Letters from readers

In 1985 -86 two City of Mesa employees were caught in regards to the stealing of thousands of dollars worth of the weed killer "Roundup." They were selling it and pocketing the money. Roundup is very expensive and sells for about $100 per gallon undiluted. The Police department had the necessary facts to file charges and take these two felons to court. The Police Dept. was told by C.K. Luster to back off and end the investigation. No charges were filed nor were the two fired from their jobs. I never did hear their names but was told their families were "good Mormon families." This information came from Capt. Harry Boden who was in charge of the Det. Division of the Mesa Police Dept. at that time. He has since retired and lives in Prescott, AZ.

I read with interest the article in the tribune about web sites to "complain" about the city of Mesa, "Kavanaugh said the web offers both anonymity and freedom of expression." He goes on to say "I challenge those people to come to the City Council and say what they have to say in public." WHAT A JOKE, I've watched enough of the city council meetings, seeing how the "HIGH AND MIGHTY" showed absolutely NO interest in the publics comments. I had to stop watching them before I PUKED!!!! As for the "Henry" giveaway, had he left Mesa, which he wouldn't have, someone would have scarfed up that Chevy franchise in a heart beat. I have also noticed lately that the good Mormons installed a new traffic light, at taxpayers expense, so his salespeople could get across the street to his storage garage, to get a traffic signal anywhere else, it takes hundreds of signatures on a petition, and a thousand dollar study before you can get one installed.
THE WASTE OF MONEY DOWNTOWN
I'll bet that the new Wal-Mart at Stapley and Baseline produces more sales tax income in one week, than down town will produce in a lifetime, and this store didn't cost taxpayers one red cent.
Since the good Mormons on Mesa passed the no smoking in restaurants , I no longer patronize any Mesa businesses, I give my sales tax money to Gilbert, Chandler, and Tempe. I recently purchased a newer car, in Chandler, they were thrilled to have my hundreds of dollars in Sales tax.
Sincerely, John Lemire, (Mesa)

I am rather amazed that you don't list the lack of action by Asst. Chief Del Ballentyne in regards to the Elegit sex scandal at the Mesa Police Dept. Ballentyne simply did nothing when told about the activities of the Elegit and others on the Police Dept. Later, he was pressured into retiring due to his actions. The whole thing would have come to light much earlier if not for the actions of this over paid "public servant." Asst. Chief M. Whalen, who recently retired, has a wealth of information regarding this incident as does the Ex-Chief from Tennessee who retired.

HELLO - I AM BUT ONE OF OVER ONE HUNDRED PERSONS ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY THIS ILLEGAL ACTION OF THE MESA CITY COUNCIL. [FACT - WE WERE GIVEN LETTERS - BY THE CITY - TO MOVE OFF OF THE PROPERTY AT THE LOCATION MR. BROWN WANTED BEFORE THE "VOTE" WAS TAKEN!!!] I DID NOT KNOW OF YOUR WEB SITE EXISTENCE UNTIL THE RECENT LETTER IN DEC 25TH ARTICLE IN THE TRIBUNE.
[MY PROTESTATIONS TO THE TRIBUNE ARE USUALLY EITHER UNPUBLISHED OR GREATLY CONDENSED TO LESSEN THEIR IMPACT]
IF POSSIBLE, I WISH TO SPEAK TO YOU PERSONALLY, AND TO HAVE YOU VIEW SOME DOCUMENTS AND VIDEO TAPES IN MY POSSESSION.

THE INFORMATION ON OTHER TREMENDOUS CHARGES THIS CITY IS/MAY BE GUILTY OF ARE TOO SENSITIVE TO SEND IN AN E-MAIL COMMUNIQUÉ.

ONE SUBJECT TO ADDRESS IS THE COMPLAINT I FILED TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE TITLED - FOR THE FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF POSSIBLE CONTINUED FRAUDULENT AND DECEPTIVE SCHEMES OF THE BROWN & BROWN CHEVROLET COMPANY OF MESA ARIZONA. THE TERM, FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF POSSIBLE CONTINUED SCHEMES, IS USED BECAUSE HE HAD ALREADY BEEN FINED OR CONTACTED BY THIS OFFICE ON OTHER CHARGES IN THE PAST. IT WAS, PREDICTABLY, DISMISSED.

SOME SAY THAT THIS IS PAST HISTORY, WHY KEEP BRINGING IT UP? BECAUSE, IT IS STILL A CURRENT REALITY TO MANY OF THOSE THAT WERE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY IT AND ALSO, GRAPHICALLY, ILLUSTRATES THE CALLOUS, SELF SERVING, DEVIOUSNESS OF MESA'S CITY COUNCIL.

BEING A MEMBER OF THE V.B.O., I HAVE WORKED AGAINST THIS AND OTHER INJUSTICES IN MESA, HOWEVER, AS A PERMANENTLY DISABLED PERSON, MY PHYSICAL PARTICIPATION IS LIMITED.

I HOPE THERE WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO YOU.

Did You Know? * The proposed City of Mesa Ordinance will apply to ALL Homes within the city.
* Fire sprinkler systems MUST be installed in the full house if an addition of more than 10% of the existing square footage is added in a remodel.
* Sprinkler systems MUST be installed by a Licensed and Bonded "Fire Safety" Contractor. Check The Yellow Pages and see just how few there are! * Current estimates of "retrofitting" an existing structure is between $3.00 -$6.00 per square foot!
* A separate Building Permit and INSPECTION is REQUIRED!
* Your insurance premium for fire coverage will drop approximately 5%, however, your premium covering "water damage" of the structure and it's contents could increase by up to 15%!

AN EXAMPLE:

For the purpose of an easy to understand example, let's assume:

You own a small 30 year old masonry home of approximately 1000 square feet. You decide that you would like to finally enclose that patio (which is 10'x10'). The complete cost of construction, assuming that you are doing the work yourself and up to code, would be around $800. The permit under the existing code would be $80.00 - Building Permit for Construction (10%)
Here are the "other charges" you could look forward to:

$5,500.00 Fire Sprinkler Installation that's:
*$5.00/psf for the entire structure because of it being an existing masonry home.
$550.00 Building Permit for Sprinkler Installation (10%)
$6,500.00 Total New Expense!

Now, you do the math..... $880.00 or $7,380.00. at what cost do we want protection by our city council? [email withheld]
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