Wednesday, September 25, 2019

DNI Threatened To Resign If Prevented From Testifying Freely Before Cong...

Shades of Watergate???
Strange that Maguire is a retired member of the Navy Seals, now the "Acting Director" of National Intelligence - he's scheduled to testify tomorrow . . .
Published on Sep 25, 2019
Views: 5,480++
 
Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, vowed to resign if he wasn’t allowed to testify to Congress, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News. Aired on 09/25/19.
Maguire is expected to appear before the House Intelligence Committee Thursday over the whistleblower complaint that has led to a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
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DNI Threatened To Resign If Prevented From Testifying Freely Before Congress | Katy Tur | MSNBC
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Mesa City Council Approves Bold Plan To Seize Private Property - Seeking A Notice & Demand For Order of Immediate Possession

 Why the rush now when this 8-acre parcel in Northeast Mesa has been family-owned by an estate attorney's family for more than 60 years? He's transferred ownership to a Christian church with the intended purpose to build a retirement home. City officials made a low-ball offer on the undeveloped property back in December 2018. Now they want to seize it using eminent domain 'as a public necessity'
What's the story here in Mesa?
Most conservative Republicans rave about limiting the role of government when it comes to property rights - it's the opposite here in this special case.
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See this: https://law.justia.com/codes/arizona/2005/title12/01116.html
> 2005 Arizona Revised Statutes - 
 Revised Statutes §12-1116  
Actions for condemnation; immediate possession; money deposit  
> View the 2018 Arizona Revised Statutes |
> View Previous Versions of the Arizona Revised Statutes
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Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version.
Arizona may have more current or accurate information.
We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site.
Please check official sources.
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A. All actions for condemnation shall be brought as other civil actions in the superior court in the county in which the property is located except that, at least twenty days before filing an action for condemnation of property or any interest in property, the plaintiff shall deliver to the property owner of record and as a courtesy to the sole lessee of record, if applicable, according to the records of the county recorder in the county in which the property is located:
1. A written offer to purchase the property or interest in the property and to pay just compensation for the property or interest in the property and for any compensable damages to any remaining property.
The offer must constitute the plaintiff's estimate of just compensation. . .
BLOGGER NOTE: Estate attorney and property owner Wetzel told The Arizona Republic he would consider selling the land for “at least $15 to $20 million.”   
NOT 'the meager proffer' made by city real estate acquisition officials. Furthermore
Wetzel said if Mesa exercises eminent domain, he and the nonprofit will oppose it because the price the city is offering is “a pittance” and “a miserly amount of money.”

2. One or more appraisals that support the amount of the proposed compensation.

B. Except for special taxing districts formed pursuant to title 48, chapter 17 . . .
BLOGGER NOTE:
There are qualified and designated census tracts
in Northeast Mesa that are classified as Opportunity Zones in 2017 Tax Credits & Jobs Act.
This might help to explain the offer of just over $2M made to the owner in December 2018.
There's a loophole in the TCAJA that also permits high income tracts to be included as long as they are somehow contiguous to distressed tracts.

