Message from Mesa Chamber of Commerce > Pay-To-Hear The Mayor Talk

What State-of-Affairs in a democracy is this when the public is "invited" to pay $60.00 per person to hear Mayor John Giles give a talk about the State-of-the-City when he's employed and paid a salary by the voters and taxpayers?
... and still NO year-end review or performance evaluation of what he's started and accomplished in the mayor's seat during the last few months. Give it to us in black-and-white, facts and figures.
Is this what works in Mesa?
Voters will be the judge in upcoming 2016 elections for public office, with those seeking to fill the office of public trust responsible for engaging the public, and being available, accountable and transparent to their constituents.

PSA : Happy [ + Safe ] Holidays from Valley Metro

Give those overworked Reindeer a much-deserved rest after making millions of stops . . . and if you're making on-the-ground local travel plans for New Year's Eve, take up a very generous offer from Valley Metro and Coors for safe alternative transportation.

Freeze the Keys on New Year’s Eve PHOENIX (December 15, 2015) – Coors Light® is teaming up with Valley Metro to bring Coors Light Free Rides® back to the Phoenix community on New Year’s Eve. In partnership with Crescent Crown Distributing, Coors Light will provide Free Rides on all Valley Metro bus and light rail routes Thursday, December 31, beginning at 7 p.m. through the end of regular service
 - See more at: http://www.valleymetro.org/pressreleases/detail/freeze-the-keys-on-new-years-eve1#sthash.dDJfIMDc.dpuf

Dark Money And/Or Dark Politics In Mesa? > Shine A Little Light On That Subject, Please

[Harvard Political Review]

Article just out in Harvard Political Review

When All Politics is No Longer Local
December 28, 2015 by Caroline Turvo 4:34 p.m.
 
Ex-Mayor Scott Smith, the subject of a post here on 12 August headlined "Mr.Smith Goes to Harvard", apparently hasn't moved on from his stinging defeat aspiring to become governor of the State of Arizona, getting endorsed by the unpopular Jan Brewer, losing out big time to fellow-Republican Doug Ducey, and handing the Mesa mayor's seat to his hand-picked successor John Giles.



Even though now out-of-office, Scott Smith continues to meddle in state politics trashing the funding for Ducey's successful gubernatorial campaign, and exerting his influence in local politics for the upcoming 2016 Mesa City Council election cycle where he and Giles recruited a fellow Mormon to replace retiring Councilmember and Vice-Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh, with both coming out to endorse their hand-picked candidate - Jerry Lewis - on the same day he made the announcement to run . . . anybody else smell the stinky aroma of the Good 'Ole Boys Crony Political Machine here?

Back to Smith's grumbling for whatever agenda he's holding onto while at Harvard University whose motto is Lux et VERITAS : Light and Truth, even though he's getting into allegations of "dark money" for outside money distorting local politics.
Readers can take the time to read the entire HPR article by going to this link for details >> http://harvardpolitics.com/online/politics-longer-local-independent-expenditures-rising-costs-municipal-campaigns/

The effect of outside money from non-profits and tax-exempt religious organizations in state politics is even more staggering.[Read Caroline Turvo's article in the link provided above].

Nowhere, however, in the article is mentioned the "dark money" that got funneled into California from out-of-state by the Mormon Church for support in 2008 of  Proposition 8 opposing same-sex marriage that sparked heated debate and protest by gay-rights organizations and others. The Supreme Court was asked to clarify the issue and did so, citing the Equal Protection Clause in the U.S. Constitution granting the rights of all protected classes by the enforcement of law.
That is now the law of the land, including Arizona and the City of Mesa.
According to basic tenets the LDS Church will take no partisan role in politics, stating that it will not "endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms; allow its church buildings, membership lists or other resources to be used for partisan political purposes; attempt to direct its members as to which candidate or party they should give their votes to ... or attempt to direct or dictate to a government leader."
How this operates in-practice here in Mesa remains to get looked at and seen with the rising wave of diversity and demographics here, where 80% of the City Council is controlled by 14% of the population.
Mark Twain has this to say about religion:

Reader comments are invited.

2015 = A Great Year for Cultural Coalition

The Cultural Coalition, Inc. fosters community engagement and provides unique cultural programs and processes dedicated to the promotion, education, and development of Indo-Latino arts and artists in Arizona.
Their programmatic activities aim to promote, educate and develop Indo-Latino Arts programs and artists in the Phoenix area, simultaneously preserving, producing, and presenting a culturally significant and rich tradition

The community-based organization believes that supporting our local Native and Latino Artists is an imperative goal.
Artists are the visionaries and communicators of contemporary issues; it is vital to continue telling stories and utilizing the arts as a way to reach new audiences beyond commercial exploitation. They have created an extensive roster of community artists, visual and performing, who are passionate about their crafts and dedicated  to keeping our cultural identity alive in our communities..

Events and performances are the anchor of an educational component which is made available to all the schools in our community. We are focused on offering performances at various Title I schools, as well as community centers. We believe that it is essential to bring theater out of the traditional theater sites and into spaces such as schools and community centers, where family and children with low income resources can have an opportunity to enjoy the arts.

Cultural Coalition is committed to serving the youth in our communities in order to offer educational and cultural performances to Title I schools in the area . . . Your support is most welcome.

CULTURAL COALITION 1202 N. 3rd Street, Suite 101A
Phoenix, AZ 85004
http://culturalcoalition.com/




For information on booking performances or general inquiries please contact:
CARMEN GUERRERO, Executive Director
carmen@culturalcoalition.com
(480)834-5731
Click here to get Cultural Coalition updates:Newsletter Sign-up

Cultural Coalition is Generously Supported By

Hey! Need An Intelligent Personal Assistant?

