As you all know by now, sadly, Lyle Wurtz passed away this last week. Lyle was a Scottsdale activist and City Hall gadfly extraordinaire.  I first met Lyle when he was part of People First which at the time was the beginning of what I call the reform movement in Scottsdale.  I define the reform movement in Scottsdale as those of us who are tired of City Hall selling out Scottsdale’s quality of life and the interests of its residents to the powerful special interests who want to make enormous profits by remaking Scottsdale into Pittsburgh!  If anyone could claim to be a "charter member" of that reform movement in Scottsdale it was Lyle. 

I will miss his presence at Council meetings, where he eloquently skewered many of the crazy things that we do at City Hall.  Even though I was sometimes on the end of his barbs I have to admit that he was usually right on in his criticisms of City government, not to mention that he was witty and to the point.  He was also sharp at seeing through City Hall BS, which is why I appointed him to the now-defunct Citizen’s Budget Committee.

But beyond his life as an activist and gadfly Lyle was a good human being and loved family man.  While I will miss Lyle the activist and gadfly I will also miss Lyle the person.

I went to visit Lyle at the nursing home on the night before he passed on, but when I got there he was comatose.  I regret not having a chance to speak with him one last time. 

Councilman Bob Littlefield
bob@boblittlefield.com

(Return to Top)

We went to dinner a few evenings ago and had an interesting conversation with the Server, a young man in his late 20’s, about how he landed in Scottsdale.

It seems he was born and raised in the Midwest (Cincinnati Ohio), had visited Scottsdale a number of times while on vacation with his parents in earlier years, had finished college and wanted to come to a smaller city that had all the "stuff" he didn’t have at home but wasn’t wild like Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego or San Francisco.

He chose Scottsdale over the West Coast because of the lower living costs and the availability of everything he had been looking for in a city including a good job somewhere in the valley.

He told us he had lived in the downtown Scottsdale area for 6 months but the night life got boring and extremely expensive as well as sometimes more dangerous than he was willing to accept. He also said that he started seeing undesirable groups starting to penetrate the city in the later evenings which he felt could be trouble should he be caught in the same bar with them. He was at the "NEXT" bar the night the gunfight started in their parking lot. Enough said?

He explained that he loves to party but you can only "party" so much before you get burned out, arrested for either being drunk and disorderly, or for driving drunk, or waking up somewhere your parents would be embarrassed to know you had been, especially if you accidentally died there.

The only choice left was to grow up and move on which he says he has done.

I asked him about his feelings concerning the longevity of the downtown area as we know it today (being that he has a degree in civil engineering and planning but makes more money as a server until the right job comes along). His reply was just as many of us have been saying for years: It’s just a fad which will pass, the city and businesses downtown will then have to come up with something else newer and trendier every 4 to 5 years to catch the fickle eyes and ears of the younger set which will take money and time. He estimates it takes 5 years to build a business to be truly viable and continue to make money and, it will take more than booze and a band. Just when the business is about to become viable, the business would have to reinvent itself yet again and start the 5 year plan all over again. He claims that the other businesses downtown are suffering because they are all closing earlier now because the partiers take over the streets and sidewalks which "family types" won’t tolerate.

He said he had a good time, but has since moved on and settled in a neighborhood that is quiet, well kept, much cheaper, with room for a young family to live, play, and grow. We asked if he was planning to marry and have children and he said not at this time but it was a relief to get away from the high octane, frenzied pace of downtown so he could get his life and priorities in order for the future which was hard to do when he was in "constant party mode" while living downtown. He was proud to tell us that he now has started a saving account and other investments he never was able to afford as a "partier" for which he is very glad and proud as well as some excellent job possibilities. He says he’ll have a retirement long before any of those who continue to "party" themselves into drunken oblivion.

Spending time in the downtown area for most participants only lasts a maximum of 6 months and then they move on. Some move from one bar to the other until they run out of new bars to visit or are so drunk they have no idea where they are or why, and end up in jail or a situation they cannot get away from.

This brings into serious question why the Manross Administration and City Manager Dolan are so dead set on providing and promoting this type of questionable activity to provide tax dollars to the city when there are so many other ways that don’t corrupt our young and others who are out of control on many different fronts.

Isn’t it time to make Scottsdale special again?

(Return to Top)

In reading Laurie Robert’s column in the Scottsdale Republic this morning (Thursday August 30) concerning the suggested moving of the SRP Substation at Scottsdale Road and Camelback, I see nasty gremlins at work again in Steven and Helen Cooners wonderful neighborhood.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/0829sr-roberts0830ON.html

These "Hired Guns" of the developer want the substation moved into a well established and cared for older residential area against the adamant wishes of those residents. The Manross Administration’s favorite Hire Gun John Berry is quoted as stating "In my neighborhood, there are ^$2 million dollar homes that share a wall with a substation".

That’s funny, we went online  and found where Mr. Berry lives. We then went to Google Earth www.googleearth.com , inserted his address and lo and behold, we couldn’t find anything that could, in any way, be construed as an electricity distribution substation as you can see in the picture below let alone on the scale of what will have to be built in the Cooners neighborhood if Berry and his Team and the developer have their way.

If Mr. Berry finds this information incorrect, he is welcome to challenge this charge with proof of the substation the size of the projected one in the Cooners neighborhood being in "his neighborhood" as delineated by the picture above and we will gladly retract our research results.

We would bet that Mr. Berry will not challenge what we found.

Everyone seems to forget that the World Wide Web Internet can find almost anything and can catch you dealing in what we will nicely describe as "Massive Misinformation" by a professional which appears to have happened in this situation and others.

The other even more important issue which is missing in any of the material or presentations presented by John Berry and his Team is their actual concern for the current residents surrounding any of their projects.

All of the above being said, what other "Major Misinformation" has Mr. Berry and the other "Hired Guns" working in concert with him spewed forth in their zeal to "sell" the developers products to the ignorant and ill-informed Scottsdale City Council majority as well as the staff over the last few years including OrchidTree and many others to pad their already heavy wallets?

Mr. Berry is quoted as saying "You’re taking out these crack houses and derelict apartments…..".

Gee, it seems to us that the developer who assembled all of those properties, as well as Code Enforcement and the Police Department are all equally responsible for what Mr. Berry and his Team actually describe as undesirable and blighted neighborhood conditions which are against city codes.

If the developer had properly maintained the properties, if Code Enforcement had held the developers feet to the fire on all the violations as they are chartered to do, and the police department followed up with the information provided to them by Code Enforcement, the buildings and complexes wouldn’t and couldn’t be described as Mr. Berry described them now could they?

Wait a minute, could it be that the city staff, Dolan, Manross, and the Council Majority knew full well what the developer allowed to happen to the properties?, Could it also be that they knew precisely what their favorite "Snake Oil" salesman and "Hired Guns" were representing, fully understand the ramifications for the unsuspecting neighborhood, and are still allowing this costly charade, unknowingly bought and paid for by the taxpayers, while continuing to think that the residents are too stupid to catch on?

Think again ignorant, oblique, omnidirectional, misguided, and tunnel-visioned people of the Manross administration. If the WaterView project as well as the SRP substation "Snake Oil Deal" is passed by the council majority as currently designed (as were the ugly 24’ above ground tanks in the historic Cattletrack district to provide water to Paradise Valley), you will see the quickest and most successful run to a referendum you have ever seen in this city.

If Berry, the "Hired Guns", and the developer want WaterView to proceed without a huge citizen uproar, effective demonstrations, timely project picketing, etc., the entire project will have to be totally revised as follows:

For the citizens of Scottsdale to accept anything less would be criminal considering all the chicanery and secrecy which has gone on in the bowels of city hall since 2000.

The time has come for the citizens of Scottsdale to stand up and firmly reject any new projects before;

Scottsdale is a world class destination as well as an international playground for those who love to come here for a plethora of reasons, the trendy and faddish entertainment section of downtown certainly not being one of those attractions.

We need to keep Scottsdale growing and building, but not up and denser. People move here because of the openness and cleanliness of our subdivisions, the superior quality of family life, our parks, the views, the clear skies, and the ability to feel free of the constraining, congested, and bustling urban grind that has been scientifically shown to be detrimental to a good, healthy family life.

it's time to stop the stupidity, the backdoor deals, and the favoritism of Hired Guns by the Mayor and her chosen few. 

