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National Monument: Let’s Compare Verifiable Facts!

SedonaEye.com financial columnist J. Rick Normand

SedonaEye.com J. Rick Normand, Investigative and Financial Columnist

Sedona AZ (October 29, 2015) – It is becoming increasingly clear that the Verde Valley has become weary of hearing the incessant drumbeat of “They’re lying, they’re not telling you the facts!” At this point, the undecided on the issue of the National Monument designation proposal most likely can’t decide who to believe…either Keep Sedona Beautiful (KSB) or Arizona Liberty (AZL). So, for those still unclear as to what to think, let’s do a comparative analysis.

From Black’s Law Dictionary Online 2nd Ed., the definition of the word “FACT:” A thing done; an action performed or an incident transpiring; an event or circumstance; an actual occurrence. In the law of evidence: A circumstance, event or occurrence as it actually takes or took place; a physical object or appearance, as it actually exists or existed. An actual and absolute reality, as distinguished from mere supposition or opinion.

KSB says:

AZL represents big money interests, not conservation values. They’re (AZL) aligned with the Koch Brothers, Donald Trump and the Tea Party.

AZL says:

We represent only like-minded residents of the Verde Valley. All the funds spent by the four managers of Arizona Liberty were/are their own personal funds. Additionally, we do all of our own writing, publishing, creation of overhead slide presentations, and produce our own NM opposition handouts, wearing apparel, signs, and bumper stickers. Notwithstanding, KSB pays for its advertising campaign, glossy printed handouts, etc. with money from donors as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt foundation. No one from AZL has ever met the Koch Brothers or Donald Trump, or any mining company executives, or any Tea Party leaders. We’re just two pretty smart and talented Sedonans and two pretty smart and talented VOC residents who are tired of being hoodwinked by KSB.

But now the KSB argument in favor of the proposed National Monument Proclamation (NM) has morphed into one of demonization of Arizona legislators and agencies of Arizona State Government, of the AZL professional environmental management practitioners, of educated voters and sincerely concerned residents of the Verde Valley, and, of all the municipal and township Councils of the Verde Valley including the Mayor and five Councilors of the City of Sedona.

What you have read in KSB politico Nancy Brown’s Verde Independent article is part of a truly hysterical “sour grapes” response aimed at everyone who made better presentations, presented better incontrovertible expert opinions, recited more hard evidence, and employed more understandable logic than those supporting her rant. Worse yet, her article targets those elected to office who voted on the issue after so much exhaustive and heartfelt deliberation. Does her article not clearly imply that KSB politicos, who presented their case so dismally that they couldn’t garner more than 12% Verde Valley-wide support, have the intellectual eminence to claim that none of the rest of us can think straight enough to arrive at a correct conclusion?

KSB says:

Everything will remain as is…nothing will change

AZL says:

Nothing will stay the same…

KSB says:

KSB is promoting the Sedona-Verde Valley Red Rock Monument (aka NM) designation by Presidential Proclamation. We have presented to the public our 31 “Preliminary Management Recommendations for the Proposed SVVRRNM” which are essential to protect the values of the Monument and our (recommendations) must be consistent with the proper care and management of objects (historic ruins and artifacts) to be protected by the Proclamation. All 31 recommendations are predicated upon the assumption that the United States Forest Service (USFS) WILL BE the federal agency which will manage the Monument.

AZL says:

All 31 of the KSB National Monument management recommendations are based on the assumption that the United States Forest Service (USFS) will be the federal agency managing the Monument. If this primary assumption is not factually correct and can’t be proven, then the KSB entire proposal is a sham. Arizona has 22 National Monuments. Not one is managed by the USFS, but rather, ALL are managed by the National Park Service (NPS) or BLM, both agencies of the Department of the Interior which ascribes to Draconian access and user activities rules, while the Department of Agriculture, of which the USFS is an agency, ascribes to access and visitor use rules that are lenient. The National Park Service is draconian “user-profile” oriented while the United States Forest Service is “user-friendly” activities oriented. That’s a monumental difference! The NPS has a history of applying Draconian user-profiling rules nationwide while using military grade weaponry and it’s soon to be equipped with all-seeing squadrons of GPS articulated drones (no more privacy in the forest) to find near harmless miscreants who can be heavily fined. It manages over 90 of our nation’s 117 National Monuments and are the very likely Arizona’s 23rd National Monument agency manager for the NM. But, now, we ask you to look again at the definition of the word “FACT.” How is a KSB recommendation a fact? Arizona Liberty has checked with the USFS and asked them if they will provide a written guarantee to KSB that they will be the federal government’s designee as the NM agency manager. The answer was a resounding “NO!

