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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

Jul 25

9

Councilmember Turner and his use of city ProCard, Part 5, final

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 9, 2025
Posted in Barrell District • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council

On January 16, 2025, I submitted a Public Records Request to the City of Glendale for all records pertaining to Councilmember Bart Turner’s travel expenses and the use of his city ProCard. That request was completed and given to me on March 12, 2025. It included over 500 pages of documentation. In the past four months, I have reviewed them over and over again.

All of the information I have provided on this 5-part series on Councilmember Turner and his use of his city credit card, the ProCard, have been taken from the city provided documentation. They are facts.

What have we learned?

  • Councilmembers Malnar and Tolmachoff have been transparent and accountable for their use of their ProCards. On the city Follow Your Money site they have listed all trips from 2018 to the present. Councilmember Turner has listed only 3 trips in 2019. Nothing is presented for his numerous trips through 2024. Turner throws out the buzz words, ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’ whenever he can. He portray himself to be a watchdog of taxpayer dollars. Yet when it comes to spending your money on his numerous trips, it becomes a situation of ‘Rules for thee but not for me’. So much for practicing what he preaches. I did not compare with Councilmembers Baldenegro, Guzman or Conchas as they are new and have no history to date.
  • Staff repeatedly gave Turner all policies related to expenditures and travel and made numerous requests for back up documentation and/or receipts. He was minimally responsive. Consequently, staff put together a chart showing his lack of response and back up. That chart reflects over $22,000 in travel expenses without the proper information required to back up his expenses. Turner needs to come out of the closet, take responsibility, and repay you, the taxpayer, for his poor judgement.
  • Turner’s Renaissance Weekend trips totaling over $8,300 are clearly self-enrichment trips and are not related to city business. These trips show a clear lack of judgement and awareness. How he could possibly charge these trips to the city demonstrates his lack of ethical judgement. It appears to be an abuse of city policy.
  • His Vertical farming trips are questionable as well. The city does not engage in farming, vertical or otherwise. They are not related to city business.
  • City policy dictates that airfare upgrades, additional baggage fees, seat upgrades and tipping above 20% are not allowed. Turner violated all of these policies on multiple occasions.
  • Turner’s Pro Card was deactivated in December of 2024. When I received the city provided public documents in March of 2025, there was nothing to indicate it had been reactivated. If it has, it occurred after March of this year.

This 5-part series is Bart Turner’s “Sammy Chavira moment.” For those of you who may not recall, former Councilmember Sammy Chavira took a trip to NYC on your dime to see the Pope. Unfortunately for Sammy, the closest he got to the Pope was to watch him on TV. Sammy abused you, the taxpayer, and your dollars and demonstrated his lack of ethics and judgement. In doing so, he lost his bid for reelection as councilmember.

Bart Turner has done exactly as Sammy Chavira did. He has abused you, the taxpayer and your dollars. As he berates everyone for not being fiscally responsible, he displays an arrogance toward taxpayers by refusing to acknowledge his trips publicly or to provide the necessary justification for the use of his ProCard as a business-related trip with proper documentation.

Councilmember Turner will undoubtedly run for reelection next year, 2026. All of the material, based on factual documentation in this 5-part series, should be taken into consideration when the time comes to vote on a Barrel district councilmember. His lack of financial disclosure and lack of ethics disqualify him for another term as the Barrel district councilmember. I suspect when the time comes there will be better choices for the Barrel voters.

Councilmember Bart Turner of the Barrell district has shown through his actions and his judgment his disdain for Glendale taxpayers. His public pronouncements are not the same as his actions when it comes to travel expenditures paid with taxpayer dollars. He does not deserve a single vote from Barrell district voters.

If the media or any potential Turner-opposed candidates would like to view the requested public information I am happy to share. Please email clarkjv@aol.com or text me at 602-320-3422.

© Joyce Clark, 2025   

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

 

Jul 25

2

Councilmember Turner and his use of ProCard, Part 4

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 2, 2025
Posted in Barrell District • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

In Part 1, I explained the use of a city ProCard and how seriously it is taken. In Part 2, I showed what travel expenditures Councilmember Turner has publicly posted as well as all of the trips he has not posted publicly. In Part 3, the public information request I made includes any and all emails between city staff and Councilmember Turner.

In Part 4 we see what trips Councilmember Turner put on his ProCard and whether they reflected a city business interest. As part of my public information request, I received a staff generated chart that reflects all Turner trips where documentation in the form of agendas, itineraries or receipts were NOT supplied by Councilmember Turner.

THE TOTAL PAID BY THE CITY FOR WHICH DOCUMENTATION AND/OR PROOF OF A BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP TO THE CITY WAS NOT PROVIDED TOTALS $22,555.61.

  • AG Tech Summit $3,201.99
  • Sister Cities, Germany $872.68
  • August 2023 League Conference $858.04
  • Renaissance Weekend October 2023 $3,706.71
  • Airfare to DC October 2023 $803.22
  • League of Cities Summit November 2023 $1,934.50
  • Colorado Water Users December 2023 $1,885.00
  • Renaissance Weekend December 2023 $4,661.51
  • League of Cities March 2024 $4,631.93

As stated previously, trips are required to have documentation for expenses and a stated business purpose. Although Turner did not provide all the documentation required for the League trips, they do qualify as a business purpose.

However, some trips (excluding League trips) are questionable. One was tCity ohe AG Tech Summit. This conference was held by The Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture. Its key themes from its website state:

  • Finding New Sources of Funding in a Changing Economic Landscape
  • Alleviating the Impact of the Energy Crisis through Efficiencies and Alternatives
  • Accelerating Automation to Improve Crop Care and Reduce Operational Costs
  • Balancing Biology and Technology for Crop Growth and Profitability
  • Unlocking the Potential of Plant Genetics to Sow the Seeds of Growth
  • Growing Margins Through New Product Innovation from Crop to Shelf
  • Exploring the Global Potential of Indoor Farming and the Next Regional Hotspots
  • Promoting CEA as a Critical Piece of the Food Security Puzzle
  • Creating Industry Standards to Build Confidence and Communicate the Benefits of CEA

The site describes the conference as: “From multi-acre scale facility design to seed optimization for vertical growing, and from multi-million-dollar funding rounds to the fine margins of running profitable farms, an international speaking faculty will discuss the critical success factors for CEA in today’s economic environment.”

