Road closures
Since this Council, with the exception of Mark and I, have voted that the present Town Manager, in his sole discretion can continue to provide free parking for biker's on the Citizen's public streets so that Biker Bars can profit from subletting the required parking to out of Town concessionaires who have a notorious history of not reporting sales tax income to the Town, and since our Trenk/Glassman holdover Town Manager, in my experience, has evidenced no interest in engaging the solidarity, and volunteerism of resident citizens of this Town, but rather has adopted and is furthering at every turn a narrow "Biker Town" vision for Cave Creek;
You, and the rest of this community, just need to accept the fact that it has been decided by a Majority of this Council that this issue is now a "non-council" matter. Specifically, it has been decided that this is not a policy decision that should be brought to Council.
Yes Citizens continue to die on our streets, traffic jams are awful, but that is apparently viewed as necessary collateral damage that naturally occurs in furthering the "Biker Town" vision for Cave Creek that our Town Manager and the Majority of this Council apparently support. The only credible survey ever done on this issue confirms that 85% of Cave Creek residents think it is wrong to use our streets for long term parking for bikers, but Council and our Trenk/Glassman holdover Town Manager were and are aware of that survey, and apparently have decided that profit for a bar owner, in balance, is more important than the resident's right to efficient safe travel on our public streets.
Simply put Mark and I were out voted, this Council has spoken loud and clear, not only that the situation is fine, but that it should not come back to Council as it is not a "Policy matter". As my vote reflects, I strongly disagree, but this is a democracy and the Majority rules. While I can express my thoughts on what is right, fair, and in the best interests of the Town, I must accept the decision of my colleagues who view this as an issue that they must leave to sole discretion of the Town Manager.
I hope this helps explain why this will not be placed on a Council agenda given the Majority of this Council's vote interpreting the Manager/Council form of government.
Steve LaMar
Cave Creek Vice Mayor
Mayor and Council Members
Apparently the Cave Creek bars are the only thing that matter to you. Thanks to all of you except Vice Mayor LaMar and Councilman Lipsky, who voted against the road closures, Cave Creek was an absolute traffic disaster for us residents, an art show and many small businesses again this weekend. You don’t seem to understand that the residents of Cave Creek matter as well. What makes Cave Creek special is the diversity, not just the bars. The residents are important, the small businesses are important, the art community is important, the open space is important, the horse community is important. We are all important. So why are the bars allowed to cause such horrific traffic congestion? Is it because you think they are special? Their parking lots are crowded with vender tents that do not pay for permits or taxes but simply pay big bucks to the bars. The town residents have shown strong support for the bars as witnessed by the outpouring of support for the Buffalo Chip after the fire. So shouldn’t you cause the bars show equal support for the town residents? Perhaps a novel approach would be for the bars to use their parking lots for parking and find some other location for their vendors and overflow parking that do not cause road closures.
I was told several years ago the largest sales tax comes from a gas station and not the bars. Now I can only assume that Walmart has probably changed that but my question is why are the bars not paying more sales tax if they are so busy and so important to the town? Have there ever been audits to answer that?
Every other organization and business that plans a special event has been required to arrange for parking other than in the street. Why are the bars and motorcycles an exception? It is past time for this council and this town manager to manage things for all the citizens and not just for 3 or 4 bars.
Melanie Williams
Cave Creek
Free speech
According to the junior anarchists blocking highways and storming event venues their verbal venom is an exercise of their free speech, conversely any pronouncement by GOP presidential hopefuls is labeled hate speech. Many of these same agitators are paid by MoveOn.Org and urged on, if not lead by, urban terrorist Bill Ayers or his like. Their purpose is not to promote free speech, but to limit or diminish it. These shouting, sign waving dunderheads inexplicably miss the point, believing that only liberal doctrine or speech deserves to be heard.
Not surprisingly only token protests are mounted at Democrat events, brief, non-violent and nearly respectful of the candidates. A pin-prick attempt against those who would, in fact, restrict their liberties. Spreading from campus protests to riots in Ferguson and now presidential politics anyone disagreeing with their ideology must be shouted down.
