Mesa Housing Board Thu 04 April 2019

It's stated that 130 vets are currently housed with 11 new referrals. The city gets $1M for administrative fees from HUD.
See what's new with 28 new vouchers . . .

Published on Apr 4, 2019

Views: 4

For the video with the agenda please visit:

Pro-Haftar forces pushed back near Libya capital

Here's the playbook for "Regime-Change" unfolding now in Libya after many years when a U.S.-trained General tried to intervene in a democratic process after the fall and killing of Khadafy in an overthrow . . . there's any episode know in-the-works in Venezuela now

Published on Apr 5, 2019

Views: 70 [at time of upload to this blog]

Subscribe to France 24 now:http://f24.my/youtubeEN
FRANCE 24 live news stream: all the latest news 24/7http://f24.my/YTliveEN
Forces loyal to Libyan rebel militia chief Haftar have reached a security barrier within 30 km of capital Tripoli. The UN-backed government under PM Fayez al-Sarraj has warned that their forces are preparing to face all threats. The deescalation is condemned by the US and coincides with a visit by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who issued an appeal for calm.
Visit our website:http://www.france24.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:http://f24.my/youtubeEN
Like us on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.Eng...
Follow us on Twitter:https://twitter.com/France24_en

ASU Real Estate Deals In Tempe Get More Attention / Here in Mesa No Tempest At All

Let's be clear here: Your MesaZona blogger always raised  questions here over the conniving by Mayor John Giles and his closely-connected cohorts of "family-and-friends" [aka Michael Crow/Crony Capitalists] to make behind-the-scenes deals that appeared suspicious from the start. Somehow the appearance of conflicts-of-interest got drowned-out. Deals sparked rampant real estate speculation downtown by AZ State Senator Bob Worsley.
________________________________________________________________________

That's my take on what's going on here in Mesa, while the Arizona Attorney General is concentrating on Tempe. 
Last year's General Election in November 2018 was the tipping-point to change TAXPAYER REJECTION of an earlier public relations gambit with privately-financed campaign by the mayor and a political action committee to make a sales pitch for an ASU campus downtown - it turned into a major screw-up, then got 're-packaged' with public safety to sell it. 

Taxpayers fell for that trick to finance a satellite campus for one new building [it's more than that] when ASU could have paid for the expansion itself - 'a gift' of city-owned land on a parking lot for the new building + the renovation of an existing city-owned empty building served as the cover-up for the ASU deals here in downtown.
Throw in "The Rise of Mesa's Innovation District" and . . . 
Follow along - it definitely could get more interesting
________________________________________________________________________

Proposed Omni Hotel/Convention Center

Here's the headline yesterday from Arizona Daily Independent 
AG Amends Complaint Against ABOR, Claims Gift Clause Violation In ASU Deal
"PHOENIX – The Arizona Attorney General’s Office filed an amended complaint against the Arizona Board of Regents and Arizona State University in Arizona Tax Court seeking to end the University’s practice of using the Regent’s tax-exempt government status to facilitate special property deals for favored corporations. . . "
Special deals for favored corporations
________________________________________________________________________

Blogger note: Here in Mesa the sweet deals are on city-owned land using about $165,000,000 in taxpayer-funded debt obligations for an ASU Campus @ Mesa City Center. One new construction to start with, and City Manager Chris Brady says he will do three - those items were on the Agenda for the Mesa City Council Study Session Thursday, April 4, 2019 in proposed budgets FY2019/2020 and FY2020/2014. Mesa taxpayers rejected that spending of $200M in 2016, but nonetheless Chris Brady has stated his intention to finish "the plan" in the behind-the-scenes real estate deals with ASU no matter what.
These public investments - using debt obligations foisted on the backs of taxpayers - on city-owned land and properties around City Hall - started a stampede in real estate speculation on Main Street. "Wealth-Creation" for a favorite few in downtown commercial/residential real estate can then get leveraged for private investments by cohorts that are closely-connected to capitalize their own profits from gains in gambling - gaming Mesa taxpayers to underwrite their speculative investments.
_________________________________________________________________________
“I am pleased that our Attorney General has decided to file a complaint related to the questionable practices of the Arizona Board of Regents in their pursuit of private development of the Arizona State campus,” said Senator Leach. “While serving at the Legislature, I have had concerns over the appropriateness of this practice of picking winners and losers in property development through the use of ABOR’s tax-exempt status. I look forward to the findings of this investigation.”
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) previously alleged that (Arizona Board of Regents) ABOR and Arizona State University (ASU) lack the statutory authority to grant tax exemptions to private businesses and development projects such as the Omni Hotel deal located at the south east corner of University and Mill. In the latest filing, the AGO amended its complaint to claim that ABOR is also violating the Gift Clause ban in the Arizona Constitution by giving the Omni Hotel almost $37 million dollars in discounted property valuations and funding a conference center and parking garage for the private corporation.
ASU representatives have stated publicly that Omni Hotel paid a “fair market value” for the land located at the highly desirable corner in Tempe, but records show that ABOR waived its policy of requiring public auction and allowed ASU to use private assessors to determine a sale price of $85 per sq. ft. Alarmingly, a hotel property located across the street reportedly sold for $212 per sq. ft., just a day before the Omni Hotel deal was announced.
The AGO complaint alleges that the improper tax scheme is a mechanism for recouping money ABOR is gifting to the private business in the first place . . .
Here are the details from the article:
The facts of the Omni deal are as follows:

