MesaZona > Table of Contents : Here's The Menu. Enjoy: July 2018

29 July 2018

We Are So Blessed: Pence Is On A Mission From God

Here's an Opinion Piece from Frank Bruni, who used to the food critic for the New York Times. He's now dishing-out political pieces, served-up with a dash of scathing humor:

Mike Pence, Holy Terror

Are you sure you want to get rid of Donald Trump?

By Frank Bruni

Opinion Columnist

Credit Illustration by Ben Wiseman; Photograph by Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

"There are problems with impeaching Donald Trump. A big one is the holy terror waiting in the wings.

That would be Mike Pence, who mirrors the boss more than you realize. He’s also self-infatuated. Also a bigot. Also a liar. Also cruel.

To that brimming potpourri he adds two ingredients that Trump doesn’t genuinely possess: the conviction that he’s on a mission from God and a determination to mold the entire nation in the shape of his own faith, a regressive, repressive version of Christianity. Trade Trump for Pence and you go from kleptocracy to theocracy.

That’s the takeaway from a forthcoming book by the journalists Michael D’Antonio, who previously wrote “The Truth About Trump,” and Peter Eisner. It’s titled “The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence,” it will be published on Aug. 28 and it’s the most thorough examination of the vice president’s background to date . . ."

Bruni got his hands on an advance copy . . . the rest of his writing will whet your appetite

Here's the link >> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/28/opinion/sunday/mike-pence

New Word In The Media Lexicon: Outercourse

That's right - here's part of the story of no penetration intended: ". . . During Tuesday’s court appearance and in a brief filed in May, Mr. Multhaup argued that the “outercourse” — defined as sexual activity other than vaginal sex — was all Mr. Turner sought . . . "

Brock Turner only wanted 'Outercourse', Lawyer argues in appeal

Brock Turner leaving the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose, Calif., in 2016.

Credit: Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group, via Associated Press

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Read more >> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07

Take Action! Only 100 Days Until the 2018 Midterms Election

CITY WAY OR HIGHWAY? Interview: Richard Florida, Professor at the University of...

Believe it or not, RT does have some really good intelligent and informed programs - here's one from Oksana Boyko in her program called "Worlds Apart" . . . she's one of the most intelligent women in broadcasting anywhere in global network news.
Here's the take-away: a city more open to everyone is a city that is successful. We are going through a dramatic reorganization of society

Published on Jul 29, 2018

Views-to-date: 46

Politics as we know it was born in cities. It’s no wonder that cities, especially big ones, feel entitled to call the shots for other, sometimes far more impoverished and disadvantaged communities. In 2016, small towns and the countryside struck back at the ballot box, first with Brexit and then with the election of Donald Trump. Was there something that big city dwellers, the cosmopolitan elites failed to grasp about the rest of their countries? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Richard Florida, professor at the University of Toronto and best-selling author.
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RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios.

Downtown Mesa 'On The Verge' Again?? Who's Accusing Who of A Cheap Political Stunt

East Valley Tribune Staff writer Jim Walsh has been late to get on this news story about Mesa City Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker when he documented disturbing things in city government on his website a week ago regarding questionable agreements about ASU. They provoked a comment from Mayor John Giles, who's probably the biggest puller of political stunts if ever there was one here in Mesa:
". . . I’m disappointed people would engage in such a cheap political stunt.’’ Giles is the Poster-Boy for Political Stunts

So is his long-time buddy conservative Mormon Mesa Republican Mega-Millionaire State Senator Bob Worsley, forced to come out to appear in the image to the right in front of a Mesa City Council meeting that provoked public anger when it was revealed he was the real estate speculator behind-the-scenes in a low-ball bid to acquire title in holding companies for 10 commercial properties on Main Street. He was gambling a private fortune while holding the public trust in elected office - he's getting out of office after only one term perhaps realizing he can't it both ways. Whether or not it's his own money he's gambling and risking, his reputation in public office has been tarnished.
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Judging from the reactions reported by local news writer Jim Walsh that were updated yesterday, Whittaker is getting a lot of blow-back. He is one of the most vocal and informed critics of questionable "deals" made by city officials - definitely not a yes man. He's definitely not alone in opposing proposals to spend over $100,000,000 for ASU downtown.
ASU can finance itself. For taxpayers it's a debt burden.

Voters REJECTED it two years ago in spite of a privately-financed $500,000+ Public Relations campaign located in the mayor's private law office on 2nd Street that turned into a major screw-up. The donors and more of their deep-pocketed friends-and-family and undisclosed business interests have now had two years to set-the-stage and "adjust the numbers" to trick taxpayers to pay for the speculative real estate schemes for their own wealth creation - if it weren't for Jeremy Whittaker asking questions
That's his job to represent the interests of his constituents in District 2 and the interests of the public here instead of private special interests that only want to capitalize gambling and gains in rampant real estate on the backs of taxpayers for their own wealth creation.

