No matter what flowery BS and half-truths you hear from zoning attorneys, their gun-for-hire promotion people, the City Planning office, or Scottsdale’s DRB and Planning Commission:

1. There is no property in Scottsdale that cannot be very profitably developed at its current zoning.

2. If you cannot profitably develop your property in Scottsdale, then you paid too much for it and it is not the job of the residents of Scottsdale to bail you out of your failed business decision.

3. Good, quality developers actually like Scottsdale's high standards because they make the developer's properties in our city far more valuable.

Keep those facts in mind when listening to the "Strawberries and Cream" stories of the mayor, city manager, council majority, the DRB, Planning Commission, zoning attorneys and their hired guns as they endorse the "pretty pictures" presented by the hired guns of the developers. They continually do this while they try to continue the total destruction of Scottsdale as we know it by approving even more height and density while asking an aging infrastructure that cannot handle the loads to continue working, and streets that are so clogged, we cannot get to work or to shop in our own city and skylines that no longer exist.

Scottsdale is still the best address in the valley so subsidies and other perks are not necessary. BMW, Rolls Royce and Bentley don't offer incentives, why should Scottsdale who has been know as the Rolls Royce of Arizona?

~ Where Did the Taxpayers Money Go?

The Taxpayers would like to know:

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 ~A Family Thing

"Start Smart"…………School is starting August 13.

Get the kids there on time. Make sure they are fed a good breakfast. Make sure they have books, homework and all the gear required. Do that everyday from day one to last day before vacation.

No cop-outs. It might be their responsibility to do it all, but it is still parents’ primary responsibility to make sure they are on task.

Your assignment, and there is no dodging it, is to make sure your school and your kids’ teachers have everything they need to teach and help our kids be successful in school.

Check out your neighborhood school, ask questions. Do they have enough books? How many kids are in classes? Is technology up to date and are teachers skilled at using all of it? Do all students have access to the same technology whether in the Coronado Complex or the Desert Mountain Complex? How do the teacher and the school communicate with parents? How do students participate in all activities offered? Is there equity in program and activities across the district?

Biggest and most important question to ask, "How can I help my children, their teacher and their school?" There are never enough volunteers and often activities for kids can be curtailed because there aren’t enough volunteers.

Even if you are just a neighbor to a school, and don’t have kids attending the school, you can still offer to help. An hour a month could help a child with difficulty reading or spelling. It could mean books are repaired for the library.

You are hearing the phrase "Start Smart" a lot right now in reference to getting kids to school the first day, but it is a call to all of us to get in gear.

"Start Smart" has absolutely nothing to do with politics as a few mayors in the valley are attempting to make you think; typical political election buffoonery.

It simply has to do with you the parent and your child, the student, getting in step with one another to make "Start Smart" a family activity which will bring rich rewards to the entire community.

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  ~ Kidder and Chamber Tip Their Hand

Rick Kidder of the Scottsdale Area Chamber slips the words "modern streetcars" into his wording on communications he is using of late. Gee, isn't that where the Scottsdale Activist said they would be going when the discussion concerning light rail started receiving such negative comments from the residents? Isn't that the product that the "hired consultant" from HDR in Portland Oregon prefers to sell? You've got it.

Rick Kidder, the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, and the HDR consultant, and apparently as well as the council majority, DRB and Planning Commission want light rail no matter how it's disguised or how much it costs, and that has become very evident.

Keep reading the fine print and read between the lines and you'll figure it out for yourself. The taxpayers of Scottsdale are being set up for a financial fall of massive proportions.

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 ~ Chamber Not Happy with Current Membership?

Apparently, the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce isn't happy with either the number or quality  of members they currently have attracted. Reportedly, they would like to join with other chambers valley wide for whatever reason.

Do we need input and ideas from other areas of the valley to make Scottsdale a better place for residents and businesses? We thought that Scottsdale was the innovative city the rest of the valley looked up to and held in the highest regard. It appears that under the guiding hand of Manross and Dolan as well as the meddling of Kidder and Korte of the chamber, the city is no longer the leader in the valley as evidenced by the way companies and residents are choosing other cities in the valley in which to locate.

As involved citizens, we need to look at ALL issues that are brought forward by any of the above groups to make sure the residents are the prime reason for the decisions rather than the developers, their hired guns, and the political legacy hounds who care about nobody but themselves.

