Mesa's Open and Closed Door Shenanigans

In a court case between Angle Tattoo and the City of Mesa, which has been going on since 2009,  the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled against the City of Mesa, saying that just because a business could give a "Negative Perception", doesn't mean that the city can stop it from doing business.

The Mesa City Council got caught in a lie, that is except Mayor Smith who voted to allow the tattoo parlor to go in. and that lie brings a shadow of transparency over the city council. There actions now have wide ranging consequences for Mesa and other communities because the court ruled that a tattoo is protected free speech.

The council lead by Dennis Kavanaugh, a lawyer, in this lie pushed to have a tattoo parlor banded from opening up in a strip mall near the Dobson Ranch community. The council used the community as their scape goat instead of expressing their true distaste of the shop owner.

Ryan Coleman, has a criminal past, which he serve his time and is now a freeman. Because a served time doesn't give government the right to hinder him or anyone else for that matter in making a living. The city in this instance instead of protecting Mr. Coleman's right to operate a business tried to take away that right. They were more concerned with the public perception than protecting rights.

The council is wrong, they lied to the voters of Mesa. In the past we have had behind closed doors issues like this before with, Bailey's Brake, parking garages for a $1.00, over budget art centers, former Mayor Keno Harker's land deal to expand his property just to name a few.

I thought this council was above this, guess I was wrong.

Anonymous Free Speech

We found this at Sonoran Alliance, it expresses our views on anonymous free speech.

by Nick Dranias
Goldwater Institute

As often happens during election season, the media has been up in arms about “secret funds” being spent by independent groups on messages meant to support or oppose candidates.

They should get a grip. The First Amendment enshrines freedom of speech, not witch-hunts led by the political establishment under the banner of “transparency.”

Our nation was founded on anonymous free speech by independent groups. Under pseudonyms, the Founders deliberately hid their identities as they engaged in coordinated advocacy of the ratification of the Constitution in 85 pamphlets. The pamphlets were crucial to rebutting the arguments of those who opposed the Constitution.

Without anonymity, the arguments advanced by the Founders could have been evaded with ad hominem attacks. Anonymity forced the opposition to grapple with ideas on their merits. This resulted in a better debate, which the Founders won on the strength of their ideas.

The marketplace of ideas is enhanced, not diminished, by the freedom to engage in anonymous speech. Broadside government attacks on anonymous speech threaten to suppress the marketplace of ideas, which ultimately threatens the media as much as any independent group.

Nick Dranias holds the Clarence J. and Katherine P. Duncan Chair for Constitutional Government and is director of the Joseph and Dorothy Donnelly Moller Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute.