In a recent example of press release journalism in the Scottsdale “Independent,” Virginia Korte is quoted:
“Putting horse troughs in front of downtown stores is not going to keep Scottsdale the ‘West’s Most Western Town.’”
That one dishonest statement sums up Korte’s sincerity about the so-called “Community Conversation” about the future of Scottsdale she’s proposing. Like Vern Swaback’s recycled My Turn column in the Republic recently, discrediting her opponents as some sort of latter day Philistines is nothing more than insulting rhetoric. I’ve never heard anyone ask the City Council to install horse troughs or anything even close to it.
Mostly, Korte’s opponents just want her (along with mayor Jim Lane and the rest of their council cronies) to follow the rules. What rules? Standby for more…
[Korte] wants community members — elected, executive and everyday Joes — to come together to help local leaders build a vision the city of Scottsdale ought to be pursuing.
Yeah nice idea. Unfortunately, it wasn’t HER idea. And like her Desert Discovery Center proposal, it’s already been done. That “vision” is called “the 2001 Scottsdale General Plan,” which was borne out of a process that started over twenty years ago, and was ratified by the citizens at the polls.
The General Plan is (along with the citizen-ratified City Charter) the organic law of Scottsdale. Yet Korte and Cronies have spent nearly the entire time since that ratification trying to undermine and erode the high development standards it demands.
To add insult to injury, Korte proposes to have Mark Hiegel’s Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce pull together this grand pow wow. Yep, the same campaign finance law-breaking Chamber of Commerce that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting development-friendly candidates and initiatives.
Hiegel asserts,
“We want to pick people on both sides of the issues to make sure we are getting it right to move Scottsdale forward in the right direction.”
Since one of Hiegel’s higher-profile members recently referred to me publicly as “a pile of dog feces,” I’m guessing I won’t be one of those invited to this “community conversation.”
So much for Korte’s proposal that we “…respectfully hash out differences…”
7 Comments
Virginia Korte is, if nothing else, emblematic of the two faced, liars that form the majority of our dismal gaggle of elected ‘leaders’ in Scottsdale. They have repeatedly voted for the influence peddlers and connected who profit grandly at the expense of residents and small businesses.
One can only recall Ms. Korte engineering, with the compliant Mayor Manross, to affect a $600,000 ‘Marketing Plan’ for the (then) auto dealers on McDowell. This at the moment they were already departing, or planning to do so.
Further, her negative vote to allow guarantee of equal treatment for LGBTQ individuals was vexing and embarrassing at the same time. This, unlike Lane, who with the help of the bible humper organizations in Scottsdale, has maintained a decidedly antagonistic attitude to anything not ultraconservative and regressive….unless, of course, it did not come with dollars attached.
Great article as always. I read your articles and wonder what can be done? Then, I see that all of these white-haired people are Baby Boomers, long in the tooth. They are on they’re way out, yet they’re setting the stage for the future of Scottsdale, a future I will have to live with; a future my two young kids will inherit.
Who’s rising up to replace the the white-hairs? Where are the Gen-X leaders? You know, the ones who are now in our 40’s (yikes). Why are the people setting our course the least likely to live it out? If anything, you’ve inspired me to get involved and to start taking some action.
And, there’s this, a pet peeve of mine: stop using the word CRONY. It’s just not relevant. Where else besides politics does anyone use the word crony? Let’s get creative and use a word like accomplice or, sidekick. Maybe comrade would be more appropriate.
I like “comrade,” will try to be mindful of it. But my use of the aforementioned “crony” does tie in with the overarching concept of Scottsdale’s pervasive crony capitalism: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crony_capitalism
No one is rising up to replace them and that is the problem. Hopefully somebody will rise up in four years. At least Lane will be out of office by then!
Unfortunately, the last three elections have shown us clearly that success requires money. There are plenty of developers and bars lined up on the other side willing to “invest” in purchasing or renting their candidates. Meanwhile, the good guys beg for scraps and (mostly) get beaten by better funding. Who among us is willing to invest the time and massive brain damage, not to mention largely funding their own campaigns? Scottsdale is going to suck a lot worse before the voters will pay attention, and by then, most of the worst changes will be permanent.
And we’ll have added to the (currently) billion-dollar city debt, and the billion-plus in neglected infrastructure maintenance; both of which will make it even harder to climb out of the hole.
Wow!
What a bunch of horse B.S.