KSB says:

KSB Timeline: By November of 2015, [we] will inform the Departments of Agriculture (USFS) and Interior (NPS) and the Presidential Council on Environment Quality of the intent to obtain National Monument designation.

AZL says:

By November of 2015, [we] will inform the Departments of Agriculture (USFS) and Interior (NPS) and the Presidential Council on Environment Quality of the intent to obtain National Monument designation. This single sentence reveals a fact that KSB intentionally never mentions to the public. Since the entirety of the KSB National Monument Proclamation proposal is built upon the assumption that the USFS will be the Monument manager, then why does KSB subtlely drop in the words “and Interior?” Is the NPS going to be the Monument manager rather than the USFS?

KSB says:

KSB’s proposal also states that its proposal will “provide the highest level of protection for the communities’ [sic] values and the spectacular landscape that is the region’s economic lifeline.”

AZL says:

Nowhere is it mentioned in the KSB NM proposal that Sedona and the VOC can’t endure any more traffic congestion occasioned by greater hordes of tourists since we only have two paved passages into the area, State Routes 89A and 179. To make matters worse, entrance to Sedona from the north on 89A is further congested with traffic from Slide Rock State Park by people who are just forced to pass through Sedona and aren’t Sedona-bound tourists, while people coming from I-17 northbound are still channeled into a tortuous “one lane each way” funnel that barely moves on a weekend day. How will the NPS resolve this potentially catastrophic problem? KSB’s solution is to provide shuttle-bus parking lots to which the public must report in order to board a shuttle to whatever trailhead from which one would like to start his/her hike. Is this how the Feds will protect our community values?

Angela LeFevre

City of Sedona AZ Councilor Angela LeFevre, ardent proponent of the Sedona Verde Valley Red Rocks National Monument designation by President Obama, was the only council vote in favor of supporting any National Monument proposal during an October 2015 city council meeting agenda vote. A recent newspaper poll indicated over 80% oppose a national monument designation. President Obama would be asked by a small local 501(c)3 group to take control of local lands, towns and city by Executive Order under the 1906 Antiquities Act.

KSB says:

The National Monument Proclamation will prevent capricious land trades.

AZL says:

There are several mechanisms available that can prevent lands trades at the state level, such as Conservancy Fiduciary Trusts like those used in the eastern U.S., notwithstanding that National Monuments can be partially or in their entirety rescinded, anyway, as has happened at the Grand Canyon. Meanwhile, the current Amendment 12 Resource Management Plan that the USFS operates under only allows for another 300 acres to be traded of the proposed 160,000 acre NM.

KSB says:

Federal Land Resource Management is the only guarantor of safe and sound land resources management.

AZL says:

Paralysis by Analysis and Management by Litigation characterize federal land management while handcuffing local land resource stewards which results in one-size-fails-all consequences for western communities, and our nation. Meanwhile, Federal land management is demonstrably catastrophic. In a Forbes Magazine article dated 4/07/2009 by Terry L. Anderson and Reed Watson entitled “Public Land Mismanagement,” it is stated that “Decades of fire suppression by the Forest Service have disrupted natural fire cycles and turned many western forests into tinderboxes waiting to burn. Dense stands of spindly deadfall and underbrush now occupy land once characterized by open savannahs and large, widely spaced trees. One result is larger, more intense fires that burn the publicly owned forests to the ground. Indeed, by the Forest Service’s own estimates, 90 to 200 million acres of federal forests are at high risk of burning in catastrophic fire events. Bans on thinning and salvage harvesting have not only exacerbated the fire danger in public forests but it has also left them more susceptible to disease, insects and high winds…Haven’t we seen the proof of this assertion right in front of our own eyes in the Rodeo-Chideski fire, the Wallow Fire, and the Brins Mesa and Slide Fires?

J Rick Normand CHART

KSB says:

The Federal Management Agency, once the National Monument Proclamation is signed, will have probable assured federal funding…or sufficient donations.