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 ~ Dolan Leaving?

Although the rumors are rampant, Dolan continues to say she not going anywhere.... Yet.

It seems rather suspicious that she's conveniently out of town when the decision from the court came down ordering the city to fully release Dolan's self-evaluation. Do you suppose that the city attorney will release the entire review or will they use some legal hocus-pocus to hedge on this issue as they have reportedly done on others?

The credibility of this entire administration has become highly suspect because of the lack of sincerity and honesty on the part of Manross, Dolan and the heads of the city legal department. Hopefully, the voters will be able to see through the smokescreen the incumbents will put up trying to get back into the good graces of the voters before the '08 elections.

Should the "Good Guys" who will deal in open government and honesty win in '08, you can be assured that Dolan and company as well as their secretive policies will be history immediately following the elections.

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OrchidTree Apartments at 68^th Street and Camelback Road will be history as of August 1st. That is the deadline for all tenants to be out of their apartment.

The last of the tenants are moving out. One spunky, very bright lady, who has become a dear friend, has lived at OrchidTree for about 25 years. She is 84 years old and cares very much about where she lives and the people who are her neighbors.

My friend, Ruth, has an apartment that defies the label of "transient residents" that so many choose to put on apartment dwellers, especially here in Scottsdale. It is home in every sense of the word, gracious and lovely.

One feels like they have walked into ‘Grandma’s living room on a Sunday afternoon.’

My friend is a retired business professional, independent and living on a fixed income.

Many of the residents that I helped relocate are retirees who have lived at OrchidTree for many years. Others, while older, have just relocated to Scottsdale and now have had to move within months. They are on fixed incomes and Must work part-time to supplement their incomes.

What makes this whole thing so difficult, besides being a move that these people did not want or ask for, is that there is nothing that has really been done to make the move any easier. Yes, the owner of the property International Capital Partners, hired me to help 20 tenants relocate. What I wanted to do and was actually able to do are two very different things due to lack of laws or laws that applied to "fair and comparable housing" with no real guidelines for forced relocations.

There are no funding resources for relocating residents not on subsidized housing programs. No requirements to provide even packing and moving fees.

There are plenty of laws that warn about "fair and comparable housing efforts," but nothing requiring anyone, developer, landlord or City resources to provide help.

At another point I might go into the promises that were made in 2000 to provide help for residents forced to relocate and how the Mayor dropped the ball as usual.

Right now, there are a lot of people who need to be thanked for volunteering their time, sweat and vehicles to move some OrchidTree residents. They had heard me talk about what needed to be done or had seen the articles in the newspaper and contacted me asking if they could help.

Nan Nesvig, son, Chase, and husband Eric, were a God-send, putting in hours packing boxes, loading trailers, and making sure things were picked up and locked up, pictures were hung, faucets functioned and food was in the fridge.

Mike Merrill, with out hesitation, jumped in to help with repair work and cleaning for some of the elderly residents. John Washington and his wife, Keri, helped several of us move and did yeoman service moving a resident, an artist, undergoing chemotherapy. Patty Badenoch and son, Skylar and his buddies helped move furniture and boxes and load trucks, and pack clothes and photo albums with hundreds of memories.

Finding packing materials without the heavy cost were Susan and Kerrie Unmacht, my sister and niece. Recycle, Reuse was our battle cry. When someone would move and unpack we would bring boxes back for those who had yet to move.

Terry, a missionary and old friend of my new friend Ruth, came in and helped sort and wrap and pack and load cars to help move.

Councilman Tony Nelssen, wife Marg and daughter Hanah, carried boxes and loaded and unloaded, put beds together, took down drapes and ceiling fans and set up televisions and telephones.

Councilman Bob Littlefield showed up to load up cars at the old apartment and unload them at new apartments.

George Knowlton arrived on a Saturday morning with his truck to move belongings from old apartments to new and help unload other vehicles.

When I put out the word about what I was doing and that I might need help for some who not might have the financial ability to handle the move demanded, all of those people that I mentioned jumped in without question, time and time again to give a helping hand.

The City of Scottsdale Human Services staff provided solutions to some knotty problems and I can’t thank Connie James enough for connecting the dots many, many times.

Advised by LINKS, I did contact a couple of local churches to see if they had anyone with trucks to volunteer even for a couple of hours one day, but never heard back from them.

