Interesting Criticism on the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway

While I obviously disagree with his overall stance on the subject, I can at least take a little pride in helping push Jon Talton to discuss the Loop 202 from his well-informed perspective: http://bit.ly/bqjuF3.  I'll restrain from elaborating much on my comments here, since I already posted them on his article's comments section (and have written ad nauseum on the topic already), but this is a worthy dialog for us as Laveen residents and for others impacted by the proposed freeway.  After all, it makes sense that fellow Phoenicians might see this as yet another unnecessary freeway for most -- it's our job to convince them otherwise.  While I hope to have sufficiently addressed these claims, I'd love to know what others think.


***And btw, I've mentioned him before on this blog, but just to be thorough I highly recommend that you follow Mr. Talton's "Phoenix 101" series of articles.  I first discovered his AZ Republic business columns in 2005, shortly before he was ousted for his controversial views [at least, that's how I understand it].  His move to Seattle since then would have been a much greater loss, were it not for his continued impassioned blogging about Phoenix as the "Rogue Columnist."

City Budget Hearings

I just returned from the city budget meeting at the Burton Barr Library.  It looks to me as though people are generally unconcerned about the food tax, and instead focusing on the somewhat false dichotomy proposed by the city: either pay the food tax or see further reduction of emergency response services, which are already stressed to maintain adequate staffing levels.

I think there must be other alternatives.  Please visit http://www.phoenix.gov/budget and see where the cuts are currently proposed.  Also, please join my plea in asking for a more transparent system that allows residents to view the city manager's complete budget.  If this is made possible, perhaps we can make more informed recommendations without needing to say yes or no to police officers, depending on whether or not we want a food tax.

There were a few great ideas presented tonight, including one person who suggested we could consider a targeted food tax on junk food items, and then some guy in a mask talking about the Federal Reserve (???).  Please bring your thoughtful suggestions to the meeting next week at Cesar Chavez H.S.

An Important Note About Mortgage Defaults

Yes, it is a powerful force in our market -- particularly in a community like Laveen, where we have grown so rapidly in the last five years, and then seen our property values decline due to foreclosures and short sales.  Those housing bubble years are having a devastating impact on our home values, as has been officially reported by the Maricopa County Assessor.

But another debate has also arisen out of this situation, and that is whether it is acceptable to strategically default on a home loan that you could otherwise afford but choose not to any longer.  Recently, a UA law professor wrote a paper titled "Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis," which raised the question of why more Americans are not behaving in their rightful economic best interests.


I find this debate absolutely fascinating, and furthermore see it as the necessary dialog that can foment a true recovery,  not just reestablishing growth but also promoting the right kinds of value-creating behavior for a sustainable economy.  That's why I've started cataloging my various discussions on the matter over at my other oft neglected blog.  Please click the link and let me know your thoughts on the matter.  There's some great stuff there, including links to the Motley Fool's compelling coverage, along with that of ABC News and our own AZ Republic.

Flood Concerns for Laveen?

Here's the deal; I'm probably being paranoid about this, I know..... I worry about Laveen's preparedness for the amount of flooding that could occur this week. Yes, we have the LACC (Laveen Area Conveyance Channel) and other flood retention measures in place, but what about the amount of water that our soil and flood retention basins accumulated already this week; and what about potential bottlenecks on street drainage systems or potentially defective retention measures (which we have already seen here during past storms) among all the other things that could go wrong?

Remember, most of Laveen sits on relatively low ground, and within the typical floodplain of the Salt River, not to mention the Tres Rios confluence just west of us. This is why our county and city officials took the initiative to complete the LACC project and others like it in recent history, as Laveen's population has boomed. Just ask any long-time resident to hear some interesting stories of past flooding.

Further, we may or may not experience unprecedented levels of rainfall in the next 48 hours, combined with rising river levels due to rapid snow melt in the high country.  And I have not been able to find much specific advice for our community, which is a little frustrating....  After all, the storm a couple of weeks ago brought the gutter run-off above the sidewalk in front of my house, and last year I recall watching our water retention basin nearly fill up from a less severe storm.

