Arizona's First Political Blog

E-mail Anonymous Mike at zonitics4-at-yahoo.com

By Anonymous Mike, pseudonymously.

 
Odd

Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris co-writes an entire piece with Mayor Gordon for the Arizona Republic on immigration and states that:

• Phoenix police officers should have all the tools necessary to go after the criminals and to make our community safe.

• We should do everything possible to get all criminals off of our streets while at the same time protecting everyone's civil and human rights.

• That input from a committee of learned individuals is welcome and of great value

• That immigration is a federal issue and that the solution must come at the national level.

• That the public have patience with them while they work through this very difficult issue

I am not sure why they need to appeal to the public for patience because I don't think there is a soul on our great city who doesn't think the police shouldn't be properly equipped or fight crime.
However most residents would respectfully disagree with on the value of advice developed by committees.

If you read the whole thing, you'll notice Harris and Gordon both keep referring to "immigration" but never use the term "illegal" as if the issue was whether those here legally on say tourist and work visas should be checked on by the police.

Two of the most powerful men in America's 5th largest city are given valuable space in the op-ed space of the state's leading newspaper and they cannot even differentiate the legal status between those who come to our city legally and those who sneak across the border?

Remember Mayor Gordon just won re-election with one of the biggest margins of victory int he city's history. In fact he hasn't even started his second term yet and still he cannot he face an issue near and dear to many of his city's residents head-on.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 4:42 AM

 
Christmas, Bloggers, and Beer

This Sunday, December 23, Vox will be hosting a Christmas bloggerama at Four Peaks Brewing in Tempe (8th St. between Rural and McClintock) Time for the gathering is about 3:00ish... which seems to be about the time Happy Hour begins. What a coincidence.

For those of you who don't how to find us in the bar, look for Vox- she's the red head.

The world-famous Exurban boys, those of the Instan-lanche and Jonah-lanche, will also be there. Cripes, if you cannot put up with me at least come and see them

Unlike past bloggeramas, this event will not be within walking distance of my house so I will be on my better behavior.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:49 PM

 
Footing the Bill

I have read alot of rhetoric over the past few years from the likes of Governor Napolitano and Phoenix Mayor Gordon about how the feds do not pay their fair share of the costs of illegal immigration. They reason that border security is a federal problem so why do they, state and local officials, have to pay for a problem caused by the incompetence of the feds?

This attitude leads to all sorts of political stunts... such as Gordon invoicing the feds over costs incurred from crimes committed by illegals. I guess that's reasonable.

So let's extend the logic.

In the coming fiscal year, the Phoenix Police Department will receive nearly $18 million in grants. It's hard to see from the budget breakout where the money is coming from but I bet alot of it comes from federal agencies. Lest you have any doubt that all of these monies are for fighting federal problems, check out the front page of the Phoenix Police Department's Web site which trumpets the receipt of a $3.7 million grant for "COPS" or Community Oriented Policing Program. This follows some $70 million of such grants awarded over the previous 12 years.

Now unless you have some sort of expanded view of the Commerce Clause or national defense, why on earth should federal taxpayers in Iowa and Maryland pay for community policing in Phoenix?

Okay spare me arguments about pork barreling and federal spending as usual, I have heard them all. What I'm getting at it is that I bet Gordon is more than happy to keep receiving federal dollars for strictly local police projects while blaming the feds for not paying for problems caused by poor policies under the national jurisdiction.

I am sure the costs of illegal immigration far outweigh the benefit from programs such as COPS so let's have Gordon make a grand gesture. Rather than waffling and whining, Gordon should say that Phoenix taxpayers will completely pay for all local policing issues, foregoing all federal aid, in exchange for federal help in fighting crimes caused by illegals.

Let the accountants figure out how to tally up the costs... just do it.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 1:49 PM

 
Pulling the String

Espresso Pundit has a great post on the exploding state budget deficit. If you read his post, what's in the news, and the Financial Advisory Council's (FAC) presentation slides this is what you get for a picture:

1) The State's budget deficit for FY2008 (current) is now pegged at $970 million. This is out of budget of about $10 billion which if you do the math seems to be a deficit just short of 10%.

2) The FAC projects that revenue growth will not reach the current budgeted rate until about 2011.

3) The ongoing deficit means that this year's shortfall may almost double to $1.8 billion in FY2009 unless steps are taken to resolve the difference between what is budgeted and what is actually collected. No projection on how large the deficit will grow by 2011.

That means within 12 to 18 months we may be looking at a budget deficit of 15 to 20%.

The Governor has proposed doing some one-time shifting. Tapping the rainy day fund for a few hundred million, borrowing for school construction... all reminiscent of how she handled the budget crunch in 2003 when she avoid spending cuts or tax hikes by combining one-times with fund sweeps and a little accounting gimmericky. The problem is that back then the economy sharply rebounded so that the State didn't have to resolve to any further drastic measures while there seems to be consensus at JLBC that this budget problem will last for years.

Make no mistake, Governor Napolitano's political fortunes were not only helped by the last few years of economic good times which enabled her to appeal to both to her base with large amounts of new spending and to voters at large with lower taxes. She was also helped by the shortness of the budget crisis in 2003 because the magic she used to avoid deep spending cuts or tax hikes wouldn't have lasted much longer.

Does anyone doubt that Napolitano hopes for a political career after she leaves office in 2010? The question is which one. If she runs for senator, say for McCain's seat if he doesn't run again in 2010, she will have to face the Arizona voters again. I seriously doubt she would want to have to do that after some of the tough fiscal choices that are coming... the economic good times have allowed her to be the perfect political moderate, Janus-like in her ability to appeal to diverse constituencies. Bad budgetary times will puncture that illusion, after all she wouldn't be the first western governor to have her political future crushed by bad fiscal times (see Grey Davis.)

However I see another path for her.

First I believe she will kick the fiscal can down the road as much as possible to 2009 through a combination of one-time financial maneuvers or by blaming the the Republican legislature. She'll be helped in both tactics by an acquiescent media.

By the time her political and fiscal bag of tricks run out, or maybe even after, it will be Autumn 2008, election time. Who would be a better choice for a President Clinton or Obama to make for Attorney General than a former state AG, two-time Governor, who enjoys a moderate reputation and comes from a state trending in national politics from red to purple?

Let Jan Brewer sort it out
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:45 AM

 
Andrew Thomas....

... call your office

From the East Valley Tribune

(Chandler Gilbert Community College VP) Mason testified that college lawyers believe the district’s policy supersedes this state law.

I am sure there is a context to Mr. Mason's argument that wasn't reported but for a public agency(Maricopa County Community College District) that has had a litany of revelations regarding audit issues, fraud, and even a raid of its files and computers by the Maricopa County Sheriff.... I sure wouldn't be saying such things.

If that didn't warm the cockles of Maricopa taxpayers, another part of the article should....

The context of the article was the reinstatement of a fired community college employee. The person in question repeatedly arrived to work late and once abandoned her post, indeed the entire campus for an hour. Oh and one minor detail, the employee in question was a security officer.

The officer's supervisor documented her transgressions with a video camera and as he said in an interview last week “I found an employee who was stealing from the district.”

The kicker wasn't so much her reinstatement, I don't want to get into the technicalities of labor law and policy, but rather what one of the employee's supporters said:

Cleopatra Martinez, the head of Phoenix College’s math department and a vocal Sutton supporter, said that Sutton’s transgressions did not warrant firing, at least not at the Maricopa colleges.

“Otherwise you’re going to have to start firing virtually all of us,” she said.

Oh really?

posted by Anonymous Mike at 7:11 AM

 
Dazed and Confused

I have passed the M.D. Pruitt's furniture store, current ground zero of the illegal immigration debate here in Arizona, many times on the way to the nearby Home Depot and such I have passing degree of familiarity with the neighborhood and the issues involved.

I have some questions that I just cannot seem to get answers on, whether from reading media accounts, or from the Mayor.

1) Roger Sensing, owner of Pruitt's, claims that he was once able to hire off-duty Phoenix police officers to patrol his property but that last year, right before an immigration protest, the Police Department pulled such officers. Why?

On Phoenix Mayor Gordon's Web site, there is an FAQ on the Pruitt's affair where the question is posted.... Why Cannot Pruitt's Hire Off-Duty Officers? To which we are informed by the Mayor's Office, that of course Pruitt's can, they hire Maricopa County Sheriff deputies. Nice evasion.

2) Have off-duty Phoenix officers been pulled by the Department from other places on Thomas Road? How unusual is it for the City to not allow off-duty officers to work at certain locations? What were those circumstances?

For a long time, it was hard to drive into the parking lot of the Home Depot down the street from Pruitt's without being accosted by day laborers. About a year or 2 ago, somebody(whether the businesses or the property owner) started hiring off-duty Phoenix police officers to keep such laborers off of private property. Why was the courtesy awarded to one business but later denied to another?

3) The City of Chandler faced a similar problem with day laborers congregating along Arizona Avenue in the downtown area. Chandler established a day labor center and began to crack down on contractors that stopped to solicit potential workers. Has Phoenix tried any such day labor centers or enforcement with on-duty police, if not why not?

Gordon in his FAQ has stated that state law "prohibits direct City support or involvement in any day labor center." What circumstances have prohibited Phoenix from following the path that Chandler took or is Chandler breaking state law?

4) Gordon in both his FAQ and comments have put Pruitt's and the pro-day laborer protesters on a similar footing. In fact he has called the dispute a purely private matter. In fact yesterday, Mayor Gordon invited both Sensing and the man leading the protests, Salvador Reza, to his office to resolve the dispute. Mr. Reza is a coordinator at Tonatierra which ascribes to the notion of Aztlan which views the area of the American southwest as stolen land. A section of Tontierra's Web site states:

The present systems of the United States and other governments states of the hemisphere which derive their justifications for jurisdiction over the land on the Divine Right of Kings to Dominion over the Earth and its Peoples, is pure myth. Or better said, it is false myth -- a dead story with no teaching to teach but only a power grab to justify.
.......

To claim ownership by land title today in view of the above is the equivalent of proclaiming that the world is flat. It is the position of a lost world, and a false reality. It is an empire with no clothes.

It is fair to infer that Mr. Reza is at least comfortable enough with the notion that both private property rights and that the concept of a legitimate American nation state are myths to continue his association with Tontatierra. Has the situation deteriorated to the point where the Mayor would give his good offices to mediating a dispute involving a man associated with such views? What sort of views would you need to hold before the Mayor of America's 5th largest city would refuse to meet with you?

Once again, these questions aren't of earth shattering importance but I think their answers would provide a critical context to the seemingly minor protests involving a furniture store in east Phoenix.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 11:03 AM

 
Stale Post 2- This is the Business We've Chosen

There's been alot written about the reception NBA Commissioner David Stern received when he visited Phoenix to announce that the 2009 All Star Game will be at US Airlines Arena. Stern is catching hell from both the media and general fandom for his handling of the suspensions during last year's playoff and his perceived double standard regarding the finding that more than half NBA referees had been violating league rules by visiting casinos.

However that's not why Stern is ticking me off.

Back in 1995, the City of Seattle completely redeveloped what is now Key Arena making it into essentially a brand new venue for the hometown SuperSonics. By 2001 a new ownership group for the Sonics, led by Starbucks maven Howard Schultz, considered Key to be economically obsolete and pressed for a new publicaly funded venue. After several years of acrimonious debate between the Sonics and local government officials, the team was sold last year to a new group led by Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett.

Mr. Bennett not only kept the new arena drum beating but added the threat of relocation, presumably either to his home town or to Kansas City, if he wasn't built a new arena estimated to cost upwards of $450 million. He has also rejected an offer by the City of Seattle to share in the costs of renovating Key Arena and redoing the lease in order to provide more arena revenue to the Sonics. Last week, Bennett's deadline passed and he announced his intent to move the Sonics from Seattle where they have been located and well supported for the past 40 years.

Stern has piled in and announced that if the Sonics do leave, presumably for Bennett's hometown of Oklahoma City which has far less revenue potential than Seattle, then Seattle probably won't ever get another team.


1) You have a team, the Sonics, that turned on an 6-year old arena and called it economically obsolete and wanted a new one while presumably the original venue probably still had some of that "new arena smell."

2) The team was then sold to an outside businessman who then claimed he got a raw deal in terms of Key Arena. I am not sure how Mr. Bennett made his money, but typically you don't invest money into a venture and then turn around complain about how you are losing your shirt on it...

3) The new owner then rejects an offer to completely re-do a 12-year old arena, at mostly public expense, and instead wants the taxpayer to build him a brand-new venue at more than twice the price of the renovation offer.

If you think that it is crazy, then David Stern says not only don't you deserve the Sonics but you don't deserve the NBA period.

Notice the story line. Outsider from a city hungry for an NBA team buys franchise, doesn't have to promise to keep team in town, immediately threatens to move team if he doesn't get a massive taxpayer-paid arena, and rejects anything short of close to a half a billion dollar deal.

Get the feeling the fix was in? That the moment the team was sold to Bennett, that he was looking for moving vans? He didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle and everyone including Stern knows it.

So why is Stern playing the heavy here? Threatening Seattle with a life-time banishment from the league if they don't cough up a king's ransom (and what exactly does a $450 million arena look like?) when he knows Seattle is a dead man walking? My guess is for the next city that doesn't want to fork over a few hundred million in corporate welfare to an NBA owner, Stern will drag out the pictures of the job he did on Seattle and ask the local powers-that-be if they want to sleep with the NBA fish as well.

Orlando beware....
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:00 AM

 
Stale Post 1- Clowns in Spiked Hats

A few months ago El Gringo had a post about the need for a Ken Burns-style documentary regarding politicians and generals dealing with the great strategic and operational questions of WW II. I think that's a great idea, too many people who should know better think all such choices are no-brainers on the level of not getting involved in a land war in Asia. The subtitle of documentary could be either "When Smart People Make Bad Decisions" or "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time"

I think with some good production values and nifty writing, we could really come up with a great piece here. Allow me to suggest the first episode, though it doesn't deal with WW II but it has all the elements you need. It has a German general staff plotting, French military officers nervously smoking cigarettes, it has pickelhaubes, the Huns marching on Paris, and the promise of having the boys home by the time the leaves fall. Most of all, it has the Kaiser.

(As a side note, even the worst chick flick or drawn out Simpsons episode can be saved by an unexpected appearance of the Kaiser. More than 60 years after his death and the man just keeps on giving.)

I am talking about the Schlieffen Plan. What you want another one dealing with the Japanese and Pearl Harbor or the Germans invading Russia?

The Schlieffen Plan was an attempt by the German military high command during the 1900's to address how in the heck they were supposed to win a possible 2-front war against France and Russia. The plan was to exploit the difference in time it took the French and Russians to mobilize their armies; as it took Russia much longer to prepare for war, Germany would defeat France during this time and then turn its full might on Russia. Problem of a 2-front war solved, the fact that the Schlieffen Plan covered up a few decades of diplomatic bungling by the Kaiser and his ministers made the plan sound all the better. After all with the Schlieffen Plan in your back pocket, turning your historic ally Russia against you wasn't a diplomatic problem but an opportunity to win an even more glorious war.

In order to defeat France in the necessary 7 weeks, Germany would have to bypass the fortifications along the Franco-German border by invading neutral Belgium. Germans armies would then sweep down through the undefended northern border of France, encircle the French army in a 20th Century re-enactment of Cannae, and destroy it.

There were 2 big problems with the Plan:

1) To invade Belgium was to violate that country's neutrality and risk bringing Great Britain into the war.

2) The great encirclement of the French Army called for the right-most German soldier of the German line to touch the English Channel. The problem was what to do about Paris in this great turning movement. Paris was too strong of a fortress to be taken within the 7 weeks so it was to be bypassed. However if the Germans bypassed it to the west, they risked creating a gap between their armies. If they bypassed it to the east, they exposed their flank to a counter attack from the Paris garrison.

The solution to the first problem was that the Schlieffen Plan was supposed to win the war in 7 weeks, long before Great Britain could field an effective army.

The solution to second problem was to provide another 200,000 men to the German offensive so that Paris could be masked. However as historian John Keegan notes, the German General Staff could plan the mobilization of the army and its offensive operations down to the last detail, but they couldn't account for how these 200,000 men were to march across Belgium and northern France and magically appear in front of Paris. The road network in that area wouldn't support it and Keegan notes that Schlieffen knew it.

So what happened?

The Schlieffen Plan was wildly successful. The Germans invaded Belgium and brought Britain into the war. However the Germans cut the French Army to pieces and sent the remnants flying in retreat. As the Germans neared Paris, they turned to the east exposing their flank to the French counterattack from Paris and the Marne. The French launched a last ditch counterattack, the Miracle of the Marne. The Germans retreated, the trenches were dug, and Europe descended into 4 more years of slaughter.

Historians point to the weakening diversion of nearly 200,000 men from the west to counter an early Russian invasion of East Prussia as the reason for the German defeat but as mentioned above, Keegan saw no way for those men to be deployed in front of Paris. Schlieffen was doomed to fail from the start.

If it couldn't succeed then why was it ever adopted? Was it because it helped justify the diplomatic bungling of previous decades, acts which allowed Germany to become encircled by enemies? Was it because it fit the intellectual predisposition, the Weltanschauung, of the German General Staff?

