21st Century 'Noblesse Oblige' - or A New Age for An Emerging "Benevolent Aristocracy' ?????

Why it matters: By Mike Allen 

This Axios AM Deep Dive, ahead of Giving Tuesday, looks at America's homegrown and idiosyncratic system of philanthropy.

Politicians are accountable to the electorate. 

Charitable foundations and the billionaires who fund them, on the other hand, are accountable to no one.

• Rob Reich, Stanford political scientist and author of "Just Giving," tells Axios: "Foundations are an unaccountable, nontransparent, perpetual, and lavishly tax-advantaged exercise of power."

The bottom line: 

Insofar as philanthropy has a positive effect, it does so via deeply undemocratic means.

Axios AM Deep Dive

By Mike Allen ·Nov 30, 2019

This Axios AM Deep Dive, ahead of Giving Tuesday, looks at America's homegrown and idiosyncratic system of philanthropy. Smart Brevity count: 1,492 words — a 5½-minute read.

HERE WE GO Loop-de-Loop!! Catching-Up on Mesa City Council Meetings 18 November 2019

When so few citizens, taxpayers, and members of the public are not involved or un-engaged in the activities or processes in A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY of their own elected government or even take the time TO EXERCISE THE RIGHT-TO-KNOW, both those who get elected and those who get paid salaries/benefits paid by taxpayers, have the tendency to listen to other special interests who can control them. 
The public has a right (and an obligation) not to stay silent, but first you need to find out what's going on and see what you can from what is provided for you - in fact it is required in THE PUBLIC INTEREST. 

Did you ever wonder to yourself who pulls Mayor John Giles's strings?
Take the time to watch some of the opening minutes in one or both of these public meetings from two weeks ago.
First impressions? Nervousness and body language?
Hizzoner John Giles presides over these public hearings in any way he wants to. . . Watch Johnny-on-the-Spot looking to the left for cues, and getting up jumping-out-of-his-sweat for a new City Magistrate announcement.
Is that OK with you? DOES GILES ASK TO HAVE THE MEETING AGENDA READ-OUT at the start? Public Comments? He says 'blue cards' . . .
Amazing that so few people ever see these streaming videos of their elected government (and salaried city officials) at work - some are part-time and some are full-time.
Any idea what's on the agendas for these two meetings that start in the late afternoon.?
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STUDY SESSION IN THE LOWER CHAMBERS
Where have we seen this "consultant" before - and what's with _____??

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REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING IN THE UPPER CHAMBERS

< Public Information Officer Kevin Christopher reads the Consent Agenda - he's been doing that for years in a bland baritone voice and making more than $145,000 annually.
There's an earlier post on this blog when someone outside of Mesa happened to notice this procedure that appears to be unique to Mesa.
Randy Policar did one fill-in in an earlier public meeting, but KC was back on two weeks ago

WALK THE MOON - Shut Up and Dance (Official Video)

Geomagnetic Quakes, Field Reversals, Galactic Trigger | S0 News Nov.30.2019

Long Overdue: New OZone Guidelines + Reporting Requirements for End of 2019

Press Release

EIG Applauds Bipartisan House Bill On Opportunity Zones Reporting and Transparency Requirements

Nov 6, 2019

Washington, D.C. – The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) applauds the introduction of the bipartisan Opportunity Zone Accountability and Transparency Act by Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI), Mike Kelly (R-PA), and Terri Sewell (D-AL) to implement reporting requirements for investments in Qualified Opportunity Zones.
“A robust reporting framework is essential for ensuring the impact of Opportunity Zone investments can be properly evaluated,” said John Lettieri, President and CEO of EIG. “This bipartisan legislation is a major first step, and we will continue working with Congress to improve it as the legislative process moves forward in the coming weeks.”

A broad group of leading private sector and philanthropic stakeholders supports the implementation of a reporting framework to ensure that the long-term economic impact of the Opportunity Zones can be properly evaluated. 

About the Economic Innovation Group (EIG)The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) is a bipartisan ideas laboratory and advocacy organization whose mission is to advance solutions that empower entrepreneurs and investors to forge a more dynamic American economy. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., EIG convenes leading experts from the public and private sectors, produces original research, and works to advance creative legislative proposals that will bring new jobs, investment, and economic growth to communities across the nation. For more information, visit eig.org.

