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Report: #495

Complaint Review: City Of Mesa Arizona & City Manager Charles K. Luster - Mesa Arizona

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  • City Of Mesa Arizona & City Manager Charles K. Luster 20 East Main Street Mesa, Arizona U.S.A.

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____________________________________________ Visit the official Mesa Arizona Corruption website at www.MesaAZcorruptionReport.com ____________________________________________
_______________________________________________ MESA ARIZONA A CITY OF CORRUPTION & LAWLESSNESS _______________________________________________ by ED Magedson - Founder of this website I opened an Indoor Swap Meet called "Shoppers World" on the Northwest corner of Gilbert Rd. and Main St. in sunny Mesa, Arizona...AKA the city of LDS Mormon Corruption & Lawlessness. These are the terms that have long been synonymous with the city of Mesa. These are the methods it employs to achieve its unholy ends. I have learned first hand that the city of Mormon and Corruption will stop at nothing to destroy another human being for economic gain. This is accomplished through lawlessness and lies. It is accomplished through misuse of the police power and misuse of the local Mesa City court. It is accomplished, at public expense, by a power driven and depraved city manager who serves his corrupt brethren and their accomplices, as they in turn serve him. I am a victim of the venal vultures of Mesa, Arizona.
Shopper's World Indoor Swap Meet - Mesa, Arizona -
over 300 tenants put out of business through bogus city violations.
___________________________________________ HERE IS MY HORROR STORY I WISH ON NO HUMAN ___________________________________________ I leased eleven stores in a shopping center and renovated the buildings to make them all one contiguous building unit totaling about 62,000 sq. ft. I submitted plans and obtained all my permits to build Shoppers World an indoor swap-meet. (The City made me jump through hoops before I was able to open, as is the procedure for businesses who are not locally well connected.") The City of Mesa authorized personnel knew exactly what I was opening. They said they were familiar with my other stores and the TV and newspaper advertising. So why should I have a problem? .. Because after the contracts had been signed and after all was said and done, 6 months later the landlord wanted the property back! The landlord decided that they had made a bad deal for themselves. About 6 months after everything was under way at Shoppers World, and due in part to my costly renovations, the building was now worth much more; and now that some time had passed, the rental rates were now much higher, many times that which I would be paying for many years. The actual property owner being an ex-Mayor of Mesa (1972-1976) , and a Mormon, whose Mormon buddy is the long time Mesa City Manager, Charles K. Luster, used his political power to sic the City Inspector "dogs" on me, adversely affecting not only myself but the hundreds of tenants that were leasing from me as well. _____________________________________________________________ WHAT THE CITY OF MESA DID TO PUT SHOPPERS WORLD AND OVER 300 OF ITS SMALL MOM & POP BUSINESSES...OUT OF BUSINESS _____________________________________________________________ About 6 months after I opened -- after $135,000+ had been spent on TV advertising, after 320 10' x l2' booths were constructed and approx. $130,000 spent in renovations --a representative from my landlord (Main & Gilbert, LLC) came to me unannounced, and said, the owners would like their building back. Provided that I would move out in one year, they would give me another one year of free rent. (Since I took the building in an "As Is" condition, and had to invest well over $100,000 in renovations, I had been given one year free rent at the signing of my 25 year lease.) The landlord wanted the building back because I only would have been paying about 75 cents a sq. ft. right after the free rent period. Today, years later, I would be paying only about $2.75 a sq. ft. according to my lease. In today's market the landlords are now getting over $8.00 a sq. ft. ____________________________________________________________ BY FORCE, THROUGH THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, THE CITY OF MESA PUT ME AND ALL MY TENANTS (WHO PUT THEIR HEARTS AND SOULS INTO THEIR BUSINESSES) OUT OF BUSINESS, CAUSING HARD- SHIPS AND MANY BANKRUPTCIES. ____________________________________________________________ I simply explained to the landlord's representative that not only could I NOT realize my full investment back, more importantly, the tenants have mortgaged their homes and have taken loans out; and, just as I have done, they also have put their blood and sweat into this project. And, where would we move to? I HAD A 15 YR. LEASE WITH TWO 5 YR. OPTIONS .. WHY SHOULD WE ALL GIVE THIS UP? SORRY.... I made a good deal for me and I would like to keep my deal. Thanks, but no thanks. Simply, I said no! He got pissed off. He then got up and said, .."One way or another, they WILL get you out. ..You are better off taking the deal."... He then left in a huff. I did not know at the time that the actual owner of my property was ex-mayor Eldon Cooley, a devout Mormon and very well connected. One week later a City inspector, "Marci Rogers," came to Shoppers World and started causing problems, chasing tenants away from under the outside overhang of my building... telling them that they will be arrested if they stay here! These people were selling under the overhang outside, which is legal in a C-3 zone when you have fire sprinklers. Then, over the next several months, it got much worse. City Inspector Marci Rogers would keep coming down to Shoppers World, going up and down the aisles, making the following false statements to the tenants.
  • That I was setting fires to the building. (insinuating I was trying to collect the insurance)
  • That there was criminal activity going on.
  • That Shoppers World had over 40 violations.
  • That Shoppers World could be closed down at any time.
  • That Ed will be running his business from jail if the place is allowed to stay open.
  • That Ed has been dumping garbage illegally around in back of the building.
  • That Ed had many tenants suing him, that several court cases were now pending.
