Civil Dialog Doesn’t Apply to Senility?

Scottsdale city council member Virginia Korte has really stepped in it this time. In her anonymous “Voice of Scottsdale” alternative facts blog she accuses the senior statesman of North Scottsdale, Howard Myers, of being senile. Wow. She’s angling for induction into the Jason Rose Hoof-In-Mouth Hall of Fame.

You may recall one of Jason’s periodic gaffs wherein he applied the descriptor “knucklehead” to an individual with special needs. He was thereafter promptly fired from his post doing PR for Arizona Special Olympics.

What’s next, Virginia? Are you going to deride your STARS clients? Jason can help you write copy for that one. Maybe you can both hire Kyle Moyer to do damage control PR for you afterward.

This isn’t the first time that Virginia has stupidly lashed out like this, either. I guess that’s why she never signs her name to the Voice of Scottsdale. But she signed the civil dialog pledge…and the anti-discrimination “unity pledge.” Hmmm.

Here’s the email from Virginia Korte’s anonymous blog, Voice of Scottsdale, dated February 7, 2017.

Myers Misses The Mark About Millennials

Most people grow up being told how important it is to respect their elders. But sometimes that’s a challenge – especially when older folks’ faculties begin to fail.

Take, for example, Howard Myers and his recent rant about millennials in the Scottsdale Independent.

Myers, who’s well into his Medicare years, questions the value of the millennial generation. He believes they contribute little to the city’s economy and, worst of all, that they’re actually a drag on the city’s system because they suck up resources they don’t pay for. That’s why Myers believes the city and other organizations are making a mistake by marketing to millennials.

Myers, a North Scottsdale retiree, inaccurately described and insulted an entire and growing generation of our city’s employees, residents and taxpayers.

“We are targeting the millennials because they are the future. Problem is people don’t think the same way when they are in their 20’s as they do when they become a responsible individual, generally also raising a family. In other words, they are going to grow up and we should be targeting what they will be when they do, not who they are now and what they want now.”

That kind of loose logic probably sounds good to Myers’ buddies at the barbershop on Saturday morning. However, it makes no sense to people living in the present.

Following Myers’ bizarre advice, the city should either ignore all together those under 35 years old or market to them today with messages created for who they will be in 10 or 15 years. Not exactly a brilliant marketing model.

Continuing to share how out of touch he is, Myers said: “Before the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce took over the City Council, the city correctly targeted middle-aged and older individuals who had money and spent it in the city, both tourists and residents. Those people supported our unique businesses, art galleries and Old Town. That demographic should continue to be the target, not the young drunk and stupid that the Entertainment District attracts.”

Nasty generalizations about millennials aside, it’s unfortunate that there are not enough of Myers’ “middle-aged and older individuals” supporting our “unique businesses, art galleries and Old Town” merchants. If they were, the businesses of many old-time merchants, including gallery owners, wouldn’t have already cashed in their chips or now be dead businesses walking.

While Myers still had the attention of Independent readers, he further flaunted his foolishness by taking a swipe at the city’s Director of Economic Development, Danielle Casey, who confirms that millennials are helping turn the downtown area into an employment center.

“The reality is that most businesses we court don’t bring anything to the city,” Myers wrote, “but rather increase traffic, increase our parking problems and stress our infrastructure which we must pay to fix because they don’t contribute significantly to the city’s income.”

In Myers utopia, downtown would end up being a ghost town and the city’s tax base would shrink so taxes would have to be increased. And, of course, in his world … millennials wouldn’t be welcome.

There’s a place for people who think like Howard Myers: Sun City.