Wednesday, September 25, 2019

AZ Big Media's BIG STORY Today: Mesa Ranked #19 For Best-Run Cities in 2019 WalletHub

“Mesa is ranked the 19th Best Run City in the country!” heralded Hizzoner Mesa Mayor John Giles blowing-his-own-trumpet on his Facebook page on hearing the news.

“We work hard to be fiscally responsible and provide high-quality services and experiences for our residents.”


Please Note: For the study, WalletHub analyzed data from 150 most populated cities to find the best and worst across six categories:
> financial stability
> education
> health
> safety
> economy, and
> infrastructure and pollution.
 
Mesa ranked 19th overall

What about the other categories???

Just two quick results - scroll down for more

#22 in budget per capita, and # 55 in quality of city services.
In the other categories, it received the highest score for safety at No. 35.

(This WalletHub story posted on AZ BigMedia was originally published at Chamber Business News.)
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WalletHub is a personal finance website that was launched in early August 2013. 
It is based in Washington, D.C. and owned by Evolution Finance, Inc. – parent company of the credit card website CardHub.com.

Definitely not the best or most reliable source for rankings of cities
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REALITY CHECK Here's the link > MesaZona Blog July 2019
July 2019
Raving Mad-About-Mesa: Say Again #19 For What?
Mayor Jivin' John Giles was 'running-off at-the-mouth' the other day raving that  Mesa was one of the Best-Run Cities in America. Looks like the former track-star and ambulance chaser-accident law/personal injury attorney needs to pause.
He cherry-picked just one of six key categories -
Mesa ranks the next-to-last in the second tier of 20 cities in the Overall City Rank.
 
It ranks the Worst #1 for Pollution and Infrastructure,
 #72 for Financial Stability, and
#59 for Education.
Let's for the sake of disclosure, knock the mayor down-a-notch-or-two. In the interest of holding the mayor transparent and accountable or responsible for what he says, there's a few things to grab your attention to keep it fair and balanced: data.
Mayors - and city councils - come and go. They get elected for six-year or four-year terms. Some run-out their terms in office and some resign ahead-of-time for various reasons.
There is, however, one non-elected high-salaried city employee who is the city's Chief Executive Officer.
< Mesa City Manager Chris Brady.
He's the one who runs the city from inside City Hall.
He's been doing his job since getting hired-away from San Antonio as an "outsider" in 2005. 15 years is enough time to have created a track-record. The 2019 Wallet Hub Survey says more about the city manager's performance in fifteen years than the mayor's five years on the city council.
In evaluating how well a city is run, what are the top five indicators?
 
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To be fair and balanced, readers of this blog can also note that in 2018 WalletHub published this report
WalletHub: States with the best, worst school systems
To find the best school systems in the country, WalletHub ranked each state for quality and safety. Withing the "quality" rank, the site looked at things like graduation rate, dropout rate, math and reading scores and ACT and SAT scores. The "safety" category considers factors like bullying, drug use and school shootings.
By Lidia Ryan on July 30, 2018 12:37 PM 
Arizona #49 Public School Ranking by State                       _________________________________________________________________________________
WalletHub does a lot of Rankings: See How Mesa rates
Latest from wallethub.com
Mesa #86
 

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The 4th Branch of The Donald's Family-Tree: Here's Tiffany Trump

By Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
Spotted by Vanity Fair with White House Director of Communications Stephanie Grisham  in the Style section https://www.vanityfair.com/style
< Tiffany Trump Made a Surprise Appearance at, Yes,
the U.N. General Assembly
What does this mean for her post-grad plans, if anything?
By Kenzie Bryant
It's a very curious story to say the least!
The cropped image is an easy comparison for who's flashing the most cleavage...and of course Tiffany has a billionaire-boyfriend sitting behind her.

