This year through May 31, when [former Scottsdale Unified School District governing board member Pam] Kirby no longer served on the school board, she and [then and current board member Barbara] Perleberg exchanged 1,892 text messages and phone calls, some of which occurred during [SUSD governing] board meetings… Yet, astonishingly, “This [open meeting law complaint] […]
Not subject to ethics
Scottsdale and its city treasurer sued for discrimination by former employee City attorney Bruce Washburn ultimately dismissed the complaint, saying that Nichols was not subject to the complaint process under the city’s current ethics code. Because, of course, since both are charter officers, that would mean the ethics code would apply to Washburn, as well!
I “DESERVE” Affordable Housing in Scottsdale; Why Rent Control Doesn’t Work
I was scanning stations while driving today and stumbled across the most recent, and timely (given the uproar created by my post yesterday regarding millennial whining about high cost of housing in Scottsdale) episode of Freakonomics. The ultimate extreme of “affordable housing” is rent control. Maybe we should do THAT in Scottsdale? There are decades’ […]
AG probing SUSD Governing Board AGAIN | scottsdale.org
…the attorney general received a complaint alleging that open meeting law violations took place during [Scottsdale Unified School District governing board] executive sessions held by the SUSD Governing Board on Dec. 14, 2017 and Feb. 21, 2018. The complaint alleged that the board discussed topics that were not posted on the meeting agenda made available […]
“I deserve affordable housing in Scottsdale”
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 […]
Payson’s pipeline brings flood of challenges
The water levels in the network of town wells dropped 70 or 100 feet in many places before the town imposed tough water restrictions, shortly before the recession. Well levels stabilized about 10 years ago, still far below historic levels. Source: Payson’s pipeline brings flood of challenges | News | paysonroundup.com I spend a little […]
The completely obvious problem with no-bid contracting
Later, it was revealed in a draft audit that the company had overcharged the government for fuel purchases by $61 million. Whistleblower exposes $7 billion no-bid Defense Department contract
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 […]