Volume
'07-27
Published
Late Saturdays
July 7, 2007
The Scottsdale Activist
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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. ~ Weekly Editorial -- Staff ~ Living in the Land of Oz by Mike Merrill ~ Shout and Spout, Frank Gray? Street Crap? Stupid Council? More? ~ Thought for the Week -- Calvin Coolidge ~ Quote of the Week -- John Adams ~ Food for Thought - Take It or Leave It ~Other Stuff of Interest ~ Information You Can Use
~ Look up Prior Editions? Click on a date to open. |
~ Council Unwittingly Sets Irreversible Precedent
The approval of the on-site school at SonRise has set a very bad precedent which no one apparently has ever considered, especially the majority of the current City Council, our Mayor, our City Manager, and City Legal Department who gave their approval.
Let’s look at the dire consequences this approval has possibly spawned, here's the senario:
A "developer" decides, using some "Straw Buyers", to purchase 8 to 10 homes in the Park Scottsdale section of the city with Granite Reef as the major collector and the homes between Jackrabbit Road and Sage Drive starting with the five homes on each street closest to Granite Reef.
After the assemblage has been completed through multiple straw buyers, the "Developer" closes escrow under a legally registered but nondescript single LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) which doesn’t tell you what it really is, nor does it have to. During this period, no one knows anything other than assuming these homes have been purchased by ten different buyers because the "straw buyers" were the only one’s the sellers saw until noting the LLC as the buyer in escrow. What seller who has already purchased a new home based on the sale or their sold home, is going to question the motivations of the nondescript LLC (buyer)? They are forced to close escrow on their old home so they can close on the new home or be possibly lose their earnest money and be homeless.
Now comes the major problem:
The nondescript LLC turns out to be a legally registered but a decidedly radical Islamic Fundamentalist group who plans to build an Islamic Mosque as well as a school to train their children the basics of radical Islam. The city of Scottsdale will have zero, yes, ZERO legal choice but to approve the school based on the precedent set by the SonRise School decision because there is absolutely nothing illegal about the LLC and who they represent.
You can place any neighborhood in any section of this city, on any major or minor collector, and any religion into this scenario and it shows how badly the citizens of Scottsdale were mis-represented and used in this faulted and flawed decision by a city council majority, city manager, and city legal department who are out of touch and who never thought about the deadly serious ramifications of what they have done to the residents of Scottsdale.
Now, the only thing left is for property owners to be very careful of to whom they sell their homes and who else in the neighbor hood is also selling and to whom, which should have never been allowed to happen in the first place in Scottsdale.
Think about it when you decide who your new council members and mayor will be after the ’08 election……………………………
The question could be considered rhetorical, but then also most direct and requiring an answer under the current dire circumstances which we find our fair city in today.
When we moved our family to Scottsdale at the beginning of the ‘80’s we were looking for:
An open style government where the average
citizen had a voice,
A well cared for and proud city where
everyone took pride in their city and its amenities,
Where property owners carried their pride to
their own homes and neighborhoods,
Excellent schools where the 4 of our five
children still in school could excel as well as be safe from
negative outside influences,
Where top drawer shopping, parks, libraries, medical facilities, and other desirable amenities were ours for the asking, or at least at our affordability level.
We found Scottsdale at that time to have all of those things including a Mayor who was wonderfully friendly and helpful to everyone he came in contact with which was far beyond our wildest dreams.
…….and then the ominous changes started. Undetectable at first but then slowly, like hidden lava oozing from under the surface of a once dormant volcano, things started coming to the surface.
As the years rolled by as well as did the people whom had made Scottsdale the unique and World Class city it had become, disappear from the scene for many reasons. Things started to slowly go the way other cities go when politicians and their politics supersede the wants and real needs of the city and its residents.
We went from governmental interest in the residents,
the infrastructure, and the future vision of the city based on the
consensus of the residents, to the "Artsy" group who cared more about
"public art" and how to find their way around the city using "911"
rather than what the residents and city needed to maintain the visions
of the future as the residents had defined it over many decades.
From that point and the end to the "Arts & 911" administration and the start of the Manross administration, we began to see secrecy in government starting to take a serious choke hold, almost like a Python does to its victim. Most residents didn’t notice because there had never been a need to suspect our city government of secret deals and stealthy dealing like the few astute citizens (called "activists" by the administration) were beginning to see. Little did they know that they were being squeezed out of the process by a seemingly innocent woman of slight stature and dyed black hair who was seemingly sweet and caring on the surface but reportedly ruthless behind the scenes and behind closed doors to any who dared cross her.
When we moved here, there were specific rules, ordinances, and regulations covering most activities having to do with maintaining neighborhoods and the infrastructure that served them. All of those rules, ordinances, and regulations began to crumble when the Manross administration came to power and accelerated tremendously with the hiring of City Manager Jan Dolan.
