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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

Sep 14

18

Media gives legs to erroneous reporting

Posted by Joyce Clark on September 18, 2014
Posted in Casino • City issue and actions • City of Glendale  | Tagged With: , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

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Is this Timothy Schwartz?

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Or is this Timothy Schwartz?

Who is Timothy Schwartz and where did he come from? Here’s a good example why newspaper coverage is so disappointing and more and more people are turning to other sources. 

Timothy Schwartz is chair of Republican Legislative District 30 and used this event to get some media face time. His only claim to fame is that he apparently made a motion at a state Republican event a year or two ago to censure Senator John McCain. To say that he is to the right of Genghis Khan would be an understatement. His position within the groups, No More Bad Deals for Glendale and Keep the Promise is as mythical as that of a leprechaun.  Gary Hirsch chairs both of those committees and is the only legitimate spokesperson for those two political action committees.

Schwartz’ committee, Glendale Citizens for Voice and Choice is also mythical. It is not a political action committee registered with the Glendale City Clerk or the Arizona Secretary of State. Its existence is a figment of Schwartz’ imagination, as mythical as Schwartz’ self-proclaimed position as spokesperson.

So how did Schwartz get to be spokesperson and quoted in the media? Frankly, he was blustery and loud enough to attract a reporter’s attention. The Glendale Star was the first to give Schwartz credibility by saying, “After turning in what they claim is nearly 15,000 signatures protesting the city council’s vote to approve the West Valley Casino and Resort, a group called Glendale Citizens for Voice and Choice is hoping to have the question placed on the ballot for citizens to have their say.” Too bad no one bothered to fact check first. The referendum petitions signatures were collected by and turned in by No More Bad Deals for Glendale and Keep the Promise. Schwartz magically appeared the day the petitions were to be turned in to the City Clerk. Schwartz’ imaginary political action committee did not collect any petition signatures or turn them in. His only contribution to the effort was to hook up with the legitimate group and offer to carry two boxes of petitions into the City Clerk’s office.

Then Monica Alonzo in her Phoenix New Times blog capacity called Schwartz, self proclaimed leader who did not bother to disabuse her of the notion, and she ran with it saying, “A group calling itself ‘Glendale Citizens for Voice and Choice’ reportedly turned in more than 13,000 signatures on a ‘petition protesting the way the Glendale City Council approved the gaming Casino at 91st Avenue and Northern without notice to the citizenry’.”

It is now a self perpetuating story with no one bothering to check. After all, if one newspaper ran it, it must be true. Then the same misinformation is picked up by other media such as myfoxatlanta.com and yourwestvalley.com.  Again, no one bothered to check the facts and assumed that if another media source ran it, it must be true.

Should you believe what you read in the papers? This is but one example how they feed off one another and repeat the same erroneous information until it becomes “fact.” There are other errors within these stories covering the submission of these petitions but why bother giving them legs. The media, in a time honored tradition, will continue its questionable practice of covering events using unsubstantiated “facts.”

P.S. On September 18, 2014 the City Clerk announced that the city is rejecting both petitions citing the two council votes as administrative rather than legislative…meaning the actions are not referable to the voters. Expect this issue to wind up in court.

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Sep 14

17

Welcome to the Gila River Arena

Posted by Joyce Clark on September 17, 2014
Posted in Arizona Coyotes • Casino • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Gila River Arena • Glendale finances • Jobing.com arena  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

On September 9, 2014 at its regular council meeting the Glendale City Council approved a new name for its arena. It will now be known as the Gila River Arena. The following day there was a press conference to announce the name change. Anthony LeBlanc, one of the Coyotes’ owners was there; Gregory Mendoza, Governor of the Tribe was there; Jan Brewer, our state Governor was there; and Jerry Weiers, Mayor of Glendale was there.  Guess who wasn’t there? Our infamous “gang of four,” Councilmembers Alvarez, Sherwood, Hugh and Chavira. It’s perfectly understandable. After all, their allegiance is to the Tohono O’odham Nation. Alvarez was also the lone negative vote on the name change to Gila River. Instead she stubbornly questioned staff on the necessity of bringing the name change before council for ratification.  It appeared as if she questioned the action long enough and hard enough she could make the need for a council vote disappear. Didn’t happen. Apparently Norma’s love for minorities does not extend to the Gila River Community.

