and that should scare the living hell out of Oz and Ozites.
~Yeah, I think she did it by mistake too.
The Wizard is the person who holds the title of city manager and a few others, and whose task it is to "manage the day to day business of the Land of Oz". Problem with this is the Wizard, with the help of the Wicked Witch, has grown in such power as to hold a legal title of Treasurer of Oz, and the unofficial titles of City Attorney, Planning Director, Economic Director and Transportation Manager as she continues to stick her nose into the issues that she does not even hold a degree in.
For that matter, some Ozites should ask just what degrees she does hold for all of those titles since she is the one who always speaks on behalf of those departments when things get heated in discussion on the floor of the Palace.
Could it be we hired people to run those departments who are too incompetent to speak for their own agenda items unless the Wizard tells them they can?
Could it be that the Wizard is afraid that a question may be raised that the person we hired to do this work may not be able to answer it because they have not really done all the work or could expose a problem with the city train of thought that a couple of the supposed leaders of Oz might actually pick up on?
Remember Wizard, your function is to handle the "day to day" business of the city and I think it is time you sit down and shut up if the issue being debated is from another department that we pay a director or GM to run because your "day to day" business skills seem to be seriously lacking in perfection don’t you think? I really want to see your "self evaluation" too.
Note to the Wicked Witch; please take off your rose colored glasses and look around the room next time someone asks you to sign something as it is apparent now that it was not a public autograph session.
I am too afraid to think of what she may have signed when she was in Washington collecting an award she had absolutely nothing to do with and it may have been the amnesty bill for illegal aliens.
~11% seems to small my son, take 21%
Well, I guess we all have heard by now that one of the flying monkeys has honed his skills so well over 7 years and was slammed by a city audit for 25 infractions of the department he was overseeing, as well as the fact he has learned to lie to residents and the council of Oz, that he now garners a 21% pay increase and a title change to "Assistant General Manager" which I think the city must have just recently made that position for him so he can take over the post of Judy Register.
Everyone knows about Judy Register, the former head of the library system of Oz who took over a post she has no degree or tact to be running. I guess we can consider her position as "on the job training" and I bet Raun moves up to replace her soon if she does not get her act together.
Can you feel he tension building Judy?
This issue now shows how moot the point is to complain about the 11% increase in pay. We had better start watching out for those bigger raises to those who do the Wizards bidding.
I wonder if in the new budget, this flying monkey will get a 6% increase in pay in addition since this took place before the next year’s budget and pay raises were approved.
Here is another kicker to the issue of one of the other flying monkeys in this department just receiving a car allowance of $300.00 a month or $3,600.00 a year. Now this begs to question why we are giving a car allowance to a person who has access to a city vehicle during working hours and special meetings he may attend, so it seems we are paying to have him drive his personal car to and from work.
Don’t forget the fact that the head monkey of this department also received a car allowance of $4200.00 a year on top of an increase from $96,907.00 to $117,000.00 and he does not even drive to work most of the time and also has access to a city vehicle for special meetings and daily excursions from his desk.
Here is the final kicker in this issue and shows just how evil and vile the underground network of the Wicked Witch and the Wizard really is.
A man by the name of Ed Gawf who has been the fall guy of these two evil villains for well over the past 3 years was FORCED to retire when the news broke on this issue after a informant in the city leaked the news to the public who in turn alerted the only real media in the Land of Oz. (Click this link to see Ed's official letter to the Wizard)
Now I could not give a rats butt about what some people think they know about my friend Ed, but just like another employee by the name of Randy Grant, these were two employees who, once out of the bowels of city hall and clear from ear shot of the flying monkey spies, would tell residents that they were "preaching to the choir" and that "we needed to get the council to understand it" when they spoke to us about issues of zoning, use permits, code enforcement, planning and development, downtown bars, and the list goes on.
My presumption of what really happened in this issue of losing yet another friend of the Ozites is that the wizard got caught again trying to pull a fast one and told Ed yet again that he was going to take the fall for it because she cannot afford to have another public screw up come forward. Ed in turn probably said he was tired of the foot prints of the Wicked Witch and the Wizard on his back and that if he had to do this again he was out of here.
While I will miss Ed, just the same as I miss Randy, I wish them better and happier times once they leave the clutches of this evil empire. Wait, that is Star Wars, huh? Ah, who cares anymore as it appears living here in the Land of Oz has some black holes that lead to other dimensions which will soon be uncovered.
Here is a note to our supposed leaders of Oz, you know, the ones we voted into office to work the will of the people? (Yep, that was another joke.)
