Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Are The Cows Already "Outta-The-Barn" In Pinal County? > Pinal County will intervene in sale of Johnson Utilities
complicated
There's definitely "Something-In-The-Water" - in the murky history and double back-handed dirty money deals running through the pipelines of politics in Pinal County. Some people crossing county lines in Mesa and Queen Creek don't exactly have 'clean hands' to show for all their efforts.
The final hearing before the Arizona Corporate Commission is set for Nov. 18 - a week ahead of today for the proposed sale to EPCOR. If that's not all ready too complicated as an un-settled compromise, there's more:
To learn the purchase price, the county will need to approve a non-disclosure agreement, . .Johnson Utilities customer John Dantico strongly urged the board to intervene, as the county is the closest government entity for more than 100,000 people whose quality of life will be affected for decades to come, he said.
“Everyone is in favor of EPCOR acquiring Johnson Utilities but there are important issues that need to be reviewed in the hearing like how EPCOR intends to provide service to areas that are still subject to a moratorium and how much this acquisition will impact ratepayers with future rate increases.
Comment by Deal--Maker Court Rich, Rose Law Group Co-Founder
(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents landowners and homebuilders working with the ACC to find a utility solution in the Johnson Utilities service area.)
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RELATED CONTENT ON THIS BLOG
25 May 2019
Troubled Waters Here In The East Valley: Who Ya Gonna Call?
It's not just about Johnson Utilities in Queen Creek and the newly-incorporated city of San Tan Valley. There are many more dots to connect that have been slow-dripping in the spigot of what gets published.
What does put this topic at the top-of-the-list are serious. So far few reporters have feared to go there - diving deep into the culture here of politics and corruption that permeate nearly every level of government in the East Valley landscape in most municipalities: where finance, and real estate interests are entangled with corruption at the highest levels. . .
Developer George Johnson Loses $21M to Ex-County Supervisor ...
10 October 2020
How Sweet It Isn't: The Rose Law Reporter's Slant On The "News That Matters To Arizona"
In plain English it's called MEDIA MANIPULATION > The Something In-The-Water are the schemes to privatize water-rights. Nothing could be more clear than that. This time it's about Queen Creek and recent actions taken by the Arizona Corporate Commission regarding Johnson Utilities. First there are some required public disclosures:
(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents landowners and homebuilders working with the ACC to find a utility solution in the Johnson Utilities service area)
2 Recent Reports:
Sally Jo Talks to KJZZ > Not-So-Many Snowbirds Flocking To Mesa Crossing The Canadien Border
It won't be "business-as-usual" for the annual October-to-April influx of "Snowbirds" over the border up North. All forecasts for the seasonal economic boost are down - don't expect the droves of wintertime visitors returning to their second-homes. Until any change in possible plans, The Canadian Border has been closed to Non-Essential Travel. The crossborder travel ban is likely to be extended beyond November 21st.
Sally Jo got a chance to have her say on public radio just the other day. It's woefully short on providing details, but she's been talking to the "business community"
Fewer Snowbirds Would Hurt Arizona's Economy
LAUREN GILGER: With fall upon us here in the Valley and temperatures finally sticking in the double-digits, this time of year, we'd expect to start seeing an influx of winter visitors from Canada, the upper Midwest and other places where winter actually means freezing conditions. But with the coronavirus pandemic still affecting so many aspects of life, there may be fewer snowbirds flocking to the Valley this year, and that could have a big impact on those communities that rely on them.
For more on this, our co-host Mark Brodie spoke with Sally Harrison, president and CEO of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, and asked how important snowbirds are to Mesa and its economy.
SALLY HARRISON: You know, it's extremely important. We depend on that activity from that, that age group and not only just going to restaurants and, you know, things like that, but just in our, some of our parks and our, you know, over-55 communities. It's significant. And when they're not here, we certainly, you know, we certainly feel it as a business community.
MARK BRODIE: What is the expectation for how many people will come this year relative to other years?
HARRISON: Yeah, that's, that's kind of the big question, right? I know we have an employee who lives in a senior community, and that's kind of the talk right now is, you know, who's coming back. I do know from talking with our friends at Gateway Airport that they have activity from Canadians, so that is very promising. That's exciting news to us because that to me says a lot about what may happen. It's looking like those who can get back will. And I think it will kind of depend on what happens this fall with COVID and if we have another spike.
BRODIE: Are there concerns either within the business community in Mesa or just sort of broadly in the city about having people coming from all sorts of different places and congregating in one city and maybe in particular communities and, you know, potentially bringing with them COVID-19 or whatever other viruses or germs they might have with them?
HARRISON: You know, I've heard some talk about that, but I think it's almost the reverse.
I think a lot of folks think it's worse here than it is in other areas.
BRODIE: Interesting. That seems like maybe it would turn people away from coming.
HARRISON: Well, and that's the fear, right? I do know that from our friends at Gateway Airport and the response that they've had to opening up flights from Canada, that they have a lot of interest in people coming back.
So there's kind of mixed messages to us in the business community as to what will happen. . .
EXPAND THAT CONVERSATION IF YOU WANT TO >
https://kjzz.org/content/1634630/fewer-snowbirds-would-hurt-arizonas-economy
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On the other hand, the head of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, Glen Hamer, has some data:
". . .Before the border with Mexico was closed to nonessential travel because of COVID-19 in mid-March, visitors were spending about $8 million daily in Arizona. Now, the annual influx of Canadian visitors – aka snowbird season – is in jeopardy, Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry President-CEO Glenn Hamer said.
He believes overall tourism figures will be sliced up to 60% this year. .
“Arizona’s congressional delegation needs to press the administration to negotiate an agreement for a safe cross-border travel,” Hamer said.
“Kicking the can down the road month after month with no plan in place is no longer the acceptable default,” he added.
Arizona business leader says ‘snowbird season’ will suffer from border limits
PHOENIX – Arizona’s economy has taken a double shot from the coronavirus pandemic, one of the state’s top business leaders said
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Mesa Morning Live November 2020 Presents Sponsored Guest: Bruce Hallin (The Salt River Project)
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