note: TO THIS DAY THE CITY OF MESA HAS NOT DENIED THAT CITY INSPECTOR MARCI ROGERS MADE THESE STATEMENTS. ANY ONE OF THE ABOVE STATEMENTS INDIVIDUALLY WOULD BE ENOUGH TO MAKE ANY EXISTING OR FUTURE TENANT FLEE SHOPPERS WORLD As a result of the directed actions to "city inspector" Marci Rogers, the City of Mesa could only conjure up issuing 7 bogus citations to me! All bogus. I tell all readers, everything they said was a lie! There was not one of their claims that I was guilty of. EVER! Not even the one ticket I pled guilty to (in the City of Mesa Court) just to save legal fees! This was a ticket for "No use permit for night watchman's quarters." I had put an empty trailer in the back of the building. I left a light on and a radio playing and took a dog off death row and kept it in the shade next to the trailer, all to make it look like someone lived there. This trailer, equipped as it was, stopped the illegal dumping in the rear of the building and stopped the vandalism. Again, this is a C-3 zone. RV's, boats, trailers, autos and related items can be outside in a C-3 zone. Additionally, my next door neighbor had the same thing in the back of his place for years and was never cited by the city! And someone was living there! After only being able to make up 7 false tickets, the city of Mesa kept sending down the fire department for inspections on busy Fridays and Saturdays! The fire inspectors could only find a tenant using an extension cord hooked to a cash register! ..(Just imagine what a disruption this was to our entire business) They even commented that I had 20 more fire extinguishers than I needed in the building. The fireman said after the 9th or 10th visit ...I don't know who you pissed off down-town, but we are not getting involved. I asked him, ..Does that mean you won't be back again? ..I did not get an answer. They never returned again. _____________________________________________________________ I FOREWARNED THE CITY AT 3 PUBLIC MEETINGS, AND I WENT WITH MY DOG (so people would remember me) TO THE CITY ADMINISTRATORS MORE THAN 20 TIMES! I YELLED AND SCREAMED FOR THEM TO STOP TELLING THE LIES TO MY TENANTS, ...TO STOP THE HARASSMENT. THEY WERE INSTILLING FEAR IN MY TENANTS. "I'M LOSING MY TENANTS BECAUSE OF YOUR LIES, ...THAT I WILL HOLD THE CITY LIABLE IF YOU DO NOT CEASE AND DESIST AT ONCE!" _____________________________________________________________ By law, I needed to send all of the tenants down to the city's license division to buy a business license, for them to do business in the city of Mesa. When I then sent tenants down to the city to get a business license, they would be told by the city's licensing division that they should talk with zoning enforcement before spending their money on a license. So people hopped in their cars and went over to zoning enforcement, located in the basement of the Mesa City Court building. The City staff there repeated and filled their heads with all the above LIES! Those tenants then went and told the existing tenants at Shoppers World whom they had made friends with before deciding to move into Shoppers World. Tenant meetings were held almost on a daily basis because of the fear of the City's statements. (Talk about stress and aggravation!) I would have food at most of the meetings, and I always ordered 30 to 40 extra portions of food and gave them out to the increasing number of homeless people in the surrounding area neighborhoods. I even appeared before the Mesa City Council three times, apprising them that their staff is lying about me and my business, and that if it did not cease at once I will hold the City responsible. More than 20 times I personally went down to the City offices, forewarning the City Manager and other top officials, including the city council members at their offices. Weeks after I informed and forewarned the city council and their "bosses" of these occurrences, I got City employees on audio tape still saying these things! I also have over 30 sworn affidavits attesting to the fact that City employees were still promulgating all these lies. THE CITY INSPECTOR WAS A HIGHER AUTHORITY THAN I During this time, City inspector Marci Rogers would still come to Shoppers World and start talking with the tenants, continuing her mission of telling them all those lies. When you tell a tenant that your landlord has set fires, trying to burn the building down, this would be enough to scare any existing or future tenant into leaving Shoppers World. After all, the City Inspector was a "higher authority" than I, and anything that I would say would be meaningless. The City inspectors have a badge and they can write citations. They are considered by the City Manager and his minions as one step below a city cop!
"Chuck" one of the many mom & pop business owners put
out of business through Mesa city corruption.
_______________________________ BECAUSE OF THE CITY'S RUMORS... Tenants were scared to stay, or to continue paying rent at Shoppers World. Since there was always a 40% turnover in this type of a business, I could not keep it full after the first 6 months because of the City's rumors, and I was fighting a loosing battle. Business was good for most of the tenants. My store was grossing (for me) at one point over $65,000 a month at the beginning. Today, with rent increases, I would have been doing over $130,000 a month. WHY WERE THEY DOING THIS? For ex-mayor Eldon? For the new tenant in there now? Excel, a telemarketing company, took over immediately after I left. Unmistakably, this was a done deal before Shoppers World ever closed! _____________________________________________________________ KEEPING SHOPPERS WORLD IN CITY CODE VIOLATION PLACES SHOPPERS WORLD IN VIOLATION OF ITS LEASE ... A REASON FOR EVICTION (loop-hole) _____________________________________________________________ The landlord wanted the building back. If they could keep me in violation of my lease, they could evict me, which they were trying to do. This cost me over a hundred thousand dollars in legal fees. Not to mention the stress on my tenants and me! Here I was employing hundreds of people by giving hundreds of people the opportunity to get into business for only $250 a month with no long term commitment, only a 30 day notice! Some weeks we had over 30,000 people walking through the door, because I advertised in every paper ..except toilet paper. We were on every TV station, too! Where could a tenant get that kind of foot traffic for $250 a month? The tenants were even in the TV commercials. Every week I would rotate the different tenants' businesses, putting their business and them on the TV commercials! In any city in the USA, a business employing hundreds or enabling hundreds of people to start their own small business would be welcome with big open arms. The city would likely offer incentives to a venture like mine. But NO. With no ethics or conscience whatever, Mesa needed to do a political favor; and, as I was told originally, they will get me out, one way or another. ___________________________________________________________ POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN THE COURTS, WITH NO CHANCE IN HELL OF GETTING JUSTICE ___________________________________________________________ I SUED THE CITY OF MESA FOR DAMAGES BASED ON MY 15 YEAR LEASE WITH 2 FIVE YEAR OPTIONS, AND SUED FOR ABOUT 25% OF WHAT I WOULD HAVE MADE OVER A 25 YEAR PERIOD. ___________________________________________________________ I have been through ALMOST all of the courts here and have lost every inch of the way! Thus far, the courts have said that it was reasonable, for a reasonable person (the city inspector, Marci Rogers) to say that:
  • Ed was setting fires to the building, trying to collect the insurance.
