Thursday, December 13, 2018

What Brings A Smile to The Faces of The Krumwiede Brothers

Santa Claus - in the guise of Contract Awards from the Mesa City Council - is delivering another "Bag of Goodies" keeping it all-in-the-family for a developer and a property owner
A 5-Year Contract for $1,870,000 annually
TOTAL AWARD: $9,350,000
It's the gift that keeps on giving and pays off political loyalties for Harvard and Lincoln
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Five-Year Term Contract for Photo Safety Enforcement Program Services for the Police Department (Sole Source) (Citywide)
Since 2006, American Traffic Solutions, Inc. has provided services and support for the City's photo safety program. A significant amount of infrastructure has been put in place to monitor red light violations, traffic speed or other traffic movement, and issue citations for traffic violations.
The Axsis equipment and software currently in place are proprietary and can only be serviced by Verra Mobility. The Police Department and Purchasing recommend awarding the contract to the sole source vendor, American Traffic Solutions, Inc., dba Verra Mobility (a Mesa business), at $1,870,000 annually, based on estimated usage.  
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Happy in a recent multi-million bucks holiday windfall to one tenant at Waypoint - American Traffic Solutions are the two brothers Krumwiede
one the developer and one the property company - Waypoint was located and built with an eye toward serving the modern corporate tenant. We are thrilled to welcome Cognizant, and to see our efforts put to use by an exceptional Fortune 195 company," said Harvard Investments President and CEO Craig Krumwiede, who serves as the project developer along with Lincoln Property Company.
"With the addition of Cognizant, our 430,000-square-foot Waypoint campus is now 95 percent leased," said Lincoln Property Company Executive Vice President David Krumwiede. "It creates a very dynamic place for Cognizant, and all of our tenants, to grow and thrive. . . "

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30 November 2018
Mesa City Council
A somewhat nervous-appearing get-together of the 7 elected members and other officials inside City Hall that lasted almost two entire hours. All six district representatives are occupying their seats at the table - the Mesa Channel 11 cameras are on. That's the cue for Mayor John Giles to start the study session . . .
. . . and why, readers of this blog might ask, are these meetings - where few members of the public ever show up or involved - mostly dull?
This is the first meeting after the results of the November General Election were made official. The calendar year ends at the end of December.
Things are getting "wrapped-up". . . Contracts awarded
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19 April 2017
Mesa-based American Traffic Solutions at Waypoint Gets Acquired

Tuesday, April 18, 2017 
Platinum Equity Buys American Traffic Solutions
Los Angeles-based private equity investor Platinum Equity has acquired American Traffic Solutions, a provider of road safety, red light, and traffic violation cameras, according to the two companies.
 
Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. ATS, which is based in Arizona, says it has more than 3,500 school bus stop arm, red-light and speed safety cameras installed.
Source: socaltech.com
Back on December 22, 2016 this news was published
SEC Charges Platinum Partners and Founder With Defrauding Investors
The SEC charged the founder of Platinum Partners and two of its flagship hedge fund advisory firms with conducting a fraudulent scheme to inflate asset values and illicitly move investor money to cover losses and liquidity problems.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that Mark Nordlicht and the Platinum funds overstated the value of an oil company that was among their largest assets, and they concealed a growing liquidity crisis by transferring money between the funds, making preferential redemptions to favored investors, and using misrepresentations to attract new investors to the struggling funds during what internal documents described as “Hail Mary time.”
The SEC’s complaint further alleges that Nordlicht schemed with two colleagues and an executive at the Platinum funds’ other major oil investment to divert almost $100 million from that company to help boost the Platinum funds. 
The SEC’s complaint charges several other individuals in addition to Nordlicht for their roles in the alleged schemes
 

The Intercept Catches AZ Temp-Senator/Capitol Hill Veteran Jon Kyl In The Revolving Door

The question now - after the stunning politically-tinged temporary appointment on September 4th by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey of lobbyist Jon Kyl to fill a seat in The U.S. Senate left empty by the untimely death of John McCain - is how dicey can it get??
Was it "a call back to public service" or something else? 
When a well-respected international investigative reporting fire-brand organization like The Intercept pays attention, we started to get the spotlight on Kyl just three days ago:  
Let's get right to the point > to his critics — it is one of the most corrupt tenures in the modern history of the Senate. . ."
The Remarkable Tale of the Corporate Lobbyist Sworn In as a Temporary U.S. Senator
by David Dayen 10 Dec 2018, 6:56 a.m.
 