How this conference and his attendance benefitted the city is unknown. The city does not engage in vertical farming, nor is it looking for investors for such a project.

In part of the Sister Cities trip to Germany, Turner took a Vertical farming tour. Again, the city does not engage in farming or vertical farming.

The most egregious use of your taxpayer dollars was for two Renaissance Weekend trips totaling over $8,300.00. Please go to their website, https://www.renaissanceweekend.org/

These trips were purely personal enrichment trips with no city business to be derived from them. It’s a rather secretive organization with no agendas of any kind to be found on its website. I did find the following description: “Renaissance Weekend’s primary purpose is to create an environment free of partisanship and commercialism, where substantive conversations can thrive. It is described as more than a conference, emphasizing a casual, welcoming culture where all participants are heard, and all opinions are welcome. The gatherings are inter-disciplinary, inter-generational, and family-friendly, with provisions for children, including Camp Renaissance programs for younger attendees accompanied by adults. The organization’s mission is to discuss urgent questions of today and essential issues of human experience, fostering bridges among thought-leaders, trend-setters, authorities, and rising stars.

Activities at these weekends include seminars, discussions, informal lectures, and performances, with attendees designing their own schedules from available talks and sessions. Events are held several times a year, with the largest gathering traditionally around New Year’s and smaller weekends throughout the year. Locations are often chosen for their scenic beauty, such as sun-drenched beaches with panoramic Pacific views, snow-capped Rockies, or dramatic coastal areas like “Steinbeck country” near Monterey, California. Specific venues mentioned include Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Rimrock Resort & Spa, and the Monterey Plaza Hotel, offering amenities like hiking trails, golf, spas, and proximity to cultural attractions like wineries and aquariums.”

The Colorado Water Users trips may or may not have been related to city business. However, Turner did not provide the necessary information to justify these trips.

Since Turner did not comply and provide the necessary information to justify these trips after repeated requests to do so, I believe he has been asked to reimburse the city. To my knowledge, as of the end of June, 2025, he has not done so. It is logical to assume that since he will be running for reelection to his Barrel district city council seat, he will reimburse. If he does not do so, it will be used by any candidate that opposes him. Reimbursement, should it occur, does not excuse the abuse of his city credit card for what can be viewed as personal enrichment activities.

In the final Part 5, comments and conclusions regarding Councilmember Turner’s use of his ProCard will be offered.

© Joyce Clark, 2025   

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Jun 25

11

Councilmember Turner and use of ProCard, Part 3

Posted by Joyce Clark on June 11, 2025
Posted in Barrell District • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

To date in Part 1, I explained the use of a city ProCard and how seriously it is taken. In Part 2, I showed what travel expenditures Councilmember Turner has publicly posted as well as all of the trips he has not posted publicly.

In this Part 3, the public information request I made includes any and all emails between city staff and Councilmember Turner:

  • February 15, 2022, Councilmember Turner is sent an email with an attachment that specifies his councilmember responsibilities with regard to travel as well as other items.
  • March 7, 2022, Councilmember Turner is sent an email with the city’s Travel and Reimbursement Policies.
  • February 1, 2024, Councilmember Turner is sent a ProCard audit of his ProCard use.
  • February 2, 2024, Councilmember Turner’s ProCard limit is increased to $7500; there     are also requests for receipts covering April 7, 2023; September 12, 2023; October 24,  2023 and February 2, 2024.
  • March 18, 2024, Councilmember Turner is sent a request for various receipts.
  • March 25, 2024, Councilmember Turner is sent a request for various documentation.
  • April 17, 2024, Councilmember Turner is sent the City Travel Policy.
  • April 24, 2024, Councilmember Turner is sent a request for documentation of travel
  • April 24, 2024, Councilmember Turner is notified that his ProCard is suspended.
  • April 24, 2024, Councilmember Turner is notified that his ProCard limits are set to zero and his card is inactivated.
  • June 25, 2024, Councilmember Turner is sent a request for receipts.
  • June 28, 2024, Councilmember Turner is sent a request for receipts.
  • December 20, 2024. Councilmember Turner is notified that his ProCard is deactivated.

Please note that I received no emails reflecting Councilmember Turner’s responses to repeated staff requests for receipts and documentation. He may have responded verbally and that would not be within the scope of my public information request. However, verbal responses are not sufficient according to city policy. All documentation and receipts are to be in writing.

There is no problem with elected officials attending the National League of Cities and Towns (NLC) meetings. It is a good way to learn by attending workshops and lectures. There is also the opportunity to network with other elected officials from throughout the country.

Typically, elected officials will attend the annual state and national NLC Conferences and in March will go to Washington, D. C. to meet with Congress members to lobby for projects that benefit their communities.

It was at one of these NLC conferences that Mayor Weiers learned about veterans’ housing. He brought the concept back to Glendale where it was then implemented.

Councilmember Turner seems to have no problem spending money – your taxpayer dollars – when traveling. For example, he, Councilmembers Malnar and Tolmachoff and the Mayor attended the National League of Cities Summit in Kansas City, MO from November 16-19, 2022. Mayor Weiers’ total for the trip was $1,968.23. Councilmember Malnar spent $2,269.60. Councilmember Tolmachoff spent $2,296.29. Councilmember Turner spent $3,285.79. Turner spent 67% more than Mayor Weiers; 45% more than Councilmember Malnar and 43% more than Councilmember Tolmachoff.

Here’s another example. Mayor Weiers and Councilmembers Malnar, Tolmachoff and Turner attended the National League of Cities Conference in Washington, D. C. from March 9 to March 13, 2024. Mayor Weiers’ total was $4,038.66; Councilmember Malnar’s total was $3,844.89; Councilmember Tolmachoff’s total was $2,973.60 (may have used airline miles to reduce the cost of her airfare); and Councilmember Turner’s total was $4,631.96. Turner spent 13.47% more than the mayor. He spent 20.47% more than Councilmember Malnar and 55.77% more than Councilmember Tolmachoff.

It was also on these two trips that Councilmember Turner received seat upgrades. On his Kansas City NLC trip an additional $96.59 was spent on seat upgrades and on his Washington, D. C. he spent $143.00 on seat upgrades. This is contrary to city policy which states the ProCard cannot be used to pay for seat upgrades.