AZL says:

New National Monument designations require increased budget funding…but, the USFS and NPS, together, have an $11.5 billion budget deficit and a 5 year backlog of still-to-be-done wild lands infrastructure repairs awaiting.

KSB says:

Existing property and water rights, as well as regional governance authority, will NOT be affected by the National Monument Proclamation.

AZL says:

AZL has addressed dislocation of senior water rights, in six articles right here at SedonaEye.com by this writer and two by venerated environmental researchers, as well as, the risk of invocation by the Feds of encased and extraterritorial inholder’s rules, not to mention the issue of who will have police authority if the inholder’s rule is invoked?

KSB says:

States involved in the Sagebrush Rebellion (what lifelong westerners call their movement to get federal lands returned to the states) are NOT sovereign, trustworthy and competent while the Federal Government is altruistic, philanthropic and demonstrably competent.

AZL says:

States involved in the western Sagebrush Rebellion ARE Constitutionally Sovereign. See www.tenthamendmentcenter.com.

KSB says:

Our Congressional Representative will present the KSB proposed NM designation Proclamation to President Obama.

AZL says:

Before our Congressional Representative can present the KSB proposed NM designation Proclamation to President Obama there are submission requirements that must be completed and attached to it by KSB.

AZL checked with the USFS and the NPS to find a “KSB submitted” boundary survey and AZL checked with the National Register of Historic Places for a KSB submission of an inventoried antiquities list and have found that nothing has been submitted to either by KSB.

Therefore, if the USFS or the NPS doesn’t know what the KSB proposed NM boundaries are or what the antiquities are that KSB wants protected, then KSB must NOT have determined what the Monument boundaries or antiquities to be protected will be either. Then, doesn’t that raise the question, how can our Congressional Representative Ann Kirkpatrick present the NM Proclamation proposal to President Obama for issuance of a Proclamation that doesn’t have an attached defined boundaries map and a list of inventoried antiquities?

Therefore, the KSB NM proposal to date, 1.] has no defined NM boundaries, 2.] no proof of which agency will be the Monument manager, thereby invalidating their basic premise upon which is predicated all 31 recommendations (not facts), and, 3.] has no National Register of Historic Places completed antiquities inventory accounted for either.

Meanwhile, local NM expert Ron Volkman says that Congressional Representative Ann Kirkpatrick’s staffer called him Friday, October 23, 2015 and said “…they have NOTHING, not a scrap, in her office from KSB or anyone else pushing the NM in Sedona. And she said Ann plans to do nothing on it at all.”

KSB says:

And, since nothing will change, then by extension, ALL the facts have been revealed to the public.

AZL says:

And, if nothing will change, then by extension, ALL the facts haven’t been revealed to the trusting public since not a single fact relative to any downside risk mentioned herein has been mentioned by KSB, meaning the untruthful implication is that there are no downside facts!

*emphasis and italicized information within parentheses provided by this writer for purposes of clarification

So Arizona Liberty asks the reader to again look at the legal definition of the word “FACT” and then ask himself/herself how the so-called fact presentation of the proponents/opponents of the Sedona-Verde Valley Red Rock National Monument issue stack up against one another?

Read www.SedonaEye.com for daily news and interactive views!

Read www.SedonaEye.com for daily news and interactive views!

70 Comments

  1. Harry Danilevics says:

    KSB trying to meet with the Department of the Interior regarding National Monument Designation

    Today Keep Sedona Beautiful (KSB) held their ‘Open Meeting’ where Arizona Liberty was accommodated and asked KSB two questions regarding their continued push to meet with the Department of the Interior over the National Monument designation that was opposed by the Sedona City Council and 80% of Red Rock pollers oppose as well.

    Nancy Brown, after other KSB members appeared confused, admitted still working with Tom O’Halloran in an attempt to ‘nod’ to the Department of the Interior.

    Here are the two questions with KSB’s responses:

    1) Given all the opposition, are you continuing with your time table?”

    KSB: “We’re, yeah, that’s why we are here. We’re doing an assessment on where we stand and again we think that the opposition is to a particular segment of the community and we are addressing and looking at all the different segments across the board.”

    2) In the timetable, your position has been the Forest Service is going to continue to manage the monument, we are trying to understand why you would be meeting with the Department of the Interior.”

