Attempting To Turn-Off The Heat on Ember Conley > Let It Smolder . . .Take The Oxygen Out of The Room

Whoopsies! Doesn't look like that ain't just happening anytime soon - no matter what the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board tries to do to smother a story getting more heat all-the-time over Ember Conley.
Here's one more report and a a streaming video late last night from ABC15 News : 

Criminal complaint involving Mesa Public Schools filed with Attorney General's office

By:Danielle Lerner

KNX

 

BLOGGER NOTE: Under all this story and the headline news is PATRONAGE embedded for generations in the bureaucracy and administrators inside the Mesa Public Schools system . . . it's a real story of corruption trying to get covered-up in multiple smoke-screens foisted onto to the public time-and-time again for far too-long.

It's TIME TO DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY FOR THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR CHEATING STUDENTS.                        |

MESA, AZ — "It's been nearly one week since Mesa Public Schools without saying why and now ABC15 has obtained exclusive information regarding new developments.
Dr. Ember Conley was only 18 months into her three-year contract when the board made that move. Now, a criminal complaint has been filed with the Attorney General's office, accusing Dr. Conley of theft and embezzlement related to administrative raises and bonuses that may have been given without the governing board's approval.

The three-page complaint details alleged, criminal activity linked to Mesa Public Schools. The person who filed it is former Governing Board President Ben Smith, who helped hire Dr. Ember Conley. . . "

READ MORE using the underlined link provided above
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Late Friday night there was a statement released:
District information http://www.mpsaz.org/info

Keeping our community informed

Clarifying recent publicly reported information

Posted Nov. 22, 2019, updated at 5:12 p.m.

 

To clarify information that has been publicly reported, please see the following:

link to read the entire information provide by the district is above]

Timing of events

The Nov. 5 2019, election to approve a Mesa Public Schools budget increase had no bearing on the timing of the Governing Board’s action to place Dr. Conley on administrative leave.
These were two independent events.
Additional compensation for administrators
General administration spending

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Confused about the timing and the statement that these were two 'independent' events?

Here are not one but three videos uploaded that pair Ember Conley and the vote:

1
On November 6, 2019
Voters have passed the 15% budget increase

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2
Meeting set to discuss future of Superintendent of state's largest school district published on November 17, 2019. It's been viewed 2,758 times so far

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3

Mesa Public Schools Governing Board Meeting November 18, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYFjoiEEnnI




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Posted earlier on this blog

Just VOTE NO!

Would You Ever Endorse a Blank Check for $34,000,000??? 

That's only the amount in the first year in one more tricky public relations campaign by The City of Mesa on the only ballot question on 2019 SPECIAL/GENERAL ELECTION.
The official ballots have been mailed out  or you can vote in-person. Please take the time to read the fine print, before you decide how to vote - the devil's always in the details
First, get informed
Why is this year's General Election 'special' ???
It includes approval in a BUDGET OVERRIDE for an amount that exceeds the revenue control specified by statute by 15% for FY2020/2021 and for six consecutive years.

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1 Approval of the budget override represents an extension and increase of the existing 10% budget override authority - when you add it up > that's  (25%) - which OTHERWISE  is scheduled for a phase-down by one-third over two years FY2020/2021 and FY2021/2022
2 The proposed budget increase for the first year FY2020/2021 is estimated to be $34, 087,454

Here's more:

 

Is Importing A Small-City Utah Educator Gonna Fix Big-City Mesa Arizona Public Schools??

Time will tell. 30 years-of-time has not been so kind for either the nationwide bad reputation on the quality and performance of Arizona...

FIRED! Ember Conley - Mesa Public Schools Superintendent For 18 Months - NO EXPLANATION GIVEN??

TAKING STEPS TO FIRE HER . . .  "put on administrative leave'? DETAILS ARE SCANTY. Another city official gone What are the down

A WALL OF SILENCE Has Descended On Mesa Public Schools Scandal > No Further Comment At This Time

Pardon me but THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT-TO-KNOW!  Questions surrounding Mesa Public Schools spending go unanswered https://www.abc15.co...

