If there was a school to teach the art of scamming, it might look at lot like the present-day Scottsdale Unified School District. Before I delve into the more delicious details… SUSD is a political subdivision of the State of Arizona, and the tenth largest school district in the state. SUSD has massive taxing authority. […]
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 […]
Barf District Bullets
As in, literally, “bullets”… Only Fox 10 appears to be reporting Saturday night’s shooting at Maya Day and Nightclub in Scottsdale’s downtown Barf District. So much for the “hyper-local journalism” claimed by the Scottsdale Incompetent, or the “community engagement” and “quality journalism” boasting of Mi-Ai Parrish when she took control of the Arizona Republic a […]
“Too Jewish”
There isn’t much I disdain as much as racism. One of those things is false claims of racism. Another is sanitizing the record in order to hide either of those. “Respect Our Scottsdale Students” (aka “ROSS”) is a Facebook group which describes its mission thusly: “Regaining the trust of the Voter and the Legislator requires […]
Cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria!
It’s always interesting when historically opposing forces–or, in this case, public figures that represent those forces–suddenly come into alignment, for no obvious reason. In this case, Scottsdale mayor Jim “Shady” Lane published a letter in the Scottsdale Incompetent, in which he praised new Scottsdale Unified School District superintendent, Denise Birdwell. Lane is probably the most […]
What does Scottsdale get for $150K Final Four funding?
[Scottsdale] City officials say the sponsorship will help fill local hotels and restaurants while bringing more national exposure to Scottsdale, a community known for its resorts, golf courses and major events such as the Waste Management Phoenix Open and Barrett-Jackson collector-car auction. Help fill local hotels? Since when does Scottsdale have a problem with empty […]
Roberts: A $225 million subsidy for Coyotes? Really?
Moron of the Month, AZ State Senator Bob Worsley, Republican (supposedly) from Mesa. Take away the rainbows and roses and you are left with a project that commits $170 million in future state funds and $55 million in city funds to another hockey arena. This, in a state that can’t adequately fund its schools. “Fundamentally, […]
2017’s Best & Worst States to Raise a Family | WalletHub®
Arizona was below average in a bevy of indicators, according to WalletHub, including child care costs (33rd), infant mortality rate (29th), violent crime rate (34th) and unemployment rate (42nd). Reporting in the Phoenix Biz Journal, Tim Gallen failed to note Arizona’s worst ranking category: “Education and Child Care.” We’re #48 for that category, in case […]
Robbins: political gifts carefully weighed by Scottsdale’s electeds
In a recent interview that appeared in the Scottsdale “Independent,” questions were asked of former city council member Dennis Robbins about gifts he received and reported while in office a couple of years ago. The article says, in part that, The report shows members of Scottsdale City Council accepted $32,572 in gifts that primarily were […]
Local Control: not a one-way precept
I don’t always (or even often) agree with Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton. But as one Scottsdale political icon has stated, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile. “Local control” is a precept often cited by Arizona governor Doug Ducey and Republican state legislators when pushing back against the Obama administration [disclosure: I […]