However, it’s not so strange a move. Gila River has been a long time partner of the Arizona Coyotes hosting the Gila River Club within the arena proper. If I were the Gila River I would be secretly smug and taking enormous satisfaction in the fact that their name will be prominently displayed across the street from their duplicitous sister tribe, the Tohono O’odham’s new casino.

Here’s a reminder that today, Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 2:30 PM Eastern time, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will have a legislative hearing on Senate bill 2670, Keep the Promise Act of 2014, introduced by Senators McCain and Flake. It can be viewed online live.  Panel One of the hearing will have Governor Mendoza of the Gila River Indian Community, Ned Norris Jr., Chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers and Glendale Councilmember Gary Sherwood. It should prove interesting as 2 champions of the casino face off against 2 opponents of the casino. Hopefully, the bill will move out of committee paving the way for a full senate vote.

Considering the fact that Glendale did not recoup its $14,002,055 (not a full fiscal year, prorated for 11 months) paid for the management fee and capital improvement fund and that you can add another $12 million for the arena construction debt, you would think Alvarez would welcome the new Gila River name and the 20% of the fee paid by Gila River to IceArizona. It will offset the approximately $20 million in arena costs, not by much, but every penny is welcome. A lot of Glendale’s residents are anxiously awaiting the audit of IceArizona’s budget and hope it is made public and put on the city’s website. If not, don’t be surprised if there are a lot of FOIA requests for a copy of the audit.

There was no council workshop on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 because there was not a quorum. How many of Glendale’s council is attending the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs legislative hearing today? I guess we’ll find out.

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Sep 14

14

Referability…what the heck is it?

Posted by Joyce Clark on September 14, 2014
Posted in Casino • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Jobing.com arena • Tohono O'odham  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

photo aOn September 12, 2014 two political action committees, No More Bad Deals for Glendale and Respect the Promise turned in approximately 15,000 petition signatures collected in 28 days for each of two referendum petitions. These petitions seek to overturn the city council votes of August 12, 2014 approving a settlement agreement with the Tohono O’odham and supporting the TO’s reservation status by requesting an election.

The approximately 15,000 petition signatures turned in is greater than the 10,914 Glendale citizens who exercised their right to vote in the recent Primary Election. That’s disconcerting. You would think that the number of petition signatures collected would send a strong message to this city council that Glendale residents want to weigh in on this issue by virtue of an election.

The Glendale City Clerk has 20 business days to do something, anything with the petitions before she turns them over to the Secretary of State. She is not an independent agent. She will be told what to do. Now it gets interesting. Wanna-be mayor, Councilmember Gary Sherwood was in attendance for the delivery of the petitions to the City Clerk. He could be heard muttering, the council votes of August 12th are not referable and these petitions are no more than toilet paper. You can be sure the “gang of four” (Sherwood, Alvarez, Hugh and Chavira) as the majority on council will give direction to the City Manager and City Attorney to reject these petitions. The City Attorney and his minions are burning the midnight oil to find Arizona case law that supports the city’s act of rejection. What does “not referable” mean? The city will take the position that the council votes were not legislation per se. Therefore the petitions which seek to refer those council actions to Glendale residents are not valid and thereby rejected by the city. Their position will be that those council votes were not legislative action and only legislation can be referred to the voters.

Make no mistake. Both groups, No More Bad Deals for Glendale and Respect the Promise are prepared to go to the legal mat on this issue of referability. If and when the city rejects the petitions on those grounds expect both groups to file suit. Isn’t it ironic that Alvarez and her merry band of pro casino councilmembers have complained bitterly about the money spent by the city on legal action when its position was in opposition to the casino and reservation? Will they decide not to spend money to defend the city’s position of petition rejection now that the city supports the casino and reservation? I guess the spending of taxpayer money on legal action depends on whose ox is being gored.

Alvarez, nearly every time she casts a “no” vote on a major city issue, can be heard pontificating that it is an issue upon which Glendale residents should vote. This time she has been amazingly silent in advocating that view when it comes to the casino and reservation. What, Norma, when it’s an issue you personally do not like it merits a vote of the people but when it is an issue that you do like, forget the people?

For those of you following this saga, this Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 2:30 PM, Eastern time (11:30 AM in Arizona) the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will hold a legislative hearing on Senate Bill 2670, Keep the Promise Act of 2014, introduced by Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake. Here is the link to the site where it can be viewed live, online:  http://www.indian.senate.gov/hearing/legislative-hearing-s-2670-keep-promise-act-2014 . If this link doesn’t work please copy and paste the link into your browser.