  • There was criminal activity going on.
  • Shoppers World had over 40 violations.
  • Shoppers World could be closed down at any time.
  • Ed will be running his business from jail if the place is allowed to stay open.
  • Ed had many tenants suing him, that several court cases were now pending.
  • Ed is dumping garbage illegally around the building.
..... AGAIN, all the above statements the City has not denied! ____________________ THE COURTS SAID..... The City said, and the courts agree, that because they have one statement from one (disgruntled) tenant which backs up their claims, that, "it is reasonable for a reasonable person to come to the conclusion that City inspector Marci Rogers did by saying what she did." .. THIS DID NO HARM TO SHOPPERS WORLD OR ITS OWNER _____________________________________________________________ SHOPPERS WORLD HAS FILED A PETITION FOR REVIEW WITH THE ARIZONA SUPREME COURT ON MAY 21, 1999 CASE #1 CA-CV 98-O271 ..we're still trying to get our day in court! _____________________________________________________________ The City inspector knew that the 1 (one) tenant, who gave the 1 (one) statement, "Mary Laing," was a disgruntled tenant who did not pay rent for 3 months and who owed money for co-op advertising she signed up for. "Mary Laing" was then legally locked out of her business space for non payment of rent! In all my 6 years in this type of business, I have gone through over 900 tenants, only locking out 3 tenants in total! The tenants all knew how easy I was on letting people slide on the rent. I always worked with the people! _______________________________ MY PERSONAL BELIEFS _______________________________ I have always had a "live and let live" philosophy in dealing with people: tolerant and accepting of people whose culture, background or upbringing was different from my own. We are a melting pot in this country, and I always had a strong distaste for bigoted or derogatory remarks about other people based only on race, national origin, religion or even sexual orientation. Adherence to the Golden Rule and treating others fairly and squarely is a code of conduct that I practice in all business and personal endeavors. It's also common sense, because I believe narrow minded people often cutthemselves off from their own potential for success. Before I began Shoppers World in Mesa and was new to the area, an acquaintance made a derogatory remark about Mormons to me, and I chewed his a*s out for being such a bigot. ..I didn't know then what I know how. ..I threw him out of the Shoppers World store! If I could find this man, I would apologize. I would fly him to New York and kiss his a*s in Macy's window in an effort to show him how sorry I am and how wrong I was! ____________________________________________________________ I AM NOT ALONE! ..READ HOW OTHERS HAVE SUFFERED THE WRATH OF CITY MANAGER CHARLES K. LUSTER. ____________________________________________________________ Since I was forced to close Shoppers World, I have learned that I am not alone. In this city of Mormon and city of Corruption called Mesa Arizona, others have also been victimized. Many others have been subjected to the deception and fraud and a criminal mindset that is perpetrated by networking Mormons and a power hungry city manager who is void of conscience. Underneath the goody-goody veneer exists hate and exploitation, hypocrisy and secrecy, and an air of omnipotence that is unable to withstand scrutiny by those who cannot be bought off. I learned of the corruption within the Mesa police department, the "Elliget case," which was finally brought to light in the early 90's and which had been covered up for years by Mesa's city manager, Charles K. Luster. When I was doing all I could to ward off the harassment from Mesa City hall (so set on putting me out of business in order to fatten the bank account of an unscrupulous Mormon "brother") I naively went to Mesa City councilman Jim Stapley who was always available to listen to my woes. I didn't know what he was all about. __________________________________________________ CORRUPT MORMON COUNCILMAN FORCED TO RESIGN In 1997 he was forced to resign from the city council only because the outside media was uncovering a pattern of his own criminal wrongdoing. He interfered in a criminal case against one of his cronies by an intimidating call to the city prosecutor handling the case. To a landlady who was evicting his son, he used a false name and claimed to her face that he was his son's lawyer. He then attempted to retaliate against the landlady by misusing City employees of the tax and licensing division to further his own ends. He again interfered in the criminal justice system with an intimidating phone call to the Mormon judge who was handling the eviction case of his son. To top it off, a fellow city councilwoman charged him with improper advances and sexual harassment of herself and other women. (It should be noted that Stapley was avidly supported by his Mormon peers because he had a "temple recommend.") Then an incident from early 1995 came to light, one which had been covered up for 2 1/2 years by the Mesa city manager, and Stapley finally resigned. He had impersonated a real narcotics detective at the Pinal County courthouse, even flashing a phony badge, in a quest to see a search warrant that had been served on another son. Yes, Councilman Jim Stapley was the one I was telling my problems to about the unlawful harassment by the City of Mesa at Shoppers World. __________________________________________________ ANOTHER MORMON COUNCILMAN FORCED TO RESIGN In 1996 another Mormon Mesa councilman, Farrel Jensen, was forced to resign his long-held position as director of a taxpayer funded Mesa food bank after many improprieties were discovered including a missing $1.7 million. When it was later learned that he had also double billed the food bank and the city for hotels and meals from a few seminars he'd attended out of state, he too was forced to resign from the Mesa city council. This guy Jensen was on the Mesa City council when