Assaults on the First Amendment date back 200 years and more, but the cruelest blow was struck by the Supreme Court in 1947 in it's ruling Everson v. Board of Education, which, in effect, reversed the historical meaning of Jefferson's separation of church and state. Not to be misunderstood the court declared in 1948: "The first Amendment has erected a wall between Church and State which must be kept high and impregnable."; restricting religious freedom and free speech.
Should the left prevail in November the erosion has only begun.
Randy Edwards
Cave Creek
March 16 editorial by Don Sorchych
Much was said about the report that the US Government does not represent the interests of the majority of the country’s citizens. The basis appears to be that the policies enacted are ones that benefit an elite group. My statement is, how could it not be that way given the size of the U.S. Government. In the beginning the framers of the Constitution gave we the citizens a way to keep Government in a tight box. They knew that Government, given the power to be the only justified initiator of force, would attract people who wanted to use that force for their own purposes. In the best case they feel like the can “make a difference”, in the worst they want to ride around in limo’s and 757’s and operate as if they actually earned the trillions of dollars they get to vote on. In any event, had we used the tool of Democracy to keep government in it’s box we would not be in the shape we are today. We, the citizens, did not use the tools well. The Government, including all levels, constitute somewhere between 45 and 55 % of the economy. The Federal Government is something around 35% of the economy. That makes them the largest customer in the world, by a HUGE margin. What that means for large corporations and medium ones is they should go after that client. How do you go after the Federal Government as a client? You lobby them. Lobbyists are nothing more than sales people who help plan the Federal Government spending so that it will be spent at their companies. You can’t blame them, they are bee’s attracted to the honey and You Can’t Blame the Bee’s. It is our own fault by not limiting government to a tiny fraction of the economy. At this point I believe we are beyond the tipping point. If the current overarching government is ever to be fixed and we are to find real freedom again, which we do not have now, it will take some serious turmoil. As for Democracy, in America it is a farce. Every electable person will be for bigger government in one form or another with extremely limited exceptions and Zero exceptions as President. Democracy was a tool for us to limit government, it is now a fable perpetrated on us to make us believe we have a say. I am, therefor, a conscientious objector to voting until somehow it can be proven to me that there is a real choice. Trump, although different, is still beholden to the deep state, he is not real choice.
Bill Pennock
Sacramento, California
Scottsdale, Arizona
Michele Reagan, Arizona Secretary of State
Michele Reagan, Arizona Secretary of State
1700 W Washington St,
Phoenix, AZ 85007 (602) 542-4285
As Secretary of State, you have the authority to repair the damage to the integrity of the Arizona voting process and avoid possible legal action being considered by legal organizations such as the ACLU of Arizona. I am referring to the March 22nd primary disaster.
The simple solution lies within your hands.
As the Secretary of State, you can require the County Elections Officials to send a notice to all registered Democrats who did not vote on March 22nd that they can cast a vote that will be counted as part of the March 22nd election on a set date. A reference to the egregious decision to reduce the 200 polling stations down to 60 on a day the elections officials were expecting a record turn-out would be appropriate.
The County Elections Officials would also be required to send a notice to all voters who are not registered as a Democrat or Republican. This notice would explain the wide spread mistake by the County Elections Officials not changing party affiliations requests and mistakenly depriving thousands of people their right to vote. The people receiving these notices would be instructed they can cast a valid ballot on the same day. No requirement to prove that the County Elections Officials did not process their requests to change party affiliation. The County will take anyone's word since they are responsible for the mistake on a wide scale.
This process is the only way to reach all the disenfranchised voters in Arizona. Any other attempts to correct this travesty would be piece-meal at best.
Party representative from the Sanders and Clinton campaign must be present at all counties and during the entire process to ensure the integrity of the outcome.
Respectfully,
Heidi Strand
Whitmore,CA
No need to know until voting hours are over
Too many brain-dead people suffer from the "halo effect," wishing to be identified as having voted for the winner. The Sheeple hear (because they can barely read!) reports from the biased LameStream EneMedia, and blindly follow the prompts they receive from these instruments of leftist propaganda.
