Exercising Your Conscience > Religion Gets Personal + Public

Religion versus Equality? . . Which one of these statements is not like the others? My religion forbids me from eating pork. My religion prohibits me from saying the Pledge of Allegiance. My religion requires me to wear special clothing. My religion requires me—as a private business owner—to refuse services to same-sex couples who are planning weddings. 
The fourth statement is the outlier in this series, and it’s wrapped up in a culture war that pits religious freedom against individual rights.
This war is being fought very publicly all over the country but just at a slow and long-delayed simmer here in Mesa to take action even for consideration on the Mesa City Council for proposed action on an Non-Discrimination Ordinance.
While Mesa is the third largest in size in the State of Arizona, this city we all love frequently lags behind the other two larger and more diverse metropolitan areas Phoenix and Tucson.

 

Even long after the advent of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's, Arizona became the butt of jokes and boycotts by corporations and companies for being the last state to honor a national holiday Martin Luther King Day.
Arizona Governors and state legislators have faced impeachments and recalls from office for any number of violations, most recently with the passage of SB1070.

And yet on the Heritage Wall outside of City Hall Plaza a certain version of history is proudly put on display like the bronze plaque dated 1953
Civil Rights for All.

And now that the issue of non-discrimination has come up again, we see another plaque with the date 1996

Celebrating Diversity
To finally honor the birthday of one of America's great political and religions leaders for the protection of equal rights under the law.
[Mesa does remember oftentimes in hindsight that injustices were committed, for instance noting in 1953 that swimming pools and housing were segregated]

It might be asked - and perhaps all too easily - will Mesa end up on the wrong side of history when it comes to guaranteeing by force of law current issues dealing with prejudice, discrimination and religion?

How Religion Unites and Divides Us: Muslims @ +66.7% Outpaced Mormons @ +45.5% Jump

According to a report in Mormon Chronicles BlogSpot

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Mormonism leading way in U.S. religious growth

[Note, the story below is based on inconsistent numbers. See here for an update, or here for a discussion on growth rates]. Excerpts of Mormonism leading way in U.S. religious growth by Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune]

LDS Church is fastest-growth Christian faith in 30 states, report shows

The Utah-based faith is leading the way — Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota and other states far outside the West's traditional "Mormon corridor."

These are among the findings of the newly released once-a-decade U.S. Religion Census. It is "the most comprehensive local-level analysis of U.S. religious adherents" since the religious census began about 60 years ago, Clifford Grammich, who led the study's supervising committee, said in a news release. "We are especially pleased to have increased participation for several independent and non-Christian bodies."

In the latter category, researchers estimated that Muslims outpaced even Mormons between 2000 and 2010, adding 66.7 percent more adherents. During that time frame, the nation's overall Muslim tally shot up from 1,559,294 to 2,600,082.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported an increase from 4,224,026 U.S. members in 2000 to 6,144,582 members in 2010, a 45.5 percent jump.

That is "far and away the largest gain reported by any [Christian] group," the report noted, not just in percentage but also in actual numbers.

["The single largest religion in every state is Christianity," said Dale Jones, director of research services at the Church of the Nazarene Global Ministry Center in Kansas,"if one counts Mormons as a branch of Christendom — which the LDS Church does."]

 

 

 

Radical Transformation for The Urban Downtown Mesa - Who Wants to Turn The Center City Into Downtown Tempe?

There have now been two plans within the space of two years for two different proposals for the same site here - the latest is to plop down a 200,000 Sq Ft plan to insert an ASU campus at the center of this city.
Do we really want an education factory like ASU taking over and eating up an open urban public space here?
A small satellite campus somewhere close to the Main Street grid for light rail transit is fine - there are other city-owned vacant properties where this can go - like at Country Club/Main where there's an announcement on the intercom "Mesa Center for Higher Education" or other sites in close proximity to public transportation.

A deal with The Devil?

The question arises: Is there a clear vision for Downtown Mesa?
Is it an Arts-and-Entertainment District or your playground or what? 
Another Quick Fix with a deal that's gotta get nailed down by June 10th??
Developers are hoping to ride on the boom in construction for student housing taking place in Tempe, and it certainly will increase residential density with students

 

This vision from two years ago?

Or this?

Or None of the Above, find a different place to put it please

Questions or comments on the project may be directed to the Director of Downtown Transformation Jeff McVay at (480) 644-5379 or jeff.mcvay@mesaaz.gov.

 

In The Spotlight: Public Integrity



State Integrity 2015

Arizona gets D grade in 2015 State Integrity Investigation

Scandals spur little change

By Evan Wyloge 12:01 am, November 9, 2015 Updated: 3:04 pm, November 13, 2015

Gaps in government transparency and accountability in Arizona over the past few years are not hard to find.
Read entire report here

Almost across the board, Arizona agencies consistently fail to follow key principles for “opening up” government data, which the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit watchdog group, circulated in 2010 as a policy prescription to make information “open and accessible to the public.”