    KSB (Nancy Brown): “Well, I’m aware of that situation and Tom O’Halleran and I talked about this and you do an obligatory,… it’s polite,… okay, we meet with the Department of Agriculture and it’s called being polite in Washington circles. You give a nod to the Department of the Interior, they don’t like not being,… you know… involved, but, the Department of Agriculture is the ranking, uh, agency, on the designation.”

    Another KSB board member: “Part of the assessment process is you have the Bureau of Reclamation, you have the Salt River Project, you have BLM, you have USDA, Interior, Parks Service, they all have a stake in this down the road, possibly. Again I don’t believe Park Service does. But, as a polite aspect in any type of scoping that is particular to this type of action, again, all the agencies that may possibly be impacted are reached out to.”

    Clearly Keep Sedona Beautiful isn’t getting the message to quit pushing their agenda.

    https://www.facebook.com/NoSVVNationalMonument/videos/vb.959392974120646/1004959872897289/?type=2&theater

  2. To All Readers of The Eye:

    Contemporaneously with the publication of this article, Dwight Kadar, Harry Danilevics and this writer, dropped in at the KSB non-public executive session today (10/29/2015) and asked if we could meet with them. They agreed, and we asked just two questions.

    The first was, considering their published timeline for submission of the NM Proclamation proposal, did they (KSB) intend to continue to pursue their effort, which they said they hadn’t determined.

    Secondly, we asked about the following sentence in their published ads and presentations: “By November of 2015, [we] will inform the Departments of Agriculture (USFS) and Interior (NPS) and the Presidential Council on Environment Quality of the intent to obtain National Monument designation.” This single sentence reveals the possibility of a fact that KSB intentionally never mentions to the public in its presentations or advertising. It raises the question as to why KSB is submitting its NM proposal to the Department of the Interior which has as its usual National Monument management agency the National Park Service in additional to submitting it to the Department of Agriculture, of which the USFS is a sub-agency.

    So, we asked about this long-time intentional oversight…

    Question from Dwight: “The other question is, again, in the timetable, your position has been the Forest Service is going to continue to manage the Monument, we are trying to understand why you would be meeting with the Department of the Interior?”

    KSB answer on video with audio track (as of yet KSB speaker is unidentified but we will find out his identity):

    “Part of the assessment process is you have the Bureau of Reclamation, you have the Salt River Project, you have BLM, you have USDA, Interior Parks Service, they all have a stake in this down the road, POSSIBLY! Again, I don’t believe Park Service does. But, as a polite aspect in any type of scoping that is particular to this type of action, again, ALL THE AGENCIES THAT MAY POSSIBLY BE IMPACTED ARE REACHED OUT TO.”

    “But as a polite aspect in any type of scoping…?” Contentious bureaucratic party-dominated issues now command politeness? Oh, come on! Does KSB actually expect that comment to be taken seriously by anyone?

    This admission from KSB confirms that the allegation in this article which is that KSB had always been aware that THERE ARE NO ASSURANCES that the USFS will be the likely Monument management agency but, rather, as with 100% of the other National Monuments in Arizona, the Monument manager will likely be the National Park Service (NPS) of the Department of the Interior complete with its draconian user access and activities rules.

    JRN

  3. No monument. No monument.

  4. Nancy Brown says:

    Just for clarification purposes, when the project timeline was put together back in late July, with input by Chairman at the time, Tom O’Halleran, he explained the process includes a polite nod to the Dept. of Interior, that is part of the process. The supervising agency is still Dept. of Agriculture that supervises all National Forests and that’s what you were told. AS you well know, Mr. O’Halleran has not worked as chair of the Coalition since Sept. 1st of this year. We miss him and wish him well on his next project, running for U.S. Representative for our District One. And also for clarification purposes, we have been told that this designation would not result in the Forest being managed by the Park Service, from the President’s Council on Environmental Quality, which approves designations. It would be Forest managed. The rest of these statements and Rick Normand’s are verifiably false or misleading. The Coalition is reassessing and re-evaluating but is available for education and information. I have not been a KSB member for many years but will probably rejoin them next year and I am not a “politico” whatever that is. I do research, writing and a former website developer. I have done my homework and researched your sources; your facts are wrong and always irrelevant. The big question is why? What’s your motive? It’s not because you want to protect the Red Rock Forest and its crucial watersheds — that much I know.

