Secretary of Homeland Security > The Job Is Now Open

Image is from Axios/

Add one more to the cavalcade of departures from The Donald's Cabinet:
Kirstjen Nielsen resigns, announced in what else but one more tweet:
"Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will be leaving her position, and I would like to thank her for her service. I am pleased to announce that Kevin McAleenan, the current U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, will become Acting Secretary for @DHSgov. I have confidence that Kevin will do a great job!"
The source of this report about an hour ago comes from Jonathan Swan and Zachary Basu writing in Axios

Behind the scenes: A source close to DHS told Axios that Nielsen would be having a showdown with the president tonight.

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BLOGGER INSERT:

Here's the first DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano back in 2016 when Nielsen's former boss General John Kelly, under consideration at that time for the Secretary's job at DHS, only to be appointed later as The White House Chief, only to get fired or to resign. It's one more re-play in double-dealing by shuffling "Apprentices" into and out of Cabinet secretary seats in the Trump House of Cards that's standing in a shaky balance.
These incidents are improvised explosive devices in Trump's media con-game played-out all too often as bluffs.
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Published on Dec 9, 2016

Views: Over 15,000

Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano discusses the potential pick of retired Marine Gen. John Kelly for next DHS chief and how problems she foresaw more than two years ago.





 

MORE FROM AXIOS:
"Frustrations were building on both sides," the source said.
"She was undercut at every turn.
She's done everything she can do.
The White House is eating their own.                 
THE BIG PICTURE: It's been a tortured relationship from the beginning, with Trump blaming Nielsen for every problem at the southern border and for the recent spike in families coming from Northern Triangle countries. Trump has long felt that Nielsen isn't "tough enough" when it comes to defending the border and kicking illegal immigrants out of the U.S., according to sources who've discussed the subject with the president. . . " 
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Is it just a coincidence that the first DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano - a tough administrator and lawyer who served as

• the 21st Governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009
• the United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013, under President Barack Obama. has spoken out in recent days

In her new book, "How Safe Are We?," former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano reflects on how secure the U.S. has been since 9/11. According to Napolitano, the most urgent threats America faces are climate change and cybersecurity -- not a crisis at the southern border.
We'll talk to Napolitano, who implemented Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012 under President Obama, about immigration policy under President Trump, the current state of the Department of Homeland Security, as well as her role as president of the University of California system at a time of admissions scandals and free speech controversies in a podcast 08 April on KQED: Former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano Asks: 'How Safe Are We?'

In a national television appearance four days earlier with MSNBC's Ari Melber on The Beat , Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security under President Obama, Janet Napolitano slams Trump for “exceeding his authority” by declaring a National Emergency to fund a border wall, because there is “no real emergency”. Obama DHS Secretary blasts Trump: Wrong on border

 

Mesa Schools For Scandals > Breaking-Down The Details on Sally Downey

Special to the Tribune

Just catching-up on this story from two days ago . . .

Don't know where East Valley Tribune staff writer Jim Walsh might be going with this new story, but the featured image opening the article with Dr.Downey reaching out to former Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, current President/CEO of Valley Metro, has this caption: "During her 19 years as superintendent of the East Valley Institute of Technology, Sally Downey made many powerful political allies, including former Mesa Mayor Scott Smith."

It is inevitable that Walsh connects EVIT and political allies  

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Jack Sellers and Jon Kyl

Political firestorm engulfs Mesa schools, EVIT chief        

By Jim Walsh, Tribune Staff Writer

East Valley Tribune | 2019-04-06T01:30:00-07:00

A bitter election full of charges, countercharges, conspiracy theories and threats last fall soured an already tense relationship between the East Valley Institute of Technology and Mesa Public Schools.
The outcome was catastrophic for longtime EVIT Superintendent Sally Downey, who is on the verge of losing her once influential and lucrative position – possibly as early as Monday, April 8. . .
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It didn't turn out so "catastrophic" for former Mesa Public Schools Superintendent Michael Cowan - he just conveniently got a calling to go on an undetermined mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of The Latter-Day Saints.
Here's Dr. Sally Downey [at center] with Michael Cowan at far right, and Jared Taylor, business manager of charter school Heritage Academy in downtown Mesa.
Mesa Leadership learns about challenges of local education
17 Feb 2016 Special to The Arizona Republic
Contributed by Jill Adair, a freelance journalist and an associate faculty member at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