It appears that the bill could be marked up and passed out of committee for a full Senate vote. If that is the case and the bill is approved in the Senate there would be a House and Senate Conference Committee meeting to make sure the House version and Senate version of the bill are in agreement. It would then go to the President to sign or veto. If the bill were to be successful the Tohono O’odham, despite their ground breaking, would not be able to build a casino in Glendale or any other portion of the Phoenix Metro area.

On another note, to date the Attorney General’s Office is still investigating the alleged Open Meeting Law violation by Councilmembers Sherwood, Knaack, Martinez and Chavira. If the complaint had no merit we would have received that opinion by now. The fact that it is taking so long would lead one to assume that there is merit to the allegations. If that turns out to be the case, look for some kind of major sanction against Councilmember Sherwood and perhaps a minor sanction for the three others. I wouldn’t be surprised if the AG’s Office required another vote on the original IceArizona/City of Glendale Management Agreement. This, too, could prove interesting dependent upon which candidates win council seats at the General Election in November.

It looks like Councilmember Hugh has met with Lauren Tomachoff and Bart Turner. Tolmachoff is a candidate for the Cholla district seat and Turner is a candidate for the Barrel district seat. It seems Councilmember Hugh is busy trying to build his own coalition. It appears that he fancies a run against current Mayor Jerry Weiers. Hey, Jerry, watch out! It looks like they are starting to line up for a run against you…Sherwood and now, Ian Hugh. It wouldn’t be too surprising to see Councilmember Knaack (retiring in January, 2015) decide on a run for mayor. Being part of a clearly dysfunctional council is no fun but perhaps becoming mayor is.

A lot is riding on this Attorney General Office’s investigation. It could kill any mayoral ambitions of both Sherwood and Knaack. It’s rather difficult to win the support of the Glendale electorate if you have been found to have violated the law. Just when you thought Glendale’s problems were cooling down, they’ve heated up again. As President Truman once said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I wonder if the Glendale city council loves the kitchen heat now.

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Sep 14

12

The fat lady hasn’t sung…yet

Posted by Joyce Clark on September 12, 2014
Posted in Casino • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances • Glendale zoning issues • Tohono O'odham  | Tagged With: , , , , , | 2 Comments

NOMOREBADDEALS-talkingpoints_Page_1Today, Friday, September 12, 2014 at 1 PM two Political Action Committees (PACs), NO MORE BAD DEALS FOR GLENDALE and RESPECT THE PROMISE, chaired by local resident Gary Hirsch, will turn in to the Glendale City Clerk approximately 15,000 signatures in opposition to the Glendale City Council’s recent votes regarding the Tohono O’odham (TO) casino. The minimum number of signatures required by law on each measure is 6,956 and the PACs have far surpassed that number by almost double. Expect the city to fight them with every fiber of its being by declaring the council votes to be “administrative actions” not subject to referral to the voters. Expect after that to see the issue wind up in the courts. On August 12, 2014 at its regular city council meeting the council approved two actions related to the Tohono O’odham.  Agenda item 36 by council’s majority vote (Alvarez, Sherwood, Hugh and Chavira) approved a settlement (read contract) with the TO. The settlement terms are embarrassing. The deal is so bad it’s as if the council had accepted a dollar from the TO and called it good. One of the petitions being submitted this afternoon is for the purpose of bringing the settlement before Glendale voters to accept or reject. In agenda item 37 the city council voted in the affirmative to support the creation of an Indian reservation. This action is the cherry on top of the cake for the TO. They need Glendale’s support desperately to show the Feds that the host city within which the reservation is located is in favor of their action. The second petition seeks to bring before the Glendale voters the majority vote of council (Alvarez, Sherwood, Hugh and Chavira) that supports a reservation within Glendale’s boundaries. All of these council votes are for the benefit of a Tribe that:

  • Violated a 2000 agreement signed by 16 state Tribal leaders, including the Tohono O’odham, vowing “to strive for a good-faith cooperative relationship between and among themselves.”
  • Created a corporation  in 2000 chartered by the TO actively seeking land in the Phoenix Metro area for the “possibility of doing a casino” prior to the 2002 statewide vote on the Gaming Compact.
  • Looked it sister Tribal leaders in the face and lied to them.
  • Actively promoted and financially contributed to the campaign in support of Proposition 202, the Tribal Gaming Compact, promising voters that there would be no new casinos in the Phoenix Metro area.
  • Actively participated in the election campaigns of sitting councilmembers who voted for these agenda items through the TO’s independent expenditures for campaign mailers in support of these council persons. Expect them to do the same in this election cycle. These four elected officials owe the TO and they know it.