I aired my grievances publicly to the city council about the misuse of the police power directed towards me and my tenants at Shoppers World, and Jensen was also chairman of the city council police committee, something I later learned. Is it any wonder that I could get no help or satisfaction from these elected councilmen, Stapley and Jensen, over the lies and abuse my tenants and I were encountering at Shoppers World and about the focused drive by the Mormon city manager to put me and my tenants out of business? Like a den of thieves, they were "all for one and one for all." _________________________ SEX CRIMES COVERED UP Since then I've also been told from insiders at the Mesa police department that crimes committed by Mormons, particularly incest and child molesting, are kept under wraps and covered up. With their polygamous history, that shouldn't be surprising. _______________________________________________ ZONING ENFORCEMENT FOR NON MORMONS ONLY Mesa's sign and landscaping laws are strictly enforced for non-Mormon businesses, but are largely ignored for Mormon businesses. Just take a look around and ask the right questions, as I have done. Preferential treatment to Mormons is a rule of thumb for those administering the codes. ______________________________________ BIG OLD SIGNS OK FOR GOOD OLE BOYS According to City Laws, ..Those Big, Old and very high signs must come down and new landscaping requirements come into play when you rebuild or rehabilitate more than 50% of a building or new construction goes up on any property. ..BUT NO!...Not for the Mormons and their buddie's projects. There are too many to mention. Where are the laws in this country? Equal opportunity and treatment for everyone is supposed to mean equal application of the laws for everyone. ________________________________________________________ MESA CITY COUNCIL SELLS MAYOR WAYNE BROWN'S BROTHER $2 MILLION CITY PROPERTY FOR $1.00 AFTER TELLING THE PUBLIC IT WOULD BE PAID FOR AT FAIR MARKET VALUE! ________________________________________________________ The coup of coups was the 2 acres of prime downtown property that was cleared and purchased by the City of Mesa, reportedly worth over $2 million, then given to the present mayor's brother, Henry Brown, for $1.00 for his Brown & Brown Chevrolet dealership. Brown threatened that he was going to move from downtown if he didn't get more space downtown for his cars, even though the City was renting him prime space downtown for pennies. Meanwhile, the public never knew Brown had already sold the dealership for millions, waiting to close on this property give-away first to finalize the sale price. Long before he threatened to move, he knew he was selling! Brown & Brown advertises as the LARGEST Chevrolet dealership in the WORLD! Why would the largest dealership in the world ever move? Yes, the Browns are also Mormon, whose father was also a Mesa mayor for many years as well. _______________________________________________________ FAMILIES DISPLACED BY BROWN & BROWN CHEVROLET NEVER GET THE FUNDS PROMISED TO HELP WITH MOVING COSTS. _______________________________________________________ The Mesa city council set aside thousands of dollars to help the unfortunate displaced tenants from this crooked property takeover and give-away. People have begged for the funds. Fortunately or unfortunately they are not Mormon. More than a year later, not one penny has been given to these property owners. These are victims like the people in Kosvo chased from their land and homes ..The only difference is they are not being physically raped & shot. .. that we know of! These many illegal property takeovers mentioned in this story and in other stories can be found on the web site www.ripoffreport.com _______________________ BORN & BRED MORMON From an early age those born and bred into Mormonism are trained to think alike, to stick together, and later to vote as a block for a fellow Mormon. I have learned over the recent years that the Mormons will lie for one another. They teach and brainwash that if you are doing business with a non-Mormon, and a Mormon owned business comes along, you simply do business with the Momon's. Although they are a minority in number, this clannish socialization is evident even in the schools, sometimes mean spirited and arrogant towards fellow students. Those who are bullies go unpunished. I hope they have learned the lessons of recent school violence across the country. Mesa is an incident waiting to happen. Mesa, Arizona is a corrupt city out of control ... benefiting a few at the expense of the many. My commitment is to the Mesa population at risk. I am committed to reversing the Mormon corruption here by airing their dirty laundry nationwide, before I die. __________________________ FUTURE ARTICLES TO COME ...How the City Manager illegally intervenes with police investigations and the City and county courts and prosecutor's office. ...Incest crimes go unreported in the media. Sex crimes division ordered to keep quiet. ...Former Police Chief Jarvie resigns in disgust?. ..and he's a Mormon ...More Mesa city council corruption ___________________________________________________ CLICK BELOW FOR MORE MESA CORRUPTION STORIES Mesa Arizona, City above the Law! ___________________________________ by Bill Brando Mesa Arizona, The grim reputation it so richly deserves ___________________________________ by Marilynn Wennerstrom ======================================= These many illegal property takeovers mentioned in this story and in other stories can be found on the web site www.ripoffreport.com This is a web site dedicated to reporting everything from bad business practices, restaurants with bad service or food, to corrupt police and other government agencies. Anyone can enter their own Rip-Off Report or you may read the Rip- Off Reports before doing business with a person, place or business. The web site is also known as www.badbusinessbureau.com File your Report below or browse the reports. Click Below _______________________________________ Don't let them get away with it. Make sure they make the Rip-Off Report! www.ripoffreport.com ____________________ ========================================== e-mail us regarding this story your personal experiences, questions & comments are welcome info@ripoffreport.com ______________________
Read these Mesa Corruption stories too:
MESA ARIZONA ..... A CITY ABOVE THE LAW
by Bill Brando
MESA, ARIZONA... the Grim Reputation it so richly deserves.
by Marilynn Wennerstrom
____________________________________________ Visit the official Mesa Arizona Corruption website at www.MesaAZcorruptionReport.com ____________________________________________
Click here to read other Rip-off Reports on Mesa Arizona

