Items of interest for the 13 December City Council meeting:
Special Meeting Agenda (Note 3:30 start time). Possible purchase by City of Scottsdale of a portion of the Golub property, aka Scottsdale Waterfront Phase IV that was upzoned January 2011. Also the subject of a city-subsidized party described later under Item 12.
Regular Meeting (note 4:30 start time):
Consent Agenda
- Item 3, House Restaurant. Once the residence of Lester and Labeula Steiner Mowry, it was one of (if not the) last original residence from before Scottsdale’s incorporation to be occupied by the original resident. Truly a showcase of early 20th century architecture and beautiful example of civic pride, Labeula’s house welcomed visitors from around the world who were drawn to its beautiful roses, beautifully manicured lawn, and beautiful matron. It is a shame the city couldn’t be persuaded to buy and preserve this home for historic purposes. I have no opposition to the applicant or the use.
- Items 4, 5, 6, 7, outdoor patios for restaurants/bars extending into public walkway/parking. Don’t we already have issues with crowded sidewalks and lack of parking?
- Items 12 and 14 special events receiving city funding under CVB Destination Marketing Services Agreements. As far as I can tell, these are for-profit activities and I question the use of taxpayer funds to support them.
- Item 17, MAG dues. Maricopa Association of Governments is a quasi governmental agency formed to receive and distribute federal funds and locally collected taxes. The taxpayers have no direct say in the appointment of members to this body, nor do they have a direct say in how the funds are distributed back to the communities. Scottsdale has historically paid out far more than it received back.
- Item 18, Charter Officer Employment Agreements. The agreements are finally being considered for approval after the mayor and council majority thinks we have forgotten about the evaluations that took place months ago.
- Item 18A, Updated: Perfecting the city land giveaway (sale without competitive bid) at 74th Street and McDowell to Mark-Taylor for the apartments east of SkySong. This item seeks to “terminate and convey land rights” to this property…but those land rights (“use restrictions, setbacks, and reciprocal parking agreements” described as “outdated and no longer needed”) are not described in sufficient detail to understand them. Could this relate to deed restrictions? If so, this is a perfect example of why the deed restrictions on two residential general plan amendment cases in the Scottsdale Airpark are essentially meaningless.
Regular Agenda
- Item 19, Western Museum funding increase. WITHDRAWN.
- Item 19A, Mayor Lane’s Littering Ordinance. This is a perfectly ridiculous and ineffective band-aid on the Entertainment District. It is making up an unenforceable new and redundant law law to cover lack of enforcement of other laws. As such, it is pure politics and theater and will accomplish nothing.
- Item 20, Board and Commission nominations. From my own personal experience with many boards and commissions I can say that this is more of the same. The mayor has completely abdicated his campaign promise to reform boards and commissions in order to empower the citizens to better engage with city government. There have been no substantive changes to the structure of board and commission appointments, and it appears there will be none during the reign of Mayor Lane.
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