City Council Backs City Manager Beecher...

I spent the whole morning down at the city office to witness the results of the job review of the embattled city manager. The mayor just announced that they will keep Mr. Beecher.

I didn't stick around to ask questions (I'm not a journalist). Including my wife and I, there were four other citizens, one police officer, and two members of the local media in attendance.

The local reactions should be interesting from here on out. Local developers did not want this result, neither did RAID members, and I know some REALTOR Members won't be happy either (please notice I did not say Association... as the Association had no position on this matter).

I believe there is going to be some backlash against city council for this result... and I'll even throw out the word 'recall' election (although that is the last thing that I would want to see).

Update:

Watch video here.

It's only a couple of minutes long.

The media's take on the recent City Council meeting

I just realized that the article was posted yesterday and wanted to share it.

Here it is.

I've posted the link to the video and really... it needs to be seen to get the full effect. My words aren't enough and even Nick Wilbur's (the journalist) don't do it justice.

BTW, Nick, why does it seem that in Kingman Daily Miner articles that towards the end of some articles punctuation for quotes aren't included?? This is not an attack against your writing... it is just something I've seen in many articles for many years.

The events, as they played out, were disturbing, Byram said in closing. This is the kind of situation that leaves people not trusting their city government, and it has to stop, he said.

An example of what I'm talking about.

Tomorrow morning at 9:00am is the City Council review of the City Manager. My guess is that all of this is done behind closed doors in 'executive session'. I think I'll drop by at 9:00am just to see what kind of attendance is there but I won't be able to stay (got this thing called work and if I get it all done early enough I think I'll head out fishing for the evening).

Water related...

Lots of talk about water resources... especially in the southwestern United States (hey, that's where Kingman is!).

Water in Arizona is the 'new' gold... if you will. Many people say we will be out of water, while others say that there is all kinds of water underneath our patch of real estate around Kingman.

I don't know who to believe and frankly I don't care. Why?? Humans aren't dumb (well not all of them anyway). When resources are scarce humans often find solutions out of necessity.

Take desalination plants for instance. This technology has been around for a very long time and improvements are being made all the time to make this as economically feasible as any other fresh water resource.

Then there is also this, which basically takes water vapor out of the air.

Working some data

I thought I'd give the local politics stuff a break for a minute.

I've been working up some data and wanted to share it with buyers and sellers at this time. For awhile I've been tracking the average home sold and offering average statistics like; bedrooms, bathrooms, garage size, living space square footage, the cost per square foot, the year the home was built, etc.

Also have been keeping tabs on original list price (when the home was introduced to the market), the price listed at the time a contract was accepted, and the final sales price.

Well looking at the data I've gathered so far (I started to track this rigorously since the start of 2007) I've found some interesting trends that I wanted to share and put together a couple of charts for you to review.

The first chart below shows the average living space in square feet of all the single family homes (SFR's) that sold for the particular month and the average cost per square foot of living space in the same month.

Click on chart for larger view

As you see right now you can buy more house for less money. The reason I took a look at this was because the average sold price for SFR's in May jumped up again after it was down the previous month. The average figure has been going back and forth basically all year long now. What caught my attention was the fact that the average price per square foot was coming down slightly each month.

I'm still working with a small set of numbers... there were 55 closings on SFR's in May (up a little, and I will still do the normal sales report a bit later). Because there aren't hundreds or thousands of units sold it is easy to see when figures seem to be out of whack.

In conclusion the overall average price of the homes might have increased but the telling number is that the price per square foot dropped again. When determining the price you are either going to offer (if you are a buyer) or set the price at (if you are a seller) you will want to pay particular attention to the homes square footage and the average dollar figure per.

The following chart probably doesn't need much explaining, the facts should stand for themselves.

Click on chart for larger view

For three out of the five months reported on the average home conceded over $20,000 to close escrow. The blue part of the bar represents the price reduction from the time the property hit the market to the time it received a contract. The red part of the bar represents further concessions agreed on to close the transaction.

This is why it is important that you look at recently sold data when you are given comparisons. Don't even bother to look at what other sellers are asking for, your only concern if you are a seller is what buyers are willing to pay for. The buyers are speaking loudly and clearly... they are winning... it is not even close.

City Council Meeting video is up (bumped)

Click here for the link to take you to the video of last nights meeting.

