Site 17: More "Happy Talk" from East Valley Tribune's Staff Writer Jim Walsh

Here's some more flagrant flimsy embarrassing hoopla over-hype from the EVT's staff writer Jim Walsh who gets paid to publish pieces of pure baloney to push sketchy schemes about real estate from the mind of Mesa Mayor John Giles.  
It's full out phony Happy Talk
For this he gets a double-dose of "Egg-in-Your-Face" today from your MesaZona blogger.

In reality Site 17 is a Redevelopment Wreck that testifies to a long history here in The Old Donut-Hole about crooked deals by City Hall officials with developers over decades of bad urban planning and eminent domain abuse. 
http://castlecoalition.org/redevelopment-wrecks-mesa
Here's another one of those priceless quotes from Jivin' John Giles who is quoted as saying:
". . . It's gone from being a red-headed stepchild to being a beauty queen. . . "
HUH?
Who besides yours truly is dumb-founded by that remark?
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It's just another mind-blowing verbal embarrassment  from the mayor, who is prone to way too many flights of fantasy when he's Jivin'  'Happy Talk'.
What's he been thinking about referring to a 27-acre urban scar here in the heart of downtown for more than 25 years? Looks like he's hitting back at District 2 Mesa City Council member Jeremy Whittaker who did some Fact-Checking about questionable
fudging of the numbers about Site 17
What about all this additional promised revenue?
". . . a dirt field known as “site 17”. Proponents will have you believe future assumed revenues from projects like this are going to pay for ASU. To make these connections is purely speculative at best. . . "  
Link for this >> http://www.jeremywhittaker.com/why-i-oppose-the-120-million-asu-campus-in-downtown-mesa/
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Looks like some kind of "Pay-Off" for somebody about a proposed residential development , but we don't know who from scant details Walsh doesn't provide, except that
Giles says he's been talking to homebuilders and he's had them in his office.
"They say, I have my checkbook, how much do you want for the place. . . "
Hold on a minute!  Time for a Red Flag, folks
Time-out: Think about that admission in a direct quote.
IT'S TIME FOR DISCLOSURE HERE
The mayor's salary - and his generous benefits package - is paid by taxpayers. When he's doing business in his office inside City Hall the public has a right to know: Who + When
Have you ever seen the mayor's schedule published? It's a full-time with few details.

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Just earlier in Walsh's article, ambulance-chaser Giles (a personal injury/accident law attorney in private practice) said that Site 17 is "on the brink of paying handsomely . . . " 
What's with this beauty queen stuff and paying handsomely?
More goofy slips-of-the-tongue from the mayor who fancies himself as a back-handed wheeler-dealer go-between with real estate developers? "Giles said Site 17 could not be more attractive to developers than it is today. . . "
That's his one opinion EVT writer Jim Walsh expanded on yesterday without any reference at all to questions raised in public over city finance projections.
No mention at all of signs of the culture of corruption inside Mesa City Hall.
See > http://www.jeremywhittaker.com/why-i-oppose-the-120-million-asu-campus-in-downtown-mesa/ 
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Just one more sign of the generations-old culture of corruption here in Mesa going back 25 years.
How many more do we need when this particular site sticks out like a sore thumb pointing to episodes of corruption going back to 1992 when the city gambled, risked and lost $6 million dollars of taxpayer money on another real estate speculation scheme that demolished 63 homes.

Looks like we can expect more of the same. 
This is in no way the kind of downtown transformation we can believe in - or approve of - from Jeff McVay, shown in the image to the right, who has the title of Director of Downtown Transformation.
He's also featured in Jim Walsh's writing yesterday: 
Mesa rekindles hopes to revive long-dormant downtown site

By Jim Walsh Tribune News Staff 12 Aug 2018

HUH? "Rekindles hopes"? Nope - it's just for dopes.

Mesa taxpayers are getting smarter when it comes to vague schemes from McVay
It's that Vision Thing.
He said, " what the city needs is a very nice, special neighborhood, . . "
According to Walsh "the details of such a master plan are a long way from fruition, the concept would probably include a variety of different housing options, . . and new residents could even work at the new Arizona State University campus, a highly controversial project that's now in the design phase . . . "

Don't know about you, but's it's truly embarrassing when the Director of Downtown Transformation hardly has a clue. For that Jeff McVay get's
a Double Egg-In-The Face!
Two years ago he pushed Pie-In-The-Sky schemes for Mesa City Center ($75,000 paid to 'consultants') and a $200 Million Scheme to trick taxpayers to pay for an ASU satellite campus
Not a good track record so far . . .

The way things might go: McVay could take a tumble when he can't see to focus on how he can improve downtown that's now classified as a distressed neighborhood qualifying as an "Opportunity Zone" after years of neglect when the hype from inside City Hall is that downtown Mesa is vibrant and exciting. Do you feel that???
McVay has getting paid a high salary on the public payroll for more than a few years.
No idea what qualified McVay to his position in the first place.
If you want to see what's on his resume of qualifications in the official record, you can go to the city's website www.mesaaz.gov




"In April, Mesa officials quietly put out a request for proposals seeking to hire a consultant who would develop a master plan for the site.
Last week, candidates were interviewed for the job, which actually entails developing three different mostly residential plans with a varying level of density, said Jeff McVay, manager of downtown transformation.
The winning consultant could be hired and under contract by sometime this fall, followed by maybe another year in the design phase.
“This could have a major impact on our downtown,’’ McVay said.
During a presentation to the Mesa Historic Preservation Board, McVay joked that a question about when something might actually get built was a potential setup for a perjury charge.

Also mentioned in Jim Walsh's article is Mike Hutchinson, a former Mesa City Manager who resigned in 2005 to make way for the city's current City Executive Office, City Manager Chris Brady who held the salaried position for more than 12 years. Here's Hutchinson, shown 2nd to the right with The Times Media Group (they own The East Valley Tribune)
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ANOTHER PINOCCHIO AWARD FOR MAYOR JOHN GILES TODAY:

“Back before light rail, we had trouble getting people interested in Site 17.  Nothing could be further from the truth right now,’’ Giles said, describing Site 17 as a “long-term play’’ for Mesa.