From the email bag...

I literally was just emailed this in the last hour...

Hi Todd,

I am not sure if you read today’s newspaper. But of course, RAID got the top headline again. Looks like these guys are so very confident to win in Nov. that they are already making plans for their “park”.

As a Kingman resident, let me say that this is a HORRIBLE use of the land. I realize that a number of points that I am about to outline have been stated before, but I feel the need to get this out there….

1) Land along I-40 has it best and highest use as commercial (not parks). In fact, Kingman already has its largest park along I-40 today, and we really don’t need another at Kingman Crossing along I-40.

2) Let the interchange be made, commercial built north of I-40, and then the City of Kingman should sell their +/-140 acres to developers. At that point, the residents of Kingman will receive the highest price of their land (likely to be tens of millions). With this money, the residents of Kingman could build/buy more parks in better locations, create smaller neighborhood parks, increase the fire/police, and put in much more infrastructure that is really needed in Kingman. Best yet…do all this WITHOUT raising taxes or issuing new bonds!!!

3) With the new Kingman Crossing, the City of Kingman will also realize additional sales tax revenue. Unlike the lies about just moving sales tax from one side of town to another, I am 100% certain that new sales tax will be realized from two sources. 1) Kingman area residents that do not have to go out of town to find the items they really need, and 2) Visitors getting off I-40 that would have NOT spent money in Kingman otherwise.

4) Location, Location, Location. I really cannot think of a better location in Kingman than along I-40 for major commercial/shopping. This is really the ideal spot from a convenience and strategic perspective. I think that if the RAID members were honest they would actually agree, however, their real agenda is simple – 1) Not in my back yard (literally), and 2) No growth in general.

Finally, I am actually concerned that RAID is getting more and more publicity and organization. I think that the other citizens in Kingman really need to get together and organize for this November’s vote. I want to BLOW RAID OUT OF THE WATER and finally show RAID that they do not represent the majority of Kingman voters. In fact, I would strongly urge you to organize a poll prior to this November election. It would be great PR prior to the vote and help to get the Pro-growth voters to the polls. We must work hard now to November to insure that as many people as possible show up to vote, and I don’t even think now is too early to start working on and starting an organized effort!

I'll have the link up to the article once it is available on the Miners site (hopefully sometime this week). I've read the article and it is clearly a report from their latest meeting.

According to the article they (RAID) want someone to build a jungle gym apparatus at the very least for kids on the 168 acres of city owned land (how will kids from my side of town get there to play with the kids on the other side of town though I wonder... cross the Interstate on their bikes and skateboards??). I don't know if this is the best use of the land for the entire community... but for now it is an idea. RAID says they will offer a proposal to the city for what 'they' have in mind. I can't wait.

I hope they include how the city will pay for the jungle gym and maintain the grounds, especially when sales tax dollars are being spent at Target in Bullhead City next year.

They also apparently want to get the city manager fired. I'm staying out of that one like I have said before (at least until I hear his side of things... and hopefully we all hear it soon). As soon as I can link the article there is a quote there that I think will make many of us chuckle. It basically says in one of the city emails (I'm paraphrasing) that the city manager writes that he 'zones' out when Mrs. Gillman from RAID speaks to the council. Yeah, many feel the same way when we read her columns.

Of course no mention in the article from their meeting that they would support the infrastructure improvement (i.e. building the traffic interchange in the Kingman Crossing area), so I guess this means that they'd still love to see folks suffer on Stockton Hill at least until 2014 at the earliest before ADOT builds the TI at Rattlesnake Wash. Here is your serving of cake, here is yours, and yours, and don't forget little Timmy...

The emailer makes a good point -- more people of Kingman need to vote, need to give a damn about the FUTURE of this city. Future is the key word here. I just turned 36 yesterday and plan on living a long life here in Kingman. I take my profession very seriously and hope to continue to build a prosperous business HERE in Kingman.

The mission of RAID is to see to it that jungle gyms are built on 168 acres of land, that the sacred road named Seneca is protected by any means necessary, and that all commerce is confined to Stockton Hill Road. Forget about better access routes, forget about better choices for shopping for goods and services, and never mind the fact that gas prices will continue to go up -- gas that we will be wasting stuck in traffic on Stockton Hill and on our trek's to places like Target (in BHC) and Costco (in Las Vegas) for the goods and services that most of this country has access to (and where sales tax is collected for those communities). "Let Them Shop At Wal-Mart," I can just see the next column title by Mrs. Gillman now.

Is this the type of leadership that has the citizens best interest at heart looking five years down the road?? Ten years?? Twenty?? I don't think so. Their view is for personal instant gratification. Kingman will double in population by then and traffic on Stockton Hill will be a real bitch as compared to now I'd say (and it ain't great shakes currently). But hey, at least there won't any traffic on Seneca, right?? Wrong.