Economic Innovation Group > Interactive Map Tracking OZone Activities

The goal of this project is to shape the Opportunity Zones marketplace towards deep social impact and broad geographic reach by sharing information and best practices with the public.
It includes a  Map of All Activities tracked in Opportunity Zones

The online portal, which will be updated on a rolling basis, depicts core components of the emerging Opportunity Zones marketplace. The curated list of activities included in the map highlights the broad geographic reach of Opportunity Zones and the promising investment ecosystem being populated. The Opportunity Zones Activity Map includes:  A Map of Investments into Opportunity Zones A Map of Funds formed to channel capital into Opportunity Zones A Map of Initiatives at the state and local levels that adapt Opportunity Zones to local priorities  The map can be filtered by activity type, market category, and impact theme as well as state, county, city, and congressional district.

Please note that this is a curated list of Opportunity Zone investments and activities that is designed to bring attention to the most innovative local developments. It is not representative of the entire Opportunity Zones universe. It offers no substitute for comprehensive data collection and impact tracking that we hope will soon be in place at the federal level. The goal of this project is simple: to shape the Opportunity Zones marketplace towards deep social impact and broad geographic reach by sharing information about the impact this policy is having on local communities with stakeholders and the public.

The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) launched the Opportunity Zones Activity Map, an online portal highlighting some of the most innovative and impactful publicly-announced developments catalyzed in the early stages of this new policy.
Our new interactive tool will help raise awareness among policymakers, investors, and the public of the impact Opportunity Zones is having in communities across the country.

Share the Opportunity Zones Activity Map on Twitter

Truth In Accounting Releases 2019 States Financial Transparency Scores

15

Financial Transparency Score 2019

November 19, 2019

**Click here to download the full report**

Truth in Accounting has released a new report that scores each state government based on how transparent they are to the public about their finances.

TIA’s “Financial Transparency Score” analysis takes into account a range of transparency indicators, from whether a state used an independent auditor to examine its comprehensive annual financial report to how accessible these reports are online. The criteria used to calculate a state's score adheres to best practices in private-sector accounting.

While no state earned a perfect score of 100, three states tied for first place in fiscal transparency with a score of 88. Connecticut ranked last in the nation, earning a score of 50.

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Phweeeeeeeh! News/Dumps From The Back-Side Seat of Government

Embrace the Poop! Nah. Let's just eradicate the news-manipulation mess from the city of Mesa's public information machine when they attempt to stage interviews by one city official - who happens to be the new chief Planning & Zoning Director as of January 2019.  
Here's a story that appeared 4 days ago on AZFamily that sounds way-too-familiar as if it were 'ghost-written' with the usual word-tricks looking to improve or may be. . . the script-writer doesn't know that the word Nana is not a name. In common usage that word usually means Grandmother.
Mesa looking to improve City's appearance by creating new development guidelines

Image of building site at Main Street/Mesa Drive 
'City Creek South', a 10-acre smaller scale
version of City Creek Center in Temple Square
Salt Lake City. 
MESA,AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - " The City of Mesa may be getting a significant overhaul. City leaders are considering a new set of rules and regulations when it comes to new development. Nana Appiah is Mesa's planning and development director. He said that all commercial, residential and industrial developments will soon be required to follow strict design guidelines to create more appealing, higher quality and longer-lasting homes and buildings."

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OK. sounds good, but why open that handed-out article with this image (above right) where strict design guidelines were controversial to start with no public input from people who live here in Mesa? It was headlined as The Mormon Make-Over of Downtown Mesa and The Temple Transformation. No financial details were ever disclosed to the public.

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"Nana Appiah is Mesa's planning and development director. He said that all commercial, residential and industrial developments will soon be required to follow strict design guidelines to create more appealing, higher quality and longer-lasting homes and buildings."  HUH? HE SAID? Pardon me, but it looks like he's reading from a script in this presentation to the Mesa City Council Study Session on 07 November 2019...Appiah spends 2 minutes introducing his support cast and it appears to be the way he gets handled at his public exposures

BLOGGER NOTE: There's also an interview staged outside of City Hall

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"When you drive through the metro area, we want to be able to do it the Mesa way, which means we want to be unique," said Appiah.