  5. Susan Amon says:

    “But as a polite aspect in any type of scoping…? It would have been “polite” of KSB to notify at least the Governor’s office that will have to figure out how to manage and pay for the NM on a state level! Yes, the state is involved in the management of federal lands.

    But then KSB doesn’t have to be “polite” to those entities it does not need “permission” from, including us residents.

    The Antiquities Act needs to be amended to include state/local approval and restrictions to end the abuses of the original legislation. Perhaps the events that are occurring here in Sedona / Verde Valley will help kindle further effort to this end.

  6. @Nancy Brown,

    Neither our state’s Congressional Senators, nor Representatives, nor any State of Arizona officials have been told, or had confirmed to them, that what you say is correct or even assumed. As is usual with you Nancy, you never cease mentioning what you’ve been told but you’re never been able to produce any written confirmation/evidence of it.

    Meanwhile, I invite you to produce hard evidence that anything I say is false in light of the facts that I’ve provided in this article that evidence that nothing you or KSB say is verifiable as true. You’re incessant fact-deprived accusations grow tiresome, Nancy. What you do is what losers do who can’t win a case on the merits. You do NOT educate, you distribute out-and-out propaganda as 84% of the residents of the Verde Valley have figured out…period! The reason you’ve performed so poorly in your effort to sell the NM issue is that the people you’ve tried to hoodwink are smarter than you and your merry band of would-be thespians on the stage you’ve regrettably created.

    JRN

  7. I agree with Nancy Brown

    JRN

    Your tea party mentality and your overblown sense of importance is tiresome.

    You quote articles from your Merry band of tea party conscripacy theorists as fact(kinda like that tea party conservation guy) you referenced in one of your rants…

    Your laughable and overblown.
    Your delusion that you are the smartest guy in the in the Verde Valley is humorous if not pathetic…

  8. West Sedona Resident,

    If you’re not laughable and pathetic yourself, then why don’t you have the courage to reveal your identity to Mr. Normand and debate him in a public forum? You’re afraid of him, aren’t you? He’d eat your lunch. It always amazes me that little weenies like you are so willing to talk tough and make challenging accusations while hiding in the dark.

    BTW, I think he had to spell “conspiracy” for you once before. You are a slow learner, aren’t you, little weenie?

  9. L. Haff says:

    I see two flowers and question if part of her outfit or an optical illusion? I don’t care about the monument because I live in Netherlands.

  10. @i see thru you

    Apparently you did not realize that you use an alias name, moron(that’s for the spelling lesson LittleRick)

    Also it appears by his extra large appearance that Little Rick has eaten my lunch as well as his and a few others..

  11. Millie says:

    Didn’t I hear someplace on some news channel that the new concept is to move the Dept of Interior or what ever – to Colorado because it is the West side of our country that has the open space they can gulp up? Rational was they have raped all the East coast lands into their bucket.

  12. magickj says:

    I really do not understand this.
    Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick said she will not move forward with the National Monument.
    The City Council does not endorse the National Monument.
    84% of the citizens in the Verde Valley do not support a National Monument.
    I guess the only thing left to do is to sue Nancy Brown, Tom Ohalleran, and the rest of the KSB board members to CEASE and DESIST with this diabolical plan.
    Obviously Nancy Brown cares NOTHING for the community or the City of Sedona – she’d rather everyone go away so that the red rocks can be “preserved.” The proposal does not preserve our community – it will destroy it – and the way to preserve the forest is to not use it at all. This is NOT what we the citizens want. Why can’t they get this simple fact through their thick heads? We know why Tom Ohalleran wants this – no such thing as bad publicity when headed for the elections. I for one will NOT vote for criminal-minded rpresentatives. I do NOT want some nameless bureaucrat in Washington DC to use my home town as a political pawn the next time the government can’t pay its bills. NOTHING that KSB is saying is true – all are lies lies lies – we’ve seen first hand testimony right here on this site of how National Monuments DESTROY the community. How does Nancy Brown benefit from this? Someone surely is paying her somehow. Is there a lawyer out there that can make KSB cease and desist with this nefarious scheme? What can we do to make them STOP?!!!!

  13. Denise Bland says:

    A class action suit you lawyers out there that sues for the 84% if they continue? Is that something that can be done to get KSB to stop?? At the very minimum they need to be disbanded!! Maybe the Goldwater Institute or ACLU can look at it?