Whatever the reason, the result was devastating for Europe. It created a stalemate on the Western Front, too many German gains for them to give up without concessions from the Allies, too many German soldiers on sacred French soil for the Allies to give concessions. If the Kaiser didn't have the seeming war winner of Schlieffen in his back pocket would he have given Austria its blank check to deal with Serbia in July 1914? Would he have tried a diplomatic opening to Russia? Would the troops ever had marched or would the crisis that followed the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand faded like so many others before it?

We don't know because in the end , Schlieffen remained on the books and with its false hope, the troops marched and the bloodbath of the 20th Century was born.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:50 PM

 
Blogger Gathering Postscript

Many thanks to Vox for putting together a fine gathering of AZ bloggers last Saturday at Sonoran Brewing Company.... and even more thanks to her for hosting it at a location I could walk home from!

Needless to say after much fine conversation and many fine beers, I feel refreshed.

Those who attended agreed to publish some of the posts that were written but never published... so in honor of that agreement I dub this week "Stale Post Week" at Zonitics

Let it begin!
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:45 PM

 
The Monster Under the Bed (Updated!)

An election you probably never heard of is taking place just to the north of us as Utahns go to the polls today to decide the fate of a Utah voucher program that would provide up to $3,000 to families wishing to attend private schools.

Two features of the program are unique. First any voucher funding will be drawn from the general fund, not from the education budget. The second is that public schools from which the voucher student would transfer would be able to keep the student on their books for the purposes of state reimbursement. This means the school would be largely paid for a student they no longer educate, increasing their amount of per-pupil spending.

As you can imagine.... not good enough for some.

The AZ Republic quotes the president of the Utah Education Association as saying "No issue is more important to the future of our students, our careers and our schools than this one"

She isn't kidding.

As of September 15 of this year, the UEA has contributed $1 million to the anti-voucher, Utahns for Public Schools. To keep it in perspective, Janet Napolitano received $1.5 million total, primary and general elections, for her gubernatorial re-election bid in 2006 in a state that has more than twice the population of Utah.

It gets better.

Notice I said September 15.

As of September 15, Utahns for Public Schools had raised $1.14 million (of which UEA had contributed $1 million.) As of the last report filed last week, UPS had raised a 2007 total of $3.37 million. So in a mere 45 days, the anti-voucher forces had tripled their contributions. Details are still pending but I doubt it was a lot of $50 contributions from concerned citizens of Panguitch.

So when there is discussion of vouchers during the legislative session, keep in mind that our elected representatives won't have the last word as Utah sends a warning that any voucher program will turn your state into a national battleground.

UPDATE: An e-mailed adds to the story by noting that the voucher battle is more evenly funded then I implied, stating that the pro-voucher forces have raised approximately the same amount of money.

That is true but the key is looking when the money came. As of September 15, the anti-voucher forces (Utahns for Public Schools) had raised about $1.3 million or about 4x what the anti-voucher had raised with $1 million being expended on ad buys by early September. By the time the pro-voucher people got organized, anti-forces had already prepared the ground and forced the other side into attacking up hill for the last 6 weeks of the campaign.

The Utah Education Association provided the money, the manpower, and the national connections to set the tempo for the entire campaign. While the pro-voucher forces took the summer to get spun up, the UEA provided the anti-voucher forces with a ready-bake ingredients.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:09 PM

 
Tax Man Cometh

Last night was yet another successful Halloween at the Anonymous Mike household. Large numbers of polite and creatively costumed kids came to the door, much candy was distributed, and my kids brought home a cornucopia of brand name candy.

I think I should confess after reading this post from Chad at Fraters Libertas, that, I too, tax my kids' Halloween candy.

It started off quite innocently so many years ago when they were but wee lads. Their mother would escort them with their small treat bags to the door of the next house and I would wait on the sidewalk holding the larger travel bags. When the kids returned from said house, we would empty the small bags into the large ones. After a few stops, I would inevitably start to snack on the kids' stuff (Mmmm... $100,000 bars) rationalizing that not only were they collecting way more candy than they would ever eat, but that I should be properly compensated for my escort services.

As the years progressed and I moved on from escort duty to manning the house-bound candy distribution station, I continued to "tax" the candy haul. While I no longer provided either protection or transportation services, I justified my ill-gotten gains as "overhead expenses" given that said kids expected to consume said candy under my roof with all the resultant creature comforts and security.

This year I gave up any pretense and just took my cut when they went to bed.

A steady and quick descent from good services provided, to flimsy rationales, to straight confiscation in 5 quick years... sort of parallels the history of the federal income tax.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 7:50 PM

 
Making the East Valley Proud

Exurban League has been getting national blogging love for its coverage of the TNR-Beauchamp scandal.....

... though it seems the boys of the East Valley have a scandal of their own brewing.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:39 AM

 
Thoughts from a Sports Weekend

Nice to know that ESPN has switched its Friday night programming from meaningless college football to even more meaningless NBA preseason games.... Ira Newable fever, catch it!

I guess congratulations are in order for a given baseball team from New England, but I am too small a man for that. I think I can take small consolation that they will have J.D. Drew on the roster for the next 4 years.

Late last month I just knew the Rockies would go ice cold at some point in time but why couldn't they have done it 4 games earlier?

After 25 years, my opinion has still not changed; Tim McCarver is an idiot. Where's Deion Sanders and a bucket of Gatorade when you need him?

The early Saturday game on ABC had all the makings of a classic. I could care less about West Virgina and Rutgers, what I meant was the weather... late October game in the Northeast with driving rain. Mud city. The only problem is Rutgers plays on an artificial turf field. Perhaps on weekends when they expect rain within a given region, ABC could locate any decent match-up played on a grass field and dispatch a crew to televise it.... maybe put the TV guys on "rain alert" and send them out on 12-hour notice anywhere in the country just like Rapid Deployment Force. Any such game has to better than the Big-12 North game of the week on FSN.

As far as ASU, I am starting to believe. I have a bad feeling about this Saturday in Eugene against the Quack Attack but still.......
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:19 AM

 
Shine A Light on Me

Let's do a thought experiment....

Person applies to lead a program at a non-profit or public institution. Person is not only hired for the position over several more qualified applicants, but the person in question lacks some critical experience. To top it, the successful applicant's starting salary is about 30% above the advertised maximum for the position. The applicant then quickly turns the position as a major resume builder for a run for public office.

It "turns out" that a major financial benefactor of the program in question is the applicant's father. Both the father and the program's parent institution deny any shenanigans; the father claims he would still contribute to the program even if his child wasn't hired and the institution claim that the applicant was the best qualified for the position. To top it all off, the applicant denies any prior knowledge that the father was backer for the program.

I am of course talking about Laura Pastor who applied to head a program at Maricopa Community College District. The program has been funded to the tune of millions of federal dollars in earmarks arranged by her father Congressman Ed Pastor.

We are asked to believe that an unqualified person is hired over the head of better qualified candidates and awarded an extraordinarily high salary for a position that her father was heavily involved in supporting, but that no favoritism was involved. We are asked to believe that Ms. Pastor was unaware of the fact that her father has steered millions of dollars to the very program she was applying to head...

... yeah right.

This is hardly a case on par with the corruption of Cunningham and Murtha, just a stream of coincidences that involved a daughter benefiting from the earmarks issued from a powerful father. There were probably no phone calls or e-mails made on Ms. Pastor's behalf, no meetings or probably not even a helpful hint dropped in the right ear. No trails to follow, no comebacks.

All Ms. Pastor had to do was announce her name and the connection would be made and even the most obtuse interviewing officer would understand what needed to be done

Twisting other people's arms is for the weak. Getting people to twist their own arms on your behalf... that's power my friends.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:58 PM

 
The Unbearable Lightness of Linda Valdez

From the AZ Republic:

Thanks to Mayor Phil Gordon for putting the blame where it belongs and sending an invoice to D.C. for what illegal immigration costs Phoenix. Gov. Janet Napolitano did the same. Until there is immigration reform, members of Congress should donate their salaries and benefits to help reimburse the states.

I learned that there is no such thing as free in life and that includes snarkiness. If someone in a debate or negotiation is going to jab to make an annoying point, you can pick it up and make some hay with it. Ms. Valdez has written copiously on the subject on illegal immigration and let's just say that she is as far from an enforcement position as you can get. If she wants to invoice the feds for failing to enforce a policy that she doesn't support well then....

There's a number of ways I could go with but let's deal with the invoicing issue. Earlier in the week, Gordon decided to invoice the federal government in order tor recoup costs incurred by the city in fighting illegal immigration. As Gordon said:

"If they're making local government doing their work, then we ought to be paid for it," Gordon said. "Our taxpayers have been paying them to do it."