• ABOR waived its formal policy of requiring a public option for a property sale at ASU’s request and instead sold the land for a fraction of the market value.
• Omni purchased the land for $85/ sq. ft., while a property across the street sold for $212/ sq. ft. This constitutes a potential gift of $8.9 million in the form of undervalued land.
• ASU agreed to pay the full cost of construction – up to $19.5 million – to build a conference center, but ASU has the contracted right to use the center only seven days a year.
• ASU agreed to pay approximately $8 million to construct 275 parking spaces that Omni can use exclusively and keep the revenue from.
• ASU gave Omni an option to buy the land and improvements (including the conference center) for a purchase price of only $10 after 60 years.
• The deal gives Omni the authority to depreciate on its taxes the value of the assets that ABOR purportedly “owns,” even prior to Omni exercising its option to purchase.
• All of this comes on top of the $21 million in economic incentives (in the form of tax rebates over 30 years) that Tempe is providing Omni for the deal.
• There are at least five other private conference centers within 6 miles of the Omni project.

_______________________________________________________________________
Compare those we what we know here in Mesa . . .
_______________________________________________________________________

Here's a headline from Phoenix New Times  yesterday

Updated: AG Says ASU Sweetened Hotel Deal by $28M; School Says It's No Gift

Stephen Lemons | April 4, 2019 | 3:06pm

"Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich launched yet another salvo against the Arizona Board of Regents and Arizona State University late Wednesday night with an amended civil complaint claiming that ASU violated the Arizona Constitution's ban on gifts by promising $28 million up front to Omni Hotels as part of a lucrative deal to build a four-star hotel and conference center on prime university land in Tempe. . .

Blogger Note: One leasing detail: Omni will lease the land from ASU at a "pre-paid rent" of $85 per square foot," or approximately $5.9 million, with an added $1.09 million per year in "additional rent" to ASU for the duration of the 60-year lease. Omni will retain the option to purchase the hotel and convention center, as well as the land its on land and any improvements, for a token $10.
What do the regents and ASU get in return? The right to use the conference center for seven days a year, as long as isn't already booked. Also, "ASU" will be used as part of the name of the center, and "a display wall in the conference center highlighting ASU achievements and research."

Brnovich is fighting a two front war against the ASU-regents axis, which he also has accused of not fulfilling the state constitution's mandate to make in-state tuition “as nearly free as possible.” A superior court judge dismissed an AG lawsuit to that effect in 2018, but Brnovich is appealing and seeking review by the Arizona Supreme Court.
> Phoenix New Times is seeking comment from ASU and the regents and will update this story when more information is available.
> New Times is seeking answers from ASU to follow-up questions concerning the source of the $140 million and an explanation of the AG's allegations regarding the fair market value of the property. 
_________________________________________________________________________

Don't blink now!

