America the Messy Yard Police State

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith breaks messy yard laws

Screw those zoning laws, us royal rulers don't have to obey them

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith violates Mesa's sign zoning laws with signs advertizing a marathon

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Mesa Mayor Smith isn't running for anything -- yet

by Gary Nelson - Jan. 10, 2012 10:46 AM

The Republic | azcentral.com

Is he running or not?

All signs say he will. But the signs are wrong.

The signs popped up around Mesa over the past few days, featuring a big picture of Mayor Scott Smith and a caption whose first three words say, "I will run," with the word "run" in capital red letters.

This would be big news if it applied to his decision on seeking a second term -- a decision Smith has said he will announce this month.

And it would be news if the rest of the caption -- "for food" -- applied to the mayor personally: Maybe his scrawny $37,000 city salary is making it hard to put beans on the table.

By the time you zip past the sign in your vehicle it can be hard to read the rest of the message, which seems to imply Smith is running in the upcoming Phoenix Marathon to raise money for a charity called Arizona Brain Food.

That would be news, too. Being mayor hasn't given the former Westwood High School athlete much time of late for working out.

But none of the above applies.

Smith said organizers of the Mesa-based marathon approached him for help in promoting the March 3 race, which this year is a half-marathon and will expand to a full 26-mile course in 2013.

"They want to build this into a world-class race," Smith said. "This is the first year, so we offered to help them out."

But the sign, he said, "was sort of a misfire."

By midmorning Monday, Smith had called race organizer Brad Arnett and asked that the signs be taken down.

Arnett, who said he and Smith have a long and amicable relationship, agreed to do that.

But signs featuring John Rhode of Mesa, the winner of season 12 on the NBC-TV show "The Biggest Loser," will stay up.

Arnett said he and his wife, Kimberly, began thinking about the marathon only five months ago as a way to raise money for Arizona Brain Food.

That Mesa-based organization provides food in backpacks for impoverished kids to take home from school over the weekend.

Arnett has high hopes both for the race and for the charity it will benefit.

Starting off as a half-marathon for about 1,500 runners this year, he said, will help organizers iron out the kinks before next year's full race, which will stretch from Usery Mountain to Riverview.

In five years, Arnett said, the goal is to have 25,000 runners and be "the premier Saturday destination marathon in the country."

As the race funnels money into Arizona Brain Food, Arnett said, the charity will have the opportunity to expand beyond Mesa and become a statewide agency helping kids get a better start in life.

"There's a lot of need," Arnett said.


I am Mayor Scott Smith and I am above the law!!!!

Sadly the royal government rulers frequently consider themselves above the law. In this case it looks like Mesa Mayor Scott Smitt has put up a bunch of illegal signs all over the city of Mesa.

I saw this illegal sign at the Circle K on Dobson and Southern.

I also saw a several other of the illegal signs on Alma School Road, between University and Southern.

This sign says:

I will RUN for food
Phoenix Marathon
Phoenix Marathon.com
March 3
To benefit AZBrainFood
Scott Smith, Mesa Mayor
 
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith violates Mesa's sign zoning laws with signs advertizing a marathon
 

More signs that violate Mesa zoning laws

Here is another sign that was put up by Mesa Mayor Scott Smiths friends that appears to violate the Mesa zoning laws.

 
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith violates Mesa's sign zoning laws with signs advertizing a marathon
  This sign was at Baseline Road and Extension, in front of a Circle K or 7/11 on the north west corner of the intersection.  
 

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