In response to Mayor Jim Lane’s op-ed in this morning’s Scottsdale Republic, John Greco sent this to the editors:
Editor: Today’s readers of the Scottsdale Republic (07/17/13) are treated to an editorial by Mayor Jim Lane, a key cheerleader for the proliferation of downtown bars, which have resulted in serious crime and public disorder. Our Mayor claims he has finally seen the light, that Scottsdale needs a downtown public safety plan.
This is the conclusion that taxpayers and residents, and Council members like Bob Littlefield, arrived at long ago. If Lane now really agrees, why does he belittle Littlefield and others, who were so much quicker to spot the problem and offer effective solutions? Just how strong is the public safety plan being proposed by Lane?
Scottsdale residents need to do exactly what mayor Lane asks us to do: read his proposed public safety plan, which he claims will effectively address the downtown serious crime and public disorder problems. What critical readers will quickly discover is that the Public Safety Plan (PSP) proposed by our Mayor is big on image and short on substance: what we are offered is a Pretend Public Safety Plan (PPSP), a weak attempt that seems to do more to protect the bars, than it does to protect the public.
The clue that what the Mayor proposes is more pretend than not, is provided by the Mayor himself. He wildly goes after Littlefield and others who want to end serious crime and public disorder downtown, as wanting to put all of the bars out of business. How ridiculous!
That’s a patently obvious ploy to sell his snake oil Pretend Public Safety Plan, and thereby prevent the Council from taking effective action. So much for Mayor Lane finally seeing the light. He is still the cheerleader for the bars, who apparently are afraid that a real public safety plan might not be good for their profit margins.
We do not need the Pretend Public Safety Plan being proposed by Mayor Lane. We need our City Council to take the real leadership role that the Mayor has only pretended to take, and pass a strong public safety plan for our downtown area.
John W Greco, Scottsdale, AZ