These majority council votes by Alvarez, Sherwood, Hugh and Chavira stink to high heaven. Were these four elected officials acting in the best interests of Glendale? You can decide for yourselves but I think not. If and when these council votes come before you, the voter, you will have an opportunity to reject these council votes and send a strong message to these councilmembers that “back door” deals will not be tolerated. There are still actions that have not been settled…legal decisions not yet rendered and legislation introduced by Senators McCain and Flake awaiting a full Senate vote up or down. The Tohono O’odham are making a million dollar bet that nothing will stop them. They could end up losing that bet. Remember, it’s not over until the fat lady sings and she hasn’t sung…yet. © Joyce Clark, 2014 FAIR USE NOTICE This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Sep 14

11

Water, water everywhere

Posted by Joyce Clark on September 11, 2014
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lately the hot button issue for Glendale has been the topic of irrigation of Glendale’s original town site. Before we delve into the issue, a little Irrigation 101 is necessary. Glendale residents have 3 primary water sources. It has a system of ground wells from which it pumps water. It also gets a portion of its water from Salt River Project (SRP). SRP water territory covers from approximately the middle of Glendale, all of south Glendale and west Glendale. Glendale also gets its water from the Central Arizona Project (CAP). CAP’s water territory is from the middle of Glendale, north of SRP territory, and all of north Glendale. CAP water is very, very expensive. It’s about 15 times the cost of an SRP acre foot of water. Why? CAP water comes from the Colorado River allotment to the state of Arizona. CAP rate payers are not just paying for the water but for the relatively recent construction of the delivery system from the Colorado River – hundreds of miles of canal and the delivery pipes from the canal system.

I live on a street of 30 homes of an acre or better. We get SRP irrigation. When we bought our home 16 years ago, I immediately contacted SRP and set up an irrigation account with them. Water rights in the West are sacred. They often run with the land and are worth their weight in gold.  We have at least a dozen citrus trees and another dozen shade trees on our back property. They could not survive without irrigation water for we could not afford their upkeep if we had to use city water. Our SRP water irrigation bill is about $110 a year. It’s a veritable bargain.

The irrigation process itself is quite simple. I used to physically and periodically go to the SRP irrigation board and sign up for my water allotment delivery. During the summer water is delivered every 2 weeks. During the winter it is once a month. There is one month, usually January, that we receive no water when SRP shuts the canal system down for annual maintenance.

Nowadays, my water allotment is all done by computer. I fill out my request online once a year and check the option of having the allotment be the same every time. Then SRP sends me an email notice a week prior to the delivery date, telling me the day, date and time of my water delivery. When the water is delivered it is our responsibility to go to our gate and open it up and after the water is received, shut it down. We have no choice in the time of water delivery. We have gotten water, for example, at 2 AM. 80% of the time, it is delivered during daylight hours.

SRP regulations require us to maintain the private portion of the delivery pipe system. That means SRP delivers the water to a central location for our street and the water pipe that runs underground from home to home is private and not SRP’s responsibility to maintain. If there is a problem with our private portion SRP will notify everyone on our street and request that it be repaired before it makes any further water deliveries. It’s only happened twice in the past 16 years. Everyone on the street puts money in the kitty and we either hire someone to repair the system or do it ourselves. In the two previous instances we were able to do the repair ourselves.  

So, why all the fussin’ and feudin’ about Glendale town site irrigation water? I guess a little Glendale history is in order. I don’t pretend to know the entire history but I do know just enough, I guess, to get me into trouble. Glendale was incorporated in 1912. It was a small, rural, farming community.  All of the farmers lived in and around the original town site. Water was their life blood. All of Glendale’s elected officials came from in and around the town site. It was logical to them to have their town maintain and operate their SRP water delivery system and it remained so for many years. For years, until 1990, Glendale’s elected officials came from a small, concentrated downtown area. In 1990, the voters of Glendale adopted a district system of representation. Then the SRP water delivery system lost its priority. Now there were people from middle and north Glendale who were not within SRP territory and could care less about irrigation in old town Glendale.