Sorry, folks but that's the way good government works when it's open, transparent and accountable. _________________________________________________________________________
Here's a teaser for Jim Walsh - using emotionally-terms "a political neophyte" and "a bit of a wild card" right off-the-bat in the very first sentence! Then we get into name-calling and other insinuations from anyone with some skin-in-the-game of crooked politics and cooking- the-books. Your MesaZona blogger was shocked to read Dennis Kavanaugh say this about Whittaker: ". . . He’s hell-bent for retribution against anyone he feels has slighted him. That’s not a recipe for good government. . . " That's getting way too personal

Insert by MesaZona blogger

Mesa councilman stirs colleagues' anger with accusations

By Jim Walsh Tribune Staff Writer | Jul 29, 2018 Updated 1 hr ago

" As a political neophyte, Jeremy Whittaker was a bit of a wild card when he was elected to the Mesa City Council in 2016.

Whittaker has been true to form, cultivating an independent image through a series of votes on major issues that made it clear he would not bow to anyone while consistently challenging the city’s financing practices, saying they create too much debt.
Whittaker vehemently opposed the controversial Arizona State University Mesa campus, clashing with Mayor John Giles on one of Giles’ pet projects. He also voted symbolically to oppose putting the Mesa Plays soccer fields project on the Nov. 6 election ballot over similar concerns about debt financing based on projections . . . "

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Here's a link to what Jim Walsh wrote >> click here

28 July 2018

A Jab At NYFed President John Wlliams From Brookings?

It's hard if not impossible for your MesaZona blogger to even think about taking a low-blow potshot at John Williams who took some of his valuable time as the President of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank to visit Mesa for a Creative Place Making tour organized by LISC President Terry Benelli on Tuesday, July 14, 2015.

She guided a local group for a 3-hour site visit to look into the opportunities for Creative PlaceMaking here in downtown with John Williams, the head of The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco + 25 other people, including the mayor. Here's a photo opp from that occasion three years ago and an excerpt from a post published on this blog on August 1, 2015

01 August 2015

Valley Metro Light Rail Transit > Driving Smart Growth + Re/Generating Business Development

Image from LISC

In three weeks - August 22 - downtown Mesa will be transformed forever with the Central Mesa 3.1 Mile LRT Extension going into service on a regular operating schedule en route to Tempe and Phoenix with a one-hour travel time from end-to-end.

As someone who's always lived with public transit in major East Coast cities for 40+ years, your MesaZona blogger can still get excited about that here . . . It's about time!

At a milestone-event for the monumental art installation at the Mesa Drive/Center Street Station, the subject of an earlier post on this site, the mayor said the salvation of downtown Mesa is riding on this train using a phrase of biblical proportions . . . better "to under-promise and over-deliver" is one of the mayor's more congenial forms of speech . . . " [your MesaZona blogger is the third person from the right]

Link to the post from three ago >> https://mesazona.blogspot.com/2015/08

\IPhone group image/Site Visit 14 July 2015

". . . We all got off the bus to stretch our legs and stand up for a foto pop" or "group selfie" on the side of what is no doubt the most visually-stunning piece of architecture on Main Street in the New Urban Downtown Mesa, apart from the $98 Million-Dollar Mesa Arts Center.
Some people might call it Pop Surrealism, rivaling the three-dimensional works by Gaudi in Barcelona, Spain, but no doubt it's an appropriate backdrop for the Creative PlaceMaking group focusing on exciting opportunities here.
Where's the mayor?
He's one in the collaborative group. John Williams is at center right in the jacket and sunglasses.

Report

John Williams may be one of the best central bankers—but that doesn’t mean he should run the New York Fed

Peter Conti-BrownTuesday, July 24, 2018

"After a somewhat controversial search, the New York Fed announced in April that it had chosen the economist John Williams as its new president. From one perspective, Williams is a superb choice. His last job was as president of Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, giving him ample experience within the Fed. And he has been an intellectual leader in shaping the monetary policy climate in a period of substantial uncertainty. He even has bipartisan bona fides: Republican Fed critic John Taylor was his dissertation adviser at Stanford and remains a strong supporter. Janet Yellen, the former Fed Chair appointed by Democrat Barack Obama, was his boss at the San Francisco Fed in the 2000s. In a statement released just after the New York Fed’s announcement, Yellen^[1] “strongly support[ed]” the move and described Williams as “a distinguished economist who has made major contributions to the formulation of monetary policy.”