"We want to be a city that actually has quality development, and want to have a city that you enter and you feel this is a sense of place."

© (Source: 3TV/CBS 5)
Appiah insists they have no intention of taking away Mesa's history and charm.

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"Appiah insists they have no intention of taking away Mesa's history and charm. They simply want to incorporate more modern and sustainable designs to revitalize Mesa.

"Mix the old with the new, and hopefully, people will come out and visit this great city again," said Jeff Talley of Gilbert."

                            

 

911 Alert on (411) Information >Sidewalk Experiment In DISINFORMATION + The Agents of MANIPULATION

Beyond Facts - just yesterday students from the Columbia Journalism Review published a special report as part of an experiment to test the power of fake news—that is, truly fake news, not as Donald Trump defines it but the kind that misreports and misinforms.
They took over a newsstand in Manhattan, replacing all the newspapers and magazines with fake ones, similar in design to their real-world counterparts but absurd in their content...
Hours passed. Hundreds of people walked by. A couple dozen stopped to gawk. The students did their best to engage them in conversation, asking for their opinions about what they saw.
SPOILER ALERT > We’re dangerously close to a situation in which facts no longer function as a journalistic response. Then what?
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Would people respond differently to falsehoods if they were taken off the internet and put in front of them, in print, on a newsstand in Manhattan? Would passersby notice, or even care?
Visitors’ answers largely fell into two categories:
> One group noticed the headlines, recognized they were odd, but had so little faith in journalism that they shrugged off the misinformation and moved on.
> The other group read the headlines but didn’t register them as unusual, so accustomed were they to specious stories as part of their regular news diets.
. . . the exercise was demoralizing: What did this say about news consumers? About news producers?
Only a handful of people were disturbed by the lies on display.
That was in 2018. If anything, the problem of disinformation has only grown worse since our sidewalk experiment. Falsehoods propagated on social media have become increasingly sophisticated, intentional deception from the White House and elsewhere is more widespread, and journalism’s ability to counter bad information with legitimate reporting seems to be getting more limited by the day. Those trends will accelerate as we head into the 2020 presidential election, a contest that will be about a lot of things, no doubt including how and whether the traditional arsenal of journalism—accuracy, fairness, dedicated observation—is a match for the army of nonsense assembled against it. . .
In the Fall of 2019, in the age of Trump and Facebook trolls and partisan propaganda, it looks like disinformation is winning.
Facts, they believed, could help journalists bring power to account, justice to the marginalized.
The truth carried weight; facts spoke for themselves and could not be dismissed.
But then came the internet and social media and a surge of information, factual and nonsensical
Whitney Phillips, a scholar of online communication at Syracuse University, has observed how true statements have been used to expand the reach of untruths . .
“Shining a light on what’s false can even, counterintuitively, make things worse by spreading falsehoods to more people,” she explains in her piece for the magazine, “making those falsehoods seem more plausible to certain audiences, and generally ensuring that the story is more potent after the debunk than before.”
The result, on our TV newscasts and daily papers and Twitter feeds, is a red-faced, vein-popping scream.
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What the press can learn from its war against disinformation

Beyond Facts

Columbia Journalism Review

 

"The Mesa Way" To Smother The Truth > Take-Out The Oxygen + Say No Comment

No Comment says a lot when city officials say that all the time, due to internal reviews or internal investigations, excused by having engaged and hiring attorneys. However, THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT-TO-KNOW
The current Mesa Public Schools scandal is one more symptom of a corrupt system of patronage entrenched here for generations.
Those inside that system protect their own
"friends-and-family" connections.

That's simply the way it works here - it's The Mesa Way .
Hard to break-up or reform-from-inside when nearly everyone in any position of power is inside that Bubble - and they don't want no one or no thing threatening to challenge their status quo.
They don't want no trouble and will try anything to keep it the way they want it: Don't mess with our thing.
That is until lose control of the narrative and cannot manipulate the media to use that same old bag-of-tricks.
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HEADS UP! All these recent scandals are getting wrapped-into one helluva major mess.
Follow along this school scandal with a connection to Mesa's Police Department. . .


