Sedona, AZ – Editorial —
By Tommy Acosta…
Could this true? If it is, then the beginning of Sedona’s reign as a global-destination point is soon coming to an end.
I’ve just received unconfirmed reports that two major resorts/time share establishments in Sedona laid off more than 100 employees between them – one, laying off 70 percent of its work force.
What is even more alarming is the nonchalant attitude of leadership in the community denying that a problem even exists. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns.
The world economy is collapsing and Sedona is part of this world, though some may wish to see it otherwise. Not only is Humpty ready to fall but the wall beneath Mr. Dumpty is about to crumble as well.
And still, the city goes on spending hundreds of thousands on plans to redevelop a strip of Sedona that may become nothing more than a boulevard of broken dreams and closed businesses in the not-to-distant future.
And what will these unemployed workers do now to support their families? These are desperate times and people do desperate things when their world begins to fall apart.
We are seeing unprecedented break-ins and burglaries in Sedona. How long before they escalate to robberies at gunpoint?
And what did the Stock Market do today? Oh yes – plunge another 200 points. And this is only the beginning.
Our leadership should be on the impending disaster and what to do about it 24-7. The most pressing issue right now for Sedona is survival. Even the rich in the town are going to be affected, not only because their portfolios could shrink to next to nothing, but there will be nowhere to shop or eat. Further, they will need armed guards to protect their homes and vehicles from the hungry and desperate.
Sure, everyone is waiting for Obama to take command and that should keep the market from total collapse, at least until a month after the election when people wake up and realize what they are going to get from our next president is not much better from what they got from the last one.
Tighten those seat belts people cause the roller coaster is about to dive.
To meander a bit, I was totally moved by a photo of a Russian woman displayed on the front page of the Wednesday, Jan. 14 edition of the Red Rock News.
The look in that poor woman’s eyes is haunting. She looks right into our souls. Is she in hate? Sorrow? Disbelief? Her eyes seem to say “Why? Why are you doing this to me? Thank you America, land of the free.”
How much did it cost to arrests and process these unfortunate-American wannabees whose papers expired? I’d say close to ten grand if not a lot more. How much food would that money have provided for our community food banks, which will soon be even more overwhelmed than they are right now as the rest of our major business establishments lay off even more employees?
It’s just so sad. So sad.
Excellent article.
Unfortunately Sedona has entered the final phase of its collapse.
As some people know, the Titantic ran on another five miles under full-speed after it hit the iceberg. First class passengers having dinner demanded that the wine captain sccop up ice from the iceberg to chill their champagne. Even as the ship began to list vCaptain Smith directed ship personnel to place the deck chairs back to their original positions rather than help steerage passengers
don life vests.
As the ship began its descent into the water the
ship’s band played “Nearer my God to thee”.
Captain Smith, as is tradition, went down with his ship.
Eric Levitt fled to Janesville, Wisconsin rather than face theb sinking of Sedona into the vast ocean of insolvency.
This City Council thinks of itself as First Class passengers who will survive this sinking. So did Lord Astor.
Unfortunately, they never found his body in the cold North Atlantic. And unfortunately,
many of the citizens and business owners of Sedona will suffer the same fate as those on the Titanic who couldn’t find a seat on the too few lifeboats.
Just like the Titanic many on the City Council have said Sedona is unsinkable. They were wrong. The iceberg was of course the crushing debt that Levitt approved and that the council endorsed.
The too few lifeboats were the result of not immediately cutting
the City of Sedona budget immediately.
The band will not be playing ‘Nearer my God to Thee’ as was the case on the Titanic, but rather individual Council members are now ‘whistling through the graveyard.”
An absolutely on-the-money article. These gals in charge of the council are definitely in one heck of a denial. And Levitt did get off the ship before it sank. But it is sinking and the lassies who rule the council are keeping the little boys they rule in the dark.
Too bad there aren’t any real men who could stand up to the ruling females on the council. When we voted for the mayor we thought he could make some kind of change but he was whipped into submission, unfortunately.
Every one thinks the solution to Sedona’s fiscal demise is getting more tourists to come. What a stupid thought. They ain’t coming so forget it. Everybody is broke.
Articles like this one only make things worse for Sedona. It is important to maintain the illusion everything is OK. in Sdona. Even if every business in Sedona closes down at least the upscale restaurants will stay open. As far as crime is concerned, all we need to do is hire another 20 or 30 cops, give every tourist who drives into our town a ticket for this or that, and we can pay for adequate protection against the poor people breaking into our homes for food and money. Mr. Nash needs to get a real job and stop being such an innefectual complainer.
Thank you Mr. Masters.
Thank you Mr. Masters.
I actually do need a real job.
Keeping my contingent of guards motivated around my large estate,
feeding my dobermans and german shepards, and protecting my horde of
golds bars is not so easy. What is difficult, though, is trying to unload my
shares of ILX which I think are trading below a buck a share. Gee, I guess
I’ll have to drive my Ferrari over to my really large estate on Padaro Lane in
Santa Barbara to contemplate the demise in Sedona. Perhaps Mr. Masters
you’ll be my neighbor, if you had a spare 8 million or so. Let’s meet for
drinks and discuss our portfolios.