Yet the city remained responsible for the maintenance and operation of the SRP water delivery system for “old” Glendale. It paid lip service to that commitment. It performed minimal repairs on the delivery system and hired a “Zanjero” (water master) to open and close the water gates throughout the system. Irrigation customers in that area pay higher rates than we do because they pay for the Zanjero and maintenance of the entire system.

Glendale’s deliberate inattention to the system caused many irrigation users to drop off and today there are only about 300 users on the system. Glendale would like to extract itself from this irrigation system in its entirety. The current users sense that this is Glendale’s goal and they are anxious. They want to get the word out to residents who could use the irrigation but do not currently do so. They want more users and more voices to preserve and protect their water delivery system.

Frankly, they are getting a good deal. No wonder they want it to continue. They never have to get up in the middle of the night to open a water gate and they never have to worry about repairing a water pipe. Perhaps there is a solution out there. If it satisfies no one it’s probably a good compromise. The city should finally invest in making the repairs needed for a healthy water delivery system and have it certified by an independent party that the system is in good, working order. Then and only then, it should turn that system over to the users. The users should then set up their individual accounts with SRP and be prepared to open/close their own gates and to bear the costs of repair when required. It gets the city out of the irrigation business and it returns individual control to the irrigation users who end up paying far less annually for their irrigation water. So there is water, water everywhere. The question is who should be responsible for the delivery system and its maintenance?

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Aug 14

28

Chutzpah

Posted by Joyce Clark on August 28, 2014
Posted in Casino • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale zoning issues • Tohono O'odham  | Tagged With: , , , | 4 Comments

On August 28, 2014 the Tohono O’odham broke ground for their casino WITHIN Glendale. I love the way some people not only rewrite history but change geographical boundaries. All of the expected players were there…members of the Nation, Tohono O’odham vendors and contractors (and wanna bes) on the project, a few West Valley elected officials, and of course the infamous 4 Glendale Councilmember supporters – Alvarez, Hugh, Sherwood and Chavira. There was a by-invitation-only gathering at the Renaissance Hotel prior to the ground breaking and only the most ardent were invited.

Norma was positively giddy during the entire event and proudly strutted around with her ceremonial walking stick. Sherwood was there acting in his capacity as pseudo-mayor of Glendale. Hugh and Chavira were…just there. From reports of a few who attended, it was a sight to behold.

But…hold on a minute. Isn’t there still legal action not yet decided? Doesn’t the Tohono O’odham still have to get gaming permits from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior? Isn’t there a bill introduced by Senators McCain and Flake yet to be approved or denied by the Senate? Yes…to all.

Even Councilmember Martinez’ reading of a letter at the last council meeting in opposition to the casino penned by former Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs held no sway with anyone…then or now.  

The Tohono O’odham are making a bet that nothing stands in their way to stop their project. What more could one expect from a casino operator who relies on your losing bets every single day? That’s chutzpah.

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Aug 14

27

You get what you vote for

Posted by Joyce Clark on August 27, 2014
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The 2014 Glendale Primary Election is now history and as expected there will be runoffs in all three Council districts – Cholla, Barrel and Ocotillo. How did the candidates fare?

In Cholla District the vote totals were:

  • Lauren Tolmachoff                    1,751
  • Gary Deardorff                         1,428
  • Robert Petrone                            531
  • Van DiCarlo                                400

Congratulations to Gary Deardorff and Lauren Tolmachoff who will face each other in the Glendale General Election in November. I will confess to being somewhat of a numbers nerd. Let’s dig a little deeper into the Cholla District.

  • Total number of Early Votes Cast                 3,467
  • Total number of Poll Votes Cast                      643
  • Total number of Votes Cast                         4,110
  • Total number of Registered Voters              20,549

Lauren Tolmachoff garnered 8.5% of the total number of registered voters in the Cholla district. Twenty percent (20%) or 4, 110 of all the Cholla district registered voters bothered to vote. The rest of the candidate field took even smaller percentages of all the voters in this district.

Let’s look at the Barrel District:

  • Bart Turner                                862
  • Randy Miller                               831
  • Reginald Martinez                       660
  • Michael Patino                            439
  • John Benjamin                           263

Congratulations to Bart Turner and Randy Miller who will face each other in the Glendale General Election in November. Here’s how the numbers shake out for the Barrel district.

