By David Smith | Special to The Republic | azcentral.com
(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are posted only for purposes of discussion.)
Last month, I had the pleasure of joining many fellow citizens for a dedication of the Jane Rau Interpretive Trail at the Brown’s Ranch Trailhead.
Only 10 days later, a most curious thing happened in the Kiva at City Hall. In a split decision, the Scottsdale City Council voted to agendize for discussion at a future meeting “… a possible moratorium on future land acquisitions …” for the preserve until some questions are answered.
It all began with the argument we needed to prepare for the future liabilities of maintenance and reinvestment (which, by the way, dismissed any thought that citizens, through the volunteer McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, might shoulder this obligation in the future, as they have in the past). Others “piled on” with additional arguments for why we should stop purchasing land for preservation: … “The next pieces will be too expensive!” “The state has no more matching money!” “We need to better assess our bonding capacity!”One council member summed up the majority attitude with a sneak preview of their future discussion: “It makes sense for us to stop!”
