Now is the time to take a stand with Transparent Payson.
Who we are:We are citizens of Payson, Arizona, striving to make our local government more transparent. We believe in the people voting on what happens with their money, their land, and their town. We believe that elected officials are there to serve the public; as such, we should have a voice in making decisions that affect us all. We are nonpartisan/bipartisan with no party affiliation, no hidden agenda. We believe in Payson, Arizona, and its future. We support growth that will better serve all its citizens while remaining financially sound. As a 527 nonprofit PAC, we were responsible for successfully enacting Propositions 401 and 402 in 2018. A short history of our group can be found here.
Fundamentally, we are responsible for Propositions 401 and 402 and their defense. We have been compelled to become a voters' rights group in that defense. The implications for Payson appear limited to the validity of Propositions 401 and 402 and their enactment. At the state level, we suspect the implications of our effort have a much more significant impact. That is, do citizens, as allowed by law, have the ability to initiate law? Is that law then valid? Can it be repealed by Town Council or any legislative group?
There was recently an attempt by the Town of Payson to repeal these ballot initiatives. With the help of an attorney, we are fighting that effort in Superior Court; we still have much work to do to defend your voting rights.
We are defending the rights of Payson citizens on large-scale, publicly funded projects that may be placed on public lands via long-term leases to third parties. Our goal is NOT to prevent such projects but to ensure transparency in all negotiations, discussions, and contracts that affect your town. If the citizens approve the funding through an election, or if the citizens approve the lease of public land to complete the project, we would support that effort. We are protecting YOU – the voter.
Our vision is that our leaders provide all the information as to the proposed spending of Town money as well as the utilization of Town property so that we, the citizens, can choose how and where our money and our land are utilized.
We welcome YOUR involvement in this process. Dare we say, support the cause.
I appreciate your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
___________________________
Jeffrey S. Aal
Chairperson, Transparent Payson
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September 12, 2024
Goldwater Institute Sues the Town of Payson
Enough of the abuse of the emergency ordinance.
The Goldwater Institute has filed suit. The cause of action is based
on the use of an emergency clause. That cause was part of our original
complaint. Co-Plantiff Nichols asked for dismissal when the Town filed a
counterclaim against Plaintiffs Transparent Payson and Jeffrey Aal.
The Counter Claim did not seek damages/costs from Ms. Nichols or name
her as a defendant, only Transparent Payson and Jeffrey Aal. That turn
of events is discussed here. Rose versus Town of Payson is a separate cause of action than is ours. We hope it will shed light on the Town’s actions and possibly our group’s efforts.
LEARN MORE AT OUR WEBSITE
Transparent Payson had the opportunity to appear on KMOG.
As always, we appreciate their generosity. During the show we stated
that citizens should not be surprised they don’t get everything promised
by the current Town Council. In this post, we calculated that a minimum of $85m would be required.
We looked at the last public project, the Splash Pad. The amount
budgeted for the splash pad was $473,000.00. The amount allocated to
date? $714,906.00. By our math that is a 51% increase, or a difference of 41% over the budgeted amount. In dollar terms, that is $241,906.00 over budget.
The Town requested a reduction in a records request. Our response?
Good afternoon Ms. Bailey,
It strikes me as odd that 187 days after the request, the Town
approaches me to limit the request parameters to expedite the process.
If this were a good-faith effort on the Town’s part, I suspect the Town
could have provided the first tranche of documents as a partial
fulfillment. The Town did not choose that path. Instead, the Town
tries to limit the request. Ninety days from today will be December 7th, 2024. Two hundred and seventy-six days is not a reasonable period for public records.
LEARN MORE ABOUT IT ALL ON OUR WEBSITE.
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Paul Frommelt endorsed
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Debbie Foster endorsed