". . . Kyl, who served in the House and the Senate for decades but retired in 2012, was chosen to replace the late John McCain on an interim basis, as a placeholder before a special election for the seat in 2020. But Kyl, who was sworn in September 5, never committed to filling out the vacancy for the next two years; from the beginning, he only committed to serve through the lame-duck session, and he is widely expected to leave after that. That means that the final senator for the next Congress has yet to be determined.
Few have paid much attention to Kyl, who is wrapping up one of the strangest and — to his critics — one of the most corrupt tenures in the modern history of the Senate. . ."
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Blogger Note: Google tells me that there's been an unusual amount of traffic on my network.
Am I a Robot? Definitely not! 
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Another take-away from David Dayan in The Intercept
Kyl was a registered lobbyist at a powerhouse D.C. law firm, who lived and worked in Washington for five and a half years before taking a four-month gig as a senator. His only floor speeches have involved matters at least glancingly tied to his lobbying. His entire term of office seems like a calculated attempt to refresh his contacts and gain clout from the inside, only to spin back out to influence the institution. He’s supposed to represent Arizona, but increasingly it appears that he only represents K Street.
“Kyl’s power had diminished significantly over time,” said Jeff Hauser, director of the Revolving Door Project at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “By getting this dip into the Senate, he gets an increased profile, an increased rolodex. It burnishes his stature but does nothing for the republic.”
Jon Kyl served 26 years on Capitol Hill, first with four terms in the House of Representatives and then with three terms in the Senate. He rose to Senate minority whip, the No. 2 position in the Republican leadership, in 2007.
Upon retirement in 2012, it only took Kyl three months to make his way through the revolving door. He actually began his career as a lobbyist, so this was a return trip . . .
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THIS STORY IS SO RIPE-TO-BE-TOLD
It gets right at the heart of politics here in Arizona where local reporters fear to tread.
Your MesaZona is more than thrilled and more than excited to see an award-winning international investigative journalism organization like The Intercept get into the deep-dirt on the playing-field of politics to blow-the-whistle for what's gone on here for way far too long. . .
What Arizona investigative reporters will take the ball and run with it?
 
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Other details:
> Everything about Kyl’s second go-round in the Senate is rather strange. Kyl had lived in Arizona when he represented the state in Congress, but by September 2018, he had a primary job in Washington for five and a half years. Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution stipulates, “No Person shall be a Senator who shall not … be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.” But this was never cited as disqualifying for his appointment.
There is no record of Kyl returning to Arizona during his current Senate tenure except for a trip at the end of October, when the Senate was out of session, which included a check-in on forestry projects in Flagstaff and a campaign swing for Martha McSally. There’s also no record of Kyl maintaining a residence in the state. Kyl’s office did not return a detailed request for comment.
> “Family needs” is a euphemism for the desire to hoover up more money as a lobbyist, for which the rent-a-senator stint will provide a chance to raise his rates.
Kyl is using McCain’s Senate office and his legislative offices in Arizona. Kyl’s staff appears to have borrowed from McCain; his press secretary Rachael Dean Wilson was a McCain aide. He was given McCain’s old committee assignments on Indian Affairs, Homeland Security, and Armed Services. These don’t connect to what Kyl had previously held at all; he was on the Judiciary and Finance committees.
It does, however, connect to Kyl’s lobbying clients. The Armed Services Committee in particular is a plum assignment for a once and (potentially) future Northrop Grumman and Raytheon lobbyist (or non-lobbyist, as the registration case may be).

> Since returning to the Senate, Kyl has amassed a voting record that’s 100 percent in alignment with President Donald Trump. Many of his former clients have business before the Senate. Freeport McMoran, a mining concern, wanted copper on a draft list of critical minerals; Kyl had lobbied for them. Qualcomm wanted its hardware to be used in vehicle-to-vehicle communication; Kyl had lobbied on that.