Let's keep all results secret until the closing of the polling venues!
J-P. A. Maldonado
Lafayette, Colorado
Become a Delegate for Trump!
I don't have to tell you that Ted Cruz and his establishment cronies are doing everything they can to prevent Mr. Trump from being the GOP nominee.With that being said, we need you to attend a Legislative District meeting in order to become a delegate for Mr. Trump.
Step 1
Be a registered Republican
Step 2
Locate your legislative district here http://azredistricting.org/districtlocator/
Step 3
Find out the time and location of your specific Legislative District meeting here: http://arizonagop.org/how-to-become-a-delegate-to-the-2016-state-or-national-conventions/
Step 4
Let us know which Legislative District meeting you'll be attending.
Step 5
Make sure you attend your meeting for Mr. Trump!
Step 6Charles Munoz
Mark you calendars for the state convention in Mesa, on April 30!
If you've already attended your LD meeting, thank you for your continued support!
Arizona State Director
Why would the Republican Establishment want Hillary to win?
The zeal and intensity of the Republicans doing everything to keep the status quo is very revealing.
The federal debt has increased from 60 percent of Gross Domestic Product to over 100 percent of GDP in ten years. How is it that almost without fail members of congress can amass such large fortunes within a few terms in office? They don't even have to obey the laws the people do! Finally we have a successful business man who is frugal in his business dealings and at home who has run a successful campaign on a shoe string and the Media and the big wigs of both parties are panicking along with the Federal Reserve, Goldman Sachs, Nazi sympathizer and supporter of Hillary Clinton, George Soros.
Despite 48 documented criminal charges against President Barack Hussein Obama II, which include aiding and abetting al Qaeda and ISIS, the leaders of the Republican party refused to act. But then again GW Bush should be facing charges with Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld for allowing their buddies, Saudi Arabia, to take down the NYC World Trade Centers! It is all in the 28 pages of the 9/11 commission report which GW Bush and Obama won't let us see. Then you have the hacked emails showing that Hillary was told by a paid informant, Sidney Blumenthal, that the Benghazi attack was also funded by the Saudis!
If Trump survives long enough to be elected your going to see a collapse of a corrupt conspiring "Two Party " system and a new fresh attitude of America First, not the faceless international trade cartel. God Speed, Mr. Trump!
Sincerely,
Joe DuPont
Towanda, Pennsylvania
While Brussels Burned . . .
Terrorists attacked Brussels, killing 30 people. The next day, President Obama attended a baseball game and danced the tango.
It’s tough to imagine better proof that the federal government is out of touch with the American people.
An incompetent president, an incompetent Congress, and a power-hungry Supreme Court have too much power over our lives.
Thankfully, calling a Convention of States can save America from its government.
By proposing constitutional reforms that make the federal government more accountable to the states and the people, a Convention of States can focus the government on its main job — defending and preserving the Constitution.
We are winning in state after state, but we need your help to mobilize our resources to do battle in every statehouse in America.
Will you give $25, $50, or $100 to grow our grassroots army?
It’s time to take a stand. We can’t win without you.
Mark Meckler, President
Convention of States Action
Irony abounds as Obama goes to Cuba on Human Rights Day
The President- hardly a stranger to hashtags, must've missed that #HumanRightsDay is trending on Twitter. While this was meant to observe South Africa's Human Rights Day, on Twitter it has turned into a catch-all encompassing all sorts of narratives surrounding Human Rights.
The irony must be lost on the President, who is currently in Cuba where human life's value is determined by the state, cheapened by the denial of so many basic rights.
The President appears to think he is bribing Cuba into being freer, bringing a delegation of capitalists with him to entice the most oppressive tyrants in this hemisphere. In reality, his pandering validates their tyranny, and reverses the gains of previous administrations, Democrat and Republican, to starve the Castros out of power.
What sort of President, under the guise of being a human rights campaigner, would do such a thing?
The same President who pays lip services to human rights, downplays the indignities and crimes of regimes all over the world. Specifically, in the case of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the President turns a blind eye and a deaf ear to the exploitative behavior, or pretends they will be punished in extreme cases.
