MesaZona > Table of Contents : Here's The Menu. Enjoy

Sunday, January 26, 2020

88th Winter Meeting: Friday Morning Plenary Session

Lindsey Graham is the Most Shameless Man in American Politics

Just a coincidence that his Senate seat is 'up for grabs' with polls showing he could lose
"The South Carolina senator once put a lot of effort into cultivating an image of a reasonable, sober, sensible, moderate Republican, willing to reach out across the aisle, willing to stick up for his principles, willing to denounce Donald Trump. But today, there is no position he won’t abandon, no U-turn he won’t perform, no lie he will not tell ." Hear more commentary from The Intercept's Mehdi Hasan on the "Deconstructed" podcast: https://theintercept.com/podcasts/dec...

Public Hearing: Robbing Mesa Taxpayers & Utilities-Users To Pay-Off The Mayor's Friends

It's time to take action and Say No!
What Hizzoner John Giles is trying to pull-off tomorrow at meetings of the Mesa City Council is taking millions out-of-your-pockets to pay-off the rampant real estate speculation schemes of his own "friends-and-family-connections' for their own private wealth-creation using public money.
If Governor Ducey can swear at his State of The State address this year: "NO NEW TAXES, NOT ON MY WATCH", John Giles could certainly say the same thing, if he were not beholden to "special interests'. That's not the case here.

By now - if you've been reading this blog at all during the last four years - you know that.
There's a closely-connected cohort of characters who have ruled this city for generations, some claiming heritage going back four, or five, or six generations in Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Government/Politics.
They then pay each other off for their own private fortunes and wealth-creatton by leveraging public debt bond obligations and increasing sales transaction taxes and utilities fees-and-charges > out-of-your pockets

It's now up to YOU...

Communicate with each and every member of the Mesa City Council - their salaries and generous benefits are paid for by you to represent your interests
Network with those who are informed and activated and organized

Homesteading in What Is Now Downtown Mesa

Did you Know? There is a marker
It's cast in bronze mounted on stone on N Robson Street.
Homesteading by a black man in the early 20th Century, but nothing remains to be seen of the house today where The Old Post used to be housed in The Federal Building.
There were plans - see an insert farther down - to adapt the building into a Downtown Mesa History Museum. Instead, the Mesa History Museum got re-located to an area named Lehi, a Mormon prophet, that got incorporated into the City of Mesa in the 1980's. Mesa was a segregated city - and in some respects still is, now in high-priced gated enclaves.
It's a subject people still don't want to talk about these days. Many wish it could just be forgotten.

"No one likes to admit his or her city supported segregation.

But from when they were first settled through the first half of the 20th century, virtually every Valley community supported the practice of segregation.

Native Americans and Mexicans who were the first here, along with Chinese and Blacks were all subjects of discrimination. While their labor was necessary to build the Valley and work in residents' homes, they were nonetheless regulated to living in enclaves set apart from the Anglos. . . Mesa was no different. . ."

--- taken from When Mesa was a Segregated City/Jay Mark 11 june 2015

Former Buffalo Solider Alexander McPherson, his wife, Clara, and four children are considered Mesa's first Black family. They moved here about 1905.Generations of their descendants are buried in The City of Mesa Cemetery
Names and records of persons buried in Mesa Cemetery: http://www.interment.net/data

MCPHERSON, Alexander, Age: 63 Yrs., Date: 7-19-1916, Location: 0118-2-5, Mortuary: Burton, No marker

MCPHERSON, Clarence, Age: 83 Yrs., Date: 5-2-1979, Location: 0733-4-2, Mortuary: Gibbons

MCPHERSON, Clarence E., Date: 5-12-1972, Location: 0856-4-1, Mortuary: Melcher

MCPHERSON, Fannie L., Date: 2-12-1955, Location: 0509-3-2, Mortuary: A.L. Moore & Son

MCPHERSON, Gordon William, Age: 88 Yrs., Date: 9-26-2001, Location: 1273-3-3, Mortuary: Arizona Aftercare, No marker

MCPHERSON, Isaac Samuel, Date: 9-17-1949, Location: 0509-3-1, Mortuary: A.L. Moore

MCPHERSON, June, Date: 11-20-1927, Location: 0304-2-2, Mortuary: Burton, No marker