Google had the first well-received intelligent assistant app with Google Now, but Facebook turned a lot of heads with its flashy AI-powered and human-"trained" Messenger chatbot, M.
Google has raised the stakes with its significant investment in Now and AI technology and will go to war in 2016 against Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and a whole industry that's increasingly obsessed with more "intelligent" software. Go to >> this article today

Way over my simple low-tech head, but here's a 2016 forecast from Re/code Daily for the good geeks out in this world:
Apple is paying more attention to Siri, building its capabilities alongside an intelligence layer, Proactive Assistant, akin to Google Now, and featuring it inside Apple TV. Siri has largely languished and Apple may be handicapped by its decision not to tap personal cloud data fully. Still, Siri could benefit from Apple’s usual advantage: An ability to keep iPhone owners locked in its world.
Microsoft’s Cortana is going up against Now, too. Another threat could come from Facebook, which plans to roll out its virtual assistant tool, M, inside its wildly popular Messenger app. (The Wall Street Journal reported that Google is cooking up a new messaging app that competes with Messenger and the M service. Google isn’t commenting.)
Next year, Google’s personal assistant will also elbow for room on the big platforms after smartphones, particularly the smart home and connected car. Here, Google has a tech edge over traditional manufacturers (the appliance and carmakers), but will need to outmatch Apple, with its home and car software hubs, and Amazon, with its Echo product.
Finally, there are a few startups that blossomed this year, like SoundHound and MindMeld, moving into the intelligence terrain. They feel they can outsmart the tech giants and, perhaps as critically, circumvent them.
MindMeld, which creates speech interaction tools for developers, recently inked a deal with Now partner Spotify. While Now users can conduct voice searches on Spotify, the MindMeld deal allows the streaming app to better tailor its voice experiences without moving through a looming middle man, said Tim Tuttle, the startup’s CEO.

This One's 4 U "Red" > Honoring American War Hero D J Iberling

Image from Janice Dell

We Do Care, "Red" !!
A story about compassion and honoring a World War II American Hero hardly got on the local news radar screen.
It happened yesterday on the tarmac at the Commemorative Air Force Museum at Falcon Field when Boeing B17 Flying Fortress Radioman DJ Iberling climbed aboard history once again - after 70 years - for a sentimental journey.
[see previous post on December 24]
It's a personal human-interest story, not publicized or promoted by press releases hoping to score political points.
The story started a long time ago with a happy new chapter added in the life of one air force veteran to up-date his mission memories of the 398th Bombardment Group 602 Squadron that flew 198 missions over Germany from May 1944 - April 1945.

Let's first step back in time to June of last year, when the sacrifices of US airmen in World War II were recognised in a memorial service at a pub which stands near the site of the now defunct RAF Nuthampstead.
D J Iberling is shown standing left of center in this image
Read more: http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/American-war-heroes-honoured-Nuthampstead-remembrance/story-21992552-detail/story.html#ixzz3vcIVzGiA From April 1944 until the end of the conflict the base was home to the 398th Bombardment Group who flew the iconic B-17 Flying Fortresses.
The 398th lost 70 aircraft and 296 airmen, including their first commanding officer, Colonel Frank Hunter.
A further 298 airmen were shot down and captured by the Germans during the war. "Red" Iberling survived the war. He is the only one in his squadron not deceased and had a distinguished law career. His dear and loving wife Mary passed away last year after contracting pneumonia from the rainy weather at the remembrance in England last year.

Image from Janice Dell

Fortunately, Falcon Field here in Mesa is far from defunct.
It's a valuable large tract of real estate, mostly city-owned, for both establishing an historic district and promoting economic development - industrial, commercial, high-tech, defense, education and residential.
One of two former airmen-training bases started here in the 1940's that have morphed into Aerotropolis - drivers of the local economy and accelerating investment for future smart growth.
At the same time it's good to know that both Airbase Arizona in the Commemorative Air Force Museum and the Falcon Field District join in generosity for the remembrance and honor of one particular war hero, D J Iberling who climbed aboard history once again.
Turns out, "Red", that quite a lot of people do care.

Related posts on this site: May 8, November 11 and 29

Related post on City of Mesa Newsroom 12 December 2015
City celebrates Falcon Field Airport terminal building renovation
http://www.mesaaz.gov/Home/Components/News/News/733/

For more information about the terminal ribbon-cutting or other improvement projects, call 480-644-2450 or email Airport.Info@mesaaz.gov.
Contact: Dee Anne Thomas
Marketing/Communications Specialist II
480-644-4233
Dee.Anne.Thomas@mesaaz.gov   

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What Works? >> Open Data from Bloomberg Business: 2015 In Graphics

Image from Bloomberg Business

 

 



Still on hold and pausing for a year-end Wrap-Up from Mesa City Hall . . . inquiring minds might wonder what the head of the  Newsroom for the City of Mesa is doing to earn his $140,000+ annual salary. Any reports to the public in the works from Mayor, City Council, or department heads??

2015 in Graphics

December 18, 2015

Favorite work of the year — so far
http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-in-graphics/

Image from Bloomberg Business

An interactive visualization. 411 at your fingertips.
For example, just one item:
STEM jobs, with a few surprises.

The Unlikely Cities That Will Power The U.S. Economy
http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-stem-jobs/

The City of Mesa Newsroom made a big deal about getting to join WhatWorksCities back in August, swearing to engage the public, providing open data, and being transparent and accountable ... how's that working out?

Anyone who reads this post and wants to join the conversation on Twitter you can go here >> https://twitter.com/WhatWorksCities