Moving is no fun to begin with. Moving in the summer heat in Arizona is the pits. Moving in the Arizona summer when you do not want to, haven’t planned to, and don’t know how and where you are going is frightening even to the strongest of us.

OrchidTree will be demolished. It is not that old a complex and the quality of construction will not be matched by what will replace it.

Scottsdale does not have a long history. Many believe OrchidTree to be just another building. They also believe that all change is progress. Some of us believe that change simply for the sake of change is not necessarily for the good of the city. This is what happens without long-range planning and vision of the future with respect for the past.

A few years ago there was a report by The Morrison Instatute called "Which Way Scottsdale?" Is it being followed? Was it even correct? Did it address the residential areas of our fine city? You can decide for yourself by re-reading the report by clicking here "Which Way Scottsdale".

Time will tell, but it will be too late for the residents of OrchidTree and probably too late for other such older properties that are under the redevelopment microscope by developers and their hired guns unless the citizens stand up and demand an end to these unnecessary changes.

Guest Editorial, Part Two

As a preface to this article and before anyone starts casting stones, change is part of life and “Activists” do not object to controlled and publicly approved change. The way change is secretly manipulated and the short-sighted view of how changes affect those who are forced to live with them is what is objectionable. 

Six major redevelopment projects all in the southern part of Scottsdale, and all of them will have significant impacts on life as we know it in the mature neighborhoods. 

These are fringe area projects sitting right next to residential neighborhoods. Our Planning Commission doesn’t think to ask important questions of developers or their hired guns and we wind up with projects that look like the Valley Ho. It looks nothing like the original Valley Ho. The footprint of the building creates a situation that negatively impacts the residential area to the west of the site that could most probably be the beginning of inverse condemnation actions for those single family residences. 

It seems that six, count them six, developers have decided to rush their plans through the City planning process. As soon as Council goes on vacation for the summer, BAM (Sorry, Emeril) here they all come out of the woodwork. 

Having looked over all of the submitted plans, I am scared, to death. Our Planning Commission cares not one wit about how any of these projects will affect the single family residential neighborhoods of the Old Scottsdale Planning Area. They are making decisions on housing and neighborhoods without input from the Neighborhood Enhancement Commission, the Housing Board or the Transportation Commission. 

The Planning Commission is made up of architects and developers. Regular every day citizens who have to live with that Commission’s decisions need not apply. (That needs to change.) 

The perfect example of how not looking at the long range impacts that we have to live with every day can be seen with the problems on the Waterfront properties. One day last week while stopped at the traffic light at Scottsdale and Camelback Roads the stench from the “problem sewers serving the restaurants” in that area, combined with the stench from garbage clogging the gates in the canal really made you want to hurl! 

It is sad and embarrassing that these things were not considered before construction. The other embarrassment is the poor water pressure and the City running around trying to figure out where to put pumping stations among the businesses and new residential buildings in and around Old Town and Fifth Avenue. 

Add to these two, the Trolley/Pedestrian bridge that crosses the Canal. Great idea, but the first attempt to drive a trolley over it gave full view to defects and it had to be closed down for repairs. Once re-opened trolley drivers have had to dodge cars parked, illegally, by valet attendants from “irrigation canal-side” restaurants, where signs say, no cars.

Ah, well. This is Scottsdale and no one tells people where they can and cannot drive or park their cars. (Hm-m-m, where are those phantom parking places the city claims we have when you need them.) Likewise, no one will tell developers where or where not to build.  

Please remember that Old Town and Fifth Avenue were designated areas before “downtown redevelopment area and waterfront” were part of discussions….. 

Whether you live near McDowell Road east of Scottsdale Road, or near Lafayette Boulevard west of 68th Street, or in the Villa Monterey area west of Miller Road, all of the problems that are continuing to impact the Waterfront area could soon be coming to your neighborhood soon. 

Over the last 4 or 5 years there has been a willingness to plop down projects like the Waterfront and Safari Drive and Optima Camelback Village to generate new life in “Old Scottsdale.” 

Scottsdale is starting to look like Las Vegas, Miami or San Diego with a similar economic driver, tourism. Problem? Those condo units ARE NOT selling!! So where is the “new life for old Scottsdale"? That being said, why are we allowing the developers and their hired guns to suggest then reportedly misrepresent the project by telling us that we need even more upscale condos (that won’t sell)? We used to have unique reasons for tourists to come here; where are they now? 

