2-HOUR STUDY SESSION: Mesa City Council Thu 30 Jan 2020 @ 7:30 a.m.

There was only a 24-hour advance publishing for yesterday's session agenda, leaving most people 'in the dark' on what was scheduled to hear and to discuss .
Once again a government cannot be effective unless and until citizens are actively engaged and involved.
If city officials have the time to create the presentations and create the documents, then the public needs more than 24 hours before public meetings to get the information.
Otherwise it's that same old tired business-as-usual.
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If that's the "Mesa Way" of doing things, it's simply not conducive to good government - and it certainly can explain why the City of Mesa and the Mesa City Council has a problem connecting with the public.
Period. No one can argue with that.
After watching and digesting the streaming video upload, the most recurring phrases used by city officials were "dialing-down" and
"skin-in-the-game".
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< Here's a more useful lens to look at city government - they have to do what is required, and frequently when asked say that's what they do.
Good example = agendas 24 hours ahead of time, and sometimes only 3 days ahead for certain other things.
It's true that the public does have by law THE RIGHT-TO-KNOW. . .
Then what?   
Yesterday's 2-hour early morning study session in the Lower Council Chambers on 1st Street was interesting for more than a number of reasons 
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1 Mayor John Giles has formed a Political Action Campaign to fund a run to get elected to in his-own-right for a second term in office - he's got a track record now and needs to hold on in the voting precincts that delivered the votes.
Two of his biggest blocks of loyal supporters are salaried employees in public schools [both city-operated and charter school owned- and-operated] with thousands of employees and a bloated bureaucracy/administration.
(His own father was a school principal for 30 years.)
On his own watch and time in-office, not one but two Mesa Public Schools Superintendents have been forced to resign.
Mesa schools achievement stats are lower than that  State of Arizona's - #49 in the entire nation.

2. The second big bloc of the mostly-loyal supporters of Mesa's Political Machine are Public Safety employees in the Police and Fire-Medical departments.
Clearly the deck is also stacked by D1 Councilmember Mark Freeman (endorsed by Russell Pearce in Freeman's election campaign) earning a part-time salary on his City Council day-job  on top of the generous retirement benefits accrued after retiring as a Mesa Fire Department Chief for 30+ years. He's a Double-Dipper at the political trough with an extended family going back for generations who just happen to own a lot of real estate here in Mesa, mostly citrus groves and alfalfa farms. 
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The Mesa Superintendent of Public Schools, hired from Park City, UT last year and shown smiling with Hizzoner John Giles, didn't last too long on a job she was ill-qualified to fill from the start. It took weeks for Mesa School Board members to decide whether to fire her or make an agreement to get her to resign - it was a slow-play in the media.
In contrast, Mesa Police Chief Batista who was appointed by City Manager Chris Brady resigned by email abruptly so they say it was "unexpected". The vacancy was filled by a 20-year Mesa PD insider to dial-down a revolt-in-the-ranks.

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The second half of last Thursday's City Council Session featured the City Manager Chris Brady who was hired and took over the job in 2005 from Mike Hutchinson.
Mayors and City Council members - who are elected - might come-and-go in successive 2-year or 4-year terms (or not) or resign early. City managers typically stay a long time.
As the City of Mesa's Chief Executive Officer, the financial and administrative governance of the city is in his hands and on his watch for more than 15 years.
Brady is an alumnus of Brigham Young University like so many salaried and elected officials inside City Hall
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The second half of the Study Session is a robust discussion that's really the aftermath of the intense informed analytical
Issues raised in the budget approval hearings last year by District 2 Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker, who waged and won an uphill campaign challenged by the hand-picked candidate endorsed by the mayor to maintain "business as usual" - Whittaker definitely created waves in 2019.
Waves that gather more force out of his 2018 district election win.
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With all that being said, it's an eyes-open-wide perspective on the responses and reactions you can clearly see in last Thursday's Study Session from all the other 5 councilmembers, the mayor, and long-time salaried City Hall officials: City Manager Chris Brady, City Attorney Jim Smith, and both Deputy City Manager Mike Kennington sitting at the side of Candace Cannistraro - all of whom appeared prepared to supply some answers that pose more questions and an oblique defense in the second half of the video - you can start watching at 45 minutes into the two hours if you want.________________________________________________________________



