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WEST VALLEY VIEW NEWS | JULY 7, 2021
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Concerned about city center Editor: In a recent newspaper, it states Litchfield Park is moving forward with its city center project. It will feature, “400,000 square feet of high-end retail, restaurant, office and residential space.” My concerns are two of the most recent restaurants built in Litchfield Park are another Denny’s and another Wendy’s. To Mayor Thomas Schoaf, I ask, is there a way the Litchfield Park city planner and city manager be removed from the decision-making process when deciding on the restaurants and the building of the Litchfield Park city center as whole? They’ve shown poor and unimaginative decision making to date and you and your staff have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the building of the city center. Litchfield Park is one of the most unique cities in Arizona. You can make it resemble more like Scottsdale
or Arcadia, or you can make it resemble another Laveen. The decision and opportunity are yours. Please don’t turn it into just another city with high-density condominiums and traffic problems. The newspaper also states Litchfield Park is going to build three parking decks. Is that 2021 speak for parking garages? And are three parking garages really necessary in such a small area? You’re already putting in 750 ground-level spaces. You’re going to turn Litchfield Park into Litchfield Park-ing spot. Good God, how many condos do you plan on building? It also states you’re getting ready to sell six parcels to private developers in 2022 and 2023. My guess is you still must approve whether they put in another Walgreens or Walmart. Correct? My hope is you’ll make those decisions with the same ferocity you make when you deny residents from putting a pergola in their own backyard. Greg Andrews Litchfield Park
How to get a letter published 250 N. Litchfield Road, Ste. 130, Goodyear, AZ 85340 E-mail: editor@westvalleyview.com The West Valley View welcomes letters that express readers’ opinion on current topics. Letters must include the writer’s full name, address (including city) and telephone number. The West Valley View will print the writer’s name and city of residence only. Letters without the requisite identifying information will not be published. Letters are published in the order received, and they are subject to editing. The West Valley View will not publish consumer complaints, form letters, clippings from other publications or poetry. Letters’ authors, not the View, are responsible for the “facts” presented in letters. We will not print personal attacks or hateful language. Lengthy letters will be edited for space and grammar. Please do not submit multiple letters on the same topic.
Let’s hope for a championship season BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ West Valley View Columnist
I
t has been 53 seasons, and never have the Phoenix Suns won an NBA championship. Maybe that sounds not so awful if you’re a Cardinals football fan and your last title dates to 1947, when the team played in Chicago. But no NBA team has toiled longer, ever, without winning a single title. But now comes these 2021 Suns, with a chance to set all that right. I do hope so — for this Valley’s sake, and for all the Suns fans I call friends.
I’m talking about guys like my buddy Louie, a season ticket holder dating back to the Madhouse on McDowell. If Louie had a choice between missing a Suns game or missing a leg, I’m pretty sure he’d be on Amazon tomorrow searching for “single leg pants” and a prosthetic limb. Then there’s Troy, a genius with a video camera who these days likes to post a yellowed snapshot from his childhood, him in an ancient Suns jersey and headband, skinny arms held aloft in the classic jump-shooter’s pose. Each new post contains a caption written in the third person, grown man Troy talking to little boy Troy. The most recent:
“Western Conference Champions!!! Four more to go until that 48-year-old dream comes true, little self. Four more. @suns #suns #rallythevalley” Is it sweet? Yes. Strange? Not at all once you learn that Troy’s 10-year-old son is named Nash, presumably — with apologies to Chris Paul — after the best point guard ever to wear purple. This team has always owned a hunk of the Valley’s heart, though Robert Sarver, the head Sun, for years tested the community’s collective patience. As I wrote a few weeks ago, it was Sarver’s incompetence that led me to fall off the Suns’ bandwagon back around 2012. First, I gave up my season tick-
ets, then I tuned out the great Al McCoy. Even now, my rooting interest in this team is more by proxy: I enjoy seeing my friends full of joy. Like Stephen, a giant of a man, an elected leader respected for his smarts and heart, who lately has traded in business suits and bolo ties for an assortment of Suns T-shirts, jerseys and Nike high tops. His statement after the series clincher over the Los Angeles Clippers? An image of Chris Paul in the arms of head coach Monte Williams. The caption: “No words needed!”
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