It is there, but so far I haven't been able to watch it. I think the server is too busy at the moment.

Edit:

As of 4:00pm I still can't view this video.

As of 7:30am on 6/6/2007 I still can't view this video.

As of 6:19am on 6/7/2007 the video is still not loading for viewing.

I'm not trying to play 'conspiracy theory' here or anything... but on the city site not only is this video not available, but the agenda for the City Manager review won't pop up either.

Finally!!

I just got done watching the video. The well-sites issue can be found between the 38 minute mark and runs through the 1:25 minute mark. Sadly, in my opinion, there were no winners during those moments.

Make sure you catch the presentation that was called something like 'Building Bridges to Business' as it was very interesting. I'm going to try and track down more information from the source on this.

Lastly the final comments from Council start at the 2:16 minute mark and they conclude with fellow KGVAR Member Barbara Ricca giving a heart felt speech about water issues and the future of the community. I admire what she had to say.

MOCO Real shirt is in!!

Greg and Jim, you should be getting yours this week.

My offer still stands to give away two more who wants this very hip limited edition tee-shirt. All you have to do is make a $25 donation to the March of Dimes at my site right here.

I still need plenty of donations to get my 'get out of jail' card. Besides it is a worthy cause.

The other traffic interchange...

I was going to post this yesterday but I didn't have time.

There was an article from Monday's paper that talked about perhaps a private investor moving the Rattlesnake Wash TI project along much quicker than it is currently (allegedly) scheduled for construction... some time in 2014.

See the article here.

I want to make some points and I use the copy from the article.

It sounded Friday like the city possibly had a new player in the construction of the Rattlesnake Wash interchange and retail district at Interstate 40, but due to Kingman's political climate and some unresolved issues surrounding the project, talks have been put on hold.

Yes, the political climate is a mess right now... and the longer it plays out the longer it is going to be before any developer or other interested party moves either TI project forward. Meaning more traffic snarls on Stockton Hill for longer periods of time.

"They were considering funding some kind of mechanism to fast-forward the Rattlesnake Wash (project)," said Travin Pennington, who has been facilitating talks with landowners at Rattlesnake Wash and investment companies interested in the area. For now, he said, the company is going to wait until some of the details are ironed out, such as making sure Rattlesnake is on the five-year Arizona Department of Transportation plan, and until the political turmoil in Kingman cools.

Emphasis mine.

Again here is where I have a disconnect with the anti-growth group in Kingman known as RAID. They have consistently stated that the Rattlesnake Wash TI is the preferred TI for their group because it keeps traffic on the sacred street of Seneca to a minimum, among other things. They have shown rudimentary developer plans for retail in the area of the proposed TI... but to this point the TI is not official (although I expect it to be -- in about seven long years).

Despite Rattlesnake Wash having been in the works far longer, the city has been pushing Kingman Crossing, another interchange and retail district off I-40. Kingman Crossing has seen more progress in recent years because a developer recently purchased more than 200 acres on the north side of the highway and is interested in developing.

These developers that bought the property want to see a TI to make the most of their investment. Yes, there is political strife at the city and many think these developers are a little too comfortable with the embroiled City Manager and others at the city.

There is an example of the anxiety in a recent letter to the editor in the paper. One that said that the city shouldn't be signing the agreement that will give a 40 year tax incentive to these developers. This agreement simply doesn't exist, but I wouldn't be surprised that SOME in this community are intentionally misleading people into thinking the worst.

A group of citizens belonging to Residents Against Irresponsible Development are currently gathering signatures for a referendum petition against City Council's recent decision to change the land use of its 168 acres on the south side of I-40.

If enough signatures are gathered, the Council's vote to change the land use from open space to commercial will go to voters, pushing the issue back to November.

And depending on who shows up to the voting booths, the city could be overturned, leaving the land on the south side of Kingman Crossing designated as parks and open space.

Simply, a compromise is needed here... by all groups including the city, RAID, developers, and others.

I don't care about the referendum vote one way or the other. But the election pushes improving the city back at least a year and I don't think any of us can afford it.

It is time for all to be honest. What is it that we really want. Is it the shopping?? Is it protecting a sacred street?? Is it improved infrastructure and access routes??

If we are going to have to go back to the drawing board, we need to do it right away... like today. Not next year, not the year following that.

