I especially respect an organization named Vox [hit the link or hover over it] whose mission is to explain the news by providing context.
Let me provide readers with a context for the word "Vox" and a subtext to highlight the benefits of public education in schools.
It's about understanding democracy and learning "foreign languages".
DEMOCRACY: A system of government in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives . . . In most modern democracies, the whole body of eligible citizens remain the sovereign power but political power is exercised indirectly through elected representatives; this is called a representative democracy.
The message on this blog media: Speak up People
Your MesaZona blogger frequently watches video or streaming clips of meetings produced by city-owned Channel 11, taking notice that there are very few Mesa residents attending meetings while the official notices for agendas of those meetings always state, as required by law, that Public Comment is Invited. [just fill out a blue card when you go in].
In an earlier posting on this site, the presiding official for an Economic Development Advisory Board meeting [who's also representing GPEC, Greater Phoenix Economic Council] stated that he had not hear a public comment in over 10 years! Your blogger was one of three members of the public who bothered to attend the meeting, where it was clearly stated by the mayor that he needed ideas.
Another topic under discussion was the further extension of Valley Metro Light Rail Transit from Mesa Drive to Gilbert Road - soon enough, Maria Polletta, a reporter for The Arizona Republic published an article on a very active City Council meeting involving residents of a mobile home park directly on that proposed route who might be displaced by a real estate developer seeking to cash in on escalating higher property values directly connected to the expansion of public transit that's paid for with federal/state subsidies, city bond financing and taxpayer dollars. Due to a combination of circumstances 100+ people who live at Mesa Royale in mobile homes might get displaced for certain questionable regulatory reasons from a property valued at over $2 Million dollars.
See "democracy in action" with Maria Polletta's reporting - it's got a video clip of Mesa Royale residents showing up at a City Council meeting. Democracy in action: Oh Yeah!
Watch the whole video and see the reaction of the Mesa City Council to people speaking up about the impact of real estate development on their lives - this could get spicey and dicey
Go to this link: 100 families may be out at 'unfit' Mesa mobile-home park
Maria Polletta: Graduate of Cronkite School of Journalism, roots in Venezuela
From her profile on Muck Rack
From her profile on USA Today
As
The Republic's Mesa issues reporter, Maria Polletta covers politics and
public money, non-profits and community life in Arizona's third-largest
city. She started on the paper's breaking-news desk in 2009 and has
done a bit of everything since, from a stint on the copy desk to several
months on the national Fact Check team. As a beat reporter, she has
covered the Phoenix metro area, central Phoenix, Chandler politics and
Mesa growth and development.
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