Thornton: What are the Issues & Experts Scottsdale needs to address?

I was once told the virtue of the newspaper business --- more acutely the idea of journalism itself --- is found between the lines of art and science.

The pursuit of journalistic truth is often a clumsy enterprise focused on identifying public issues and finding experts who can provide insights to variables that impact the issue at-hand.

But when facts change, so does the truth.

To a degree it is that pursuit that could explain enterprise or maybe even investigative journalism, but aside from the written word, and perhaps the initial shock and awe, not a whole lot changes.

But when people come together --- or rather when good, hyper-local conscientious journalism spurs the activity --- change seems to come. Either in City Halls, church cafeterias or local school houses, in the United States of America the power is and always will be with the people.

It is the belief: The power of bringing people together that fuels our Issues & Experts Series, which is done in partnership with the Scottsdale Coalition of Today and Tomorrow.

One of our core missions at the Scottsdale Independent newspaper is the publishing of purposeful information that encourages and supports meaningful community involvement, and that provides local residents with the knowledge and participation they need to make rational decisions about public issues.

An extension of those core principals is the Issues and Experts Series, which is sponsored by SCOTT and hosted by the Scottsdale Community College, 9000 E. Chaparral Road.

But for our next installment, we want to know what you, our readership, thinks of these four topics:

• A Scottsdale housing summit where we would dissect the Scottsdale housing market, greater-area trends and explore the latest in luxury development. Furthermore, this could be an avenue to further the discussion surrounding affordable housing.
• A forum hosted on identity theft where we would offer an overview of the issue, how to protect yourself and invite local tech, security and police officials to provide expert testimony.
• The three Scottsdale regions and how that perception continues to shape local politics. Here we would bring in municipal experts, political strategists and business leaders to find unity between north, central and south Scottsdale.
• A bond and override summit. This event could be taken together or separate where we would invite city and school leaders, locally elected and locally engaged to participate in an overview discussion on public financing for capital projects.

Do you have any thoughts on what we should be discussing? If so, please drop me a line at tthornton@newszap.com.