Family solidarity?
"President Trump's children proved that family really does come first for the first family as they all turned out to show support for their father as he delivered a speech to his fellow world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday morning."
[Image taken from The Daily Mail - use the link in the next section for more of that]
(Readers of this blog can see a featured post about Stephanie Grisham by scrolling farther down)
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"TiffanyTrump, cat mom, was at the U.N. General Assembly this morning. She watched her dad give a big speech, alongside her half sister, Ivanka, Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, as well as the brothers Trump and their significant others (her boyfriend, Michael Boulos, sat behind her).
It was as if the Trump children were assembled as a show of support for their father as he faces another round of impeachment rumblings and just yesterday, was eviscerated by a single glare of 16-year-old girl.
Please respect him and his family at this time.
Tiffany and the rest were there for the entirety of his speech. He said so much stuff! He talked about globalization and patriotism and one being good and the other being very bad, can’t remember which is which though. He talked about standing “in solidarity with LGBTQ people” and “championing the role of women” because “Nations that empower women are much wealthier, safer.“ Put that on an inspirational quote tab and post it, I guess.
Tiffany’s appearance was a little surprising; the young Trump has managed to stay out of the limelight for the most part. It’s not necessarily a feat. The quieter track just contrasts so deeply with her three older half siblings’ strategies that it appears extraordinary. She’s been busy in law school at Georgetown for much of her dad’s presidency, and when she does get covered, it tends to be for traveling with her boyfriend and hanging out with the so-called Snap Pack, her group of friends in New York.
Mostly, though, she just hasn’t tried to sell anything yet—to capitalize on her controversial name with either business ventures or political ventures or both. Her lack of salesmanship shields her from scrutiny, if only because nobody knows what to do with a Trump that’s not selling something. Sometimes, her name is in the headlines by virtue of stuff her father may have said about her that is too tenuous and sad to repeat here.
And so these moments, where she appears to stand behind her father, instead of somewhere to the bottom left out of the frame, are curious things.
This year marks her last year of law school. She posted from Georgetown’s campus on her “last first day of school” in early September.
It leaves one to wonder, however mildly, whether she’ll enter the fray of this administration upon graduation, like her sister did, and like her brothers do from the sideline, mostly on social media. Will a law degree make her useful to her father, or will she take her legal mind and her name elsewhere? It‘s hard to say, and either way, she might not make it in time.
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Here's Tiffany Trump and her mom Marla Maples, who we don't see much in the spotlight from The Donald's Post-Ivana
Era: Marla Maples and Tiffany Trump
Went on a Mother-Daughter Date to the Naturopath
Bonding!
By Kenzie Bryant
"Marla Maples and her only daughter, Tiffany Trump, have always seemed to be close. They go on vacation together, generally seem to be having a nice time when they’re spotted out, and even dress a little alike. It must have been hard to see the young Trump head off for law school at Georgetown, where she starts her third year next week. Best to get all the mother-daughter bonding in while they still can.
Like on Wednesday, they went to the doctor’s office together, just like old times. They visited a naturopath in New York, rather than a pediatrician, like they must have in the good old days. . .
The doctor that they went to was Dr. Garry D’Brant, per the Daily Mail, and he’s also a chiropractor and a nutritionist. (It’s unclear whether Marla or Tiffany had an appointment, and what for.)
Mothers and daughters and their hijinks! What is this? A Gilmore Girls bottle episode?"
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26 June 2019
New IT Girl For Trump: Grisham Carries A Lot of Baggage With Roots in Arizona
The Donald has named a New Apprentice as the new role model for the Defender for Everything Trump. If you happen to notice a physical similarity with First Lady Melania and former Communications Director Hope Hicks, professional qualifications aside, the departure of Sarah Sanders is an opportunity to introduce a new character into the spotlight: Stephanie Grisham.
Just like Sanders she carries the last name [as a single mother] of another well-known public person, the mystery writer John Grisham. Put that aside for the moment - she actually has worked with other politicians, as spokesperson for the Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives. She also previously served as the spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne.
The Donald certainly likes female models - he married one the third time-around who is now "The First Lady". Stephanie Grisham got promoted from her press secretary to being his. . . in the case of former Communications Director Hope Hicks - seen in this image to the right at the age of 17 - >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> She doesn't have a background in politics, but has been connected to the Trump family for the last five years.
And she's quietly worked her way up to being one of the president's closest allies - and one of his highest paid, on $180,000 (£140,000) a year. . . So how did someone with such a low profile get one of the most important jobs in the US government?
She came to Donald through Ivanka Trump
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Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Utah Republican Senator 'Saint' Mitt Sets Himself Up As A Trump-Alternative

Looks like the current U.S. Senator might be listening to a higher calling to gain the Presidency in the highest office in the land of The Free and The Home of The Brave.
After all, he was once a GOP contender.
Another report was revealed in The Washington Examiner:
'Troubling in the extreme’: Romney breaks ranks with
GOP over Trump and Ukraine
Mike Brest 
 

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A Loser's Game Interrupted By Impeachment: The Donald's Tabloid-Trash Gamble

We now have in clear view the Donald's Fall-back Default Scenario 2020: TV Evangelist.
Just like them all he's caught up in corruption - at the highest level.
Shamelessly pleading his case on a world stage at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, where people already know his game. 
Trump's playbook running-the-table to hold onto his shuffled deck of cards is dealing him a no-win.
 A 'Public Relations Guru' he is not - The Donald keeps getting caught making all-the-wrong moves in a televised script he's been producing for more than three years.  
The latest - what White aides say is just one more OUTRAGE DU JOUR
  • get out ahead of the Ukraine story
  • set the boundaries of the narrative so that Joe Biden is as squarely in the bullseye as he is
  • and overwhelm Americans with new and often conflicting information so the details change by the hour — and always at his bidding.
Nancy Cook writing in Politico
 ( via http://www.msn.com/en-us/news ) 
2 hours ago tells it like it is:
Burgess Everett and Ben White contributed to this report.
Inside Trump world
public defiance vs. private anxiety over impeachment