Or course I know you were kidding, anyone named Masters must be
a MASTER of his universe. LOL . I know you’re a kidder.
Mr. Nash, no one is amused by your childish postings and juvenile sense of humor. Individuals such as you seek to destroy things they cannot control, and Mr. Nash, you cannot control or destroy Sedona. Despite the millions you claim to possess, what you do not possess is self respect or the respect of those you so pitifully try to earn. The only way I would meet you would not be to discuss portfolios but in a client/patient relationship. You need help.
Further, it is my belief Mr. Acosta, the editor, is doing a disservice to the community by printing your postings and the postings of Eddie Maddock, another individual who seems hell bent on denigrating Sedona. The same goes for the defeatist named Rick Normand. His writings reveal deep insecurity and a macabre desire to see our nation’s economy ruined just so he can say he was right. Personally, like Joe the Plumber, I do not believe in Freedom of the Press. The local press should be focused on singing the praises of Sedona and maintaining the illusion all is fine. Such as the nation’s press on issues such as the war on terror and economy. And it is all fine. We always have lean business in January and February. By March, everything will be back to normal. You will see. One parting comment to you Mr. Nash. Grow up! And I am not kidding.
Responding to comments made by Jerry Masters, I wish to thank him for having included my name with Terry Nash and Rick Normand. I’m not acquainted with either of those gentlemen but have taken the opportunity to read their columns. Unlike Mr. Masters, I believe the public in general deserves to be informed of all potential scenarios. Hopefully, based on their intelligence, they will then be better able to cope with what lies ahead. Those who opt for the ostrich method of burying their heads in the sand obviously have that choice as well.
One might wonder if the nation would have been better prepared if they had been made aware of the shenanigans being covered up by politicians prior to the recent economic crash. We have no way of knowing that answer. However, if facts regarding the state of Sedona are brought out in the open, perhaps unnecessary grief might be averted. If we are fortunate enough to have advance warning to evacuate our homes pending a disastrous wildfire, aren’t we better off?
Just another point of view, Mr. Masters. I respect your’s. I would appreciate the same consideration.
And, thank you, Tommy Acosta, for giving all of us this opportunkity to vent our views.
Thanks Mr. Masters for your kind words.
What you said reveals so much more about you than I could have ever
imagined. I know you’re a great joker with a sublime sense of irony.
If only we had lived in another time, perhaps we could have attended
the Algonquin Rountable, it would be me, Rick Normand, Eddie Maddock,
Tommy Acosta, Mr. Jerry Masters, Dorothy Parker and of course Benchley.
Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to spar and jab and to be just so jaunty
with our spins of phrase and to occasionally cause a ruckus.
God how I long for the old days at the Al just prior to the crash of
’29. It was my granddaddy who in partner with Joe Kennedy
shorted the market and made zillions.
As for Freedom of Speech I think I want to hear more from you.
Much more. As for my freedom of speech I think you are right –
I should be gagged and thrown in the back of a Nash sedan and
driven off a bridge. As for Normand, or Dr. Doom as I so fondly
refer to him, he should be sent to Gitmo for some waterboarding
so that he will disclose his ties to terrorist organizations, the one
most obvious, the Federal Reserve.
Thanks again for your alarmingly frank assessment of my mental
condition. It is almost as if you have gone through my medical
records.
Mr. Masters (if that is, indeed, your name, which I doubt)
I realize you may be a pseudonym writing in jest. Nevertheless, having read your invective directed at me, I have some suggestions for you. First of all, if you believe yourself to be a literate person, why don’t you learn how to spell? You appear to be semi-literate to me! Secondly, please don’t denigrate Joe the Plumber by ascribing his character to yourself…you’re not as astute as he and you could never rise to his stature. Thirdly, I suggest that you ask the Chamber of Commerce and City Council if you could become their official spokesman since you sound like just the person Sedona needs to “maintain the illusion” providing, of course, you can get all the state legislatures and the U.S. Congress to repeal of the First Amendment. Finally, please don’t be too demeaned by this, by I think you’re most decidedly too much of a coward to face me down in person. If you’re not a coward (but I’m sure that you are), just give me a public place and a time where we can meet to discuss your problems…or you can agree to a public debate as against me to debate your issues. Do you have the guts, sir?
J. Rick Normand
Ho Hum. So who should I start with first. Oh yes. The fat one. Ooops. I mean the fattest one.
Mr. Nash. Please, stop groveling.You sound like you want to kneel at my feet and kiss my ring. You are embarassing. make some sense instead of sucking up. Be a man and fight back insted of inviting me to sit at an imaginary round table of losers like yourself. Sedona needs positive re-enforcement, not wimpy-assed criticism from a small-time player with a massive inferiority complex.
Sheesh…
And as far as the other fat boy is concerned, You…are …fat! Yes Mr. Normand. your writing is as corpulant as I know you must be.
You obviosely must be as out of shape as the notorious Terry Bash. Instead of writing for Sedona-Verde Valley Times you should be the official poster-fat boy for Sedona.biz or the Red Rock Snooze.