This is of course political theater and everyone knows it and the fact that Gordon is trying to deflect criticism for his policy regarding city police and illegal immigrants just makes the whole scheme that much more transparent. However there is no reason politicians like Gordon and Napolitano can have all the fun of "invoicing" one level of government for failure to adequately enforce laws that both Arizona politicians despise. Let's open the floodgates...

1) When the umemployed are without proper job skills and must turn to the state for help, have Arizona invoice the K-12 districts where these people went to school for failure to adequately prepare them. I am sure this could also apply to the convicted felons who "had" to turn to a life of crime because they couldn't get a job.

2) When the federal government imprisons people who break federal law after they had been released early from sentences in state prisons, let the feds invoice Arizona.

3) When communities next to federal land suffer from catastrophic wild fires caused in part by inadequate land management policies, let the local governments invoice the feds for full financial relief - none of this generous aid bit as with a natural disaster like a hurricane, the feds should be exposed for their incompetence and forced to pay.

I am sure we could draft some invoices that could be sent to the City of Phoenix as well.

This all between various levels of government stuff, nothing on the level of private citizen vs. the government but that would be an interesting (yet futile) exercise would it not?

Ms. Valdez and Mayor Gordon, let the games begin.....
posted by Anonymous Mike at 9:42 PM

 
Missing the Point

That would be me.

Earlier this week I wondered why New Times scandal would ruin Joe Arpaio's political fortunes after all the crap over the past 15 years. To this I get the following e-mail:

You're an idiot... you should know that you can have prisoners die in your jail's restraint chairs, rack up millions in resulting legal settlements, entrap people on bogus conspiracy charges, and run a political slime machine as long as you don't touch the media. Soon as you touch a hair on their sacred head, you're done.

Yep that's the hard hitting journalism of the Valley of the Sun for you; killing prisoners in your jail is a statistic, jailing the editor of a newspaper is a tragedy.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 9:36 PM

 
Will Joe Go After this No No?

Far be it to me to question the acumen of a man who not only has many more years of political experience than me but also runs "Arizona's Best Political Website" but.....

.... to think that the New Times Affair will be the political death knell for Joe Arpaio is a little premature. After all this is a man who has won re-election to office after paying out multi-million dollar judgments over people dying in his jails, has been written up by Amnesty International, and has had his deputies entrap people involving supposed threats on Arpaio's life.

Why would this necessarily be any different?

Of course the guy will be 76 on election day next November.... and even Boss Tweed had his comeuppance.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:03 PM

 
Thank Goodness Times Select is Gone

From last week's Maureen Dowd column:

“Dick Cheney’s fondest pipe dream is driving a bulldozer into The New York Times while drinking crude oil out of Keith Olbermann’s skull.”

I said it was in her column, not that she wrote it... as they say, read the whole thing
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:00 PM

 
For the Good of America.... The Red Sox Must Lose

Given the score of tonight’s game this is probably the wrong time to be writing this but spitting into the wind is a bad habit of mine

America loves the underdog, the little guy. Sure we drive cars made and fueled by multinational behemoths, take our fashion cues from celebrities who look down their nose at us, and pretend if we drink the proper mass produced beer that chicks will like us. However when it comes to sports or movies we want to see David give Goliath a Purple Nurple, a Wet Willie, or dare I say it the Dreaded Rear Admiral.

After all no one roots for the government in E.T. … well I did, I cried when I found out that the little punk was alive and it wasn’t tears of joy.

Let’s take this year’s World Series.

In one corner, we have the Colorado Rockies. A team that has been hotter than a new pair of snow tires for about a month. A team loaded with guys who either make the minimum or are cast-offs from other teams. A team that pretty much had to every game the last 2 weeks of the season just to make the playoffs and they did. A team you could root for and identify with.

In the other corner we have the Red Sox.

Back when I started watching baseball 30 years ago, the Red Sox were a monster. Full of homegrown bashers like Yaz, Pudge, Rice, and Lynn. Blue collar, lunch pail type of team. They played gutsy baseball and went down to the wire with the Big Red Machine and the gilt-edged Yanks. I didn’t care for them, didn’t really liked them because they scared me. I still have nightmares from a Monday Night Baseball game in early 1978 where it seemed every Sox batter was hitting it into the corner and taking extra bases.

That team was followed by the 1986 Series team. “Nuff said. Personally I blame it all on Calvin Schiraldi.

Then you had the 2004 Series team. Bunch of idiots who hung loose, played together, and had some of the best chemistry I ever saw. Damon, Varitek, and even a Nixon. Even though they had a sky high payroll, they were a loveable group of character guys who were trying to do something that hadn’t been done since the Wilson Administration.

Then you have this year’s team… which has all the home grown charm of the moneybags Yanks. A team that used its immense revenue to construct a bloated roster through free agency, assuming contracts from poorer teams, and posting fees.

Take the third baseman, Mike Lowell, decent guy. With some good stats… maybe not $9 million per season worth of stats but for the Sox to get Josh Beckett from the Marlins, they had to take Lowell’s bloated contract as well… and sign Beckett to a huge contract as well because the Marlins couldn’t afford to pay him. Nice to know that the Marlins are the 21st Century version of the Kansas City A’s.

Take Manny Ramirez, all 8 years $160 million of him. Largest contract ever this side of Alex Rodriguez. Yeah he’s got a great bat but the man is a disaster area in the outfield, they should probably DH him but they are already paying another about $13 million per year to do that.

Finally last offseason, the team threw more than $200 million for the world-beating trio of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Julio Lugo, and J.D. Drew…. once you start doing that you have finished burying the image of yourselves as the lineal descendant of 2004 and instead are Yankees North.

This is team we want to crown World Series camps for America’s Past Time? A team so large and so wealthy that it can give J.D. “75%” Drew a $70 million contract?

Pah

If there is any justice in his world, and there isn’t, the Sox will lose….. but you know how it will go and this Series will have all the charm of a Donald Trump line of cologne.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 9:58 PM

 
A Matter of Trust

Arizona Revised Statutes, 39-121.01

"All officers and public bodies shall maintain all records, including records as defined in section 41-1350, reasonably necessary or appropriate to maintain an accurate knowledge of their official activities and of any of their activities which are supported by monies from the state or any political subdivision of the state."

Long and short, if you work in the public sector, your actions are open to public scrutiny. This can be taken to certain extremes; a few years ago an angry booster acquired the phone records of University of Arkansas football coach Houston Nutt. Some go to extremes to hide their activity from public scrutiny as with the aides of Eliott Spitzer.

The case below falls between the extreme and the ridiculous.

Casey Newton at the AZ Republic has learned that several Phoenix city members use private e-mail accounts in order to conduct city business. In one case, Doug Lingner, has been doing so for 10 years. The reasons vary either out of fear inadvertently using a public e-mail system for private use or out of convenience. One council member claims to never do public correspondence at all out of such fears saying he rather do it "in person."

As I wonder what Mr. Simplot means by "in person" perhaps somebody should welcome him to the 2oth Century and introduce him to that phone on his desk. I am sure he shies away from using it for the same reason, such as inadvertently using it to order a pizza or some other personal business.

I would like to change what I wrote above.... this is ridiculous.

The problem with such statements is that they are incoherent. Web based e-mail requires, obviously, some sort of Web client access. If the given council members are accessing their private e-mail accounts from city-owned devices, whether a Blackberry or computer, they are still using public resources but now their e-mail records are outside of the public records system.

Second, if council members are having problems either with accessing their e-mail outside of the office or with understanding the intricacies of what constitutes inappropriate use then they should work to get these issues addressed. This is 2007 not 1997 as the fifth-largest city in the country it is not like Phoenix is without resources or staff.

What emerges is either inattention or a systemic policy of incompetence by some of the highest elected officials in Phoenix toward public records law. Here's some suggestions to address the problem:

1) Immediately audit the e-mail system to discern any problems with out-of-office access and have those problems solved.

2) Upon resolution of any the e-mail problems, ban the use of private e-mail accounts by any city official using city-owned access devices. This can be enforced both by policy and by code, blocking access to such e-mail sites at the network/firewall level.

It's quite simple actually- see problem, define problem, solve problem.

That is if the issue of using private e-mail accounts by city council members really is a problem
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:49 AM

 
"Chi"denfreude

Definition: Taking malicious joy in ongoing miseries of the Cubs
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:06 PM

 
Why Do I Get the Feeling That....

After reading all the pre-game predictions by the national media....

Following the comments by the announcers during the game....

Listening to the post-game comments on Baseball Tonight....