Ember Conley had "a lot of baggage" until investigative reporter Meg O'Connor opened it all up to publish this report

Ousted Mesa Superintendent's Cop Ex-Husband Served Prison Time for Theft

Meg O'Connor

LINK > Phoenix New Times  

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BLOGGER NOTE: Focus on the timeline here and how it relates to Ember Conley going off to a new job in Park City, Utah. A promotion-of-sorts from her work history earlier here in Mesa's public schools to her new job as school superintendent in a small city with 5,000 students.

 

"Asked about the situation by a local newspaper in Park City, where she worked at the time, Conley said, "My job is to take care of my family and to take care of the students in Park City, and that is my focus."

 

QUESTIONS NOW ARISE if Conley was ever 'vested' during the screening of other candidates for hiring a new school superintendent here . .

every detail reported by Meg O'Connor reports is in the public domain and in the public record.

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". . . Conley has remained silent about her firing. Mesa Public Schools has denied Conley's firing is related to the overspending. But being accused of stealing from one's job is a situation Conley is familiar with: Her ex, Jose Lizarraga, was arrested by the FBI for fraud, attempted money laundering, and theft back in 2013 while he was working as a detective for the city of Maricopa Police.

He also filed for bankruptcy in July 2009, stating that he owed creditors $933,000, court records show. . .
> Conley and Lizarraga married in 2012.
Records show they likely divorced sometime after Lizarraga's arrest, given that they no longer live together and a 2018 deed on the county recorder's website refers to Conley as "an unmarried woman."
> Phoenix New Times was unable to reach Conley or Lizarraga by phone to confirm, and records on a possible divorce could not be found in Pinal County Court (where they married), Maricopa County Court (where Conley lives now), or Summit County Court (where Conley lived in 2013).
> Heidi Hurst, Mesa Public Schools communications director, did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment. When New Times called the Mesa schools superintendent's phone number, a woman who answered said to email instead. An email seeking comment was not returned.
> The reasons for Conley's ouster and whether the accusations of embezzlement have any truth to them are not yet known. But Lizarraga's history is pretty clear. On July 2, 2013, the Pinal County Attorney's Office issued a press release stating that Lizarraga had been charged with five felonies: 

• fraudulent schemes,
• forgery,
• tampering with public records,
• attempted money laundering, and
• theft. 

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HOW ABOUT THIS?

Calls for transparency, changes to special ed, dominate Mesa school board meeting

By:Danielle  Here's the LINK >  KNXV |                                             

MESA, AZ — Demanding answers and more transparency from Mesa Public Schools.

".  . . Board members made it clear from the start that legally they cannot discuss Dr. Ember Conley’s leave or their ongoing negotiations. However, that did not stop several people from coming forward to voice their concerns about what is happening in the district.
The night started with a budget breakdown and a more in-depth look at the district’s general administration spending. Things then took an emotional turn before and after public comment.
Try this on for Believe-ability?

"We have nothing to hide,”

said Board President Elaine Miner.

“We are caring people that are trying to do the best we can do for this community.”

LINK > ABC15 News

THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH.... No lame excuses anymore.
Who is Elaine Miner?
Her job qualifications as already serving two terms as MPSGB President (her educational background with a bachelor's degree in home economics from BYU, and her regular occupation with her husband owning and operating a real estate school and business)
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Take the time to watch the video on Danielle Lerner's report and pay attention to the last statement made by Kiana Sears, The Mesa Public Schools Governing Board Clerk:
Speaker after speaker demanded more from the district. Board members could not give specifics, but Board Clerk Kiana Sears offered this.
“I wish there was more that we could say at this time but do know all of those things, we hear you and thank you for being here tonight,” said Sears. 
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Use can use the Searchbox on this blog to get an archive of every post on the subject matter at hand - going back to what has proved the highly questionable and irregular hiring of Ember Conley just last year.


