


I'm going to post here Supervisor Bishop's lies and misrepresentations and then annotate the video, note the start times and transcribe what exactly was said.
It's been a long day and I'll be very busy the next few days, but just from memory:
- At the end of the video Bishop states that Dolan Springs gets ROADS from the property tax increase. I've demanded that the County make emergency repairs after floods on our roads and she had said that ONLY HURF funds are used for roads. That's probably also addressed in the 2016 GV forum video and/or the Meadview 8/16 roads meeting video.
- Regarding the SWEEPS -- the state has been taking money from our county funds, I believe since 2008. Bishop said she does not want to sweep money from departments with EXCESS reserves because that's like "stealing", just as if the state took it.
It is "stealing" when the STATE takes our funds. Bishop doesn't get that when we "sweep" money from one department to another, it's NOT stealing! It just means that we allocated too many funds and so we correct that by allocating LESS in the 2018 budget and then give the money to the sheriff.
- To explain to the audience how the tax increase will affect property owners, Bishop used the figures INCLUDING the reassessment. OBVIOUSLY that does NOT indicate how much the increase will cost home owners because many properties are assessed at a lower value than last year. How STUPID does Bishop think we are?
- The pension debt -- I'm still confused, is it really NOT a debt, but just a loan to the state and we later reduce our payments?
- Bishop stated that it's stupid to pay interest and that's why she wants the tax increases. She is clearly in lala land, not aware that many homeowners carry credit card debt at a much higher interest rate than what the county would pay. Essentially she is shifting the interest burden to the property owners and they will pay MUCH higher interest rates than the county.
- The general fund is almost $8 million OVER budget! The total "Excess Reserves Available" including the General Fund is $30 million. And Supervisor Jean Bishop wants to raise taxes, unreal ...
I don't think that Bishop is an evil person out to screw us, but it looks like she just doesn't understand finance and budgets. It's not easy, but after two years on the job, you'd think she'd get a clue.
Unfortunately, she won't ask for or accept help and she outright REFUSED to provide any documents to me, blocked me on Facebook since last year and ignored my email requesting info about this town hall meeting and about the budget.
Jean Bishop needs to resign.
Regarding resignation or otherwise replacing Bishop (recall?), I wish we had someone interested who understands budgets, cares about all people and has a benevolent VISION for Mohave County.
Bishop's vision is apparently to open as many mines as possible and to attract more factories.
My vision is to attract more RESIDENTS and TOURISTS.
Open the Mohave County Bank, provide incentives (low or no interest loans) to the medical community to improve the quality of healthcare and do what it takes to encourage LOCALS to grow organic food. I've been told that Mohave Valley is so polluted that it's impossible to grow organically.
It's the catch 22 -- I know many people who'd love to live here, but won't because of the lack of culture, organic locally grown food and state of the art medical care including holistic. And of course doctors need patients and stores need customers, so this is a slow process and that's why it's a vision and not the to-do list for next week.
I'd like to see the actual calculations for the impact of 100 mining jobs on our economy.
How do mining jobs compare to tourists renting rooms, eating at restaurants, etc.?
How do they compare to retirees moving here?
The retirees contribute an enormous amount of money to the economy as they RECEIVE their money from the feds or pensions and they SPEND it here.
I actually do much of my shopping in Henderson / Vegas because the food in Kingman is mostly toxic pesticide and herbicide laden processed CRAP. But most people shop in Kingman, get hair cuts, go to restaurants, buy cars and have their cars repaired in Mohave County.
Of course the BIG ONE is medical care.
The money to pay for most senior citizens' medical care comes from insurance and one person can easily rack up hundreds of thousands in medical bills. There's no tax on medical care, but think of the JOBS they are creating. That money pays the doctors and nurses and janitors ...
These seniors don't take anyone's job away and they have no kids, but they pay for the schools. They have so few needs and contribute so much!
How do these mining and factory jobs compare to retirees?
I'd love to see a diverse population living happy, long and healthy lives in the most beautiful county anywhere!