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 06/02/1999 12:00 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/city-of-mesa-arizona-city-manager-charles-k-luster/mesa-arizona-85201/how-the-city-of-mesa-arizona-put-me-and-over-300-tenants-out-of-business-495. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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#8 Consumer Suggestion

Mesa is corrupt and dishonest by charter and citizen apathy

AUTHOR: Carl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, November 11, 2004

As I prepare to leave Mesa over an episode

similar to but smaller than yours, I have

decided to share some information anyone

can discover.



First, Mesa's City Charter is inherently

wrong, and institutionalizes corruption. If

one reads it literally, and fathoms how

the real city grew, the elected and truly

public officials of this community effectively

work for the "civil service" types, and

the "civil service" itself, at the upper

levels, especially, is much more

permanent and entrenched and generally

protected than in cities with a more

straightforward governmental structure.

Effectively, the mayor and the city council

work FOR the city manager and the police

department...which in this town makes

for some of the sickest and most demented

arrangements I have ever encountered.

Makes Philadelphia look squeaky clean. This

is why people like Luster and his hand-selected

successor, Hutchinson, can assert power

in places where most "city managers" dare

not even look.



The rot on Main and Broadway here, which

it is "politically incorrect" to openly

discuss, has been largely causes by

the many graft-dispensing projects

to "revive" the downtown area

promulgated by the sad collection of

morons this town calls its "leadership"...

I used to LOVE downtown Mesa and its quaint

shops and the traditional office supply

stores, boot shops, and so on. They're

pretty much gone now, died from their

traffic being cut off for months at a

time for what amounts to "white list"

makework projects, or moved on to other

areas. Meantime, the drug dealers

pretty much own the place. The various

"revivals", up to and including the

"Fart Center", killed the area for me.



Whether the "white list" of contractors

included many of the MGOBN (Mormon Good

Old Boy Network), I do not know. I do

know that eminent domain has been used

unlawfully here for decades, and only

once in a rare while is that unconstitutional

behavior rammed down the veritable throats

of the corrupt city apparatus. And you can

be SURE, as with everything else touched

by this town's administrative minions, there

was much prosperity enjoyed by the favored

families because of this great choking.



Thing is, this city's problems seem totally

baffling to the local voters and political

parties. The voters don't show up in numbers

sufficient to change anything, and the

political parties don't realize that a

change to a more ordinary city charter

could benefit them both. As it is,

the entrenched "chosen ones" control

patronage of all sorts, in their closed

club manner, and there is never any real

turnover.



Excell Agent Services, the business whose

favor was being curried when you were

essentially evicted, was another oligarchic

and demented business, whose list of employees

included many of the local "preferred"

family's members, and which has now

passed on for another slightly shady firm

called "Aftermarket". I, too, recall

the sewing shop, small markets, and sporting

goods store which inhabited those premises

even earlier. When the local depression--the

one sages call the "Keating Collapse"--hit

about 1988-91, a lot of landlords in Mesa

were frantic to find tenants, including

"dummy" companies set up to launder money

for drug dealers. These little local,

independent businesses failed or moved on,

and there were many empty business fronts.

The relaxed "codes" in Mesa, such as they

were (and still are), allowed a lot of

shady things to happen. What frightened

me, at the time, was that so many

fly-by-night "businesses" popped up,

obviously illegitimate, then disappeared,

and the city seemed to just shrug and look

for more.



The under-the-table shennanigans of this

town are legendary. Particularly frightening

to me is the local, totally illegal

non-application of the codes in general,

and IN PARTICULAR of any and all laws

having to do with landlord/tenant relationships.

Most local attorneys, for example, will

not even consider taking a tenant's case,

even if there is substantial money available,

and tons of evidence on the occupant's

behalf. Reason: because tenants cannot win.

Again, the reason: the local courts are

viciously stacked against tenants in general,

especially at the justice of the peace level,

to the point where I have seen cases

where the landlord "defendant" did not even

show up, filed no response, and still the

"ruling" was AGAINST the tenant. By law,

this is a default; not in Mesa! That law

DOESN'T APPLY here.



There is an area of the "elite" here to

which one becomes privy ONLY by birth,

and even wealth cannot buy access. But

those who lack vast income are TRULY screwed,

for they cannot even express themselves here

without encountering great danger, even in

the physical sense.



The root of all of this is two-fold:

the city charter, and the citizen's

apathy. Both must change.

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#7 Consumer Suggestion

Mesa is corrupt and dishonest by charter and citizen apathy

AUTHOR: Carl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, November 11, 2004

As I prepare to leave Mesa over an episode

similar to but smaller than yours, I have

decided to share some information anyone

can discover.



First, Mesa's City Charter is inherently

wrong, and institutionalizes corruption. If

one reads it literally, and fathoms how

the real city grew, the elected and truly

public officials of this community effectively

work for the "civil service" types, and

the "civil service" itself, at the upper

levels, especially, is much more

permanent and entrenched and generally

protected than in cities with a more

straightforward governmental structure.

Effectively, the mayor and the city council

work FOR the city manager and the police

department...which in this town makes

for some of the sickest and most demented

arrangements I have ever encountered.

Makes Philadelphia look squeaky clean. This

is why people like Luster and his hand-selected

successor, Hutchinson, can assert power

in places where most "city managers" dare

not even look.



The rot on Main and Broadway here, which

it is "politically incorrect" to openly

discuss, has been largely causes by

the many graft-dispensing projects

to "revive" the downtown area

promulgated by the sad collection of

morons this town calls its "leadership"...

I used to LOVE downtown Mesa and its quaint

shops and the traditional office supply

stores, boot shops, and so on. They're

pretty much gone now, died from their

traffic being cut off for months at a

time for what amounts to "white list"

makework projects, or moved on to other

areas. Meantime, the drug dealers

pretty much own the place. The various

"revivals", up to and including the

"Fart Center", killed the area for me.



Whether the "white list" of contractors

included many of the MGOBN (Mormon Good

Old Boy Network), I do not know. I do

know that eminent domain has been used

unlawfully here for decades, and only

once in a rare while is that unconstitutional

behavior rammed down the veritable throats

of the corrupt city apparatus. And you can

be SURE, as with everything else touched

by this town's administrative minions, there

was much prosperity enjoyed by the favored

families because of this great choking.