Dig a little deeper, though, and Williams’s appointment raises more questions than it answers. Despites his impressive qualifications, he already was a central banker within the Federal Reserve System. Why, then, should he move to New York? . . .

. . . Only the implementation of monetary policy distinguishes the New York Fed from the other Reserve Banks more completely. The question, then, is where Williams is on bank supervision.

Here, again, we have some important questions, but not many satisfying answers. . .

You can read more >> https://www.brookings.edu/research

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Timely Information Taxpayers Here In Mesa Can Use

Why post this now you might ask?
Simply because people who live here in Mesa - and more importantly taxpayers - really need to know that under the leadership of the Mesa's Chief Executive Officer, the guy with the smile shown in this opening image, City Manager Chris Brady has somehow managed to increase the public debt service obligations by a factor over 500% during his twelve years tenure inside City Hall from 2006-2018.
Another proposed $200-Million Dollar tax burden falls on your backs taking money out-of-your-pockets.

Sorry to drill down on this, but . . .
YOU REALLY NEED TO
ASK MORE QUESTIONS
and
YOU REALLY NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION
Let's get to the real Nitty-Gritty right now:
There are not one or two but SIX Questions that are on the Ballot for the 2018 General Election, thanks to actions pushed through the Mesa City Council by the City Manager to re-package what taxpayers REJECTED two years ago.
It's a 'Grab-Bag of Goodies' to get handed to millionaires as a 'Trick-or-Treat' for taxpayers, just after we celebrate Halloween unless YOU VOTE NO on all six questions.

This is the so-called Pandora's Box City Manager Chris Brady was afraid to get opened?
It's now back to bite him
Don't get fooled again - there's too many cozy multi-million deals made by city officials on city-owned properties that they hope to get leveraged by hood-winking taxpayers into approving another $200,000,000 in public debt to create mor mult-millionaires whose pockets are already lined with cash standing on the sidelines in a wait-and-see scenario to self-capitalize on the backs of struggling taxpayers.

Thanks to public anger and robust engaged vocalizing at Mesa City Council meetings, and recent news coverage about corruption, just one of those Mega-Millionaire conservative Mesa Mormon Republicans - State Senator Bob Worsley is all washed-up in public elected life after only one term in The Arizona State House. He has decided to resign to avoid perceived or real conflicts-of-interest.
In a recent City Council meeting, District 2 Councilmember Mark Freeman recused himself from voting on an agenda item acknowledging a conflict of interest in East Mesa.

Perhaps with more public attention and more investigative reporting, more politicians will either choose to disclose or be forced to disclose any direct or indirect benefits that might benefit themselves or their friends-and-family that violate the public trust.
The same goes for disclosures by employees inside City Hall who salaries are paid by taxpayers here in Mesa.

FAIR WARNING:

It's time to CLEAN UP YOUR ACT

or risk the consequences

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Here's a streaming YouTube upload from Truth In Accounting. You can see more information and get more details about the group by using the Searchbox on this blog.

Notice the bait on the fishhooks to reel you in . . . The Six Questions on the November 2018 General Election include these pieces of bait: Public Safety and millions for an outdoor soccer complex

Published on Jul 26, 2018

Today on Answers in Animation we tackle the topic of Taxpayer burdens, what are they, where do they come from, and why are they not so great a thing to have.

MESA MORNING LIVE: Taped + Re-Streamed From YouTube

Heads Up for this one: 4 days ago
Published on Jul 23, 2018
Total views to date: 14
THE TRANSFORMATION OF DOWNTOWN MESA
(Too early for Jeff McVay to show up? He's the City of Mesa's designated Director of Downtown Transformation)
Featured Guests for this 22-minute segment:

David Short

Tony Wall

Justin Graham

This program is the brainchild of Sally Jo Harrison, President/CEO of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce. It's staged in a studio on West Broadway located in the same GPLET-incentivized property as Crescent Crown Distributors. Hosted by a comedian. The program is patterned after the late-night David Letterman Show.

Viewership on YouTube is typically way less than 100 per episode. The live audience pays for tickets to attend this programming broadcast on city-owned and taxpayer-financed Mesa Channel 11.

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Screen grab clip is Justin Graham, a real estate attorney. His father is John Graham, owner of State Farm Insurance and Sunbelt Holdings, developer of Power Ranch and are now planning to break ground on the entire downtown 10-acre site formerly location of Brown & Brown/Auto Nation. He says that the contaminated site has been "remediated" . . . without there ever having been any public statement about having to clean-up toxic hazards.