He also tends to overtip (more than 20%) Uber drivers. Again, city policy caps tips at 20%.

As is documented under my public information request, Turner was asked repeatedly for receipts and documentation for various trips which apparently, he did not provide. This lead to the termination of his ProCard in December of 2024. 

Why did he not respond to repeated staff requests for further documentation and receipts for his travel expenditures?

He tends to spend more than any other Glendale official on these trips. It appears that he certainly doesn’t have you, the Glendale taxpayer, in mind. It may be that he forgets exactly whose money is being spent.

In Part 4 and last of this series, we’ll look at some problematical trips Councilmember Turner has taken and then draw some final conclusions about his travel expenditures.

© Joyce Clark, 2025   

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

 

 

Jun 25

6

Councilmember Bart Turner and his use of a City Procurement Card, Part 2

Posted by Joyce Clark on June 6, 2025
Posted in Barrell District • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

In Part 1 of this series, I explained the use of the city’s credit card and how seriously travel expenditures using the ProCard are viewed. It is taxpayer-funded, and the expenditure is expected to benefit you, the taxpayer, by attending conferences or meetings that will improve an employee’s productivity. The city requires accountability in the form of receipts and transparency by publicly posting.

There is a lot of information that had to be organized and simplified. It was no easy feat. That is why it is taking so long to share this information with you. Special thanks goes to “anonymous” who helped me to break down the over 500 pages of documents I received through my public information request.

One way that anyone can view travel expenses for city councilmembers is to go to the city’s Follow Your Money page. Here is the link: https://www.glendaleaz.com/your_government/city_council/council_expenditure_reports

Since we are reviewing Councilmember Turner’s expenditures, for purposes of comparison I also looked at Councilmembers Malnar’s and Tolmachoff’s expenditures. I did not compare the Mayor’s travel expenditures as they would be quite different to those of a councilmember. I also did not compare with Councilmembers Guzman, Baldenegro or Conchas as they are new and have no previous years of expenditures. Here is what is publicly available regarding Councilmembers Malnar, Turner and Tolmachoff:

Malnar travel

Malnar Maricopa Association of Governments Economic Development Committee Trip Mexico City February 2019

 Malnar NLC Washington DC March 2019

 Malnar Annual League of AZ Cities & Towns Conference in Tucson, AZ

 Malnar NLC City Summit in Kansas City, MO Nov 2022

 Malnar Annual League of AZ Cities & Towns Conference in Tucson, AZ 2023

 Malnar NLC City Summit in Atlanta, GA Nov 2023

 Malnar NLC Conference Washington DC March 2024

 

Turner travel

Turner NLC Washington DC March 2019

 Turner AZ League of Cities August 2019

 Turner WATEC Conference Nov 2019

 

Tolmachoff travel           

Tolmachoff NLC Los Angeles Nov. 2018

Tolmachoff NLC Washington DC Mar. 2019

Tolmachoff NLC San Antonio Nov. 2019

Tolmachoff NLC City Summit in Kansas City, MO Nov 2022

Tolmachoff NLC Congressional City Conference Mar. 2023

Tolmachoff League Annual Conference Aug. 2023

Tolmachoff NLC City Summit Atlanta Nov. 2023

Tolmachoff NLC Washington DC Mar. 2024

What is astounding is that Councilmember Turner has only listed travel expenditures for one year, 2019. Yet expenditures from 2019 to 2024 should be listed but are not. The question is why? Your guess is as good as anyone else’s. I’m sure he’ll try to provide a reasonable explanation, but it does not excuse the fact that he has not bothered to list 5 years’ worth of travel expenditures.

So much for a councilmember that repeatedly calls for transparency and accountability. We can see that he has traveled quite a bit and yet not bothered to publicly list any of it. All information obtained through a public information request as it is not publicly posted under Follow Your Money.

Let’s begin with a list of all of the travel that Turner did not bother to post publicly. (This information was obtained via my public information request. Please note I received no public information on travel expenditures prior to November, 2022. It is most likely due to COVID in 2020 and 2021). Here is the list of Turner’s travel not publicly available:

  • National League of Cities Summit, Kansas City, MO, November 16-19, 2022, $3285.79
  • National League of Cities Conference, Washington, D.C., March 26-28, 2023, $3650.37
  • Indoor AG Tech Innovation Summit, New York City, Jun 29-30, 2023, $3165.36
  • Sister Cities trip, Memmingen, Germany, July 19-23, 2023, $917.46
  • League of Cities and Towns Conference, Tucson. AZ, August 29 – September 1, 2023*
  •  Renaissance Weekend, New York City, October 5-9, 2023, $3683.63
  • Colorado River Water Users Association, Washington, D.C., October 17-20, 2023, $1353.21
  • National League of Cities Conference, Atlanta, GA, November 15-18, 2023, $1979.50
  • Colorado River Water Users Association, Las Vegas, NV, December 13-15, 2023, $1651.32
  •  Renaissance Weekend, Charleston, SC, December 28, 2023 – January 1, 2024, $4661.51
  • National League of Cities Conference, Washington, D.C., March 9 -13, 2024, $4631.96

Total expenditures for these 10 trips: $28,980.11 (*League August 2023 expenditures unknown).

City travel policy states under Section D, examples of what is not allowed: “Priority boarding fees and airline seat premiums or upgrades, unless other options are not available.”

For the trips listed above $836.73 was charged for seat upgrades/preferred seats/main cabin extra seats.

There is certainly more to cover but this is enough overload for you, the reader. In Part 3 of this series, we will take a deeper dive into Turner’s travel expenditures.

© Joyce Clark, 2025   

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 25

22

Councilmember Bart Turner and his use of a City Procurement Card, Part 1

Posted by Joyce Clark on May 22, 2025
Posted in Barrell District • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

On January 16, 2025, I made the following Public Information Request of the Glendale City Clerk: “All available information held by the city relating to Councilmember Bart Turner and his travel and any requests for reimbursement as a result of the use of his ProCard for his travel from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2024. That includes, but is not limited to, correspondence, emails, charts, and memoranda between the Councilmember and any member of the City of Glendale staff.”

On March 12, 2025, I received the public records I had requested.