Thing is, this city's problems seem totally

baffling to the local voters and political

parties. The voters don't show up in numbers

sufficient to change anything, and the

political parties don't realize that a

change to a more ordinary city charter

could benefit them both. As it is,

the entrenched "chosen ones" control

patronage of all sorts, in their closed

club manner, and there is never any real

turnover.



Excell Agent Services, the business whose

favor was being curried when you were

essentially evicted, was another oligarchic

and demented business, whose list of employees

included many of the local "preferred"

family's members, and which has now

passed on for another slightly shady firm

called "Aftermarket". I, too, recall

the sewing shop, small markets, and sporting

goods store which inhabited those premises

even earlier. When the local depression--the

one sages call the "Keating Collapse"--hit

about 1988-91, a lot of landlords in Mesa

were frantic to find tenants, including

"dummy" companies set up to launder money

for drug dealers. These little local,

independent businesses failed or moved on,

and there were many empty business fronts.

The relaxed "codes" in Mesa, such as they

were (and still are), allowed a lot of

shady things to happen. What frightened

me, at the time, was that so many

fly-by-night "businesses" popped up,

obviously illegitimate, then disappeared,

and the city seemed to just shrug and look

for more.



The under-the-table shennanigans of this

town are legendary. Particularly frightening

to me is the local, totally illegal

non-application of the codes in general,

and IN PARTICULAR of any and all laws

having to do with landlord/tenant relationships.

Most local attorneys, for example, will

not even consider taking a tenant's case,

even if there is substantial money available,

and tons of evidence on the occupant's

behalf. Reason: because tenants cannot win.

Again, the reason: the local courts are

viciously stacked against tenants in general,

especially at the justice of the peace level,

to the point where I have seen cases

where the landlord "defendant" did not even

show up, filed no response, and still the

"ruling" was AGAINST the tenant. By law,

this is a default; not in Mesa! That law

DOESN'T APPLY here.



There is an area of the "elite" here to

which one becomes privy ONLY by birth,

and even wealth cannot buy access. But

those who lack vast income are TRULY screwed,

for they cannot even express themselves here

without encountering great danger, even in

the physical sense.



The root of all of this is two-fold:

the city charter, and the citizen's

apathy. Both must change.

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#6 Consumer Suggestion

Mesa is corrupt and dishonest by charter and citizen apathy

AUTHOR: Carl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, November 11, 2004

As I prepare to leave Mesa over an episode

similar to but smaller than yours, I have

decided to share some information anyone

can discover.



First, Mesa's City Charter is inherently

wrong, and institutionalizes corruption. If

one reads it literally, and fathoms how

the real city grew, the elected and truly

public officials of this community effectively

work for the "civil service" types, and

the "civil service" itself, at the upper

levels, especially, is much more

permanent and entrenched and generally

protected than in cities with a more

straightforward governmental structure.

Effectively, the mayor and the city council

work FOR the city manager and the police

department...which in this town makes

for some of the sickest and most demented

arrangements I have ever encountered.

Makes Philadelphia look squeaky clean. This

is why people like Luster and his hand-selected

successor, Hutchinson, can assert power

in places where most "city managers" dare

not even look.



The rot on Main and Broadway here, which

it is "politically incorrect" to openly

discuss, has been largely causes by

the many graft-dispensing projects

to "revive" the downtown area

promulgated by the sad collection of

morons this town calls its "leadership"...

I used to LOVE downtown Mesa and its quaint

shops and the traditional office supply

stores, boot shops, and so on. They're

pretty much gone now, died from their

traffic being cut off for months at a

time for what amounts to "white list"

makework projects, or moved on to other

areas. Meantime, the drug dealers

pretty much own the place. The various

"revivals", up to and including the

"Fart Center", killed the area for me.



Whether the "white list" of contractors

included many of the MGOBN (Mormon Good

Old Boy Network), I do not know. I do

know that eminent domain has been used

unlawfully here for decades, and only

once in a rare while is that unconstitutional

behavior rammed down the veritable throats

of the corrupt city apparatus. And you can

be SURE, as with everything else touched

by this town's administrative minions, there

was much prosperity enjoyed by the favored

families because of this great choking.



Thing is, this city's problems seem totally

baffling to the local voters and political

parties. The voters don't show up in numbers

sufficient to change anything, and the

political parties don't realize that a

change to a more ordinary city charter

could benefit them both. As it is,

the entrenched "chosen ones" control

patronage of all sorts, in their closed

club manner, and there is never any real

turnover.



Excell Agent Services, the business whose

favor was being curried when you were

essentially evicted, was another oligarchic

and demented business, whose list of employees

included many of the local "preferred"

family's members, and which has now

passed on for another slightly shady firm

called "Aftermarket". I, too, recall

the sewing shop, small markets, and sporting

goods store which inhabited those premises

even earlier. When the local depression--the

one sages call the "Keating Collapse"--hit

about 1988-91, a lot of landlords in Mesa

were frantic to find tenants, including

"dummy" companies set up to launder money

for drug dealers. These little local,

independent businesses failed or moved on,

and there were many empty business fronts.

The relaxed "codes" in Mesa, such as they

were (and still are), allowed a lot of

shady things to happen. What frightened

me, at the time, was that so many

fly-by-night "businesses" popped up,

obviously illegitimate, then disappeared,

and the city seemed to just shrug and look

for more.



The under-the-table shennanigans of this

town are legendary. Particularly frightening

to me is the local, totally illegal

non-application of the codes in general,

and IN PARTICULAR of any and all laws

having to do with landlord/tenant relationships.

Most local attorneys, for example, will

not even consider taking a tenant's case,

even if there is substantial money available,

and tons of evidence on the occupant's

behalf. Reason: because tenants cannot win.

Again, the reason: the local courts are

viciously stacked against tenants in general,

especially at the justice of the peace level,

to the point where I have seen cases

where the landlord "defendant" did not even

show up, filed no response, and still the

"ruling" was AGAINST the tenant. By law,

this is a default; not in Mesa! That law

DOESN'T APPLY here.