Rather than being the caretakers, representatives, and purveyors of a resident inspired vision of the city and it’s future based on the voices of the loyal and proud residents, the city government transformed into something Scottsdale had never witnessed in it’s entire history; a city government which became the willing tool with which the city was transformed into the hot bed of helter skelter development based on the wants of the developers and the builders and guided by a ruthless and power driven city manager and legacy hungry mayor. Residents of the north tried to warn the city of this invasion but never thought that such planning could also affect the south.
Residents were caught flat footed and the new regime knew exactly how to handle the few who had figured them out. They called them obstructionists and activists who were trying to stop the evolution of Scottsdale from bedroom community (which it never was) to a World Class City (which it already was).
These devious and secret plans worked for a number of years until entire neighborhoods were starting to deteriorate and those areas were being bought up by developers by assemblage at bargain basement prices due to the deterioration of the entire area. Those areas deteriorated because the city was turning a blind eye to that blight problem by choice in favor of the developer who had secretly assembled the properties.
After their purchase, the developers in concert with certain city favored attorneys then wanted zoning, height and density changes which would block views, overload roads and cause general chaos in a once quiet neighborhood because none of the plans included improvement or replacement of the current infrastructure at the cost of the developer. So, the taxpayers are picking up the tab for those infrastructure "repairs" after the fact so to speak to the tune of a reported $8 million dollars just for the downtown sewer system alone. The city government generally accommodated all requests made by those developers "in favor" with said city government and didn't include any of the necessary off-site facilities in the fees charged the favored developers.
During that period, the city developed a plan for the downtown area which included the condemnation of a number of private properties which was all to go back into the private sector to develop more viable businesses and to revitalize the downtown area. Here is where people were starting to smell the stench created by this administration. Some of the condemned land was reportedly "given" to former city council person(s) and doled out to others "friendly" to the current city government for development, while some that had worked with the city, had land condemned with city promises for like treatment were "throw to the wolves" so to speak receiving nothing for their trust in the city government.
In addition, the city has determined that they don't have to follow the council approved plan to make all land condemned private as planned so they have decided to place a water booster pump station on land that the city itself deemed to be for private enterprise only, breaking their own plans which were approved by the council.
All the while, the Manross administration lost the possibility of landing the Coyotes Hockey team as well as a very viable tax paying Arena and commercial venue, but was instead putting an apparently secret deal together with ASU & ASUF to get Steve Ellman out of the old Los Arcos property which consisted of approximately 42 acres of highly prized and highly taxed commercial property at the city’s south entry with ASU/ASUF taking over while paying zero property, retail, or improvement taxes.
First we were told that it would cost the
city taxpayers $42 million to purchase the property
and the deal was cut to "lease" the property to ASUF build a
world class high tech research center for 99 years.
Then we found out that the taxpayers would
have to cough up and additional $50+ million dollars
for infrastructure for the property as well as the revelation
that
ASUF was given an additional lease, at their
sole discretion and option, for another 99 years at no cost to
ASUF but,
City taxpayers would be totally responsible
for all infrastructure on the property for the length of the
lease(s); 198 years.
To finance all of the above costs, it was
determined that said costs would have to be bonded which also is
costing the taxpayers over an estimated $160 million
dollars.
In an election to accept the Los Arcos deal,
all opponents were stopped from getting the signatures necessary
for a referendum by the monied proponents reportedly "buying up"
all of the signature gathering companies in Arizona, Eastern and
Southern California and southern Nevada to the point that one
company who was contracted to deliver many needed verified
signature "decided" at the last moment to refuse to turn over
their signatures which caused the failure of the exercise much
to the delight of the current administration as well as ASU &
ASUF.
After this fiasco, we were all of a sudden confronted with ASUF wanting up to 804 apartments built on the same property with zero revenue to the city from the addition of this housing facility by ASUF.
Roll forward a few years and we now have a big box office building without all the frills and refinements we were told we would have; no major international high tech research firms, no nothing other than a run-of-the-mill average grade office park with apartments coming which will most probably house ASU students, not the expected high tech researchers promised who have never showed up as promised.
Fast forward past numerous other city financial and political fiasco’s which would take too long to elaborate upon and we now come to the Hualapai Water Plant financial as well as legal fiasco choreographed by none other than City Manager Jan Dolan which will cost the city taxpayers up to $12 million in unnecessary funds to purchase the plant as well as millions in legal fees to accomplish the buy-back from the successful and legal bidder on the property.
~Can we save Scottsdale?
Yes. All we have to do is demand the City Council table any and all new proposals for building, developments, zoning changes, building height and density changes or other such changes until a proper and publicly acceptable general plan update, and a viable overlay is approved BY THE PUBLIC AT LARGE, not the politicians who gain somehow from every decision they make which favors a developer, investor, or builder.
The other major change that only you as a vote can force is to elect an entire new slate for the council and mayoralty in the ’08 elections.
~Can this be done?
Absolutely!! We have a number of talented citizens in this city that could lead and do a much better job without political prejudice or connections with any of the current political favorites such as the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce and other such organizations. We don’t need people with those political connections because there are no free lunches when you belong to one of these organizations while serving on the council or as mayor.