Perhaps these new developments will save the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce and the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau money on advertising. They can just slide a box under ads for the above three cities saying with an arrow pointing to those ads that says, “Ditto Scottsdale.”

Nancy Cantor
Co-Chair Scottsdale Coalition
Scottsdale

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The United States of America is a Representative Republic, not a Democracy as many think.  It is not, as many would have us believe, a "two-party system" of Democrats and Republicans either.  The Constitution established two chambers, the Senate and the House called the Congress or Legislative Branch of the government.  The Constitution did not establish four chambers by establishing a "left side and a right side of the aisle" in each chamber.  The Constitution did not establish and grant powers to a "majority leader" and a "minority leader" in each chamber.  The Constitution did not empower any political organization to establish rules of seniority or party-membership that would give special powers to any Senator or Representative. The Constitution does provide for the Balance of Power with the Executive Branch (the President), the Legislative Branch (Congress), and the Judicial branch (Supreme Court) having the same amount of power (Veto or Override).

No, our Constitution did not establish political parties nor give them any special role in the governing of our country.  It did give every citizen the right to join with others in furthering their political objectives.  But in this sense a political party has no more power than an organization like the League of Women Voters.  When the League of Women Voters holds an election to choose their officers they must fund the election themselves.  But such is not the case with the political organizations that have taken over our government.  When the political parties hold an election to choose their officers and standard-bearers they do not fund such elections themselves.  No, they have passed laws that treat their organizations differently from how the laws treat the League of Women Voters.  These laws make the American taxpayer fund the so-called "primary elections" of the political parties.  This is not exactly the "equal treatment under the law" principle that Americans hold sacred.

The "Father of Our Country", George Washington, gave us some very sage advice in his "Farewell Address" to the young nation.  He went to considerable length to advise us against political parties.  He said that, among other things, they were "divisive".  One need only to look at the antics of today’s Congress to see just how correct he was.  And yet even he did not foresee the extent to which political organizations have usurped the power of a Representative Republic.  He would be appalled to learn that the voters in one district have more power than the voters in another district because their representative has more seniority or belongs to a favored political organization.  George must spin in his grave when he sees how the people’s representatives vote for the interest of their parties’ leaders and lobbyists rather than the interests of their constituents.

How can we protect the people’s right to form political associations and yet prevent these associations from usurping the power of the people in Congress?  I suggest that we need look only to our laws that govern political fund-raising to find the answer. 

It is illegal for people or organizations from outside the United States to donate money to our federal elections (yet China illegally donated millions to President Clinton’s campaign).  This is supposed to protect us from special interests in Canada, Mexico, China, Saudi Arabia and other countries from using their wealth to influence the outcome of our national elections. 

Were laws like this in place then people would remain free to form political organizations.  But those organizations would not be able to collect money from all across the country and to then spend it to influence elections in any state or city.  Once they lost this capability they would not have the financial leverage to make our representatives vote in the party’s interests instead of the interests of their constituents.  Perhaps then our representatives, free from the yoke of answering to the leaders of political organizations, would garner the fortitude to revise the rules of the House and the Senate that put the party leaders in charge of the chambers of Congress that are supposed to answer only to the citizens of the United States of America. 

Do this and George Washington can rest in peace knowing that his countrymen had finally heeded his warnings.

Jack C. McVickers
Scottsdale, AZ
jmcv3@cox.net

 ~ The Manross/Dolan/Ecton Vision for Scottsdale

Well the Wizard dashed all hopes of Ozites to hear that it could be possible that she may be leaving the Land of Oz.

Now the wizard comments that "head hunters are contacting her and other city employees" to supposed leader Drake.

The wizard goes on to tell the supposed leaders of Oz and the generals in an e-mail that she is not seeking a job, she is not leaving this week for California for an interview, and that she is not a finalist for another offer.

Now Airport Bob made the comment that he has been hearing these rumors for the last 5 years and I can only remember hearing them for about the last 3, but his comment was correct of "it is all just wishful thinking on some people’s parts" and he is pretty much on the mark. It is the wishful thinking of a whole bunch of Ozites who want to see her move on to some other unsuspecting community and create another castle.

Personally I have not believed them after the first one I fell for as a friend pointed out some things that will make the wizard wait until the very last minute to bail.

