Photo courtesy of spekulator.

I first visited Prescott Arizona in 1995. I was living in Chicago and working for Amoco Corporation but had started to investigate potential retirement destinations. At that time I was a smoker and my wife Liz and I would have breakfast in the back room of Greens quite often. We soon noticed a table along the side wall where people would drift in and out and join the conversation. We started subscribing to the Prescott Courier in Chicago and soon figured out that this breakfast gathering was an assemblage of Prescott’s Good Ole Boys and included current and former city council members.

I did not really think about the implications of what we had seen until I ran for Prescott mayor in 2007. During my campaign multiple people told me that illegal quorums of the Prescott City Council were common knowledge to many people. The breakfast gathering at Greens were but one example. I was also told about illegal quorums at the Cattleman’s Bar and Grill on Sheldon and at the Eagle’s on Cortez. One of the more eye-opening examples people shared with me was a meeting at a veteran’s fraternal organization where a developer unrolled plans for council members to review!

Common Knowledge

The practice of the Prescott City Council conducting illegal quorum meeting in violation of the Arizona Open Meeting statutes has been common knowledge for many people since at least 1995 (and I suspect a lot longer). This practice has come out into the open recently with the inclusion of 7:00AM “Breakfast Gathering at the Lone Spur Café” on the official list of potential City Council Quorums. This notice includes this wording:

“PURSUANT to Arizona Revised Statutes, Section 38-431.02 the following Notice of Possible Quorum is given for activities for the month because there may be a quorum of the City Council present; however, no formal discussion/action will be taken by members in their role as the Prescott City Council.”

This all makes you wonder what this quorum of the Prescott City Council is talking about if it is not city business. I guess “informal” discussions are legal but ”formal” discussions are not. Sounds like a grease-slicked slope to me. Maybe the Arizona Attorney General could provide some clarification to ensure we do not go down the same path as the Quartzite council.

Maybe it included “informal” discussions of the Granite Creek Park Community bench or efforts to get rid of J.P. Vicenti or others on the fear and intimidation list. Hopefully we as Prescott citizens will say enough is enough and this has to stop.

“Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today.” – Mohandas K. Gandhi

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Jack D. Wilson first visited Prescott in 1995 and has been a resident since 2000. He took a sojourn into politics and was the mayor of Prescott Arizona from Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009. He now writes a couple of blogs among his many activities.

Editorial cartoon courtesy of the insightful mind and cutting pen of Jacques Laliberté

Déjà Vu

Here we go again as the Prescott City Council art police try to impose their concept of what is acceptable art for Prescott. Seems that Kristin Anthony a senior at Prescott College obtained permission from Prescott’s Parks and Recreation department to erect a bench in Granite Creek Park as her senior project.

She submitted a preliminary sketch of what she had in mind. She also offered to provide Parks and Recreation with a final plan but was told that was not needed. Kristin and 200 volunteers worked on the bench for seven weeks. Parks and Recreation employees were out there almost every day and told her how well the bench was coming along. The Prescott City Council has never adopted a Public Arts Policy. Steve Norwood, former Prescott City Manager, put his version together a few years back designating the Parks & Recreation Director and the Friends of the Prescott Library as the ultimate arbiters of what is acceptable public art. This lack of a formal Public Arts policy has contributed to the current dilemma.

Blindsided

Photographs by Jack D. Wilson

The design of the bench included mosaic tile work and some of the mosaic symbols resulted in complaints¹ to the City of Prescott. The city received two letters on September 21 and 22. Both letters referred to religious symbols on the bench. The September 21 letter was from a woman that does not live in Prescott. Patti Crouse, Administrative Assistant, also received a telephone complaint from another woman. And Prescott City Councilman Jim Lamerson also received phone calls.

One of those symbols is a Peace Sign. It seems that members of the John Birch Society (which was active in Prescott) believe the Peace Sign has a satanic connection (see Alex Constantine’s blog post on the John Birch Society). There are numerous other symbols on the bench including many crosses, the Star of David, a depiction of Hopi land,  etc.

It seems the fascist ideas of the John Birch Society are alive and well in Prescott Arizona. The City of Prescott received complaints about the Peace Sign being a sign of the devil! Anyone can easily find out that view is pure poppycock. It was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom as a symbol for nuclear disarmament.

On Friday, September 30th, Terry Lovell discussed the bench on his KYCA radio show. Apparently he stuck both of his feet in his mouth with his commentary as the station has deleted that show from their online archive.  Maybe we can persuade the station owner Lou Silverstein to put it back up so everyone can listen to his comments about the bench.

