I recently had an–interesting–social media conversation with a couple of keyboard warriors who are essentially demanding cheaper (“affordable”) housing in Scottsdale. It’s clear from the comments they made that, while cloaked in proletariat self-righteousness, their motivation is really more about self-interest and entitlement than the “working class.” The conversation started with an opinion piece posted […]
Bond Grifters
In a recent comment appended to an article in the Scottsdale Trough Feeders newsletter (aka the Scottsdale Independent), village idiot (and muni bond huckster) Mike Norton claimed (among other things) that the assertion that Scottsdale has the “Most Debt Per Capita” is a lie. I’m the only guy who’s been saying that, so I guess […]
Phony Poll-ony
Jason Rose, who basically lies for a living, has put out a press release in which he claims, “Substantial and Deep Voter Support for November Bond Measures.” That presser bounces through many more hyperbolic adjectives and adverbs like, “strong” (several times), “sweeping,” “substantial” (again), and “diverse.” Hey, the more, the merrier, right? Reminds me of […]
Before you vote to raise your taxes…
Until the last election, Scottsdale had a 100% “Republican” city council and mayor. I put “Republican” in quotes, because I always thought the party platform’s primary plank was fiscal responsibility. During the last decade, our elected officials (including Mayor Jim Lane, Virginia Korte, Suzanne Klapp, and even some who are supposedly populist politicians who are […]
Get my ass kicked or collect two hundred dollars?
I’ve had a back-and-forth comment war with Stuart Rhoden for a couple of days. You may recall that Stuart is the guy who was running for Scottsdale Unified School District governing board before he wasn’t. I think he figured out that being a card-carrying member of the Denise Birdwell pom squad pretty much disqualified him […]
Developer Dishonesty? Say it isn’t so!
Vicki Falen and her husband Dana live in the Montana Ranch community south of Shea Boulevard at roughly 117th Street. Late last year an adjoining parcel which was similarly-designated as rural residential, was rezoned via “major general plan amendment,” by mayor Jim Lane and the Scottsdale city council to commercial use, for a developer who […]
The Bird is not Well
Because it’s been widely broadcast by the mainstream media, you may have already heard that Scottsdale Unified School District superintendent Denise Birdwell was placed on administrative leave last night by the SUSD governing board. This action comes after a tumultuous two-year tenure, which has seen almost complete turnover in senior-level district staff, wholesale replacement of […]
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 […]
Conflict of Interest: What’s the Big Deal?
A number of folks who I know to be educated (and presumably intelligent) have been astonishingly dismissive of recent findings that Laura Smith, the chief financial officer of our Scottsdale Unified School District lied about the degree of a conflict of interest between her role as steward of taxpayer money budgeted for schools, and her […]
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.