Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 14

SIGN Of TROUBLE A Thursday, June 27, 1991 The Arizona Republic Founded in 1 890 Published since 1 946 by: Phoenix Newspapers, 120 E. Van Buren, Phoenix, Ariz. 85004 EUGENE C. PULLIAM 1889-1975 Publisher, 1946 1975 EUGENES. PULLIAM President WILLIAM P.

CHESHIRE Editor of the Editorial Pages JOHN F. OPPEDAHL Managing Editor CONRAD KLOH Director of Sales and Marketing BILLSHOVER Director of Public Affairs Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is, There Is Liberty II Corinthians 3:17 EDITORIALS INDIAN SCHOOL COMPROMISE The park squabble A14 LETTERS High School property. The ultimate goal would be a park of 60 acres. Finally, the council approved a zoning plan for the Collier acreage calling for 1.4 million square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail shops and 1,200 residential units. As a condition of the zoning, however, the Collier Co.

would have to add another 20 acres to the city's park, for a total of 40 acres. This falls well short of the 7.7 million square feet of development the Collier Co. says it needs to make the deal economically practical. Still, it is encouraging that a 75 percent reduction in commercial density did not prompt an immediate rejection. "I think there are a lot of options here that are yet to be looked at and discussed," said Collier Co.

executive Roy Cawley. Indeed. Mayor Johnson suggests that the federal government could subsidize some of the Collier costs of park development. Another option would have the feds purchase some of the Collier Florida wetlands to be swapped for the Indian School property. These and other initiatives should be explored.

The final deadline for the Collier Co. to accept or reject the city's plan does not come until November. This allows plenty of time for the developer and the city to work out their differences amicably. Where is AzScam's 'other shoe'? BY wisely combining a sense of vision with a dose of realism, the Phoenix City Council has approved an historic development plan for the Indian School property. It is a fair and just compromise, one that should cause none of the competing interests park advocates, central city businessmen, neighborhoods, the federal government or the Barron Collier Co.

to feel that they have been slighted. The council honored the city's commitment to forge a reasonable proposal, a remarkable achievement under the circumstances. Building a consensus on a complex issue involving competing interests is never easy, but Mayor Paul Johnson, the driving force behind the compromise proposal, and his colleagues did just that. A unanimous City Council agreed to recognize the hope voiced by many Phoenicians that the Indian School could become a 90-acre park. It adopted a resolution calling on Arizona's congressional delegation to work toward that end.

The council also agreed to create a task force to study how additional park acreage could be acquired and what kinds of amenities should be included. Among the options to be explored are purchasing the property from the Collier trading other city-owned property to the Florida developer or floating bonds to buy some adjacent Central MAYOR RUBACH'S BEER PARTY Mesa mayor messes up Editor: I was just reading your June 22 editorial on "Nudity not speech" and was thinking that there really is some sanity left in the world today. Then I turned to Section and those thoughts were quickly doused. The mayor of Mesa was in a "beer flap." I am extremely disappointed in Mayor Peggy Rubach, but first let me say how disappointed I am in The Republic. This was a front-page story, unlike the story of the "Deafening Trend" in baby boomers.

I realize The Republic is a Phoenix paper, but I buy it in Mesa. This story about the mayor was worthy of a place on the front page. As far as Mayor Rubach is concerned, she has set back the efforts of many families that have tried to teach their children responsibility and accountability for their actions. This trend of "well, they are going to do it anyway" has to stop. If only her children were involved I could have understood, even though I disagree.

But to allow teen-agers, without their parents' knowledge, to come into your home and drink is criminal. The quantity mentioned was more than sufficient to result in intoxication. I think the citizens of Mesa should send a message to the mayor and inform her that her services are no longer required. RICK RICCIARDI Mesa Setting a bad example Editor: I must disagree with your recent editorials supporting former Police Chief Ruben Ortega and approving his handling of the AzScam investigation. You have run a dozen editorials about AzScam, and you really don't understand the point of those of us who are dubious about the operation.

In every other major sting operation in this country, political or otherwise, there has been firm evidence that criminal acts were occurring prior to the initiation of the sting. In the recent Cleveland case involving police officers who allegedly were protecting gamblers, there was no question that the protection was occurring long before the sting began. In Operation Greylord in Chicago, there was no question that judges and attorneys were fixing traffic and criminal cases. In most narcotic undercover stings, there is little doubt that the target is dealing drugs. In contrast, there is not a scintilla of evidence that there was actually any bribery occuring in the Arizona Legislature, over gambling or any other issues.