Just in the case of Thailand and Malaysia, the practice of essentially enslaving captured people to work in factories and processing food is rampant. Human trafficking is a problem in several of the TPP countries.
Free trade is not without value or virtue, but can it legitimately be called free if the United States is trading with people who allow such blatant violations of human rights?
If consistency were alive and well in Washington, D.C. there would a greater outcry against a trade deal that enables profit from genuine human slavery, a definition the Obama administration altered to benefit Malaysia, a TPP country.
If President Obama were a serious advocate for those trapped in countries with oppressive and unethical practices, he wouldn't be in Cuba today lauding those who jail their political opposition, nor would build his legacy on the backs of the poor in TPP countries.
Americans like lower prices, but not at the expense of their jobs and values.
Dustin Howard
Americans for Limited Government
Mean spirit nothing new in American politics
Does Donald Trump have small hands? Is Ted Cruz a wimp (this is a family-oriented column, so I'm using that term instead of the word Trump used)? Are progressives who don't support Hillary Clinton misogynists if they're men and traitors to their sex if they're women? The 2016 presidential race is a bumper crop of insults, with the usual accompanying cries for a "return to civility."
Reality check: There's no era of civility for American politics to return to. It's always been a rough and tumble sport. Election campaigns have never consisted of the candidates holding hands and singing "Kum Ba Ya" with an occasional break for sober issues discussions.
In 1800, presidential challenger Thomas Jefferson's supporters described sitting president John Adams as possessed of a "hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman. Adams's supporters retorted that Jefferson was "a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father."
Andrew Jackson's wife, Rachel, was the target of personal insults intended to politically damage him from well before his presidency. Jackson killed one critic, Charles Dickinson, in a duel after Dickinson insulted her and accused him of cheating in a horse race.
In 1836, Martin van Buren's opponents spread a rumor that he was the illegitimate son of former vice-president Aaron Burr, who had also famously killed someone (Alexander Hamilton) in a duel and had been tried for treason.
In 1884, supporters of Grover Cleveland chanted "Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the State of Maine!" Blaine supporters responded with "Ma, Ma, where's my Paw? Gone to the White House, Haw, Haw, Haw!" referring to the (true) rumor that Cleveland had fathered a child out of wedlock.
If you've been around long, you may have heard that George W. Bush was a cocaine fiend with a suppressed arrest record, that John McCain's adopted kids are actually the children of his affairs, that Al Gore got preferential treatment in Vietnam because he was a Senator's son, and that Barack Obama is from Kenya.
It's ALWAYS been dirty, folks. Like Finley Peter Dunne said, "politics ain't beanbag." Why? Because politicians want to win. There's an apocryphal tale of Lyndon Baines Johnson, in a pre-presidential campaign, suggesting that a press release be put out accusing his opponent of having sex with pigs. When a staffer objected that it wasn't true, LBJ supposedly replied "I know ... but let's make him DENY it."
I'll be the last person to suggest that there are no real scandals to be considered when evaluating candidates for public office. There certainly are. So pay attention. You may learn something important.
But when you've cleared the deck of the rumors and insults, what's left is what matters. Do you agree with the candidate's positions? Do you trust the candidate to tell the truth about the issues and to have the backbone to do the right thing? Choose carefully and vote accordingly.
Thomas L. Knapp
William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism
Dear People of the Great State of Arizona
Hello! I am a fourth grade student in North Carolina. In fourth grade, we do state reports and I have chosen your state! I am very excited to learn more about the great state of Arizona as I work on my report.
Most of the information that we get for our reports will be from books and websites. We also like to get information from people who live in the state, too. This is why I am writing to you. I was hoping that you would be willing to send me some items to help me learn more about the best things in your state. It could be things like postcards, maps, pictures, souvenirs, general information, this newspaper article, or any items that would be useful. You can mail items to the address below. I really appreciate your help!
Sincerely,
Kyri B.J.
Mrs. Hughey's Class
Charlotte Latin School
9502 Providence Road
Charlotte, NC 28277