  14. The Arizona State Attorney General’s Office and Judicial Watch have both been contacted to assist

  15. This is for Congresswoman Kirkpatrick, how about addressing us explaining your decisions and planned NM action. My vote went to you last time, considering this time what to do. I’m not alone. 16% will not get you elected. Not happy with you hiding behind your office. You always seemed better than that kind of politician. Will this Democrat and others hear from you? Thanks.

  16. J. J. says:

    @Tim, I spoke with Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick personally and she assured me that she WAS NOT moving forward with the National Monument designation. The City Council voted NOT to endorse the National Monument. Why oh why does KSB continue ramming this unwanted unneeded designation down our throats? What can we do to make KSB and the Sierra Club STOP?

  17. JJ you appear to be a paranoid physo who most likely watches way to much Fox News…

  18. @illiterate West seboba resident

    From Andrew Heenan’s Internet Trolls© at flayme.com:

    WHAT IS A BLOGSITE TROLL?

    Most trolls are sad people, living their lonely lives vicariously through those they see as strong and successful. THEY ARE CONSUMED BY ENVY of superior thinkers who are successful in life.

    Disrupting a stable newsgroup gives the illusion of power, just as for a few, stalking a strong person allows them to think they are strong, too.

    For trolls, any response is ‘recognition’; they are unable to distinguish between irritation and admiration; their ego grows directly in proportion to the response, regardless of the form or content of that response.

    Because they are COWARDS, trolls virtually never write over their own name, and often reveal their lack of imagination in the chosen ID. As so many folk these days use false ID, this is not a strong indicator on its own!

    JRN

  19. E. Maddock says:

    J. Rick, you outdid your self with the Blogsite Troll definition. Brilliant!

    We should take bets on how long it will take to receive a snarky response, especially after my words of praise for your efforts.

    One, two, three and away we go. Five minutes at the most?

  20. Norma says:

    Hooray J Rick Normand!

    Yep you nailed it. blogsite troll.

    Thank you Rick!!!!!

  21. J. J. says:

    @west sedona resident
    I know your posts are the reflection about how you feel about yourself: lonely, self-hating, uneducated, and forsaken. My compassion for you is dwindling, and so I will no longer read or acknowledge your posts. That said, isn’t it time you talked to a health care professional? I worry that your constant abuse towards anyone on this blog will send you over the edge, if you’re not there already. You capture more flies with honey than vinegar. Perhaps you should listen (wisely) to your heart and send out positive vibes rather than the vituperation you spew on a regular basis. Sending angels to guide and comfort you. May god bless and send you some peace.

    BTW: I do not have TV. I do not watch main stream news. I’d appreciate it if you’d stop projecting how you feel about yourself on to me. Thank you.

  22. JRN

    Oh little Ricky…

    You got a thin skin covering that very large frame?

    You have such a beautiful mind Ricky(or so you think)

  23. J. J. says:

    As noted in the above article, KSB is continuing this farce of a proposal and will be presenting at the Cottonwood City Council meeting tonight at 6 pm. You might consider attending.
    You can write the major and council members at this link: http://cottonwoodaz.gov/council.php

  24. Hey Little Rick

    Question for you?

    Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Tea Party?

  25. Jess Lookin says:

    West Sedona Resident is a very unhappy person.

    Just imagine, you are way past your prime. You hold a city job from which you have no hope of promotion. You spend your days going to useless meetings. When you “accomplish ” anything it is only wasting retired residents money. You are widely despised on the Sedona Eye, yet your only pleasure is to attack other posters. You have been told by many on the site to seek professional help. Your only friends are those that you help to wrongly take city funds. You know the reason they associate with you.

    Can you imagine how unhappy you would be?

    I also suggest she seek professional help. Maybe quit and find another job where she actually does some good. We would all be better off.

  26. @West Sedona Resident,

    No, and, to my knowledge, I’ve never met anyone who belongs to the Tea Party. In fact, I’m not sure such a party actually exists.

    JRN

  27. To All Readers at The Eye:

    At 8:15 pm on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 in the Cottonwood City Council Chambers located at 826 Main Street in Cottonwood, Arizona, KSB spokesman by the name of Mr. Matt Capalby threatened this writer and AZL with libel and harassment lawsuits as he was departing the Council Chambers with Barbara Litrell. So, this appears to be the new KSB tactic to stop opposition. I can assure Mr. Capalby that he needs to better examine the elements of libel and the methodology for measuring damages since KSB has libeled AZL and me to an extraordinary extent lately in the Verde Independent and in public presentations and we will, likewise, counter-sue if they want to play that game.