Here's a headline from Phoenix New Times earlier in the day yesterday:

Mark Brnovich Aims to End Michael Crow’s Crony Capitalism, and That’s a Good Thing

Stephen Lemons | April 4, 2019 | 9:02am "Robert Rowling doesn’t need your money. In 2018, Forbes magazine ranked the owner of TRT Holdings, which in turn owns the Gold's Gym and Omni Hotels chains, at number 107 on its 2018 list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, with an estimated net worth of $5.8 billion. Over the years, he’s doled out mega-millions to conservative causes, including $6 million to Karl Rove’s super PAC, American Crossroads.
And yet, Arizona State University president Michael Crow is intent on indirectly gifting the Republican hotelier $21 million in tax breaks as part of a deal allowing Rowling to build a 30,000-square-foot conference center on university land . . .The deal, which both the Tempe City Council and the Arizona Board of Regents have signed off on, allows Omni to take advantage of ASU’s tax-exempt status and rake in the cash . . .
The Omni hornswoggle isn’t a one-off.

Here in Mesa it's a different story . . .
Crow & Giles at State-Of-The-City 2018

Indeed, Crow’s been flipping so much ASU land of late that HGTV should consider giving him his own reality show, Crow’s Campus Tax-Dodge. A whole episode could be dedicated to the gleaming, glass-fronted Marina Heights complex on Tempe Town Lake, which sold in 2017 for $928 million, the biggest real-estate transaction in Valley history. . . Crow claims he needs these sorts of deals to keep ASU afloat financially because the legislature has steadily cut its funding of state universities over the years.
I can’t swallow that whopper, either. ASU’s budget is in the black, with total assets of $4 billion, according to its 2018 comprehensive financial report. Also, Crow has an expensive “expand or die” mentality, . . Nor is Crow, who makes more than $1 million in salary and compensation, cutting ASU’s students a break. He recently proposed a tuition increase for in-state undergrads of 2.8 percent, on top of the $10,822 they already pay for tuition and fees.
There is a sort of cult that has grown up around Crow, one based largely on his expansion of the school and the fact that U.S. News and World Report ranks ASU “No. 1 in innovation.”

However, the very same publication has ASU tied with Alabama’s Auburn University for a ranking of 115 out of 312 national universities.

_________________________________________________

Out of 145 “best value schools,” ASU ranks 119. The University of Arizona comes in at 97.

 

Where's That Blue Wave in The Arizona State House Dead Heat

Since Stringer’s resignation, House Speaker Rusty Bowers has effectively put all of the chamber’s business on hold. With only 30 votes, House Republicans were without a majority until the supervisors made their choice - Former State Senate President Steve Pierce was sworn in on Wednesday and said he won’t run for a full term in the House next year, only serve out the remainder the term Stringer was elected to in 2018.

“I have great relations with the speaker, of course the president, and the governor. I know who the players are pretty well,” Pierce said.
"I’m ready to go to work."
Senate President Karen Fann hails from Prescott, as does Pierce. Republican consultant Chuck Coughlin says Pierce will be invaluable to House Speaker Rusty Bowers, both for his willingness to deal and his pipeline to Senate President Karen Fann, who like Pierce represents Prescott. (Laurie Roberts in this story )

________________________________________________________________________

Back in April 2016 when Pierce decided not to run again for his State Senate position,  The Arizona Daily Independent  had a different story about that 'pipeline'
Senator Steve Pierce Will Leave Bitter Legacy
It seemed to many Arizona Legislature watchers that the only time State Senator Steve Pierce smiled was when he was thwarting efforts on behalf of the small business owners by his fellow lawmakers. Pierce, who will reportedly not seek re-election to his Legislative District 1 Senate seat, leaves behind a bitter legacy marked by favors for the wealthy and disregard for everyday people.
Pierce has served the powers-that-be since 2009. Pierce could be counted on to do the bidding of the corporate members of the chambers of commerce, and reject nearly any attempt to protect children, and families unless it would ultimately benefit the wealthy, as has the Medicaid expansion he and former Governor Jan Brewer pushed in 2012.
Pierce served as Whip, President pro-tem and Senate President. Senate President Pierce was deposed from that position in 2012 and replaced Sen. Andy Biggs, a Medicaid expansion opponent, by his fellow lawmakers. In his removal from the presidency, lawmakers argued that Pierce had to go during the Republican Primary races in which he poured money into certain primary races to strengthen his grasp on his own power and to the detriment of the Republican Party in the General Election.
Power Shift In Arizona Senate Forces Pierce Out . . . Andy Biggs, of Gilbert was voted in when senators-elect met yesterday in a private room at the Phoenix Children’s Museum. . . One legislator said, “You know, Andy got caught up in Pierce’s scandal. Pierce is a nasty piece of work

Let Arizona Republic reporter Dustin Gardiner tell you all about that!

