DingDong
Posts:297
 | | 08/07/2007 3:56 PM |
 Alert | Focus Sinbad....this not about a T.V. program.  | |
Senior Member
Joined: July 2005 | |
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MaricopaSarah
Posts:8
| | 08/08/2007 3:31 PM |
Alert | Isn't it interesting that Mayor Anderson went to the Maricopa Monitor to respond to the letter that Mr. Estes posted here? What do you want to bet he bags on the forum and our ability to openly discuss the city issues en masse.
Why don't they get that the issue isn't that residents are openly discussing the illegal and innapropriate activities going on at City Hall - the issue is that these things are going on! | | | |
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Sinbad
Posts:3058
| | 08/08/2007 3:53 PM |
Alert | | It would be nice if we did show up as a MASS.. if just once... | |
Just doing it one day at a time. Change is good and it should be looked upon as an improvment! not a problem.
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San Diego Super Chargers! GO!!!
Joined old forum March 2006
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85239
Posts:0
| | 08/08/2007 4:14 PM |
Alert | Posted By MaricopaSarah on 08/08/2007 3:31 PM
Isn't it interesting that Mayor Anderson went to the Maricopa Monitor to respond to the letter that Mr. Estes posted here? What do you want to bet he bags on the forum and our ability to openly discuss the city issues en masse.
Why don't they get that the issue isn't that residents are openly discussing the illegal and innapropriate activities going on at City Hall - the issue is that these things are going on!
The Mayor will be at the City Manager Public Input forum tonight at Alterra Elementary from 6 to 8 pm. I am sure he would be happy to tell you exactly what he told the Monitor if asked, instead of insinuating and speculating on the content of the article.
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Ratboy
Posts:0
| | 08/08/2007 6:14 PM |
Alert | This is a test of the emergeny Sinbad system.........................................
If this was a real Sinbad emergency a short message from Sinbad will follow.
again this is a test of the emergency Sinbad system. | | | |
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crazyforcopa
Posts:0
| | 08/08/2007 9:51 PM |
Alert | This quote from Estes:
'I told Mr. Buss that whether or not he was having a romantic relationship didn’t matter; it was the appearance that they were that did, and that his actions had caused a hostile work environment for many City employees...'
Could be rephrased for Estes himself:
'I told Estes that whether or not he was conducting personal business on city time didn’t matter; it was the appearance that he did, and that his actions had caused a hostile environment for many in Maricopa...'
Estes needs to listen to his own advice! | | | |
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DesertDweller
Posts:2569
| | 08/08/2007 10:23 PM |
Alert | | If a lawyer listens to his own advice, does that mean that he has to pay himself? | |
Stupid should hurt!
Desert Dweller - Senior Member - Posts: 2982 - Joined: Feb 2006 | |
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Nickswebcamfriend
Posts:1292
| | 08/08/2007 11:31 PM |
Alert | Maricopa Monitor:
The purpose of my correspondence is to request a retraction and apology for the article that was printed in your newspaper last Friday (August 3 rd) regarding Councilman Joseph Estes. The reason for my request is that the article is written without substantial evidence and no credible sources are referenced. You are slandering a man who has served this community honorably and selflessly. There are allegations made that he has promoted his own self interests as a member of the City Council but yet you offer only hearsay from sources who are unidentifiable.
It is blatantly obvious that the staff employees who are feeding you these half-truths have a personal grudge or bias against Mr. Estes. You specifically detail communications regarding one staff member who was placed on disciplinary leave for misconduct and another staff member who was involved in that misconduct. It is apparent that these individuals have ulterior motives and are misleading you to their own desired conclusion that Councilman Estes is somehow corrupt or evil. It is irresponsible of you as a journalist to print information without due diligence and investigation. It is disgusting that your newspaper would so freely regurgitate what is nothing more than office gossip. As I stated in my previous email, this article is at best irresponsible journalism and at worst slander.
Most of your fault finding is based on the fact that Mr. Estes also works for a private developer who has interest in projects within Maricopa. You attempt to portray this relationship as inappropriate and lead us to believe that Mr. Estes is doing something wrong by discussing development projects that he is involved in at City meetings. This is not illegal and if you check the records you will find that Mr. Estes excuses himself from voting on issues that he has a conflict of interest in. If you examined the business dealings of the other councilmen and the mayor himself you will find they are involved in real estate projects within our community as well.
Based on your lack of credible information please retract your article. Councilman Estes is a good man who deserves a little more respect than your quick and dirty approach to journalism gives him. The fair and honest people of Maricopa will now go to work to make sure you and the pathetic city staffers who are pushing for Councilman Estes' recall do not succeed.
