Recorded webinar: “(Re)Building Downtown: A Guidebook for Revitalization”

On December 15, 2015 Smart Growth America released (Re)Building Downtown: A Guidebook for Revitalization, a new resource for local leaders who want to re-invigorate and strengthen neighborhood centers of economy, culture, and history through a smart growth approach to development. The guide lays out in straightforward language seven main steps to help (re)build downtowns and Main Streets, and is designed to be used by any community, no matter where they are in the revitalization process.

As part of the kickoff, SGA hosted an online conversation all about downtown revitalization. Participants heard an overview of the new guidebook, and discussed revitalization efforts in three different communities. A recorded version of the webinar is now available.
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/2015/12/15/recorded-webinar-rebuilding-downtown-a-guidebook-for-revitalization/

Another Wrap-Up : Smart Growth America > Our Year in Review

Got a nice email from this org two hours ago:

Tim—
This was a huge year for Smart Growth America. So big, in fact, that we wanted to share with you some of our highlights.
Supporters like you make our work possible. 2015 was a banner year, . . Thank you for being part of our work this year. 

Enjoy this look back at some of our highlights from 2016.

Best,

Geoff Anderson,
President and CEO,
Smart Growth America
                  

In Downtown Revitalization, Equity Can Equal Authenticity

By Oscar Perry Abello | December 14, 2015

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/equity-made-explicit-in-new-downtown-revitalization-guidebook

God + Government | Separation of Church-State

Mesa > Have we got a problem?
Hot topic - where do we draw the line?? . . . or is the better question where does the U.S. Constitution draw the line?
This book is a collection of columns, testimony, speeches, and other writings that the author - a Reverend - has done over the past 25 years of "in-trench" engagement for the preservation of the separation of Church & State.
It updates the issues Barry Lynn has written about over the decades and shows where we have made progress, where we have lost ground, and where we have been treading water.
It's not a comprehensive history of First and Second Amendment matters . It's selective and personal and quite funny at times, Of course there are new contested issues coming up practically every day.
[Disclaimer: the author and yours truly both graduated from Georgetown University]
.

If reading isn't your choice to process information, you can listen to an hour discussion about this on National Public Radio's Diane Rohm Show that was broadcast on October 28, 2015
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-10-28/rev-barry-lynn-god-and-government



For information about religious exemption from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ENDA, readers can go here >> http://www.civilrights.org/lgbt/enda/religious-exemption.html


George Washington the new American Republic would give "to bigotry, no sanction".

Is Your Medical Data Safe + Secure ?? Hackers + Open Data



ProPublica came out today with three reports: got enof to worry about??
Policing Patient Privacy
Few Consequences For Health Privacy Law’s Repeat Offenders

Regulators have logged dozens, even hundreds, of complaints against some health providers for violating federal patient privacy law. Warnings are doled out privately, but sanctions are imposed only rarely. Companies say they take privacy seriously.

The story was co-published with National Public Radio's Shots blog.Readers can hear and read the entire transcript by going to this link >> https://www.propublica.org/article/few-consequences-for-health-privacy-law-repeat-offenders

Few Consequences For Health Privacy Law’s Repeat Offenders

by Charles Ornstein and Annie Waldman
ProPublica, Today, 4 a.m.

Regulators have logged dozens, even hundreds, of complaints against some health providers for violating federal patient privacy law. Warnings are doled out privately, but sanctions are imposed only rarely. Companies say they take privacy seriously

Methodology: How We Analyzed Privacy Violation Data

by Charles Ornstein and Annie Waldman
ProPublica, Today, 4 a.m.

ProPublica followed the paper trail to find out the health care facilities that repeatedly violated patient privacy laws. Find out how we did it.

HIPAA Helper

by Charles Ornstein, Mike Tigas and Annie Waldman
ProPublica, Today, 4 a.m.

Who is Revealing Your Private Medical Information

 

THE GOOD NEWS: You can explore the data

Sometimes, doctors and hospitals have financial relationships with health care manufacturing companies. These relationships can include money for research activities, gifts, speaking fees, meals, or travel. The Affordable Care Act requires CMS to collect information from applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) in order to report information about their financial relationships with physicians and hospitals.
Open Payments is the federally run program that collects the information about these financial relationships and makes it available to you. 
Here's the link for payments made to providers in Mesa
https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/search-physician?firstname=&lastname=&city=Mesa&state=AZ&zip=&country=&specialty=

 

 



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.