That not only does it seem that no one gives the D'backs, who have the best record in the NL, a chance to beat the Cubs but that it would be a disaster of San Antonio-Cleveland NBA Finals proportions if there is a Rockies-D'backs NLCS.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 7:11 AM

 
Sports Bigamy

Due to a prior engagement I won't be able to go to the D'backs playoff game tonight but I expect that there will be, as always, alot of Cubs fans dressed up in their team colors. If regular season forms holds, the overwhelming majority of said fans will be Valley residents and long-term ones at that.

Don't get me wrong, Phoenix has alot of Chicago transplants and I will be the first to admit that one's childhood sport loyalties stay with you. I don't expect transplants to engage in "sports bigamy" when those old loyalties conflict with the teams of their new community.

However.

The D'backs represent your community. For the vast majority of Americans, seeing highlights of D'back games on TV is the closest they will ever get to the realization that grass can grow in Arizona, that we don't ride horses to the ballpark instead of cars, and that we have electricity.

Please don't force me to remind you that you support a team that last won the World Series when Teddy Roosevelt was President and has become the symbol for lovable losers; in short Cubs fans represent all that is wrong with America and I can trace the social rot in this country to the loving national embrace of that team. Please don't force me to remind you that the D'backs and Marlins won more World Series, 3, over 16 collective seasons than the Cubs have won in 98 years.

So if you are a Valley resident who is going tonight to root for the Cubs, please have a sense of decency and keep the following in mind:

1) Don't comment that Chase Field is worse than Wrigley. Yes we know, your architectural options are somewhat more limited when you need to plan for 100 degree summer days. On the other hand it also has more recent World Series championship banners hanging on the walls than what you'll find at Wrigley

2) However you are allowed to criticize that there are far fewer places to booze up in the neighborhood around Chase before the game than Wrigley. Wrigleyville is a gem in that regard.

3) Stating that Old Style is the best beer of all time may entail security forcing you to wear an authentic Rex Grossman game jersey.

4) Be discrete in your Cubs paraphernalia. A hat or a shirt or even both is fine, bringing extras like signs or a foam finger may get you a box of scorpions mailed to your address

5) Asserting the marginal superiority of Alfonso Soriano over Chris Young is allowed as long as you acknowledge that Soriano makes about 42x Young's salary.

6) Gloating that Dan Bickley is writing for an Arizona instead of a Chicago newspaper is allowed as long as you acknowledge that you now live in Arizona and have to read him as well.

7) You are allowed to tell all D'back fans how much of a rich baseball tradition Chicago has as long as you point to the 2001 World Series banner as you do so

8) If you tell D'backs fans how much better it is to live in Chicago than Phoenix, then you will have to explain why you choose to live in a place that you find inferior. Don't be surprised if you have to wear an authentic Bob Avelini game jersey for your indiscretion.

9) Wearing another team's colors to our stadium in safety is an implicit acknowledgment of both our courtesy and sense of fair play; try doing the same thing in either Philly or New York

10) If you have lived your entire life in Phoenix and yet still root for the Cubs over the D'backs, I have heard talk of a surprise ceremony after the 7th inning where all such fans will be paraded around the field to be subjected to the ridicule for which they so richly deserve.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 1:33 PM

 
The Lonely Train to Nowhere

Thomas over at Bear Droppings follows up on my earlier post regarding the commuter rail story in the Republic with a link to a more detailed analysis at Coyote Blog. While I disagree with important details of the post, mostly he feels that we could lease each rider a new Prius for what New Mexico is paying to operate the system while I'm thinking of a Corolla, he is right right on.

The money graph which tells us about the AZ Republic and its reporting style:

I am just all aglow for Sharon. But does the project make sense for the taxpayers of the city and the state (and probably nation) that funded it? Well, we don't know. Because the AZ Republic writes 56 paragraphs lauding the system without once telling us anything about the system performance. Does it cover its costs? Are city roads visibly less congested? Is there a net energy savings? Is there measurably less pollution? We don't know. All we know is that three people, Geronimo Trujillo, Briana Duran, and Sharon, like it.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 1:26 PM

 
Scorpion Blogging, Day 2

From an AP report:

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The package from Hong Kong looked innocent enough, marked "personal clothing." But when customs officials opened it, they were stunned to see about 300 live scorpions and spiders.

The scorpions and spiders — which included tarantulas — were packed in nets, bottles and transparent plastic boxes, concealed under clothes, newspapers reported Wednesday.

Hmmmm.... I guess Christmas came a little earlier this year then was expected.

The spiders and scorpions were later handed over to the parks and wildlife office.

Steven Toledo, head of the office's rescue center, said the spiders and scorpions will be "taken care of" and possibly used in exhibitions. He said some of them were still juveniles.

I love the euphemism "taken care of" which is code for "stepped on until squished"
posted by Anonymous Mike at 1:17 PM

 
What Would You Do?

The Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres played 1-game tiebreaker to decide who would be the NL wildcard entry in the playoffs; 1 game for all the marbles, winner goes on, loser goes home.

The game's context was fascinating for a number of reasons. The Rockies had one of the great all-time season finishes of all time, winning 13 of their 14 games. Also both teams were divisional opponents, so they had already played 18 times during the season. Familiar with each other indeed.

Game goes into the 13th inning, the drama builds as the Rockies send in former D'back pitcher Jorge "Gas Can" Julio who immediately donates a 2-run lead to the Padres. The Padres counter in the bottom of the inning with perhaps the greatest reliever of all-time who quickly gives up 2 runs to tie the game and has men at first and third, no outs. Any ball to the outfield probably wins the games and ends the Padres' season.

Jamey "The Hammer" Carroll hits a looping line drive to the right fielder, game over right? Nope, Brian Giles whips the ball into the plate and it's going to be a close play. If the runner is safe, game and season over. If the runner is out it's now 2 out and runner on second and perhaps the Padres live to see the 14th inning.

Padre catcher Michael Barrett blocks the plate, Rockies runner Matt Holliday goes to sweep the corner with his left hand, and the umpire.... hesitates to make the call.

It is said that there are times when a man's life flashes before his eyes. It was a tough call but as it happened, I couldn't believe that Holliday got has hand in. Barrett blocked the corner of the plate with his left foot; Holliday couldn't get his hand around the side of Barrett's foot and unless the runner could undo the laws of time and space there was no way he was getting his hand over that foot and drop it right onto the plate.

My wife thought that the ump hesitated to get the call right.... I saw it differently. The ump in that brief moment of time realized that:

1) A safe call means the Rockies win, an out call could well prolong the game until a different outcome was reached.

2) He was in a stadium surrounded by 48,000 screaming Rockies fans

3) An out call might mean the animosity of those 48,000 fans would be directed toward him and the possibility that they would find his body up int he hills after the Spring thaw.

What would you do? After all they expected to get every call right they would have instant replay.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 6:13 PM

 
The Hammer of God(dard)

From today's EV Valley Trib:

The Arizona Supreme Court last week refused to reinstate the single conflict-of-interest charge against Ross that had been thrown out earlier this year by an appeals court.

Ross, a Gilbert Republican, was indicted on three felony charges in May 2004. He beat two of the charges during his December 2004 trial. He was convicted on a single count of conflict of interest, but that conviction was overturned in January when the Arizona Court of Appeals concluded he did not misuse his office when he used a public record kept by the agency in a part-time business venture.

Corrupt politicians is a serious issue, as the whole mess in Washington indicates. However as this Trib report indicates, AZ Attorney General Goddard's prosecutorial record on the issue involves no convictions on corruption or fraud but instead on reporting technicalities. Nice to know Arizona has cleared up its act since AZScam
posted by Anonymous Mike at 5:43 AM

 
So Which is It?

Please forgive this for being old news but the turn-out for the recent mayoral election in Phoenix, America's 5th largest city, was 17%

So is the 17% a bug or a feature?
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:40 PM

 
Scorpions on a Plane

Once a upon time I learned that not all that crawled on my living room floor was a cricket.... but I never thought to have to check my airline seat.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:35 PM

 
Promises of Boondoggles to Come

Beating the drum for commuter in rail in Sunday's AZ Republic with a story on the Rail Runner in New Mexico:

New Mexico's year-old Rail Runner Express commuter-train system carries about 3,000 people a day into and out of downtown Albuquerque, removing cars from busy freeways and a lot of stress from people like Hedrich.

Good

Early reviews of the system are mixed. People like the train's affordability. Some even like the idea that they are helping to reduce air pollution. Critics, however, say operating the $9 million-a-year system is too expensive and not enough people use it.

For people like Hedrich, it all boils down to convenience and some quiet time they would otherwise not have.

Actually some claim that for the cost of some systems, you could just give each commuter a leased BMW X5. With Rail Runner's numbers you are only looking at $3,000 subsidy per commuter, which would probably put them in a Corolla.