> In public, Trump world is casting the Democratic impeachment inquiry as more white noise.
> In private, White House aides and allies say the impeachment momentum is now presenting a serious threat to the rest of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, to his negotiating strength with world leaders and to his concentration
The Democrats’ decision to launch an impeachment inquiry on Tuesday afternoon raises the stakes of this massive White House gamble, even as the president called any impeachment proceedings “just a continuation of the witch hunt.”
The White House is betting that Trump will ride out this “outrage du jour,” as one senior administration official called it, and move on just as he has skated through the release of the Mueller report, concerns of late about a possible recession, the Charlottesville uproar, Stormy Daniels, the explosive “Access Hollywood“ tape and dozens of other threats to his presidency. . .
But current and former administration aides believe Trump will view the latest impeachment inquiry as a major blow to his ego — and the proceedings will likely distract him, cloud all of his meetings and halt any agenda for this fall including the passage of a major trade bill heading into an election year. . .
Whit Ayres, founder and president of North Star Opinion Research, a Republican polling firm, had this to say"
 “We’re so polarized and in our tribes that people will look through their current lens and determine either the president did something wrong, or Joe Biden did something wrong.
The facts won’t be particularly relevant.”
The White House press office framed the impeachment inquiry as the Democrats’ effort to “continue to weaponize politics.”
“President Trump is working hard on behalf of our country here in New York City while they continue to scream the word impeachment. Nothing new here,”
----- Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary and communications director
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BLOGGER NOTE ON STEPHANIE GRISHAM: She's out of Arizona
Use the Search Box on this blog to see an earlier post where she's the subject
26 June 2019 
New IT Girl For Trump: Grisham Carries A Lot of Baggage With Roots in Arizona
The Donald has named a New Apprentice as the new role model for the Defender for Everything Trump. If you happen to notice a physical similarity with First Lady Melania and former Communications Director Hope Hicks, professional qualifications aside, the departure of Sarah Sanders is an opportunity to introduce a new character into the spotlight: Stephanie Grisham.
Just like Sanders she carries the last name [as a single mother] of another well-known public person, the mystery writer John Grisham. Put that aside for the moment - she actually has worked with other politicians, as spokesperson for the Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives. She also previously served as the spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne.
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Brad Parscale, the Trump 2020 campaign manager, said in a statement.
“The misguided Democrat impeachment strategy is meant to appease their rabid, extreme, leftist base, but will only serve to embolden and energize President Trump’s supporters and create a landslide victory for the President.”
Still, the impeachment proceedings could lead to other revelations that are even more distracting for Trump and the GOP agenda.
 
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Republican Rusty Bowers, AZ Speaker of The House Claims Sex-Education Classes Are 'Sexualizing' Children

Bowers has been serving terms in the Arizona State House for more than a few years in both chambers. He has been representing District 25 since January 5, 2015. Before that he was a member of the Arizona Senate from 1997-2001 and before that, the Arizona House of Representatives from 1993–1997.
As the current Speaker of The House, where Republicans have a slim majority of one, Bowers expresses certain issues in public.
Some of those views and opinions are the subject of posts on this blog that readers here can view by using the Search box.  
In the last week he's made news headlines for saying he supports more traditional sex education classes in public schools. Some of the presentations he looked at were more graphic than he expected from his perspective of "traditional family values". Surprisingly he got personal on that topic
In of a review of a new tentative curriculum at a meeting in Gilbert, all the visuals and illustrations were way too much.
Way too many details . . .
They simply were not the way he found about sex.
That's a very unusual and un-solicited statement made in public about a very private thing.
Nobody asked.
Since he went there, let's Go There!  We, the public, have been finding out a lot things about sex - and sex practices - of our elected representatives inside the Arizona State House.
Is that way too much information?
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Let's hit the pause button:
In his official capacity as Speaker of The House, Bowers exercises control over the passing of bills to get approved to become laws or house statutes.Here's how tricky he can get trying to impose a statute of limitations on what is public information in outing serial sexual predators.
Speaker preparing sexual abuse statute of limitations bill to break budget impasse
Health Jerod MacDonald-Evoy -
The top Republican in the Arizona House of Representatives appears to be attempting to break a legislative logjam by introducing a measure to increase the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual crimes that several GOP senators have said is key if leaders want them to vote on the budget.
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Back to the issue of public school sex-ed classes, keep in mind there is an election on 2020 - and Bowers needs all the hype for what he wants as HOT BUTTON issues attacking the new Democratic Superintendent of Public Education . . .but then he suggested maybe they’re not necessary at all.
“You know what? I have seven children,” he said.
 “I figured it out, my kids have figured it out.’’