Would it be a bad omen if a non-politico and unaffiliated candidate were supported by one of these political organizations after the shake out of the campaigns? We would have to take a closer look at the connection they might have or did have to that organization before we would consider them a "Clean" candidate. We would expect this candidate or candidates to take the city back to its roots of a wide open government, reduced spending, well kept neighborhoods, low density, restricted building height, top grade parks and playgrounds, and a totally updated infrastructure to handle any new developments that may be approved in the future.
This city became a World Class City because of the family value aspects it presented to the world as well as the top notch galleries and art boutiques in the downtown area. We DID NOT become world class because of SkyFlop, the bars in downtown, or some of the other fiascos of late, financial and others.
The anti-Scottsdale websites Scottsdale Sucks and Dirty Scottsdale only came about because of the nasty reputation Scottsdale is now getting due to the total lack of understanding and caring by the Manross/Dolan administration which has foolishly validated the need for a never ending number of bars in the "24/7" downtown area which put drunks on our roads, low-life’s driving through our neighborhoods, and crimes continuing to climb in alcohol related incidents.
~Is this what you want Scottsdale to be known for?
If not, then let's elect some real conservative and conscientious council people and a mayor who isn’t interested in a political career or expensive legacies and puts serving the residents first and foremost above everything else which absolutely none of the current incumbents can even come close to claiming.
Think about it when you decide who your new council members and mayor will be after the ’08 election……………………………
~ As Reported in the Scottsdale Tribune
~Fast track sought for mixed use developments in Scottsdale
Per Brian Powell’s article in the Scottsdale Tribune
Scottsdale is proposing a way to make it easier to build mixed-use developments that combine residential and commercial uses.
Nearly a year ago, the city started researching ways
to amend its decades-old zoning regulations and create a planned unit
development ordinance to achieve
these goals.
"The idea is that it provides the flexibility you need to get multiple uses on a site," said Frank Gray, Scottsdale planning general manager.
Next week, some of the city’s findings will be presented at two public meetings, where residents and interested parties can also provide feedback.
Gray said Scottsdale’s zoning ordinances are based on a 1929 federal act that encouraged the segregation of different uses rather than integrating them. These proposed changes would allow the city to incorporate the different uses and would help in the development of infill parcels.
Scottsdale has not determined in what parts of town
these new standards would be
used.
One option, according to a memo from advance planning director John Lusardi to the Planning Commission, is creation of a pedestrian transit oriented development model district for street corridors.
The city is currently updating its master transportation plan, which will include the option of approving light rail, streetcar or bus rapid transit along Scottsdale Road. Gray said the city is looking at all transit corridors with frequent bus use, and the zoning proposal is not tied to the possibility of light rail.
Planning district open houses:
July 11, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Water Campus
8787 E. Hualapai Drive,
July 12 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Granite Reef Senior Center 1700 N. Granite Reef
"These proposed changes would allow the city to incorporate the different uses and would help in the development of infill parcels"
The above words were uttered by non other than Frank Gray the GM of the Planning Department and should be a Red Flag to everyone in especially the South and Downtown areas as we are the highest probability for infill development other than around the Shea Corridor.
The Planned Unit Development zoning seeks to change the required amount of land for such zoning to much smaller parcel sizes and has a direct impact to the areas that have already seen developer assemblage such as the area North of Camelback along the Canal.
Presently I believe this classification applies to lots of 40+ acres and is how they got away with the Sky Swindle project to now include rental housing as we let them re-zone the site to PCD zoning. I was the only one to object to the zoning change as I saw what was coming but no one wanted to listen.
Now imagine the city being able to take a lot that is say 4 acres and zone it to PUD standards and you will see the height increase dramatically, density will be well above it's surroundings which means packing people in like sardines, and city services and infrastructure costs that the present taxpayers currently carry the burden on will be seen by bond elections for Capitol Improvement projects that will stretch the city budget even further at a time the city is already seeing a "flattening out" of city sales tax revenues.
While this may be applied to a certain location in the city such as the airport area, do you really think they will just apply it to that area?
How badly will the North get "burned" in this issue as long as land is available up there for infill when we hit build out?
How would this play out if they applied it to Old Town and the Downtown area as well as the South under an assemblage deal?
Any way you look at, this new zoning coming from places like California, Colorado, Portland, and Seattle spells big trouble for Scottsdale and our way of life. Frankly, I am tired of being Californiaized by this city’s current crop of incompetent leadership.
~ City Mis-Planning Makes Summer Hotter Yet
Summer is upon us and to add to the normally hot weather we have a couple of questions about WaterView, the proposed condo/hotel project on the east side of the canal north of Camelback Road which to date have not been answered by the city or the developer.
That project is a neighborhood assemblage project that is removing affordable housing stock (yep, it is an area where landlords did not abide by property maintenance codes and created blight while the city turned a blind eye) to create a luxury hotel, housing, and offices.
