Carefree citizen survey recap
Another 'Special Meeting' and executive session on June 16 at 5 p.m. This 'spend it 'til its gone group' are zeroing in on an item that has had no support from anyone. Last estimate we saw was for +$300K. I feel it is time to consider a recall in Carefree.
Jim Van Allen (JVA)
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From: JVA
To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Sent: 6/12/2015 11:06:27 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time
Subj: Fwd: Citizen Survey Recap
You simply can not vote to use our reserves for this favorite project of Melissa’s. 80 percent or more of the residents and business owners have said NO WAY. Anyone who tries to 'sell' this under Economic Development should have their head examined. Look at the survey data yourself.
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From: JVA
Sent: 6/12/2015 10:51:13 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time
Subj: Citizen Survey Recap
Three Surveys were sent out. The second one, Page 7, Question 10 asked "What improvements would you like to see in the Town Center?" 329 responders.
ONLY 15% favored a "splash pad" – 85% DID NOT.
The third survey was for business owners. Page 9. Question 16 asked the owners the same question. ONLY 12% of the 43 responders were in favor...of a splash pad. 88% VOTED NO.
AND, this was long before the cost of this item could be as high as $300,000.
AND, Mayor Schwan, on May 7, 2013 sent an email to L. Fulmer as to the issue. He said: "The splash pad is intended to be funded by grants and/or donations not tax revenues. If they do not come in then the expenses will not occur."
This email was copied to Betsy and Gary.
The previous Mayor and Town Councils have refused to add a Splash Pad to the annual budgets. For good reasons.
If they approve this item now, they should be RECALLED.
Jim Van Allen
Carefree
Street repair
How deep do the potholes on the main drag (Cave Creek Road) need to get before they get repaired? How deep do the potholes need to get on secondary streets and roads before they are repaired? The condition of Cave Creek Road, beyond the fact that most of the pavement markings are gone, is embarrassing and damaging while thousands of scarce tax dollars are being spent resealing roads with little or no traffic. Please don’t tell me again you are just following the infamous ‘pavement plan’.
Bob Williams
Cave Creek
Don,
I found the bullshit piece editorial interesting.
(In fact, no disrespect is intended.)
You write well.
And it's good discourse about an issue of importance to our citizens.
You write, "...avoid a property tax and this has become a point of pride for Cave Creek citizens.”
Bullshit!"
Not bullshit at all. You trashed me for voting to send the issue of community fire coverage (yes, property tax) to the citizens. You were right.
As far as I am concerned, "no property tax" is an icon of this town.
You're starting to sound like a Democrat!
Best to Shari Jo.
Cheers,
Tom McGuire
Cave Creek Town Council member
Carefree Gateway signs
I find it hard to believe that travelers coming into Carefree have a hard time realizing just where they've ended up, unless they are significantly visually impaired. Driving north on Tom Darlington, you are greeted by a large, illuminated, natural stone sign in a beautiful arrangement of cacti announcing the town and its elevation. A bit up the road, there is the large Carefree Marketplace sign at the entrance to Bashas’ plaza and a few hundred feet past there, one will find the Town's name displayed in back-lit letters on the roundabout near the banks. Similar signage occurs on the roundabout at Cave Creek Road and East Carefree Drive. This is in addition to the numerous signs posted on the main roads announcing the various shops and businesses in the Sundial Plaza. And lets not forget the miniature sundial signs and Carefree's name on all the street signs. In the past few years, the visual pollution from signage has increased exponentially.
People already know where they are when they get here. The challenge is figuring out how to fill the vacant storefronts in Town to make more people want to come here. And bigger signs won't accomplish that.
Bob Lefebvre
Carefree
Lobbyists in control
According to 2007 and 2013 Gallup polls, lobbying is the most despised profession. Lobbyists are ranked below lawyers, used car salesmen, and even politicians. While generally despised, lobbyists are perhaps still not loathed as much as they should be. The typical citizen probably thinks of lobbyists as somewhat shady characters lurking about the halls of government offering free lunches and campaign contributions. On occasion, a lobbyist will cross the line and attempt to buy an important vote directly. Then, there is a flurry of news stories about the scandal, after which lobbyists quietly go back to their dirty business. If citizens fully understood the current role of lobbyists in government, they would probably despise lobbyists even more than they do.
Lobbyists are not just promoting special interests around the edges of government. They are actually embedded in government. They participate in the functions of government in every way possible, from helping politicians get elected to advising and manipulating them once elected. Lobbyists actually participate in the legislative and administrative processes and sometimes even write bills.