". . . February’s Mesa Leadership class, held Feb. 5, started in the morning with speakers and a tour of the ATSU campus and concluded in the afternoon at the East Valley Institute of Technology campus, 1601 W. Main St. . . After lunch the class heard from Mayor John Giles, who recently announced that Arizona State University is planning to open a satellite campus in downtown Mesa.

ASU already has a Polytechnic campus in east Mesa, but Giles said after several months of meetings, University President Michael Crow and other officials are in the process of determining what would be a good fit for ASU downtown.

“Those discussions are fairly far along,” he said. “We’re getting close to deciding what that is, but deciding what that is, is, frankly, just the beginning of this process because then you have to figure out how to pay for it.”

Reference > https://jillbadair.wordpress.com/2016/02/17

 

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PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ

Details in Jim Walsh's story. There's more than quite a few to provide kindle to what he calls "Firestorms". How hot can it get?

East Valley Tribune : Political Firestorm Engulfs Mesa Schools

 

Jonathan Pie Gets Real Behind the Scenes

Just push it a bit...Yeah

Published on Mar 30, 2019

Views: 2,644

Backstage at 'The Vanity Project' host Vanity von Glow chats to comedian Jonathan Pie and Trump supporting burlesque artist Lady Alchemy.
The Vanity Project is a live talkshow event hosted in London by drag queen comedian Vanity von Glow. Guests from the world of politics and media collide with entertainers for conversations about politics and culture - all as guests unwind with a delicious cocktail or five.
The next Vanity Project event takes place on May 31st.

Richard Florida > Grappling with InEquality

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How the 1 Percent Is Pulling America’s Cities and Regions Apart

by Richard Florida 03 April 2019

America’s growing geographic divide derives from economic inequality, especially the tremendous gains of the 1 percent

Blogger Note: Nice to see that Richard Florida takes a different approach to Inequality here in America.

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Coping with America’s escalating regional divide cannot, and will not, happen unless we grapple with the even larger national problem of structural inequality and its causes

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This growing pattern of spatial inequality can be clearly seen in the maps below.

Commuting zone mean family income relative to the nation, 1980

(Social Forces)

Commuting zone mean family income relative to the nation, 2013

(Social Forces)

The map for 2013 is very different. Now we see many more regions shaded in dark red than before, indicating the mean family income is less than 80 percent of the national level. At the same time, there are many more—and larger—bands of dark blue. 
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Putting both of these trends together, the share of Americans living in either rich and poor metro areas (those where incomes were either 20 percent higher or lower than the national average) nearly tripled from 1980 and 2013, rising from 12 percent to more than 30 percent. The “middle” is disappearing, as more Americans are in one of the extremes.
But what has produced such staggering growth in spatial inequality? Manduca employs a variety of statistical techniques and counterfactual simulations to parse whether spatial inequality is a product of geographic sorting, or a product of people getting richer and poorer while staying in place..
This suggests that many of the policy strategies advocated to deal with spatial inequality—such as place-based policies to build up lagging places, people-based policies to train them with more skills, or policies to increase housing supply—may help at the margin, but will ultimately not make much of a significant dent in America’s worsening regional divide. That’s because they fail to address a key underlying driver: national income inequality and its geographic consequences, where hugely outsized gains have gone to a very small fraction of America’s places.