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Who's using me, what should we do? Because you can't be a pimp and a prostitute too. - White Stripes
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85239
Posts:0
| | 08/09/2007 12:35 AM |
Alert | 1. Sources are never revealed by a credible news organization unless the source approves it.
2. Whistleblower laws protect the sources of information in situations like these.
3. The reasons Mr. Buss was put on administrative leave, from what I understand, have nothing to do with the "misconduct" you are talking about. That rumor is old and tired and had no bearing on his removal from his position and the investigation.
4. Regardless if Mr. Estes handed out 1 flyer or 100 flyers in Las Vegas, his development company is listed as a member of Landmax which is a member of Mainstreet Maricopa, the development he was handing the flyer out for. There is no disputing this fact. His trip was on behalf of the City of Maricopa, not Mainstreet Maricopa.
5. What exactly did the Monitor print that is "office gossip"? The details of the alleged problems include documents and timelines that point to specific communications and meetings that took place. How do you account for the letter that Mr. Haque was told to write? How do you account for the direct contact with the City Attorney by a developer, when any other developer would have to go through Planning?
Kathy Hall continues to question our government and has secured sources who make it possible to expose situations which need a closer look. Ms. Hall is good for Maricopa.
If you separate out your feelings and look at the article objectively you will see that regardless of how you believe Mr. Estes acted, his actions alone cast a negative light on himself, his position and the city as a whole. That is what is concerning. One flyer may not make a difference to Mr. Estes, but it does to me. Our taxes paid for that trip and maybe the time spent with those venture capitalists could have been spent with a developer who could bring jobs to Maricopa instead of promoting a development that will result in financial gain for his personal company.
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pkat
Posts:1074
| | 08/09/2007 1:46 AM |
Alert | Posted By DesertDweller on 08/08/2007 10:23 PM
If a lawyer listens to his own advice, does that mean that he has to pay himself?
I think it means we have six more weeks of winter. That or he has a fool for a client.  | |
..... If you can dream it, I can build it.
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." -- Oscar Wilde | |
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fuego
Posts:54
| | 08/09/2007 6:56 AM |
Alert | | Well said 85239. While Nickswebcamfriend is obviously sticking up for his friend and that's noble, he/she needs to take the emotion out of it. It's not that we have anything against the man. He probably is good friend/husband & father. We just feel that he hasn't always made the right choices. You've never addressed the fact that he should have never been in Vegas promoting a project that had nothing to do with the city. Stick to the facts. | | | |
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maricopacabana
Posts:356
| | 08/09/2007 7:10 AM |
Alert | Nice post Mr. 85239, as usual.
While I support Mr. Estes right to business in town, I don't want it to be aided by his position. I also don't ant to impact our cities operations. What kind of liabilty problem did he create by publicly discussing a private city HR matter? As a lawyer would he have advised his client to do that?
The prevalant problem this town faces is self interest. Some supporters love him because he is helping get their Charter school established, even if it means they recieved aid that other businesses fighting to open don't get. They feel he is bringing better eucation to our city. But is he? Or is his involvement because he is employed by the School to do so? We can all agree that the process for businesses to open up in this City are painfully slow. This needs to change. Has Mr. Estes been an advocate and used the system to help all businesses? I don't know, but I would guess not. While a noble business the Charter school should not be given extra benefits outside of the defined processes to get established. | | | |
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Nickswebcamfriend
Posts:1292
| | 08/09/2007 7:45 AM |
Alert | I have absolutely nothing to gain from supporting him.
I posted the letter that I received from another source as the Monitor is unwilling to print a story that they refused to get the other side of the story on. And as we know, there are always two sides of the story. Prosecuting all Council members due to the actions of a few members and city employees is not justice, it is a witch hunt, and as history tells us, not everyone turned out to be a witch.
Everyone has their own opinion on things and I completely respect that. But, I also feel that the whole picture should be seen - hence the letter posted below. I am not acting in an emotional way, only feel that everyone is due his/her justice and that prosecuting people in the public without all of the information is not the best practice.
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Who's using me, what should we do? Because you can't be a pimp and a prostitute too. - White Stripes
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OutRider
Posts:89
| | 08/09/2007 8:14 AM |
Alert | Nick....
I respect you for defending Mr. Estes and I appreciate that everyone has an opinion. But specific questions were asked of you in both 85239's and MC's post. Do you have opinions or answers to these questions?
(1) His request for a letter on city letterhead asking staffers to foretell that the Planning Commission was going to approve the project.
(2) Direct access to the city attorney which circumvents the system and potentially also at taxpayer expense.