There is a funny farm out there somewhere and it has every one of your names written on it!
I mean really, are the people we elected to office so stupid and blind that a peon such as me can see all of this and they do not? Anymore I find everyone one of them are useless to the people of Oz, and those that are running in the next election need to go, and I mean all of them!
Good luck to you and your new career in consulting Ed, like Randy you will be missed by those of us who know you and have worked with you and you were an asset to the Land of Oz my friend.
If the council of Oz cannot get Ed back, then besides the fact we should vote them all out of office, they should be able to muster 4 votes to fire the Wizard. The time is way overdue for her to go!
~Larry Manross in High Heels and Fishnets?
Ha! Bet that got Larry’s attention huh?
It appears the Wicked Witch has ticked off yet another voting block Friday during her speech to the Gay Community of Oz. I hope Larry is not a homophobe as he is going to have to do something to get those votes back since the Wicked Witch has ticked off nearly every voting block in the city.
I have many friends in the gay community and they are really nice people. Before I start getting e-mails telling me that they are sinners and sick people, I will give you a suggestion, don’t even because my response will not be nice.
I am going to alert some of them to keep an eye out for Larry in drag as he tries to get those votes back, and hopefully we will end up with a picture or two. At least it is better than him going out and keying the cars of people running for a seat in the Land of Oz.
Man! I cannot wait for the elections and debates to start this election season as I think the mud is going to fly this time and the meaning of Clean Elections will take on a whole new meaning.
~Grammar, Punctuation, & Spelling
For the second time in a matter of weeks I have been questioned about my writing abilities so I thought I would clear this up for all of you.
Since I rise at 4 A.M. to get ready for work and every Friday I write this column for the Ozites of the city in order to give them the low down on the insanity, double talk, and out right lies of our city government in a humorous manner, it seems that some people are more concerned about my grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
First of all I am not a journalist nor did I ever go
to school for that degree and unlike the wizard of Oz I can say I have
no business pretending I hold that degree.
Yes, I did go to school and graduated but since it is now 10:15 P.M. and I would have been in bed over an hour ago, I really do not care about such issues as I am sure everyone knows exactly what I am talking about.
However, I do know how to deal with my critics on this problem and have given this edition to one of them to do their work on.
As you all know, I am not politically correct, I speak my mind with no regrets, and I use the spell checking and grammar checking programs that came with Microsoft Office and that is about as far as I m going to go.
Seeing how it is bad enough that I have to re-hash the lunacy of the government of Oz and it’s flying monkeys and trying to keep my head from spinning out of control, I refuse to worry about grammar, spelling, and punctuation so I am turning it over to those who care.
If the column loses its punch, let the editor know
Michael Merrill
F8713@aol.com
From one Editor: This editor applauds the thoughtful and educated evaluation by Mr. Merrill of the current State of the City. We fully support his efforts to inform the voting public in any manner he chooses and are very happy that he chooses this particular website to advance his educated and "spot-on" opinions. Lord know he knows far more about what's going on deep in the bowels of the city than anyone else we know except for those on the inside who are knowingly perpetrating numerous scams on the innocent taxpayers of Scottsdale.
"Sadly, the tentacles of radical feminist thought are poisoning the image of groups of males in different ways. If you watch a few commercials or sit-coms, you’ll see that dads are sloppy dolts who are always the last to know anything.
Where’s the outrage?
If you listen to the often foul and violent rap and hip-hop music of today, you’ll hear that young black and Hispanic men are hate-filled, selfish bigots who degrade women for fun.
Where’s the outrage?
If you’re a father-to-be, your pre-born baby can be legally killed without your knowledge, much less your consent. For crying out loud, where is the outrage?...
There are consequences when we, as a society, tolerate the constant images of males of any race as knuckle-dragging Neanderthals. When the media portrays fathers and grown men as sots, we rob our boys of the role models they need—of the role models we all need...
Please go out of your way to validate the value of the decent fathers, husbands and young men in your life. I think you’ll be surprised, as I was, to find out how much they long for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T."
—
Rebecca Hagelin
"Our culture needs to replace the idea of the
superfluous father with a more compelling understanding of the
critical role fathers play in the lives of their children, not just
as ‘paychecks’ but as disciplinarians, teachers and moral guides.
And fathers must be physically present in the home. They can’t
simply show up on the weekends or for pre-arranged ‘quality time’."
—Dr. Wade Horn, National Fatherhood Initiative
"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so
ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got
to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned
in seven years."