The problem can become particularly acute in states, such as Arizona, that have term limits. Under those circumstances, the senators, representatives and governors come and go, but he lobbyists stay. There is no term limit on lobbying, and lobbyists can collectively become a shadow government that chooses candidates, gets them elected, and manipulates them once in office. Outnumbering legislatures by over 30 to 1, they can overwhelm the legislative process. Eventually, they can obstruct the will of the people as they choose.
In 2015, recent Arizona Senate Bill 1200 provided an unfortunate example. The budget neutral bill had broad public support because it would have restored a popular K-12 science education program at absolutely no additional cost to taxpayers. All it did was transfer existing resources from a state agency that was wasting them to one that was willing and able to use them productively. Citizens contacted their senators and representatives supporting the bill, and the legislature responded to the will of the people. SB1200 received 83 yes votes out of a possible 90. There were only 5 no votes, and 2 absences. A senator not able to be present for the vote was a strong supporter, so there were only a maximum of only 6 legislatures out of 90 that opposed the bill. Concerned citizens also communicated with the Governor’s office in support of the bill. There were 1376 communications in support of the bill and only 5 against.
In spite of the obvious will of the people, SB1200 was vetoed. Lobbyists with access to the Governor’s staff were able to kill the bill. They prefer an alternate use for the state resources involved. They want a reception center for lobbyists and politicians rather than a K-12 science education program.
SB1200 was very minor bill relative to the overall scope of state government. How many major bills do lobbyists kill as they override the will of the people and subvert the basic functions of democracy?
Dick Zimmermann
Tempe
The world of bike lanes
Stacey Bridges-Denzak and Gary made their brief presentation at the end of a three-and-a-half hour meeting. No one listened, only I asked a question. I asked them to forward the slides and photos.
The awful highlights are: we will lose a lot of our medians; we will lose most of our plants/trees; there will be long stretches of one lane only traffic; the bike lanes will be 5' wide on each side; the present lanes are 13 to 14 ft. wide ... they will be narrowed to 11 ft. each. Many of the turn lanes and acceleration lanes will go away. The two roundabouts, and the greats signs on them will go away … along with landscape.
All of this to accommodate safety for a hundred or so bikes A WEEK and at the expense of about 7,000 cars A DAY. And the total bill when a few extras are added will be $4,000,000 and take 6-7 months.
None of this includes any sidewalks or on street parking. That will be the next shoe to drop … and cost the two towns another $5,000,000 by the time it’s all done.
And they keep talking about the economic value. At 3% sales tax it will take over $300,000,000 in new revenue break even on the $9 million.
In the 11 years I worked the streets of Cave Creek and Carefree I recall one serious and a couple minor accidents with bikes. AND it was always the bikes that were the cause.
This is the worst 'boondoggle' I have ever seen.
Jim Van Allen
Carefree
Support the library through planned giving
As a supporter of the Desert Foothills Library you have stepped forward to help assure that the Library has the financial and volunteer resources to keep on providing our community with the very best in traditional and emerging library services.
Fortunately there is an opportunity for you to continue that support when you are gone and that is remembering the Library in your estate plan. Just imagine the impact that would flow to the Library if present day supporters were to continue to have a part in seeing to it that individuals in our community, no matter what their economic situation, had access to a broad range of intellectual and knowledge based resources. Adults, children and people of all ages would continue to benefit from an individuals ongoing generosity ... now that is a legacy worth aspiring to.
Please join me in including the Desert Foothills Library in your estate plan. If you have already done so, we thank you. If you need more information talk to your accountant or financial advisor, or feel free to contact me at 480-488-7490 for further information.
Together we can help to assure that future generations will be able to Discover, Connect and
Belong at the Desert Foothills Library.
Sincerely,
Jon P. Coates
Chair, Planned Giving
Visit dfla.org/eventpdf/Planned_Giving_Final.pdf
Please join us in praying for America!
On Sunday, June 28, 2015, a growing number of faithful Christians will be on their knees across America, praying for our nation. To join this movement, visit Call2Fall.com and click "I'm in." When you do, you will see your first name and state pop up on the front page of the website.
Several years ago, Tony Perkins was challenged by an elderly Christian lady to use his influence to call our nation to "our knees" in prayer (see 2 Chron. 7:14). That same day Tony read about a call to prayer issued by the Continental Congress in 1775. That call resulted in 3 million colonial Americans gathering on their knees in repentant prayer for our troubled, fledgling country. That day was the beginning of Call2Fall.