So I'll call it better.

How much did this thing cost to build?

The first phase cost $135 million

A bargain at any price.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:25 PM

 
9/11

Last year on this day I wrote a long post on my personal impressions of that day. I'm not going to do that again except to say that the sorrow and rage of that day still burns.

Like last year I will point you to a story about a man who died that day, one of those people you probably never heard of before but when you read his story you will wonder why you haven't. It's a story of a life well-lived.

The link is to the article in the New Yorker, The Real Heroes are Dead: A Love Story and the book which is based on the article is Heart of a Soldier

Take a 1/2 hour and read the article, you'll be glad you did. If you get a chance to read the book, you'll be even the better for it because it closes with the following:

The book closes with the words of Hill, who remained Rescorla's best friend until his death. His haunting words form a fitting tribute to Rescorla:

"One of my life's biggest regrets is that I couldn't have been with Rick at the moment of his great challenge and crisis of his life. Then again, maybe it was so destined, because if I didn't survive, there would be nobody left to tell the story.

"Kipling wrote that 'all men should count with you, but none too much.' I failed there. Rick counted as the world to me.

"Somebody cautioned that if a person or thing means the world to you, and you lose that person or thing, then you have lost the world. I lost the world when Rick died."

Never forget
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:10 PM

 
Golden D'Ohmer

One of the thoroughly enjoyable parts of this college football season is watching Notre Dame get its collective butt kicked.

I wasn't always this way about the Fighting Irish. I used to think what was good for them was good for college football, sort of like we all needed a storied program to carry the torch.

The straw that broke the camel's back was their treatment of Tyrone Willingham. Now we in the PAC know Mr. Willingham quite well given his coaching stints at Stanford and Washington. A good man and a pretty good coach. He took the Notre Dame job after the school ran into the George O'Leary fiasco. He wasn't the first choice for the job, but received accolades for his work during the first season. The next two years were sub-par and despite Notre Dame's reputation for giving coaches 5 years (see Gerry Faust), Willingham was given the boot. Hero to goat in a little over 24 months, never had the chance to suit up his own senior class of recruits.

In comes Charlie Weis, a man who was never a head coach above the high school level. His first season, using players recruited from the Willingham era, he racks up a first year record one win shy of the guy they just fired. His reward? They give a man a 10-year extension and proclaim him a minor coaching deity. The next year, still largely using recruits from the Willingham Era, he goes 10-3 but that includes 2 season-ending butt whippings.

This year Weis starts 0-2 and despite his reputation as an offensive genius, his team has failed to score a single offensive touchdown.

Given the precedent set by the Willingham firing, I not only expect Weis to be fired at the end of the year but forced to use every last dollar of his multi-million dollar buy-out to purchase every piece of writing that mention his name in the same sentence as the word "genius."
posted by Anonymous Mike at 11:27 AM

 
The Argument Against Phil Gordon

Phil Gordon is going to win re-election tomorrow as Mayor of Phoenix. It's never smart to get in the way of a juggernaut and say he shouldn't be re-elected, but I'll take a crack at it.

First of all I want to say that Phil Gordon is a pretty decent guy and all-in-all not a bad mayor. We know he won't steal the family silver, be caught smoking crack with women of ill-repute, or any other scandalous mischief involving a "wide stance." We know that Phoenix will be fairly well-run over the next 4 years; the garbage will be collected, the police won't be shaking down donut shops, and our streets won't be overrun by packs of wild dogs.

Such a man, based on that criteria alone, is worthy of re-election. Certainly the local media thinks so if only because I bet 99% of Phoenix residents have no idea if his opponent, Steve Lory, is actually a real person or not.

Let me try to give an argument, no not about the existence of Mr. Lory, but why we shouldn't give Gordon 4 more years.

First let's look at Phoenix itself. I'm also willing to bet that no one moved here for the 24/7 night-life or a neat-o downtown; those who wanted that moved to Chicago or New York. You come here to raise a family, the climate, to live in the Southwest... not so you could live a car-free existence. After all you don't move to New York for the wide-open vistas and to have a 2-car garage. Horses for courses as they say.

I'm willing to bet that most Phoenicians aren't looking for excitement from their municipal government but rather want safe street and good city management. Call it Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs for Local Government but if you cannot get the basics right then you aren't going to be able to do the extras. Put another way to my good friends, if you cannot make a good donut then it doesn't matter how delicious your filling will be.

Safe streets. As Robert Robb reported yesterday, while Phoenix may have a violent crime rate 21% below the big-city average it has a property crime rate that was 28% above. Yet Robb reports that Gordon refuses to address the issue publicaly. Also while violent crimes may be below the big city average, the overall numbers of such crimes have been trending upwards under Gordon's Administration.

Well-managed government. At the same time violent crime has been increasing and property crime remains above-average, Gordon has done little to fight the problem. Ratio of residents to sworn officers has declined approximately 12% since 1999. The last 2 years of that drop has occurred while the city budget has increased by more than 30%.

So if the money hasn't gone to increase the police where has it gone? In part it went downtown. The recent bond election allocated a lion's share of the money to downtown projects highlighted by the strange decision of Phoenix to build a campus for a state supported university. If you go through the debates of the bond committee that dealt with police projects, you find the participants trying to find ways of funding needed police substations in the northeast and southwest parts of the city. These are the high growth areas of the city which lie upwards of 20 miles from the downtown area; with the exception of sporting events what are the odds of these people riding the light rail or even visiting downtown? Yet vitally needed projects in those far-flung areas went on hold to pay for ASU Downtown and other projects which those residents will rarely visit.

The other part of a well-managed city involves light rail. I know Mayor Gordon wasn't responsible for either the initial starter line or for the extensions approved in 2004 but he is mayor while the first part of the system is being built. I've been beating this topic to death and I will continue to beat it into the next life, but light rail whether it's an operational success or not will fundamentally change the way businesses operate along its route due to its partial blocking of vehicular access. Go in to the retail outlets along Central and Camelback, especially those which aren't on corners where there are stop lights, and they are pessimistic about survival. Some aren't going to make it until the end of construction and those who do are hoping, praying is more like it, that the light rail will make up for the business they will no longer get into their parking lot. In fact one owner said very bluntly "I don't know one person on this street who thinks light rail is a good thing."

In other words the shoe is going to drop and drop hard and that soon-to-be empty Target at 7th Ave. & Camelback is going to be the first of many shuttered storefronts. Some of them, especially on Central close to downtown where there are condo developments will be filled by new businesses, but I doubt as you move away from that core that there will be many rushing to fill the void.

So when December 2008 comes around and Mayor Gordon takes the inaugural ride on the light rail system, I am willing to bet he will see a devastated commercial district along the majority its route; a phenomena that will take years for it to recover. Publicly he will say it is a surprise and point to all of his past efforts with Valley Metro to help those businesses. Privately he will know it's a feature, and not a bug, of the system.

So the argument against 4 more years is not that Mayor Gordon is a bad guy. It's not he has had made catastrophically made decisions. The argument is that he has ignored developing problems, stuffed them under the rug so that someone else will have to deal with them after 2011. The argument is that he has ignored the basics of good government that we have taken for granted in Phoenix, ignored a rising crime rate by not giving the police the resources that it needs, and overseen a rapid rise in spending while calling for new taxes. He has sustained and deepened the effort to take money out of the outlying areas through tax breaks and bond projects and direct them toward quixotic projects downtown.

That's not good management, that's not good leadership, that's not a good reason to give him 4 more years.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 11:24 AM

 
The Hsu-casaurus

So what does this say about America?

Man is convicted of fraud, escapes country before sentencing, goes to Hong Kong

Several years later re-enters country, sets up shop in Silicon Valley as an investor, police are stumped about his whereabouts.

Becomes prominent donor to key Democrats including Eliot Spitzer, Andrew Cuomo, and Hillary Clinton. Becomes a member of the board of trustees of the New School. Police still cannot find the elusive fugitive.

Man's whereabouts are finally located. He turns himself in, posts $2 million bail, and is ordered to turn in passport because after all he has been known to flee the country to escape justice. Says he cannot find the passport, is allowed to walk, and then doesn't show up for his court date.

Police are no doubt stumped.

The man Norman Hsu.

Now what is it with the Clintons, campaign finance irregularities, and people with Chinese connections?

Also where did Hsu get the money?
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:13 PM

 
Holy Guacamole!

I know what the next Arizona Bloggerama event will be, a night at the movies to go see Beowulf:

The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel who is terrorizing towns, and later, Grendel's mother, who begins killing out of revenge.

Now go to IMDB and see who is playing Grendel's mother... or click here to find the trailer to see what Mom looks like.

