Some alerts were given to police for LaVoy Finicum's funeral on Friday, February 5, 2016 by the Utah Statewide Information and Analysis Center—one of the dozens of intelligence-sharing "fusion centers " around the country that get funds from the Department of Homeland Security—warning that "extremists may utilize such a high profile funeral for media attention or to further ideological belief.
The funeral got little media attention, but the image of this flag did from the fusion center.
The report includes several "visual indicators" to help police determine whether they're dealing with "extremist and disaffected individuals." The fusion center bulletin went on to say that these individuals may adhere to a sovereign citizen ideology, and may not recognize law enforcement as a legitimate authority. Although "some or parts of these symbols are representative of patriotic and American revolutionary themes," the report says, "they are often associated with extremism." The Gadsden flag has most recently gotten associated with several political movements, such as the Tea Party protests. For other groups it is a more generic patriotic symbol, a famous Revolutionary War banner featuring a coiled rattlesnake and the slogan "Don't Tread on Me."
It can be seen here in downtown Mesa flying high above the classroom building at Heritage Academy, a public charter school at 42 S Center Street across from the Mesa Arts Center.
Gotta pick up the pace here, Mr.Mayor! -just rousing a few more rabbles to get to the goal. Back on 05 Aug 2015 the City of Mesa announced it had joined Bloomberg Philanthropies WhatWorksCities - the subject of a number of posts here on MesaZona blog. Nine members inside City Hall were announced and appointed by City Manager Chris Brady to a Leadership Board on 05 Nov 2015. [subject of another post]
Three months later . . . Ooops, there was some kind of item on the Economic Development Advisory Board's 05 Jan 2016 meeting's agenda for a presentation by Janet Woolum, Performance Manager here in WhatWorksCities - Open Data Performance ("enhance the City's current performance management system", "apply more complex analytics") Open Data ("transparency" and "unlock data for internal and public use") . . . yours truly left that meeting not seeing much data or much evidence, not feeling engaged nor how government can be more effective and improve people's lives.
WHAT'S NEXT?
- Continue cross-functional collaborations
- Increase the capacity to conduct data analytics
- Support City efforts to use data and evidence to improve city services
In the effort by yours truly for public service and public information here's some stuff for good governance put out by John Hopkins University Center for Government Excellence, one of the partners in WhatWorksCities dealing with Mesa City Hall to encourage the nine members of the Leadership Board and project manager Janet Woolum to get with the program .
Here are some questions asked [answers on page link after] 1. What is metadata and why is it important? 2. I’ve been asked to lead my government’s open data initiative. Where do I start? 3. How can I get a better sense of the data our government is currently collecting? 4.What is open data all about? Is it the same as freedom of information/ public records requirements? 5. What is performance analytics? 6. What is the best way to identify another government to benchmark ourselves against? 7. How do we change the culture of our organization to be more data friendly
The Johns Hopkins University Center for Government Excellence has created this getting started guide to assist cities in implementing open data programs in their own communities. Link >> http://govex.jhu.edu/open-data-getting-started-guide/
Many government leaders believe they need a “data-driven culture” to usher in more effective and efficient services to residents. They see managers rely primarily (sometimes exclusively) on gut instinct and experience to guide their work. Data seems trapped in silos. Employees are not using data to inform their work out of reluctance, fear, lack of awareness or training. Tools used to manage and analyze data are intimidating, and very few people understand which tools to reach for first. What does that really mean? And how do governments make the shift? The Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University (GovEx), a partner in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative, created this practical guide to help governments advance open data, analytics and performance management practices by shaping their organizational culture. The guide includes: characteristics of cultures adept with data; diagnostic tips for understanding existing organizational culture; and practical suggestions for influencing that culture. http://govex.jhu.edu/changing-culture/