  • Total number of Early Votes Cast                2,443
  • Total number of Poll Votes Cast                     612
  • Total number of Votes Cast                        3,055
  • Total number of Registered Voters            16,457

Bart Turner captured 5% of the total number of registered voters in the Barrel district. Eighteen percent (18%) or 3,055 of all the Barrel district registered voters bothered to vote. The rest of the field took smaller percentages of all of the voters in this district.

Lastly, there is the Ocotillo District:

  • Norma Alvarez                        503
  • Jamie Aldama                         406
  • Bud Zomok                             225
  • Michael Hernandez                  158

Congratulations to Norma Alvarez and Jamie Aldama who will face each other in the Glendale General Election in November. Here are the numbers for the Ocotillo district.

  • Total number of Early Votes Cast                    1,031
  • Total number of Poll Votes Cast                         261
  • Total number of Votes Cast                            1,292
  • Total number of Registered Voters                  8,619

Norma Alvarez took 5% of the total number of registered voters in the Ocotillo district. Nine percent (9%) of all the Ocotillo district registered voters bothered to vote. The rest of the field took smaller percentages of all of the voters in this district.

These figures should be dismaying and disappointing. There are 45,625 registered voters in these three districts. Out of that number a total of 8,457 voted. That’s 18% of all of the registered voters in these districts. 82% of the electorate were so disengaged or didn’t care enough to vote.

There you have it. Voter choices will be among: an incumbent – Alvarez; community activists – Turner and Aldama; and 3 business people – Miller, Deardorff and Tolmachoff. Let’s hope, although do not count on it, that the voter turnout is better than during the primary. The primary vote totals are scary. It is not just your right to vote. It is your obligation. There are many people throughout the world who wish they had the very right so many callously squander. Remember, dear voter, you get what you vote (or don’t bother to vote) for.

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Aug 14

25

Feel free to post on your blog

Posted by Joyce Clark on August 25, 2014
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials  | Tagged With: , , | 2 Comments

Anon Ltr to Fischer

Anonymous letter to City Manager Fischer and City Council

Do you save stuff? I do. I save comments on timely issues, photos of ideas that someday I may be able to accomplish…all kinds of stuff. Lately the cleaning bug hit and I have been tackling a stack of “stuff.”

I ran across this letter. It was sent in December, 2013 to City Manager Brenda Fischer, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, the Glendale City Council, the Arizona Republic and the Glendale Star. I received it in January, 2014. Unfortunately, it ended up in my stack of “stuff” where it has resided until today. I always meant to post it but obviously it disappeared into a morass of papers, never to see the light of day, until now.

It was sent anonymously. When there is a complaint from an unnamed source no agency will address the complaint.  Hence there would be no action and no follow-up taken regarding its contents. It is obviously written by current employees. I understand their fear and their reluctance to come forward and be identified for their very jobs would be on the line. They appear to have a lot of “inside baseball” information. It’s a shame that they did not provide any proof of their allegations. This blog has repeatedly shared that Ms. Frisoni was part of former City Manager Ed Beasley’s inner circle. One of the councilmembers (I no longer remember who) had publicly called out Councilmember Sherwood’s unseemly advocacy of Mr. Fischer’s candidacy during the council’s hiring process. I had been aware for years that Beasley held rehearsals of council meetings with staff taking the roles of various councilmembers. I was always curious as to who they used to play me. There appears to be a lot of “meat on the bones” of their allegations. Too bad there’s no concrete proof to substantiate them. They do make an interesting point and that is, Ms. Fischer encouraged employees to be anonymous and take their concerns to the media or the AG’s office, knowing full well that as anonymous complaints they would go nowhere. Mmmm…

Here is the text of their letter verbatim:

“Dear Ms. Fischer:

“As long time Glendale employees, we had high hopes when you were hired. We had hoped that the years of paranoia, suspicion and fear from the city manager’s office was over. It was not long after you started that we realized the reign would continue with a new face and some old ones. Your move to evaluate (sic) Julie Frisoni to acting assistant city manager was the start. You had to know that Julie Frisoni was one of Ed Beasley’s most trusted and loyal cohorts. How else would someone of her inadequate experience and limited education ever get hired. She was in on every deceptive move Ed every (sic) made. She sat in on every council meeting rehearsal, including those that are the focus of the recent audit. She knew everything!