Right now I believe the compromise would be to remove the current city manager from his position and forcing the city to be more transparent in any involvement with construction of either or both TI's. I would hope that this compromise would lead to others and that they would be a bit easier.

Bottom line is that the community needs to hear from all sides. The developers need to speak up with more details on their intentions. The city needs to be more transparent in the negotiations. RAID needs to support growth in this city and that would include the TI at Kingman Crossing.

Until there is a more unified message... what you are experiencing in Kingman right now will continue... and that would go for the current state of the housing market as well. We should be wanting to bring investment into the area instead we are sending very mixed messages.

Wow!!

I went to a City Council meeting last night... and a hockey game almost broke out.

I did have trouble deciding whether or not I wanted to head to the city meeting last night instead of watching the real hockey game on live TV last night. Seriously, I almost saw two hockey games. In fact I saw more snarl at City Council than I did on the actual hockey game.

There is no way I can accurately describe what happened... as soon as the video link to that meeting is available on the city website I guarantee I will link it right here.

Here is a recap of what I saw, and I am leaving names out of the heated exchanges.

First, I arrived at 5:35pm for the 6:00pm meeting and our way too small council chambers was more than half full already. I took a seat and hoped I would be able to save my wife a spot, but within 10 minutes after I arrived it was standing room only. Also, somebody forgot to turn on the air conditioner (or it is not working, or it does not work well enough), with all the bodies in the room it didn't take much to sweat.

After the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance a citizens award was given out to a nice man that has been working the food bank in this area for a long time. Mr. Cecil Groves was given the Western Arizona Council of Government 'Heart in Hand' award. It was THE high point of the night and Mr. Groves received a standing ovation for the recognition.

Then two speakers were given time during the Call to the Public portion of the agenda. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the two gentleman that spoke, both pleaded with the Council to make some drastic changes at the city complex... personnel changes involving a certain city manager. No real fireworks here though, that was saved for later.

It was obvious that most in attendance were there to witness the Council's decision regarding the city owned well sites that happen to be located -- make that -- surrounded by the proposed development by Rhodes Homes in Golden Valley. Here is a link that can get you caught up on this issue.

On the agenda, the city staff recommended to reject all bids that were made. Apparently the city didn't fully comply with Arizona state law by not advertising the sale of the well sites for the required time. It really could have ended there (the issue, the meeting, all of it) it was easy to see the writing on the wall and the easy way out for the City Council. Yet... the hockey game was just about to start.

You really have to see the video if you weren't there to get the full effect. There were accusations of lying, accusations against city staff and Council Members, and even the word 'ass' was tossed in the direction of a certain city politician in the heat of the moment.

Bottom line, City Council decided to throw out all bids for the well sites. No further word if they will have another bidding process or not... and it did not sound like Council was all that hyped for another one anytime soon.

The room cooled off as nearly half the attendees left after this issue.

As for the real hockey game... not as exciting. The Ducks won the game and if they win one more game they will be Stanley Cup Champions.

Local City Manager article...

Here is the article the Miner did on the Kingman City Manager.

I'm sorry but I still find this hilarious...

...making jokes about boring council meetings and "snoring" when members of Residents Against Irresponsible Development, a city watchdog group, address Council.

... even though it has nothing to do with the real story here.

It is time for the City Manager to explain his side of things, in my opinion. His effort to do such things would be aided if the city had a public relations director or spokesperson (to my knowledge there is no such thing here).

The City Manager will have his review this Friday, but it will be behind closed doors in executive session of the City Council. There has to be a response from the city -- if not the City Manager on all of this. The community is extremely fired up right now and I don't see the mood changing if the city continues to offer nothing in the face of the criticism.

I'm not on the bandwagon calling for the firing of the City Manager at this time, but I am wanting a response. It's well past time to answer some important questions. The community hangs in the balance and I certainly want to know that we have the right people working in our best interests moving forward.

Association Orientation...(updated)

This morning I'll be presenting the very informative introductory component of the required New Member orientation program for newbies to KGVAR. No biggie, I've been doing this for the last two years (or more) now.

The big news (for me) is that this may be the last time I'll have to perform such duties for the Association. Longtime fellow Member of KGVAR, Brian Berlemann will be picking up the presentation after today. He'll join me today to see how the master/idiot has been doing it... and will likely improve on the presentation going forward.

