Council Study Session - 9/24/2020

Hard-to-understand presentation(s) by the City of Mesa's Planning staff starting off with Director Kusi Appiah.
This is about one hour and twenty minutes long - a review that is required every three years... "Creating A Sense of Place" with 8 character areas

18 views

•Sep 24, 2020 

Mesa City Council Special Hearing Thu 09.24.2020

Scoring points in this eklection year for the Maricopa Board of Supervisors + a plug for Steve Chucri from Mesa City County member Mark Freeman.
Councilmember Whittaker is excused.
NO COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS PRESENT.
Special Council Meeting is done in about 3 minutes!

18 views

•Sep 24, 2020

Elon Musk: Affordable $25,000 Tesla and Better Batteries Are Coming

TOTALLY AWESOME

202,579 views

•Sep 24, 2020

Mesa Assistant Manager John Pombier Seeking New Job in Savannah, Georgia

After 18 years in City Manager Chris Brady's 'inner sanctum', the self-described thick-skinned City Hall insider is now one of three finalists under scrutiny for a new gig - up against two local candidates.

Savannah city manager finalists discuss public scrutiny, working with council during weekend panel

By Sean Evans| September 21, 2020 at 6:16 PM EDT - Updated September 21 at 6:54 PM

https://www.wtoc.com | 2020-09-21T22:16:05.849Z

By Sean Evans | September 21, 2020 at 6:16 PM EDT - Updated September 21 at 6:54 PM

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - With a new city and new title, often comes new scrutiny from the public.

Each finalist for Savannah City Manager was asked during a Saturday panel discussion at the Cultural Arts Center how they’d handle the pressure, beginning with Odie Donald II, currently the City Manager of South Fulton, Georgia.

“Everywhere I’ve been that’s how it starts off. But I’m prepared for it. I think you’re always, especially as a new guy here in the community that you’re not from, you’re always going to probably be under greater scrutiny," said Donald.

John Pombier, current Assistant City Manager in Mesa, Arizona says years as a prosecutor and in government have prepared him for the scrutiny, whether from the public, or from council.

LINK to the streaming video upload  >

https://www.wtoc.com/2020/09/21/savannah-city-manager-finalists-discuss-public-scrutiny-working-with-council-during-weekend-panel/ 

RELATED CONTENT

https://www.savannahnow.com/news/20200921/city-manager-finalists-see-opportunities-in-savannah

QUESTION MORE: Data Ethics > We can't fix a problem we refuse to accurately measure

Yesterday, Karl Bode writing in   tackled the problem in the Un-serious People Department citing issues with Internet Service Providers and the use of bogus data by the Federal Communications Commission - it applies beyond that broad focus

FCC Keeps Using Bogus Data To Claim It's Closing The 'Digital Divide'

Thu, Sep 24th 2020 6:30am — Karl Bode

". . . Despite repeated warnings this data is flawed, the FCC continues to use it anyway to claim the agency's industry-cozy policies (like gutting the lion's share of consumer protections) are paying huge dividends. They aren't. Like so many Trump agencies, the FCC is simply massaging data to justify predetermined industry-dictated policy positions. It's theater dressed up as serious adult policy. . ."

The FCC's methodology has also long been flawed, considering entire census blocks to be connected if just one home in a block can potentially get service. The results are ugly: the FCC's $350 million broadband availability map all but hallucinates broadband availability and speed (try it yourself). It also excludes prices, in large part because ISPs don't want the cost of monopolization clearly outlined to American consumers, press, and lawmakers.

Despite repeated complaints (often by FCC Commissioners themselves), the FCC just keeps doubling down on shoddy data to justify its complete and total fealty to telecom giants. The agency's latest notice of inquiry (part of its Congressional duty to report on the state of broadband once a year) even acknowledges the agency's data is bad... then proceeds to use it anyway . . .

But with 42 million Americans out of reach of any broadband during a health crisis, and an estimated 83 million more stuck under a broadband monopoly, it does matter. And, as telecom industry watcher Doug Dawson notes, this bad data is still being used to determine which areas receive grants and taxpayer subsidies:

"The idea of levying fines against ISPs for blatant broadband overreporting is long overdue. There can be huge consequences when ISPs can freely claim broadband coverage that doesn’t exist. The biggest current consequence of such overreporting is that it can block eligibility for grants. The FCC used the faulty 477 data when determining the areas that are eligible for the $16.4 billion in RDOF grants that will be awarded in October. I know of counties where no RDOF grants are being offered due to the FCC data falsely showing counties to already have adequate broadband. There are many rural counties where at least some portion of the county has been incorrectly excluded from RDOF grant eligibility due to ISP overreporting of broadband speeds and coverage."

This stuff matters when work, health care, connectivity, and learning are all dependent on a reliable connection. It matters even more during an historic health crisis where broadband is now essential for survival."

 

Krystal Ball: SCOTUS Hysteria Is A Mass DELUSION Created By Elites

Supreme Court free of politics?...it's supposed to be

8,340 views

•Sep 23, 2020

Superpower for Hire: Rise of the Private Military

A replay 2 hours ago
Click here to subscribe to VICE: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE Vice takes an unprecedented look into the shadowy industry of Private Military Companies.  
For the past two decades these private companies, like Black Water, Aegis and G4S have silently consumed military operations around the world, doing everything from back end logistics, protection of government VIP's and diplomats to actual combat duties.  
In this documentary we explore 

• the origins of this industry, 
• their rise in the war on terror and 
• their future operations around the world.

Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice Read our tumblr: http://vicemag.tumblr.com

10,539,851 views

•Jul 24, 2014