Please watch our short video about the first prayer in the Continental Congress. Many of our Founding Fathers were moved to tears and to greater dependence on God as they faced grave uncertainty on the eve of war with Great Britain. May we, too, humble ourselves in prayer before God in this pivotal year for our nation!
Forward the video to your pastor and ask if your church could set aside a few minutes in your June28th worship services to pray for our nation. There are many church-friendly tools and resources like this brief video on our website, that can help your church have a meaningful Call2Fall.
In fact, we are partnering with the National Day of Prayer, the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, Intercessors for America, Capitol Hill Prayer Partners and many others which are collaborating to call America to pray. Call2Fall is uniquely the church-based, worship-service focused part of the effort. We are on Facebook and Twitter, so a couple of ways you can help is by posting a message on your Facebook page or Tweeting about the Call2Fall. So please help us spread the word.
This year will be the 7th Call2Fall and over 2 million have responded in churches in all 50 states. Join us in declaring our national dependence upon the Lord on Sunday, June 28th. If enough Americans will unite in humble, repentant prayer, I am trusting that God will hear our prayers, forgive our sin, and heal our land (2 Chron.7:14).
Sincerely,
Lt. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin
(US Army-Ret.)
Executive Vice President
Be present on Father's Day
Sadly, too many Americans are growing up without the presence of a father. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 24 million children live in biological-absent father homes.
The positive impacts of having dad around are numerous such as better social-emotional and academic functioning and fewer behavioral problems. Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor. In 2011, 12 percent of children in married-couple families were living in poverty, compared to 44 percent of children in mother-only families.*
Youths in father-absent households had significantly higher odds of incarceration than those in mother-father families. Youths who never had a father in the household experienced the highest odds.
A study using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study revealed that in many cases the absence of a biological father contributes to increased risk of child maltreatment. The results suggest that Child Protective Services agencies have some justification in viewing the presence of a social father as increasing children's risk of abuse and neglect. It is believed that in families with a non-biological father figure, there is a higher risk of abuse and neglect to children, despite the social father living in the household or only dating mother. *
Other problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, childhood obesity and struggling with Education are also associated statistically with children who live in father-absent homes.
Obviously there are cases where children have done very well. Statistically it has not been the norm.
I'm glad mom and dad didn't abort me and I'm glad they stayed together. Looking back I know it took both of them working very hard to raise five children. My dad was not perfect but there are many good things I can say about him. I wish he were still alive so I could say, "Happy Father's Day."
I have had a lot of good mentors over the years. Mentors can do and be a lot. However, it's tough to replace a father.
One of my sons has been with me the last few days. We've been on the basketball court a few times. We've sat on the back porch and chatted late at night. As always we have shared a lot of meals and spent time hanging out. On Father's Day he will head out to his next military assignment. We will stand in the airport and hug farewell. I will tell him I am so proud of him and love him. I will wave goodbye until he disappears on the other side of the security gate. I will then call my other military son to tell him essentially the same thing.
Be quick on the visits and the telephone this Father's Day. Regardless if you are the child or parent, the present is what we have and absence must be a thing of the past.
• Thanks to the National Fatherhood Initiative for providing statistics and data shared in this article
• Thanks to "CPS Involvement in Families with Social Fathers." Fragile Families Research Brief No.46. Princeton, NJ and New York, NY: Bendheim-Thomas Center for Research on Child Wellbeing and Social Indicators Survey Center, 2010.
Glenn Mollette
American Syndicated Columnist and Author. He is the author of eleven books and read in all fifty states
Hillary Clinton
With presidential candidate Hillary Clinton having made her first campaign speech last weekend, I'm reminded of these words of wisdom spoken by Blessed Mother Teresa at the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast with Hillary Clinton in attendance:
"Many people are very, very concerned with the children of India, with the children of Africa where quite a few die of hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned about all the violence in this great country of the United States. These concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned with the millions who are being killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is what is the greatest destroyer of peace today--abortion which brings people to such blindness."
Well, apparently these words haven't converted Hillary Clinton regarding her belief that abortion is a "right." Mother Teresa also said at the same speech, "Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching it people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion."
So a President Hillary Clinton cannot possibly bring peace in our nation or in the world so long as she has apparently fallen for the lie that abortion is a "right." Peace and abortion are not compatible!
*Source for quotes: Brochure distributed by Priests for Life *
Sincerely,
Michael Rachiele
Prairie Village, Kansas