On Thursday, October 7, Terry Lovell received a call from Jacob Devaney about the bench. Lovell stated:

“…that Lamerson and the city council was under the impression that the bench was not a permanent structure. He says it has NOTHING to do with the symbols (but there is a process that things need to go through with the city).”

City of Prescott Response

After receiving complaints about the religious symbols on the bench, the City of Prescott quickly jumped into action (our potholes remain, but this got priority treatment). Apparently Mayor Kuykendall and Councilmen Lamerson felt the symbols were inappropriate (our own local art police). First, Kristin was asked by Parks and Recreation to take down prayer flags and Buddha statue. Then acting Parks & Recreation Director Joe Baynes issued a press release on Tuesday, October 4, 2011: City responds to park bench concerns.

The city basically wanted Kristin Anthony to remove all the mosaic art work, all the offensive religious symbols!

Looking for a compromise – is there a middle ground?

On Tuesday, October 11th, Kristin met with Debbie Horton, Parks & Recreation Director, and Tim Legler of the City of Prescott. Kristin presented a proposal that addressed the safety concerns of the city and that had been vetted by two local mosaic tile experts. Her proposal was rejected. That meeting was videotaped and excerpts have been posted on YouTube:

The Original Complaints

1 On Friday, October 7, I submitted a Public Record Request to the City of Prescott. That request resulted in the production of two letters. The first, dated September 21, is from Sandra Klauer:

That was followed by another letter on September 22 from Althea Friedman:

Both of this letters use similar language and complain about the religious symbols on the bench.

KYCA PM Show on September 30

Terry Lovell on his Friday, September 30th KYCA PM show discussed the community bench. Unfortunately that program has not been posted online on the KYCA PM Archives. It is of interest due to reports that a discussion of “…Buddhists are building a bench in Granite Creek Park” occurred on that program.

Complaints about symbols morph into safety concerns

The original controversy about the bench was because of symbolism (the Peace Sign, the Buddha  and other religious symbols) and now it had morphed into a safety hazard. Maybe the powers at City Hall were afraid of First Amendment infringement claims or maybe they were pure of heart. In any case the City of Prescott’s official press release had magically lost any references to the offensive symbolism that had originally prompted the controversy.  The John Birch Society claims of satanic symbolism had been replaced with weak arguments about safety and vandalism.

Kristin explained to me the bench was unfinished. It still needed to be sanded and grouted. Once that had been done, the sharp edges would not be an issue.

OK, how about concerns about vandalism? Well, we have a large mural in the Granite Street Garage that contains mosaic work and I do not remember a single complaint about that public art being vandalized (although I have heard lots of other complaints about the garage).

Complaints about safety concerns then morph into procedural questions

After Kristin and others raised the issue of religious symbols being the real issue and offered a solution to the safety concerns raised by the city, then Prescott City Councilman Jim Lamerson reframed the objections yet again:

“…Lamerson and the city council was under the impression that the bench was not a permanent structure. He says it has NOTHING to do with the symbols (but there is a process that things need to go through with the city).”

Since this has not been discussed at a public city council meeting, I wonder how the city council could have reached that conclusion without violating Arizona Open Meeting Statues. These morphings of the city’s objections, or reframing or more accurately “spin control” just hits me the wrong way. And I dig into the real issue next.

Conclusion – a lack of religious tolerance

If we think back to the reasons this country was founded we should all remember a major part of it was to escape religious persecution. If you take a close look at this current public art fiasco, it sure seems to me that we have people trying to suppress freedom of expression because there are religious symbols on the bench that are not to their liking. What ever happened to the rage of having “faith based” programs in communities. Truly sad to have such a small viewpoint. What happened to our motto Everybody’s Hometown?

Further Information

See the Facebook page: Save The Community Bench

See the web site: Save the Community Bench Web Site

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If you found this article helpful, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg or email it (button below). If I missed something that you found along the way, leave a comment and I will try to update the information.

Jack D. Wilson first visited Prescott in 1995 and has been a resident since 2000. He took a sojourn into politics and was the mayor of Prescott Arizona from Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009. He now writes a couple of blogs among his many activities.

Barnes Noble sign at Prescott Gateway Mall

A good friend of mine said:  

“Westcor is raising rent to many places in the Gateway Mall. As a result, Barnes & Noble, Macayo’s, Celtic Crossing, Wigwam and more will be closing.”