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Mm

 

RELATED: MAINSTREAM NEWS COVERAGE OF PREVIOUS MESA SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
(no disclosure of "financial irregularities with his inner circle)

Mesa school chief announces plans to retire

Lily Altavena, The Republic | azcentral.com Published 6:42 p.m. MT Nov. 7, 2017

"Mesa Public Schools Superintendent Michael Cowan announced to staff in an email on Tuesday that he plans to retire at the end of this school year.

He's led the state's largest school district since 2009 and launched his career there 30 years ago.

He is leaving to lead a Spanish-speaking mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . .

Cowan began his education career as a fifth-grade teacher at Mesa's Lehi Elementary School in 1988. He said that his first year fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an educator. Some of those students are now teachers in the district. . .

In the email to staff, Cowan said: "As I begin this next chapter in my life, the best legacy I could hope for is the continued work of what we have committed to do together - educating every child in our community and preparing them for college, career and community."

The board has not yet met to discuss plans for hiring a new superintendent."

 

 

 

Skating On Thin Ice: Downtown Transformation On A Parking Lot

City officials call it a
WINTER WONDERLAND

Blogger Note: Setting-up Dinky-Dink for another year in a corner of a long-proposed Urban Central Plaza.

The site next to City Hall looks like this in real perspective just a  few days ago.

Say What? "Enough junky buildings, Mesa officials decide"???

< Take a look at the ugly 8-story eye-sore rusty copper-clad nondescript box where city officials work - City Hall. It's a helluva site (read the sign) where this view of the backside usually escapes public notice. Formerly a failed-bank building from the 1970's Savings & Loan Crisis, it's a catastrophic edifice deserving demolition by a wrecking-ball in stark contrast to the International Design-Award Mesa Arts Center. 

Looking at it heading west into "downtown", the perspective on-the-ground doesn't look any better on the north side of Main Street at the intersection of Centennial Drive - Lost in translation: high-quality development +  a general plan calling for “a recognizable city with a strong sense of place". In the original One-Square Mile Grid Plan this was intended  for A Public Plaza on 10 acres.

Take a look at another 180-degree angle just one block south from the 2nd Floor Observation Deck of the 2014 Real Estate Design Award-Winning Encore On First from a holistic perspective with both City Hall and the Mesa Arts Center in view . . . How's this for 'a sense of place'???  A run-down auto repair remnant with barbed-wire on a block wall that clearly sends the wrong message - that's if you happen to open your eyes and take a look.

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BLOGGER INSERT: Mesa-authentic Architecture direct from Salt Lake City???

Architect pans Mormon redevelopment project's 'look'

By Jim Walsh, Tribune Staff Writer

 

". . . Board member Tim Boyle, a Mesa native and an architect himself, was underwhelmed by the renderings, as was board member Shelly Allen.
Eventually, the board voted to recommend approval of the zoning change – necessary for the planned transit development along the Metro light rail – but also decided to send the project to Mesa’s Design Review Board for an extra level of scrutiny.
“As far as the zoning, I think it’s great. I would like to inject some energy into the design,’’ Boyle said, adding that the design makes the new complex look like something built decades ago.
“I think it has a way to go,’’ Boyle said.
Tom Ellsworth, a Mesa city planner, said architectural design is always open to interpretation and usually boils down to one person’s opinion.
He said the Design Review Board’s findings give city planners an extra level of expertise when deciding whether to approve a project.
He cautioned that the LDS redevelopment proposal is still in an early stage and that City Creek has not submitted a site plan, which is far more specific than the renderings. David Davis, the project’s architect, told the board that he is trying to blend old with new.
“We don’t want the buildings to look too big,’’ Davis said.
"We are interested in an authentic Mesa, authentic Southwestern character

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BLOGGER INSERT: Schematic drawing for ASU@Mesa City Center > ?????? Where's that so-called "sense of place" High standards for architectural design? Nope.

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Here's a piece from Gary Nelson, long-time East Valley Tribune Contributing Writer who manages to fill up half of the front page with plans to begin giving the city a facelift.

Enough junky buildings, Mesa officials decide        

BY Gary Nelson, Tribune Contributor

East Valley Tribune | 2019-11-25T01:00:00-07:00

"Back in the day when Mesa first appointed a citizens advisory panel to evaluate the appearance of new buildings in the city, they named it the Design Review Advisory Board.