—Mark Twain
“How is
it possible that Children can have any just Sense of the sacred
Obligations of Morality or Religion if, from their earliest Infancy,
they learn their Mothers live in habitual Infidelity to their fathers,
and their fathers in as constant Infidelity to their Mothers?”
—John
Adams
~Shout and Spout ~
~ We're finding that if you have to subscribe to a newspaper, the Scottsdale Tribune is the only one you can count on to give you a straight story. Brian Powell and Ari Cohn are finally digging out the stuff that will embarrass the current administration into either resigning or coming clean with the truth for a change.
~Thank you for the Scottsdale Activist! It's about time the citizens had a web site to bind together against the Wizard and the Wicked Witch of "the West’s Most Western Town"!
~ Councilman Lane needs to know that to get re-elected, he's going to have to start listening to the residents again and vote with Littlefield and Nelssen. We in the north need all the help we can get. Drake, Manross and especially Ecton have abandon us and are a lost cause with McCullagh needing to take a fresh look at his chances if he doesn't change his ways too.
~ Craig Jackson needs to move on, his type isn't wanted around here if he's going to bully others into moving out of the city. He must be taking lessons from watching Jan Dolan run the good people out of city government.
~ One more city manager gone and another receives a raise? A 21% raise at that! It seems to me that Dolan is sending all of those who believe in helping the citizens get what they request of their city are being dumped, Oh yeah, Gawf was dumped, he just can't tell you that. Then you have Keagy who must be kissing somebody's something to get a 21% raise when the Code Enforcement department seems to be a snowball headed for hell in August based on the worst audit in the city's history. And, what's with flunky Hankins getting a car allowance? How wrong is that?
~ West World was originally set up for equestrian events. Why have they seemingly taken a back seat to the likes of Craig Jackson? Maybe Jackson should move to Las Vegas, then we could allow the other auction to use West World. It would grow just as Barrett-Jackson did without all the BS.
~The Hualapai Water Plant debacle directed by Jan Dolan is reminiscent of Scottsdale's expectation that Toll Brothers would simply hand over property the City wanted for less than its fair market value. The City is wearing blinders to what Dolan is doing and how much she and Manross are costing the taxpayers.
~ The city and the developer need to be slapped stupid because of the way the residents were treated at Orchid Tree apartments. Where was the supposed "we'll help you with everything" city when they approved this mess? Note to citizens living in apartments or condos: The city will rezone your property at will and tell you to move out, to where they couldn't care.
~ The new city buildings in the north are all ugly artistic abortions as well as that pile of dog crap called a water plant at Hayden and McDonald. How can our stupid mayor collect a "green" award when she promoted dark brown or metal buildings that retain instead of repelling heat. She had nothing to do with the award and didn't have the chutzpa to name the real winners. OMG!! She's so in love with herself it's sickening!
~ Thank you for the reminder to celebrate Flag Day Thursday. We didn't see anything about it in either of the other local papers.
~Check out the www.dirtyscottsdale.com website for a view of what "24/7, live-work-play" brings to Scottsdale. Seriously, the website is hilarious and right on target. ..and Thank you Mary "Scruples" Manross for providing the material for that website.
~ IF……………….
$
Tens of thousands of dollars to fight the
Tribune's valid request for Dolan's self-evaluation to be
released as a public document (which it is) isn't enough;
The standstill over the continuation of the
Barrett-Jackson auction isn't enough;
Then the Hualapai Water Plant financial disaster and impending legal fees should finally be enough for all Scottsdale residents to call for the resignations of Manross, Dolan, and Robberson, otherwise know as the "Three Blind Mice".
….So, isn’t it time the "Three Blind Mice" resigned before we dump them?
~ Craig Jackson’s crafty way of bending the way the city makes decisions is no match for the stupidity of those trying to come up with the solution because they don’t have a clue as to what they’re doing or why they are doing it. Isn’t it more than obvious to everyone? Flying blind certainly fits the situation as does 3 stupid flying monkeys.
~The City Council desperately needs to audit, audit, audit....dig dig dig...discover, discover, discover...then fire, Fire, FIRE!
~ Jim Lane, get a clue. You can't win again unless you wise up and support them that supported you, not the damned developers and big money boys.
~ All of the city secrecy needs to be addressed and it needs to be done before the next election. God only know how much more damage these idiots will do to the city structure and reputation.