MCPHERSON, Myrtle R., Age: 83 Yrs., Date: 8-18-1993, Location: 0856-4-2, Mortuary: Melcher Chapel of Roses

MCPHERSON, Reland V., Age: 67 Yrs., Date: 4-23-1977, Location: 0925-2-4, Mortuary: Meldrum, No marker

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HERE'S A POST FROM 3 YEARS AGO:

07 January 2017

Questions Remain About $5Million Investment from 2012 Taxpayer-Approved Parks Bond Debt Issue

Food-for-Thought for New Year 2017:

Are we really seeing any of the so-called "downtown revitalization" that's the rallying cry for the success of the administration of John Giles and his Director of Downtown Transformation Jeff McVay?
A massive top-down mega-million-dollar proposal to radically transform The New Urban Downtown Mesa into a satellite ASU campus that devoured downtown Tempe - featured as the key cornerstone of Giles' plan for NextMesa - blew up big time, rejected by taxpayers

It might be useful looking back in the rear-view mirror at what and how some monies from a 2012 taxpayer-approved Parks bond obligation debt issue got allocated, as well as seeing how one stalled project is getting along, or not, after getting a big focus back in March 2016.
Officials are saying one thing, while Arizona Republic reporter Maria Poletta covers a mixed-bag of interests.

Mesa Historical Museum Makeover:
Will $5M investment pay off?
Maria Polletta , The Republic
azcentral.com 11:13 a.m. MT March 28, 2016
"After nearly a decade of talks, plans to wholly reinvent the Mesa Historical Museum’s mission and image are finally taking off.
Demolition and other prep work is complete at what will be the museum’s new home — the former federal building at 26 N. Macdonald — and extensive renovations are expected to begin this summer. . . ."
Did that happen?
The article continues:
It’s the first step in a sweeping transformation officials say will leave the 50-year-old museum nearly unrecognizable. The institution’s focus, collections and even its name will likely have changed by the time it moves into the new facility, sometime in the next three years.
Although some City Council members have doubted whether the $5 million investment will pay off, given downward trends in museum attendance, voters’ support and museum officials’ persistence have convinced them to give the project a shot.

“As a Mesa native, it's of personal interest to me that a city of our size have a place where we preserve and present our history, both to those of us who have been here a long time and those who are new,” said Brian Allen, a member of the museum board.
“As we all drive by the federal building every day and think of what it could be, we are ready to deliver a world-class museum, a world-class facility … and create a new attraction.”

‘New and different’??

For decades, the non-profit history museum operated out of Mesa’s 103-year-old Lehi School, on a historically significant but out-of-the-way corner. Its rarely rotating exhibits, peppered with old pictures and artifacts from the city’s pioneer families, gave first-time patrons little reason to return.

Much has changed since then, as Mesa’s population has become more diverse, regional-minded and tech-driven. The new museum wants to be all of those things, too.

“Our goal is to be a new and different organization, vibrant and vital to the life of the community we serve,” officials said in a conceptual plan submitted to the city.

The bond-funded move to the federal building will push the museum into the heart of a budding arts-and-cultural district downtown, within walking distance of the light rail, galleries and other museums.

“The overall objective of this project is accessibility for the community,” museum director Lisa Anderson said. “That's the endgame.” . . . Regional accessibility also is important, Anderson said.

A viable plan?

Citizens voiced support for a downtown heritage museum leading up to the 2012 parks-bond election and again at the polls that year.

Some elected officials, though, have worried the museum’s new model might not be viable.

History museums aren’t meant to be money-makers. But given Mesa's burgeoning downtown renaissance, and the limited number of properties Mesa owns in the city’s core** [see footnote by blogger below], much is riding on the museum meeting attendance projections.