I bet the movie is awful, but then again that didn't stop me from seeing Catwoman
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:38 PM

 
Horse Racing

Turf Paradise may not open until next month, but horse race coverage is already big in the AZ Republic.

Leave aside my previous post about the Republic's coverage of Phil Gordon, a man up for re-election next week, because the biggest coverage the paper gives him during the last week of the race is about his future ambition.

We all know Phil Gordon is going to win re-election and win big, really big. However is the purpose of the major newspaper in town to treat the electoral campaign as a celebration of personal triumph or as a time for community reflection?

Look to this blog post by Republic reporter Casey Newton titled "Mayor Reaches $1 Million Campaign Goal"

In the post we not only find out that the Mayor has reached his $1 million campaign goal, we find out this his sole challenger has only raised around $19,000. In addition Mayor Gordon has already spent more than $600,000 of it. The post goes on to list what various city council candidates have raised as well. You can see who's ahead in the race for cash, who's behind, and who still has money in the bank. All very nice.... who's winning and who still has something left for the stretch run. I felt like Mr. Newton was announcing the results of a telethon.

I might have missed it, but here's what Newton or anyone else in the Republic has yet to report or comment on:

1) Where did Gordon raise so much money from? Newton must have looked at the campaign finance reports in detail. Unlike other cities of comparable size, such as Houston and Philadelphia, Phoenix doesn't put such reports online but the Republic does have people on the payroll to go down to City Hall and get the paper copies. The Business Journal of Phoenix pointed out in March that there were a large number of real estate developers on Gordon's contributor list though I would expect that would hold true for any major politician in Arizona, but what about those who have business before the City?

2) Where's the money going? Newton points out that Gordon has spent more than $600,000 but you would be hard pressed to find a TV spot or radio ad put out by his campaign.

Hey if the Republic is going to treat politics as a sporting event and only focus on who's winning and losing then at least they can provide us with a box score
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:58 PM

 
The Dog That Didn't Bark

There was an article on the front page of the Arizona Republic concerning the political future of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. I mention it, not because of any substance to his ambition, but because it's rare for the paper to discuss Gordon the politician, as opposed to Gordon the officeholder, on its front page.

What's strange about that paucity of front-page coverage is not just that Gordon is probably the top local elected official int he Valley, it's the fact that he's up for re-election next week for the top job in the 5th largest city in the country.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:46 PM

 
As College Football Season Get Underway

A story about the situation new ASU coach Dennis Erickson left behind at University of Idaho:

The Vandals haven't had a winning season since 1999 and are down in numbers after Akey kicked 17 players off the team for academic failure or for various disciplinary reasons. But that hasn't tempered his optimism as his team returns 12 starters.

I don't remember reading about that in the local papers.

As a friend of mine set with a shrug when Erickson's hiring was announced, "We already have shootings, academic failure, and there are probably recruiting violations galore and we're still not winning; at least Erickson will give us the wins to go along with the thuggery"
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:43 PM

 
Welcome to Arizona

I am sorry but this story made me laugh and I can laugh because:

a) the person is okay

b) it perpetuates the myth to outsiders that Arizona is riddled with black widows and rattlesnakes around every stairwell

Of course I am not sure how much the resort in question maintains its property... best not tell her about the scorpions
posted by Anonymous Mike at 2:41 PM

 
The Healing Power of Light Rail

I may be on a wild goose chase here but bear with me…

Target announced the other week that it will be closing its store at 7th Avenue & Camelback and opening a Super Target over at the old Chris Town Mall. On the surface this is good for, I do shop at the Wal Mart Super Center and having both stores in the same area can only mean good things for a shopper like me?

However what about the soon-to-be abandoned site at 7th & Camelback?

Here’s where the difference between a shopper and a local resident come in; as a Phoenix shopper I benefit from this but if I was a resident near there I have the distinct possibility of a large, empty store standing there for a long time causing a situation of possible blight.

There are 2 problems with the site and to get some insight I walked the property with a friend of mine who works for a development company in the East Valley. First is the size, while the store may not be a big box it’s big enough so that it will hard to fill with a comparable tenant. My friend also doubts with the distance between the site and the light rail line, even with the proximity of a station, that there will be a lot of foot traffic between the two. In other words it was an ideal site for what was built on it, a large discount retailer that served a customer base that used cars for transportation with superior access due to its location at a major intersection

The second problem is the light rail line itself. Before its construction, access from 7th Avenue was already partially blocked during rush hour due to the elimination of the turn lane during those times. With the light rail line eliminating the turn lane on Camelback, east-bound drivers on that road have no immediate access into that property; they would have to turn left on 7th Avenue and then turn left into the property. In other words access has been fundamentally altered. He added that when Target vacates, the Fry’s supermarket at the far end would look like an orphan

In short it may be a long time until something substantial (meaning something more than a $1 dollar store) goes in there.

Now there are a few pieces of information missing which are critical and the truth is I took enough of my friend’s time (the promised retainer of beer at Sonoran Brewing Company was already exceeded) and this isn’t his commercial beat so he didn’t have immediate knowledge. What was the current retail picture for the corner with the Target, Fry’s, and smaller stores along the frontage? He assumes that access with the light rail construction is already at its worst so if he had access to business metrics he could get an ideal of the current commercial potential. Second is the lease situation, go by the corner of 16th & Bethany Home where the site was abandoned by Basha’s several years ago but remain undeveloped because the company still holds the lease on the property

So what happens there next?

My friend did make a telling remark to the effect that with plans to extend light rail further out from Tempe and downtown Phoenix, this situation will occur more and more as the commercial viability of nearby property will change as businesses built on easy vehicular access will suffer. The question is what happens next… blight or redevelopment?
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:27 AM

 
The Story Behind History

You may think the only time "historic" is used in the context of the Valley would be with the terms "heat wave" and "Arizona Cardinals" incompetence.

You would be wrong.

The Arizona Preservation Foundation has released its 2007 list of Arizona's most endangered historic places. Compiled by preservation professionals and historians, the list identifies critically endangered cultural resources of major historical significance to the state. "Each of the sites we have named are important historic landmarks in Arizona, but unfortunately are in grave danger of collapse, demolition, or destruction," said Vince Murray, APF Board President. "It is critical that residents and government officials act now to save these elements of their cultural heritage before it's too late."

Let's see some of the choicer picks the list:

Buckhorn Baths: In 1939 Ted and Alice Sliger established the baths unknowing that their efforts to make a living of the natural mineral waters would help to establish the East Salt River Valley as a mecca for spring training. In 1947, the New York Giants made the Buckhorn Baths their spring training home and continued to do so for over twenty-five years. Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Gaylord Perry, Leo Durocher and others were regulars at the Baths... ... Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the location of the Buckhorn Baths makes it a prime target for development, and speculation is rampant that this part of Mesa and Arizona’s early history will soon be replaced by a Wal-Mart.

Hokey Smokes... a Wal-Mart! Well to heck with everyday low prices, this is one of the many, many places int he Valley where professional baseball players hung out therefore it must be saved and enjoyed for future generations.

White Gates House: ...previous owners gutted the interior and scraped the landscape from the property. Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, the house now sits vacant and neighbors are complaining about the blight it is creating for the area. The homes in the neighborhood sell in the seven figures and the property is valuable for redevelopment. If action is not taken soon, the owner may be required by the city to demolish the house and sell the property.

What to one man is a blight that is driving down his property value is to another man who lives elsewhere and doesn't have to look at it on a daily basis, an historical treasure.

Camp Naco: This adobe compound was constructed by the U.S. military between 1919 and 1923, as part of the War Department's Mexican Border Defense construction project -- a plan to build a 1,200-mile barrier along the border.

No comment here except to say that after nearly hundred years of trying they still haven't built that darn border fence

Yep, when you hear the term "major historical significance" you think something along the lines of "Washington slept here" and not 40 year-old bank buildings and decrepit suspension bridges but I would say that if these are the most endangered spots in the state then the work of the Arizona Preservation Foundation is about done.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:00 PM

 
.... and Carmela Soprano is Well Known for her Charitable Giving

Love this article in today's in EV Trib:

The day Sonia Falcone has been dreading has finally arrived. The Paradise Valley philanthropist and socialite is leaving the U.S. today with her three young children.

Her departure is part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, stemming from a misdemeanor charge of hiring foreign workers not legally authorized to work for her.

Sonia Falcone is the wife of billionaire Pierre Falcone which might explain the juice that enables her social and philanthropic career. Nothing wrong with that in theory but where did the money come from?

