By Jim Ferris
The voters will choose either Tom Morrissey or Chris Higgins to be Mayor of Payson in the general election. You could put both in a bag, shake it up and whichever one falls out first makes little difference to Payson going forward. Both kiss the ring finger of the Cabal (Kenny Evans, MHAF, RCEA-SLE, RCEF, and company) both will dance to the tune that is being played by our town manager and town attorneys. Neither will go against the desired agenda or advise of the town manage and town attorneys.
However, the Payson Roundup front page articles comparing and contrasting the mayoral candidates dated September 23rd, and 30th of 2022 were so biased in favor of Chris Higgins that it was nauseating. The articles framed the issues and the candidates’ positions in such a biased and deceptive fashion. It is obvious that Higgins is the Cabal candidate, and the Roundup is and has been the propaganda arm of the Cabal for years. The close association between the Cabal and the Payson Roundup parallels the close association between the New York Times and the Democrat National Committee.
First let’s look at the Roundup’s September 23rd article ‘Morrissey, Higgins vying to be Payson’s next mayor’. The Roundup knows very well that Payson leans heavily conservative and has a large Republican majority. So, why did the Roundup put a picture of Morrissey arm and arm with Kyrsten Sinema on the front page?
The Roundup printed, “Cragin pipeline, ended efforts to bring a private prep school to town and quickly came into conflict with the MHA Foundation.” This doesn’t even make sense besides the fact that the Cragin pipeline and a prep school doesn’t have anything to do the other is beyond human reason. The only significance of making such a nonsensical statement is to try and create an impression that the prep school failed due to a conflict Morrissey had with the MHA, which is baloney. If you remember the details or the lack thereof, you know that the MHA dropped their proposed prep school because it seemed that they were unwilling to provide any specific details and could not guarantee Payson citizens a satisfactory level of access to the facility. The Roundup must have been in disbelief and discussed that the MHA venture was questioned by members of the council.
The Roundup stated, “But sometimes it seemed like for every accomplishment – Morrissey’s tenure spawned a fresh conflict. He won an election for mayor, then faced a recall.” Hey, Michelle Nelson, why not tell your readers who initiated the recall, who financed that effort and who the solicitors for signatures were? Tell the reader how the recall was being plotted even before the election took place. So, Tom Morrissey is responsible for instigating any and all conflicts.
The Roundup also stated, “He [Morrissey] connected with the community through public forums but ended up in court with a harassment charge by a citizen who campaigned against him.” The Roundup knows better than to disclose who filed the complaint. It was the Cabal’s hit man himself. They know the complaint had no merit and was dismissed before it was adjudicated in court. But as long as the accusation is out there, it has served the Cabal’s purpose. It was a farce that keeps giving as you can see fake news is still using it today as a veiled smear. Good work Michelle!
After the Roundup was saying how Morrissey had entered conversation with the MHA Foundation (Kenny Evans), that this “represented a big shift from the confrontation and accusations that had marked the relationship in his first term.” Oh, because Morrissey questioned the MHA regarding the specifics and the details of their proposed projects, and
their lack of transparency – it showed that Morrisey was confrontational. Wouldn’t the citizens of Payson want their elected officials to do their due diligence in understanding the details of proposed projects. How dare he or any other Councilman question Kenny Evans on his proposed projects. I mean has he ever mislead this community in the past. Why are councilmembers that are in the cabal camp so anxious to jump into bed with whatever the Cabal wants? Some of these same Councilmembers placed the Town in a big mess with their blind support of the Rumsey Park project. Has the Roundup dissected that debacle? – You know: Investigative reporting.
But in the same Roundup article dated September 23rd, Chris Higgins was described as someone that had exemplary leadership skills. Just read the narration embedded in the articles. Everything Morrissey is tainted in some way and everything Higgins was framed in such a way that one would believe he is the most accomplished leader Payson has ever had. When Higgins criticized Morrissey in the article, those criticisms were never put into quotes. Who really originated those criticisms? I have a feeling the Roundup spent a lot of time helping Higgins prepare his profile and statements. Did they put as much effort into making Morrissey look good? Yet Morrissey praised the Roundup on KMOG last week. Does he not realize what’s happening? His lack of discernment between friend and foe has been one of his biggest downfalls.