First of all she has a pretty danged good taxpayer subsidy that we call a "severance" package that will allow her to collect her pay for something like 7 months and there is something to do with her health insurance coverage and other little perks.

Then there is the issue of she can retain power in Oz for a few more years and she will not have to leave for California as she will have created a mini California city here in Oz.

At this point she does not have to say anything as she is set until the next election and then it would still take a bit of time before the supposed leaders of Oz will lower the boom.

Then again there is the possibility that she may still retain that thread of a majority vote that is keeping her here after the next election. It is not that weird of a thing to say either as look what happened when we got the flatulating butthead (Ron M) tossed into being an Oz councilman.

Trust me, the wizard has no reason to try to move now and has plenty of time to keep screwing up the city, it would be stupid on her part to say she was and the wizard is no dummy by any means. But I will guarantee Ozites that there is no way she is not keeping tabs on what is available in the near future.

Well it appears the wizard of Oz lost the battle over who gets to see her "self-evaluation" that the taxpayers covered the expense for since we got sued. A judge, like another judge before that, decided that information like this is not something they can hide from the public and is indeed public information.

Since it will be a bit before we either see the document or hear of the issue of an appeal I still am mystified as to what could be so secret in this document that it should have even come to the taxpayers having to pay to defend the wizard who is a charter officer and receives $181,000.00 a year of our money.

I mean really, she is an employee of the city and the residents who pay this bill should be able to see what kind of bloated report she gave, and just how highly she thinks of herself.

I guess it will be a bit before we all get to see this very expensive piece of self gratification and for the money it cost to keep it secret it better have some damned good stuff in it or we need to remember this one also when it comes to the next election.

I found a note in my mailbox the other day telling me of some folks who were going to sit and discuss the recent grand plan in "advanced planning in Oz" and I would have to say thanks to those who could attend an afternoon meeting to have this discussion.

However again there is a project that is being proposed by the name of Los Arcos Crossing Redevelopment that proves my point yet again about the waste of time this new zoning proposal really is. I will ignore the fact that this again is not a new zoning "tool" and actually has roots from the end of World War II and I will ignore telling you again that this is nothing more than an added layer of confusion for the regular resident.

PUD speaks for itself as it is presented which shows that the underlying reasons for this "tool" are for developers and not communities. Sure the city will point out the good things that are in some of the proposal like.

In return for this developer provided public benefit exchange, the developer gets these gifts.

The PUD proposes a mix of uses and/or development standards that are usually limited in other zoning districts or not allowed, as proposed in the PUD application.

Like I have said before, the "PCD" zoning we already have is already being used as a PUD and the Los Arcos crossing is the perfect example of them doing it already.

First we had the issue of quiet assemblage take place on the commercial side which can be just as dangerous as residential assemblage.

Now we have the issue of the size of the parcel being smaller than what the suggested size is for PCD zoning which they are applying for.

You also have the issue of increased heights up to 5 stories and an influx of 600 rental units and 70 luxury condos.

Since council grants development standards for the rezoning it is interesting to note that the project speaks of pedestrian passage and connection to the park system and open space for the public, yet all the parking is above ground level which makes much of the passages pretty small and we have on street parking on the boulevard style streets which has to decrease set backs and open space that could be obtained and making a better project.

So explain to me where the benefit is to the mature communities, the most densely populated areas of the city, and our quality of life that some of us have lived here for many, many years enjoying?

Okay, I also attended the meeting at the senior center when the city had an open house and I heard of all the nice things they told residents who asked questions about building placement, sun obstructions from taller buildings, canyon effects, and other very good points that got a response of "those will all be considerations for the planning commission and the council to decide on".

Okay, does anyone see the problem with that last part?

Not only have we already been using the PUD "tool", we just call it PCD and the commissions and council approve it. We have watched the council and the planning commission increase heights and density.

We have watched them ignore set backs and development standards under the properties already designated zoning regulations and now someone wants to propose making it even easier for them to commit assemblage practices for much smaller parcel sizes and rezone to PUD with a track record of our elected leaders we have now and the way our commissions are packed?

Do you really want these people to have that added power to screw the South over while the council and friends run for cover under the new "PUD" better known as Politicians Under Development?

That’s my two cents on the discussion I missed and I prefer not to just keep an eye on it, I prefer to make sure the council understands for a change that this is NOT something we need to help us in the South and Downtown.