“I think we're all confident in our design and our ability to revitalize a really important part of downtown.” Mesa Historical Museum Director Lisa Anderson

Something More For "Hizzoner" John Giles To Grapple With > 2 Potential Emerging Challengers Have Expressed An Interest To Challenge Him

This time it's for filing 'expressions of interest' by not one but two well-known persons in the new election campaign for the office of mayor when Giles ran un-opposed for his first elected term. Personal Injury/Accident Law attorney John Giles was propelled back into public service after 14 years in private practice as "the hand-picked successor" to fill the vacancy left by former Mayor Scott Smith in 2014, who resigned to seek a higher office as the Governor of the State of Arizona. Unfortunately, those plans were dashed by fellow Republican Doug Ducey who declared at his 2020 State of The State Address "NO MORE TAXES - NOT ON MY WATCH!"
Residents of Mesa and people who read this blog now know that Mayor John Giles wants to raise your taxes and increase fees-and-charges for sales transaction and utility use
The former personal injury/accidental law attorney got a new mission and a new job in 2014 - Giles is no longer "an ambulance-chaser".
He considers himself as the chief cheerleader and salesman for the City of Mesa. What he makes 'on-the-side" we don't know until the required Financial Disclosure paperwork gets filed with the City Clerk.
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Here's the story from East Valley Tribune
(note the choice of words: "chief nemesis" to describe Jeremy Whittaker), and the choice of words "also gunning for Giles' job" attached to Verl Farnsworth)
Storm clouds are gathering in the Mesa mayor race

By Jim Walsh, Tribune Staff Writer

Jan 26, 2020 3 hrs ago

"Mesa City Councilman Jeremy Whittaker has expressed interest in mounting a potential mayoral bid – elevating himself from Mayor John Giles’ chief nemesis to a 2020 election opponent.

Irked by the emergence of a Giles ally as a possible challenger in his council district, Whittaker filed a statement of interest for mayor job.

The statements of interest, required by a new state law, qualify candidates to collect the signatures of registered voters to get their names on the ballot.

Also gunning for Giles’ job, is Verl Farnsworth, an outspoken council critic who failed in 2018 to unseat council member Dave Luna, a frequent Giles ally. He too filed a statement of interest for the mayoral position. . ."

Jeremy Whittaker — EVT File PhotoWalsh goes on to write,

5 Years For The City of Mesa To Pay Claims for Flood Damage

Welcome to Mesa, Kids!
City of Mesa settles with more than 130 residents after their homes flooded in 2014

By Justin Lum FOX 10 Phoenix

More than 5 years after major flooding damaged about 200 homes in Mesa, a settlement was reached, with the city paying 130 residents a total of $1.6 million.

MESA, Ariz. - More than 5 years after major flooding damaged about 200 homes in Mesa, a settlement was reached, with the city paying about 130 residents a total of $1.6 million.

But, residents are still recovering from the flood. . .

The city of Mesa released a statement, saying in part, "The plaintiffs and their legal counsel will be responsible for distributing the settlement funds. This settlement not only resolved the lawsuit most importantly it provides compensation and assistance to residents whose property was damaged by the flood."

The legal battle against the state continues, and the ~~trail~~ may have a start date around fall."
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10 September 2019

Floods In A Mesa Neighborhood: Nothing About the Lawsuit Against The City

Residents and home owners call it "the storm of the century" just five years ago, when floods were the result of flaws.
Just another one of those "feel good" follow-up stories spoon-fed for public consumption including a typical press release from city officials about several steps taken to to improve extreme water mitigation

The City of Mesa released a statement:

"The City has taken several steps to improve extreme water mitigation since September 8th, 2014 when a historic high water incident impacted approximately 200 homes in Emerald Park, a neighborhood near US 60 and Stapley."

Reporter Kim Powell got her version of the story published 8 hours ago in AZ Family
Mesa homeowners remember 2014 Emerald Park flooding like it was yesterday
MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - It's been five years since the historic flood near Emerald Park in Mesa, which damaged about 200 homes . . .
READ MORE if you want to
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Hole-y Moley! A Vibrator Stuck in A Woman's Bladder

That stunning revelation all about "a sex toy" was in a headline news story about Mesa - a staid conservative city always bragging about holding onto "Family Values - yesterday in of all places ARIZONA FAMILY . . .
Better to all those Arizona State Senators and State Legislators to put that personal safety issue into the newly proposed SEX ED curriculum for public schools!

AZFamily

Mesa woman gets emergency surgery after vibrator gets
stuck in her bladder

MESA, AZ ( 3TV/CBS 5) - An Arizona woman is recovering from surgery after getting a sex toy stuck in her bladder. It's a case that stunned ...

1 day ago