Alright newbies... one last time.

Also, tonight there is a City Council meeting with the vaunted 'well sites' out in Golden Valley on the agenda. It will be tough for me not to go to this one, but game 4 of the Stanley Cup playoffs is also being played tonight and it is a great series so far. I'll save that decision for later.

See you somewhere I'm sure.

Edit:

The 'newbies' were great today, I had lots of fun.

I've decided to go to City Council tonight. How could I miss it?? Besides, at home I have this DVR thing that records TV. I set it up to record the hockey game... just do me a favor don't call me to tell me the score of the game. Ah... nobody watches hockey anyway so I'm sure I have nothing to worry about.

I'll post my observations on Council meeting in the morning... (and maybe a game recap as well!!)

Some photos

I had an afternoon appointment out near the Rhodes Homes development today so I brought my camera along to snap a few pic's. Hope you enjoy. Click on the photos for a larger view.

This is a shot of the main entrance that would connect with Aztec (don't know if that will end up being the street name though). The only activity that I saw was this water truck working to keep the dust down to a minimum.

The dark area is a stack of pipes. And no I didn't trespass.

Photo of the model homes going north on Aztec. I did not go inside as I was talking on the phone to a client for most of the time while I was taking these photos.

Here I think I was standing in a future residents backyard (which means I was probably trespassing to take this shot, my bad).

I would have like to have seen the golf course area but I'm not tall enough (and not sure where it might be).

Here is that RAID article...

Money quote...

A founding member of RAID, Gwen Gilman, read aloud a handful of Beecher's e-mails that were recently turned over to a local developer. She pointed out Beecher's criticisms of RAID, including one in which Beecher admitted to "snoozing" when the group speaks at City Council meetings.

View the entire article here.

I can't wait until this group runs for office here locally.

May Listings Report (2007)

Some sellers are starting to get the message, no... make that a few sellers are starting to get the message. Enough though that in May we see the average asking price for homes entering the market slip for the first time in five months. The average asking figure in May would rank third among the last six months.

Another bit of slightly better news is the fact that the figure for homes getting a contract went up again (slightly like I said) and posted the most contracts since August of last year (not a meteoric rise though).

And now for the disclaimer...

Disclaimer... all data compiled for this report comes from the WARDEX Data Exchange and does not include any sales activity from outside that resource. All research is done only on single family homes and there is no inclusion of modular homes, commercial properties, or vacant land. The geographical area researched includes; all areas within the boundaries of the city of Kingman, north Kingman, the Hualapai Mountain area, and the Valle Vista subdivisions. Click here to see maps of the included area's.

Listings:

Today total listings available for single family residence equals 751 (up from 733 on April 1). The rate of new listings taken per day in May was 4.9.

There were 152 new listings taken in May (up some from 131 in April). The average asking price for the new listings is $256,385 (while last month is was $261,143). The median asking price is $219,900 (down from $224,900 previously).

The average newly listed home has 3.27 bedrooms, 2.19 baths, a 2.007 car garage, with 1757 square feet of living space and was built in 1993. The average asking price per square foot of living space is $145. Lastly, 20 of the new listings were actually re-listed either by the same or different broker.

Of the new listings in May, 6 already have taken a contract.

Units under contract:

58 homes entered into contracts in the month of May (up from 53 the previous month). The average asking price for homes that received contracts was $217,709 (up from $207,652 last month) and the median asking price for May was $194,900 (up from last months $181,000 figure).

The average home that went under contract in May has 3.17 bedrooms, 2 baths, a 2.12 car garage, with 1620 square feet of living space, and was built in 1992. The average asking price per square foot of living space for listings that entered contract this month is $134. It was also priced $12,129 higher when it first was listed as compared to its current asking price (the average price concession was $9,921 last month). It took an average of 172 days of marketing to get a contract.

Conclusions:

The homes that received a contract in May were a touch larger than what we saw in April, the key stat was the $134 a square foot was basically the same as the previous month. For an average figure I think it speaks volumes for where a seller should price their home in order to attract buyers to begin negotiation. Sellers continue to take a beating in this market. Look at it this way, the average seller reduced the price of the home $70 a DAY to finally attract a buyer.