By the way, has anyone seen the wide open space we got from the Waterfront project and scratched your head?

Better yet, did you notice the Pink lights that line the path and do you wonder if the Pink Taco had a role in this?

Yep, advanced planning sure is looking interesting in the Land of Oz, don’t you agree?

I have to admit that I never expected to see this one coming and the issue was over the recent editorial by none other than Ozite Leger of the Oz Repugnant in which he chastised Airport Bob, the Flatulating butthead, and the Southern Belle (Wayne Ecton) for refusing to make a knee jerk reaction to Barrett-Jackson, no long term commitment, the FBR, I need new turf Open, and the Arabian pave the parking lot for my horses Show.

Now mind you I posted a response to Leger after his editorial came on line chastising him for his knee jerk reaction and why the three supposed leaders were correct, but the funny part was that for a change of pace the Southern Belle and the Flatulating Butthead agreed with their arch enemy Airport Bob.

By the way guys, you owe me for using my lines of why all three of you were right because I know you all read my comments online, just like you read the Scottsdale Activist every week to see what is really going on.

Okay kids, it has been a long week since the rug rats came back to school and I know this edition is short and that the Wizard and the Wicked Witch like that and I thought I would close with some ramblings of the week.

• If you were a man and dressed as a woman, where the heck do you pee?

• If the city tells you that a new zoning tool will help us regarding redevelopment and infill and the developer gets all the breaks, and the council and planning commission and DRB have all the say in what they can and cannot do with their current track records, do you really just keep an eye on it?

• If the Mayor and Senator Mitchell appeared on your doorstep this week and asked to make sure your kids attended the first day of school, but you had no kids, what would you have liked to tell them?

• Will we see Joel B at the first council meeting after the break and will we get in a word in edge-wise?

• If it were not for Nancy Cantor and the help from others like John Washington and Nan Nesvig, how do you think the eviction of the Orchid Tree folks would have been dealt with?

• Should the taxpayers be on the hook for the golf courses to watering tabs in any way because their turf is turning brown?

• What will happen with that treatment plant that the city is building on land they do not own to water those courses and how will that affect the taxpayers?

• Have you ever wondered why your water rates increase every year?

• Is that really the Mayors natural hair color?

• Better yet is that really the Wizards hair color?

• Is Canon really allowed to open a non-retail space on the first floor of Sky Swindle that is for retail uses and they have admitted will not take place there going to pass without a peep from the supposed city leaders? (Sorry, I forgot that there will be a coffee and bagel cart there at the door)

• Is the Southern Belle really flipping people off when he uses his middle finger to scratch his head at council meetings or does it just look that way?

• Could the flatulating butthead really be none other than the face from MAD magazine?

• Finally, does Jim the bean counter, alias Beanie Boy, really count beans?

Yeah I know, I need a nap so let’s hope next week I get some since the wife is on vacation in Denver and Aspen this week.

Michael Merrill
F8713@aol.com

 ~ In the '08 August article in the Arizona Republic it was reported that "Micelle" who is asking for a third rest room (Unisex) was on the Scottsdale Human Relations commission AND a city employee. This used to be illegal. Has there been a change to the rules and if so, for what reason ? 

 ~ I think the "Pink Taco" should name a combination plate after Mary Manross don't you? How about "2 faced Taquito's with Manross Mixed up Rice", or "Chimmy with the Secret meat & Sauce plus Refried Beans"?

~ Who does Rick Kidder think he is? Why does he continually spout off about how great the city government of Scottsdale is as well as fully supporting it? All I ever see him support is the local businesses without ever mentioning any benefits to the local residents or how they are a part of any Chamber considerations. And now "Modern Streetcars"? Rick, take a long hike off a shorter pier or leave town taking Dolan and her tribe with you.

 ~ Loved your article on "Being Old". Passed it around the coffee clutch and had a lot of fun with it. It's very poignant and makes one stop and think doesn't it?

 ~ Hey Merrill, in the next "Living in the Land of Oz", please explain "umpa lumpa turd" for us.

 ~ This city government is so on top of things that the police department says the old OrchidTree property needs to have security fencing and the city POOBAH's say it doesn't meet code yet they allow them around many empty lots. Meanwhile, lowlife criminal types are breaking into units and stealing stuff that hasn't been moved out yet as well as the copper out of the walls. Oh, this city government is in sad, sad shape and doesn't have a clue. Maybe the owner doesn't care, could that be the reason?

