Rant & Rave -- October 27, 2009

Editor’s note: Each week we print a selection of anonymous rants and raves submitted by our readers. Keep them under 150 words, free of profanity and personal attacks, and have at it. You need not sign your submission, which you may e-mail to peoplesgazette@gmail.com or mail to Gazette Editor, 7736 N. Toya Vista Road, Payson, AZ 85541. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Gazette staff.

Here comes the pillage and burn Forest Service back to spew pollutants and contaminants into my air through prescribed burning. It’s good to clear. It’s not good to pollute. There has to be something more productive that can be done with the stuff. There has to be. Apply for some stimulus money and start a program that others can emulate. Be creative. Any damn fool can light a match and start a fire. Just ask Smokey Bear.

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Don’t get too excited yet, but the Phoenix Coyotes just might be Arizona’s next Cinderella story. Why not jump on the bandwagon now before it gets full. We need to keep our home hockey team home.

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So it looks like two more years of the Seven Pro-growth Dwarfs on the Payson Town Council. Make that six dwarfs and Ed Blair – a decent enough guy whom the others treat as Dopey. But thank God, no pun intended, for honest Ed. At least he looks at both sides of an issue before voting. And at least he has a moral compass, being a preacher and all. Those other guys – always on the side of growth, the realtors and the developers. Vogel is shameless in his support of developers. Connell: you wonder sometimes if she even knows what she’s voting for. We always knew where Croy and Hughes were coming from. John Wilson – also a given, although his naivete makes him more of a dupe than a member of the cabal. And then there’s Kenny Who. We sure know who he is now. Between that huge ego and the Mormon voting bloc, it was little surprise that he would renege on his pledge to serve just one term. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I never thought I’d long for the days of the Brewer council. OK, maybe they’re not that bad, but you get my point – Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to grow we go.

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Su Connell and Mike Vogel should call it a political career. Connell may have political ancestors, but she seems lost on the dais most of the time. Vogel is a blusterer and a bully. That doesn’t translate well to the democratic process.

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I guess I’m what you call a pro-growther. I don’t like empty storefronts. I don’t like my restaurant choices dwindling. I don’t like the ghost town this place is becoming. Bring back the Realtors. Let’s kick this thing into high gear.

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Why stop at seven stories. Let’s be the first little town in America to have a genuine skyscraper. It could look just like the Empire State Building, and we could have a monkey climbing festival every year.

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I’m a Gazette investor. I just thought those of you who miss the Gazette should know that two of the local businesses that absolutely refused to support the Gazette, presumably because of their good ole boy ties to the Roundup, were Payson Jewelers and PostNet. PostNet even advertises in the Heber paper, but wouldn’t in the Gazette. As the holiday season rolls along, I know where I’m not going to be shopping. How about you?

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Thanks to Roy Haught, the Payson laundromat is reopening soon. Just thought everybody should know.

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I’ve been a customer of Blockbuster for well over a decade and have rented thousands of movies from many different locations. I requested to buy a movie from the Payson location and the manager told me to just rent it and keep it, then I’d be charged the amount next time I rented a movie. I’d forgotten about it, not rented there in a while, and had a family emergency and was out of town for about a month. When I returned home there was a bill from a collection agency DEMANDING payment of $10.65! They sent it to a collection agency for a debt of less then $11. I will NEVER go to ANY Blockbuster EVER again, especially when Red Box is only $1 per rental. AVOID Blockbuster and you won’t get a mark on your credit for a bill less then $11. Bad move in a bad economy.

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Thanks to Mesa del Caballo for taking the high road with Brooke Utilities. They actually sat down on the same side of the table with Brooke President Robert Hardcastle in a meeting with Arizona Corporation Commission staffers. What they are doing is unprecedented. Here’s hoping they get what they want – a stable, long-term water supply.