(Return to Top)

Even though this property and other similar properties remain to be a problem from time to time, the supposed Field Manager of Code Enforcement doesn’t seem to get the picture straight in his mind, doesn’t get out in the "field", or he’s just flat lazy.

These types of properties need to be checked daily for illegal parking and sign violations. That should be very easy being that none are far from his office and at least one of the 15 employees will travel north or southbound on Hayden at Osborn at least once per day.

The vehicle (BMW) pictured above was seen on the lot close to the street as early as last Wednesday, price sign and all, hasn’t moved, and wasn’t tagged until it was called in to the Police Department Saturday by someone in the area who also made us aware of the problem.

Note that the vehicle doesn’t have a license plate (Illegal) and is parked in an area not designated for parking where other vehicles need to enter and exit from the strip center.

In calling a number that was given to report weekend problems, the phone now goes directly to an answering machine which asks that you leave a detailed message and they will try to get the problem solved before 5 pm Monday.

What !!! Monday ??? What happened to all day Saturday and all day Sunday??

When it is very apparent that some problems only happen on the weekends and holidays when Code Enforcement is manned with a weekend crew whose primary task should be solving weekend problems first, isn’t it incumbent upon the agent(s) on duty to be answering the phone in "real time" and to make checking out those problems a priority?

We would think so, but apparently Code Enforcement management doesn’t share the sentiments of the vast number of residents who are getting very upset with the departments lack of action and attention to these problems.

Isn’t it time to make Scottsdale special and attractive again?

(Return to Top)

We all hear about residential and business buildings needing to go up and be denser to meet the needs of the future (?) and maintain or even save more open space. What about parking lots?

We hear of the need for still more parking at West World utilizing the 80 acres we (the City) own. Why doesn’t the city build parking structures with 3 or 4 stories underground with 3 stories above ground? That would give 6 to 7 stories of covered parking multiplied by the width and breadth of the buildings while maintaining the height limitation needed to save the views and fall within current city rules and regulations. Think of the open space we could save.

Why can’t this city understand that we need innovation, not run of the mill, "they have it, why can’t we" mentality which currently prevails in the impudent city hall? We used to be the "Joneses", we seem, under this administration, to be chasing the "Joneses".

Just think of the open space that could be created by changing our thinking on parking facilities for many areas of the city.

Expensive? Sure, but so is bare land that is currently being used for parking and could be used instead for private retail businesses which generate sales tax revenue which this city needs to survive.

It's time to make Scottsdale Special Again.

(Return to Top)

It certainly isn't rocket science and doesn't take a PhD to see that the subsidy of taxpayer dollars for the Motor Mile car dealers was obviously a payoff for their political support of SkySwindle!

Lyle Wurtz nailed this down from day one but the administration and staff had other devious plans and wouldn’t listen to reason.  

This is particularly egregious in light of the fact that SkySwindle has turned out to be nothing more than a "Big Box" disappointment and a 200 year financial "black hole" for the taxpayers, even to many who supported it in the first place. 

The only reason that the remaining car dealers are foregoing the remainder of the subsidy (whose decision is fully supported by the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce) is that the Council members who are up for re-election next year (Manross, Drake, and McCullagh) who voted to payoff their political supporters with taxpayer dollars, will not be forced to vote to approve this unpopular piece of corporate welfare yet again just before they face the voters again in the Fall of 2008!

Keep this in mind when you look at potential candidates for 2008.

(Return to Top)

Is it the "greening" of Scottsdale Road, or the demise of the small businesses on Scottsdale Road who don't belong to the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce?

We vividly remember when Mesa performed the same job on Main Street in Mesa a few years ago.

What happened you ask that was so bad?

Well, the tops of the new trees hid the storefront signs and the middle of the trees hid the window fronts which effectively killed any new business because the potential customers couldn’t see the signs or what was in the window displays. In addition, the roadway was narrowed from 3 to 2 lanes in each direction which congested traffic even more.