There is an area of the "elite" here to

which one becomes privy ONLY by birth,

and even wealth cannot buy access. But

those who lack vast income are TRULY screwed,

for they cannot even express themselves here

without encountering great danger, even in

the physical sense.



The root of all of this is two-fold:

the city charter, and the citizen's

apathy. Both must change.

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#5 Consumer Suggestion

Mesa is corrupt and dishonest by charter and citizen apathy

AUTHOR: Carl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, November 11, 2004

As I prepare to leave Mesa over an episode

similar to but smaller than yours, I have

decided to share some information anyone

can discover.



First, Mesa's City Charter is inherently

wrong, and institutionalizes corruption. If

one reads it literally, and fathoms how

the real city grew, the elected and truly

public officials of this community effectively

work for the "civil service" types, and

the "civil service" itself, at the upper

levels, especially, is much more

permanent and entrenched and generally

protected than in cities with a more

straightforward governmental structure.

Effectively, the mayor and the city council

work FOR the city manager and the police

department...which in this town makes

for some of the sickest and most demented

arrangements I have ever encountered.

Makes Philadelphia look squeaky clean. This

is why people like Luster and his hand-selected

successor, Hutchinson, can assert power

in places where most "city managers" dare

not even look.



The rot on Main and Broadway here, which

it is "politically incorrect" to openly

discuss, has been largely causes by

the many graft-dispensing projects

to "revive" the downtown area

promulgated by the sad collection of

morons this town calls its "leadership"...

I used to LOVE downtown Mesa and its quaint

shops and the traditional office supply

stores, boot shops, and so on. They're

pretty much gone now, died from their

traffic being cut off for months at a

time for what amounts to "white list"

makework projects, or moved on to other

areas. Meantime, the drug dealers

pretty much own the place. The various

"revivals", up to and including the

"Fart Center", killed the area for me.



Whether the "white list" of contractors

included many of the MGOBN (Mormon Good

Old Boy Network), I do not know. I do

know that eminent domain has been used

unlawfully here for decades, and only

once in a rare while is that unconstitutional

behavior rammed down the veritable throats

of the corrupt city apparatus. And you can

be SURE, as with everything else touched

by this town's administrative minions, there

was much prosperity enjoyed by the favored

families because of this great choking.



Thing is, this city's problems seem totally

baffling to the local voters and political

parties. The voters don't show up in numbers

sufficient to change anything, and the

political parties don't realize that a

change to a more ordinary city charter

could benefit them both. As it is,

the entrenched "chosen ones" control

patronage of all sorts, in their closed

club manner, and there is never any real

turnover.



Excell Agent Services, the business whose

favor was being curried when you were

essentially evicted, was another oligarchic

and demented business, whose list of employees

included many of the local "preferred"

family's members, and which has now

passed on for another slightly shady firm

called "Aftermarket". I, too, recall

the sewing shop, small markets, and sporting

goods store which inhabited those premises

even earlier. When the local depression--the

one sages call the "Keating Collapse"--hit

about 1988-91, a lot of landlords in Mesa

were frantic to find tenants, including

"dummy" companies set up to launder money

for drug dealers. These little local,

independent businesses failed or moved on,

and there were many empty business fronts.

The relaxed "codes" in Mesa, such as they

were (and still are), allowed a lot of

shady things to happen. What frightened

me, at the time, was that so many

fly-by-night "businesses" popped up,

obviously illegitimate, then disappeared,

and the city seemed to just shrug and look

for more.



The under-the-table shennanigans of this

town are legendary. Particularly frightening

to me is the local, totally illegal

non-application of the codes in general,

and IN PARTICULAR of any and all laws

having to do with landlord/tenant relationships.

Most local attorneys, for example, will

not even consider taking a tenant's case,

even if there is substantial money available,

and tons of evidence on the occupant's

behalf. Reason: because tenants cannot win.

Again, the reason: the local courts are

viciously stacked against tenants in general,

especially at the justice of the peace level,

to the point where I have seen cases

where the landlord "defendant" did not even

show up, filed no response, and still the

"ruling" was AGAINST the tenant. By law,

this is a default; not in Mesa! That law

DOESN'T APPLY here.



There is an area of the "elite" here to

which one becomes privy ONLY by birth,

and even wealth cannot buy access. But

those who lack vast income are TRULY screwed,

for they cannot even express themselves here

without encountering great danger, even in

the physical sense.



The root of all of this is two-fold:

the city charter, and the citizen's

apathy. Both must change.

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#4 Consumer Suggestion

For Excell you were evicted???

AUTHOR: Brenda - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, October 29, 2004

I worked for Excell Agent Services,

myself.



Kind of like the folks who run the

esteemed City of Mesa: demented,

insane scumbags, with a dollar agenda

and full of religious prejudice.



One had to "apply" to use the rest room.



It was a "drug-free environment"...

I have been drug-free all my life, I

was tested 11 times. The man who sat

behind me was a methamphetamine user

who smoked and injected on the premises,

from a local family well-connected with

THE TEMPLE. He was never tested until

he died from an overdose, and I guess

nobody tested him then, either.



I was "fired" by my supervisors, after

a review in which I gave six correct

transfers to communities those stupid

weasels never even heard of, in Ohio

and New York. It was a pumphouse

of ignorance, but like everything else

in this town, apparently the correct

palms were greased. I did get the

satisfaction, before I left, of

making sure my "supervisors" knew

I was aware of their lies, and later

going to an unemployment hearing and

exposing their ignorance or predestination.

And I got ever DIME of a 26-week claim.





But it is this kind of business Mesa

wants: totalitarian, willing to pay off

the correct collection of stooges, and

completely without ethics. In other

words, people just like the local

"government" of good old boys and

rats.