Let me tell you a bit about me, Sparky. I’m 6’9″ and weigh 250 pounds. I am rock muscle and do not have a pot belly like you. I can kick your *** with either hand.
Also, you steal everything you write from the internet and do not have a single original thought.
Go back to raising chickens.
And then there is Mr. Maddock. Oh yes, Mr. Nice guy. Stay out of this rumble little boy. Go back to complaining about this or that and being innefectual. You write like a woman. Grow up. Be a man.
I tire of this. Is there no one out there who can match my brilliance? Let me put it this way. I can out write any of you Cretans with one hand tied behind my back.
Mr. Masters,
Following up on your self-acclaimed genius, and my labeling by you as a “Defeatest” with a macabre desire to ruin our economy (talk about shooting the messenger instead of those responsible for our current situation), The University of Arizona published this survey yesterday of Arizona’s best and most prominent business leaders. It would appear that I am in the huge majority and you are in the small 11.2% minority of uninformed semi-literate rednecks who just don’t get it. Apparently, you, as a complete abject business failure, would apply the same label to all these venerable business leaders as you did to me. But, you see, these people live and function in the real world, while you obviously live in La La Land where I’m sure your investment portfolio also exists.
J. Rick Normand(see below)
Arizona’s BLCI Records Large Drop
The Arizona Business Leaders Confidence Index® (BLCI), produced by The Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona, fell 10.3 points to a reading of 32.1. That’s the largest drop, and the lowest reading, ever recorded.
Since our survey (BLCI) began over five years ago, panel members have correctly predicted the economy’s direction-of-change nearly 70% of the time.
BLCI’s Economic Outlook Down Expectations for the Arizona and national economies fell by 10.7 and 11.4 points respectively. Both were the largest drops ever recorded.
Nearly three of every four (72.5%) of our panelists expect the national economy to worsenin the first quarter, of which nearly 22% expect things to be much worse. Only 11.2% expect the national economy to do better. 16.3% expect conditions to remain the same.
A much larger proportion (68.5%) of our panelists now expects Arizona’s economy to worsen during the first quarter. Only 10.6% expect [Arizona] conditions to improve, and 20.9% expect the state’seconomy to remain the same.
Oh what a hoot you are, Jerry Masters. Did it ever occur to you that perhaps the reason “Mr. Maddock” writes like a woman is because “he” is a “she”?
I suggest, Sir, that you do a better job of knowing who your enemies are before making uneducated accusations and attacks. You are pathetic (my opinion).
(Ms.) Eddie S. Maddock
If you’re six nine and and two fifty then Germany won World War II.
Eddie Maddock could kick your ass. She’s five foot
three and 115. If you were in a ring with her she could still kick your
ass with your 300 lb Appalachian nine-times removed cousin who you
have a certain fondness for on her back.
We know that you consider your net worth to be the one hour the
Sedona Library gives you gratis for the use of their computer where
you write blogs (and very little else) and cruise teener websites.
Before you moved here you tried to get your GED using an address
under the Burnside Bridge but alias you couldn’t afford the rent.
Now you do fantasy stock trading but even that requires an internet
connection which you can’t afford.
But you beg the question. When can we get together?
I’d love to see you in person. But just as Rick Normand said
you’re probably just to cowardly for that.
Keep writing but remember the library closes in an hour and
they’ll kick you out.
Mr. Masters,
You’re not 6’9″ nor solid muscle. You’re a broken-down redneck fraud. I notice that despite your big talk, you didn’t accept my challenge to meet me and debate me publically. BTW, anyone who knows me knows that if you care to check with the professional trainers over at SedonaFit, you’ll find I’m a lifelong bodybuilder. You’re not because if you were I’d know who you are since I know just about all the bodybuilders in this town. Why don’t you ask any of them what I look like you fool?
J. Rick Normand
Hey Masters…I have a great idea.
Tomorrow, Jan 17, 2009, at 10:30 am, I will be doing some heavy lifting at SedonaFit which is next door to Picazzo’s on the east side, around the back of the building. There’s a Jazzercise sign out front…so you can’t miss the building. Why don’t you quit shooting off your mouth and meet me there. I’ll be waiting for you. This should be fun.
J. Rick Normand
Dear Editor, Mr. Nash, Mr. Normand and Mr. Maddock: You are all right. I am indeed a coward. Actually, I am four feet seven inches tall and weigh 96 pounds. Picture a wet noodle. But because I am such a good writer I like to tease other good writers into jousting through posts and blogs. The mere thought of Rick’s massive muscles makes me tremble. So please don’t beat me up.
The truth is you guys are right on the money when it comes to what is happenning in the city and economy. Too often the press covers stuff up to keep the masses sleeping. I just wanted to goad you guys into really writing stuff that would make even more people wake up. Ooops. my time at the Library is almost up. Thanks for the fun…
Mr. Masters,
Apparently, you enjoy living dangerously. But, I must tell you, I never believed you to be whom you claimed. I’ve called out bullies like you before and they always fade. Sooner or later we will meet, though. You know that don’t you?
J. Rick Normand