I had heard from various sources that Councilmember Bart Turner’s Procurement Card (also referred to as ProCard or pcard) had been terminated. This is highly unusual. That is why I made the Public Information Request. It was to verify that his ProCard had indeed been terminated and why.

All of the information used is a public record and can be obtained by making the same request to the City Clerk for information that I did.

If anyone from the media wishes to confirm this public information or do further reporting, I will make the public records I received available.

First, it is important for you, the reader, to know some background information. A ProCard is, in essence, the city’s credit card. Certain levels of department personnel and elected officials have a ProCard issued to them. Routinely it is used for educational courses, office supplies, event supplies and travel. With the exception of travel, the charges are usually small.

The city takes the use of a ProCard very seriously. It must be used exclusively for small purchases, education, travel or city business that will benefit an employee’s (including elected officials) productivity by learning new methods or procedures related to one’s job or by networking with others in the same field or by gaining instruction on new or amended federal or state laws that can impact the city. There are miscellaneous reasons, such as grant procurement, for use of the ProCard but they must be related to and in some way bring a benefit to the city. Under no circumstances may a ProCard be used for any personal reason or to purchase alcohol.

Here is the city policy regarding employee reimbursement from SimpliCity Employee Expense Reimbursement (EER) dated 4/14/2020:

“An employee expense claim can take the form of a travel expense per Financial Administrative Policy (FAP) #7, education expense, or other expenses such as vest/supplies/professional development/miscellaneous expense.”

Many years ago, the Glendale City Council adopted a policy that it, too, would be subject to the very same employee policies related to reimbursement for travel or any other legitimate expenditures.

The city’s Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy dated 12/15/20 and last revised on 4/01/2022 states,

Purpose: “It is the duty of all travelers to carefully weigh any expenditure of public funds. Travel expenditures should only be incurred when there is a clear business need that benefits the city. It is the responsibility of the traveler to maintain correct and proper records to report only authorized city business related expenses when reporting expenses for travel. In addition, it is the employee responsibility when requesting reimbursement for expenses to make sure the expenditures reflect allowable City business, are documented and receive proper authorization.”

Application: “This policy is applicable to all City of Glendale employees, contract employees, temporary employees, agents, volunteers, and contractors unless otherwise specified. To the extent that elected officials resolve to follow this policy, certain exceptions may apply.”

Now that I have shared the responsibilities and requirements for the use of a city issued ProCard, in Part 2, we will take a deeper dive into Councilmember Turner’s use of his ProCard. Look for Part 2 to be posted soon.

© Joyce Clark, 2025   

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Apr 25

17

An answer to Worker Power’s open space in the upcoming May election

Posted by Joyce Clark on April 17, 2025
Posted in Barrell District • Cactus District • Cholla District • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances • Glendale zoning issues • Mattel Adventure Park • Ocotillo District • Sahuaro District • VAI Resort • Worker Power Super PAC • Yucca district  | Tagged With: , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

This is a blog that just had to be written after I read some social media comments. As many of you know, I am now retired but I was the Yucca district councilmember for 24 years beginning in 1992. The open space Worker Power refers to is in my district so I am very familiar with its history.

A little background is necessary. The land that VAI Resort sits on was purchased from a farmer by Michael Bidwill. He planned it as a massive commercial development with many, many apartments. He called it “Organic 101.” When the recession back in 2007 occurred, Bidwill let the parcel go into bankruptcy. It was picked up by a bank with the intention of selling the property for commercial development. The land was eventually sold to IKEA. It would have been the second such IKEA in the Phoenix Metro Area. However, IKEA decided to change its business model and become more of an online retailer and so, they never developed the land. For years it sat vacant and was rented by a local farmer to farm, mostly cotton.

Along came the Crystal Lagoon Company and Mattel and they subsequently bought the property. Crystal Lagoon morphed over time as Tommy Fisher acquired total interest and removed Crystal Lagoon interests. That is how we are fortunate enough to have VAI Resort.

Now, the second part of the history. For many years I protected and advocated for the interests and needs of the Pendergast neighborhood, adjacent to VAI. They were and are, to this day, a county island. At one time they were eager to become annexed into Glendale. Former Mayor Scruggs threw up enough roadblocks to scare them off. Pendergast Neighborhood is like my neighborhood. People live on a minimum of one acre. They have no curbs, gutters, sidewalks or streetlights. They are still on septic tanks. They love their lifestyle and have worked hard to preserve it.

One of their paramount requests was to have Maryland Avenue dead end at 95th Avenue. They recognized that if Maryland Avenue punched through to Loop 101, their lifestyle would disappear. Over time, working with the support of Glendale’s senior management team, I was able to get a dead end for Maryland Avenue.

But in doing so it created a remnant parcel owned by SRP. SRP used that strip of land to protect its adjacent irrigation ditch (open). The ditch served all of the water users in the area. Eventually SRP tiled the ditch (put it in a pipe underground). The remnant parcel was no longer of use to it and the city purchased the remnant parcel.

Glendale did what all Valley cities do. When it acquired the parcel, it had to put a zoning designation on it. Glendale, like other cities, uses the Open Space designation as a place holder. We knew it would never be Open Space because it was adjacent to a large commercially zoned parcel. Typically, what happens is a developer will buy the land, come in with a plan and seek rezoning. That is exactly what VAI did. If VAI had not purchased it, some other commercial developer would have. No one had plans to use it as Open Space. It was too valuable.

Worker Power is using the “hook” that it must be preserved as Open Space even though that was never the intention.

Another social media comment I read, and I have also heard residents say this, is along the lines that when I bought my home there were farm fields around me. Here’s some reality. Glendale became a full-fledged suburban community back in the 1970’s and 1980’s when Arrowhead was developed. In a suburban community, vacant land, especially large farm acreage, becomes increasingly more valuable as the years go by. Eventually, the purchase price of farmland becomes too enticing for a farmer and he sells. In an urban/suburban community expecting farmland to remain farmland is just not realistic.

Here’s an example. Our neighborhood of 30 homes is 1 acre parcels (and in some cases, 1+ acre). We have no curb, gutter, sidewalks or streetlights and are on septic. Some people have horses, sheep, goats and chickens. We love it. It’s a mini oasis even though we are a mile from Westgate. Years ago, the parcel immediately to our north of approximately 50 acres was farmland. We loved that too. We also knew it was inevitable that it wouldn’t remain farmland forever. About a dozen years ago a developer purchased that land. Rather than fighting the developer we worked with him and as a result, won concessions. The lot sizes are 8,000 square feet and there is an 8-foot wall between the development and our one acre properties. Those actions helped to save our lifestyle and recently one of the homes on our street sold for slightly less than a million dollars.