In Arizona's House of Representatives, everyone gets the day off when ...

AZCentral.com-2 hours ago

House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, has repeatedly canceled final votes on ... "If anything, it's highlighting the fact that the Arizona Legislature is as partisan ...

________________________________________________________________________

Voting rights battle shifts to swing state Arizona

TheHill |                        

PHOENIX — A poorly handled presidential primary election and a hotly contested U.S. Senate race have kicked off a bitter battle over voting rights in an increasingly competitive state.

Republicans who control the state legislature have introduced a handful of measures to tighten election rules they say are routinely exploited, with the goal of streamlining procedures across Arizona’s 15 counties.

Democrats say the measures amount to a last-minute attempt by Republicans to keep the state in the GOP column ahead of the 2020 elections after four Democrats won statewide offices in the 2018 midterms.

Democrats see the growing influence of Hispanic voters, along with younger voters moving into the state in search of technology jobs, as a critical building block on their path to winning the state. It is those voters, they say, who are being targeted by the GOP bills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Arizona's House of Representatives, everyone gets the day off when ...

AZCentral.com-2 hours ago

House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, has repeatedly canceled final votes . 'That's not a functioning government'

 

 

 

Democrats and some lobbyists have criticized the maneuver. They argue it's hyper-partisan to quash debate — when the chamber's other 59 lawmakers are present — simply because the majority might lose.

When asked about the concern earlier this week, Bowers brushed off any criticism. He simply responded "spin is spin."

In past sessions, when Republicans had solid majorities, floor votes weren't regularly canceled simply due to lawmaker absences.The situation is an indirect impact of last fall's election, when Democrats, fueled by the #RedForEd teacher movement and a national "blue wave," nearly created a 30-30 split in the House.

Republicans were left with their slimmest majority in about 53 years, and GOP leaders said they would focus on bipartisanship this session.

 


   

A Show of 2 Cross-Party Bi-Partisan Bro' Congressmen

An announcement 2 hours ago in AZ Big Media 

Biggs, Stanton Headline PHX East Valley Partnership Luncheon

[What's on the Menu?]

Freshman Congressmen

Andy Biggs >

+

< Greg Stanton

will share their insights on Washington and plans to move Arizona forward at the 12th annual PHX East Valley Partnership Statespersons’ Luncheon, April 24 at the East Valley Institute of Technology. 

The event, moderated by Arizona Public Service President Jeff Guldner, will focus on topics of special interest to business leaders in the six cities and towns – Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, Queen Creek and Apache Junction – known at the PHX East Valley. Following the discussion, guests will have an opportunity to ask questions on a wide range of issues – from recent legislative actions to immigration, education reform and the federal budget.

“This is always an enlightening event because it brings together views from both sides of the aisle,”

said Denny Barney, PHX East Valley Partnership’s president and CEO.

Stanton was elected to Arizona’s District 9 after serving as mayor of Phoenix from 2012 to 2018, where he built an economy rooted in innovation and trade. Before his election as mayor, he served nine years on the Phoenix City Council and as Arizona’s deputy attorney general.

Biggs is an Arizona native and a retired attorney who worked in the Arizona Legislature for 14 years, including four as Arizona Senate president. He was awarded “Champion of the Taxpayer” from Americans for Prosperity for his cumulative service in state legislature, and has been honored numerous times by the Goldwater Institute as a “Friend of Liberty.” 

Tickets to the event are $75 for PHX East Valley Partnership members and $85 for non-members.

Table sponsors also are available for $1,000 for eight guests or $1,500 for premier seating for eight with an elected official. 

Seating is limited and the deadline for registration is April 19. 

For more information and to register, call (480) 834-8335 or visit www.evp-az.org.

Sometime Stuff Just Happens In Screen Grabs From Videos of Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies

MyndShft

Health Care Wages Lag as Hiring Outpaces U.S. Job Growth

Low wages for home healthcare and med technicians $10-$16 per hour 

Published on Apr 4, 2019

Views: 9 [at time of upload to this bog]

Apr.04 -- Bloomberg's Michael McKee examines the continued increase in health care hiring and the industry's payroll disparity. He speaks on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas."