Wolborsky: Is Fountain Hills business friendly?

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I am old enough to remember Minnesota's Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey and how liberal his Party became.   HHH's political career launched when he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Minneapolis while teaching political science at a local college.  Subsequently he was elected to the US Senate, served as Lyndon Johnson's VP, and then ran and lost twice for US President.  That's when the Democrat Party finally realized they could never win with Humphrey and the party's liberal polices.   

History is about to repeat itself with the choice of Minnesota's Governor far left radical Tim Walz as the VP Choice for the Harris campaign.  Walz too served as Mayor of Minneapolis and was elected to the House of Representatives before becoming Governor.  

Apparently the fine folks of Minnesota were not sufficiently shaken by their 2020 "summer of love" when over five miles of Minneapolis was torched by Black Lives Matter....yet two years later Walz was reelected Governor! In 2020 Walz looked the other way as terrorists burned down police stations and Kamala raised money for a Non Profit group to bail BLM terrorists out of jail.  

Should the Harris/Walz team of far left Marxists/Socialists capture the White House here's what you get: 

• Walz's Minnesota has the most radical abortion laws in the Country including up to and after birth, when some babies can be murdered legally under laws he supports.
• Governor Walz made the State a refuge for gender-affirming care without parental approval.
• He instituted a COVID hotline so citizens could snitch on their neighbors!
• He gave illegals taxpayer-funded healthcare, tuition and drivers licenses.
• He is a radical open border zealot suggesting he would provide ladders for illegals to get over Trump's wall.
• He unabashedly loves China, and hates fracking, drilling or pumping of oil.

If this radical Team wins, America will be governed by a President and a VP farther Left than Attila The Hun!  What could possibly go wrong?

I just happened to be watching the House roll call vote for speaker recently. The Democrats voted as a block for Jeffries. They also sounded very upbeat and cheered for several of their representatives. The Republicans voted for everyone but Ronald Reagan and sounded dispirited and bored. Had I been and “undecided” trying to figure out which team I wanted to be on, the decision would be easy.

These days there seem to be many Republicans who feel that they need to be “right” no matter how much harm it does to the country. Then when we lose the White House, the Senate and the House, they can all loudly whine at what a poor job the Democrats are doing running our country. Never even approaching the insight that they caused it.
It’s time to get over being right, it’s time to get over resentments, it’s time to get over being pro-Trump or anti-Trump. It’s time to get back to being Republican.  Work.

Will the real Kim Bartman please stand up?  Whoops, you did in 2020.

Your letter last week mentioned several things about what current council members are accused of. Being vague and accusing others of various divisive things should not be acceptable at  any level.  So with that in mind, I personally thought the people of FH should know just who is slinging the mud around.  That's you over on the right in a 2020 post.  

Failing  to  disclose the fact that you personally invited BLM to our town after they did in excess of 21 million dollars in damage to the town of Scottsdale right next to our town during “peaceful” protests while making accusations of division by council members.   Not to mention that these “peaceful protests “ did damage to many many communities across America. What we’d like to know is why did you  open up our town to this division and possible other negative impacts. People in this community are waking up to you, your thoughts and actions as well as others.  It's probably a certainty that FH residents feel that ALL lives matter,  period.

Recently the FH Times printed an opinion piece on the merits of gun control. Strange as it seems only one letter rebutting this opinion was published, that of a town council person. I also wrote a letter to the editor rebutting this, but alas, it was not published and I suspect many others were also not published.

So I would like to write my response to that opinion here, with hopes it will be published.
I have a friend in another city that owns one of the largest gun stores in the state. I asked him what he thought about gun control and he said he loved it. He said every time a government agency proposes a new restriction, he sells out everything in the store. Currently in the United States there are 120.5 civilian firearms for every 100 persons. My math tells me that's about 400 MILLION firearms. So let's say the government decides to confiscate firearms and let's say they're really effective at it ( being effective would be unusual). It's doubtful but maybe they could get 300 million guns. Do the math. That only leaves 100 million in circulation and by definition everyone owning them is a criminal. Would that really lower the violent crime rate?

Making guns illegal for civilian ownership in this country would certainly open up a new revenue stream for the cartels. But would it do anything else?
Think of some deranged individual walking down the hallway in a school building with a backpack full of Molotov cocktails and a cigarette lighter, or a few homemade bombs or an axe or ...
An interesting article by criminologist Gary A. Mauser, professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada ( the number 8 rated university in Canada) can be read here: https://justiceforgunowners.ca/gun-control-dogma-or-red-herring/

But I'll summarize for you. He studied Britain, Australia and Canada before and after their draconian gun laws and what he found actually surprised even me. Violent crime and murder rates actually rose in those countries after those laws were passed. At that same time period more and more states in the US were making carrying a firearm easier and violent crime rates went down in the US.
More recently he shows that homicide rate in the US has actually decreased faster than that of Canada since the Canadian laws came into effect.

Dr. Mauser hypothesizes that this occurred because criminal penalties and incarcerations are much harsher in the US. Does it surprise anyone that criminals commit crime?

I wish for a time when people stop screaming for gun control, an impossible dream that wouldn't work even if it were possible. Maybe then we could start focusing on the reasons that deranged people kill innocents. At that point we might be able to do something EFFECTIVE about it. 

Driving in downtown Fountain Hills, on Parkview recently on a cold and blustery day I saw a homeless man in a long coat pushing a grocery cart heaped with clothes and bedding.  For months, rumors had been flying around our fair town about the increasing numbers of homeless coming here, but this was my first siting.  Immediately what came to mind was a visual of today's Los Angeles.  A formerly beautiful city, that today, no one would voluntarily step into.  

Likely their homeless issue began with just one person, then two or three more, and soon there was a tent, and sleeping bags and more grocery carts. The parks were taken over, the sidewalks and sewers doubled as outdoor toilets.  Public officials did nothing to stop it, and soon things were totally out of hand with hundreds erecting cardboard hovels, more tents, and parking battered RV's....most were refusing to even go into shelters...and soon free food was being provided to hundreds. The LA we see  today is worse than Beirut!  

One LA "resident of the streets" a woman was recently interviewed; she said her day was  this,  line up for free breakfast and get high...line up for free lunch and get high....line up for free dinner and get high and sell whatever you have to, to get more drugs.  Is it likely to happen in Fountain Hills?  Possibly, it's already a mess in downtown Phoenix.  Here in Fountain Hills perched on the edge of the desert with beautiful views and peaceful mountains, how could it happen and how do they get here?

Let's face it , they don't walk, we are 13 miles from Mesa across open desert and the same with any commercial district in Scottsdale.  No Fountain Hills resident in their right mind would give them a ride in their car.  Is it the bus that leaves once a day and arrives once a day?  Has anyone actually seen a person other than one of our homeless residents actually arrive on that bus?  Or leave for that matter. Another factor could that lead to a LA scenario; the proliferation of these so called Sober Homes that are actually residential detox houses located in family neighborhoods, housing out of state and out of town addicts, who are bussed in.  The logic is quite clear.  Of course if people with addiction issues are imported into a town, the number of addicts will increase.   It won't be very long before property values sink, crime increases and Town resources are outstripped.  

This is the history and the stories of so many Democrat led towns be it Chicago where murder is an everyday occurrence and incumbent Mayor Lightfoot is now soon to be out of a job, San Francisco where retailers have locked their doors and fled ceding ground to the shoplifters who take what they want, ditto for St. Louis.  And New York where no one in their right mind would visit for fear of being killed, pushed onto subway rails, and carjacked.  

So, Fountain Hills?  Maybe, good weather, nice views, a liberal Mayor who wants to build affordable apartments on empty land, who thinks residential detox houses in neighborhoods are fine along with in-patient detox hospitals that are not serving our community but are being bussed in from elsewhere.  A democrat Mayor joined by two liberal council members who rage on about hating religion, destroying the planet with cars, and get up and leave the dais when those they disagree with speak.  So, let's tip our hat to the three newly elected, rational, fiscal conservatives who believe in careful planning and strong zoning regulations who along with a senior council member comprise a majority fortress against Fountain Hills becoming just another statistic in the demise of America's most beautiful cities. 

This commentator  has just about had it with the questionable reporting, censorship, and  down right not reporting both sides of the issues facing our town!  Today’s front page headline in the Fountain Hills Times reads,  Invocation “Council Action Polarizing”.    Bob Burns reporting and the publication editor of  Ryan Winslett as the responsible parties.   

So according to the Times, it is ok under the cloak of darkness and secrecy for the Mayor Ginny Dickey to remove the invocation from the start of THE TOWN’s council meetings without any discussion and input from the public or any vote from the council?  By her own words, done because she could do it at the recent council meeting! "When we made the change there was never any input at all....." Last time I checked this was THE RESIDENT’s town, and always will be. So the mayor stated that for proper transparency we should have this as an agenda item with discussion and input from the public!  Now she wants transparency? 

I would say that Bob Burns had it wrong and that Mayor Dicky’s move to claim transparency is POLARIZING. Why didn’t she just reinstate the invocation in the same way she did away with it? You know why, she got caught and now the deflection starts, oh, “ this polarizing council” I say again she got caught removing the invocation in the dead of night and instead of doing the right thing,  she’s busted along with Bob Burns, Ryan Winslett, and the Times too. 

How about the Times being fair just once, ask the tough questions and do some integrity reporting? 

It was with great interest that this reporter read a recent letter to the editor in the other town publication from Kim Bartman. First and foremost a big thank you needs to go to the residents of Fountain Hills who by using their brains and common sense rather then just a keyboard to vote NO and select 2 very qualified candidates for our school board! The disinformation Bartman claims were all facts! We didn’t see and don’t ever remember anything that Bartman has done to help our town or schools! Unless you want to count her going into local businesses to DOX hard working employees! (Yes she did that) 

So, let’s start with more facts about these candidates. Both are raising children and have had and may still have children in our district schools! Does Acker? No she doesn’t! Acker according to Bartman’s own words is relatively new on the scene! ( more hypocrisy because she claims that both Settle and Reid have none) they actually have more because of raising a combined what 16 children in our district! They are both business owners with years of solid experience! Acker’s claim to fame is her union ties, yes a wealth of experience with school unions from the Midwest! How’s that working out? Well, recent reports indicate that the unions have been the biggest road block to education and even more so since fake Covid for dollars scheme! In fact the education system has taken years worth of steps back!  Congratulations Lillian! 

Now the big question, how are we going to fund our schools posed by Bartman, claiming we will be watching! Well for starters why not consider consolidating some of the unused assets? Selling some of the land given to the district for free? Oh how about catching up on your billing to the state for disabled children that you are behind I hear over a year! And finally, what about the grants that are available for technology and security upgrades that you tried to soak taxpayers for again? ( it was right in the YES advertising) 

While we are on the YES group “for the children” I didn’t notice Kimberly Bartman’s contribution to the “children “ where were you? Oh that’s right only one resident donated “for the children “ Dicky did. Kim must have known about that process because ROT and the research staff connected all the dots with the man behind the curtain and all the contributions from contractors who wanted the work! But remember it’s “all for the children “ we aren’t drinking what you are serving Kimberly and either are the residents!

After an excused absence the Green Hornet has been doing some flying around and diving into some very strange things that are happening in and around our town. We recently had an election in which the incumbent narrowly won reelection. One had to ask how and why by such a narrow margin? Well after doing some digging into this, the Hornet discovered 2 things that are outstanding and have or had not been discussed before the election was held!

One, what happened with the ongoing MCSO audit of the town contract? Where are we? What are the numbers? Are we getting what we have been and are paying for? This process has to be transparent for the citizens of this town! Two, why wasn’t the Community Center debacle brought up before September of this year? The report recently made public was done in June of this year! Well before the election in August. We now believe that to fix the Community Center will be well north of one million dollars! Both of these issues should have been brought to the voters of this town long ago and had they it might have been a different outcome for this election! It’s often been said that the cover up is worse than the crime! And this one sure looks like it! What else is happening here that we need to know about? We will keep digging into this and keep you updated!

Under 60 days until America is thrown a life raft or drowns in the liberalism flooding our Country.  Some say there is no hope, the country already is gone, some growl and just ignore what is going on in their own communities, some are cynical and say what's the point of voting we got screwed in 2020.  Some feel Trump is the answer, some say Trump is the problem.  Here are some truths, Trump is not on the November ballot, so just put that on the shelf until next year.  Reality is we held a Primary election last month every registered voter had the opportunity if they wished to vote on who the candidates running on the two major parties would be.  Republican and Democrat candidates were selected in that process.  Arguments about the worthiness or authenticity of the candidate flew back and forth.  Men and women won those Primaries and at the end of the day, on November 8th there will be one Democrat and one Republican on the ballot. That is our system like it or not this is still America until we are not.  

If you question the system, the process then here is a couple of things you can do.  Show up in person on election day and cast your ballot...yes that may be inconvenient, you may need to stand in line too long.  But consider this, if you lose your freedom what would you do to recover it?  Stand in a longer line, protest, demand it back.  What if our forefathers couldn't be bothered to leave their fields, their shops, take up arms because my God how could anyone beat England and King George?!  What if their wives said it's a useless effort, stay home and bring in game for the winter.  How easy we have it by comparison all we have to do is get off the sofa and dedicate a day to standing in a line with many fellow citizens, chatting it up, casting your ballot, watching as your ballot actually is taken into the box, and then maybe heading out for lunch or dinner with some friends.  Not too much to ask is it to maintain your freedoms, and your country as your parents left it to you and you want to leave it to your children?  

This election is not about individual personalities, it is about the difference between good and evil, a free Republic or a Socialist system, a secure border or millions of illegal's flooding our cities and towns. It is between educating our children or indoctrinating them.  Maybe it is about 87,000 more IRS Agents or no more Border agents, possibly about whether America remains a beacon of goodness and hope in the world or sinks into the ash heap of history as just another failed experiment.  It's up to you, individually and collectively on November 8th.  If the House of Representatives gavel can be grasped from the clutched hands of Speaker Pelosi, if the US Senate flips to another party, then the United States Supreme Court will be saved.  

Locally, we can save our schools by electing new School Board members who will stop the indoctrination.  In the State Legislature a larger margin is needed, new leadership required beginning with a new Speaker of the House who hopefully might just be our Fountain Hills Legislative District House member Joseph Chaplik.  Every state office from Governor on down must be held by a person who values freedom, will fight for America, and will never allow socialism or Marxism to prevail.  And finally, I believe the one thing standing between us and the ultimate destruction of our country is our Second Amendment, the ability to own and maintain weapons for defense, not from outside invaders, but from those from within who would seek to take what we cherish.  And secondly what you can do?  DO NOT skip voting for any office, when you do that, you give the advantage to the other party.  If you want America back, then vote exclusively for the candidates of the party who shares your values. God Bless America.  

Once the Primary season ends, the full force of the national media will launch their Never Trump 2024 scorched earth campaign.  As Democrats vs Republicans battle for Governorships and slug it out for control of the US House and Senate, the media mob will unrelentingly lob their vitriol at Trump until election day 2024.  How completely out of touch are those who live and report from the coasts of America.  In real America the middle class is shrinking, food is missing from grocery shelves, the invasion at our borders is fueling violence and poverty turning America into a second-tier country.  Climate change means little to those who can't drive their car because of the price of gas and parents are hunted down by Biden's Justice Department for protesting what's taught in government schools; while the folks in DC say let them eat cake, get used to higher prices, and you all just sit down and shut up.  

The man who is the most clueless of all is a Republican United States Senator, from Utah who on July 4th said Biden “is a genuinely good man".  Really?  The Biden's have been pedaling Joe's political influence and selling out America for personal enrichment for over 50 years.  Biden and clan make the mafia look like sissies when it comes to corruption.  Sen. Romney is up for reelection in 2024, and if there is any justice in the world, he will have a serious primary challenge.  We all know Mitt hates Trump, voted twice to impeach him and stated “a return of Donald Trump would feed the sickness in the country” this sickness Romney claims is that both parties cannot agree on what is destroying America and Congress has no backbone.  Romney has been a willing part of that no backbone crowd, a weak Senator, more interested in how he is viewed historically then contributing to the continuation of America.  

