Official quits, questions Mesa’s respect for history
"Kate Singleton seemed like the perfect person to rebuild Mesa’s historic preservation program when she started her job with the city in April.
She drew accolades for her work over a 41-year career devoted to preserving history in Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin, Texas.
"I have encountered reluctance to change or strengthen regulations, even when that was the logical approach and required by the city’s status as a certified local government and federal law,’’ Singleton wrote in a stinging letter of resignation to Planning Director Nana Appiah dated July 29 with an effective date of Aug. 4.
Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said Mesa has had a strong commitment toward historic preservation for decades and he can’t understand why anyone would question it.
He said Singleton “wasn’t a good fit’’ and was trying to expand her authority by advocating for historical reviews on city bond projects, which are not required by law.
. . . “I felt like every time I brought something up, I was told, ‘We can’t do that, we don’t do it that way in Mesa,’’’ Singleton said. “I think the city might need to do some soul searching. They really need to decide if they want to do this.’’
In Walsh's writing, Mr. Appiah was defended or at least supported somewhat by statements included that were made on the record by District 4 City Councilmember Jennifer Duff who said she is convinced Appiah is committed to improving the historic preservation program.
“I think Nana has historic preservation as a priority,’’ Duff said, adding that he needs more time as the city seeks a replacement for Singleton.
Duff, a longtime advocate of historic preservation, said the city needs to find the right person who can combine a knowledge of historic preservation with an ability to navigate the nuances of city government.
A lot of things fell through the cracks,’’ Duff said. “I think it’s been a rough 10-12 years.
. . . David Marek, Chairperson of the Historic Preservation & Development Board, said he is concerned that the city apparently does not have a standard procedure for running development proposals through the historic preservation officer.
He noted that Hohokam canals were found, documented and protected during the construction of Mesa Riverview a decade ago.
He said the same procedures should be followed as the city builds a series of major public improvements in the next few years.
Chris Cody, assistant director of the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, said the Mesa program needs an overhaul, and pledged to help in any way possible.
“You are in desperate need of an update,’’ Cody told the board at a recent meeting.
He described the present Mesa regulation as “a dormant ordinance.’’
He described the present Mesa regulation as “a dormant ordinance.’’
"Brady strongly disagreed with Cody’s description of Mesa’s ordinance, saying it was used when City Creek Reserve documented the historical significance of 13 homes along Udall Street.
Those homes were demolished to make room for The Residences at Main Street, a redevelopment project west of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple.
BLOGGER NOTE:
The money behind the Mormon message - The Salt Lake Tribune
https://archive.sltrib.com › article
Oct 5, 2012 -
Built for about $2 billion, the City Creek Center stands across the street from the ... Hawaii Reserve, for example, owns or manages more than 7,000 acres on ... refer to them as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Holdings Inc." ... Romney and others at Bain Capital LLC, the private equity firm he ...
09 July 2018
Mesa City Council Meetings (2) Mon 09 July 2018
An earlier start today for the Study Session, allowing about an hour.
The regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:45 with 29 items.
> Item 3 has 15 Contracts worth millions of dollars
> Item 4 has six Resolutions
> Item 5 has 3 Ordinances
Links have been inserted and provided so you can find out more information and detailsRELATED CONTENT ON THIS BLOG
The regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:45 with 29 items.
> Item 3 has 15 Contracts worth millions of dollars
> Item 4 has six Resolutions
> Item 5 has 3 Ordinances
Links have been inserted and provided so you can find out more information and detailsRELATED CONTENT ON THIS BLOG
See Ordinance 5-a
31 May 2018
Was that "Vision Thing" and "Imagine Mesa" all a Hoax? It was amusing to say the very least even when there was a position created to make Jeff McVay The Director of Downtown Transformation. He's got not too much to show for that. Then again, former mayor Scott Smith wanted to create the impression that downtown Mesa - The Old Donut-Hole - was boring . . . with the current mayor John Giles now serving his second year in office, he's yet to deliver on his promise to make Mesa vibrant and exciting.
During the more than 12 years of tenure for Chris Brady, the high-salaried Chief Executive Officer of the City of Mesa, public debt has mushroomed from less than $40M in 2006 to over $170M now in 2018. . . that again is not much to show for the investment of taxpayers dollars downtown starting with a 1% QUALITY OF LIFE sales tax to finance the $100-Million Mesa Arts Center that opened in 2005 to create what was called an Arts-and-Entertainment District. In 2012 taxpayers again got aboard and approved more tax increases to bring Valley Metro Light Rail Service into the Central Business District - The Old Donut-Hole now qualifies as a distressed neighborhood. Whoops! Make that an Opportunity Zone!