It is a project supported by our City leadership as a symbol of progress while allowing residents to be permanently displaced and pushing height and much higher density into historically residential neighborhoods.
On top of that, the developer Scottsdale Canal Bank Development, LLC, is also busy assembling property at the north end of the WaterView property, but outside of the Downtown boundary, in order to move the SRP Substation at Camelback Road and Scottsdale Road.
It appears that the plan is to take out four or five homes and build a substation that resembles a house on the outside, as a disguise. The added factor is that power lines are proposed to be put below ground.
That is a big job for this small developer to take on. Wonder who will get stuck with funding that project or the aftermaths thereof?
Another point to be aware of is the conflict WaterView has with another project already under construction one street to the east called The Sundial Resorts, Inc. project, the Best Western Sundial Hotel. Sundial already has its plans approved and 73rd Street is an important part of their circulation plan. Wonder what is going to happen now with WaterView developers wanting abandonment/realignment/renaming of 73rd Street?
For a project of the supposed dynamics of WaterView, that involves moving a very important power substation, and impacting a fringe neighborhood adjacent to the Downtown Area Plan, there are many vital questions that need to be addressed completely before the proposed groundbreaking in November, 2007, or the ground breaking and final plan approval should not occur at all.
The City of Scottsdale should be required to answer a lot more questions about the planning of this development and the displacement of Scottsdale "workforce residents."
Serious problems like this would have never happened under mayors Drinkwater or Campana and the residents of Scottsdale are being taken advantage of in this and other similar situations of late.
~Letters to the Editor ~
letters@scottsdaleactivist.com
~ Constructive Criticism Can Be A Good Thing
About two weeks ago I sent a letter to the Editor in regards to the issue of where has COGS (Coalition of Greater Scottsdale) been over the last few months or so.
I was upset that a discussion with a friend on the planning commission gave me the impression that we missed something in regards to a Northern zoning issue that had recently passed the council and was approved.
Later I found that we never missed it and it was none other than the SonRise issue which no person in this city actually agreed with the Council on, or do we accept the actions of those who approved such a thing as the ramifications of their decision will be a big problem down the road.
I wrote this letter as a request from John Washington, the President of COGS, when we found out that we did not miss anything and that all of us seem to be on the ball when it comes to keeping close tabs on what the city is doing.
However the other portion of my letter regarding what has become of the group, which I am a member of, still holds to the points I had made.
One of the most pressing issues coming up in very short order is the new PUD, (Planned Unit Development) designations the city wants to try to pass. In my column Living in the Land of Oz there is a little more about what this zoning designation is about.
Another issue is a recent application to the city from a developer who wants to level some old hotel and build non other than 3, 4, and 5 story condos on the site in Downtown that we should all be very concerned about.
Again the city is moving forward with more and more High Density developments and zoning changes that will affect the residents of this once fine city.
My point was a little constructive criticism to COGS Board Members that some of us our concerned about these issues and we would like to here what the board has to say on them.
It was a thought that maybe while the council is on break, we form a couple of working groups from our members to look into the issues and have another full meeting to share with the members and board.
My only point was that there is a difference between lying low and lying so low we appear dead, nothing more, nothing less.
As member with a voice I will even propose to pay for meeting space at the Senior Center on Granite Reef for whatever nights the Board picks, for the next three sessions just to get things rolling.
Respectfully,
Michael Merrill
Member of the Coalition Of Greater Scottsdale
~ Living in the Land of Oz
by Michael Merrill
~The "Generals" new Plan for Development
Well, I was wondering how long it would take before we began to hear of the new zoning request that the General of Oz Planning (Frank Gray ) is trying to slip past the residents of Oz and low and behold, the Tribune of Oz reported on this debacle.
Ozites in the South need to remember that we have been waiting for years to hash out the needed changes to the R1-7 zoning which applies to most of the residential property of the South and until the General of Planning got here, we were set to have a committee begin discussing the changes. Of course when the new General took charge, the first order of business was to kill that committee.
Now, we have had one minimal change to that zoning and one that is being discussed now, and neither of the proposed changes has done much for the residents, nor have they even gotten to the changes we have been looking for.
So, should it surprise any Ozite that instead of addressing that issue, we are now facing the new Planned Unit Development zoning that has been hatched by the Wizard and her General of Planning?
Planned Unit Development or PUD is not much more than Planned Community Development or PCD zoning and the changes the General seeks should scare the hell out of Ozites who have been fighting to combat spot rezoning which has been running rampant through the total ignorance (or a secret plan) of a majority of our supposed leaders.
This new zoning as well as the already established PCD zoning require properties seeking this zoning to have roughly 40 acres for development and one of the changes the General is seeking is to reduce that number and to what we have yet to hear.
The Wizard likes to refer to these types of projects as "mixed use" which means you may have some retail on the lower floor and a whole bunch of condos on the upper floors.