There was no doubt the usual special-interest politics, which we all deplore, but also engage in when our own ox is gored. There was no doubt some violation of campaign laws, and many other things that you and I correctly deplore. What there was not, however, was out-and-out bribery. We have been waiting in vain for five months for the "other shoe to drop." Despite many tantalizing hints, it is pretty clear that the other shoe doesn't exist. In other words, all the crimes, at least the bribery crimes, were created by Vincent Stedino and Chief Ortega and Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley.

They did not merely replicate crimes already being committed, as is the case with proper and appropriate criminal and political sting operations. Rather, they created crimes that were not otherwise occurring through inspired drama. The police have now admitted that the only "evidence" of bribery was unsubstantiated rumors from Gary Bartlett. If stings had to be approved by a judge as do wire taps and search warrants, this case would have died stillborn. Remember, the next sting may well involve news reporters who are given false leads to see if they violate laws themselves.

Although obviously you expect your reporters to act within the law, do you really believe it is the proper function of the police, without evidence of corruption in your newspaper, to try to tempt your reporters into stealing public documents or otherwise violating the laws? In short, AzScam gets a 50-50 rating. It was good in that it exposed the venality and poor judgment of elected officials who clearly should not be in office. It was bad in that it attempted to send to jail people who have not and would not take bribes and who were just foolish enough to succumb to the weaknesses of human flesh and greed. GARY PETER KLAHR Attorney at Law Phoenix their hostess, by providing them with access to several kegs of beer, was condoning drinking, if not in fact encouraging it. While some will excuse Mrs.

Rubach's professed ignorance of the law, others will think that the mayor of a city ought to possess greater sophistication. Moreover, common sense should suggest to any responsible adult that serving alcohol to young people under the legal drinking age of 21 is less than a sensational idea. On the day it was announced that the Department of Public Safety would conduct an investigation into the incident, the mayor conceded that she "may have made a mistake." She was unaware, she said, "that alcohol in a private home was regulated." It is encouraging that Mrs. Rubach is willing to accept responsibility for her actions and promises to cooperate fully with the police investigation, though it is hard to see how she could have done otherwise. She also says that she has learned from the experience and will be "much more conscious of alcohol consumption in private homes" from now on.

She nonetheless made a serious mistake, and it should not be trivialized. The teen-age beer bash may not have been a crime of moral turpitude, but it does suggest that Mayor Rubach badly needs some remedial work in the area of good judgment. DOUBTLESS Mesa Mayor Peggy Rubach thought she had taken sufficient precautions before deciding to throw a keg party to commemorate her son's graduation from high school. The rule she laid down was that guests wanting to imbibe alcohol could do so only if they turned in their car keys or made arrangements to spend the night. This was an improvement over no restraints, surely.

Under the Rubach rules, the underage celebrant ran little risk of wrapping the family car around a telephone pole on the way home, running into the ditch or getting nabbed by the police. But the fail-safe system was hardly free from peril, and it is unfortunate that the mayor's prudence failed to dissuade her from encouraging teen-agers to break the law. At the very least, the mayor's party reflected an unsettling absence of judgment and this from an official who campaigned against drug and alcohol abuse and has lent her support to Students Against Driving Drunk, a program that encourages sobriety. You don't have to be terribly astute to know that alcohol use among teen-agers is a serious problem, one that shows no sign of abatement. Mrs.

Rubach's excuse that she preferred to know where her son and his friends were is among the lamest known. Her son's underage friends can be forgiven if they supposed that BALKANIZATION IN THE BALKANS There is no good reason to bar smoking at airport Tragic consequences Editor: The stupidity and carelessness of Arizona drivers amazes me. I was involved in a rollover accident near Cordes Junction because someone failed to secure a load of firewood he was hauling south on 1-17. My father lost control of our car trying to avoid a tree stump sitting in the middle of the left lane. As a result of the accident, my mother is now paralyzed just below her arms.

As my sister and I drove to the hospital one week after the accident, I was horrified to see a sawhorse fall off a truck in front of us as we were getting on 1-17 at Cactus Road. Fortunately, we were able to avoid an accident this time. I wish that the person who dropped the stump on 1-17 could see the suffering my mother now has to endure. Her recovery will be agonizingly slow and there is little chance that she will ever walk again. The few minutes that person saved by not securing the load has torn our lives apart forever.

JANE MONSON Phoenix he thinks will be a popular political stand. Certainly there cannot be a real health hazard, given the over-all space involved. It is a well-known popular idea that ex-Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop desires a smoke-free world by the year 2,000.

1 think it is frightening to have any one person try to control an entire nation on any freedom of choice, no matter what the issue is. I find people like Dr. Koop scary. I find all people who try to control the masses frightening. And I also find the people who follow such a person just as frightening.