(3) His release of confidential HR related information during the investigation. Specifically the potential liability to the city this could create.
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crazyforcopa
Posts:0
| | 08/09/2007 10:06 AM |
Alert | It's pretty simple... and I quote again, Mr. Estes himself...
'it was the appearance' that matters
In this case there is an appearance of wrong behavior on Mr. Estes part. According to him, that's all that matters. What applies for one, applies to the other! | | | |
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DesertDweller
Posts:2569
| | 08/09/2007 10:25 AM |
Alert | It's not just Maricopa. KPHO.com is running a story about a $100 million subsidy that the City of Phoenix is givng to a shopping mall in the form of building a parking lot.
Not only does the mom and pop store have to compete with the mall, now thier tax revenue is subsidizing it. Fair? Nah.
It's much harder to deal with this type of corruption in Phoenix than it is in Maricopa. | |
Stupid should hurt!
Desert Dweller - Senior Member - Posts: 2982 - Joined: Feb 2006 | |
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josephestes
Posts:5
| | 08/09/2007 7:22 PM |
Alert | Posted By OutRider on 08/09/2007 8:14 AM
Nick....
I respect you for defending Mr. Estes and I appreciate that everyone has an opinion. But specific questions were asked of you in both 85239's and MC's post. Do you have opinions or answers to these questions?
(1) His request for a letter on city letterhead asking staffers to foretell that the Planning Commission was going to approve the project.
(2) Direct access to the city attorney which circumvents the system and potentially also at taxpayer expense.
(3) His release of confidential HR related information during the investigation. Specifically the potential liability to the city this could create.
In response to your specific questions I have the following comments:
(1) Yes I requested a status letter from the City for a lender that was refinancing the project. It is common in the industry to request such letters. I requested the letter and was asked to provide a proposed letter. Yes I provided a positive proposal, which was amended, as is common in the industry. There was no undue influence in the response, which I think is evident by the fact that the letter was revised. This is just an example of how a story can be slanted to one side.
(2) Anyone and everyone has direct access to the City Attorney. It is very common in the development industry for developer attorneys to have direct communication with city attorneys. The City attorney's direct contact information is on the City's website and is available to anyone. Another example of a one-sided story.
(3) There was no release of any confidential HR related information. Regardless, pursuant to the settlement agreement entered into by the City tonight there is no potential liability to the city and the post has been edited.
Thanks for all the support I have received over the past week. I don't claim to be perfect, everyone makes mistakes, it's whether we learn from those mistakes that matters. I know I will never be able to please everyone, and criticism is part of the job. Again, if anyone has any specific questions regarding any matter please feel free to contact me on my cellular at (520) 280-6858.
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OutRider
Posts:89
| | 08/09/2007 11:27 PM |
Alert | Thanks Mr. Estes for responding. I have additional questions and clarifications to request of you..
Am I to understand it is your position that it is common for a developer to request staff to act on behalf of the Planning and Zoning Commission?
Shouldn't that request be submitted to the P&Z Commission directly to produce that letter?
I mean is it ethical to ask a staff member to speak for duly appointed citizens on the P&Z Commission?
Just out of curiosity has the Edison Condo Project received that P&Z approval?
You state that due to the severance agreement the city has no risk. Is it your position that had the Council tabled the severance agreement tonight that the city would not be at risk based on your published statements?
Was it ethical for you to release confidential HR related information during an investigation?
Thanks again for taking the time to reply... | | | |
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carouselncopa
Posts:133
| | 08/10/2007 12:02 AM |
Alert | I think that Maricopa is starting to get a headache. Marley said, "Where are the statements from the mayor?" I find it interesting that the mayor has been silent on this issue. I have left messages for the mayor regarding several items and have yet received a call back. Probably out on a hike with Flores and too busy.
Tis fascinating to see the ongoing semantic interludes. Councilman Estes is symptomatic of a system preparing to implode. Don't wait to long Maricopans. When the city or the school implodes, whichever happens first, we the citizens will be the ones to suffer.
There are also some remarkable similarities on the city strands and school strands. There always seem to be those that blindly defend unethical behavior. Unethical is unethical regardless of the spin you put to it. Quit defending, start an offense. Let's recall the city council and the school board that refuse to listen to reason, facts, documentation, and most importantly the PEOPLE.
Mayor Anderson had no problem telling friends that he had read the evaluations of key school administrators. Perhaps he should start checking up on his own staff instead of hanging out with Flores, Ingram, and friends.
I applaud the efforts of the citizens to recall Estes if they feel he has violated ethical codes. I hear mention of others, don't talk about it, do it.
Jessica Calliope | | | |
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