What is the City of Mesa Development Corporation??

This blog published two posts [May 25 and May 27] about actions taken against a certain candidate campaigning for election to the Mesa City Council by what is an inactive moribund group [not active since holding its last public meeting in 2010 nor with meeting annually since then - see end of this post] represented by local law firm Booth Udall & Fuller.

Except for this site, there were no local mainstream media reports about this episode.

However, The Washington Post picked up on it. So did Ars Technica and this article from Techdirt


All because of this?? . . .

City Of Mesa Abusing Trademark Law To Punish City Council Candidate They Don't Like

from the not-how-it-works depth
by Mike Masnick

Wed, May 25th 2016 3:44 pm

"Another day, another story of abusing trademark law to try to silence speech. Paul Levy has the story of how the city of Mesa, Arizona, has sent a ridiculous cease and desist letter to Jeremy Whittaker, who is running for city council. Apparently, his opponent [Blogger's note: Alex Finter City Council District 2 is not eligible after two terms, he has hand-picked his successor and is running her election campaign] in the election is the preferred choice of many current city officials, suggesting that they don't really appreciate Whittaker's candidacy. But the city took things a ridiculous step too far ..."

Read more >> https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160524/18141034540/city-mesa-abusing-trademark-law-to-punish-city-council-candidate-they-dont-like.shtml

 

What's going on here in Mesa?

The same-old, same-old, same old [this is getting really tired for your MesaZona blogger] descendants of the pioneers who have dominated and controlled this city since 1878.

It took 135 years to elect the first Hispanic member to the Mesa City Council.

Positions, jobs and titles are handed down to relatives by blood or marriage, family connections and family ties are rampant [if little brought to attention or recognized], incumbents select who they want to succeed them by tapping into party-based or faith-based networks for voter turnout, nepotism and patronage grease the wheels of the Mesa political machine.

"They" don't like you - and the story of just one candidate challenging the status quo hits the headlines everywhere but here.

Here's Jeremy Whittaker [from his website ]

". . . As a fiscal conservative, Jeremy is a proponent of responsible spending. This is critical to survive as a small business owner. With that knowledge and experience, it will positively affect the important decisions he will make as a member of the Mesa City Council. As current Vice President of his neighborhood’s Homeowners Association, he is all too familiar with the importance of a balanced budget. Jeremy is always thinking outside of the box when it comes to saving money and the residents of the neighborhood have continuously benefited over the years.

As your representative from District 2, Jeremy will bring with him a unique “world view” of finances, and how they can be applied to Mesa and the local economy. With a passion for global economics, Jeremy has studied international trade and global diversification, all of which has given him a very strong macro view of the global economy. . .
Jeremy believes that the way to create a great community is through economic growth and equality. . . He is also an advocate of clean energy and renewable resources. Arizona is the prime setting to implement renewable energy resources, . . we really need to look deeper at what makes us happy as individuals. With this I’ve turned my attention toward the City Council both as a civic duty and as a personal desire to make the community a better place for everyone.”
According to this official webpage from the City of Mesa's website:
Municipal Development Corp.
Meet at least annually
"The Municipal Development Corp. is an appointed group of citizens responsible for overseeing the administration of tax-exempt bond expenditures."
Members appointed to the Board:
Marty Whalen
Milt Laflen
Howard Godfrey
Charles Luster
Larry Woolf

However, if you hit this http://apps.mesaaz.gov/meetingarchive/meetings.aspx?body=MDC

To take a look at Agenda & Minutes, you see this: there have been no meetings since 2010

Municipal Development Corp Minutes and Agendas

Meeting Date	Document Title	Meeting Type	Document Type	View Document
10/18/2010	October 18, 2010	Regular	Minutes
10/18/2010	MDC Board Meeting	Misc	Agendas
10/26/2009	MDC	Misc	Agendas
10/26/2009	October 26, 2009	Regular	Minutes
7/2/2008	July 2, 2008 MDC	Regular	Agendas
10/17/2007	October 17, 2007 MDC	Misc	Agendas
10/18/2006	October 18, 2006 MDC	Misc	Results
10/18/2006	October 18, 2006 Agenda	Misc	Agendas