“If you moved to Gilbert because of the good schools, then you may become disappointed. New GPS board members want to turn Gilbert into a charter school district. Charter schools are a privatization of public schools that funnel your tax dollars to a small group of insiders. Charter schools do not outperform public schools. Do research, pay attention, and get involved.”

“Don’t stop Joe. Keep doing your job. Illegal is still illegal.”

“Through the National Security Agency, the Obama Administration is secretly monitoring Verizon phone calls made in the United States by millions of Americans. An Obama administration official has acknowledged such collection of people’s telephone records is a critical tool to fight terrorism, and is in fact going on.”

“Gloat. Gloat. Gloat. Randy Parraz and Lilia Alvarez: I was getting sick of seeing your seedy signature-gatherers lurking around the Mesa Library. We like Joe because he ‘gets ‘er done’ in spite of Obama, the Arizona Republic and the Courts. I just wish he was about 50 years old so we could look forward to 40 years with him as sheriff.”

“It’s good to know that the Queen of the Tea Party, Michele Bachmann, will soon be getting a government pension at taxpayer expense for all the hard work she’s done. Yeah, right.”

“Someone should advise Mayor Bloomberg of NYC to keep his money out of Arizona politics. The recent ‘negative’ TV campaign against Jeff Flake is being paid for all across the country by Bloomberg. Let him concentrate on his war against 40-ouncers and MacDonald’s. He’d have a fit if he saw what folks in Arizona take out of Circle K’s and QT’s...”

“House Republicans have had their ninth hearing on the supposed cover up of the Benghazi attack which resulted in no new information. The only cover up I can see is the fact that the GOP voted last year to cut U.S. Embassy security funding by $300 million dollars but refuse to take personal responsibility for their actions.”

“Why does it seem you only publish the partisan hateful comments? Are there no sane people out there who just want an honest government that will not lie to them or spy on them and not have to worry about the IRS harassing them just because they want to be left alone to live their lives in peace? Why must everything be about politics?”

“Ann Kirkpatrick? Ron Barber? Raul Grijalva? Ed Pastor? Kyrsten Sinema? What do you think about the IRS harassment, Benghazi lies, and AP spying? He’s your President, not mine. You have been awfully quiet lately.”

“Is the SRP monopoly spending thousands of advertising dollars (consumer electrical power payments) to promote SRP or to promote Mayor Scott Smith’s run for governor?”

“Out of respect for the victims, I refuse to name, watch or listen to the accused, while the victim is six feet under, robbed of their precious lives! I began this promise, to victims, starting in 1995. I blackout all media that creates a rating circus, totally disrespecting the dead... sickening!”

“Mesa judge Markel [Mark] Chiles was issued a citation for shoplifting recently. Will another judge give him the six months in jail and $2,500 fine just to set the punishment at a level others could receive? Watch for a slap on the wrist.”

“Mesa judge Markel [Mark] Chiles was issued a citation for shoplifting recently. Will another judge give him the six months in jail and $2,500 fine just to set the punishment at a level others could receive? Watch for a slap on the wrist.”

“The richest American company Apple is going to borrow billions & billions to run the company, probably from themselves because you don’t have to pay taxes on borrowed money. While a venter worries about the homeless defecating and urinating in Mesa. When is congress going to stop these wealthy corporations from defecating and urinating on America.”

“I don’t know why everyone is complaining that the Gilbert school board cut salaries, eliminated the teachers’ voices from negotiations, and secured all the power of decision making for themselves. After all, this strategy has worked very successfully in Communist Russia, Nazi Germany, and... and... oh wait... maybe there IS a problem here!”

“When is the City of Mesa going to do something about the homeless downtown? They defecate and urinate in doorways of business and walking downtown is not a pleasant experience. It used to be a nice place, but that has changed.”

“The great Obama is in charge of the sequestration. So what does this guy do? He goes to air traffic controllers and lays them off to cause the most inconvenience he can to American travellers. He could have gone to the nonessential personnel they always tell to stay home when there is a major weather event in D.C. This guy is a real piece of work. I can’t believe there are people that actually think he is doing a good job?”

“Finally, honesty from the gun control crowd. Their endgame is confiscation of guns which will have to include elimination of the 2nd amendment.”

“Attention drivers in Gilbert and Chandler: there is a useful accessory included on your car and truck. (It’s) that thing sticking out of the left side of your steering column ... the TURN SIGNAL. Please try it.”

“What’s with the weeds 2 feet high along University Drive in Mesa across from CVS? It always looks like a dump site. Lindsay down by Broadway, same thing. Property owners and the city both need a good ass kickin’.”

“With a labor participation rate of 63.3 percent, have the Democrats turned America into a third world country or a leftist utopia? Pardon the redundancy.”

“The NRA proposes putting a school official through 60 hours of weapons of training for school security. There is an old adage that says (A Jack of all trades is master of none). Does anyone really want to put the life of their small child in the hands of a master of none?”