Expecting farmland near or around a home in a suburban area is not a realistic assumption. Expecting a remnant parcel adjacent to large commercial acreage to retain a place holder designation of open space is also not realistic.

Yet Worker Power in a desperate attempt to hurt VAI Resort (since their attempts to unionize VAI’s workers has failed to date) is trying to convince the Glendale voters that was always the intention. It was not and it never was.

Many on social media have commented on the aggressiveness of Worker Power people coming to their doors as they work the neighborhoods trying to convince people to support them. Please don’t accept their rhetoric. They are like Pinocchio and you may see their noses grow before your very eyes.

Many perceive Worker Power as a radical, socialist organization. It is based in California and is trying to bring California’s style of governance to Arizona. It claims that it is responsible for knocking out football legend Herschel Walker and electing Democrat Raphael Warnock as US Senator from Georgia. Whatever…

Worker Power is bad news not just for Glendale but for the State of Arizona. It’s time to deliver the knockout punch to them by voting ‘yes’ on Propositions 401 and 402 in Glendale’s special May 20 election. Send the message that Arizona is not California nor do we aspire to be. This election is costing you, the taxpayer, about $250,000 thanks to Worker Power.

Since this May election will be done exclusively by mail-in ballot it is important that when you receive your ballot, you vote ‘yes’ right away and mail it back quickly. About a third of the electorate do exactly that. Another third will think about it and mail it back before the deadline. The last third of the electorate never bother to mail back their ballots. Please don’t be in that last third. Please make an effort to vote ‘yes’ and get it back in the mail as soon as possible.

VAI Resort is good for Glendale and I, for one, am pleased that they chose Glendale as their home.

© Joyce Clark, 2025   

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Apr 25

10

Senate bill 1229 will destroy your home values and is very, very good for developers

Posted by Joyce Clark on April 10, 2025
Posted in Barrell District • Cactus District • Cholla District • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • City of Phoenix • City of Tempe • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances • Glendale zoning issues • Ocotillo District • Phoenix Metro issues • Sahuaro District • Yucca district  | Tagged With: , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

This bill is passing through the Arizona State Legislature but there is still time for you to let your legislators know exactly how you feel about this bill. I recently read a very good guest Letter to the Editor in the InBuckeye news written by Kim Owens, a resident of Buckeye, Arizona. It sums up this bill quite nicely and so I am sharing with you her commentary:

“Residents of Buckeye should be aware of a threat to our community, as the Arizona legislature, under the protection of homebuilders with deep pockets, pushes forward a bill that will drastically change our city – and not for the better. The bill, Senate Bill 1229, will strip Arizona cities, meaning the voters, of the right to determine what their communities will become in the future. Buckeye is particularly vulnerable due to our abundance of open land.

In the name of providing ‘starter homes,’ this sleight of hand trick will take away local control, our method of protecting our investment, and expressing our voice on how we want our city to grow.

It is quite simply the big hand of government taking over our city, putting developers in complete control.

SB1229 is being forced upon us despite overwhelming public opposition from cities, towns, police, and fire departments, as well as voters. It epitomizes government overreach. The Buckeye general plan, approved by voters, serves as our roadmap for growth and development; however, it becomes irrelevant under SB 1229. This plan is crucial for maintaining the balance between residential, commercial, and open spaces in our city. Without it, Buckeye faces unplanned, chaotic development that disregards the needs and desires of its residents.

This bill will:

Require cities to allow high-density housing, with lot sizes as small as 3,000 square feet, in all new developments zoned as single-family residential,

Prohibit cities from requiring community parks, amenities or open space that is vital for quality of life,

Require cities allow remove any regulations stating a minimum square footage for a single-family home,

Forbid any maximum or minimum coverage requirements for a single-family home with no limit on the number or size of other structures on the lot,

Forbid regulations requiring the distance between property lines be more than 5 feet from the side lot lines and 10 feet from the front and rear lot lines,

Prohibit any design, architectural, or aesthetic requirements for a single-family home.

Essentially, build whatever the developer wants, as close as they want, out of whatever materials they want. This bill is designed to strip local cities and their citizens of the right to control the size and quality of growth in their communities, leading to second-class neighborhoods that are visually and structurally inferior.

Say hello to a future where the minimum standards for lot sizes and home dimensions can lead to overcrowded, blighted neighborhoods. Subdivisions could have as many as 12 to14 homes per acre built from any materials, such as cargo boxes.

Picture it – 3,000-square-foot lots, no fencing, five feet between each house, and free-for-all approach to architectural design. With no requirement that these “starter homes” be sold to working families or be owner-occupied, they will be little more than corporate, short-term housing money machines for developers that can be built anywhere, without regard for community input. Meanwhile, the property values in surrounding neighborhoods plummet, our streets become congested, police and fire are pushed to the limit, and schools are more crowded.

The threat posed by SB1229 to Buckeye is substantial and should not be overlooked. It compromises our ability to govern our community’s growth, protect our investment, and preserve our unique character. By mobilizing and taking action, we can safeguard our city’s future and ensure that development reflects the wishes and needs of its residents. It is essential to stand together and make our voices heard to prevent the irreversible changes that SB1229 threatens to impose.”

Although this commentary was written for Buckeye residents, make no mistake, this bill will affect all of us. residents must speak out against SB1229. So far, this bill has the votes to pass – it is time for us to make out voices heard! Here’s what you can do:

Voice your concerns to our State Representatives by email – tell them to VOTE NO ON SB1299:

Spread the Word: share this info with your neighbors, ask them to send an email.