The Roundup goes on to state, “Higgins believes the town’s strength lies in its relationships with local organizations. He cited the potential partnership the town could have with the MHA Foundation to build a community and indoor aquatic center.” Here we go. The desire by all the Cabal Council Members to partner with the MHA has been muted the last several months, but now that we are past the election its almost deafening. Look who the new and existing council members are associated with. Who has financed and supported their campaigns? And now that the main critics, namely me, are believed to be silenced it will be full steam ahead for the Cabal agenda.
Now comes the Roundup article dated September 30, 2022, ‘Mayoral candidates weigh in on pool options’
First paragraph states that Chris Higgins “supports the town developing a community center and indoor pool in partnership with the MHA Foundation. But he says the town needs help and should therefore welcome the MHA Foundation’s offer to build the community center – then turn it over to the town to operate.” Kenny be careful not to hurt yourself performing your victory dance.
The Roundup also states, “Higgins’ strong support for the community center and the partnership represents one of the clear-cut contrasts with incumbent Mayor Tom Morrissey’s often confrontational history with and his current, wary willingness to at least negotiate the partnership.” What is fake news trying to say here? Have they had their heads buried in the sand the last two years or are they willing to distort the truth to get Higgins elected? – probably both. Morrissey has advocated partnering with the MHA for the last two years. He has been meeting with Kenny Evens. It’s the town administration that has not allowed any of Payson’s elected
officials or citizen representatives to be involved or even witness any of the negotiations with the MHA; just the Town Manager and Town Attorney.
Look at the subtitles on page three: Higgins looks to build pool; Mayor looks to splash pad
Wow! So, Higgins is going to build us a swimming pool and all that Morrissey is hoping to build is a splash pad. What a gross misrepresentation of Morrissey’s platform. Higgins was not interested in exploring what it would cost to renovate the Rumsey pool. At least Morrissey wanted to explore the costs from a professional pool designer/contractor; Higgins on the other hand seemed to have his orders to do otherwise.
Roundup: “He’s [Higgins] weathered the recession, which forced the town to cut back on staff and services and skip a whole seven-year cycle of street maintenance and repair.” The recession began in 2008. Higgins was installed on the council in December of 2014 yet he weathered all the tough issues posed by the recession. Perhaps the thousands of dollars Higgins received illegally selling KRIM advertising to the town helped. (Conflict of interest at the very least?)
Roundup: “Prospects for a partnership with MHA brightened again after the last election – with the defeat of Councilor Jim Ferris and the election of Brett Flaherty and Tina McAllister Smith – both of whom say they’re open to a deal with the MHA Foundation to build a community center and year-round pool complex.” To say they are open to a partnership with the MHA is probably an understatement. Not only partnering on the community center and pool but what
about taking over the operations of the Granite Dells Park. Even though the town will never have full control or ownership in any of these properties and facilities the town will face substantial financial burdens maintaining and operating these facilities. The money saved by the MHA can be use to develop and market the rest of their property which will provide the MHA a hefty cash stream from other leases of their developed property on which they don’t have to pay real estate taxes. The town is expected to subsidize MHA’s for-profit venture. For profit? Yes, for-profit – The RCEF is an Arizona domestic for-profit LLC. The RCEF is totally under the umbrella of the MHA.
The bottom line is that the Payson Roundup does not exist to give fair and unbiased coverage of the news and events in Payson. If you are unable to see the bias shown to Chris Higgins in these articles, I can’t help you. Not only are there substantial errors of commission but what may be just as concerning is the errors of omission. We could open almost any issue of the Payson Roundup and find similar biases throughout. I understand that many newspapers are in financial trouble, but to deceive your readership in order to cater to special interests just to stay financially viable is a disservice to the community you are to serve. ★ ★ ★ ★
