Says Who? Mesa’s longtime dream of bringing an Arizona State University campus to downtown is about to come true

Sorry, folks, after this goofy image of our Mayor Jivin' John Giles in 2016 at the start of his first full-term in-office it's hard if not impossibly insane to take anything serious about schemes to bring ASU here after ASU devoured downtown Tempe. People cite the Valley Metro Light Rail service extension through the Central Business District as a catalyst for the transformation, but transit works both ways - the ASU Tempe campus is just a few stops away. Close and convenient already for transient students. 

However, the mainstream media drumbeat keeps pounding out the same thing two years later when voters said NO, fueled by scaled-down Spoon-fed morsels that are easier-to-swallow in smaller doses for some.
If it gets repeated time-and-time again most people start to believe it . . . but does it pass the "sniff test"??? >
City Manager Chris Brady and City Attorney Jim Smith have had two years to frame their ways to get around legal restrictions to finance their schemes for more debt.

At this point-in-time, every City official, elected or salaried, owns the decline of downtown [now eligible to qualify as a distressed Ozone] during the past 40 years - 
It was done by neglect on their watch.  

"Staff Writer" Jim Walsh

Did anyone happen to notice that what you see from The Times Media Group is produced not by "reporters" but by "Staff Writers" ???

Mesa Council OKs ASU campus
amid bitter debate             

By Jim Walsh Tribune Staff Writer Jun 12, 2018

Blogger Note: Debate of any kind is most welcome and a surprise to see and hear at meetings of the Mesa City Council. You can see the streaming video of this meeting for yourself using a link provided below. 
For far too there's been lip-service that it is citizens who make the city great, the majority have felt excluded and unwelcome to provide input. 

"Mesa’s longtime dream of bringing an Arizona State University campus to downtown is about to come true – but not without a steep price and a polarizing debate.
Despite a deep divide among speakers, who alternately praised the five-story academic building as an outstanding investment and condemned it as a source of debt, the City Council voted 5-2 on June 4 to approve the project.
Giles voted for the ASU plan, along with Vice Mayor David Luna, Francisco Heredia and Mark Freeman and Chris Glover. Whittaker and Kevin Thompson voted against it.
The vote comes about two years after voters rejected a sales tax increase that would have financed a much larger campus. This time, Mesa chose to use enterprise fund revenues, which include utility

Giles said "Mesa needs ASU to help produce an educated workforce highly sought by potential employers, and that Mesa lags behind other East Valley cities in educational attainment and household income. . . Without such a campus, children raised in Mesa will move to more progressive cities for high-paying jobs and visit their parents only on holidays," Giles said. 
QUESTIONS:
1. Has the huge payroll paid to administrators, and other employees of Mesa Public Schools failed to deliver "an educated workforce"???? YES
2. Have elected City Councilmembers and the Mesa Office of Economic Development failed to raise household incomes and create good jobs here in Mesa? YES
STATEMENT: Mesa has never been 'a progressive city' due to the generations-old monopoly Political Machine that exercises control over everything.
Giles and his friends are the problem, not part of any solution.
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Walsh goes on:
. . . But opponents said they fear Mesa is sliding into deep debt that already-high utility rates might eventually increase and that ASU should not receive a subsidy on the backs of taxpayers. They threatened retribution at the polls for supporters.
“The fact is that Mesa voters said no and we need to respect that,’’ said Mark Yarbrough, another council candidate. “Do it the right way; put it on the ballot.’’
But City Attorney Jim Smith said it would violate state law to put the matter on the ballot for an advisory vote. . . 
Kevin Thompson, who represents District 6 in Southeast Mesa, said he doesn’t like the city making an end run around voters. 
“The fact remains that someone will have to pay for this,’’ District 2 Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker said. “This project is being funded on the backs of hard-working people in Mesa.’’
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< Please see the archive at the left to access the streaming video