That same friend told me that Westcor was tripling the rent for Celtic Crossing. This is very unusual as the commercial real estate market is facing real challenges and very few owners have the confidence to raise rents, let alone triple them.

So what is really going on? When you triple someone’s rent in a bad economy, you are telling them you want their space.

Digging for answers

If you visit the Westcor web site, you find that Westcor is a subsidiary of Macerich (they acquired Westcor in 2002). If you visit the Macerich web site, and dig around a little you will find some interesting information. Macerich has a focus and development and redevelopment of malls. The latter is the operative terms when looking at the future of the Prescott Gateway Mall.

I do not know what the current vacancy factor is at the Gateway Mall, but a quick walk around the mall shows 21 empty spaces inside and lots more outside in the Village Shops area. And then we have the recent decision to drastically raise rents. That suggested to me that Macerich is planning a redevelopment/rebranding of the Prescott Gateway Mall.

Their 2010 Annual Report lists occupancy at 88.7%; however, it has to be significantly lower than that by now. Just look at these pictures of twenty-one (21) vacancies inside the mall (not counting the vacancies outside in the Village Shops, such as Honey Baked Ham).

What the future of the Gateway Mall may be

Digging further through the Macerich web site I found their news releases. Of particular interest is the July 26, 2011 news release: Macerich Announces the Acquisiton (sic) of Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls. You can use the link to read the entire release; however, here is what I consider the crucial excerpts: 

“The enclosed center’s shop tenant sales per square foot are approximately $650. The center is nearly fully occupied and enjoys a list of tenants waiting for space, leading Macerich to explore options for expansion of the center.”

“Commenting on the acquisition, Edward Coppola, President of Macerich said “We are delighted to have acquired one of the top fashion outlet centers in the country. This initial entry into the fashion outlet business clearly illustrates our intention to expand our footprint in this retail sector well beyond the development of a new outlet center in Scottsdale, Arizona that we announced in April. This center has had very strong sales increases over the past five years and we expect that trend to continue. The center ranks as one of the most productive outlet centers in the country and is a great addition to our high quality portfolio.””

So my conclusion is that we should be ready for a redevelopment/rebranding the Prescott Gateway Mall, possibly as the Fashion Outlets of Prescott.

Updates

The following have already closed in 2011:

1. Anchor Blue
2. Honey Baked Ham Co.
3. Raskin’s Jewelers
4. The Children’s Place
5. Sleep Number Store By Select Comfort

The following will be closing at the end of 2011:

1. Barnes and Noble, 25,200 square.
2. Sonic restaurant (in the Food Court).
3. Gateway Branch of the Prescott Library

From an artile in the December 14, 2011 edition of the Wall Street Journal:

“Green Street Advisors predicts that about 10% of the roughly 1,100 malls in the U.S. will either be dead within the next ten years or find new uses as offices or classrooms if vacancies and retail sales don’t improve, according to Cedrik Lachance, managing director at Green Street.”

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Jack D. Wilson first visited Prescott in 1995 and has been a resident since 2000. He took a sojourn into politics and was the mayor of Prescott Arizona from Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009. He now writes a couple of blogs among his many activities.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng

You can review City of Prescott election finance reports online at the City of Prescott web site. If you go through the contributions, you will see a number from firefighter unions, but not the local firefighter union (United Yavapai Fire Fighters 3066). Are you scratching your head trying to figure out what that means? Well, here is the inside scoop.

Firefighter union political activism

Since I ran for office twice, I had a view that few citizens are afforded. I hope to make the process more transparent by sharing some of my knowledge. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is a union. The IAFF Local 3066 chapter president is J. P. Vicente, a City of Prescott firefighter. Here is a quote from the IAFF web site:

“Political action is critical to helping ensure that fire fighter-friendly candidates are elected to public office. Every year, new campaigns and elections are held at the local, state and federal level – giving IAFF locals the opportunity to get politically active and make a difference.”

Let us take a look at how this union gets involved and tries to influence the local Prescott election.

