Tim Perry: Council admits defeat on initiative ~ Clear Enough For You Now?
Section: Clear Enough For You Now?
That gang calling themselves the Sedona city council for once bowed to public opinion when, on Tuesday, they voted unanimously to refrain from pursuing their lawsuit against the Cultural Park Preservation Act after the Yavapai County Superior Court emphatically rejected their suit last week. The voter-referred initiative will now appear on the July 21 ballot, and the voters of Sedona will be able to say a simple yes or no on the question of housing at the park. Who’d like to contribute to sending a nice presentation rifle to Judge Napper in appreciation?
Someone at the city, presumably Comrade Spickard or Browne, had a statement ready to go and released it at 4:37 PM, immediately after the vote and while the council was in regular session, in a transparent attempt to get control of the narrative. The statement falsely claimed, in a quote attributed to Comrade Ploog, that the issue was “legal clarity” and not an attempt to derail the democratic process. Who actually believes that?
Rumor on the street is that the city council’s plan for dealing with the effort to revive the Cultural Park is to allow it to go forward, use regulatory interference to ensure that the venue fails, and then build a housing development on the site anyway regardless of what the public wants.
Meanwhile, after all the work by the Save Sedona committee and the people of this town to save the Cultural Park, on Thursday, the Sedona Cultural Park 2.0 board voted almost unanimously to withdraw their support for the Cultural Park Preservation Act and their ballot pamphlet argument in favor of the act after comrades Fultz and Pfaff pressured them to do so. The move signals that the SCP 2.0 board is still prioritizing a negotiated solution with the current council instead of joining the community in an effort to overturn home rule and vanguard party control of this town.
The decision isn’t merely shortsighted, in that it plays right into the hands of a council whose members despise the amphitheater revival effort and are working to stymie it all the time. The decision isn’t merely anti-social, in that it places SCP 2.0 in opposition to the growing sentiment in this community that the entire city council and staff need to be shaken up and the democratic process restored. The decision is outright undemocratic. Sedonans have clearly told the city that they do not want housing on the Cultural Park—and now SCP 2.0 appears to be prepared to espouse a position against the democratic will of the voters in its desperation to seal a deal with the city that will get its plan through. The board’s action is already being perceived as a slap in the face to everyone who has organized for and supported them in this effort. And word on the street is that John Bradshaw will be supporting Comrade Hauserman for council, further demonstrating a lack of genuine systemic interest in local government reform on their part.
This situation isn’t just about getting the Cultural Park back open in some form with whatever pragmatic deal can be arranged. This situation is about getting the Cultural Park back open in such a way that the revival of the arts in this town can serve as a countervailing force to help organize and motivate the community to strip the city of its budget, staff, and power. Appeasing this corrupt council in return for them condescending to preserve the park in a stunted fashion before they stab it in the back will not accomplish that goal. The councilors are laughing up their sleeves right now at how they just played SCP 2.0 off against the rest of the community. Divide and rule.
Council admits defeat on initiative – by Tim Perry Please click and like Tim Perry article