Cities collect and store large amounts of data that is valuable to the public. Until recently, most data was locked away in filing cabinets and only released in response to information requests. An open data program makes city data easily accessible to anyone, at any time, through the internet. Businesses, residents, visitors, and civil servants expect to have readily available data to aid decision making. Good open data programs meet these expectations while also delivering increased transparency and strong accountability. By collecting and sharing data, a city can empower constituents to use data to address community concerns and help its own civil servants find innovative solutions to key challenges. Consistently sharing and using data to act on community interests can also lead to a culture of evidence-based decision-making in which data becomes essential for good governance. https://www.gitbook.com/book/centerforgov/open-data-getting-started/details
Benchmarking is the process of continuously comparing and measuring an organization against its own past performance or comparing its performance to that of another comparable organization. A benchmarking practice provides information that will help an organization take action to improve its own performance. Governments of all levels of capability can leverage benchmarking in their performance management practice. This short guide explains benchmarking using practical examples and provides quick links to helpful benchmarking resources. The guide also describes the related practice of using "proxy measures," which are another useful tool in the performance management toolbox. The guide includes: definitions of commonly used terms; real examples of benchmarking and proxy measures in practice; and a list of useful resources. https://www.gitbook.com/book/centerforgov/benchmarking/details
Your Mesona blogger is not going to sensationalize the issue of officer-involved shootings, but it's mostly been the focus in cities across America for racial issues time and time again in Ferguson, Missouri, South Carolina, New York City and Chicago where both police departments and mayors have come under citizen and media scrutiny to address the problem and to change the structure for police accountability and transparency, re-education and training/sensitivity and improvement in police-community relations to restore trust in the ostensible stated mission of the police forces "to serve and to protect". Recent incidents here in Mesa have grabbed headlines all over the country and now all over the world. It is unfortunate to say the least in a city wanting to create a new image when the message that is getting out appears to show a trigger-happy police force. Readers can access the webpage for the police department on the City of Mesa website by going to this link for media relations >> http://www.mesaaz.gov/residents/police/departments-divisions/media-relations/news-releases
Please note there has been no news release since 19 Jan 2016 The MPD also publishes a blog >> mesapd.blogspot.com
There was a report on the blog from Tue 19 Jan 2016
On January 18, 2016 at approximately 9:20 p.m., Mesa Police Officers responded to 6530 E. Superstition Springs Blvd., the La Quinta Inn, for a report of a subject pointing a rifle out of an upstairs room window.
That's the official story . . .
The most recent about a transgender individaul hit the news feeds and alerts yesterday: Viral Apserger’s Sufferer Shot and Killed by Police in Arizona Jack Phillips, Epoch Times | Last Updated: February 6, 2016 1:34 pm
The Epoch Times is part of Epoch Media Group, http://www.epochmediagroup.com/ , the world's fastest growing media group, whose CEO believes There comes a time in one’s life when one can sense something greater than oneself happening. It takes hold of you, sends a shiver up your spine, and provides the moment of greatest clarity.
It brings a comforting blanket of warmth and sense of purpose, and yet is so electrifying that one can hardly think to sit down, even if a thousand hours have passed.