    JRN

  28. Cheryl jones says:

    I don’t think Barbara litrell believes in this monument idea.

  29. @jess l Lookin

    Ok Julianna
    Let’s check on your record
    1. Fired from local government job
    2. Creator of numerous hate fueled webpages(cause you got fired)
    3. Boyfriend/girlfriend takes pictures of SPD on lunch break as an example of govt waste
    4. General nasty hate fueled demeanor
    Sound about right Juluanna?

  30. Donna Varney says:

    Great presentations last night by AZ Liberty & Sandra Cosentino. Thank you. It appears clear to me that KSB will move forward even without public support.

    Our community needs to stand up. Sorry to hear that threats were made to AZL. Your presentation was clean, fact based and very informative. Great job!

    Thank you for helping educate the locals on such an important issue. This will permantly change our region if KSB proceeds. Please let us know how we can help to save our regional small town character.

    Donna Joy

  31. magickj says:

    What happened Rick?
    Did Cottonwood City Council respond to the presentation?

  32. TJ says:

    Couple of local progressives see T Party boogeymen when they hear fellow democrats and republicans and independents voice other ideas than their own. You are embarrassing bigots of the worst kind.

  33. @magickj

    Last night there was a standing-room only crowd (many were turned away by the Fire Marshall) in the Cottonwood City Council Chambers. KSB and AZL showed up with full contingents. The Mayor announced at the very beginning of the meeting that there would be just one agenda item which would be the NM issue. Then, she announced that the Council would NOT take a vote…that the presentations (KSB and AZL) were only being heard for informational purposes.

    Barbara Litrell opened for KSB and, as Cheryl Jones above observed, she didn’t seem to have her heart in it. But, KSB brought in a new pit-bull hired gun in a business suit (a political issues presentation consultant) to speak for them by the name of Matt Capalby from Kingman to make their case although others, like Nancy Brown, also spoke for KSB. Essentially KSB’s case had to do with stopping evil mining companies, evil lumber companies, evil mechanized touring companies, evil real estate developers, evil capitalists, evil state’s rights people and AZ legislators, the evil AZ Land Trust Dept, and, worst of all, evil “dark” money which is trying to take over AZ. Nancy Brown even targeted Dwight Kadar of AZL as being or representing evil dark money.

    Through it all, every member of the Cottonwood Council stayed non-plussed and showed no facial reactions…at least until Mayor Diane Joens, in her final words of the evening to KSB and AZL, sort of evidenced that she had had enough of the “everbody who is opposed to KSB is evil” argument when she reminded all present that she was raised in a mining family and that mining companies built Arizona and that nothing we enjoy today, including the cars that brought KSB’s people to the meeting and the meeting hall in which we all sat, would exist if not for the mining and timber industries.

    She adjourned the meeting and at that point the “hired-gun” pushed his way through the crowd to aggressively confront me and snarled at me to get ready to be sued for libel and harassment. Apparently, it didn’t occur to him that a libel trial hearing will be a matter of public record and will give AZL, and me, the opportunity to introduce the City of Cottonwood’s video of the Council meeting (which will go viral on YouTube) as evidence that KSB does, indeed, propound, in public, precisely what they say constitutes libeling of themselves by the opposition simply by virtue of the fact that we publish their Marxist/Utopian rants as witnessed in that very video. In other words, they say it, we publish it, and yet somehow we have libeled them!

  34. I must say that those who see the tea party at work here are correct..

    Arizona Liberty is the Tea Party brand..

    They had to come up with a new name to cover up the A holes who made that name distasteful….

    New name same old

  35. FYI says:

    @TJ did you watch the presentation? Not tea party at all. These men voiced a neutral opinion.They backed up every single word with facts.
    But if you get a chance to watch you will see that only KSB were calling names and by far the most hateful control freaks I’ve ever seen.

  36. Thank you, Rick, for the candid report about the Cottonwood meeting.

    Keep Sedona Beautiful actually hired this man from Kingman to defend their position and threaten opposition with a law suit? It’s impossible for me to believe this is the same KSB where at one time I proudly served as Secretary on the Board of Directors.