Utilize Social Media: Provide information to wider networks – this affects every city in the state. Please contact your Arizona State legislators and make your voices heard. Here is a list of those legislators that represent Glendale:

Senator Eva Diaz District 22                 Email:  eva.diaz@azleg.gov

Rep Elda Luna-Nájera District 22        Email:  eluna-najera@azleg.gov

Rep Lupe Contreas District 22             Email:   lcontreras@azleg.gov

Senator Analise Ortiz District 24         Email:  analise.ortiz@azleg.gov

Rep Lydia Hernandez District 24         Email:    lhernandez@azleg.gov

Rep Anna Abeytia District 24               Email:  aabeytia@azleg.org

Senator Tim Dunn District 25              Email:   tdunn@azleg.gov

Rep Michael Carbone District 25        Email:  mcarbone@azleg.gov

Rep Nick Kupper District 25                 Email:   nkupper@azleg.gov

Senator Flavio Bravo District 26          Email:   fbravo@azleg.gov

Rep Cesar Aguilar District 26               Email:  caguilar@azleg.gov

Rep Quanta Crews District 26              Email:  qcrews@azleg.gov

Senator Kevin Payne District 27          Email:  kpayne@azleg.gov

Rep Lisa Fink District 27                        Email:  lfink@azleg.gov

Rep Tony Rivero District 27                  Email:  trivero@azleg.gov

Senator Janae Shamp District 29        Email:   jshamp@azleg.gov

Rep Steve Montenegro District 29      Email:  smontenegro@azleg.gov

Rep James Taylor District 29                Email: jtaylor@azleg.gov

© Joyce Clark, 2025   

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Feb 25

9

Recall Councilmember Leandro Baldenegro….NO!

Posted by Joyce Clark on February 9, 2025
Posted in Barrell District • Cactus District • Cholla District • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Downtown Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Ocotillo District • Velma Teague Library  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

This is a long post but certainly worth reading.

Several factions are mounting a petition drive for a recall election against Councilmember Leandro Baldenegro of the Ocotillo District. In the Spring of 2024, Councilmember Jamie Aldama resigned his Ocotillo seat in a failed attempt to run for mayor. He never made the ballot for mayor because many of his petition signatures were found to be fraudulent and therefore, he never acquired the number of signatures needed to be on the ballot.

In April 2024, city council accepted applications and conducted interviews for the Ocotillo seat. Leandro Baldenegro was interviewed and impressed council with his answers. He is smart, down-to-earth, understands how local government works and expressed a genuine desire to serve the people of the Ocotillo district.

Now, there are several interest groups that have coalesced around obtaining petition signatures to force a recall of Baldenegro because they do not like the way he handled the issue of the Velma Teague Library.

These interest groups include Councilmember Lupe Conchas’ (Cactus district) supporters, Councilmember Bart Turner’s (Barrel district) supporters, the downtown disaffected who dislike a majority of the sitting council as well as senior management and former Councilmember Jamie Aldama’s supporters.

Councilmembers Conchas and Turner have made naked attempts to take over the affairs of the Ocotillo district. It is not either of their districts. Some of their activities have occurred without notifying Councilmember Baldenegro. These actions are in violation of Council Guidelines which require councilmembers when conducting activities in another councilmember’s district to notify the councilmember as a courtesy.

Their agenda is simple. Get rid of Councilmember Baldenegro in a recall election and replace him with Roree Goree. Goree, a pro-Aldama supporter, for the past year has made it a point to speak during the public comment portion of council voting meetings in order to get televised face and airtime. This ploy is a strategy so that Goree will be better known when he runs for the Ocotillo seat.

Make no mistake. If these factions succeed there will be a new majority that will replace the current conservative councilmembers and mayor with a Woke, liberal, Democrat majority comprised of Councilmembers Conchas, Turner and Tolmachoff with a new 4th, majority member, Rory Goree. I do not think the majority of Glendale residents would be happy with such an outcome and could very well force the removal of one or more of this aspiring new majority in upcoming elections.

Did you know the next regularly scheduled election for the Cholla district, Barrel district and Ocotillo district council positions will be in 2026? In fact, candidates wishing to run for these seats will pull nominating packets this Fall/Winter.

If a Special Election is called it will probably occur in November 2025. The cost will be borne by Glendale taxpayers and is estimated to be about $250,000 for a Special Election. This is crazy. Why is a special election needed when there will be a regular election for the seat in 2026? It makes no sense and is wasteful of taxpayer dollars.

I urge the registered voters of the Ocotillo district when asked to sign the recall petition, to just say ‘no’. Do not buy into their propaganda attempting to convince you that Leandro Baldenegro needs to be replaced. It is wasteful and unnecessary.

Recently, Councilmember Baldenegro posted a thorough and thoughtful response to this recall effort. He answers recent questions with fact and forthrightness. I was impressed and decided to offer it to a wider audience.

Leandro Baldenegro .

February 2, 2025 

“SORT OF A LONG POST BUT EVERYONE IN GLENDALE OR FROM GLENDALE NEEDS TO PLEASE READ IT!!!

I thought I would set the record straight on a few things that I am dealing with in my City Councilman life. Please feel free to repost and share with as many people as you like…I don’t have anything to hide and everything that I will be sharing is fact based (not opinions) and can be completely verified by anyone at anytime (Freedom of Information Act). So….here we go.

  1. It has been posted online and spoken in public that I ignored “thousands” of people who reached out to me to oppose the moving of the Velma Teague Library.

THE TRUTH IS when I went back and searched every email with the subject line having anything written about “saving the library” or something related to that sort of wording, I found 9 emails total. 9…not thousands….but only 9 and received maybe as many voicemails. So I can say that roughly 20 people (I added a few more for this conversation) reached out to me. I spoke face to face with about 20 or so people (both residents and business owners) and they were completely satisfied with the original plan to move the library for the reasons given in the presentation.

  1. It has been posted online and spoken in public that I have every intention to still move forward with moving the library to a different location and tearing down the current library building. The picture that is being painted is that I “pressed pause” for now and will carry out the previous plan.

THE TRUTH IS I have contacted city officials to see if the building DOES or DOES NOT qualify to be designated as a historic building. I was told it doesn’t, but I had a citizen that is under the impression that it does. That same citizen also told me that I need to look into seeing if the park itself would qualify as a “historic area” and by extension the building would be labeled “historic” as well and would then qualify for federal grants. Those two ideas were thrown around a lot by people online from what I was told. I am making sure and double checking to see if any of these ideas have merit. EVEN IF THEY DON’T, I will be working with a team of citizens, business owners, parents, teachers, students and library employees to hopefully come up with a few ideas for a new/updated/better library regardless of how that is defined.