1. The local firefighters union (UYFF Local 3066) holds a meetings to interview candidates regarding their support of the union. The key question is if you would support a contract with the union. The union actually has a Political Action Committee (PAC) that actually does this. When I ran for a second term in 2009, Cory Moser was the Prescott Firefighters PAC President and the Chairperson, Candidate Selection Committee, UYFF Local 3066. This year, that committee met individually with each candidate.
2. In 2009, Marlin Kuykendall got their endorsement, contributions and other union support; but not this time, as the union endorsed Maryann Suttles. I suspect Marlin was true to form and promised them what they wanted then failed to deliver on his promise (an old and continuing pattern).
3. Rather than the local union (UYFF Local 3066) making the campaign contributions, they have other firefighter unions across the state make the contributions. The rationale for doing it this way is presented below.
4. The firefighters union contributes more than money ifthey endorse you. They had firefighters from across the state knocking on doors for Mary Ann Suttles and other supported candidates. I also understand they will help you get nominating petitions signatures if needed (in 2009 the rumor was they were having a hard time getting signatures for Steve Blair).
5. The union will only endorse you if they think you can win.

Firefighter union contributions

The table below shows contributions from five (5) different firefighter organizations, all outside of Prescott. Some will wonder why the local firefighters union did not contribute. I contacted J. P. Vicente, President of the local union on August 22nd and asked that question. He cited two reasons for not getting directly involved:

1. There are provisions in the Charter of the City of Prescott regarding employee involvement in political campaigns. Even though contribution would have been made from a Political Action Committee (PAC), the local union did not want to have potential questions regarding illegal employee involvement.
2. Other than Prescott, the other firefighter local unions are just getting their Political Action Committees started.

J. P. indicated that when the union has candidates they would like to support, they present their case to the state firefighters union organization and request assistance. The state organization works with other firefighter organizations across the state to marshal resources.

Firefighters canvassing in Prescott

Grassroots campaigning used to mean a candidate recruited friends and supporters to knock on doors and make phone calls on their behalf. As noted in J.P.’s previous comments, the state union organization marshals resources based upon requests from local firefighter unions. Political campaigns take more than money to win and “boots on the ground” or grassroots door-to-door canvassing of voters is a critical element.

The state firefighters union organization helped to coordinate volunteers from across the state to knock on doors for supported candidates.

Is this legal?

The answer is yes. However, understanding why firefighter unions across Arizona are intervening in a local Prescott election is important for voters to make an informed decision. The old adage of “follow the money” applies in spades here.

Is this ethical?

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng

That is a grayer question. As a voter, you need to ask yourself if you have heard any of the firefighter supported candidates (Maryann Suttles, Jim Lamerson or Charlie Arnold) publically state their position regarding a firefighter contract and what that implies.

Understanding what Quid pro quo meets in a political sense is important here. If all of this is being negotiated behind closed doors and none of the candidates are publically acknowledging their positions, then that raises some ethical concerns, In My Humble Opinion.

Closing comments by Union President J. P. Vicente

“The local union is trying to make the best choices for Prescott, looking at the current economic situation and the potential for growth in the future while maintaining the charm of Prescott.”

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Jack D. Wilson first visited Prescott in 1995 and has been a resident since 2000. He took a sojourn into politics and was the mayor of Prescott Arizona from Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009. He now writes a couple of blogs among his many activities.

Prescott Place satire continues with a look at the local newspaper in Prescott Place. The editor of the Daily Heard on the Street has a self-righteous bent and feels his opinion is the only one that counts. He might have missed his true calling as his Friday editorial rants would have been better suited for a church pulpit.

The characters in this humorous video are fictitious; however, they are based on the real life stumbling and bumbling in many small towns, maybe one near you.

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If you found this article helpful, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg or email it (button below). If I missed something that you found along the way, leave a comment and I will try to update the information.

Jack D. Wilson first visited Prescott in 1995 and has been a resident since 2000. He took a sojourn into politics and was the mayor of Prescott Arizona from Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009. He now writes a couple of blogs among his many activities.

Prescott Place satire continues with a look at how Hungarian immigrants are treated. Seems that Councilmen Bubba 1 and Bubba 2 have some strange ideas about these immigrants.

The characters in this humorous video are fictitious; however, they are based on the real life stumblings and bumblings in many small towns, maybe one near you.

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If you found this article helpful, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg or email it (button below). If I missed something that you found along the way, leave a comment and I will try to update the information.

Jack D. Wilson first visited Prescott in 1995 and has been a resident since 2000. He took a sojourn into politics and was the mayor of Prescott Arizona from Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009. He now writes a couple of blogs among his many activities.

What can you say about a politician that says he favors “free markets,” but consistently votes to expand government and compete with private businesses? You could say he has a forked tongue. Or you could say he panders for votes with his rhetoric, but reverts to his true character when elected.