The acronym – DRAB – may have been unfortunate, but city officials admit it could describe a lot of the architecture passing muster at City Hall over the years.

DRAB is now just the Design Review Board, but body and the city’s professional planning staff still don’t believe they have the tools they need to begin giving the city a facelift.

But it’s about to change. . .

> Commercial buildings now must “engage the street,” with parking hidden from passing traffic, and offer pedestrian-friendly environments

> Even large industrial buildings are covered, with provisions that, again, limit the amount of parking visible from nearby streets and requirements for a variety of building materials to create a pleasing palette

> “We are allowing the developers and builders to have some confidence they can come into Mesa and they can try something that’s working maybe on the East Coast or somewhere outside of Arizona,” [District 6 Councilmember Kevin Thompson] said

> Councilwoman Jen Duff said she wished the design guidelines went farther in eliminating confusing street patterns sometimes force people to drive when, with a different layout, they could walk to visit a neighbor or store.

• She also pushed for more stringent shade requirements and said planners should encourage more density, both to provide affordable housing and to curb sprawl.
• Density, Duff said, is not a bad word. “We have to think about density as a chosen way to live. It doesn’t necessarily mean lower quality,” she said.

The council is expected to approve the new design guidelines on Dec. 2, and the associated ordinance changes on Dec. 9.

Normally a new ordinance takes effect in 30 days, but developers asked for an extra month to gear up and the city agreed to have the new rules take effect on Feb. 10. Building plans submitted before then can still adhere to current guidelines.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky / Nina Kaptsova - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy...

BRAVO! ... 21M+ views

Mitt-In-The-Middle: Caught Between Kellyanne & The Donald

The 2012 GOP's Candidate for President joined a whole cast of characters in the Cabinet Room as a distraction to days of hearings on possible impeachment of the President. 
Here's an image taken this article  by Philip Rucker in yesterday afternoon's The Washington Post (online) with this caption
"Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), flanked by President Trump and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, speaks at a White House meeting on electronic cigarettes on Friday."  (Photo Credit: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
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Looks like Mitt has been subjugated to getting used as a prop during and after many hours of House hearings on impeachment. The outspoken Utah Senator is - from all new appearances - no longer an outspoken dissident in Trump’s Republican Party.
Even back on 17 January 2019 a  Bloomberg Opinion piece by Eli Lake captured his cowering character:

Mitt Romney Fails His First Test on Russia

"John McCain was willing to vote against Trump, but Utah’s junior senator doesn’t seem quite ready. . .  The GOP's 2012 presidential nominee memorably warned that Russia was America’s “No. 1 geopolitical foe.” That guy was on to something. I wonder what happened to him."

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FAST-FORWARD to October 2019:
Mitt Romney In The Middle of An Impeachment Fight

The Liberation of Mitt Romney

The newly rebellious senator has become an outspoken dissident in Trump’s Republican Party, just in time for the president’s impeachment trial.

McKay Coppins

October 20, 2019

"Mitt Romney is leaning forward in his chair, his eyes flashing, his voice sharp.

It’s a strange look for the 72-year-old senator, who typically affects a measured, somber tone when discussing Donald Trump’s various moral deficiencies. But after weeks of escalating combat with the president—over Ukraine, and China, and Syria, and impeachment—the gentleman from Utah suddenly appears ready to unload . . ."

"To Romney, Trump’s performance as president is inextricably tangled up in his character. “Berating another person, or calling them names, or demeaning a class of people, not telling the truth—those are not private things,” he says, adding: “If during the campaign you pay a porn star $130,000, that now comes into the public domain.”
. . . Romney has emerged as an outspoken dissident in Trump’s Republican Party. In just the past few weeks, he has denounced the president’s attempts to solicit dirt on political rivals from foreign governments as “wrong and appalling”; suggested that his fellow Republicans are looking the other way out of a desire for power; . .

Trump has responded with a wrathful procession of personal attacks—deriding Romney as a “pompous ass,” taunting him over his failed presidential bid in 2012, and tweeting a cartoonish video that tags the senator as a “Democrat secret asset.”