 

Reporting With Required Disclosures: Real Estate Developers & The Rose Law Group

For sure like Shakespeare wrote "A rose is a rose is a rose" by any other name would smell as sweet
Ah, Inhale that please. When it comes to The East Valley and the five cities and towns in it - and bordering counties all the way south to Casa Grande and Tucson - there's always a need for attorneys (transactional, tax law and zoning) and law groups to represent all the players on-and-off the stage, other than the public: major industry interests like Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Government and Politics.

The final act in the development process - that involves influencing public opinion and their input - is to get city councils to approve everything.
That's where what gets reported in mainstream media is an important thing to try to influence, to control and to manipulate to produce the desired outcomes.
Of course there's also something called 'alternative media" - and investigative reporters who are more independent and objective (and not beholden to "special interests" who represent THE PUBLIC RIGHT-TO-KNOW.
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"Rose Law Group pc is a full-service real estate and business law firm practicing in land use, zoning, renewable energy, government relations and lobbying, administrative law, family law, transactional real estate, employment law, water law, Native American relations, ADA compliance, infrastructure finance, special districts taxation, business formation/corporation transactions, business litigation, school law, cyber-defamation, cyber-privacy, drone law, cannabis law, hemp law, intellectual property, estate planning, asset protection, private litigation, class actions and DUI’s.

Our staff of attorneys, planners and construction project managers is unique in the state. Our planning department focuses on helping clients process plans and applications through municipal, county and state regulatory agencies, and we have the skills to coordinate with your consultant team, conduct plan checks and catch errors, saving you time and money... "

Link to the website > https://www.roselawgroup.com/
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The following are entries for only about the last month:
DISCLOSURES from https://www.roselawgroup.com/news/

1 Pinal County pleased to receive $15.3 million Build Grant

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Saint Holdings

By Gina Salinas, Public Information Officer, Pinal County | San Tan Times Pinal County

2 Pinal County receives $15M grant for infrastructure near truck production facility

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Saint Holdings By Corina Vanek | Phoenix Business Journal

3 Pinal County receives $15 million for economic development

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Saint Holdings

By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter

 

Jordan RoseReal Estate Nov 25  

SE Mesa area could generate 240K jobs

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Hawes Crossing

By Jim Walsh | East Valley Tribune

Mesa officials have sketched out four main areas of activity for the sprawling southeastern part of the city. 

City of Mesa / East Valley Tribune

"An east Mesa city councilman last week criticized a consultant’s report on the future of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, arguing it “would be a recipe for disaster’’ to allow housing in the flight path along Elliot Road.

Councilman Kevin Thompson’s comments came after a consultant outlined the city’s Inner Loop Master Plan, which covers the 3,100 acres closest to the airport. . ."

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> Real Estate Nov 22 

First look: Phoenix Suns unveil renderings of reimagined Talking Stick Resort Arena

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents the Phoenix Suns By Brandon Brown | Phoenix Business Journal

> Real Estate Oct 29 

Approved development plan in Mesa would cover 1,100 acres

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Hawes Crossing

By Griselda Zetino | KTAR Seven dairy farming families are one step closer

> Real Estate Oct 28 

7 Mesa dairy farmers are one step closer to selling land for development

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Hawes Crossing

By Alison Steinbach | Arizona Republic

> Real Estate Oct 24 

Resolution Copper moves rock farther from Florence

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Resolution Copper

By Mark Cowling | Rose Law Group Reporter

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Nov 12  

Pinal County has plenty of water for the next 100 years.

We just need to prioritize demand

Opinion: An alarming prediction about Pinal County facing a water shortage is a myth that’s based on outdated assumptions and incomplete data.
By Jordan Rose and Tom Galvin, opinion contributors | azcentral
Mark Twain once wrote of his difficulty with math by ascribing a quote about the flexible power of numbers to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
Farmers, developers, landowners, residents and elected officials in Pinal County are now empathetic with Twain because we are trying to dispel a growing notion that “Pinal County is out of groundwater.”
The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) is working on revising a model based on outdated assumptions and incomplete data that have perpetuated the myth that Pinal County is facing a water shortage. In fact, Pinal County has plenty of water for today, tomorrow and 100 years from now.
Farmers and cities are good stewards
The agricultural and municipal sectors rely on substantial and robust aquifers and are responsible stewards of water for today’s needs and for future demand.
READ ON: 
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