~ We are glad the Activist fully supports the Scottsdale City Police Chief. You are right, he shouldn't be held accountable for the follies of his grown children
~ Craig Jackson isn't anyone's fool, or is he? He's now trying to dump the entire problem back into the city's lap claiming the city won't work with him. Excuse me, Craig Jackson and company are wealthy and hire the high priced lawyers who then try to bamboozle the citizens into submission. We're not buying it and agree with Councilman Littlefield: Give us a substantial long term contract and well talk about the parking problem at West World, and oh yeah, leave the Russo-Steele alone, they are a nice honest group of people!!
~ We loved the comical piece you added to last weeks Activist concerning the council and the budget. That funny piece made as much sense as the councils budget analysis did.
~ Mary: get a clue, dying your hair coal black does nothing but prove what a fake you are. You can't even handle old age. Your over exposed pride and obvious vanity is only out done by your failure as a mayor. Get a life and move on so this city can be saved by someone who cares.
~Wouldn't we all know what the city manager is hiding? Some how I feel we are about to get screwed harder and longer that ever because they know the next election will replace all key city personnel. Note to key people: Leave now or get on track with the citizens before it's too late.
~ Why does Raun Keagy make more money than Kroy Ekblaw? He sure doesn't do as good a job as Ekblaw if you can call what Ekblaw does a good job.
I was sitting alone in one of those loud, casual
steak houses that you find all over the country. You know the
type--a bucket of peanuts on every table, shells littering the floor,
and a bunch of perky college kids racing around with long neck beers and
sizzling platters.
Taking a sip of my iced tea, I studied the crowd over the rim of my
glass. My gaze lingered on a group enjoying their meal. They
wore no uniform to identify their branch of service, but they were
definitely "military:" clean shaven, cropped haircut, and that
"squared away" look that comes with pride.
Smiling sadly, I glanced across my table to the empty seat where my husband usually sat. It had only been a few months since we sat in this very booth, talking about his upcoming deployment to the Middle East.
That was when he made me promise to get a sitter for
the kids, come back to this restaurant once a month and treat myself to
a nice steak. In turn he would treasure the thought of me
being here, thinking about him until he returned home. I fingered
the little flag pin I constantly wear and wondered where he was at this
very moment. Was he
safe and warm? Was his cold any better? Were my letters getting through
to him?
As I pondered these thoughts, high pitched female voices from the next
booth broke into my thoughts.
"I don't know what Bush is thinking about. Invading Iraq. You'd think that man would learn from his old man's mistakes. Good lord. What an idiot! I can't believe he is even in office. You do know, he stole the election."
I cut into my steak and tried to ignore them, as they began an endless tirade running down our president.
I thought about the last night I spent with my husband, as he prepared to deploy. He had just returned from getting his smallpox and anthrax shots. The image of him standing in our kitchen packing his gas mask still gives me chills. Once again the women's voices invaded my thoughts.
"It is all about oil, you know. Our soldiers will go in and rape and steal all the oil they can in the name of 'freedom'. Hmmm! I wonder how many innocent people they'll kill without giving it a thought? It's pure greed, you know."
My chest tightened as I stared at my wedding ring. I could still see how handsome my husband looked in his "mess dress" the day he slipped it on my finger. I wondered what he was wearing now. Probably his desert uniform, affectionately dubbed "coffee stains" with a heavy bulletproof vest over it.
"You know, we should just leave Iraq alone. I don't
think they are hiding any weapons. In fact, I bet it's all a big act
just to increase the president's popularity. That's all it is, padding
the military budget at the expense of our social security and education.
And, you know what else? We're just asking for another 9-11. I
can't say when it
happens again that we didn't deserve it."
Their words brought to mind the war protesters I had
watched gathering outside our base. Did no one even appreciate the
sacrifice of brave men and women, who leave their homes and family to
ensure our freedom? Do they even know what "freedom" is?
I glanced at the table where the young men were sitting, and saw their
courageous faces change. They had stopped eating and looked at each
other dejectedly, listening to the women talking.
"Well, I, for one, think it's just deplorable to invade Iraq , and I am certainly sick of our tax dollars going to train professional baby-killers we call a military."
Professional baby-killers? I thought about what a wonderful father my husband is, and of how long it would be before he would see our children again. That's it! Indignation rose up inside me. Normally reserved, pride in my husband gave me a brassy boldness I never realized I had. Tonight one voice will answer on behalf of our military, and let her pride in our troops be known.
Sliding out of my booth, I walked around to the
adjoining booth and placed my hands flat on their table. Lowering myself
to eye level with them, smiling I said, "I couldn't help overhearing
your conversation. You see, I'm sitting here trying to enjoy my dinner
alone. And, do you know why? Because my husband, whom I love with
all my heart, is halfway around the world defending your right to say
rotten things about him."
