Frederick Shute responds to Matt Hickman’s editorial regarding the “situation” in Benson, Arizona

"Thanks for insulting me and a few thousand of my best friends"

Well gollee! I just found out that I am a “tree hugging granola eater”. According to Matt Hickman, once an accomplished sports writer who has  become the Cochise County poster child for the Peter Principle, which says that one rises in their profession until they reach the highest level of their incompetence. Hickman is way over his head in his sophomoric review of the invasion of Benson by Aluminum Dynamics corporation. It’s a good thing that the average American reads at the 6th grade level because it looks like he topped out right there. Regardless, how sweet it is, or must be to for him to have his own bully pulpit so he can lob bombs of banality on the peasants to serve the interests of his corporate sponsors. The transparency of his servitude is so obvious it’s like watching a Monty Python skit. He is a marionette in a cheap Kobuki theater playing propaganda minister for the masters of avarice. Joseph Goebbels would be proud.

It seems that he and State Representative for Arizona district 3, Frank Antenori looked at a map of Cochise County and decided that Benson is the perfect place for an industrial wasteland. Do they have a divining rod or do they just “feel” that the gateway to Cochise County should rather be the armpit. No one “needs” industrial development anywhere, but Antenori is from Scranton, Pennsylvania where industrial development gave us Three Mile Island, and thinks that would be nice to have one of those here. Or maybe another Love Canal would better suit a location on the banks of one of the only two clean rivers (the other being  the Middle Verde) left in the state of Arizona. Antenori was also a counter intelligence officer in the military, and apparently he excelled at that as well, and brought his expertise back to civilian life, as his mentality, seconded by Hickman, is certainly counter to any intelligent thought process in a rational world. What happened-was he was driving by Benson and thought-WOW!!! That would be a great place to put a toxic waste factory! It could be just like home. It’s the Pennsylvaniafacation of Arizona. Who do these people think they are?

No matter what the local plebes think. It none of their business what the Cochise County Comprehensive Plan directors decide.. What the plan does say is that “every decision is guided by community input.” Apparently that means-EXCEPT WHEN WE DONT CARE WHAT THEY THINK-LIKE IN BENSON. There is no actual comprehensive plan for Cochise County -only a plan for development of real estate for financial gain. It’s a monopoly board where hacks like Antenori and Hickman place factories and shopping centers, and ward over the peasants with their arrogance and ignobility, so they can suck every dollar  from every square nanometer of ground. It’s a fungus, it’s a sickness, it’s greedy demons run amok. But that has always been the religion of Arizona, ever since Manifest Destiny rode into town in a covered wagon and slaughtered everyone who was here first. I bet these dopes don’t know a damn thing about K’uuch’ich whose name tag still identifies this place.

But Benson threw a rod, and the locals decided they weren’t playing the sick game of nasty politicians salivating over sucking taxes into their coffers of power. Antenori says Cochise County doesn’t need more taxes, it needs more taxpayers-Ok, so he’s not Einstein, but he is certainly counter intelligent. Hickman left out the part where the Benson City government arranged an empty house at a Planning and Zoning meeting where Aluminum Dynamics was given a free pass to destroy the town. The question is-did the Burghers of Benson intentionally try to keep the public in the dark, or did they really think that it is none of their business? Was there not one person in the entire city or county governments that had a single thought that some of the citizens might have some concerns about this? Perhaps it slipped their minds that EVERY DECISION IS TO BE GOVERNED BY PUBLIC INPUT. There is that darn counter intelligence at work again! 

Well, it backfired. The audacious conduct of the Benson City Poobah's woke up a sleeping giant from a slumber of misplaced trust. That’s right-we trusted our leaders to be noble and to act ethically-our naivety is embarrassing. Trusting politicians? That went out with the Babylonians. Instead we got gang banged by a bunch of self important buffoons who just played along with a psychotic megalomaniac named George Scott, who declared the ADI toxic waste factory to be “his” project. The former mayor of Benson, who was elected to clean up the corruption of small town politics, drug the behemoth into town and made a hush hush deal with Bill Mehrer, head of the Planning and Zoning Commission, and Greg Volker, the town manager AND Chief of Police. There was a additional smattering of bit players at the November 5th, 2024 meeting where ADI was given the green light, but the sad sack Mayor Joe Konrad shrugged his shoulders, declared it a done deal and vanished-apparently he was on vacation from his fiduciary duty to protect the citizens from thieves. I don’t think any of them were even aware that there were actual people living in “their” town. Now Scott’s legacy will be etched into the Hypocrisy Hall of Fame, for his updated version of crony capitalism is truly magnificent.

When the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (A wholely owned subsidiary of Vanguard Corporation which owns ADI), came to town to sell the project for ADI, they were met with a brigade of highly erudite and intelligent citizens who humiliated the ADEQ staff with dozens of pertinent questions that they just could not answer. Their flummoxed response was so lame it was comical-“ We are doing our best”, one embarrassed employee muttered. That’s comforting. They were obviously bending over backwards to make excuses for a project that has so many problematic and suspicious aspects that it is impossible to figure out what is really going on.

Which is exactly the modus operandi of this whole cabal of arrogant power mongers. Obfuscation and misinformation-that’s the name of the game. Meanwhile the construction at the site on the banks of the treasured and cherished San Pedro River is all gangbusters, and the gangbanging continues, racing at breakneck speed, when they still have no ADEQ permits and have not even completed the purchase of the property. Something is rotten in Denmark, and we don’t need no stinkin Industry in Benson, regardless of what these “outsiders” think.

Now look what they’ve done! Hickman, in his condescending and patronizing style checked the stats like a good sports reporter and noticed how quaint it is that hundreds of citizens in a town of only a few thousand are, how did they put it? Irritated? Something like that. Well guess what Matt-it’s not hundreds-it’s THOUSANDS- and they have barely started, and they aren’t just pissed off-they are outraged! Incensed that the city of Benson is trying to cram this down their throats, with out even asking their opinion.

Here is a message to Antenori, Scott, Hickman and the rest of the Cochise County Ministry of economic development-for that’s what it is- a religion- THIS WILL NOT STAND! A recall movement is underway and Konrad and the Planning and Zoning Commission members will be replaced, and the corrupt and prevaricating Chief of Police will be fired. Guess what you elitist impostors who consider yourselves masters of the universe We’re your huckleberries.

As for Matt and his toilet paper rag-there IS joy in Mudville because you he has struck out. No wonder no one reads his newspaper. You can take your trite cliches and tired canards and your cute platitudes and bench them. NIMBY my ass. Where have you been? We graduated from that ignorama in the seventies, before you were born when enlightened people figured out that quality of life is more important than money. Is that a “liberal” concept to you son? The one thing we definitely don’t want in our back yards is all of these corrupt politicians forcing their will on us instead of representing us.

Sharpen your pen Matt, and try to keep up, you are about to witness a comeback story that could get you on the front page of  Sports Illustrated because we have an all star team that could knock out the 1927 Yankees Murderer’s Row. Even try to have an original thought if you can muster one up, because the battle of Benson has just begun. We will be looking forward to the next installment of the your journal of ignorance. And thanks a lot for insulting me and a few thousand of my best friends. That should help sell newspapers.

And hey Matt, if you ever want to have a grown up conversation, I’ve got a much better idea for Benson. Develop the RR property as a real Cochise County Gateway center with information center, museums and other cultural amenities that would turn Benson into a fine community with plenty of jobs instead of an industrial wasteland. And it won’t drive all of the sunbirds away.  You are going to have to interview me sooner or later anyway. For now there is a pesky problem that has to be attended to-our town has cancer and a parasite cleanse is in order.