    And so they proceed to go ahead and file their request for a National Monument declaration and succeed. How in the world will that, in even the most convoluted way, serve to uphold their mission to Keep Sedona Beautiful when clearly, with the extreme opposition, it will result in quite possibly the most destructive act possible to enable and continue the disharmony and divisiveness of not only incorporated Sedona but areas far beyond.

    Unbelievable!

  37. Just Sayin' says:

    @J Rick I’m sure your feelings were damaged one bit. In fact I’d put money on it you went home smiling because you were getting attention, YET AGAIN.

  38. ESM
    Disharmony and divisiveness…?
    That exactly would you do Eddie
    Really surprised you can’t see that!

    I see you gave yourSELF once again also.. Nice

  39. Do You ever Read what You write ?
    Not sure if You should go back to school or stop drinking.

  40. My correction @

    ESM
    I see you gave yourSELF a plug once again in your comment
    So SELFimportant. Nice

  41. ESM says:

    If you are insinuating the compliment extended to J. Rick Normand for his report on the Cottonwood meeting was a “plug” it was to Mr. Normand – period. The reference to KSB was plain and simple – an expression of disappointment to their unwillingness to consideration compromises to a National Monument designation. That was all – nothing more.

    A change in spelling doesn’t atone for your ongoing insults and mean spirited contributions, Jessica . . . oops . . . “West Sedona Resident.”

  42. TomZ says:

    West Sedona Resident is not Jessica, she is (deleted). I only wish the new city manager would check her email and her city paid phone then terminate her for posting disinformation while on the city payroll with city paid equipment.

    Comments (deleted)?

  43. BB says:

    To West Sedona Resident, JW, or whoever you are, it doesn’t matter. You are one nasty mean spirited dude or dudette and I join J.J. in saying God Bless you because you need it.

    The Lord gives and the Lord takes so why not count your blessings and think kind thoughts during that moment of silence instead of rolling your eyes, drumming your fingers, or looking bored. A kind word here and there might do wonders to improve your disposition. But, of course, apparently you think it’s cute and charming to be insulting and nasty.

    Yep, God Bless you in your time of need.

  44. Robert O says:

    To BB

    And I suppose that J Rick is a Saint?

    Perhaps it’s you that dosn’t get it. If you really read all of the posts by J Rick, you’ll see that he’s a man of kind words?????? No I don’t think so!

    I’m a guessin’ that he doesn’t like it so he shouldn’t be dishin’

    WORD!

  45. jw says:

    Question: do city council members actually have a cell phone the city pays for? If so then that’s great and another means of tracking their communications through the public records routine.

    Does Jessica just rant and rave on her own thinking she has no moral or legal responsibilities to our voters and her words are all just about her personal concepts?

    Am I correct that she has continued to state she really doesn’t give a damn about the voters….as its all about her leftist concepts and anyone who disagrees with her is just none relevant?

    To west Sedona resident, or how ever you spell your name etc – get a life and why not stop dishing everyone who questions or calls you on your (deleted by editor) and instead find the means of a middle ground to find some level of agreement?

  46. Yes you all may go on a wild goose chase checking phone records whatever Pariond people do…

    As I have said many times don’t work for Sedona government or council or any government…

    I just a simple retired Wedt Sedona Resident
    Chase your tail as always

  47. Kim Chott says:

    @West Sedona Resident

    The majority of comments here are serious and striving to enhance and preserve Sedona. I thank the writer and all concerned comments, especially Eddie Maddock’s, for focusing on keeping Sedona beautiful (pun intended). Then we are confronted with you Steve, a small insecure pest that never goes away.

    It’s obvious who you are, Steve Segner. Your writing skills are embarrassing and atrocious. I feel sorry for you Steve. Seriously, have your comments proof read before posting. Or better yet, use spell check!

    It’s obvious you have a small man syndrome. Your brain and other body parts seem to follow suit.

    Do us all a big favor Steve……Go AWAY!

    Did you notice I have something you don’t? I posted my name!, Courage Steve!

  48. @kim Chott

    Well your finally using your real name. Congrats
    I’ve been seeing you pony up with J Rick for years now..

    Good for you…you know you have to let go of your hate. It starting to show on your face..

  49. Robert O says:

    Good one Kim Chott! Well not really, that’s not your real name either.

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