"Yes, you have the right to your opinion, and what you think is none
of my business.
However, what you say in public is something else,
and I will not sit by and listen to you ridicule MY country, MY
president, MY husband, and all the other fine American men and women who
put their lives on the line, just so you can have the "freedom" to
complain. Freedom is an expensive commodity, ladies. Don't let your
actions cheapen it."
I must have been louder than I meant to be, because the manager came
over to inquire if everything was alright. "Yes,
thank you," I replied. Then, turning back to the
women, I said, "Enjoy the rest of your meal."
As I returned to my booth applause broke out. I was
embarrassed for making a scene, and went back to my half eaten steak.
The women picked up their check and scurried away.
After finishing my meal, and while waiting for my check, the manager
returned with a huge apple cobbler ala mode. "Compliments of
those soldiers," he said. He also smiled and said the ladies tried to
pay for my dinner, but that another couple had beaten them to it.
When I asked who, the manager said they had already left, but that the
gentleman was a veteran, and wanted to take care of the wife of "one of
our boys."
With a lump in my throat, I gratefully turned to the soldiers and
thanked them for the cobbler. Grinning from ear to ear, they came over
and surrounded the booth. "We just wanted to thank you, ma'am.
You know we can't get into confrontations with civilians, so we
appreciate what you did."
As I drove home, for the first time since my husband's deployment, I didn't feel quite so alone. My heart was filled with the warmth of the other diners who stopped by my table, to relate how they, too, were proud of my husband, and would keep him in their prayers. I knew their flags would fly a little higher the next day. Perhaps they would look for more tangible ways to show their pride in our country, and the military who protect her. And maybe, just maybe, the two women who were railing against our country, would pause for a minute to appreciate all the freedom America offers, and the price it pays to maintain its freedom.
As for me, I have learned that one voice CAN make a
difference. Maybe the next time protesters gather outside the gates of
the base where I live, I will proudly stand on the opposite side with a
sign of my own. It will simply say, "Thank You!"
To those who fought for our Nation: Freedom has a flavor the protected
will never know.
GOD BLESS AMERICA !
No matter your religious persuasion, please pray for your God's protection of our troops and HIS wisdom for their commanders.
PRAYER:
"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they
protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts
they perform for us in our time of need. I ask this in the name of
Jesus, our Lord and Savior."
When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our ground, air and navy personnel in every area of the Middle East. There is nothing attached.... This can be very powerful.. Just send this to all the people in your address book.
Of all the gifts you could give to anyone in the US Military, be it Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, or National Guard, Prayer is the very best one....Amen.
God Bless America
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.
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Prop13Arizona
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Executive Guidance Committee Sen. Ron Gould Sen. Jack Harper Rep. Russell Pearce Hon. David Smith Jeff Greenspan, Chairman Lynne Weaver, Vice Chairman
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2007, 12:00 PM MST |
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Prop 13 Style Property Tax Reform Coming To Arizona Prop 13 Arizona, a coalition of elected officials and citizen activists, has organized to bring California Prop 13 style reform to Arizona. Prop 13 Arizona brings together elected state officials, citizen activists, taxpayer, industry and other political interest groups to form the definitive statewide property tax reform coalition in Arizona. Over the next year, representatives of various stakeholder groups will be working together with elected officials and citizen activists to create comprehensive, transformational property tax reform bills and initiatives to include: · Eliminating classes of property · Resetting the property tax rate back to no more than 1%, the maximum allowed in the Arizona Constitution · Setting a 2% annual limit to valuation increases after a property is purchased · Rolling back current valuations to 2001 “Prop 13 Arizona: …comprehensive, transformational property tax reform... “ Prop 13 Arizona will: · Provide comprehensive reform for driving future economic growth and prosperity · Enable businesses and individuals to plan and budget their tax requirements · Attract new business to the state The work has already begun. New stakeholders join Prop 13 Arizona each week. Bills and initiatives are being drafted. The first initiative, C-01-2008, a portion of the reform language, has been filed with additional filings to follow. Stakeholders from around the state are providing their input in order that the bills and initiatives appeal to the widest segment of the population, amenable to business owners, industry and individuals. Look for more from Prop 13 Arizona in the coming weeks and months. |
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~ 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 .
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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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Scottsdale Development Update
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WJ "Jim" Lane ~ |
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Important City Meetings
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The Scottsdale Activist is published, and edited in Scottsdale AZ ~ 480-326-2475