Did you know that Mesa is now the 2nd Most Un-Affordable City to Live-In in The Valley?
( Next to the glitzy City of Scottsdale that has an entirely different demographic and data )
> In a so-called booming economy Retail Sales Tax revenues here in Mesa are down
> No one can ignore the fact that Mesa Public Schools - the administration and the bloated bureaucracy - have been failing students for more than 20 years.
That's at every level: primary, secondary, post-secondary in community colleges and trade schools and institutes of technology. The City of Mesa Public Schools produce achievement levels far below state levels and that's 49th in the entire country!
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BLOGGER INSERT: Almost the first 45 minutes of yesterday's study session is taken up by a presentation for the first Agenda Item [see below] - please do not Expect More on that.
Heads Up : John Giles mentions at the end of Mesa Achieves Higher Education Task Force
A private foundation of some kind to get involved . . . Watch out for that!
If anyone would like to see what one company that's located here in Mesa has to say about THE FUTURE WORKFORCE - this is a post on this site featuring Cognizant
https://mesazona.blogspot.com/2020/01/cognizant-center-for-jobs-of-future.html
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BLOGGER INSERT OF STREAMING VIDEO UPLOAD TO YOUTUBE:
Please Note: The screengrab selection - D5 Councilmember David Luna, a long-time audio technician employed for more than 20 years in public schools who can retire soon with generous retirement benefits from both his full-time school job and his part-time salaried position holding a seat on the Mesa City Council - He's not about to rock-the-boat.
Likewise on the Mesa Achieves Higher Education Task Force are two new councilmembers, D4 Councilmember Jennifer Duff and D3 Councilmember Franky Heredia (who has an interim appointment). Enlisting all three of them to serve on the mayor's formation of 'a task force' simply is a calculated political ploy by the mayor.

 

 



 



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> It's soon obvious from seeing the streaming video, what elected city officials on the City Council and salaried city officials are prepared to hear and to discuss and to make recommendations . . at the same time any person can also see the loyalties involved from all sides of the seats occupied at the tables.
Elected: Mayor Giles, Vice-Mayor Freeman, Councilmembers in Districts 1-6
Salaried: City Manager Chris Brady, City Attorney Jim Smith, Deputy City Manager Mike Kensington, and once again Candace Cannistro.
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Some segments of the study session readers of this blog might be interested in:

#1 The entire discussion for The Enterprise Fund that starts after 44 minutes
Please note that it's both District 6 Councilmember Kevin Thompson and District 2 Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker who are the principal ones asking some of the right questions.
Their questions are fielded by City Manager Brady and City Attorney Smith, with both Deputy Manager Mike Kennington and Candace Cannistraro filling in some important gaps not brought into light before.

#2  New Language
> Reliable and Affordable Utilities
> Public Assistance
> Franchise Fees paid by Utilities to the City
> Usage Charges for Public Rights-of-Way
> What goes into and come out of the Enterprise Fund
> Transfer Limits (started under former mayor Scott Smith)
> Different Accounting Standards for the City's Annual Financial Review CAFR and the OMB's accounting practices
> Explaining Financial Projections
> The Increasing Problem of The Homeless  
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ANOTHER POST ON MESA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION 30 Jan 2020
https://mesazona.blogspot.com/2020/01/end-of-january-2020-study-session-mesa.html

Also note:
2 Acknowledge receipt of minutes of
various boards and committees (3)
Item 2-a 20-0169
Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee meetings held on 01 July 2019 +09 Jan 2020

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File #:

20-0169

Type:

Minutes

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council Study Session

On agenda:

1/30/2020

Title:

Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee meetings held on July 1, 2019 and January 09, 2020.

Attachments:

1. July 1, 2019 Audit, Finance and Enterprise.pdf, 2. January 9, 2020 Audit Finance and Enterprise

Item 2-b 20-0175
Museum & Cultural Advisory Board meeting held on November 21, 2019

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Item 2-c 20-0177
Transportation Advisory Board meeting held on September 17, 2019

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