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June 28, 2008 - 8:47PM
Cactus Needles
Tribune Editorial
Short takes from the Tribune Editorial Board:
We have been critical of Scottsdale City Council members who found designs for downtown buildings “not Western enough.” So readers may be surprised to see us borrow their observation to refer to noticeably modern designs shown to a city board last week for the proposed $30 million Museum of the West downtown.
True, frontier architecture of the real Old West (roughly 1870-90) wasn’t that appealing, leading Hollywood to create an image — one Old Town Scottsdale appropriated — that is hardly historically accurate.
And yes, “the West” is a much more complex place than what Western movies set in that brief 20-year span depict.
But a Western museum must draw visitors somehow. Will typical vacationers, whose only previous exposure to “the West” is where they saw John Wayne and Gary Cooper perform, be lured inside a building that looks more like where contemporary art is displayed?
We’re not suggesting that this museum look like a livery stable. But it should look like what most people generally consider the West. This design is no hat and no cattle.
Are voters in Apache Junction really going to recall up to five council members over a single, secretly recorded phone call between the city attorney and a former police department employee?
This height of political dysfunction, as reported by the Tribune’s Sonu Munshi, reflects the lingering taint from the reign of fired police Chief Glenn Walp, who taped the phone call last year as part of his unsuccessful effort to keep his job despite allegations of sexual harassment and poor leadership.
Walp has his share of supporters in Apache Junction, and they are looking for every scrap of justification to punish the council members who backed City Manager George Hoffman’s decision that Walp was doing too much damage to the city’s image.
The phone call in question, while “racy,” involves no illegal or unethical behavior and simply shouldn’t be the basis for any recall election.
In these economic times, Queen Creek could have reasonably postponed or canceled plans to construct a new park for horsing riding and equestrian events. So groups that plan to use the park should be grateful for the town’s commitment to finish the center, instead of complaining about the fees they will have to pay to use it.
Tribune writer Sarah Boggan reported Tuesday that Queen Creek expects to collect only 6 percent of the $850,000 in annual costs to operate the horse park. In fact, the fees might be too low.
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