By Tommy Acosta: For those who truly understand political chess, the latest back down by ADOT to give the city fathers a more time to make up their minds on assuming ownership of S.R. 89A in West Sedona comes as no surprise.
ADOT just doesn’t have the gas to bring the fight to a true boil. They know they will lose legally and in the public square if they really piss off the City Council. They have rolled over on their backs, bared their throats, hoping with fingers crossed the council succumbs in fear to their last gambit.
They lost and they know it.
They have reached the end of the bluff. It’s over. All it takes now is a few councilors showing true testicular fortitude, and ADOT will give up once and for all.
Even if they gave a Sedona contractor the bucks to build the string of lights, they know if the city should choose to not pay for the electricity, they would have to do so.
ADOT said they would pay but reality says the nearly bankrupt agency can’t afford to do so.
Plus, they don’t want the bad publicity, especially now.
Just imagine the headlines: “City Fights ADOT Usurpation of Their Authority,” “Citizens Throw Themselves in Front of ADOT Bulldozers,” etc.
Not good. All this new council has to do is sit back and let ADOT sink into itself.
Liability? Like Councilor McIlroy said…it’s a fantasy.
Councilor Ward said. “It’s all a bluff.’
And if, like Councilor Hamilton said, they pull the trigger of the “shotgun” they are holding to the City’s head, the gun is shooting blanks.
If this council really wants those lights out, then it should tell ADOT to do their worst: put the bids out, then Sue the daylights out of them.
The landslide election of those against the lights should have sent a clear message to them. ADOT and those in the community who support the lights and hope to make a profit should write it off and find another way to exploit Sedona.
I believe your assumptions are correct. I believe that ADOT has been bluffing because it has NO MONEY and those of us against the lights would surely win a lawsuit once all the evidence is revealed in a court of law.
If the en masse voters who elected the current city council sent a “with us or agin us” message to the Governor and the Chamber of Commerce guess who would see the light first in this election year? organizations out there ought to stop fighting alone and get a cooperative post card and fax and petition started like KSB did with NSA. Where are our elected officials voices like Kirkpatrick and McCain? The organization that elected the new council should use its resources to take the battle to the Governor and the Chamber. Stop being a HennyPenny, Vice Mayor Hamilton.
ADOT has to justify its existence becuz it is overstaffed and its budget is out of sink with fiscal reality so cut the fat out Sedona. how many engineers does it take to make a presention before a tiny city council? all on overtime, most mediocre brained. Nuff said about ADOT.
Referring to my colleague’s comments, I couldn’t agree more. As the author of another article on the same subject, my goal was to be factual insofar as a quick recap of this most recent Sedona Saga and to do so in a fair and balanced manner. My personal opinion, however, very much parallels the suggestion of Tommy Acosta . . . that being to ultimately tell ADOT to go ahead with the lights, provided none of the further pending discussions prove to have merit. Those involved in the revision of SR 179 went through years of revolution before agreement for the final design and, in the very near future, implementation reflecting the people’s choice will loudly shout the reward of persistence when construction of our “scenic highway” comes to fruition.. My hope is that the pitfalls I pointed out in my article will eventuate as being deemed unfeasible to accommodate and the will of the majority ot the people who elected the new members to our City Council to complete the quorum necessary to “stop the lights” will realize their ultimate goal.
I agree with the Sedona Times Associate Editor. If the City wants to blow bucks on studying a turnback that’s their perogative but those bucks could be better spent preparing a legal campaign and a bad publicity blitz against ADOT should it make the mistake of trying to put those lights in.
Realistically, a turnback will not lead to a makeover of the West Sedona 89A corridor because the City does not have the money. We may be looking at rows of boarded up storefronts along 89A by 2012 should the dire predictions of economist Rick Normand come to pass.
The City can buy time and push back the inevitable confrontation with ADOT over the lights or it can simply prepare for legal and civil battle with the state agency.
That’s the choice.
Bravo to Tommy Acosta….. for a clear and understandable explanation of what has been going on with the 89A lights.
Bravo, Tommy! You have captured the essence of this issue! It took us years to overcome ADOT’s “bluster” about SR179 and have our efforts realized in the very beautiful “scenic parkway” that wends its way through Sedona (the place) and also Sedona (the city). We did it by discovering and then promoting “Context Sensitive Design. The current struggle with the runaway State agency known as ADOT is only another round in the same fight. ADOT enjoyed being the single largest importer of outside (federal) money into Arizona (private or government) and by virtue of that fact, also enjoyed a singular position with regard to its influence. Sedona upset all of that with its relentless and successful campaign against the ADOT juggernaut interstate-highway design and ADOT wants to restore its power over the legislature by bloodying Sedona’s nose in public. We must not let them do it! Everything about West SR89A is “Sedona,” except the pavement and curbs. We can afford to own the rest if we really do our homework (thank you, Cliff Hamilton) and use what we learn to get sufficient money from ADOT along with the pavement to take care of maintenance and as much in improvement as we really want and can afford over time . . . And, once the whole thing is ours, we can go for grants, using our success with SR179 and its acknowledged (award winning) “Context Sensitive Design.”
“After the bidding went three rounds of raises, I called — and lost my shirt.”
Will someone please tell me if “Tommy’s” article to which Cole Greenberg refers is the same one I read? If, by chance, the answer is “yes” then where is it mentioned that he recommended for the City of Sedona to take back the remainder of SR89A within City Limits? In fact, two comments above Cole’s remarks, the editor advocates the money being “blown” to study a turnback would be better spent preparing a legal campaign once ADOT commences to proceed with the lights. Anyone in their right mind knows the city cannot afford to assume that State route as a “city street”. Pipe dreams of grants as funding for improvements might be compared to looking for that pot at the end of one of Sedona’s fabulous rainbows. Further, Cole’s comparison to SR 179 is so off the charts one might question his thinking process? Has he forgotten that it was ADOT who paid for that fabulous route which, so far, remains under the jurisdiction of the State of Arizona. If the city is so foolish to take back the remainder of 89A, how long will the status of 179 remain with the State? Cole, go look at the mess the city made of the portion of the 89A turnback in uptown Sedona and kindly reread the words of the editor that you so blatently twisted to suit your own needs.
In now way am I advocating the city should take 89A back. What I am saying is the City just has to stand up to ADOT and kick butt in court should the state agency be that arrogant to try to shove the lights down our throat.
They do not have the power. The real power is in the mandate voters gave the elected new council to fight the lights.