There is also the problem of some of this development being called "transit oriented development" and everyone knows exactly what that means. It means increased heights, increased density, increased traffic, increased city services, and increased infrastructure demands. Again I would have to warn Ozites of who will pay for all of this increased development and again the answer is the tax payers of Oz.
I know, some of you thought it would be paid for by the developer but a reality check will tell you it is going to come from "your" pockets.
Now, take a second and reflect the comment by the General of planning of the question being "where to designate such changes?"
Well I can tell you first off, the flying monkeys along with the Wizard and the Wicked Witch will be to turn all main corridors including Scottsdale Road in Downtown into the classification of "transit oriented development areas" and this will also be applied to areas or corridors in the Airpark.
I am not going to go into this in any great detail now other than to warn the citizens of Oz that this is something we must not allow to get passed even though the present Planning Commission of Oz is already salivating over approving this and go figure on that one.
The city will be holding 2, yes 2 public meetings on this issue this month and I will wait to see what brilliant plans they have in store for us and go into greater detail of why this is a bad omen for the city, however ponder these thoughts.
As the General of Planning has said, this will
make it easier for developers and infill projects. Well, since we
are approaching build out, what part of the city is being inundated
with "infill" projects now?
Once we reach build out, what happens to all the
open parcels in the North that will now be designated as "infill"
projects?
If you now live next to an empty field of say 4
acres, will you now be zoned for a high density project next to your
house?
How much assemblage will take place after
designations are made so developers can wipe out homes and build
higher and denser to fill their pockets and then run?
Since we already have PCD zoning which Sky Swamp was zoned to, why do we really need PUD zoning and how do they differ?
For any of you who do watch the zoning issues in this city, this should scare the living hell out of you with what the city is proposing and what they will allow to happen under this plan if the Council of Oz passes it.
~The Last Round Up for the Summer
You got it! The supposed leaders of Oz are in the final stretch of council meetings for the summer and the Ozites are the recipients of a much needed break from the rounds of spot rezoning, density increases, broken promises, broken laws, transportation stupidity and the many other countless actions they have voted on.
Here are a couple of issues that beg for answers before the council votes.
Approval of nearly $25 million in taxpayer’s dollars to widen Scottsdale Road to 6 lanes.
Now the problem with this issue is that residents of Oz who already have issues with the city regarding transportation and have taken time to petition the council on those problems have been told that we have to wait until the city finishes it grand transportation study, but low and behold the city itself has been working around every corner to obstruct traffic with the Wizards street furniture and her plans to make all Scottsdale roads an obstacle course for drivers is pushing ahead with all of these plans before the study is even completed.
So if the residents of Oz have been told that they have to wait, then why in the name of Oz is the Wizard and her General of street mayhem (Mary O’Conner) allowed to go forward with councils happy ass approval with all this Umpa Lumpa turd’s they are throwing in front of the grand transportation plan?
By the way, is Phoenix paying for any of this since they also are part of the problems?
Another issue on the agenda is in regards to the nightmare we call "in lieu of parking credit." It appears that a former retail business of First Avenue wants to rebuild into a "restaurant" but only has 5 parking spaces on site and needs 13 more spaces.
You guessed it, as the Downtown already has problems with providing parking in the area and if you do not understand why, then consider there are 87 liquor licenses in a half mile from this new one they will approve, and the Wizard of Oz, The General of Planning, and none other than Snidely Whiplash (John Little) of the Downtown Group have all signed off to create even more parking problems in the area by selling spaces we do not have.
Yep, the same fools who were in charge of placing the last two parking structures downtown. One that basically killed a downtown restaurant and the other parking structure that never had a turn around on the top so that when it got full, you had no place to turn around once you reached the top.
Mind you I pointed that out at a council meeting and even showed the architectural plans, approved by the city’s own Planning Department, and the Council with no turn around. A meeting that people told me had the Wicked Witch so ticked off they swore she was going to jump over the Palace Dias and cast one of her evil spells on me and I had no water to combat her with.
I wish for once the supposed leaders of Oz would get their heads out of their Umpa Lumpa Makers, and come to the reality that you cannot keep giving out credits you don’t have and in reality need to deny this application for a change.
If the applicant is willing to enter into a contract with the city and pay $144,000.00 for the spaces he does not have, and the city sure as hell does not have them, then I say more power to the business owner as he is definitely smarter then the crew we have on the Palace bench and the Palace bench is the ones creating more problems than they are solving.
Pssssssssssst, the bench forgets that our planning sucks and is also creating the problems and is what you get when you move forward like a bull in a China Shop!
This one jumped off of the agenda at me and it is the approval of $492,000 for a company that shall remain nameless but is going to provide the city with an update to the Downtown Plan. Of all things included I see they are going to give us their expertise in of all things transportation and parking analysis and begs the question of; why we need to pay for something twice? Did we not just shell out a cool mill for the Wizard and her flying monkeys to figure out how to fix the problems they and the supposed leaders have already created with piss poor planning, no impact studies to what they were doing but the attitude of "hell let them all build and we will sort it out later" attitude?