Mesa city government answered that the changes would promote pedestrian traffic and a better business situation.

Sound familiar?

Well, as Mesa soon found out, many businesses left the city or at least the Main Street location and Main Street became a ghost town for quite a while because people couldn't see what shops were available and with even half a brain, people don’t walk on any sidewalk no matter the width in any temperatures above 80^o which is less than about 40% of the year.

The pictures and renditions of what are proposed are beautiful and very appealing to the eye, but will they be appealing to the potential customers of these businesses hidden by the proposed trees, shrubs, and bushes?

We think not……… based on the Mesa experience!

In addition, we smell a Stealthy Rat in the unknown details of this project and the Rat could well be the inclusion of light rail or modern street cars, both putting iron tracks down the middle of Historic Scottsdale Road as well as the downtown area.

Beware the bearer of pretty pictures and grandiose plans developed by Stealthy Rats who privately support light rail and modern street cars. Once put into gear, their plans will not be stopped………

Remember SkySwindle………. Great expectations and pretty pictures which turned into a Ho-Hum Big Box dud flying a diaper with potentially over 800 rental apartments the taxpayers will pay for over the next 200 years.

Isn’t it time to make Scottsdale special again?

(Return to Top)

The depositions of those named by the Chief Attorney of Hualapai LLC, including the mayor, city attorney, city manager and other city and state personnel involved in the Hualapai lease and financial disaster (if they don’t lie through their pearly whites) will bring respectability and honesty back into city operations.

Of course it could mean some quick departures via resignations prior to them having to be deposed too.

What are these city leaders afraid of?

Did our glorious leaders do something wrong but finally get caught at it?

We think that is a huge possiblility……..

We see that the city legal department has jumped ship by claiming that they didn’t ask or approve the lease as was originally reported, yet it was reported that the legal department approved the "form" in which the lease was written but they claim they didn’t ask the mayor to sign it.

If the legal department didn’t ask the mayor to sign it, who did? Dolan; secretly behind closed doors? We’d bet money on that one.

Then again, maybe she had her chief cook, bottle washer, and gopher Roger Klingler do the dirty deed so that Dolan could say that in actuality, she never talked to or asked the mayor to sign the lease, thereby dumping on Klingler who seems too dense to understand that he is being and has been used by Dolan for a number of cover-ups and the questionable spending of taxpayer dollars. Only dull bulbs do dumb things…………

With all of the above said, reportedly, Jan Dolan has been to job interviews and refuses to talk about them and even silently walked away when confronted. Some interviews were apparently within the last month or 2, probably when she went on that quickie vacation a short time ago claiming it was a "family thing".

A new job is a "Family Thing" isn’t it?

We at the Scottsdale Activist hope and pray that Hualapai LLC will force those individuals to be deposed for the good of everyone but those being deposed. To clear the air would be a "plus" for a change wouldn't it?

The truth hurts, especially when it’s been secretly hidden away so long.

Isn’t it time to make Scottsdale special again?

(Return to Top)

~ A Laughing Matter

We got the following message a few days ago and had to pick ourselves up off the floor from laughing at one of the comments made in the message. It’s in red below.

Why oh why would we want to act like tourists in our own city? Sure, we take our visitors to places of interest in the city but we live here and have been to everything that interests us already at least 3 or 4 times.

Someone has way too much time on their hands to write such nonsense as what was written in that paragraph.

Our own Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce has members that don’t do business or live in Scottsdale so why should we if we can find something better and cheaper elsewhere?

What are we going to do acting as tourists; Go downtown, get drunk by seeing how many bars we can hit in one evening, bump into as many pedestrians as we can (25 points each I’m told) on our way back to the car, then try to find the car to drive home? NOT!!

So what’s being suggested is that we need to spend even more money in Scottsdale to fund the silly wants and desires of the out of control Dolan and Manross spending spree.

Sorry folks, that’s just not going to happen.

But..... what would we be able to afford if Dolan hadn't totally screwed up the Hualapai Water Plant lease deal to the tune of up to ^$16 million taxpayer dollars during one of her "Learning Experiences"?

Isn’t it time to make Scottsdale special again?

