Arizona Republic: “Phoenix will spend $1.8 million to retire the $10 million debt that funded an overhaul of the Papago Golf Course. The Phoenix City Council voted 6-2 earlier this week to spend the funds, giving the city complete control over the course. . . . DiCiccio said the city should do a [...]
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AZCentral: Tattoo parlors, strip clubs, escort services and “head shops” that sell items used to smoke marijuana could be the next places Phoenix turns to for revenue if the city rescinds its controversial food tax. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Councilman Tom Simplot asked management to consider what the city can [...] Arizona Republic: “The Phoenix Police Department has 500 fewer officers than previously projected for 2011, and with two precincts having just opened, Public Safety Manager Jack Harris said” The Onion reports on the new proposed nationwide high-speed bus system. Obama Replaces Costly High-Speed Rail Plan With High-Speed Bus Plan There is an old saying the are always some people don’t get the word. The last ones to get the word are usually politicians. It’s true in Mesa where the power elites who love to spend other people’s money to hasten the city’s bankruptcy want to extend the mega-million dollar money pit called [...] Arizona Republic: “Valley rail planners are asking a million-dollar question: Would south Phoenix residents ride a light-rail line enough to justify building one? Valley Metro, the agency that built and runs the 20-mile starter light-rail line, is weeks away from picking a consultant to provide the answer. Armed with a $400,000 congressional earmark [...] Arizona Republic: “A Phoenix man is hoping to derail Metro light rail’s plans to lay track through his neighborhood as part of an 11-mile extension to the city’s west side.” Wow! Who knew Valley Metro was planning to spend more of other people’s money so it could lose even more money and need [...] Arizona Republic: “An additional 60 positions will be eliminated in Phoenix . . . . City officials expect the reorganization to save the city $3.6 million in the general fund and $2.5 million in enterprise departments such as aviation, water services and the Phoenix Convention Center.” The Arizona Republic reports that a group of idiots called the Southwest Valley Rail Partnership got together recently during these dire economic times to discuss how they can convince elected officials to take government deeper into debt to purchase the money losing sink hole called passenger railroads. These people are not interested in [...] Arizona Republic: “Phoenix has eliminated 546 vacant positions, including 166 sworn-officer and 78 firefighter openings, but critics complain that revenue-generating departments such as water and aviation have been relatively untouched. . . .’It’s a shell game,’ DiCiccio said. ‘You should not give the public the impression you’re making cuts when in fact you’re [...] Arizona Republic: “A bad economy has meant that building a regional bus system in the Valley is no longer a regional endeavor. . . . Paul Hodgins, capital-programming manager for Valley Metro, which operates the transit system,said every region took a 25 percent cut in transit dollars.” A story in the Arizona Republic about Phoenix – Tempe – Mesa lite rail officials cracking down on riders who do not purchase a ticket to ride inadvertently revealed more proof that lite rail is a financial money bomb. Here’s some of the revelations contained in the story: Rather than force riders to [...] Arizona Republic: “Phoenix will not hire any new police officers or firefighters until the summer of 2013 to balance public-safety funds that have been running a deficit because of the recession. Funds from three voter-approved sales-tax increases dedicated to paying for police and fire ended the 2009-2010 fiscal year with an $18.4 million [...] Arizona Republic: “The federal government has strong interest in extending Mesa’s light-rail line 2 miles beyond its currently planned terminus, Mayor Scott Smith said this week. . . . One problem: Funding.” Mesa bus, light-rail riders face budget cutbacks, July 16, 2010 Mesa Budget Woes Cause Cutbacks in Bus Service Mesa Faces $20 Million Budget [...] Arizona Republic: “The [State of Arizona] deficit for the current budget year has grown to $825 million, up from $700 million, and the projected hole for the next fiscal year has deepened by $400 million, to $1.4 billion.” From the we don’t have the money and the debt isn’t ours so we can spend other people’s money go deeper into debt department. “A new urban skate park has been approved for Margaret T. Hance Park near downtown Phoenix but it won’t allow bike riders.” I’ll give the city fathers the benefit [...] Arizona Republic: “It’s not that downtown Phoenix is a ghost town. . . . But few people linger. The city hopes to change that on Friday. With a bowling alley.” Here’s my favorite part of the story: “In Phoenix, city officials and CityScape developers hope the bowl-o-rama will anchor the $900 [...] I can hear Phoenix city leaders saying “Deficit? What deficit?” Arizona Republic: “Skateboarders will have a fifth plaza to roll up and down ramps in Phoenix, city officials said Tuesday.” The story does not mention how much the park will cost. Perhaps the city leaders consider skateboard parks as just another form of [...] Arizona Republic: “In the last fiscal year, 10 million Valley Metro fares were lost as bus riders returned to their cars or found other forms of transportation, according to figures released by the agency that oversees public transit throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.” When the economy sours and there is an [...] The Phoenix Business Journal reports that the people who like to spend other people’s money are planning a $200 million dollar 3.1 mile extension of the 20 mile light rail line that ends in Mesa, Arizona. These people are unaware of or simply don’t care about Mesa’s deficit financial condition and the reality [...] Arizona Republic: “Even as Maricopa County supervisors question whether Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office has misused county-issued credit cards, the supervisors have used their own government cards to buy gifts for constituents and employees, stay at luxury hotels and cater meals to their offices . . . .” Arizona Republic: “The cash-strapped city is considering three long-term solutions that could cost as much as $84 million. . . . Whatever the price, Tempe officials say they have no choice but to honor their long-term contractual commitments for the lake and to the commercial and residential developments around it. Arizona Republic: “Across the Valley, nine bus routes will be eliminated, including two local routes, three express routes and four neighborhood circulators. . . . The light-rail system also is reducing service for the first time since opening in late 2008. Peak hours will be shortened, and during that time Metro will run [...] Arizona Republic has a story entitled “Phoenix area bus riders left waiting amid transit cutbacks.” It states: “Today, Valley bus riders will once again have to cope with fewer routes, less-frequent buses and shorter hours as the regional system revamps 50 lines. . . . but for some cities they represent the fourth [...] Arizona Republic: “Phoenix officials are asking bus riders to consider carpooling, taking a taxi or telecommuting if bus drivers, mechanics, fuelers and cleaners go on strike on Monday. Bus riders are also being asked to be prepared for transit-services reductions from budget cuts, which also take effect Monday.” Washington Post: “As Washington’s public transit network grows more congested, with Metro projecting ‘unmanageable’ levels of saturation on its rail system by 2020, the phenomenon of people taking up more than their share of space is becoming increasingly touchy.” Phoenix Business Journal: “The city of Phoenix Public Transit Department will be ending all same-day scheduled ‘demand’ trips on Phoenix Dial-a-Ride as part of the state of Arizona’s budget-balancing measures.” Reason.com: “How has California’s high-speed rail project survived for 14 years without a plan, a budget, or a single accomplishment? . . If you were looking to take some easy shots at government waste and abuse, you’d have a hard time topping California State Auditor Elaine M. Howle’s recent assessment of the Golden [...] Arizona Republic: “Veolia Transportation is laying off 20 people this month as a result of budget cuts Tempe made to its bus operations. . . . Restructuring and cuts to bus routes are estimated to save $1.2 million annually. Reductions to Tempe’s light-rail services are estimated to save $378,000 annually.” Arizona Republic: “Phoenix City Council adopted a 2010-11 operating budget [of $3.05 billion] . . . . Phoenix has worked to manage a $277.3 million budget shortfall. . . . Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said the city has learned to do ‘more with less’ and that the results of this year’s budget process [...] |
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