So to ease all our minds, I offer the following resources:

• WEATHER.GOV/PHOENIX 
  

• Local news coverage about the potentially unprecedented rain and flooding: Channel 3 video.
• Where to pick up free sandbags from the City of Phoenix, if needed: City of PHX site.
• What to do with the sandbags, if you decide you need them: eHow article.
  
• Information about the LACC and other "big" measures to stop flooding: Image and details.
• Info from Maricopa County Flood Control District: MCFCD site.
• Arizona's Flood Warning and Drought Monitoring: AFWDS site.
  
• Historic flood info: USGS website.
• FEMA's flood preparedness advice: FEMA site.

***Bonus recommendation in case there are no sandbags at the free pick-up locations referenced above: Try Home Depot or Lowe's.  If that fails (like finding anything else in Laveen at the moment that we all need it, i.e. propane cylinders on July 4th), then I bet you could justify borrowing some sand from a nearby playground and returning it after the flood recedes.  And by the way, medium trash bags work at least as well as the big burlap ones; you just need more of them.

Please feel free to pass along this information to anyone who you think may need it, or feel free to keep it around as a resource for the next hundred or so years, in anticipation of an eventual 100-year flood (it's not really like nature is on a schedule.... here's a definition of a 100-year flood).  In the likely event that this information is totally irrelevant, then I simply request that you understand how much I love to geek out on information and preparedness.

Phoenix Drinking Water

There's never been a better reason to discard that expensive and environmentally insensitive bottled water habit that I know most of my friends suffer. Sure our water doesn't taste as good as several places I've visited on the east coast and elsewhere, surprisingly including none other than dirty ol' NYC, but it's pretty darn good.

I'm happy to say that Phoenix Municipal water meets and exceeds all regulatory requirements -- at least as far as I could discern from the recent EWG report. Add to that the fact that we use a Brita filter in my home and Phoenix is working diligently to address the remaining aesthetic concerns, and I'm even more pleased (despite recent memory of several ground well failures). How do I know this? Here's a link to the EWG report: http://bit.ly/77xp2R

And then there's the Phoenix.gov page: http://bit.ly/89koMb

Frankly, I thought that the City of Phoenix's water department was quite straightforward in addressing my most basic concerns. It would be even more refreshing if we dedicated resources to demonstrating greater leadership in water resource management, being that we're in a desert and all..... but then there's the whole funding issue, not to mention the fact that we're not usually regarded as the most progressive place on earth. But I digress.

AZ isn't totally off the hook for water safety. I was surprised to learn coincidentally that the Granite Dells area near Prescott is listed alongside Verde Valley, Tucson, and Cave Creek as hot spots for natural radon contamination (but not Laveen as far as I know). This is good news for me, since I harbor fond memories of playing around in the Dells area as a child, and would like my son to see the area in nearly as pristine a condition as the two generations of family before me could enjoy it.... not surrounded by subdivisions. But again, I digress. Read more about radon and Arizona's other environmental hazards here: http://bit.ly/6rh4Uh. And if you are an info geek like me, then I'm sure you'll enjoy browsing the rest of the AZ Geo site. No, we have no major earth fissures in Laveen that are reported. And yes, there is gold in them there hills.... maybe. There, I just saved you a bunch of time. You're welcome.

Interim Post: Update on Laveen Farmers Market

I have been laboring over an official New Years post between online poker hands and other miscellany for the last two weeks, but thought it was important to get this out in the mean time. I figure that no one can criticize me too much about a belated New Years post as long as it comes out in January, right?

So here's the latest info about the much discussed, but surprisingly nonexistent farmers market:

It's been a while since we had any news about the Laveen Farmers Market, so I thought I would provide a brief update. While I haven't had much of a chance lately to investigate potential farmers to participate, I/we have gotten some feedback from a few people we contacted.