  1. It has been posted online and spoken in public that I have made irresponsible decisions on my own without asking the community for any feedback about removing some exercise equipment from one of the parks here in my district.

THE TRUTH IS THAT the only time I have ever been involved with removing anything from any city park was when I attended a meeting with a group of veterans at a park and one of the attendees asked if a certain exercise apparatus could be removed because it was an eyesore and that citizen had never seen anyone ever use it. It was shortly after that meeting that I had another meeting with the director of Parks and Recreation through a Council Item Of Special Interest (CIOSI) request to see what we needed to do moving forward. That particular CIOSI had a few items in it including installing a flagpole (that was already purchased by a citizen), installing a plaque (that was already purchased by the city after a citizen submitted all the required paperwork on her own) and possibly having a military mural painted on the block walls of the park. There is a meeting tentatively scheduled for Saturday February 22nd at Veteranos Park on the southeast corner of 54th Ave and Ocotillo to gather more information from the community.

  1. It has been posted online and spoken in public that I lied about the story of a kind woman who told me on at least 4 occasions that she was mad and upset at my decision to move the library but that she still loved me and hoped that I would change my mind.

THE TRUTH IS that women in question is Martha Dennis. She is a retired teacher. She was my 86-year-old mother’s first friend when my mother arrived here from Mexico. As my mother has told all of my family over the years, my mother was picked on by the other Mexican girls in her school for being friends with a white girl and Martha was picked on by the other white girls for being friends with a Mexican girl. My mother has told my family this story for at least the last 40 years. I believe it to be true…why would my mother ever lie about something like that. Marth and her family have been friends with my mom and our family for many years. Martha was not at the meeting when I explained why it was her that helped me change my vote and do what I felt was necessary to reverse my prior decision. From what I was told, she received a few phone calls letting her know what I did and how she was mentioned. She did leave me a nice voice mail thanking me…and telling me that she loved me.

YOU can verify all of this information by contacting the city clerk’s office and asking for the emails pertaining to all of these issues. I believe you can request a transcript for the workshops and meetings as well. The Freedom of Information Act is in place so you can do this.

I can counter all of their irresponsible claims with VERIFIABLE PROOF. I don’t know if they will ever provide YOU any proof of their claims…but you certainly have the right to ask them to.

Certain individuals have submitted a petition to RECALL me and force the city to spend about $250,000 (that is what I was told it costs to run an election) to force a recall election. They could just wait until next year and run against me in the general election which the city would already be paying to conduct. I just want everyone to ask this very simple question…what has Councilmember Baldenegro done that was so traumatic and so scandalous that it requires him to be removed by a recall election?

In an upcoming post, I will list in detail all of the things that I have been doing since I was sworn in last April. I will gladly show you my body of work that my team (city employees) and I have worked on. I will list what I have planned for the future. I will describe what my life consists of now compared to before I was on the city council. I have been and will continue to be transparent. I have been and will continue to support and promote Ocotillo District and specifically Downtown Glendale. In spite of having purchased some more formal attire, I have been and will continue to be A REGULAR GUY doing a job with a politician’s title.

I look forward to sticking around for a long time as the proud councilmember of the Ocotillo District in the City of Glendale.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!!!”

© Joyce Clark, 2025   

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

 

Jul 24

24

One last look at the two Lupes

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 24, 2024
Posted in Barrell District • Cactus District • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale election 2024 • Primary Election August 2024 • Yucca district  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

The primary election is in one week, July 30th. Please do vote. It’s now too late to mail your Early Ballot but you can drop it off at the Glendale City Clerk’s office at the Civic Center Annex in downtown Glendale or you can drop it off on Election Day at a polling location.

Here are a couple of recent observations that have come to my attention. Lupe Encinas in a recent mailer used this photo:

I have learned that a complaint has been filed for its use of Glendale’s employees, namely police officers with no disclaimer or permission. A candidate cannot use Glendale’s employees in campaign literature. She will probably plead ignorance and that she didn’t know it was a violation. If she is found to have violated election law I suspect she will be fined.

At the candidate forum held by the Glendale Women’s Club, only the Lupe twins appeared. The Vice Mayor had a previous commitment and Dianna Guzman had had emergency surgery. During the forum, Conchas said at one point, “When I’m knocking on doors I hear a lot about speed enforcement and speed safety… I have been talking to residents about solutions and that includes more motorcycle police and giving out a few more speeding tickets.” This is the height of irony considering that Conchas has two traffic citations in his background and a Failure to Appear at one of those court hearings. Yet now he’s concerned about traffic safety and speeding. Check out these:

A recent anti-Vice Mayor Hugh was mailed out recently. It was paid for by the political action committee, Moving Glendale Forward, ID# 24-02. It was created specifically to do one action – print and mail a hit piece on Councilmember Hugh. The contributors to this PAC are 3 people, no one else, Art Othon of Othon Consulting, donated $500; Andy Konasek of Arizona Strategies, donated $500; and surprise! Bart Turner, Glendale City Councilmember representing Glendale’s Barrell district, $2,325.09. The printing and mailing cost $3,325.09. Bart Turner paid for 70% of the mailer. It appears that Turner despises Hugh and not just Hugh, but me, Mayor Weiers and Councilmember Malnar. In other words, the majority on Glendale’s city council.

He is financially supporting the two Lupes, Conchas and Encinas, both Democrats. There are more skeletons in Turner’s closet, but they are for another day in his future.

Turner appears to be a RINO Republican. When Democrat Mark Kelly was running for office Turner endorsed him and was subsequently censored by Republican Legislative District 24.

Several observers from that night at the Women’s Club shared their comments with me. One said Encinas is really “dumb” and another said she has “no grasp of the issues.” The last observer to reach out to me said both candidates had a golden opportunity to share specific solutions and to identify specific issues. Instead, they used platitudes and spoke in generalities. They both showed that they had no real understanding of Glendale’s policies or issues.

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “Me thinks thou doth protest too much.” It’s from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The continual protests coming from the Encinas camp about connections with the radical Conchas should raise eyebrows. They had more than one Meet n Greet together. It certainly wasn’t a one-off.

The last thing Glendale needs right now are radicalized Democrats who espouse Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), defunding the police, higher taxes, gender transformation of children and open borders…the Democrat Pary platform.