Pierre Falcone has been at the center of international turmoil for nearly a decade, linked to the shipment of Soviet-bloc tanks and helicopters to war-ravaged Angola in return for future oil profits. Critics say the corruption and armaments added misery to Angolans as they endured poverty and civil war. The nation's president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has cast Falcone as a hero who saved his countrymen from genocide by rebel forces.

Global Witness, an international human rights organization, identified Falcone as a key player in the "gruesome tale of money laundering and state robbery at the expense of the long-suffering Angolan people."

The Franco-Brazilian entrepreneur repeatedly has denied wrongdoing. He was jailed in Paris during 2000-01 while prosecutors investigated the case known as Angolagate. After his release on $15 million bail, Falcone left France and was appointed by his friend dos Santos to the U.N.'s Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization , securing diplomatic immunity.

So let's get this straight.... you supply the arms to a former Soviet client so he can crush the other side in a civil war, in return you get a nice chunk of the country's oil profits. When you get arrested in another country for the deal, you use those profits to post an obscene bail, skip town, and then get appointed by the crony you supplied with weapons to be the ambassador from that African country to the great kleptocracy known as UNESCO, thus ensuring your diplomatic immunity.

But the former international beauty queen, described by friends as a gracious and generous benefactor...

Spare me. I know Mrs. Falcone did none of the things her husband stands accused of doing but it's not she doesn't like the lifestyle that those things help fund.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 8:14 PM

 
Temptations of the Soul

In the 14 years I have participated in fantasy football leagues, I had never picked first during the allotment draft.

Never

Until this past weekend.

In the Arizona Sun League with our own Arizona blogger Thomas as commissioner, I had the first pick and I was faced with temptation.

Do I do the expected thing and pick LaDainian Tomlinson or do the memorable thing and pick one of the Vick brothers?

Any idiot can pick LT, only a special kind of idiot can waste the first pick of the draft on Michael Vick

Footnote: This is the same mentality that leads to people agreeing to go on reality TV shows and the People's Court.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 7:44 PM

 
Craig-O-Rama

A few thoughts about the Larry Craig affair, which if you're not up on the details go read elsewhere.

First, one of the sub-plots of the whole affair was what exactly did Craig do that was so bad? Instapundit links to a piece that reviews the evidence (note that Craig was brought to court on an obstruction, not an indecency charge) and finds it wanting.

The problem with this is that it treats the court of public opinion as the same as a court of law... and that's not how the real world works. The courts have the ability to deprive you of life, liberty, and property; for that reason the rules of evidence are strict and you are presumed innocent. Try to operate that way on the outside on the street and they'll write a sitcom about you.

Related to this was the presumption that he was soliciting for sex, why was that so wrong? After all it's done all the time in bars, schools, and the Borders at 24th & Camelback... why not a men's room in the Minneapolis Airport?

Well if you went up and asked for sex and then went elsewhere with your new found friend, then the bar analogy holds true. However if you decide to consummate the deal, as it were, in a public place then it falls apart. Try it this weekend at a night club in Scottsdale... go ahead and you'll see what I mean

Back to the first point, you have a U.S. Senator who had just previously fended off questions about another alleged incident of anonymous gay sex in one public men's room acting very strangely in another public men's room that was notorious for anonymous gay sex. So notorious that it was staked out, as it were, by a police officer looking for just such a thing. Apparently there wasn't enough to charge with public indecency, that legal/court of law thing again, but any reasonable person would jump to the very logical conclusion that Senator Craig was looking for a special way to pass the time. If you didn't, or are still trying to rationalize, then I cannot help you.

If you were either one of his constituents or one of his colleagues you would then be on very solid ground to ask why would a man who holds such a trust as a public representative, and representative government is built on a bedrock of trust, would not only betray his family but also engage in such reckless conduct. This is probably not a legal question, though he certainly put himself in a position for blackmail, but it definitely is a political one. I know Craig is up for re-election next year, but he could recognize the damage to his ability to continue as a public representative and resign.

Second is the gay angle. I don't mean why in 2007 where gays can be married in parts of the US the fascination with anonymous gay sex in public places whether it's a bathroom or a park. Or even why the gay dimension has overshadowed the fact that a guy in public trust engaged in adulterous behavior in public spaces with people he just met (substitute straight for gay in this story and tell me this doesn't creep you out)

I am talking about what Johnny Utah wrote in his post on the subject. I don't know all of Mr. Craig's work but he is being accused of hypocrisy for engaging in homosexual conduct while voting against "gay rights" dealing with the military and gay marriage. Craig is already indicted with the hypocrisy of adultery, keeping up the appearances of a family man, while betraying them with his conduct. Perhaps also he has spent time denouncing homosexual conduct while engaging it in himself, as did Ted Haggard.

However to a dimension of you as a person, whether race or sexual orientation, leads naturally to certain specific public policy positions and legislation seems to me just part of some insidious identity politics. There are gays who don't want gay marriage... I am not saying they represent a majority but they are out there and they have some points worthy of debate. To sugegst a certain group think is just plain ugly.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 2:00 PM

 
Opus Mocha

I was following an online debate about the Washington post blocking publication of yesterday's Opus comic when one poster made the connection between the content of the offending Opus and the Post running the far more racy Liberty Meadows.

Here's an archive of past Liberty Meadows that have been censored by various newspapers.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 12:30 PM

 
Phoenix and Singles

This is sort of cutting-edge stuff you can only get during a hotly contested mayoral election.

Today the AZ Republic reports that Phoenix is the 15th best US city for singles as ranked by Forbes based on criteria such as "nightlife, culture, job growth, number of singles, cost of living alone and online dating. "

Apparently this year, Forbes added a feature where it names the most eligible bachelor and bachelorette for each city, this year naming Matt Leinart and Jenn Hoffman. It also helpfully adds that Mr. Leinart once dated Paris Hilton and Ms. Hoffman is currently linked to KMLE-FM (107.9) personality Scott "Shappy" Shapiro.

I think someone needs to tell Ms. Hoffman to dump Shappy and upgrade to someone better.

However right before this dignity-enhancing moment, the Republic quotes Mayor Phil Gordon on why Phoenix fell from #3 on the same list last year.

"The ranking from last year to this year simply shows that a lot of those single people are now married," reasons Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.

Ahh Mr. Mayor? The list is about best place for singles, not most singles.

You know, since the Valley cities are busy trying to attract young, hot creative class talent with light rail and downtown subsidies and I assume such people are single... why is Phoenix sliding backwards in this all-important category? At the rate Phoenix is sliding, by the time light rail opens up in late 2008 we could be Cleveland-like in our rating
posted by Anonymous Mike at 11:23 AM

 
Vick (Again)


The other day, there was an article on MSNBC.com that quoted Al Sharpton as writing on his personal blog:

"If the police caught Brett Favre (a white quarterback for the Green Bay Packers) running a dolphin-fighting ring out of his pool, where dolphins with spears attached to their foreheads fought each other, would they bust him? Of course not," Sharpton wrote Tuesday on his personal blog.

The problem was that Mr. Sharpton wrote no such thing with the fore-mentioned quote coming from a parody site. For the record Mr. Sharpton denounces dog-fighting. Shame on MSNBC.com, but the following is no parody or hoax:

White said the Atlanta chapter supports Vick's decision to accept a plea bargain if it's in his best interest, but he questioned the credibility of Vick's co-defendants, saying an admission of guilt might be more about cutting losses than the truth. "At this point, you're not looking at guilt or innocence," White said, referring to the possible harsher sentence Vick could have received had he taken his case to trial and been found guilty. "You're thinking, 'What I better do is cut my losses and take a plea.' But if he saw this as the best thing to do at this point for his future, then I think he made the correct choice."

White said he regretted that the plea deal will mean all the facts of the case might never be known.
.....

White said he does not support dogfighting and that he considers it as bad as hunting.

"His crime is, it was a dog," White said.

The Mr. White is R.L. White, head of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP. Remember the NAACP? Led the fight against segregation and the Jim Crow laws? When black people weren't allowed to sit at the same lunch counter as white people? While the NAACP has come out strongly against Mr. Vick, Atlanta was one of the leading centers of the civil rights movement and an important place in black culture.

I love the conspiracy theory angle. However even better than that is that "all the facts of the case might never be known." You know who has all the facts in the case? Michael Vick and he's not talking so saying "never be known" isn't like a History Channel special dealing with the lost cities of the Incas. All the facts of the case are available as soon as Mr. Vick decides to make them so.

Right up there is the hunting angle. I don't hunt, I know many people who do. The idea that people who prowl Cabelas and stock up on ammo at Bass Pro Shop is on the same moral plane as dog-fighting is well... well I shouldn't say more after all the fish my kids caught the other week sure flopped around a bit before he died.

On top of that it was tasty.

Expect my plea agreement at district court next week
posted by Anonymous Mike at 10:59 AM