The buyers are making it clear and have been consistent over the past year as compared to sellers. The buyers have drawn a line in the sand and it is time for sellers to take a long look at that line and get comfortable with it.

Sellers... buyers will wait you out... unless your are priced to the market. New listings outpaced new buyers in May 5 to 2. You are wasting your time on the market if the price is not right.

The sales report will be out a couple of weeks from now, my guess is that the unit sales for May is steady as compared to April. Check back and see.

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.

Donate today...(updated)

Hey folks, I'm serious about raising money for the March of Dimes. I'm making this offer, the first 4 people that donate more than $25 to this cause (linked here) will receive this tee-shirt as a way of saying thanks for participation.

I designed the thing myself and I assure you that there will be a very limited amount of these shirts available. Be one of the few. (I ordered one for myself, but I have my sales site web address on the back)

You will have to email me once you make the donation so that I can order you the correct size and all.

I'm asking for small donations as well, please give any amount you can (I just won't be able to get you the shirt unless the donation is for more than $25).

Thanks again.

Edit:

I want to thank Jim Duncan of Real Central VA for being the first donor of $25 or more.

Greg Swann of BloodhoundBlog has claimed the second shirt. Only two remain.

Hoover Dam Bypass construction...

Yesterday I had a visit from a frequent reader to this blog, Steve Mooring is his name. I'm always honored to meet the folks that read MOCO Real. Steve is a property owner in Mohave County (property located near the proposed Rhodes Homes development in Golden Valley), and hails from Los Angeles. We had a nice conversation about what may be happening near the property he owns and should see the value of his property increase over time.

He also let me know that he was headed out to check out the construction of the Hoover Dam Bypass and was going to take some photos and I asked if he would send me some and I'd post them on the blog.

As you see below, crews are working again (in the hot sun even) which is great news. Projected completion is still listed for 2010 and I can't wait. The project seems to be moving along. I hope you enjoy Steve's photos. Thanks again Steve.

A few things to review...

I think many folks had their holiday plans on their minds late last week and I wanted to simply remind you of a few posts I left last week.

First one, please help me raise $1,000 for the March of Dimes. My efforts to raise these funds are going to be exclusively through the internet (my blog and emails to friends and family).

Next, I still have the interesting city emails that discuss the well sites bidding in Golden Valley and the Kingman Crossing project. I'm happy to share them with you in a reply email if you leave a comment requesting them. Leave the comment on this post (with the request) or on the other linked post. (Here is another article about the emails from the local paper)

Last one, the ADOT traffic study got plenty of hits last week. Don't forget to check out the information. I've said it all along, I want to see the traffic interchanges built along Interstate 40 and I don't care who does it (government, private party). These TI's are vital to the growing community for quality of life, better traffic flows, and of course safety.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. More to come this week.

Please Remember

Many folks are taking a long three day weekend because of the Memorial Day holiday. While we are out traveling around or simply enjoying time at a cookout or picnic, lets not forget the brave men and women that gave their lives for this country. Including one of our own from right here in Kingman very recently.

About those city emails...

Yesterday I obtained a copy of some of the emails from city of Kingman staff, fellow Realtor Scott Dunton was nice enough to give me the information. Mr. Dunton was also nice enough to have multiple conversations with me about his views on what is happening at city hall.

Scott has a hockey players mentality (and this is a good thing in my opinion). I've played and/or followed the sport of hockey for most of my life, Scott reminds me of legendary player Phil Esposito. 'Espo' was known for being a no nonsense kind of player that seemingly always got the job done (a prolific scorer that is in the Hockey Hall of Fame). When I'm in my car I listen to the hockey channel on XM Radio and Phil Esposito hosts one of the shows on there and -- to me -- Scott and Phil are easily cut from the same cloth (again this is not a bad thing). Since his playing days 'Espo' has gone on to have success in business and similarly my guess is that Mr. Dunton is very successful in business as well.

I do plan on sharing the information that Scott Dunton has given me with the Government Affairs Committee at my local Realtor Association.

I was also planning on sharing the information here on this blog for everyone to see. However, with all the stuff that has been going on lately (like RAID saying that what I post here reflects on KGVAR) I've decided that I won't post it here. I didn't do the research after all and I don't have the entire load of emails that were paid for by local developer Travin Pennington (heck, Travin doesn't even have them all).

