Museum of the West – Scottsdale Trails

Charity, Cultural Council, Culture, David Smith, Economic Sustainability, Ethics, Golf, Guy Phillips, Jim Lane, Kathy Littlefield, Linda Milhaven, Museum of the West, Politics, Suzanne Klapp, Taxes, Virginia Korte

Quango

February 23, 2016 No Comments

I was copied on an email to the Scottsdale city council and mayor today, in which a word caught my eye: “Quango.” Quango (quasi non-governmental organization) is an acronym that describes arms-length bodies funded by government departments but not run by them. They are given power and paid for by government departments. One of my […]

Cultural Council, Economic Sustainability, Ethics, Museum of the West, Politics, Taxes

Sell the Arena

June 12, 2015 2 Comments

I feel very fortunate that Scottsdale taxpayers can armchair quarterback the Glendale arena deal with the Arizona Coyotes. Scottsdale isn’t without similar bad deals, like millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies to the PGA, SkySong, the Scottsdale Cultural Council, WestWorld, the Museum of the West, the TPC and Sanctuary Golf Courses…but at least we don’t […]

Chamber of Commerce, City Council, Cultural Council, Ethics, Jim Lane, Linda Milhaven, Museum of the West, Taxes

Banchs’ Withdrawal

August 6, 2013 3 Comments

Bill Banchs should have never been hired as President of the Scottsdale Cultural Council in the first place. However, the problems at SCC weren’t related so much to the occupant of that office as they were to poor oversight of taxpayer subsidies to this private business. As a reminder, SCC has a 20-year, no-bid contract […]