In that moment you realize that everything has changed and nothing will be the same moving forward. A YouTube video of the person that was killed went viral after getting included on The Huffington Post [LINK to the heart-wrenching video farther below]. Dear readers, please read the entire article reproduced below that corrects a claim made by the Mesa Police Department that "they didn't know . . . "
(YouTube/screenshot)
Danielle Jacobs, a 24-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome, was fatally shot by police in Arizona, according to reports Mesa police went to the home of Jacobs, who appeared in a viral video last year. In the video, Jacobs—who was known to friends as Kayden Clarke—is seen crying before a dog comes in. Police said that Jacobs charged at authorities with a knife, and they didn’t know Jacobs had Asperger’s, a high-functioning variant of autism, CNN reported. Jacobs’ mother Stacia told the New York Daily News that officers knew. “Before the police arrived she wasn’t posing a threat to the community at all,” Stacia said. “And the police came into her own place. They shot and killed a 24-year-old autistic, mentally ill individual whom they had been familiar with and aware of her special needs.” “I talked to her last night and the night before and she seemed fine,” Stacia said, describing Jacobs as a “caring young woman.” Detective Estaban Flores said officers went to Jacobs’ home after getting reports of an individual was threatening suicide. He said two officers talked to Jacobs through an open door in the hallway before Jacobs came out and lunged at them with a kitchen knife. “At that point they felt their lives were threatened,” Flores said, adding that both officers opened fire. In the viral video, Jacobs is seen sobbing as a Rottweiler, named Samson, attempts to calm Jacobs down. “When I have a meltdown, I often have self-injurious behavior and I often self-harm,” Jacobs told the Huffington Post after the video went viral. “Our hearts and prayers go out to Danielle’s family and friends,” Julian Maha, the founder and CEO of the autism nonprofit, Kulture City, told The Mighty. “This tragedy highlights the increased need for first responder training to teach first responders to effectively interact with autistic and special needs individuals. The training will give them much needed tools to effectively communicate with autistic individuals, help keep both parties safe and hopefully prevent tragedies like these.”
Miss Mesa Outstanding Teen 2016 - Holly Sullivan - took the time today to stop and say hello to the volunteer organizers of MACFest [70 vendors attracting a crowd here]
Open data is data that anyone can access, use or share. The future will be built on open data – here’s why Data has the power to revolutionise and disrupt the way societies are governed. None more so than open data, which is free to access, free to use and can be shared by anyone. It’s non-personal and can be used to identify and predict large-scale trends and behaviours. This is as opposed to closed data that is restricted to internal use by an organization.
That is exactly why your MesaZona blogger has been asking when some of the results from joining Bloomberg Philanthropies WhatWorksCities initiative back in August of last year can be made available. Some three months later appointments got announced on Twitter on 05 Nov 2015 by city manager Chris Brady to the inside-City Hall Leadership Board and now six months later with nothing to report about Open Data.
The future of open data is a collaborative process with the aim of providing civic benefits. Organizations need to share their data and work together to create novel uses for it that make our lives easier or richer. Using data that describes the patterns behind how we live can help us solve problems in ways we might not have foreseen. Theconversation.com
In all these cases, the way to fast-forward innovation and create new solutions to problems is to create open data partnerships with participants who are willing to share and collaborate on new disruptive initiatives [ Blogger's note: that may challenge Mesa City Hall ]. Many of these initiatives have already proven to bring benefits to people, government and businesses. It is a new era of increased transparency and democracy where data is no longer in the hands of only governments and commercial organizations. Using open data presents opportunities for commerce, while also improving communities and everyday living for citizens. While this particular department is inside City Hall, the public can access the website for the City Purchasing Department that reports to the Business Services Director, http://www.mesaaz.gov/business/purchasing
Its vision is to be leaders in the field of public procurement and strategic sourcing, bringing value and efficiency to each procurement while at the same time operating within City policy, statute and sound business practices. Values
Accountability - Taking ownership and being responsible to stakeholders for our actions...essential to preserve the public trust and protect the public interest.
Ethics - Acting in a manner true to these values...essential to preserve the public's trust.
Impartiality - Unbiased decision-making and action...essential to ensure fairness for the public good.
Professionalism - Upholding high standards of job performance and ethical behavior...essential to balance diverse public interests.
Service - Obligation to assist stakeholders...essential to support the public good.
Transparency - Easily accessible and understandable policies and procedures...essential to demonstrate responsible use of public funds.
In 2015, the National Purchasing Institute honored Mesa's Purchasing Division with the "Achievement of Excellence in Procurement" award for the eleventh consecutive year. This prestigious award recognizes organizational excellence in public procurement and is awarded to those organizations that meet criteria designed to measure innovation, professionalism, e-procurement, productivity and leadership. We focus on delivering the highest quality of service and value our partnerships with vendors, contractors, employees, supervisors and managers. We continually seek new ways to improve our services and satisfy the needs of our customers.
