OK, I am reading this and not believing what I'm seeing. Jack claims that the magnificent seven are the one's trying to keep Bisbee as they found it????

Is he out to lunch? Has he not checked on his buddy's petition to try to prevent changes in zoning that WOULD have made forward looking changes to old zoning laws? Changes that would have cleaned up the junky yards and limited the livestock INSIDE The city limits?

What the heck Jack, do you know what you're talking about or which side of the issues you're on?

Either you're supporting the protectionist thinking of the chicken herder, or you want Bisbee to prepare for the future. WHICH IS IT?

I THINK WE SHOULD ESTABLISH A RULE ON THIS FORUM
BANNING IMPORTATION OF MATERIAL FROM TOPIX.

AFTER ALL WE'RE ALL REFUGEES FROM THERE, AREN'T WE?

DIDN'T WE COME OVER HERE BECAUSE WE DIDN'T LIKE WHAT WE SAW THERE?

STOP IMPORTING TOPIX TRASH.
Please.

Not so! I'm claiming that The Magnificent Seven doesn't have a clue what it's doing, and is being led by the rings through its collective nose by its own employees. I'm also postulating that TMS has a built-in bias for "the way things were", and that their 'employees' are using that bias to mis-govern Bisbee.

Let me repeat: I am NO FRIEND to Jeff Harris. I do not know the man, and have no desire to; further, I hold no brief with his antics/tactics by himself or with Peter. I approach this, and other discussions, with no consideration of Mr. Harris. Is that clear enough?

That said: I would very much like Bisbee to go into its future with some idea of what the hell it's doing. My very strong feeling is that that won't happen with Pauken, McKinnon, McConnell, Charley, et. al. misleading TMSeven. But in order for those parasites to be gone, we have to begin by electing to the Council some people who have some appreciation of both what Bisbee is now, and what it must become. As I mentioned in the post you saw fit to import here, the tourism on which Bisbee has built its existence is also going to bring demands for thoughtful change -- as well as cleaning up our act we've not bothered to do in the past.

So: No, Sammy (whoever you are), I'm not limited to an either/or position. I'm looking at this as a person who has moved here from a town which exhibited exactly the same syndrome, on a MUCH larger scale -- and I saw what happened there. Bisbee is small enough (and I think self-aware enough) to avoid the fate of unrestricted growth and unplanned 'progress'. But it will require voters who understand that change is both inevitable and hazardous.

My apologies and regrets for breaking into Binky's personal litterbox, but this is the first time I've seen something here which demanded my response. (Side note to Binky: NO, I'm not running for anything!)

Hello Jack, Nice to see you again! We may not always agree but I love seeing you adding intelligent comments

Tom Tom, if we do as you request then you are denying those posting on this thread the liberty of the freedom of speech we came here for. If you want to control what is posted, go on another topic where there is more control. Personally, I see NOTHING wrong with bringing some Topix issues over here so that we all have more freedom to present our thoughts without the "I misrepresented myself Harris" crying to the Moderator and deleting every single post in a thread. I got real sick of that whiny and his which he must have told to the Moderator to get the threads removed. Again and again, I can't help but wonder why he would go to such lengths to cover up rather than answer some simple questions about his educational and employment background. In my personal opinion, if someone had that many degrees and had held respectable jobs, that person would be proud of the fact and not try to play games and hide .

Hey TOM TOM, got my posters messed up . I meant to reply to NO TOPIX's post . I agree with your post.

NO problem JM. I figured that was it!

Sorry, I got back too late to save you.

Sephiroth, your post is thoughtful, pretty much right on, but leaves aside the main thrust of my argument.
TMSeven has in fact accomplished some things (including $1.5 million lost to a contractor), most of them by either scrambling for grants or being forced to finally accompolish something under State mandate.
The vaunted Charette is, I think we all know, doomed to remain window-dressing. What remains to be done, and what will only be done when someone is forced into it, is to address the many simply-remedied problems in Bisbee's infrastructure before some tourist gets hurt -- or before some kid drowns in the city's reservoirs. Such things as traffic patterns, street repairs, etc. require thought and a plan of action; so long as Bisbee is conditioned into an ad hoc response to only the most pressing problems, things will continue as they've been.

Meanwhile, what could we do with the money saved by NOT having a full-time attorney, a "Development Director" who barely has a clue about forward planning, and a City Manager for whom $100K is not enough to keep him from trying to appropriate a City vehicle meant for others? Perhaps we could even hire a competent City Engineer, and begin to deal with our decrepit infrastructure -- begin to prioritize our most-pressing needs.

Admittedly, I have not been here long enough to know the players totally. I do, though, see the same habits and the same scrambling responses here that I watched create burgeoning disaster in the city I moved from. My posts, and my thoughts, are based on that experience and a pretty politically-aware outlook, as well as a lot of conversation with various people around town (NOT Mr. Harris!).

I do not see or sense a citizenry which is thinking calmly about its future, or dealing with the challenges of remaining a small town while the world moves on -- and in!

Finally: thank you for a challenging response. It's nice to have someone to answer, rather than insult.

"Down to 8 registered users? Binky's many Noms? First you were wrong about how many users there were, claiming they were ALL Binky, and that it was Farthers Folly which is ALSO wrong. now you're reduced to having to claim that Eric is all the guest posters. Actually, that it isn't true either but saying that won't convince you or the four other people left over there."

Actually, I don't think there are that many over there. Don't know how many there are over here either. I just keep looking for signs of intelligent life on earth, and there's no longer much sign of that on Topix. You are definitely correct in that regard.

Frankly, were it not for the unhealthy fascination with Harris over here, I'd visit more often (that oughta tick some of you off!), but I just don't want to scroll through unending indictments and rehashing of old complaints.

Not finding much to discuss on the 3rd local board either. Maybe discussion is a dying art.