McClendon's Select Organics, featured participants in the Scottsdale and Biltmore area farmers markets, politely declined to play a part in ours. I had a very informative yet frank conversation with the owner about their reasoning, which basically came down to the fact that farmers markets tend to get in the way of their most profitable business; selling to restaurants and other wholesale clients. He was very polite about his explanation, so I asked if he had any other ideas. No dice, but we'll keep trying.

Also, I'm not sure if this was already mentioned, but Krag Klages, our LCC president, spoke with the people at Grandma's Farm. They too declined for now, due to the fact that they are planning their own retail concept on their property (South of Baseline on 19th Avenue). This is disappointing in that they were by far our most local lead, but also exciting in that it means they're planning a considerable improvement to their existing business. We definitely need to keep them on our radar, so any help with this would be much appreciated.

Hopefully we'll have another update soon. Please also do your part if you come up with any ideas. And by the way, all ideas are worthy of consideration. Until we have a farmer or two, there is no farmers market, and thus no formal leadership. My thinking is that this is a free-for-all until we get something going, at which point we can sort it all out. Any other thoughts? Please share.

DiCiccio and the Loop 202: Is There a Story Here?

A friend forwarded the following email from Phoenix Councilman Sal DiCiccio this morning.  My reaction follows, and yes I am a little more skeptical of Mr. DiCiccio now than ever before.

Governor, others boost 202 alternative momentum

Momentum has swung strongly toward exploring an alternative to the Pecos Road South Mountain Loop 202 alignment on the Gila River Indian Community thanks to powerful letters of support from Gov. Jan Brewer, House Majority Leader John McComish and Congressman Harry Mitchell plus hard, cooperative work by many players.

As you know, I've been a strong proponent of an alternative to the Pecos Road alignment.  My office has been working tirelessly to get all parties to communicate to see if there could be a win-win for all.  I've maintained that another alignment would save taxpayers' money, preserve South Mountain, provide opportunities for GRIC, and maintain neighborhoods and homes.  We've since learned that perhaps $200 million in construction/engineering also might be saved.

The way for such a win-win solution to be accomplished is when all parties work together, which I'm happy to report is occurring. The best example was the Dec. 7 meeting at the Maricopa Association of Governments attended by me, MAG, the Arizona Department of Transportation, federal highway officials, GRIC, the BIA, two congressional offices and others.  The first time, all stakeholders sat in the same room and talked things through like that. The result was a general agreement that GRIC would formally indicate its willingness to consider a proposal and that MAG and ADOT would pursue it. Gov. Brewer, in her letter to GRIC Gov. William Rhodes, pledged the full engagement of the Arizona Department of Transportation in working with the GRIC to develop a SM202 alignment there (see attached letter).

Other 'never-quit' players have been working behind the scenes for the past nine months on this, including Chad Blostone and Mike Hinz of Ahwatukee, two local HOA board members and worker bees who have kept this alternative issue alive so it could reach this point. When very few people believed such an outcome possible, they doggedly worked at it, helped us uncover information, develop relationships and drive momentum.

A huge lesson for all of us, one that should ring much louder in these difficult times, is what innovation and results can come from working together.  Look at all the different communities, levels of government, primary missions and cultures that share in this accomplishment. It included federal, state, city, MAG  . . . and HOAs and community ad hoc committees. It's the Gila River Indian Community, suburban Ahwatukee and the folks in downtown Phoenix. It's neighbors, engineers, elected officials, agency heads, community activists, Democrats and Republicans.

To keep this momentum moving, your help is needed also. Please forward this and the letters from Gov. Brewer, Congressman Mitchell and Majority Leader McComish to your email list plus other interested parties, encouraging them to add their voices to encouraging this exploration of alternatives by calling or writing their elected representatives, community leaders and newspapers to support it.

Please sign onto sm202.com/ and leave your email so we can update you as developments occur, or email it to council.district.6@phoenix.gov.  Also, please feel free to forward any of this information to any other concerned parties.  We look forward to your opinions and feedback.

Thank you all again for your effort.

Councilman Sal DiCiccio
Phoenix City Council District 6
602-262-7491

Council.district.6@phoenix.gov