2024 is the tipping point, which way the election goes will determine whether America returns to the Country we were born into. Good people of Utah, Mitt Romney in no way should be reelected in 2024!  In fact, if he had any infusion of character, he would stop being a toady for the Democrats, or step down and allow a real Republican to be appointed to finish his term. The only thing I agree with Romney on is a quote he used, “Too often, Washington demonstrates the maxim that for evil to thrive only requires good men to do nothing,” Mitt is the do-nothing poster child for this quote, although Liz Cheney is a close second!  

Once again Mayor Dickey has rallied her fellow leftists on the Council to trample freedoms just as she did when ordering the unnecessary COVID lockdown of the town.  Buried deep within the sign ordinance stifling small business in Fountain Hils is the Political Sign-Free Zone Map.  Clearly meant to suppress free speech and keep her and her cronies in power by prohibiting the candidates from placing their signs along every major thoroughfare within town, coming into town, and leaving town.  

The shown document from Fountain Hills Development Director John Wesley regarding revisions to the Town's Sign Ordinance, would result in a trampling of citizen's Core Political Speech.  That is our First Amendment Rights to express our political preferences, which has been held sacred in many cases over the years:  

FEDERAL LAW

Core political speech consists of conduct and words that are intended to directly rally public support for a particular issue, position, or candidate. In one prominent case, the U.S. Supreme Court suggested that core political speech involves any “interactive communication concerning political change.” Meyer v. Grant, 486 U.S. 414, 108 S. Ct. 1886, 100 L. Ed. 2d 425 (1988). Discussion of public issues and debate on the qualifications of candidates, the Supreme Court concluded, are forms of political expression integral to the system of government established by the federal Constitution. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S. Ct. 612, 46 L. Ed. 2d 659 (1976). Thus, circulating handbooks and petitions, posting signs and placards, and making speeches and orations are all forms of core political speech, so long as they in some way address social issues, political positions, political parties, political candidates, government officials, or governmental activities.  

The First Amendment elevates core political speech above all other forms of individual expression by prohibiting laws that regulate it unless the laws are narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. Known as “strict scrutiny” analysis, the application of this analysis by a court usually sounds the death knell for the law that is being challenged. This application is especially true when the core political speech is expressed in traditional public forums, such as streets, sidewalks, parks, and other venues that have been traditionally devoted to public assembly and social debate. Strict scrutiny is also applied to laws that regulate core political speech in “designated public forums,” which are areas created by the government specifically for the purpose of fostering political discussion. For example, state fairgrounds may be considered designated public forums under appropriate circumstances. Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc., 452 U.S.640, 101 S. Ct. 2559, 69 L. Ed. 2d 298 (1981). In nonpublic forums, however, courts apply a lower level of scrutiny, allowing the government to limit core political speech if the limitation is reasonable and not aimed at silencing the speaker’s viewpoint. Examples of nonpublic forums include household mailboxes, military bases, airport terminals, indoor shopping malls, and most private commercial and residential property.

STATE LAW

Arizona has made it abundantly clear where they stand on Core Political Speech in their Revised Statutes;  No HOA, or governmental body can make regulations pertaining to political signs that are more restrictive than those in Arizona Revised Statutes Title 16-1019  See Item "C".    C. Not withstanding any other statute, ordinance or regulation, a city, town or county of this state shall not remove, alter, deface or cover any political sign if the following conditions are met......

By restricting signage in major areas of Town and limiting political expression on private property to only one sign, the government's intent is to silence voter's viewpoint.   Clearly Fountain Hills has overstepped their authority when it comes to Arizona Law as well.   Fountain Hills must immediately rescind the Political Sign Free Zones, and any restrictions placed on voter's political speech on public and private property.