I have briefly mentioned the lack of interest Goldwater Institute had in a city funded, $100 million stadium in Mesa, built for the Chicago Cubs so they would have a nice new place for their preseason games. I speculated that, perhaps, since Rep. Jeff Flake is the congressional representative for that district and is also deeply involved with Goldwater, the Institute had adopted a hands off policy lest Jeff become annoyed with their meddling. So, even though the $100M would seem to meet the “gift clause” violations that Goldwater is so intent on pursuing to “protect the Constitutional rights of our citizens”, and certainly there must be at least SOME citizens living in Mesa, Goldwater decided to look elsewhere to prove their point. So, they targeted a North Phoenix developer, the Phoenix Police and have also threatened the City of Glendale.

Lo and behold, though, it turns out Goldwater WAS concerned enough about the gift clause violation that they asked the now famous Carrie Ann Sitren to put together a post (cleverly spotted by an eagle eyed Coyotes fan, hockey sharpens the senses) on their web site decrying the wasteful spending and thinly veiling a threat! Ms. Sitren explains in her missive (click here to read it):

Framers of the Arizona Constitution wisely adopted a Gift Clause to ban governments from subsidizing private businesses at the taxpayer’s expense. Mesa’s new stadium deal appears to violate that clause by building a multi-million dollar stadium for the Cubs without requiring the team to return a roughly equal benefit.

Well, wait, what? The question we’d like answered by Ms. Sitren is, if you were so concerned about the citizens of Mesa, why didn’t you pursue them for the gift clause violation to protect theit Constitutional rights? I mean, obviously it is favoritism, we would just like to know what type of favoritism it is?

Is it because Goldwater supporter and mentor Jeff Flake said to leave it alone?

Is it because your board member Mrs. Kendrick relayed a message from Diamondbacks honcho Ken Kendrick to leave it alone?

Is it because former board member and Diamondbacks investor Jerry Moyes wouldn’t like pursuing baseball?

Is it because, if you pursued a baseball expenditure, you would also have to go after the government spending on Chase Field?

Or is it because, Ms. Sitren, you are a Cubbies fan, as you say:

Cubbie spring training in Arizona, with all its rich history and tradition, may be intrinsically priceless to some (including yours truly).

Sitren’s boss Clint Bolick had similar things to say (click here) and veiled threats in his blog on Feb. 18, 2010.

Whatever the answer is, I’m sure the Citynorth people and the Phoenix Police Union, both of whom you DID decide to sue, would like to know so they can make plans to avoid the pleasure the next time.