Here, let me save the Ozites some money here and conclude this for you.
Traffic sucks and you folks created that mess and we already have one contract for a million to solve that.
Parking sucks and you folks all created that problem too by piss poor planning or shall we just say "no planning" and you cannot fix that until you stop giving out all the parking credits you morons do.
See, problem solved and we just saved the taxpayers a cool half mill.
Here is another goodie as we are going to pay nearly a cool million to have the documents drawn up for the remodel of the Virginia Piper Theater and we could save that money if we just let the Wizard do it like they did the West World Tent.
Honestly though folks I cannot understand how it is that these droppings of yellow bricks and Umpa Lumpa turd’s passes by this council in such a blind and stupid manner as it does and makes me wonder how many times we have already done this type of stuff when people are not paying attention, but I will bet the Wizard and her flying monkeys will have some answers to those questions if any one decides to ask them, and of course those fiscal conservatives we have up there will just say, Oh, Okay.
Oh well, at least we are going to pay ASU 6 million to build a parking garage for us and maybe we will be able to turn around on the top when it is full, if it is ever full.
~A lesson learned from Fountain Hills
I read in the Oz Tribune this week that the residents of Fountain Hills will recall council members if they do not fire the Town Manager.
I found this to be an interesting subject of how to rid your city of un-wanted and dangerous and out of control management of the city on a day to day basis.
Since our own city manager (The Wizard) has yet to find that fourth vote to shove her back up the tornado that dropped her here and led to all of her friends from her past life joining in on the butchering of this city. I have a proclamation to make.
I proclaim that after the elections, our new council and hopefully our new Mayor will decide to fire the Wizard within 90 days of their appointments (or sooner if possible).
If they do not, I suggest we do the same as our friends in Fountain Hills are doing and form a recall on the new council and Mayor unless they fire the Wizard.
Maybe if we did that as a community, which under the circumstances of community disappointment in how this city is being run and lack of trust in our elected leaders, we may get some of them to make a decision for a change or at least the right decision.
Maybe we could get the Bean Counter of Oz (Jim Lane) to understand that community comes before all those damned beans. Maybe he would understand that there is a meaning and a purpose to our zoning laws that have been worked on and updated for years to the satisfaction of the residents in protecting their quality and way of life and his thoughts about those issues would change.
Yep, that is what you call Oz Dreaming, not associated with California Dreaming.
~ The Camel Gets Humped, Part II
On Monday, Sir Tony of Oz had decided to ask the Flying Monkeys and the Generals of the city the questions I posed about this issue of the speed table that is now complete and will never be removed, unless it floods in last weeks column.
This is a note to Sir Tony;
Sir Tony, it has been a whole week and you mean to tell me that the city could not even come up with the public documents showing the process followed, the signatures collected and the public meetings that were held as per the requirements for such actions in placing obstacles in ones pathway?
Do you mean to tell the Ozites of the city who are all wondering if this is another West World Tent type of action, that no-one could go to the file cabinet, pull the folder on this project, walk to the copy machine and send you a copy of all that information?
I can understand why you have not received the costs of all of these little obstacles the city has thrown in front of the motoring Ozites and others who drive the city because as we have been told twice now, it is a complicated thing.
Really think that it was worth a pay raise of that size to be stuffed in a can and ignored as a supposed leader of the city of Oz?
Don’t worry Sir Tony, they treat us like that too and we are just the taxpayers who pay their salaries and the city’s bills.
Michael Merrill
F8713@aol.com
~“In its main features the Declaration of Independence is a spiritual document. It is a declaration not of material but spiritual conceptions. Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man—these are not elements which we can see and touch. They are ideals. They have their source and their roots in religious convictions. They belong to the unseen world. Unless the faith of the American people in these religious convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration will perish. We cannot continue to enjoy the result if we neglect and abandon the cause. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth and their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress.”
—Calvin Coolidge
Editors note: the following quote applies as much or more so today as it did when spoken/written.
“Objects of the most stupendous magnitude, and measure in which the lives and liberties of millions yet unborn are intimately interested, are now before us. We are in the very midst of a revolution the most complete, unexpected and remarkable of any in the history of nations.”
~Shout and Spout ~
~ Hell, you know this poor excuse for a "mayor" and "city council" will try to dump something through as they do every year but just might have second thoughts this year knowing the you guys will expose them as the developer stooges they really are. Maybe if we put forth a few citizen petitions at the next meetings, we can force them to come back a few times while they're out goofing off figuring out more ways to screw us over.
~ Although we're gone for the Summer, we truly appreciate what you are doing for the citizens of Scottsdale and for us Winter visitors who really care about Scottsdale. Living in the land of Oz is a Hoot and your articles are right on target. Too bad the city government doesn't get it. Maybe they won't get it at election time either!!
~ I understand that Carla has some health and other issues for which I deeply sympathize. Why doesn't she take care of those issues before trying to force something on the residents that they don't want and will vote down in huge numbers should it ever get to the ballot?