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READ MORE > City Lab

 

 

Mad Tea Party The Mad Tea Party Presented by Residents of Mesa Artspace Lofts

O yeah! 
2nd Friday in April brings MADNESS!!
FREE community and family friendly event!*
Pretty please, join us for The Mad Tea Party from 6pm to 10pm on April 12th, 2019!
Open Mic, food, vendors and more!!
Special guest from Munich, Germany - Zdenek Kotala, will be performing at 8pm and exhibiting his art at 9pm in an artist loft.
You won't want to miss this one!
Dress up if you like or come as you are!
Hop on over after you tour some of the other downtown Mesa events and support local!

Saturday 13 April 2019: One Year After Opening Mesa ArtSpace Lofts Wraps-Up 2 Artist-In-Residence Prototypes

The Mesa Prototyping Project Artist Residencies are wrapping up. They - and you - will be celebrating with featured community art projects from the two participating neighborhoods from 10A-2P Saturday 4/13. The groups are excited to have you join in to enjoy local music, poetry, delicious food, live mural painting and interactive creative opportunities (like enameling, button making, plant projects, etc) as we all celebrate our diverse community and local pool of talent.
[Invite the neighbors on Hibbert Street]

Mesa Prototyping Project: Community Celebration!

Public

Hosted by Mesa Arts Center and Mesa Artspace Lofts

Generously supported by:

• CORE Construction
• Sunbelt Holdings
• LISC Phoenix
• National Endowment for the Arts

The Newtown Community Development Corporation Was The First Community Land Trust (CLT) in Arizona.

Mission: to increase the supply of permanently affordable housing while developing and supporting homebuyers through innovative programs and partnerships.
Here's a link > https://www.newtowncdc.org/about/board-of-directors/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewtownCDC/
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Newtown Community Development Corporation (Newtown) is a Tempe-based 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Newtown was first incorporated in 1994 as Northwest Tempe Neighborhoods CDC Inc. by community members to address concerns about housing, access to basic goods and services, neighborhood preservation, sustainable development and diversity.In 2004 the CLT of Tempe merged into Newtown. It was then that Newtown’s name was changed from Northwest Tempe Neighborhoods CDC Inc. to Newtown Community Development Corporation. Newtown also established itself as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) at that time: one-third of its board members are either low-income, live in a low income census tract or represent a low-income group.
In 2008 Newtown became a HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agency and now provides Housing Counseling services to participants throughout the Phoenix metro area.
Homebuyer workshops are provided in Chandler, Glendale, Scottsdale and Tempe. Counseling services are provided in both English and Spanish.
Also in 2008, the Board of Directors decided to strategically expand Newtown’s CLT program to surrounding communities. There are now over 136 CLT homes in Chandler, Glendale, Scottsdale and Tempe.
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David Crummey, Real Estate Development Manager
Lives here in Mesa -
Please fill in the blanks ___________________________
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David Crummey has been with NEDCO since 2013 as our Real Estate Community Development Specialist.
He is the man that worked hard to ensure the Mesa ArtSpace Lofts would be built in our downtown, which will be breaking ground beginning of 2017.
He is one of the founders of RAIL Mesa and the Mesa Urban Garden, and is one of the people who made sure that Free Movies on Main happened every month for a year on the Sliver Lot.
Not to mention his endless support and willingness to take on whatever NEDCO needed at any time.
Crummey brought many skills, endless passion, and a bottomless vessel of knowledge to NEDCO.
Fortunately for us, we will continue to have Crummey as part of the team in his limited role ensuring that ArtSpace stays on track and gets established seamlessly in our growing downtown.
Source: http://nedcoaz.blogspot.com/


Community Land Trust
Newtown’s Community Land Trust (CLT) program provides access to homeownership for homebuyers who are otherwise priced out of the housing market. CLT homes are sold for a price well below the prevailing market. CLT homes provide greater security than renting. CLT owners benefit from stable monthly payments, security from eviction, and have an opportunity to build equity through homeowner-ship. The CLT also protects the community’s investment in affordable housing. Newtown provides on-going support to CLT owners to help ensure their success as homeowners. Newtown has not had any CLT homes go to foreclosure.