These confrontations have turned Romney into one of the most closely watched figures in the impeachment battle now consuming Washington. While his fellow Republicans rail against “partisan witch hunts” and “fake whistle-blowers,” Romney is taking the prospect of a Senate trial seriously—he’s reviewing The Federalist Papers, brushing up on parliamentary procedure, and staying open to the idea that the president may need to be evicted from the Oval Office.

. . . Unconstrained by consultants, unconcerned about reelection, he is thinking about things such as legacy, and inheritance, and the grand sweep of history.
Here, in the twilight of his career, he seems to sense—in a way that eludes many of his colleagues—that he’ll be remembered for what he does in this combustible moment. . ." 

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POST NOTE: MITT ROMNEY THE TWITTER TROLL 

After this story was published, Slate identified a Twitter account using the name Pierre Delecto that seemed to match the senator’s description of his lurker account. When the reporter for The Atlantic spoke to Romney on the phone Sunday night, his only response was, “C'est moi.”)

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Politico

Trump hosts vaping shoutfest at the White House

President Donald Trump's White House meeting with vaping lobbyists and anti-tobacco activists erupted in shouting and debate Friday ...

1 day ago

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On 22 November 2019 (Friday marked two days in a row that Romney has sat down with Trump) The Salt Lake City-based Desert News was asking:

Mitt Romney met with Donald Trump twice in two days — why?

By Dennis Romboy@dennisromboy Nov 22, 2019, 5:36pm MST

Image Caption:

President Donald Trump, right, listens as Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, third from left, speaks as they participate in a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington on Friday, Nov. 22, 2019, on youth vaping and the electronic cigarette epidemic.

Susan Walsh, Associated Press
 
 
NOTE: A Utah judged recently blocked a state health department emergency rule to halt the sale of flavored vaping products. The Utah Legislature will take up a series of vaping-related bills in January.

 

 

Mike Hutchinson's PAC Pulls Off A Small-Margin Victory To Trick Mesa Taxpayers One More Time

. . . and he managed to get his wife Marcie Hutchinson elected to the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board at the same time!
It was that YesForMesa Campaign on the November 2019 Election that handed a bogus windfall of $54,000,000 in the Bond Issue and Budget Over-Ride for the failing Mesa Public School System. . . First there was a sigh of relief - and jubilation - by officials shortly after the 52-46% margin of victory where only 25% of voters sent in their ballots by mail. That's "a light turn-out" Hutchinson was counting on this time around when Mesa taxpayers REJECTED it last year. He attributed the victory to what he called voter education.

"A key factor was the work of hundreds of volunteers who participated in a wide variety of grassroots voter education activities across the School District... Their months of hard work led to excellent voter turnout and the great result for the students and the dedicated employees of the Mesa Public Schools."
HUH?
These assertions by Mike Hutchinson are clearly intended as misinformation. They are simply and dementedly wrong. Here's the strategy: with only a 25% voter turnout and a 52% margin, that means that 13% of all eligible voters were able to control and determine the ballot outcome in MUSD No.4. The murky appeal > "Quality of Life + Jobs".
> WHO HELPED 'HUTCH' TO CREATE THAT 'GRASSROOTS AKA POLITICAL ACTION CAMPAIGN'???
None other than the current member of The Mesa Public Schools Governing Board Jenny Richardson - she was a candidate for re-election AND got elected again, with Mike's wife Marcie gaining a seat also
Moreover, it's a bloated system of PATRONAGE Hutchinson calls "dedicated employees"

In whose book of Make-Believe is a 25% voter turnout excellent? That's so typical of these Yes For Mesa campaigns funded by PACs (political action campaigns) . . . and as for that the great results for students????
Sorry but the numbers and data tell a totally different story for more than the last 30 years
STOP RIGHT THERE: In these uncertain financial times, this is a proposal once again to raise taxes by $34,000,000 in the first year alone AND it approves six more years in advance of about the same level of spending.
Throwing money at a system just won't fix it! 
Demand performance-based outcomes
Mesa Public Schools is an 'under-achieving' public education system that has delivered a poor performance track-record for decades - administrators and bureaucrats have been failing students after they enter 3rd grade - and all the way through community colleges.