 ~ I fully agree with the Shouts & Spouts on the Charro's. I noticed total silence from city hall. Hmmmm wonder why................

 ~ Why hasn't there been more in the Activist about COGS?

~ Information You Can Use

Just click on the logos below to go to these websites.

Send our Brave Troops "Something from Home", Click on  Links below.

Gathering of  Eagles Website was launched 2/9/07. Click on the Logo above for more information on how they are protecting America's Memorials.

~ UPDATE!! A "Must See" for All Americans

Every American should check out all of these websites to learn more about what the American population is about to have to deal with.

This is NOT for Children.

I don't normally allow anything but Scottsdale information in the Scottsdale Activist but after receiving many emails about this and viewing it, I think that it's imperative that every adult at least look at what's offered here if for  nothing more than their own education and to have everyone stop and think about the future of our country. Click on the link below,

 www.obsessionthemovie.com

If you don't have Adobe Flash, install it from the bottom of the page that comes up after you click on the link above. You should be able to view all available links within the main page.

The website below is of great interest as seen from a Lebanese point of view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8fa9yKQeTY

The website below gives some history of Terrorist attacks:

http://patriotfiles.org/civilizationcalls.htm

This website tell you what REALLY happened:

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened

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~ Prop 13 Arizona

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~ View Past City Council Meetings

We can now access the city council meetings by clicking on the following link:

If you have any problems, check your firewall and other safety features which could block access to the city site.

~Continuing Light Rail Information

The Scottsdale Citizens Transportation Study Committee invites you to view their website for more questions and answers at  www.norailforscottsdale.com .

================================================================

Simply click on the links below to get all the information you'll ever need concerning Light Rail.

     Goldwater Institute Report

     American Dream Coalition

    The Public Purpose

If you have any questions about light rail, send them to editor@scottsdaleactivist.com and we'll get the answers to you as soon as we can.

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~ For Continuing Information on Photo Radar,
Click on the Logo below.

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 ~Are Red-Light Cameras Fair to Drivers?

These modern-day robocops make ticketing easier and can be huge moneymakers for local governments. But critics question their accuracy and fret over privacy issues.

Click on the link below , then scroll down to read the article:

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The Scottsdale Activist is very pleased to announce an effort on the behalf of the residents and taxpayers of the city of Scottsdale to promote open, honest and accountable city government. The Scottsdale Legal Defense Fund (SLDF) has been created to take legal action to hold the City accountable when its actions are contrary to state law, the City Charter, City ordinances or the public interest.

The most necessary ingredient to make the SLDF work will be confidential contributions from concerned Scottsdale citizens who are willing to help their community.  By contributing, we can change the way City Hall does business and insure that our tax dollars will be spent wisely.

No funds from the SLDF will or can be used for any political purpose.

Contributions shall be kept confidential as permissible by law and can be made in any Washington Mutual Bank to account number 3114165786 for the Scottsdale Legal Defense Fund. Branch locations are listed below. Contributions are not tax deductible.

The SLDF has retained the law firm of Miller LaSota & Peters, PLC, in connection with the patently illegal action taken by the Mayor and Council appointing the most recent Scottsdale City Attorney, while ignoring the residency requirement of the Scottsdale City Charter even though the new City Attorney’s contract (according to Scottsdale Republic reporter Laurie Roberts) requires that she reside in Scottsdale.  The City Council action was based on a legal opinion which was reportedly rendered during a closed door Executive Session of the City Council by a subordinate to the then acting City Attorney, who was subsequently appointed to the City Attorney position by a vote during a public City Council meeting. The opinion has been requested as a public document under state law, but the City has not yet provided it. The SLDF will take other appropriate legal actions based on the conduct of the Mayor and Council.

Washington Mutual Bank Locations at which contributions to the SLDF can be made are:

72^nd & Shea                    7337 E. Shea Blvd #120                480-609-8524
Hayden & Chaparral     7908 E. Chaparral # C-113            480-949-0069
Horizon                            14854 N Frank Lloyd Wright         480-614-6660
Scottsdale Ranch          10155 E. Via Linda Blvd #131       480-767-2060
Kierland Village              6501 E. Greenway Pkwy #133     480-315-2905

There are many other branches throughout the Valley.