WEEKLY LAND CLOSING UPDATE / THROUGH July 20, 2018 / Phoenix Arizona Metro, Maricopa County, Pinal County.

It's a pleasure to receive these updates from the
Kasten Long Commercial Group,

Walter Unger, CCIM -

Senior Associate Broker
"In business as in life, you don't get what you deserve you get what you negotiate." - Chester L Karrass

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take, and if you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur "

With over 20 years of experience in three separate countries Walter brings exceptional knowledge in deal making.

www.walter-unger.comDesignated

Designated Broker - Jim Kasten, CCIM 602.677.0655 (office)

Blogger Note: This post is intended for information purposes and in no way reflects any personal relationships with any of the parties involved.

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Weekly Land Closing Update through July 20, 2018

Phoenix Metro - Maricopa County - Pinal County

Location	ACRES	Zoning	Sale Price $/AC	$ Per SF	Sale Date	Comments Buyer
E/NEC 107th Ave & Indian School Rd Phoenix	4.02	R4-A	800,000 199,004	4.57	7/16	Virtua Partners
W/SWC Cooper & Judd Rds Florence	63.39	AG	1,124,98217,746	0.41	7/16	Langley Properties
NEC Victoria Ln & Ocotillo Rd. Queen Creek	32.96	Residential	5,604,169170,029	3.90	7/16	Proposed for a 148-lot SFR subdivision Taylor Morrison
NEC 163rd Ave & Pinnacle Peak Rd Surprise	144.28	Residential	12,250,00084,904	1.95	7/16	proposed for 409 SFR lots Fulton Homes
S/SEC Power & Pecos Rds Queen Creek	4.95	Commercial	1,000,000 201,682	4.63	7/16	Amerco / Amerco Real Estate
NEC McQueen & German. Chandler	36.00	AG	13,000,000 361,111	8.29	7/17	Proposed for a 242-lot SFR subdivision
E/SEC SR-303 & Happy Valley Rd Peoria	4.67	RU-43	3,200,000 684,763	15.72	7/17	Planned for 3-story 829 unit storage facilityStoreAmerica
N/NWC Litchfield & Waddell Rds Surprise	4.80	Commercial	2,900,000 604,177	13.87	7/17	Planned for 3-story 705 unit storage facilityStoreAmerica
E/SEC 69th Ave & Bell Rd Glendale	1.00	C-2	885,000 888,624	20.40	7/17	Fry's Food and Drug
W/NWC 75th Ave & Thomas Rd Phoenix	4.19	C-2	1,800,000 429,501	9.86	7/18	United Growth
W/SWC Lake Pleasant Pkwy & Pinacle Peak Rd Peoria	3.91	Residential	1,000,000 255,754	5.87	7/19	Proposed for development of office and/or mini-storage facilities Wesley Development
W/NWC 75th Ave & Thomas Rd Phoenix	2.35	C-2	1,876,428 796,712	18.29	7/19	Maricopa Integrated Health System
SWC I-10 & Baseline Rd Tempe	1.59	Commercial	2,700,000 1,609,977	36.96	7/20	Grossman Company Properties
W/NWC SR-202 & Baseline Rd Mesa,	32.60	Residential	8,485,802260,300	5.98	7/20	Proposed for a SFR subdivision with 197 lotsWoodside Homes

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More:

The Truth About Land Investing: 15 Warning Signs To Look For When Buying Vacant Land

Phoenix, Buckeye among fastest-growing U.S. cities in 2017

Is Phoenix becoming Wall Street West?

ARE YOU READY TO SELL OR PURCHASE YOUR LAND OR COMMERCIAL BUILDING IN PHOENIX, SCOTTSDALE, MARICOPA COUNTY AND PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA, PLEASE CALL ME.

CONTACT ME IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE VALUE OF YOUR LAND OR COMMERCIAL BUILDING.

520-975-5207

OR SEND ME AN E-MAIL -

walterunger@ccim.net

Location	# Lots	Zoning	$ Sales Price $ per Lot $ Fin FT	Sale Date	Comments Buyer
N/NWC Perryville & Camelback Rds Litchfield Park	53	finished lots	3,218,7460,731 867	7/18	JEN Partners
N/NWC Jackrabbit Trl & Yuma Rds Buckeye	62	finished lots	2,875,406 46,377 966	7/19	Lennar Homes
S/SEC Ellsworth & Elliot Rds Mesa	62	platted lots	3,292,200 53,100 1,180	7/19	Shea Home
W/SWC Signal Butte & Ray Rds Mesa,	7	finished lots	805,500 115,500 1,650	7/19	Ashton Wood

Data Source: CoStar, BREW, Vizzda plus personal information

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