This propaganda - disguised as "voter education" - does not bother to tell you that. That's just one thing.
> The ex-Superintendent of Mesa Public Schools Michael Cowan was forced to resign last year for 'financial irregularities" or so they didn't say when the line spoon-fed to the public was that 'he got a calling to go an LDS mission" to an undetermined location!
> Forced resignations at two community colleges and the East Valley Institute of Technology + a new appointment who's been indicted
> New Mesa Public Schools Superintendent who took office in June 2018 gets 'fired' and/or 'put on administrative leave'.

Why Support Patronage in Mesa Schools?
"Mesa’s schools have built a long-standing reputation for being among the best in the entire State of Arizona.  Quality, competitive schools are one of the key reasons that we enjoy such a safe, family-friendly community.. ."
HUH? Among the best in the entire State > THAT IS NOTHING TO BRAG ABOUT!
Arizona CONSISTENTLY ranks #49 in all 50 states for low academic standards and failure to deliver basic proficiency standards.
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HOLD ON!
Just a few weeks later and after all that jubilation, what next made the headlines?
INFORMATION: Mesa Public Schools have been failing to provide achievement performance standards and grade-level academic proficiencies for students for decades.
 
No reasonable person or taxpayer would throw their good hard-earned money away by rewarding a failing public school system that produces bad results for decades by system administrators and a bloated bureaucracy.
If they can't do their jobs, they should have been fired, NOT rewarded by going over-budget to pay them off . . .
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Re: Those "Grassroots Voter Education Activities
TOTALLY PULP FICTION
(they published their own fake newspaper and mailed-it out) 

28 October 2019

Did You Get This Pulp-Rag Propoganda-Piece In The Mail?

Mesa taxpayers REJECTED this in 2018
< Take a Look - a closer look
MESA VOTER TIMES
November Special Election Edititon
Basic Literacy: Can't they spell the word Edition correctly, or at least proof-ready their own copy before mailing-out thousands??

[ from an from an earlier post on this blog ]

Attract Jobs – Protect Our Quality of Life
Isn't there already a QUALITY OF LIFE sales tax here in Mesa for that?
ABOUT THE MESA VOTER TIMES:
This is from the header on the front page of this 8-page propaganda piece 
". . . As supporters of this proposal, we have launched The Mesa Voter Times to educate the community regarding this proposal and other important education issues facing our community."
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Did you get this postcard sent to you in the mail too??
MESA'S STRONG LEGACY OF
PUBLIC EDUCATION!
so it says a strong legacy  Huh?
Please take the time to see who hand-wrote this postcard sent off in the mail just before the November Election.
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OK. and they want more money!
And make that automatic for six more years, please!
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You get what they get paid for - jobs with no performance demands
Paid for by The Mesa Alliance for Educational Excellence,
421 E. University Dr., Mesa, AZ 85203.
Not authorized by any candidate
TRY THIS LINK > https://yesformesaschools.org
Accountability and Transparency – Link to Finance Reports for Mesa Schools

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18 October 2019  MesaZona

Just VOTE NO!

Would You Ever Endorse a Blank Check for $34,000,000??? 

That's only the amount in the first year in one more tricky public relations campaign by The City of Mesa on the only ballot question on 2019 SPECIAL/GENERAL ELECTION.
The official ballots have been mailed out  or you can vote in-person. Please take the time to read the fine print, before you decide how to vote - the devil's always in the details
First, get informed
Why is this year's General Election 'special' ???
It includes approval in a BUDGET OVERRIDE for an amount that exceeds the revenue control specified by statute by 15% for FY2020/2021 and for six consecutive years.

__________________________________________________________
1 Approval of the budget override represents an extension and increase of the existing 10% budget override authority - when you add it up > that's  (25%) - which OTHERWISE  is scheduled for a phase-down by one-third over two years FY2020/2021 and FY2021/2022
2 The proposed budget increase for the first year FY2020/2021 is estimated to be $34, 087,454
3 Funding for the first and subsequent years?
A LEVY OF TAXES ON YOUR TAXABLE PROPERTY within The Governing Board of Mesa Unified School District 4