What I did get is compelling no doubt, and I am willing to share with any reader exactly what I do have. However, if you want the information I'll want you to leave a comment requesting them first and then I will send you back the files you want to see via email. I'll have more on that in just a bit.

I'm reserving my comments and judgments on this information, for the simple reason that I'm not a player in any of it.

I clearly see Mr. Dunton's side of things for his criticism's of the city manager in regards to Dunton's bidding on the city owned well sites at the Rhodes Homes development in Golden Valley. While I've heard Scott's side of things, I haven't heard any other side though and because of that I'm not going to add my two cents to this provocative issue (actually I've been avoiding the whole 'well sites' story all together). But I have a copy of those emails from the city and I'll send you the file if you'd like.

I also have the emails that pertain to Kingman Crossing. These are also very provocative, but I have to question; is all of this in the right context?? Do we have the full picture?? This is not criticism of the information that was given to me or of the folks that gave it to me... it's just the first thing that crossed my mind as I read the stuff. I'd rather let you decide for yourself.

Also I understand that the local newspaper will be doing a major news story about this subject matter in Sunday's edition. I think it will touch on the city manager's past in other cities he has worked for as well and how it may compare with what may be happening here in Kingman. Now I don't always trust the media, of course, but it will be interesting to see if they manage to get all sides to the story on this or if it will just be like the 60 Minutes hit piece against Realtors that ran a couple of weeks ago. I hope it is the former and not the latter.

Edit to the above paragraph... I misunderstood what I read in the paper. The Miner will be doing a report THE Sunday before the city manager has his review with City Council.

I must say again that I know of other well respected residents of Kingman that are calling for the removal of the city manager (including some Members of KGVAR). They make a compelling case and because of what they have told me if I had to vote right now on firing the city manager, I'd vote in favor of dismissal. But still, I don't have all sides to the story and I want to as fair as I can.

I can leave my office right now and find one person that supports the city leaders and city staff, while in the next moment find someone that is in opposition (although I don't think it is a 50/50 split). I just want to let YOU decide and not dictate to you. You look at the data and come up with your own conclusion.

So here we are. After all the discussion I had with Scott Dunton it brings me back to the hockey player Phil Esposito comparison. I'm sure that Scott, like Phil, would earnestly tell me to just link the damn files for all to see already. Big power forwards have that kind of scorers mentality, it is what they do. Pretty goals, ugly goals, timely goals... guys like that just get it done and expect the same from everyone else. Well I'm a goalie and goalies are different (and a bit crazy in the head). So after a long day thinking about this, instead of linking to the files I will happily share them with you if you leave a comment.

When you leave a comment be sure to have a valid email address and I'll send the files to that email address. Let me know if you want the 'well sites' or 'Kingman Crossing' emails or both. I'll be in my office Saturday morning till the early afternoon before leaving to enjoy some of the holiday weekend. I'll get you the information as fast as I can.

The documents I received seemed to be a copy from an original that included highlights on some of the text. The text is not blacked out, it's just the quality of the copy is not that great. I scanned the hard copy on to my computer. When you open the PDF file(s) you may have to zoom in on some of that text to read it. Zooming in worked for me when I reviewed the scanned documents.

I'm going to jail

So much for my clean criminal record...

Actually I have been issued a 'warrant for arrest' by the March Of Dimes. Last week while I was in DC I received a call and the first thing the person on the other line says, "Todd you have a warrant out for your arrest." My first thought was, I haven't even had one night out on the town on this trip to DC... this has to be a mistake.

Of course when the caller clarified that I was being asked to help raise money for the March Of Dimes my heart beat slowed back to normal. Somebody tipped the MOD off to get me to agree to this and when I asked who that person was 'they' couldn't tell me.

Well, to whoever that person is... I will find you and I challenge you to raise more money than I will for this good cause.

Meanwhile I am going to ask the readers here to help me raise 'bail' money for a good cause. In fact the reason I was eager to participate in this event was because of the web presence that I have right now.

Please make a donation at this link.

To tug at your heart strings a little bit more, keep in mind that in Arizona 271 babies a week will be born too soon. Some of these babies may die, and others may face lives of illness or disabilities, including chronic respiratory problems, blindness, hearing impairment and cerebral palsy.

We're talking babies here!! Cute adorable babies!!

Help me generate charitable funds that will help this worthy cause.

Thanks.