C. For special taxing districts formed pursuant to title 48, chapter 17 . . .at least twenty days before filing an action for condemnation of property or any interest in property, the plaintiff shall provide notice of the offer and appraisal by delivering to all property interest holders of record the notice that an offer has been made and an appraisal has been conducted. The notice does not apply to lessees of record if the lease or other written agreement governing the interest holder's rights in the property provides that the property interest holder would not be entitled to condemnation proceeds.
E. At the time of filing the complaint, or at any time after filing the complaint, the plaintiff may apply to the court for an order permitting the plaintiff to take possession of and use the property sought to be condemned for the purpose prayed for.
F. The superior court may waive the requirements of subsection A, B, C or D of this section if the court determines that the plaintiff will suffer immediate and irreparable harm that outweighs the property owner's or lessee's interest.
G. On filing the application, the court shall set a time for a hearing.
Notice shall be served on the parties in interest by personal service within the state, or by publication if without the state, in any manner as the court directs.
H. On the day of the hearing, if it appears that the use for which the property is sought to be condemned is a necessary use, the court shall receive evidence as to the probable damages to each owner, possessor or person having an interest in each parcel of land sought to be condemned and of any unpaid property taxes that have been levied, including penalties and interest, on the property sought to be condemned and may direct that on a deposit of money, on direct payment to each owner, possessor or person having an interest in each parcel, or if the condemnor is the state or a county, city, town or political subdivision of this state, on posting a bond in a form to be approved by the court, the plaintiff shall be let into the possession and full use of the parcels of land, as described in the order, for the purposes specified in the order.
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Headline story for AZ Central: https://www.azcentral.com/story
Mesa wants to take land through eminent domain.
Owner says he's being shorted
, Arizona Republic 
Published 9:10 a.m. MT Sept. 24, 2019 | Updated 3:03 p.m. MT Sept. 24, 2019
"The Mesa City Council approved Monday for the city to acquire eight acres of land, likely through eminent domain, to construct a new public safety facility for police and fire departments. 
Eminent domain is a government’s right to seize private property for public use if necessary, while paying the original owner “just compensation.”  
FACTOIDS EXTRACTED
> Mesa appraised the land at just more than $2 million in November, but the property owner told the city its appraisal was too low and that he was working on a counteroffer.  
> The property owner, Cornville-based lawyer Paul Wetzel, told The Arizona Republic he would consider selling the land for “at least $15 to $20 million.”  
> The city said it has yet to receive Wetzel’s counteroffer, prompting its request for the council to move forward. In March, the city informed the property owner Mesa could exercise its power of eminent domain if a deal was not reached.  
> The city can now acquire the land “through eminent domain, as a matter of public necessity” in order to avoid further delays in breaking ground on the facility
> Mayor John Giles said Mesa’s rapid growth has caused challenges like maintaining quick public safety response times. 
“That was the compelling story we went to our voters with last November, and they agreed, and they’ve authorized us to build new police stations and fire stations,” he said. 
> Wetzel said he thinks eight acres is more than the city needs for the facility, especially considering other fire stations take up only two acres.
He thinks other parcels of land near him could be combined and would be cheaper and better fitted to the city’s purpose.  
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BLOGGER NOTE: Clearly, based on past practices, Wetzel appears to be correct in his assertion that the proposed city facility would only take up two acres.
 Any reasonable person might ask What is the City of Mesa planning to do with the extra 6 acres?
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> Council members were largely in agreement that the land should be acquired and the public safety facility built as soon as possible. 
“I’m all on board,” Vice Mayor Mark Freeman said at the study session. 
City Manager Brady said this would be an important addition to the northeast Mesa neighborhood. . . “For a lot of people, you drive by a fire station or a police station, there’s a sense of security.”  
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'A miserly amount of money'
Wetzel said the land has been in his family for nearly 60 years, and that he transferred it to Grace Chapel at Glen Eden, a Christian nonprofit organization, with the hope of building a religious retirement home there.  
Wetzel said if Mesa exercises eminent domain, he and the nonprofit will oppose it because the price the city is offering is “a pittance” and “a miserly amount of money.”
He said the nonprofit needs revenue to fund its projects like church-building and well-building, “but I just don’t feel right about such a small amount of money for eight acres.”  
“I’m not out to try to stop the city of Mesa,” he said. “I'm willing to deal with them if they are going to be reasonable, but their 2.1 (million dollars) is not reasonable.”  
But Giles said the city must push forward.  
“The real estate investor that owns this piece of property, I think is certainly going to do what they need to do to get their best price, and that’s good for them, but let’s go through the process and pay them what’s fair and get this built as soon as possible,” Giles said. 
The city expects the facility to be up and running starting in 2022.  
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Robert Reich: Trump's Economy Revealed

Just the numbers please -
It's A TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORY from the 'alternative facts' presented by The Donald
Published on Sep 24, 2019
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich explains how the economy seems to be doing well under Trump, but a closer look reveals the true story.
Watch More: The 7 Biggest Failures of Trumponomics ►►https://youtu.be/8sDFLYha_mA
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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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