During a refreshing, unplanned visit to the Phoenix North Mountain Visitor Center, I saw on display this letter to the residents of the Sunnyslope area, sent to them upon annexation of the area into the City of Phoenix. It says, in part, A city government exists only for the purpose of performing necessary municipal services for […]
The Great Spring Training Hoax
Neil deMause (http://www.FieldOfSchemes.com) comments this morning: A study by Arizona State University found that spring-training baseball was worth $373 million to the Arizona economy in 2018. I can’t find the actual report itself, but it looks like they came up with this number by interviewing a sample of out-of-town visitors at spring training games about […]
The most important government
SRP’s Trish Moeck posted a well-written article (which I’ve copied below) yesterday on the Scottsdale Leadership website, and I’d like to use as a jumping-off point for an expanded look at some of the topics Trish discussed. As you may know, Scottsdale Leadership is at its core a training program run by the Scottsdale Area […]
Quote of the Day: Ethical standards matter
“We expect our children to learn that ethical standards matter.” Rose Finocchiaro Smith, long-time Scottsdale Unified School District employee and parent, speaking on the ethics crisis in SUSD administration; via KTVK interview.
Our roots as a suburban, low density community.
“I would ask that we return to our roots as a suburban, low density community that draws residents and tourists looking for a low-density, scenic experience.” Matt Metz, Scottsdale citizen and longtime city volunteer; via the Scottsdale Independent.
Quote of the Day: Malice vs Stupidity
In honor of the superintendent and governing board of the Scottsdale Unified School District… “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. But don’t rule out malice.” Via John Groseclose and Wikipedia. Commonly known as “Hanlon’s Razor,” or “Heinlein’s Razor,” the expression is attributed in parts to science fiction writer Robert […]
A Simple Yet Powerful Question for SUSD
What is the board doing to reduce teacher/pupil ratio? This question was posed by Barbara Veltri in a recent letter-to-the-editor of the Scottsdale Independent. She was responding to a dissembling opinion piece by current Scottsdale Unified School District governing board president, Barbara Perleberg. This one simple question gets to the heart of the problem in […]
Diamond Green Backs
In an article I posted last week (Bookshelf Intellectualism) about the utter failure of the Scottsdale Planning Commission to live up to it’s mission of serving the citizens of Scottsdale, I referenced a letter-to-the editor by political entrepreneur, Jim Bruner. You may also remember that Bruner was a driving force in bringing taxpayer-funded professional baseball to […]
Bookshelf Intellectualism
In a column that ran recently in “the other so-called newspaper” in Scottsdale, the editor regurgitated nonsensical remarks by Jim Bruner, which Bruner had delivered at a reception for city board and commission volunteer appointees. Scottsdale’s boards and commissions are SUPPOSED to vet issues and provide citizen-oriented recommendations to the mayor and City Council when […]
A mile is not always a mile in Scottsdale
As a pilot, I’m familiar with the small (15%) difference between a “statute” mile (the common use) and a “nautical” mile (used for marine navigation–obviously–but also aerial navigation). Pilots almost always talk in nautical miles, and in nautical miles per hour (aka “knots”). At the Scottsdale mayoral debate last week, I heard one of the […]