The recent revelation that Trump/Musk is looking to "privatize" the USPS puts the Oracle Post Office at risk of imminent closure.

  Our Post Office won't be alone.  In small towns across the country hostile local post office takeovers will rip through rural America with a singular intent:  Turn the USPS into a profit center for fat cats like Trump, Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg (who have likely never seen the inside of a post office or bothered to understand what local post offices mean to people like us and communities like Oracle).  The irony here is that many small towns may have voted for their very own Post Office executioner.  At the moment many of them have their heads in the sand.
   Don't look to politicians like "our congressman" Juan Ciscomani to fight for us.  His groveling behavior at the feet of Trump suggests he will mealy-mouth his way to a crass cave-in him and his DOGE boys.  Maybe he'll even get a piece of the action, like a tip on a promising investment, if he's a really good boy. 
   Watching predictable shit like this come down has gotten real old real fast.  It's probably a good idea to try to get ahead of the story by calling it out for what it is: Greedy billionaire fat cats looking to screw people like us and reward...themselves.   It's kind of a no brainer move for these guys and their coalition of the willing: Another profit center to squeeze for themselves and another vehicle to inflict pain on people who's hurt seems to thrill them and their ilk while further lining  own pockets with our taxdollars.  

  Reaction across rural/small town unincorporated Pinal County to "Recoding" our communities has been swift and pointed.  What county officials described as "The Pinal County Development Services Code Update Draft" has provoked one of the biggest political fights since Kaz and I moved here in 1979.  Back then we bought into "rural/small town" big time.  Right off we got a short course in what that meant from our new neighbors and friends.
  Here are the basics of what we learned early on: So much that needs doing will not be done by government - county, state, federal.  We as a community have got to do much of it ourselves.  This applies to most of what we value including organizing community activity spaces (the Oracle Community Center, churches); respecting and preserving local history (the Oracle Historical Society, area ranches like Triangle L and El Rancho Robles); protecting land from developer greed ( Pinal Citizens for Sustainable Growth, the Oracle Town Hall, myriad local comittees); starting/sustaining local businesses (Sue and Jerry's Parradise Ranch, The Patio Cafe, Casa Rivera's, De Marco's, Nona Maria's, Riot Grill, Simply Sandwiches, the Ore House, Cheeto Vibez, Waldo's Gym, Fast Fitness, Nature's Surprise Ranch (goatscaping), Oracle Auto Repair, Quality Paint and Body, Soule Construction); cultural inspiration (the Oracle Piano Society, Rancho Linda Vista, Triangle L, Rancho Robles); interring our dead (Oracle Cemetery Board).
  The pattern is that way too often the county has opted to put its finger on the scale against us locals and what we're trying to do.  So far they have succeeded in generating relentless hassles that waste our time and money as we seek to protect and advance community and our way of life. 
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  A recent example is the bizarre assault  on a stellar new business in Oracle - Way of Bean Coffee Club.  The county claimed not enough spaces for parking, imaginary health code violations, selling homemade products (oh, my God!).   And these same officials are in charge of "recoding" the entirety of unincorporated Pinal County.;
  

 -  Another big turnout at the BOS meeting yesterday helped kill the controversial rezoning plan by unanimous 5-0 vote.  Several Oracle residents joined the successful opposition in person while many others, including Kaz and myself, watched the live stream cheering them on.
  The outcome was no surprise. The Board Chairman,
Steven Miller, announced via a video that the zoning proposal was dead a day or two before the scheduled meeting.  At the meeting itself one supervisor after another fell on his sword before the actual vote - each copping to having failed to consult with their constituents in development of the rezoning plan.
  Citizens raised key questions that weren't answered by any of the supervisors.  Among them: What did the county (our taxes) pay for the rezoning plan? Why did the county select a firm - Michael Baker - with no rural life experience to build the plan.  
  Lurking behind the political fray was the obvious: Many citizens believe Big Development is calling the shots (as usual) while kicking us rurals to the side. 
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  Commentary:  This fight over zoning reflects the divide between residents of the county who identify as small town/rural vs urban/suburban.  Oracle has waged fights with urban-infused policy makers before ... in fact beginning in 1979 when Kaz and I first moved here we've been involved with battling against citified policy imperialism.  And we sure weren't the first around here to take on these battles by any means.  Alice Carpenter, the Protectors of the Santa Catalinas, decades of mobilizations by a mix of local leaders have challenged powerful forces undercutting Oracle's rural/small town identity.  "Sometimes David Wins!"

Citizens wonder how much this planning fiasco cost taxpayers.  So far no answers.

300 plus pages of ugly verbiage that nobody except Big Development hirelings have time to read, digest, and comment on.

We say:  Kill it all, kill it now, fire the global planning group Michael Baker that created this monstrosity.
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Supervisor recall talk begins...

Note:  This has already cost county taxpayers a bundle!  How much??? This firm doesn't come cheap: "Offices and locations with more than 4,500 engineers, architects, planners and experts across more than 85 offices in the U.S., Michael Baker is a leading provider of engineering and consulting services, delivering innovative solutions to complex infrastructure challenges."