It took a while for city officials to figure out how to manipulate the news, change the narrative and flip-it-around after the stinging resignation of the previous Historic Preservation Officer veteran preservationist Kate Singleton who chose to leave her job in a rebuke and bitter rift with city officials for obstructing her efforts and blocking any real progress for preservation. . . here's the new re-jiggered narrative written by East Valley Tribune Contributing Writer Gary Nelson.
Notice the new face is a coordinator, not an officer.
"Months after a bitter rift with its former historic preservation officer, Mesa believes it has found the right person to steer its program into the future.
Arianna Urban, a Phoenix native who spearheaded historic preservation projects in the Bay Area, joined the city late last year in the role of historic preservation coordinator. . . "
Gary Nelson got that one detail right!
City Manager Chris Brady selects only people who will join a supporting cast of characters to follow the official script.
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Here we go deeper to get at the one of the BIG reasons for the rift and resignation in a pure piece of fluff written by Nelson to 're-invent' an earlier doubtful narrative that pitted a for-profit affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of The Latter-Day Saints to transform Mesa into a satellite of Salt Lake City using a replica of City Creek Reserve's urban mall in Temple Square. No financial details were ever disclosed to the public - from either entrenched city officials (most of whom graduated from Brigham Young University) or the for-profit real estate developer CCRI that's now under federal scrutiny for a tax fraud case.
Mesa hits reset on historic preservation
By Gary Nelson, Tribune Contributor Jan 31, 2020
" . . . Some of those challenges involve the need to balance preservation with the constant, almost organic, tendency of a city to constantly reinvent itself. Nowhere is this more evident than on the east end of downtown, where a massive redevelopment program near the Latter Day Saints temple has swallowed up a slew of post-World War II homes. . ."
" . . . Apart from specific preservation issues, Urban knows she is stepping into a role that in recent years has been problematic for Mesa. . .