(Return to Top)

If you read the Scottsdale Republic this week you no doubt saw their editorial criticizing my idea that the City should sell 80 acres of land north of Bell Road (Selling land would lead to 'if only', 8/27) and also my response (Land cost near WestWorld is why we must sell, 8/30).  In my response I pointed out that the city cannot afford to keep that land, whose total cost (if we kept it all) would come to a staggering $149M Scottsdale taxpayer dollars.  That’s more than the entire subsidy for SkySong!

But there is another reason besides money that we must reject the Scottsdale Republic’s suggestion that the city should hold on to that land for WestWorld parking or for some other future "blue sky, as firm as Jell-O" (the Scottsdale Republic’s own words) uses.  That is because, not only has such a radical expansion of WestWorld not been approved by you, the voters, you have actually already rejected it!

In the 2000 city bond election one of the questions on the ballot was a proposal to purchase land to expand WestWorld.  The principal amount was $9.3M, chump change compared to the principal amount we paid for the 80-acre parcel of $48M.  Yet this proposal was rejected by the voters by an overwhelming 68% to 32%.  Simply put, you, the voters said a resounding "NO" to spending Scottsdale taxpayer dollars to expand WestWorld. 

I reluctantly voted to purchase the 70 acres of state trust land next to WestWorld that we have been using for parking for our signature events because the state put it up for auction and, if we had not won the bid, we would have been left with no parking for our signature events.  We needed that land just to keep the status quo at WestWorld.

But we purchased the 80 acres as a hedge in case we were not successful in purchasing the 70 acres.  Now that we have purchased the 70 acres we do not need to keep the 80 acres.  We should sell it and get those precious taxpayer dollars back.

We in city government should not try to achieve via the back door a result (in this case a radical expansion of WestWorld) that the voters would not allow us to achieve via the front door, especially when the electorate has made their preference known so forcefully. 

For this reason and because of the unsustainable cost to our city budget we should sell this 80 acre parcel.

Councilman Bob Littlefield
bob@boblittlefield.com

(Return to Top)

Scottsdale's troubles are deeper than they appear. The demography is a bad mix of the faux-perky and the retro-sluggish. There are people who want to be in Scottsdale, and those who are financially trapped.

The city's previous vitality can be witnessed in the back yards of investment residential properties. It's in shambles. One look would bring guttural sobs from the original owners. I wonder how the children of "The Most Livable City" are doing. I wonder where they went.

It appears that investors have scurried away as fast as cockroaches can scramble into one of the many neglected irrigation systems. Beautiful older established neighborhoods are sitting on prime land, and they aren't going to improve as long as homeowners continue to resist association fee increases. All it will take is one well-funded investor to wipe out one of those communities, and replace it with multi-level units. Then, it will be a matter of who gets to be on top.

As for the Preserve, I have this to say: Everything is for sale at the right price.

And for new construction units, I say from experience that they deteriorate before the realtor can find the door key and present it to the proud new owner.

Scottsdale is not a nice place. There are mean people there, and you know what they say about mean people . . .

There is much trouble afoot in Scottsdale, and that will eventually expose its neighboring cities to the consequences of neglect and bad management.

Name Withheld by Request

Well I hope that this officially ends the issue of the hump on Camelback Road and someone should call a cop as the camel was actually raped and left in the street by our supposed leaders.

Hell, it seems that if you have an Oscar Mayer in drag in this city you have more rights than the average citizen in Oz anymore.

Well it appears that the minister of information (Pat Dodds) here in the Emerald City ran into the same problems I have when asking for the required documentation that is supposed to be available when placing traffic calming devices in the middle of a street.

 The minister reported to me that there is no documentation he can find that proves the city followed the required process and that I already had everything he has. Wait, as it gets better and should provide every Ozite that chuckle we are all used to anymore.

It appears that the hump on Camelback "is not" a traffic calming device!

Oh yes siree, you can read it all for yourself and become just as amazed as I was by this revelation.

-----------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------

Funny to hear the city now claim this is not a traffic calming device even though it slows traffic from the 25 MPH posted on the street to a whole 10 to 15 MPH, so I guess the next question we should be asking is that if it is not traffic calming, what the hell is it?