~ Here we go again, more stupid crap plugging up our city streets. Where does the money come from for these idiotic things when we have city streets, roads and sidewalks in dire need of repair? I think a few of us should get together and hire the guy with the D9 Cat to rip them from the ground. Maybe if we get rid of Dolan and O'Connor, we can get rid of those things like Menlo Park did.
~ When they started the site planning for the first Ellman Los Arcos plan and then SkySong, it was obvious everything that was being done in context with the Scottsdale Road corridor and was being done with higher density (people, buildings=more & taller) and aligned with transportation. The lack of leadership or rather the lack of comprehension, reason and responsibility of leadership is screwing us right into the ground. Triyar let it be known in December that they wanted more property and more perks and concessions. Dolan and Manross are handing them the entire store on a silver platter. Let's hand them their derričres in a fur-lined bucket at the next election or sooner if possible.
~ Re the entry into the council race of Suzanne Klapp. Suzanne is an intelligent and respectable citizen but no person in any way close to the Chamber or other local political organizations should even be considered for election to our city council. It's time we flushed Kidder, Korte and their ilk down the drain for good for costing this city too much money buy supporting the ignorant decisions of a useless mayor and council.
~ We need 2 or 3 petitions filed with the city council to force them back into session while they are on an unearned hiatus. What do you think about that?
~After reading the Scottsdale City Charter, the City Council has total control of the City Manager, not visa versa, so why don't they just fire the useless, brassy, incompetent (expletive deleted)?
~ What Frank Gray and Jan Dolan are doing, with Mother Mary’s full approval, is exactly what we were afraid of. The process that Ed Gawf was allowing residents to participate in for the last three years is being deep sixed just as Ed Gawf was. There are fewer and fewer opportunities for the residents to be involved, to understand the language, how it is applied in Scottsdale, and the process and impacts if it is not done right. "Right" does not mean according to any single individual or a city dictator, but right according to what is going to work well with established neighborhoods, businesses and single family residential properties over the long haul well into the future. The residents don't have a good handle on this at all simply because we are no longer allowed into the inner sanctum to hear the secret discussions concerning the demise of Scottsdale as we once knew it.
~ I loved the comment in one of the papers that visitors thought the new water plant with all the rusty pipe was an old museum. Funny thing, I too come from back east and I've seen enough rust to last me a lifetime. Paint things nice, calm, pleasant colors instead of heat grabbing dark and ominous colors. On second thought, dark and ominous fully describes the current city council doesn't it?
~ Your article on the the council tabling everything and anything to do with new developments or the changing of anything on zoning and density was right on target but this council is too stupid and their self interest is to elevated to make any reasonable decisions for the residents.
~ I just went over that new "camel hump" on Camelback with my stretch limo and about tore the bottom off the vehicle. My customers were really pissed, spilled their drinks all over their evening clothes. I had nowhere to go to get around it without backing up to Hayden which is illegal. Can I sue Dolan and the city for damaging my limo as well as for putting up a dangerous road hazard without early warning signs on the east side of Hayden Road leaving plenty of room for moving lanes to avoid the thing? Editors note: I would hope so but check with your attorney, we hate the stupid, unnecessary, spendy things too.
~ I have said it before when I got the packet of information the city tried to sneak to the planning commission and I will say it again, this new Infill plan is a detriment to any and all parts of Scottsdale where they try to apply it, and people better pay attention to this one before the council tries to pass it. The mayor and her cronies are running scared that they may lose the next election and trying to get all the changes shoved through before the election is over. Funny though, we have been trying to get the R1-7 zoning fixed for many years now to no avail except we get these little token changes while this new zoning is taking no time at all to come forward. Funny how all these things seem to be sneaked through under the present city leadership.
~ We can't wait to read "Living in the Land of Oz" every week. The humor is fascinating, especially when you play it back against what is really happening because they go hand in hand. Merrill has a handle on the entire process and presents it in a way that make the mayor, council and staff look as stupid as they really are. Thanks Mike for a great read! The Activist ain't half bad either, thank God for both of you! Without you, we peons wouldn't know anything.
~ The city council should table everything pertaining to any changes in height or zoning and should put in a new law that all condo conversions should have all electrical, water and sewer pipes replaced and fire sprinklers installed. I think we have enough condos. They can't sell what they have now. Apartments were converted to condos displacing long time residents and now the units stand vacant begging for anyone to lease, rent or buy them but the prices are unacceptable while the trees, shrubs and grass wilt away to nothing; what an eyesore they are creating. Where is Code Enforcement? I hope all of these owners lose the property in bankruptcy, it would serve them right for putting people on the streets.
~ You are exactly right! Close "Next" and any other bar that doesn't follow the rules to the letter. Have the cops run in anyone even suspected of having too many drinks. Speaking of drinks, I understand that the bar "Drinx" has a number of code violations and other problems but because the owner apparently works for the city, they never force any changes or corrections on that bar. Word has it that they still don't have a clear Certificate of Occupancy and have been operating that way for a couple years with Manross and other city people as a known customers. No surprise there...............
