Walk inside crosswalk? Phoenix residents would rather die

On a list of the twenty deadliest U.S. cites for pedestrians, Phoenix holds the unenviable distinction of being Number 4, according to Quote Inspector, an auto insurance association. When it comes to pedestrian related fatalities, Phoenix comes in behind Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; and San Bernardino, California.

These are the hazardous numbers:

• Pedestrian fatality rate: 4.6 per 100k (2.7X higher than U.S. average)
• Total pedestrian fatalities (past 5 years): 362
• 5-year change in pedestrian fatalities: 88.5%
• Pedestrian fatalities in low light conditions: 76.8%
• 65+ pedestrian fatality rate: 7.3 per 100k
• Minority pedestrian fatality rate: 4.3 per 100k

Although alcohol often plays a role in the late night (described as “low light”) fatalities there appears to be a cultural defiance to walking inside crosswalk lines. We’ve all seen people deliberately walk several feet outside the crosswalk when they and the children they often have in tow would all be much safer minus the penchant for mocking the law.

Arizona Revised Statutes §28-793 is very clear as it relates to crossing at other than a crosswalk.

Always eager to expand the bureaucracy, democrat-controlled Phoenix approved an Office of Pedestrian Safety in 2018, though the fatalities have continued to rise. 

Though the majority of pedestrian-vehicle fatalities are avoidable deaths, the local newspaper puts a different spin on the problem, headlining, “Phoenix has deadliest roads in nation. Is the city doing enough?” The city is not causing the needless deaths, it‘s the defiant pedestrians, which an activist quoted in the article suggested we “stop shaming.”

Phoenix also has a deadly problem with “wrong-way” drivers on Valley freeways as exemplified by this shocking ABC15 video (provided by ADOT). Despite the clearly marked exit signs, there is an increasing penchant for entering on the egresses. Alcohol is frequently involved, but a frequently contributing factor is the inability to read English. Arizona is a border state, and the welcoming Biden administration, making sure they have access to every conceivable economic benefit, bears a burden for the deaths, as it views the millions of illegal aliens it welcomes as unalterably increasing the numbers of the democrat party. 

The Western Journal headlines its clarifying September 30, 2021 report, “Number of New Illegals in ‘21 Greater Than Populations of 11 States.”

Phx Mayor, City Council dems OK bonuses to vaccinated employees

Three council members, Sal DiCiccio, Jim Waring, Ann O’Brien object to payouts

In an affront to every taxpaying city resident, Phoenix’ City Council has voted to give up to $29 million in payoffs to employees who submit to being jabbed with the Coronavirus vaccine in accordance with the provisions of Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Nothing more than a bogus scheme to buy votes for democrats, it includes $2,000 bonuses to full-time vaccinated city employees, plus $500 premiums.

In addition to local, state, and tribal governments, Biden’s payout recipients include residents of  the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. But WTH, it’s only money. In addition to “increased and expanded” Child Tax Credits, the payouts are “fully refundable,” whatever that entails. Conservatives are not conversant in leftist double talk.

The Phoenix City Council motion was approved in a 6 to 3 vote. As part of the city approved farce, the council and mayor are supposedly non-partisan, though anyone paying attention knows the majority of the council are democrats, as is the mayor, Kate Gallego. She was previously married to far left U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-CD 7), with whom she shares a young son. Though the divorce was acrimonious — taking place while she was pregnant — she kept his Hispanic last name for political expediency. Only Sal DiCiccio,  Ann O’Brien and Jim Waring voted against the additional bonuses. Five of the eight council members are democrats, farcically posing, as has been the case for years, as politically unaligned.

The approval allows the city to give a $1,500 bonus to full-time employees if they’re fully vaccinated by Jan. 18. Part-time employees would receive an additional $750 bonus if they comply by the same date, on top of the $250 they’re already set to receive.

Duplicity abounds. As an example, a representative of the democrat-dominated United Phoenix Firefighters Association, chimed in, stating though the union members adamantly oppose vaccine mandates, they “strongly support the expansion of the incentives program.” It’s called selling your principles to the highest bidder.

This post, “Phoenix City Council elections expose ethnic divide,” provides some compelling background.

NYC tosses election integrity, allows illegals to vote

In Phoenix we function under a farcical “non-partisan” city council and mayoral charade that fools no one. The tie-breaking mayor, Kate Gallego is a democrat, formerly married to a current democrat Arizona congressman. The majority — five of the eight council members are democrats — including the Mexico-born Vice Mayor, who sports a long ponytail, wears tee shirts imprinted with radical slogans to work and took his oath of office on a book titled, “Occupied America.” Another, a decades-long union activist, whose parents came across the border illegally, is also a dem. 

As lopsided as the Phoenix City Council is, we have nothing on the New York City Council, which numbers fifty-one…with only four Republicans. The number far surpasses the entire membership of the Arizona state senate.

The last time New York City had an actual Republican mayor was Rudy Giuliani who served in that position from 1994 to 2001. This 2006 Gotham Gazette report tells the then-salaries of NYC’s council members, which also are increased by “stipends” and the ability to hold outside jobs. Obviously those base amounts have increased in the intervening years.

We provide this background to give the full picture of what the well-paid democrats currently in charge have just authorized for New York City. They just approved a measure that allows non-citizens to vote in city elections. This 2017 report grossly underestimated the number of illegal aliens in the New York Metro area at 1.2 million. With the surge in illegal border crossers given free reign under the Biden administration, which dismantled President Trump’s border wall construction, not including the high birth rates, that number no longer reflects anything near an accurate count.

The Heritage Foundation gifts us with a superb commentary titled, “Safeguarding the Electoral Process.” You won’t regret taking the very few minutes to read it. Knowledge is power.

Speaking AZRepublicese: The left’s political word scam

Progressive is the word in which regressive leftists have taken refuge since it sounds forward thinking. Republicans, whose politically savvy radar allows us to recognize a con when we see it, find the word games puzzling, since we have no such reluctance in embracing patriotism and traditional values. Many of us revel in identifying ourselves as conservatives.

Arizona’s failing newspaper, which bizarrely and for the first time ever, didn’t print a Labor Day edition ostensibly to give its staff a holiday respite, employs Elvia Diaz, a radical editorial columnist. Her latest effort is mysteriously titled, “Rift between mayor, progressives.” 

What that means is up for debate, since Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego is a far left Democrat, and the council is dominated by like-thinkers. Although they farcically run without a party designation, the deceit is obvious. Since 1982 in an effort pushed by democrats, they run from specific districts rather than representing the city as a whole and working together of the betterment of Phoenix. There are currently three Republicans and five democrats including the mayor who has a vote. Diaz’ commentary is peppered with quotes from Gallego’s spokeswoman Jeanine L’Ecuyer.  If that name sounds vaguely familiar, she is recycled from being Janet Napolitano’s mouthpiece. Napolitano, Arizona’s worst governor, resigned to join Obama’s administration as Director of Homeland INsecurity.

Diaz’ opening sentence contains the heft of the column: “Don’t tell me Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego is turning into another Kyrsten Sinema —  stubbornly defying her own political base.” Diaz whines about the council members not all falling in line on city proposed wage hikes on government funded construction projects.

Diaz is so enraged that she has even come out of the slippery political language closet, actually using the verboten word “liberal” multiple times.

This post, “Phoenix City Council elections expose ethnic divide,”  provides background on how the city council elections transmogrified into ethnic bastions, which serve no one well.

Biden’s US AG Merrick Garland launches probe into Phx Police

In war-declaring bold type that crackles with rage, the radically left-wing local newspaper headlines, FEDS INVESTIGATE PHOENIX POLICE.

The U.S. Department of Justice, headed by leftist Merrick Garland issued a press release titled, “Justice Department Announces Investigation of the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department.”

Included in the announcement are these words, “Department of Justice officials informed Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, PhxPD Chief Jeri Williams, and other City officials of the investigation. As part of this investigation, the Department of Justice will reach out to community groups and members of the public to learn about their experiences with PhxPD.”

Democrat Mayor Kate Gallego responded by “welcoming” the investigation“ rather than standing up for the Phoenix Police, who work tirelessly, putting their lives on the line along with their uniforms each day as they respond to ever-increasing crime in our city. This is her statement, (click to enlarge) unprofessionally released via twitter. Notice her media contact is Jeanine L’Ecuyer, reshuffled after earlier serving as former Gov. Janet Napolitano’s director of communications and later as deputy chief of staff. Napolitano, known as J-No for her rabid wielding of her veto pen, was the worst Arizona governor in memory.

This incendiary statement condemning “police violence” was sent out by Phoenix City District 8 Councilman Carlos Garcia. Born in Mexico, where violent drug cartels are in control, he has worn a black T-shirt that says “End Police Brutality” to council meetings.

It’s worth noting that Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams, who called on the FBI to investigate a police shooting last year, is black. Her husband Cody, was formerly a Phoenix City Councilman. He is now a South Phoenix Justice of the Peace, running as a democrat.

Action Alert: Phx City Council considers BLM mural

When the news got out that a “Black Lives Matter” mural was being considered in downtown Phoenix, the Phoenix City Council mysteriously tabled discussion of the proposal brought forth by the Transportation, Infrastructure and Innovation Subcommittee.

This letter, from Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua, tweeted by District 6 Councilman Sal DiCiccio, confirms the withdrawal of the item from consideration. Don’t be lulled into thinking this is the end of the matter. The council members need to hear from you. Call their offices. Then call again. They prefer emails that stack up unread. Council members meet in executive sessions, where this mural could be discussed out of public view.

Phoenix city government is a far left bastion in the middle of a red state. Though the mayor and council members deceptively run as non-partisan, their political alliances are widely known. Currently of the eight districts only three have Republican members: Thelda Williams (Dist. 1); Jim Waring (Dist. 2); and Sal DiCiccio, (Dist. 6). Mayor Kate Gallego, who issued this statement calling “Peaceful protests (against the police) valid and important,” is also a Democrat.

All of the subcommittees are dominated by Democrats. The Transportation, Infrastructure and Innovation Subcommittee which proposed the BLM mural meets the First Wednesday of each month at 9:00 am.

Shamefully, “Operation Blue Ribbon” has not received news coverage.

Homeowners in north central Phoenix recently put blue ribbons on trees lining Central and 7th Avenue indicating support of our police. We’ve been told city workers removed them. Neighbors replaced them last Saturday and the city swooped in to remove them again. The persistent homeowners are now putting the police supporting blue ribbons on trees in their private yards. This fine idea should be emulated throughout the city.

Haven’t we been down this Phoenix street before?

Destruction and renaming: Hallmarks of the left

America’s historic monuments are being toppled by the suddenly aggrieved. The calculatingly offended not only find Civil War memorials offensive, but also 1492 New World explorer Christopher Columbus and America’s first president, George Washington.

Washington was recently vandalized and brought down in Portland, Oregon along with a burning American flag and spray painted words “genocidal colonist.” The latest manipulative neutering is that certain street names, now considered offensive, have to go.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, profits from those she refers to as “the community,” being in a froth. If they don’t know they’re offended, she’ll gladly inform them. Ginning up perpetual aggrievement is the latest trend in garnering votes, as incongruously wearing victimization in the land of the free has replaced pride in citizenship.

The latest gambit is to replace the names of Squaw Peak Drive and Robert E. Lee Street. Thanks to a policy change rammed through in 2017 by then-Mayor, now Congressman Greg Stanton (CD-9). The Democrat  did so despite objections of property owners, who preferred the historic name and opposed being forced to update the address listed on their driver’s licenses, legal documents, passports, bank accounts, connected to all credit cards and bills, including mortgages and utilities.

Stanton was following in the footsteps of then-Gov. Janet Napolitano, another Democrat, who in 2008 forced through the renaming of landmark Squaw Peak, a popular mid-Phoenix mountain known for its hiking trails. Bypassing the normal process she ramrodded the name Piestewa Peak, commemorating Lori Piestewa the as the first American Indian woman to die in combat in 2003 while serving in the armed forces in Iraq. Her actual heritage was half Hopi and half Mexican, which is stifled as less compelling.

Democrats are on a mission to effect change regardless of the merit or consequences. Disgracefully lacking in knowledge of American history it wouldn’t be surprising if the next monument they demolish is President Andrew Jackson, a Southerner who instituted policies that resulted in the forced migration of Native Americans. He also founded the Democrat Party.

Some Facts Worth Knowing…and then some

Longtime readers of Seeing Red AZ are aware we have favorite columnists to whom we sometimes direct your attention. Topping our list for years was the brilliant economist, professor, and author Dr. Thomas Sowell, who retired far too young at age 86 in 2016.  Dr. Walter Williams, another economist, and conservative genius, just a few years younger, and still writing influential columns, now holds sway with his approach to current events.

Both men are black political conservatives, who base their reasoning on growing up as poor minorities, but possessing great minds that provided them with opportunities and intellectual perspective they have shared through their columns. 

Today’s column by Dr. Walter Williams, is titled, “Some Facts Worth Knowing.” His concluding sentence is, “As I pointed out in a recent column, intelligent decision-making requires one to not only pay attention to the benefits of an action but to its costs as well.”

Although the column is not specific to the violent national riots that have occurred in the wake of the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, it covers the benefits America provides that are ignored by the radical left anarchists, looters, arsonists and their apologists. Prophetically, in January, Dr. Williams wrote, “The New Racism.”

Lost in the swirl of violence are some pertinent facts. George Floyd’s unfortunate death has become incidental to the current criminality. What is now referred to as “systemic racism” the rallying cry of the mobs, is a fallacy. Phoenix disproves that fraudulent allegation. We have Jeri Williams, a black female police chief, whose husband Cody Williams, was previously a city councilman and is now a Phoenix Justice of the Peace.

The first black councilman was elected in 1965. Ethnic minorities, including Hispanics, have long been elected to city, county and federal public offices. Currently, four of the eight Phoenix City Council members are Hispanic as are one third of our congressional representatives. The state legislature represents an ethnic mix. The exclusive enclave of Paradise Valley elected a black city council member who then served two terms as mayor. Republican Margaret Hance was elected the first female mayor of Phoenix in 1975, serving four consecutive two-year terms, from 1976 to 1983. In 1946, lawyer Wing F. Ong, was the first Chinese-American, who was not born in the United States, to be elected to a state House of Representatives. He was then elected to the state senate in 1966. Former state senator Kimberly Yee, was elected State Treasurer and is a nationally recognized Republican leader — the first female Asian-American to be elected to statewide office in Arizona.