 

 

Your MesaZona blogger, transplanted here in The New Urban DTMesa as a refugee from the New York City World Trade Center attacks after the world-shattering events called 911/September 11, 2001 is a PTSD survivor, now enjoying the great State of Arizona's political climate [we use cool air-conditioning to handle the weather].
It is a truly fertile state-of-mind to plow into in all directions, including politics on both the state and local levels and public integrity . . . so here we get into it.
"In late 2013, stacks of Child Protective Services files were found dumped in an alley in Phoenix, shedding light on an agency in meltdown. The 2014 Arizona elections saw unprecedented "dark money" spending, mostly going toward electing the governor and state utility regulators. And in early 2015, Arizona’s newly inaugurated governor, Doug Ducey, tried to establish a state inspector general, but failed after the plan was criticized harshly for creating a “secret police” that would operate with little transparency and answer only to the governor.
The Copper State ranked a little above average in a new State Integrity Investigation, a data-driven assessment of government accountability and transparency in all 50 states by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. Arizona received an overall score of 64 – a D grade – and ranked tied for 22nd among all the states."
The latest report card shows strength, particularly in relation to other states, in a couple of categories: judicial accountability, where Arizona ranks 2nd in the nation with a score of 77 (C+), and internal auditing, where the state tied for 4th with a score of 87 (B+).
But Arizona earned an F in six of the 13 categories, getting failing grades in lobbying oversight, pension management, ethics enforcement, executive accountability, civil service protections and access to information.
Almost across the board, Arizona agencies consistently fail to follow key principles for “opening up” government data, which the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit watchdog group, circulated in 2010 as a policy prescription to make information “open and accessible to the public.”
These include adherence to ideas like “primacy” — in which the government makes data available in its primary or most original form possible, with details on how that data was collected. That would apply to master files and raw data, not merely a summary file or descriptions of what is contained in that master file. This would enable the public to verify that the information was collected properly and recorded accurately.
Kathryn Marquoit, Arizona’s assistant ombudsman for public access, offers guidance and dispute resolution when there’s disagreement over how public records are being handled. She said original files fall squarely into the state’s public records laws.
“If a document exists, the public has a right to see the entire document or a redacted version,” she said. “I don’t think a summary is an acceptable substitute.”
Another common shortcoming involves data files that cannot be loaded into spreadsheet software, including “snapshot” versions of original spreadsheets captured in PDF files, which cannot be manipulated. Arizona agencies have expressed concern that data can be edited or altered if original data files are made available to the public.

 

 

 

 

The State Integrity Investigation is a comprehensive assessment of state government accountability and transparency done in partnership with Global Integrity.

Hey! Want A $20 Gourmey Coffee Gift Card To Answer A Survey?? That's How Much The City of Mesa Values Your Opinion

Economic Reporter Newsletter Survey
We are very interested in what you think about the City of Mesa’s Economic Reporter newsletter.
Your input is important to us.
When you complete this 5-minute survey, you will be entered to win one of four $20 gourmet coffee gift cards.
Thank you for your participation!
[Got this message in email yesterday from
michele.freed@mesaaz.gov via surveymonkey.com]

Do we want "A Quick Jab" for what's supposed to be an economic report - put out by Bill Jabjiniak, City of Mesa Office of Economic Development or do we want hard data?
On 06 April there was a post here on MesaZona that started with a question
Question: Instead of publishing hard economic data and infographics, analytics, construction and building permits, sales tax revenues, actual job growth and wage earnings, and residential and commercial real estate sales and investments, actions on RFPs, and building leases, what we get is one interview, a side bar for "Mesa In The News" and narratives in this newsletter

IN OTHER WORDS: Where's The Data?

Give 'Em Hell, Janet! Former AZ Governor, Head of DHS, Now Cleans Up Higher Education in California

In an article  yesterday that appeared in Pro Publica
by Charles Ornstein
ProPublica, May 2, 2016, 12 p.m
University of California Regent Violated Ethics Rules, Review Finds

A secret 2015 report found that a doctor on the UC board of regents tried to negotiate a deal between his eye clinics and UCLA, and engaged in discussions in which he had a financial interest. He denied wrongdoing but resigned as chair of the regents’ health committee.A March 2015 letter from Daniel M. Dooley, who was appointed by the UC to oversee the investigation of whistleblower complaints against De La Peña, summarized the findings of an outside investigator hired by UC. Dooley concluded that De La Peña violated the board’s conflict of interest rules and that his behavior “clearly constitutes an improper governmental activity.”
Copies of the letter, which was obtained by ProPublica, were sent for possible action to UC President Janet Napolitano and then-Regents Chairman Bruce D. Varner, but the findings were not made public.
In a May 10, 2015 letter to Napolitano and Varner released by UC, De La Peña strongly disputed the investigation’s findings. He said that it was UCLA itself that first raised the possibility of leasing space from his eye clinics. And he said he spoke to the university’s general counsel, Charles F. Robinson, and told him “I did not want to do anything that was wrong or inappropriate under UC’s policies.”
The findings on De La Peña come as the University of California is reeling from a string of scandals at its prestigious campuses.
Just last week, Napolitano placed UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi on investigative administrative leave amid “serious questions” about Katehi’s role in campus hiring and pay raises for her relatives, potential improper use of student fees and the hiring of consultants to downgrade online references to a 2011 incident in which a university police officer pepper sprayed students.
UC Berkeley has been buffeted by accusations that it hasn’t taken complaints of sexual harassment seriously, leading to the resignation of the law school dean, a prominent astronomy professor and an assistant men’s basketball coach. The campus’s provost, who was criticized for his handling of harassment complaints, also resigned last month.
And at UCLA, students and faculty have complained about the university’s decision to let a history professor continue teaching despite being accused of sexual harassment.
[Read more in the link at start of this post]Charles Ornstein

Charles Ornstein is a senior reporter for ProPublica covering health care and the pharmaceutical industry

NDO > Time For Another Time-Warp Here in Mesa?

Ah, The Game of Politics again . . . let's give it a musical treatment 
'Time Warp' Scene w/ Lyrics | The Rocky Horror Picture