~The secrets Frank Gray and the staff of the city have been planning on infill projects are what we have been warning everyone about since 2003. We saw it coming and it affects the north as well as the south. We asked for this to be dealt with then and now they are going to try to ram a wrong and stupid plan down our throats which fits their fancy and legacies, not the needs or requests of the residents. I know that we can't get a moratorium, but with help of staff and Council we could slow things down in order to get quality guidelines in place including language on dealing with serious and secret neighborhood assemblage problems. Residents of the northern areas brought that thought up just the other day because they feel they may be affected even more than the south due to the remaining larger parcels (one acre or larger parcels) available in the north. After looking at the WaterView files today, I am seeing one hell off a wreck coming down the pike if we do not get moving and stop this Dolan inspired insanity ASAP!!!!
~ Leave it to Carla and her vocal few to want to spend millions on an ill-conceived land bridge across Dynamite Road while both the north and south suffer from under funding for road repairs, park upgrades, and many other failings. No Carla, No bridge!
~ Living in the Land of Oz kicks ass. Too bad the mayor and council can't read even simple English. Oh, maybe he should write it in some simple dialect for them.
~Kansas Shoppers Step Over Dying Woman
By ROXANA HEGEMAN,
AP, Posted: 2007-07-04 09:37:01
Filed Under: Crime News, Nation
WICHITA, Kan. (July 4) - As stabbing victim LaShanda Calloway lay dying on the floor of a convenience store, five shoppers, including one who stopped to take a picture of her with a cell phone, stepped over the woman, police said.
The June 23 situation, captured on the store's surveillance video, got scant news coverage until a columnist for The Wichita Eagle disclosed the existence of the video and its contents Tuesday.
Police have refused to release the video, saying it
is part of their investigation.
"It was tragic to watch," police spokesman Gordon Bassham said Tuesday.
"The fact that people were more interested in taking a picture with a
cell phone and shopping for snacks rather than helping this innocent
young woman is, frankly, revolting."
The woman was stabbed during an altercation that was not part of a robbery, Bassham said. It took about two minutes for someone to call 911, he said.
Calloway, 27, died later at a hospital.
Two suspects have been arrested. A 19-year-old woman was charged with first-degree murder. Another suspect who turned himself in had not been charged as of Tuesday, the Sedgwick County prosecutor's office said.
The district attorney's office will have to decide whether any of the shoppers could be charged, Bassham said.
It was uncertain what law, if any, would be applicable. A state statute for failure to render aid refers only to victims of a car accident.
Eagle columnist Mark McCormick told The Associated
Press he learned about the video when he called Wichita Police Chief
Norman Williams to inquire about a phone call he had received from a
reader complaining about a Police Department policy that requires
emergency medical personnel to wait until police secure a crime scene
before rendering aid. McCormick said Williams then unloaded on him about
the shoppers in the stabbing case.
"This is just appalling," Williams told the newspaper. "I could continue
shopping and not render aid and then take time out to take a picture?
That's crazy. What happened to our respect for life?"
It is a terrible shame that most of our leaders today think than they know more than the leaders who established a democracy (Representative Republic) that has lasted more than 200 yrs.
Unfortunately there are so many soulless and immoral celebrities that are in the public eye that profess to know more than the selfless leaders of the past. These, along with the "what is in it for me" politicians (and "you owe me" voters) are leading our country down the wrong path.
This should be mandatory viewing for our government
leaders and Supreme Court as well as every American who really
care about their country.
Just double click on the video link below!
http://www.interviewwithgod.com/patriotic/highband.htm
Just click on the logos below to go to these websites.
Send our Brave Troops "Something from Home", Click on Links below.
Gathering of Eagles Website was launched 2/9/07. Click on the Logo above for more information on how they are protecting America's Memorials.
~ UPDATE!! A "Must See" for All Americans
Every American should check out all of these websites to learn more about what the American population is about to have to deal with.
This is NOT for Children.
I don't normally allow anything but Scottsdale information in the Scottsdale Activist but after receiving many emails about this and viewing it, I think that it's imperative that every adult at least look at what's offered here if for nothing more than their own education and to have everyone stop and think about the future of our country. Click on the link below,
If you don't have Adobe Flash, install it from the bottom of the page that comes up after you click on the link above. You should be able to view all available links within the main page.
The website below is of great interest as seen from a Lebanese point of view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8fa9yKQeTY
The website below gives some history of Terrorist attacks:
http://patriotfiles.org/civilizationcalls.htm
This website tell you what REALLY happened:
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened
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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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~ 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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Scottsdale Development Update
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Important City Meetings
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~City Public Document Search ~ ~ Website Contacts ~ ~ Shout & Spout ~ ~ Editor ~
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The Scottsdale Activist is published, and edited in Scottsdale AZ ~ 480-326-2475