PATRICIA DAVIS Gilbert Yugo minus Slavia Editor: Would someone please tell me the exact amount of harm a smoking area in an airport causes? I mean, you have this great big building of some thousands of square feet that is designated a non-smoking area and only a few square feet for the smoking area. I would like to know the statistics on what harm is caused in allowing a smoking area in the airport to remain. Most people pass through a terminal in 20 minutes or less, while employees spend eight hours a day at Sky Harbor. I find it impossible to understand the mayor's reasoning in proclaiming a non-smoking terminal, unless this is what A cloud of smoke Editor: As far as I'm concerned, the 1986 ordinance prohibiting smoking in public places at Sky Harbor has done little more than force airport personnel to post "smoking" and "non-smoking" signs. On any given day you'll find smokers puffing away in non-smoking sections and in public areas.

It's as if smoking impaired one's ability to read a simple sign. On more than one occasion I have been so bold as to complain to airport security and the airline itself. I usually get a "we'll look into it" and then they just walk away. Mayor Paul Johnson's recommendation is just another that will go up in a cloud of smoke. TAMARA SHAW Phoenix Mixup on the map Editor: Your article on the new highway in Mexico linking the states of Sonora and Chihuahua was of particular interest, quoting as it did Samuel Fraijo Flores of the Sonora Transportation Department.

He is in all probability a relative of mine. He complains that Mexican and American tourists direct their anger at him for the maps that until now have provided false information on the nearly finished highway. He should not feel too bad, however: your own cartographer misspelled three of the major Mexican cities the highway will link (Hermosillo, Guaymas, Chihuahua) and then put each of them in the wrong state. 'JAMES A. VASQUEZ Bothell, Wash.

the case with Slovenia and Croatia, which were slap-dashed together after World War I from slivers of the old Austro-Hungarian empire. When communism, the glue that held Yugoslavia together for the past 50 years, came unstuck, so did the artificial union. What worries our State Department is that the Yu go-schism will lead to increased political and economic instability or, worse yet, to a full-blown civil war that could inflame ethnic conflict throughout the Balkan tinderbox. Underscoring this possibility, Belgrade's ruling communists have dispatched the military to the rebellious republics. Lurking in the subconscious is the realization that Yugoslavia's troubles could foreshadow dismemberment of the Soviet Union, another artificial federation of formerly sovereign republics.

Doubtless many hope that the realignment of forces in Yugoslavia and the U.S.S.R. will be peaceful. That, at least, is the State Department's advice for the Slavs and Croats. Washington is urging the breakaway republics to cut a deal with Belgrade that would maintain Yugoslavia's territorial integrity. Yet preserving the status quo is not the aim of those seeking freedom in Slovenia, Croatia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine and elsewhere, anymore than it was the goal of the American revolutionaries more than 200 years ago.

Yugoslavia was created out of whole cloth when the Hapsburg empire went smash. Now the bill is coming due, THE world's reaction to the declarations of independence from Marxism issued this week by the upstart parliaments of two Yugoslavian republics, Slovenia and Croatia, has been tepid, to say the least. This less-than-euphoric response is understandable. After all, the resignation of another member of the old communist club in Eastern Europe is barely newsworthy. With almost all of Central Europe having taken leave already, the bolt of the Croats and Slavs was hardly a surprise.

What the rest of the world must decide is what to do about it. Unlike their predecessors, who established new and welcome political and economic systems within long-recognized borders, the Croats and Slavs are seeking, at least in principle, to establish separate sovereign nations where none have existed in modern times. None of this sits well with those who yearn for George Bush's "new world order." In truth, Mr. Bush's new order is little more than a stabilized prevailing order, with perhaps a little peace and prosperity thrown in, preferably by way of democracy and free markets. In other words, the old world order with marginal improvements.

The problem is that some have little affinity for the Bush plan and can cite a number of good reasons, including ethnicity and historical precedence, for wanting no part of it. This is D.B. JohnsonLA Times Syndicate Cheers for mayor's effort at Sky Harbor LETTERS POLICY Your letters are welcome. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Please keep your letters brief.

All letters are subject to editing. Short letters will be given priority. bystanders, what "fights" docs he have? I'm looking forward to the day when the act of smoking is looked down upon by so many that smokers will be compelled to quit because of sheer embarrassment. SHARON KELLEY Phoenix Editor: Three cheers for Mayor Paul Johnson in his effort to reduce smoking at Sky Harborl I am fed up with smokers who complain that their rights are being violated. When one's habit is detrimental (not to mention nauseating) to innocent.