YOU ARE INVITED TO READ MORE :
https://theintercept.com/2018/12/10/jon-kyl-senator-arizona/
 

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Three Perks of Getting Your City’s Data Check-Up ??

Not one of the best infovids from Bloomberg Philanthropies WorkWorksCities....sounds like 2 'Valley-Girls' talking about something they call Data Excellence and getting certified with CRITERIA that send the standard of excellence for a well-managed city . . .
Published on Dec 12, 2018
Views: 1 so far [your MesaZona blogger]
How is your city doing? Completing a Certification assessment allows your city to know exactly how to answer that question and opens the door for you to receive exclusive support from WWC as you build a well-managed local government. Join WWC partner Results for America for this webinar to learn about key benefits of participating in Certification.
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About What Works Cities:
What Work Cities, launched in April 2015, is the largest-ever philanthropic efforts to enhance cities’ use of data and evidence. The initiative is providing technical assistance to 100 cities on a rolling basis through 2018. Cities around the country are receiving support, guidance and resources to succeed through a consortium of leading organizations assembled by Bloomberg Philanthropies: the Behavioral Insights Team, the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, the Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, Results for America and the Sunlight Foundation. In 2016, What Works Cities was named by Forbes as “one of the ten most promising philanthropic bets” of the year and by Engaging Local Government Leaders as the “most important company operating in the local government arena.” In March 2017, the initiative launched What Works Cities Certification, the first-ever national standard for data-driven governance.
Web:
http://www.whatworkscities.bloomberg.org.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/WhatWorksCities
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WhatWorksCities
Medium: https://medium.com/@whatworkscities

United Launch Alliance Dramatic Abort of NROL-71

Hmmm...U have any idea what this NROL Program is all about?
Published on Dec 12, 2018
Views: 3,389
The launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy carrying the NROL-71 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office was scrubbed today due to an unexpected condition during terminal count at approximately 7.5 seconds before liftoff. The team is currently reviewing all data and will determine the path forward. A new launch date will be provided when available.
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCakg...

Anderson Cooper Mocks Sarah Sanders' 'TRANSPARENT' Legacy

, , , how far can she go??
Published on Dec 12, 2018
CNN's Anderson Cooper mocks White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders' wishes for her legacy in light of Michael Cohen's sentencing. #CNN #News

President Trump is facing a two-front war and both showdowns are crushin...

Tremendous Turmoil, a slow Grind-Down, See-Saw Stats, and Flash-Crashes every 15 minutes ...

Rusty Bowers Again: He Wants To Speed-Up Water "Adjudication" Now

Hard to figure out what this is all about when someone who's not yet assumed a position announces his plans of recent high-interest in a long-term drought . . .Mebbe that and that and that and that????  
Arizona House Speaker-Elect Announces Plans To Speed Up Water Rights Lawsuits
by  Casey Kuhn  Published: Tuesday, December 11, 2018 - 1:53pm
"Arizona House Speaker-elect Rusty Bowers spoke Monday at an agribusiness roundtable held in part by the state Department of Agriculture, where he made clear his interest in water policy.
Bowers was slated to talk about several water-rights issues, including the ongoing struggle within the Drought Contingency Plan, the plan aimed at determining Arizona’s use of Colorado River water.
He also discussed water adjudication, which are decades-long legal proceedings that are meant to determine the water rights of countless claimants on the Little Colorado and Gila River.
At the roundtable, Bowers announced plans to introduce in the Legislature a way to speed along the lengthy process.
“It’s my plan to appropriate sufficient monies, and I hope I can get it past my caucus, and others, to have a full judge, all the costs of a new and additional, but only dedicated to adjudication and judge for that,” he said.
Water policy experts say the legal holdup has created some measure of uncertainty when it comes to water availability in non-urban areas.
Another question is about the large water users along adjudicated areas, where now it’s questioned whether they have the right to keep drilling, or at least keep pumping. And that strikes close to home with me," Bowers said. "So that adjudication, we want to fund that and move that along and get that done.”
Bowers said he hopes the new funding would make adjudication a full-time responsibility in the courts."
LINK > Click Here 
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