Glendale is in a good position, economically and socially. Let’s keep it on a path of prosperity and safety for all of Glendale. Please vote for Ian Hugh and Dianna Guzman.

© Joyce Clark, 2024    

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Jan 24

21

City Council Candidate Committee Reports of January 2024

Posted by Joyce Clark on January 21, 2024
Posted in Barrell District • Cactus District • Cholla District • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Downtown Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale election 2024 • Primary Election August 2024 • Sahuaro District • Yucca district  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

City Council candidates never seem very interesting to the public as a Mayoral candidate or a Congressional candidate. I don’t know why because your city councilmember is the closest form of leadership to you, the public. These are the people who determine what your water bill is. When you have a problem with the city, these are the people you call. They determine city policies on virtually every aspect of your daily life and represent your city on a myriad of regional, state, and national committees.

Your choice of a city councilmember should be guided by someone who shares your values and who is responsive to your comments, questions, and concerns. If they can’t be bothered doing that as a candidate, I can assure you that they will not be responsive when elected.

Let’s look at the very first Candidate Financial Reports for those running and who is no longer running for council seats in Glendale. In general, none of the candidates have raised a lot of funding yet. Their campaigns start off slow as they hustle for signatures from registered voters for their nominating petitions. Once those petitions are turned in this March, they will be in full candidate mode as they start to raise money in earnest, order their campaign material and go to any groups’ meeting that they are invited to.

Patty Ortega expressed an interest in running for the Yucca Council seat last spring. Since then, she has changed her mind and is no longer interested.

The only uncontested city council race is that of incumbent Councilmember Ray Malnar, representing the Sahuaro District. It’s easy to see why. He’s doing a good job. He is sensitive to and responsive to his district residents. He is also even-handed in his policy discussions and decisions. Here’s what his financial report states. He started with $1,830.37 from his last campaign for Sahuaro district and loaned his committee $250.00. He has received $853.70 in campaign contributions. His expenses to date have been $954.21 leaving him with a balance of $1,729.86. His campaign contributors to date are:

  • Connie Kaiser
  • David Mitchell
  • Marion Malnar
  • Ron Kolb

He has received no Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions.

His major expenses are:

  • GoDaddy, $46.34 for a domain site
  • Wix, $267.87 for a web site

There are no rumors or speculation to report.

Incumbent Councilmember Ian Hugh also has a good record with his constituency. His policy decisions have been good for the city. He is one of the best and most responsive councilmembers. He is caring and will help his constituents out personally whenever possible. Here is his financial report. He starts with $23,753.74 from his last campaign for the Cactus District. He has raised $6,800.00 and has spent $843.14 to date leaving him with a balance of $29,710.60. He has received one maximum contribution of $6,550:

  • Louis Sands, owner of Sands Chevrolet

His other contribution:

  • Ron Kolb, Glendale business owner

He has received no PAC contributions. His expenses to date have been:

  • Costco, $650.57 for election announcement refreshments
  • Staples, $68.97 for petition copies and walking maps
  • Mail and More, $51.60 for petition copies and walking maps

There are no rumors or speculation to date.

A recent contender has surfaced to oppose Councilmember Hugh, Guadalupe “Lupe” Gonzalez, Jr. He pulled a packet and filed a Statement of Organization last week. Consequently, there is no Candidate Financial report available. According to his filing he is the Organizing Manager for a non-profit organization, ONE Campaign, devoted to fighting poverty and disease throughout the world. He is also running for the Alhambra Elementary School Board.

Diana Guzman is a candidate for the Yucca Council seat. She has raised $5,304.84 with $1.602.71 coming from a state legislative senate campaign committee. She has loaned her committee $3,102.13. She spent $1,602.64 leaving her with a balance of $3,702.20.

She has no contributors who have given the maximum amount of $6,550.00. She has received no PAC contributions. Here are her contributors:

  • Ernie Guzman, relative
  • Jane Breakiron, Behavioral Health

Her expenses to date include:

  • Vista Print, $98.27 for business cards
  • Office Max, $64.73 for petition copies
  • Hondo’s Screen Printing, $390.20 for ?
  • Next Day Flyers, $171.11 for pull up sign
  • Phoenix Print Shop, $651.60 for flyers
  • Hondo’s Screen Printing, $168.00 for shirts
  • Plotters Doctors, $52.13 for laminate map

Rumor and/or speculation to date is that I am supporting Diana. This is true. I encouraged her to run and am endorsing her wholeheartedly. She is smart, compassionate and shares our values and goals for the Yucca District and the City of Glendale.

Guadalupe “Lupe” Encinas is also running for the Yucca District Council seat. She has raised $2,618.07and has loaned her committee $1,270.70. She spent $967.69 leaving her with a balance of $1,650.36.

She has no contributors who have given the maximum amount of $6,550.00. She has received no PAC contributions. Here are her contributors:

  • Lauren Tolmachoff, occupation not listed, incumbent Glendale Councilmember, Cholla District
  • Luiz Guzman, occupation not listed
  • Craig Jennings, occupation not listed
  • Grant and Dana Hickman, occupation not listed
  • Glenn and Audry Hickman, occupation not listed
  • Yvonne Knaack, occupation not listed, former Glendale Councilmember
  • Bart Turner, occupation not listed, incumbent Glendale Councilmember, Barrell District
  • Natalie Stahl, occupation not listed, Chair of Encinas Campaign Committee
  • David Serey, occupation not listed, husband of Treasurer of Encinas Campaign Committee

Her expenses to date have been:

  • GoDaddy, $78.49 for email
  • La Art Printing, $889.90 for shirts, flyers and yard signs

Rumor and/or speculation include Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff encouraged her to run and is or will be, endorsing her. Watch Encinas’ level of missing information in her reports. She fails to enter information that is required. Some of the contributors’ addresses and ALL job titles and employers are missing. These are glaring omissions of fact that are reporting requirements. If she can’t follow the state law for reporting requirements what else will she fail to report?

As you can see, these initial reports don’t contain a great deal of information and the next set of reports due March 2, 2024 won’t have much new information. Once these people have turned in their nominating petitions later in March, more information will be available.

In my next blog I will be discussing the current atmosphere of politics in Glendale. Watch for it. There will be some interesting dynamics to share.

© Joyce Clark, 2023     

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