“It wasn’t until we started to pull the pieces of the puzzle together that we uncovered why you will soon be making Julie your permanent assistant city manager. So we are accepting your offer to ‘go around management’, ‘go to the Attorney General’s Office anonymously’, or ‘anonymously informing the media, to put some public pressure’ on an issue.

“We know Councilmember Gary Sherwood met with you privately during your hiring process, which is a clear violation of common Human Resources practices. We know he was reprimanded by the city attorney’s office for secretly talking with you and advancing your application through the process. We know he put you in touch with Ms. Frisoni, who was a major, yet stealthy, player in his council election. We know the reason you promoted Ms. Frisoni was because Councilmember Sherwood asked you in exchange for his help in getting you hired. We know she is your closest confidant because Gary Sherwood surreptitiously used her to feed you information during your hiring process. We know her promotion is a ‘payback’ for insider information during your hiring. We know Ms. Frisoni was aware of and involved in Ed Beasley’s directives that led to the trust fund transfers. We know Ms. Frisoni was involved in the secret council meeting rehearsals with staff in which she used her media background to coach staff how to avoid answering questions from the mayor and council.  We know the reason the Arizona Cardinals and the Super Bowl Host committee are penalizing Glendale is because they refuse to work with Ms. Frisoni because of the years Ed Beasley, Craig Tindall and Julie undermined the city’s relationship with the team. We know Ms. Frisoni could have helped those that the audit focused on but because she was not in the spotlight she cowardly choose (sic) to protect her own skin which simply shows the type of person she has become. We know Ms. Frisoni and media relations team spent years misleading the media, including the Glendale Star and the Arizona Republic. We know Bill Toops repeatedly complained about Ms. Frisoni’s inability and unwillingness to release information through the public records process. We know Ed Beasley and Julie Frisoni helped to cover for Alma Carmichael as she ‘telecommuted’ from Mississippi and Art Lynch as he bleed (sic) the city for his own personal benefit. We know Julie Frisoni mislead former Mayor Elaine Scruggs and former and current councilmembers to cover for Ed Beasley’s crimes. We also know this letter will not deter you from promoting Julie Frisoni but perhaps it will make you wonder how someone with Julie’s immoral history will ever help you to become an effective city manager with Glendale employees, businesses and residents.

“We don’t know, but do hope, that both the Arizona Republic and the Glendale Star will print this letter because you asked Glendale employees to come forward anonymously and that is what we are doing.

“Ms. Fischer, we are dedicated employees who can’t afford to take your suggestion to resign if we don’t like it in Glendale so we have elected to follow your advice and make our voices heard to the media, the Attorney General’s Office and the Glendale City Council.

“We had high hopes for a new administration, but with Julie Frisoni as your side, it’s simply more of the same fear mongering, backstabbing, council destabilizing and anxiety riddled days that we have known for so long and learned in which to survive.

“Signed,

“Anonymous (as requested by you)

“CC: Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Glendale City Council, The Arizona Republic, The Glendale Star”

I don’t know if I would have expected the media to print an anonymous letter but aren’t you curious why, 8 months later, the media has not investigated any of these allegations? My apology to “Anonymous” for not blogging on this sooner…much, much sooner. My only advice would be to put “some meat on those bones.”

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Aug 14

24

One more time

Posted by Joyce Clark on August 24, 2014
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials  | Tagged With: , , , , | 5 Comments

I votedThis Tuesday, August 26, 2014 voters will go to the polls and vote for the candidates of their choice. If you don’t vote then you are part of the problem and have lost the right to complain about your representative. Glendale’s three district elections are quite important and could determine Glendale’s future for many years to come.

Let’s focus on the Ocotillo district for a moment. Choices are current Councilmember Norma Alvarez; a more polished and slicker version of Alvarez, Jamie Aldama; Michael Hernandez, nearly invisible; and Bud Zomok.

On August 13, 2014 I received a voice message from Councilmember Alvarez. In the space of 62 seconds she managed to call me a liar three times, reminded me I am only an ex-councilmember and then invited me to a verbal duel, of sorts. She suggested we meet and bring “seconds” as witnesses or perhaps the purpose of the “second” would be to drag one of our mangled bodies off the field of verbal combat. As I have said before, one of my favorite sayings is, I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

Ocotillo residents need a strong, sane voice of reasonable representation. Two candidates, Alvarez and Aldama, seem to have their own agendas that are often not in sync with ALL of the residents of the Ocotillo district. For that reason and many more, I urge Ocotillo voters to select Bud Zomok.