Let me save you all some time here in this issue as I already know the answer.

It is an "entry island"!

Airport Bob asked me if I wanted to see it agendized for a council meeting but I had to explain to him that since he and Sir Tony were the only ones who have seen the point being made, there was no chance at making the other 4 council numb nuts understand it and we could never get 4 votes to slap the staffs hand and make them remove it.

Like I have said before, the supposed leaders will never stand up for the residents when staff runs around half cocked no matter whether you voted for them or not and is something we need to change in the next election.

Pay attention Beanie Boy.

Okay Ozites, you all saw the pictures last week of the new spaceship that is being touted for the new entry feature for the entrance to historic downtown (just south from the Galleria and across the street on the west side) and how it is being claimed as contextual with the pink elephant of downtown and surrounding buildings.

Needless to say that even though Airport Bob has placed it on the agenda, the likelihood that we will get the 4^th vote we need to pull it back from the insanity decision of our Southern Belle, High Rise Wayne Ecton and the DRB is doubtful. I am going to post the picture one more time as I am sending this article to some Star Trek groups so when they come to our city they will have some place to hang out and feel at home.

You can kiss the downtown good bye because under the present leadership and supposed leaders of the Emerald City we will again lose the meaning of our city ordinances in the way of design standards and also development standards and what those regulations meant to those who worked on them from the merchants and public sector.

It was funny, but not really to read the 5 year revenue history of the Downtown that I obtained from our minister of financial affairs (Craig Clifford) to note that there has yet to be the big increase in downtown revenues that the city said would come with their plans, yep the ones that run counter to what is on the books and reminds me of the same way they did this with the hump on Camelback.

The 2005 year shows a sharp up tick in revenues from 2004 from 3.7% to a whopping 17.5% increase in revenue respectively. I was astounded to see such a jump in one year and asked Craig for his opinion on the surge and it was noted that the up tick was more than likely due to construction and the few restaurants that opened that year.

I also noted that in 2006 the numbers plummeted to a whole 2.0% increase of all business, with retail taking a dive to -0.1% and if you want to know why than all you have to do is refer back to last weeks article on Downtown history and what the city has done by subversion of development standards and the fact no-one likes what has happened with the present downtown planning and developments. Sure, lots of people came down to check out the new Waterfront, and then they decided that they would depart from it. Hell folks, it is easy to see that no-one even bothered to venture to the South of the canal bank which is what was the supposed reason for the development standards bastardization for our new hip, eclectic, 24/7 live work play, Umpa Lumpa spread the city is trying to pretend is working.

Hence the reason that we will never get the 4 votes of the supposed leaders to stop even worse damage to the Downtown area by piss poor planning and the fact there is no plan and there is no vision of what the downtown is supposed to be and the council is running blind deaf and dumb as usual.

Once this piece of crap architecture is approved and built I am going to dress up as Dr. Spock and parade around the helm of the project to see if we can promote the area as the new Roswell section of the city because we are losing Downtown to the stupidity of 4 morons with no sense of place and character. Not in Downtown and not in the Southern communities of this city are any of these issues considered by these supposed leaders of the Emerald city of Oz.

Okay folks, it is a holiday and I am not going to make this long as I want to go play and forget how bad this city is "developing" under its present leader’s actions, or shall we say wrong actions.

Our Mayor and wicked witch have made it clear that her next term in office is going to be based on fixing our Tourism. First of all the Wicked Witch has basically made it public she plans on running again and which the codes state she should have to resign her position if she makes it public before a certain time period so are you surprised to find out the little witch is violating the laws of election procedures yet again? Secondly, if we allow her to work on our tourist like she has worked on playing developer and screwing this city up, than most voters should pack up and leave as there will be nothing left of Oz.

Remember, we do not have to even vote her sorry butt out of office in the next election, we just need to vote in that overriding vote, but it still would be nice to give her a farewell from her political career by tossing her in the canal. Melting; melting is all we need to hear to breath a sigh of relief in this city.

