Dan Perkins' Alt-Comics Career as Tom Tomorrow

MESA CITY COUNCIL 'STUDY SESSION' + 'The Chris Brady Talent-Show' Thu 09.16.2021

The screen-grab is affable District 5 Councilmember David Luna.

On the agenda for the early morning 07:30 a.m. public meeting is to REVIEW what is  on the agenda for Monday's scheduled meetings - there are two - another 'study session' and the regular meeting in the late afternoon.

Let's hope that the six elected councilmembers have taken some time to read and analyze all the meeting details for every agenda item and to reach out for input from the public who live there -- they get paid by taxpayers to do exactly that.

Anyone taking a quick look at meeting details would immediately notice Items 3-e and 3-f, Items 3-h and 3-i, Item 4-a, Item 4-b, Items 4-e and 4-f (that's about $6,900,000)...and WHAT ABOUT PUBLIC INPUT??

Other than all that, there is a slide presentation for wellness and medical insurance benefits for city employees.  

 

  

Mitt Romney CELEBRATES Constitution Day

Politicians have evolved into political entrepreneurs

GETTING INVOLVED: AZ IRC Mapping Software Training Video #5 Adding Demographic Data to a Grid Map

Re-Districting is one of those major things that happens every 10 years as the result of data gathered from the 2020 Census. If you don't already know much about that process going on now, there are a number of posts on this blog for your information - please use the Searchbox to access what's available.

Here in Arizona commissions, ideally 'independent', were established on two levels: one statewide for seats in the State House in the Senate and Legislature and one on a municipal level.

For the purposes of hyper-local reporting, the City of Mesa appointed a five-member commission to redraw the district boundaries for the Mesa City Council based on population shifts.

On both levels tentative timetables to move the process forward have been set - the months of August, September and October are times for the public to get involved in map-drawing, especially for non-quantitative issues for something named COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST.

This post is to alert readers about a series to provide training on how to use Mapping Software.

This is only one of those Mapping Software Training Videos -- gauging from the viewer counts on YouTube and the number of subscribers to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission's YouTube channel there are very few members of the public taking advantage of what is provided to facilitate input from the public.

So They Say. . .RADICAL IMPROVEMENT FOR DIGITAL GOVERNMENT HERE IN MESA

Press Release

Reference: https://www.mesanow.org/news/public/article/2797

Mesa Wins National Award for Digital Government Excellence

September 16, 2021 at 9:06 am
The City of Mesa wins 1st Place for Overall City Government Experience in the Center for Digital Government’s fifth annual Government Experience Awards. The award recognizes the achievements and best practices of cities that radically improve government experience and push the boundaries of how citizen services are delivered.

"The City of Mesa has taken a smart city approach to improve the quality of life of our residents. This was never more evident than when our technology and innovation allowed us to continue delivering services despite the unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic," said City Manager Chris Brady. "We have an incredible team who put many hours into our smart city efforts to better serve Mesa."

The Center for Digital Government praised Mesa's IT team for transitioning its online services during the pandemic to distribute federal CARES Act funding quickly. With the creation of the Mesa CARES program, the team and other City staff engaged in extensive outreach to residents to understand the needs emerging under pandemic stresses. Tactics included surveys, online polling and a mobile app and social media to pull in citizen feedback.

"Mesa is leading the entire country in funds distribution because of the way we pivoted so quickly," said Chief Information Officer Travis Cutright. "We automated the whole process as much as possible, and we have done so well Maricopa County sent us an additional $5.5 million to distribute, because other cities in the valley were not able to get the money out."

The citizen outreach efforts helped the City identify its most urgent needs.

 

> Public transportation needed support and the IT team worked with Valley Metro to provide civic data and GIS information to improve bus and light rail service in Mesa.

 

> The City's technology leaders also took on the challenge of The Digital Divide.

   With 22% of residents lacking internet access at the start of the pandemic, the team partnered with Mesa Public Schools to lead an effort to promote greater broadband accessibility across the City.

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BLOGGER INSERT

I hate to be the one who suns on the parade, but a reality check is necessary

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More information about the Government Experience Awards is available here. << {is that a link?}

 

For media inquiries or information about the awards, please contact

Kevin Christopher at (480) 644-4699 or Kevin.Christopher@mesaaz.gov.

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Rogue Columnist Jon Talton is Hot Again! Going After Michael Crow's Empire of Money

His most recent

September 13, 2021

The warpath ahead

Illustration by Carl Muecke.

One of the interesting parts of Michael Crow's empire is the Center on the Future of War, dedicated to exploring "the social, political, economic, and cultural implications of the changing character of war and conflict." With a faculty led by Peter Bergen, a CNN analyst and leading scholar on terrorism, and Daniel Rothenberg, former Managing Director of International Projects at the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University, we're a long way from little Tempe Normal. The UA — or UArizona as they would have it — has nothing to compare.

Crow has a genius for going where the action is, particularly where money can be found in a state that shamefully underfunds higher education. And even with the end of the "Forever War" with President Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan (that and Iraq were not our longest conflict; that prize goes to the Indian wars of the 19th century), America's seeming hunger for war isn't going away.

The Pentagon, think tanks, and cottage industry of military journalism have us aiming at China, with runners up Russia and Iran. As for the first two, war with nuclear-armed adversaries: What could go wrong? Brown University’s Watson Institute estimates direct costs from the “war on terror” to be 929,000 deaths and a federal price tag of $8 trillion.

Continue reading "The warpath ahead" »