White America is more colorblind than the current manufactured outrage would have us believe.

We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that racism can emanate from minorities, as former city councilman Calvin Goode made all too clear in this stunning example.

Phx Mayor Gallego joins other Dems defending rioting thugs

Dem mayors lead America’s most dangerous cities

As late night rioters filled the streets of downtown Phoenix Thursday, Mayor Kate Gallego remained mysteriously silent. She finally issued this bizarre statement after an unruly mob of criminals and vandals claiming to honor the memory of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, killed by a hometown police officer nearly 1700 miles away, engaged in a destructive rampage. Led by long-time race baiting rabble-rouser and con man, Jarrett Maupin, the mob made demands while damaging at least five police vehicles, bus stop shelters and causing havoc at public buildings including the Phoenix Police Department where rocks shattered the glass doors and broke windows at the AZ Industrial Commission building. They were turned away as they demanded access to the closed state legislature. Maupin is quoted as saying, “Rioting is the language of the oppressed.”

Previously, Gallego, a leftist Democrat, apologized to a couple accused of shoplifting, because an officer drew a gun on them when they ignored his warnings to stop in the parking lot of the store where the pilferage took place. In response to Gallego’s foolishness, the couple filed a $10 million lawsuit against the city’s taxpayers.

Maupin, a former Al Sharpton protégée, calls himself “Reverend,” though like his mentor, he attended no theological seminary and has no congregation.

Following violent riots in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a radical Democrat, presiding over a crime ridden city with murder rates rivaling war zones, announced at Friday’s press conference that she has two words for President Trump: “F— you.”“I will encode what I really want to say to Donald Trump,” Lightfoot said. “It’s two words: It begins with F and it ends with U.”

These words come from a major city mayor as riotous marauders made their way across America leaving rubble in their path. Taking down suburbia is their latest threat.

Robert B. Charles, writing for Amac (the conservative alternative to AARP, which supported Obamacare), notes of the top-ten “most dangerous cities” in America, all have Democrat mayors.  Those cities are Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Baltimore, Stockton, Cleveland and Buffalo.

Charles’ article is titled, “America’s 25 Worst Cities are Democrat-Led – The Answer, New Leaders.”

In view of what we’re currently witnessing across the nation these are facts worthy of your attention.

Phoenix police chief prioritizes firing officers

Newspaper negatively chronicles police shootings

Police work is not your run-of-the-mill occupation. Few jobs have as an integral aspect the fact that when you leave for your shift, you might not return to your family. Rotating schedules include nights and weekends; routinely make officers absent from family events and holidays. High stress levels of crime scenes, where police often have to make split-second, life or death decisions take their toll. Police are accused of using excessive force when trying to subdue those high on drugs and/or armed. Now mandated body cams show isolated aspects of an arrest, calling into question the officer’s decisions. Officer suicides are no longer a rarity.

Corrections officers are attacked and killed while on the job in Arizona prisons. Two such murders took place recently.

The public expects rapid responses from dedicated officers. Yet the local newspaper and the Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams, appointed in 2016, show them no mercy. Scrutiny and criticism have become routine. How many times did you see the video of the arrest of a family of shoplifters, mischaracterized as a little girl taking a doll from a Dollar Store? The officer was fired.

The Sunday edition of the Arizona Republic ran an oversize Page One article and two full jump pages with photos, including sympathetic depictions of shooting “victims.” The lengthy all caps headline?

AZ POLICE SHOOTINGS: SOME OFFICERS FIRE AGAIN AND AGAIN. The sub header: 79 officers shot two or more times — 52% worked for Phoenix — 21.5% worked for Mesa.

Mesa’s controversial Police chief Ramon Batista resigned yesterday following a no confidence vote by Mesa’s police union and Fraternal Order of Police. The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, (PLEA) abruptly called off a pending vote of no confidence in Chief Williams, with no explanation.

Monday night an impaired wrong way freeway driver was responsible for colliding with Tempe police officers traveling to a crime scene in separate marked vehicles. This past Saturday night, two PPD officers were hospitalized following a DUI-related crash where the impaired driver, traveling at a high rate of speed, slammed into their patrol car as they were making a traffic stop. She was cited and released.

Imagine if the impaired driver was an off-duty officer. There is no doubt the case would not have been handled so gingerly. Career officers are now fearful of reprisals.

Phoenix Police Chief Williams, who has repeatedly shown she does not have their backs,  has fired five officers so far this year.