Buckaroo Betty has made it clear in circles that she does intend to run again for a council seat so I am sure we will see her name on the ballot. Sorry Betty but since you still have not gotten a clue to fixing what ails this city in the first FOUR years of your tenure, do you think that you will still get as many votes as you did in your first run?

The flatulating butthead is being awful quiet about whether he is going to run again but certain circles have made mention of Ron considering it. Note to the butthead from the 38,000 hits this web site gets per month.

Take some time to spend with your new wife and go on a long vacation as if you decide to run, you are the first one we plan on taking out of the office of supposed leaders. Mark my words Ronnie boy, while I will do what I can to help defeat beanie boy, you are my primary target.

That’s it folks, have a great Labor Day holiday and be careful out there on the roads.

Michael Merrill
F8713@aol.com

 ~ I couldn't agree more with your article on the Charter Officer evaluations. Fox in the hen house is a very mild description of what I surmise is going on behind the scenes in this administration. Jagger and Dreska are the best anyone could ever get. Robberson and Dolan are sad excuses for the offices they hold. One deals in slick deals and secrets while the other is nothing more than a puppet for Mary and Jan. Of course you know they'll never take your suggestions because you are dead on right.

~ Thank God Nan Nezvig is going to run again for a council seat. She is an extremely intelligent, multifaceted, doesn't belong to any city political organizations such as the Chamber, and cares deeply about this city. What other potential candidate have you seen at community meetings in the north and south and who helped move people out of OrchidTree in her "spare" time?

 ~ Your comprehensive article "Positive Steps for a Healthy Scottsdale" lists some of the best suggestions I seen in a long time to fix this city. I live in the  north and can plainly see the ignorance and incompetence of this council and administration. It's nothing short of appalling. Where are they coming from concerning the overspending they are addicted to? The infrastructure is coming apart at the seams which is very apparent in the article with pictures you did on the streets, sidewalks and curbs. What is there about that they don't understand? So, because they spent the money on another bridge that they also spent that money on still something else, we in the north have to wait for the bridge we voted for. If I remember, we voted on the Indian Bend Wash back in the late 70's or early 80's. What happened to that money?

 ~ God Bless you Lyle Wurtz. You were our hero and we will miss you more than most people could ever know. Keep your eye on us from up high and make sure the right people win the election so your ideas and beliefs can be put to work to get this city straight again.

 ~4333 Building Scottsdale Road. Absolutely Positively NO !!. Take it back to the drawing board. Stop getting rid of setbacks and useable open space allowances and ignoring the character that is our Downtown. If you can't figure out what we were and are, resign, leave, go quickly. We are not the frenetic One Scottsdale or Kierland. Jump on that stupid looking space ship you call the 4333 building and get out of town by sundown or open street demonstrations will start tying up traffic.

 ~ We were waiting patiently to hear about Nan running for council, now that we know she is, all we have to do is make sure she wins!

 ~ OMG!!! Craven Weasels!! There can be no better explanation or description of the sad lot we call the Manross Administration. Thank you so much for that!! I can now chuckle every time I see Queeny and her group of misfits making a stupid decision . I will be chuckling a lot until we throw the fools out of office!

 ~ The Hualapai mess is solely on the shoulders of Jan Dolan and no one else. She is the City Manager and makes those decisions or approves them or they don't get done. She should be fired for what she did and Manross and Robberson should be severely censured for their part in the cover up. The council needs to wake up, oh yeah, I forgot, Queen Mary owns the council majority lock, stock and barrel. What's Ecton going to do if Queen Mary, Drake and McCullagh lose in the next election? Oh my goodness, wouldn't that be wonderful?

 ~ I've watched as the city has totally screwed over Richard Funke. Richard is a kind, gentle man unless you get him riled up, then you better look out. He was the only property owner who didn't hire a lawyer to deal with the city, trusting that they would treat him fairly as he treats everyone himself. You can sure see what that got him. We know about the Richard Thomas deal and want to see the particulars come out. I'm sure no one will be one bit surprised at what will be seen.

~ 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

(Return to Top)

~ Arizona Tax Revolt

~ Prop 13 Arizona

(Return to Top)

~ 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.

(Return to Top)

 

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

(Return to Top)

 ~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

(Return to Top)

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.