Councilman Yammersen gets up on his proverbial soap box to tell anyone who will listen that he is a “free market” advocate and that government should not compete. However, his voting record paints a completely different story as he consistently votes to support expansion of government and completion with private businesses.

The characters in this humorous video are fictitious; however, they are based on the real life stumblings and bumblings in many small towns, maybe one near you.

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If you found this article helpful, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg or email it (button below). If I missed something that you found along the way, leave a comment and I will try to update the information.

Jack D. Wilson first visited Prescott in 1995 and has been a resident since 2000. He took a sojourn into politics and was the mayor of Prescott Arizona from Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009. He now writes a couple of blogs among his many activities.

I wrote the article Extra Aircraft: Election candy reporting based on what I had found out about Extra Aircraft’s proposed deal with Montrose County Colorado from a Google search. In that article I wrote:

“There were recent articles in the Prescott Courier (Officials in talks to bring aircraft manufacturer to Prescott, Jason Soifer, 6/18/2011) and Prescott eNews (There’s EXTRA Excitement in the Air, Lynne LaMaster, 8/3/2011) reporting on Extra Aircraft.

Both of these articles fail the test of basic investigative reporting 101. They did not report on the real circumstances in Montrose Colorado where Extra Aircraft had already negotiated to locate a plant. This is especially true of the Lynne LaMaster’s eZine piece which I consider to be a blatant piece of election candy reporting designed to support Mayor Kuykendall for a second term. The terms “puff piece” and “spin” come to mind.”

The Boyd Report

Based on my research about the proposed Extra Aircraft deal in Montrose County Colorado, I contacted the County Manager of that county, Jesse Smith. I requested a copy of the Boyd Report, a due diligence review of Extra Aircraft and their proposed production facility in Montrose County Colorado. Mr. Jesse Smith was kind enough to send me that report, which I received this morning. After I read that report I have to tell you I was shocked by the proposed incentives that Extra Aircraft wanted to establish their facility.

Incentives Extra Aircraft wanted

Bear in mind that Extra Aircraft will likely ask for similar incentives from the City of Prescott. In effect, Extra Aircraft has no working capital nor lines of credit to draw upon to launch their production facility in Montrose. The proposed Montrose transaction would have provided Extra with $2.2-million in taxpayer funds to establish their production facility! Here are a couple of excerpts from the Boyd Report on those incentives:

And:

And:

And:

Caution – Danger ahead!

After reading those excerpts, I wondered:

• Where would Prescott get that money? They spent $2.2-million to buy the land for Trader Joe’s and basically almost cleaned out their capital account.
• Did Mayor Kuykendall know about the Boyd report?
  • If he did, why didn’t he share that information?
  • If he did not, why not?
• Why did the Prescott Daily Courier not do some very basic journalistic checking and turn up the Boyd Report like I did?

You can form your own opinion, but it seems any public official doing a deal like this would be in breech of their fiduciary responsibility.

Montrose County wanted to restructure the deal

In my previous post, it was noted that Montrose County wanted to restructure the deal to protect itself. Extra Aircraft apparently did not like their new terms. That should raise a red flag here.

And it continues

For the latest news on Extra Aircraft, see: Future of Extra Aircraft Uncertain in Montrose courtesy of the KREX News Room, August 11, 2011.

In closing

Voters need to be very cautious when election candy statements and eZine election candy articles appear from sources that are biased in favor of a candidate just before the ballots go out. Remember what Otto Von Bismarck said:

“People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.”

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If you found this article helpful, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg or email it (button below). If I missed something that you found along the way, leave a comment (your full actual name required) and I will try to update the information.

Jack D. Wilson first visited Prescott in 1995 and has been a resident since 2000. He took a sojourn into politics and was the mayor of Prescott Arizona from Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009. He now writes a couple of blogs among his many activities.

The satirical series continues with the humorous episode about Mayor Kooky having nightmares about his reelection prospects.

The characters in this humorous video are fictitious; however, they are based on the real life stumblings and bumblings in many small towns, maybe one near you.

Feedback

If you found this article helpful, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg or email it (button below). If I missed something that you found along the way, leave a comment and I will try to update the information.

Jack D. Wilson first visited Prescott in 1995 and has been a resident since 2000. He took a sojourn into politics and was the mayor of Prescott Arizona from Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009. He now writes a couple of blogs among his many activities.