Yeah Mesa Has A Reputation Alright: For A Goofy Mayor Jivin' John Giles

Another opportunity here in The Old Donut-Hole to bust the mayor's chops - it's getting way- too-easy!
He's earning more "Pinocchios" than he ever could have imagined after just four years in-office, getting elected in his own right with less than 80,000 votes citywide.
We are so blessed to have such an entertaining leader inside City Hall. He's certainly a prodigious producer of so many goofy episodes in what is otherwise a boring conservative city no more when politics can be so much fun when Giles supplies all the raw material with the words out-of-his-mouth.
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Here's a little whopper today from https://kjzz.org

Arizona Inches Toward Education Goals

By Mariana Dale  Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 - 6:34pm

Mesa Mayor John Giles said cities alone cannot solve the state’s education woes.
“I hate to be the downer in the room but I think at the current trajectory, I’m pessimistic,” Giles said. “I’m thrilled with the enthusiasm we saw in the last year around education, but it’s not enough.”
Other local leaders at the meeting are working to influence change on a smaller scale...
Context: Nonprofit Expect More Arizona  outlined these goals with the support of education and business leaders last year and presented on their progress before the annual League of Arizona Cities and Towns conference Tuesday. . . Mesa is providing resources, like tablets to some families to help prepare kids for school through a program called Mesa K-Ready.through a program called Miss Humblebee’s Academy.
FACT: "Miss Humblebee’s Academy" is the brainchild of Natalie Lewis. Less than 50 are enrolled in one school in West Mesa.

OK now compare what he said today with what Giles said at a Bloomberg WhatWorksCities event last year:
“If you need an aircraft carrier, it is great that we have the federal government. If you need a driver’s license, I’m really glad the state can take care of that,” said John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Arizona. “Nearly every other service that people receive from government on a daily basis comes by and through the cities.”
Four years in-office has Giles done enough? His father was a principal in city public schools for over 25 years.
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Here's a post on this blog from last year: see another whopper in Point 2

05 August 2017

Mayor John Giles Knows What's What :

BLOOMBERGIZE Mesa

Mesa Mayor John Giles actually got quoted twice: not about tax reform where the city has one of the worst CAFR positives out of the 50 largest cities, not about infrastructure expanding suburban sprawl, and not about healthcare except where the City's biggest job-provider is threatened by huge cuts in federal funds by a Republican regime he help get elected. Furthermore, Giles is not widely considered a collaborator nor has he a good reputation or history of engaging citizens in city government - he has admitted that shortcoming publicly. In his State-of-the-City Speech 2017 he has likewise said he needs ideas... perhaps "getting educated" on-the-job might help. Results so far? Not clear  

1. “If you need an aircraft carrier, it is great that we have the federal government. If you need a driver’s license, I’m really glad the state can take care of that,” said John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Arizona. “Nearly every other service that people receive from government on a daily basis comes by and through the cities.”
2. “I think the answer is we all need to be a little more collaborative,” said Giles. “We need to reject the model that the federal government has kind of fallen into, particularly in the last year or so, of taking a small group of men and sending them into a room and closing the door and thinking that’s the best way to solve the problem.”

“I think the answer is we all need to be a little more collaborative,” said Giles.

The conference pledged to be a continued presence in Washington, pushing lawmakers to work from the bottom up . . .  

Mayors said the most effective way to tackle these large problems would be to work in local governments earlier in the process because ultimately, local governments are the ones that interact most with citizens.NOT THE WAY THAT WORKS HERE IN MESA
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“I think the answer is we all need to be a little more collaborative, . ." said Giles.
Jivin' Johnny might say that but what does he really do in office. We don't really know since his Office For Public Information, with two full-time salaried employees, does not publish what the mayor's public schedule is.
We pay his salary.
We have the right to know what the mayor is doing on-the-job. That is open, transparent and accountable government.

Again that's not the way it works here in Mesa: Giles and other city officials works best making deals behind closed doors with a small group men, some of whom hold public office at the state and federal level who collaborate in a closely-connected network for their own private wealth creation financed by taxpayers so they can capitalize on rampant real estate speculation here in downtown.
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Just one more Pinocchio zinger zapped to Jivin' John Giles:
 < His NextMesa Campaign:
it started out as just lunch and "Food For Thought". When that didn't get any traction for the former track-star, he realized he needed help real bad.
So let's have go at that Vision Thing, hire some guy like Jeff McVay we give a title to like maybe "The Director of Downtown Transformation" as a front foil for all the behind-the-scenes deals we want to do to make more money for our friends-and-family. Screw the taxpayers!