Please note there are two picks for the Cholla district and the Sahuaro district. As stated previously, with so many candidates in each district, it is not anticipated that any candidate will capture 50% plus 1 in the Primary Election this Tuesday. This blog’s picks for the three districts are as follows:

Cholla District

  • Van DiCarlo
  • Lauren Tolmachoff

Barrel District

  • Randy Miller
  • Bart Turner

Ocotillo District

  • Bud Zomok

Good luck to all of the candidates who put themselves before the public.

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Aug 14

16

Remember…

Posted by Joyce Clark on August 16, 2014
Posted in Casino • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Tohono O'odham  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

On August 14, 2014 two referendum petition packets were taken out for the purpose of obtaining Glendale residents’ signatures. If successful, the two actions taken by the Glendale City Council at its meeting on August 12, 2014 will be decided in an election by the people…as it should be. Glendale’s City Attorney, Michael Bailey, said publicly that neither council vote is referable. In other words, no one can take out a petition to try to overturn the council votes. The Tribal attorneys believe it is referable. When the signed petitions are turned in expect Glendale to reject them. Expect a law suit resulting in yet another judicial decision about Glendale’s ultimate fate.

Here is the text of the first referendum action. It seeks to overturn the council’s vote welcoming a reservation and casino within Glendale: “The Tohono O’Odham casino, targeted for a Glendale neighborhood near homes, schools, daycares and houses of worship, will destroy neighborhoods and create severe budget stress for the nearly bankrupt City, overburdening Glendale’s public safety, street and infrastructure. This petition seeks to refer the August 12, 2014 Glendale City Council vote to agree to the creation of a 121-acre Indian reservation at 91st and Northern avenues. A “no” vote on this referral will overturn the Council’s decision to support a reservation and a casino and respect the NO casino promise, protecting City residents and the Glendale’s budget and core services.”

The second referendum petition seeks to overturn the council approved agreement between the City of Glendale and the Tohono O’odham: “The Tohono O’Odham casino, targeted for a Glendale neighborhood near homes, schools, daycares and house of worship, will destroy neighborhoods and create severe budget stress for the nearly bankrupt City, overburdening Glendale’s public safety, streets and infrastructure. This petition seeks to refer the August 12, 2014 Glendale City Council vote to sign a settlement agreement with the Tohono O’odham Nation in support of the Tribe’s neighborhood casino. A “no” vote on this referral will overturn the Council’s pro-casino decision and respect the NO casino promise, protecting City residents and the Glendale’s budget and core services.”

The pro casino people have already begun their campaign of ridicule and denigration of the referendum petition effort saying, “it’s all about money…the other Tribes do not want the competition of another casino.” Of course it’s about the money. Everyone has their hand in the money pot…the Tohono O’odham, the City of Glendale and the other Tribes.

To accept that their referendum effort is ONLY about “the money” is simplistic, self-serving and makes for great PR but misses the mark. There is a greater imperative for the Gila River Indian Community, the Salt River-Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and all of the Tribes across the state supporting efforts of these two lead Tribes.

As President of the Salt River-Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Diane Enos, said, “They looked us in the face and lied.”  She is referring to the Tohono O’odham, a member of the coalition of Tribes that negotiated the gaming compact with the state. The TO actively and publicly worked to get voters of the state to approve the compact while deliberately keeping from its Sister Tribes its ultimate plan to put a casino in the Phoenix Metro Area. In fact, it contributed a great deal of money to publicize and to advance the compact with the state’s voters.

The Tohono O’odham lied to its Sister Tribes. It betrayed them. Why? For the money. The Tohono O’odham lied to the State and to every voter who approved the gaming compact. Why? For the money. But somehow for the pro casino supporters that’s supposed to be OK?

Why is the TO’s action simply ignored by the pro casino supporters? For the money.  For all of the Tribes throughout Arizona it is a matter of honor, respect and trust…all of which the TO deliberately chose to betray. That is the real reason the Tribes are driven to oppose the Tohono O’odham’s plans.

If an opportunity to vote on the Tohono O’odham’s casino plans do make it to a Glendale ballot that is what the voters of Glendale should remember. “They looked us in the face and lied.”

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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