“Go to a kid in high school and say,
 ‘Do you know how sex happens, do you know what happens when you have sex?’

[hey Rusty, kids are maturing much earlier these days - in middle school or before]
“I’m betting most of them know,’’
Bowers continued.

“We don’t need to sexualize them in order to educate them.’’
 
But are there teens who don’t know how to prevent pregnancy?
“Oh, please,’’ he responded.
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Mesa lawmaker rails against sex-ed classes             
A Mesa legislator drew a sharp rebuke from the state’s top education official over his claims sex-education courses are sexualizing children.

House Speaker Rusty Bowers alleges materials he saw in a presentation at a Gilbert charter school by Family Watch International have drawings of people engaged in sex acts.

 The Republican speaker called the materials “a complete change’’ in how sex education has been taught for 40 years.
The comments come on the heels of the speaker, from the weekend meeting, indicating Kathy Hoffman, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, is promoting these kinds of changes.
“When Kathy Hoffman promotes this, I don’t have any question it’s about radicalizing children and their sexuality.’’
Hoffman called the comments “abhorrent and reprehensible,’’ saying they have “no basis in reality.’’

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Monday, September 23, 2019

EVT Staff Writer Jim Walsh Reveals A Tantalizing Missing Detail in City's of Mesa Seizure of Land by Order of Immediate Possession For Police-Fire Complex

Hmmm...certainly now looks like another one of those sweet qwacky "back-handed" deals that City Hall and its real estate acquisition cohorts try to hide behind convenient cover stories and games of charade all the time.
The missing clue: the heretofore un-named private landowner
attorney Paul Wetzel has conveyed the land
"as a gift to a non-profit, non-denominational Christian organization for another purpose."
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Fight brewing over NE Mesa police-fire site
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RELATED CONTENT ON THIS BLOG: Click or Tap Here
21 September 2019
Seizure By Eminent Domain: City of Mesa Seeks Order of Immediate Possession On Privately-Owned Property
< Here's the most recent intended target:
certain undeveloped property located in the 1300 block of North Power Road (APN: 218-04-013B) of approximately 8.38 acres.
The justification: the construction of the Northeast Public Safety Facility
The city's real estate acquisition staff and the un-identified property owner have not yet reached an agreement for the purchase price of this parcel after almost more than a year.
Property values have sky-rocketed in that area.
The same real estate market forces that reaped a windfall-profit from the sales of city-owned lands in northeast Mesa in District 5 are now blowing back when the city is more eager, ready, and willing - or desperate as the case may be - to consummate a sale-deal at the same time when the parcel owner(s) is/are unwilling at the price offered.
The city is seeking an
Immediate Order of Possession
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Wetzel declined to name the non-profit, but he said he is a member of its board of directors.
". . . Although he received an offer from the city for the property in December,
 
 
“I thought they had forgotten about it,’’ Wetzel said.
Wetzel said the city needs only two acres for such a police and fire facility, not more than eight acres.
“That’s why it doesn’t make sense to me,’’ he said.
But Kim Fallbeck, Mesa’s real estate administrator, disagrees, at least according to her explanation during a Sept. 12 city council study session
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Other characters emerging in Walsh's thrilling writing
> Mesa Mayor John Giles and Councilman Dave Luna, who represents northeast Mesa, both said they are sold on Wetzel’s property as the perfect location for the northeast Mesa facility.
“Please do proceed with this location. It seems obvious this is the right thing to do,’’ Giles said.
 “Let’s go through this process and pay them what’s fair and get this built as soon as possible.’’ . .
> City attorney Jim Smith said that many condemnation proceedings end in mediation, with a mediator helping to set a reasonable price to avoid disputes that end up in lawsuits.
> City Manager Chris Brady said the city is working on a new fire station near the Eastmark master-planned community and the Northeast Police and Fire Facility is probably about three years away from completion.
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Coronal Holes, Storms, Electromagnetic Earth & Sun | S0 News Sep.23.2019

One of the best weather reports in the whole wide world that includes extra-planetary forces impacting Planet Earth
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Imperialst Rhetoric, Tom Horn to Defuse Tensions, Gold Tops $5,000 in Demand Frenzy, . . .Japan Bond Crash

         Stephen Maturen/Getty Images Trump, Democrats Hurtle Toward Shutdown After Minnesota Killing A fatal shooting by Border Patrol agen...