Ever see their "Art Center"? I have

another name for it, which involves

flatulence...



Interestingly, ever since my brief

confrontation, I have had weird

experiences with the city's flunkies

in various departments, and the

s---heads they call the local police.



Suppose that is an accident?



I told my kids, in no uncertain terms:

"Watch these people, and learn from

them. They are filth, and everything

they do is WRONG."



That's Mesa.

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#3 Consumer Suggestion

"Aftermarket" moves in... in this most dishonest and criminal city in America.

AUTHOR: Jim - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, February 08, 2003

Excell Agent Services, the long-distance information supplier who occupied the building where your former business was located, has moved out and apparently disappeared. Like many businesses in Mesa, they had no intention of "enriching the community" or even staying around very long. They were here to exploit a low-priced labor market, rip off as many workers as they could, and move on, into obscurity.



The building is currently inhabited by a business named "Aftermarket", whose exact nature no one in the neighborhood has yet examined much. However, since they are there with the good graces and offices of the city of Mesa, it may safely be presumed they are involved in something UNETHICAL or DISHONEST, otherwise, why would this city manager even tolerate them? That may sound cynical, but in a city where even eminent domain rights are used to benefit the cesspool clique by seizing private property and then reselling it to a new PRIVATE owner, one always HAS to presume the worst.



For those who haven't been in this area lately, it has deteriorated still further, due to the insane policies of the esteemed municipality. The decent, moderately-priced housing nearby has become a breeding ground for crime, especially drug manufacture and sales. Illegal aliens are about the only pedestrians ever even seen. City government seems to be encouraging this decay, for reasons of their own.



This is a city with no rental residence codes. If 200 people live in a one-bedroom apartment, that is just fine with the city of mesa and its cement-headed administration. And that is more-or-less what is happening. Cheap labor is part of what this is all about. The rest appears to be part of some kickback scheme, in this most dishonest and criminal city in America.

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#2 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Your story is common. This is a community whose leadership is destroying the fiber of deep-rooted growth.

AUTHOR: former Mesa officer - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, October 01, 2002

This town is killing itself.



By sucking the life out of small businesses, legitimate ones, they are scaring away bigger,

more innovantive ones. And they are assuring

that the primary businesses in this town--crack cocaine and methamphetamine--continue to prosper,

simply because they refuse to admit these criminal ventures even exist here.



My view is that they THINK they perform some kind of insider function for the LDS members in town, but long term, they can't even do that.



I left. I try not even to go to this town any

more.



Watching the constant decay is frightening and

depressing.

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#1 Consumer Suggestion

Excell Agent Services/City of Mesa, etc....a witch's brew of rot...

AUTHOR: Jim - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, September 17, 2002

I have lived in Mesa, quite close to where this all took place, for some 16+ years, and saw this episode go down.



In fact, I was questioned by the police going in and out at least once, which I thought strange.

They asked one night when I was next door getting pizza if I had seen shipments "late at night" entering the building. It may have been my rather sharp response to that particular Mesa P.D. moron scumbag which started their whole vendetta against me, which is still ongoing. But let's face it: they do RAILROADS for a living, doing actual law enforcement might involve some risk.



I later worked there for the long distance agency housed at that address, which was a Byzantine, corrupt house of the weirdest sort, peopled by some of the STUPIDEST supervisors I have ever even seen. Excell Agent Services was the name, I think. I figured, from the onset, I might last six months; I think I made eight or nine.



The company was very like the City of Mesa... everything under-the-table, supervisory

bonuses for managers which made it advantageous to chop the best people at key times, conflicting time and performance criteria no one was ever intended to comply with, set up merely so anyone could be fired at any time, on the basis of made-up crap and bogus lies.



I, in fact, was "written up" for transferring a caller to Manhattan, who wanted Yankee Stadium, to the Bronx area code; the critiquing supervisor said "Everyone knows the Yankees play in Manhattan!" This was not the same genius who told me Mayo Clinic is in Rochester New York, not Minnesota... I was written up for that, too.



The property stands empty now. Excell never had any intention of staying around for the long term. They were just a money pump.



The corrupt criminals who run Mesa are the reason the city can experience vast population growth, but never attract any major business or manufacturing.



Who, in his right mind, would put a high technology think tank HERE???? It is, truly, the city of wide streets and narrow minds, and will never be anything else until these parasites are gone.



I have lived in Los Angeles and Chicago, and I know what corruption looks like. Here, it is right out in the open. Only the money exchanges take place "under-the-table". "NBM" tickets are everywhere (that's a violation: "Not Being Mormon", and it is WHY right-wing political correctness drives this town).



Illegal drugs are easier to get here than fresh air. The police force is useless, mainly the "Thought Police" enforcement arm of corruption, carefully maneuvering to avoid anything that even looks like real crime.



Only state or federal action is going to change anything. The LDS population of Mesa is down to 10-16%, depending upon whose statistics

one accepts. But they cling tenaciously to key power positions, and move money, especially in real estate, and especially via the corrupt use of the inspectors, police department, and eminent domain, so they profit from EVERYTHING.



Bogus sign ordinance enforcement, condemnation of properties in fine condition, tolerance and even encouragement of rentals which are, in fact, dangerous and crime-filled, active participation in the movement and exploitation of illegal Mexican labor, and selective, punitive attacks by the police on honest citizens--these are crimes of which this city's establishment is EVERY DAY guilty, and which could be proven prima facie IF such cases could ever get to court.



Hopefully, the discrimination suits brought by former and current city employees, the Brown and Markley cases, among many others, will bleed enough money out of the system that even sane Mormons will look around and realize how much this

crooked administration costs them, and what a LAUGHING STOCK this silly-assed town has become.



But don't bet on it.



Best bet: find a way to expose them nationally, big time, and let the sunlight scatter the cockroaches.

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