“Everyone in this country was created equal, endowed by their creator. But two people with the same endowments just can’t be allowed to pursue happiness, and have to settle for life and liberty. The Bill of Rights only applies to some.”

“Mr. Basha used to be a neighbor of mine, although I did not know immediately know it. My son, about 13, came home one day from carousing in the neighborhood. I asked where he had been. He replied ‘we were at Eddie’s house playing tennis.’ You know where this story is headed. It was Eddie Basha. He was like that, a kind man who was for the kids. Needless to say, I did not mind my son going there to play tennis. R.I.P. Mr. Basha.”

“Hey, Mesa! How about not ripping up Broadway until you’re finished with Southern? But no, that would make sense!”

“The ‘bathroom bill’ is without doubt the most hateful measure the Legislature has ever come up with. It’s also indicative of a complete lack of understanding of transgender people and the LGBT community in general. To remedy this, I suggest viewing a program called “In the Life” on YouTube. Oh, wait, some people don’t want to understand; they just want to hate.”

“A group of parents in petitioning Mesa Schools to give teachers a raise. The average teaching salary in MPS is $54,398. If teachers can’t figure out how to live on a salary that is nearly double the average salary for the general population of Mesa, how are they smart enough to teach children?”

“Just spent the day doing my federal and state tax returns. The good news is I don’t owe anything. The bad news is that, for the first time in 40 years, I didn’t earn enough to owe any income tax.”

“OK, it can stop raining now, at least until the monsoon. I’ve gone through nearly two bottles of weed killer and I’d rather not have to buy a third.”

“Is there a criminal penalty for shooting down a drone over U.S. soil?”

“Old Sparky, new Sparky ... the dude’s about as handsome as Mitch McConnell.”

“I see Mexico has the same problems with union management we have in the U.S. They are all crooks. The head of the teacher’s union was just arrested for embezzlement.”

“Our conservative state Legislature is moving forward on over 500 proposed laws this session. Nice to see so called ‘small government’ Republicans show that they are incapable of sticking to their supposed values.”

“The Mesa Public Library requires photo identification to renew a library cards but no ID is required to vote.”

“Two of the new Gilbert School Board members ran on the platform that they were going to trim administrative costs and waste. The first thing they did was try to fire the superintendent. The next thing they did was to create three new paid administrative positions. Is there any hope for the next few years?”

“So, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is citing ‘understaffed’ in his own defense of his botched sex crimes cases. You know, that missing hundred million dollars he never accounted for would have gone a long way towards hiring more people.”

“To the person who stated that negative comments about President Obama shouldn’t be printed in the Vent. Apparently you have forgotten how Democrats, far left liberals, and the liberal press treated President Bush. He was the butt of rude and demeaning jokes by so-called comedians, called lots of horrible names by the press, and verbally attacked by liberal talk show hosts. He, too, deserved respect just because he was the President of the United States. It is no wonder young people today have a problem respecting authority. Look at the examples set for them.”

“I can sum up the Jodi Arias trial in one word: Boring! What’s worse is that they’re trying to make it scandalous (and making a lame attempt at making her seem like a victim) by talking about sex and religion, which only makes it more boring. Watch ‘Criminal Minds’ instead. It has better plot lines and better-looking people.”

“I realize the purpose of the ‘Vent’ column is to entertain with quirky, off-the-cuff, sometimes biased and unsolicited items. However, when editing such items to appear in a public newspaper, it would seem grossly improper to allow such blatant and derogatory references to our President Obama as a ‘dope.’...... cheap, tacky, ignorant, un-American and certainly NOT funny.”

“Ben Arredondo violated the public trust to enhance his personal wealth and image in excess of the legal and moral limits. There are few lower than him in society, maybe only child molesters. Now his buddies, Democrats, act like he is a persecuted choir boy.”

“Another garment factory fire in Bangladesh. These factory owners/operators should be punished by being impaled on a stake in front of their burned out factory. And their execution should be televised.”

“Seriously, some people need to get a life. The main news stories on national television have been about Te’o’s girlfriend saga and whether or not Beyonce lip synced at the inauguration. Please find something more news worthy to report about!”

“Arizonans are known for their cheapness when it comes to public education so expect a big run on Wal-Mart greeters when it comes to filling school resource officers positions.”

Why don’t the weeds freeze too?

“Why it is always a cold snap or a heat wave, but never a cold wave or a heat snap? Just askin’.”

“Two things stand in the way of what Liberals truly want: citizens with guns and the Constitution, and we shall use the First to defend the Second!”

“Oh, the NHL lockout is over. And just when I had almost completely forgotten about hockey...”

“What happened to global warming?”

“I can’t believe that Dave Allison’s performance pay was approved. There’s no balanced budget and the 2 percent increase they just gave is being taken away districtwide. Doesn’t seem to affect him. How fair is that?”

“Remember when allowing lawyers to advertise on TV seemed like a good idea.”