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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

[poll id=”31″][poll id=”30″]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 coming Tuesday, August 28th, is Primary Election Day in Arizona. You, the voter, will select party candidates to run in the November General Election. Those candidates range from the Governor’s office down to your local Justice of the Peace. Perhaps the most important is your local city council representative. Glendale’s councilmembers have a major and direct impact on your daily life from deciding city sales tax rates to the creation of new parks in Glendale. Your district council representative will be decided in the Primary Election on Tuesday. Since Glendale’s races are non-partisan and there are only two candidates each for the Barrel and Ocotillo Districts, whoever receives the most votes will be your councilmember. They will not continue on to the General Election in November. The Cholla District has but one candidate, Vice Mayor Tolmachoff. She will automatically continue to be the Cholla Councilmember no matter what the vote total.

If you remain undecided I urge you to call the candidates directly and ask them questions about their positions on issues of importance to you. Here are their phone numbers:

  • Emmanuel Allen              602-488-0147
  • Bart Turner                     623-487-3808
  • Ray Strahl                      623-341-7614
  • Jamie Aldama                 623-930-2249 (I could only find the main city council office                                                                number)

Below I have listed the polling locations for the Barrel and Ocotillo Districts. If you still have your Early Ballot, please fill it out and drop it off at your polling location. Voting is from 6 AM to 7 PM at all polling locations. Voting at the polls on Primary Election day is usually light. You should be able to get in, vote and get out quickly.

On Primary Election Day these are the voting locations for the voters in the Barrel District:

  • BUTLER                   APOLLO HIGH SCHOOL                         AUDITORIUM   
  •                                 8045 N 47TH AVE
  •                                 GLENDALE, AZ 85302
  • COPPERWOOD        WEST VALLEY UNITARIAN                    SANCTUARY
  •                                 UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
  •                                 5904 W CHOLLA ST
  •                                 GLENDALE, AZ 85304
  • GEMINI                    FOSTERING HOPE                                    TBD
  •                                  5609 W CACTUS RD
  •                                  GLENDALE, AZ 85304
  • GLENCROFT              APOLLO HIGH SCHOOL                         AUDITORIUM   
  •                                   8045 N 47TH AVE
  •                                  GLENDALE, AZ 85302
  • RIVIERA                   WEST VALLEY UNITARIAN                    SANCTUARY
  •                                   UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
  •                                   5904 W CHOLLA ST
  •                                   GLENDALE, AZ 85304
  • SAHUARO RANCH     WEST VALLEY UNITARIAN                    SANCTUARY 
  •                                   UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
  •                                   5904 W CHOLLA ST
  •                                   GLENDALE, AZ 85304
  • BERYL                        GLENDALE CHRISTIAN CHURCH       FELLOWSHIP HALL
  •                                   9661 N. 59TH AVE
  •                                   GLENDALE, AZ. 85302
  • CARON                     GLENDALE CHRISTIAN CHURCH       FELLOWSHIP HALL
  •                                   9661 N. 59TH AVE
  •                                   GLENDALE, AZ. 85302

If you are in the Barrel district here is a precinct map that may help you in figuring out which precinct is yours. There are blue tick marks in each Barrel precinct.Once you know the precinct you know your polling location.

Barrel District Precincts

On Election Day these are the voting locations for the voters in the Ocotillo District:

  • BETHANY PARK  DON MENSENDICK SCHOOL              BAND ROOM/SPECIAL ED
  •                             5535 N 67TH AVE
  •                             GLENDALE, AZ 85301                
  • BONSALL PARK     ST ANDREWS EPISCOPAL CHURCH        PARISH HALL 
  •                               6300 W CAMELBACK RD
  •                               GLENDALE, AZ 85301  
  • CHALLENGER         DESERT GARDEN SCHOOL                        LIBRARY 
  •                                7020 W. OCOTILLO ROAD
  •                                GLENDALE, AZ 85303          
  • MONTEBELLO       ST ANDREWS EPISCOPAL CHURCH        PARISH HALL   
  •                               6300 W CAMELBACK RD,
  •                               GLENDALE, AZ 85301      
  • MANISTEE            ST ANDREWS EPISCOPAL CHURCH        NARTHEX (LOBBY) 
  •                               7205 N 51ST AVE
  •                               GLENDALE, AZ 85301                 
  • PECK                     FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH/GLENDALE    FELLOWSHIP HALL
  •                               6242 N 59TH AVE,
  •                               GLENDALE, AZ 85301                
  • TUCKEY                 HAROLD W SMITH SCHOOL #40               LIBRARY        
  •                               6534 N 63RD AVE,
  •                               GLENDALE, AZ 85301

 If you are in the Ocotillo district here is a precinct map that may help you in figuring out which precinct is yours. There are blue tick marks in each Ocotillo precinct. Once you know the precinct you know your polling location.

Ocotillo District Precincts

If you still can’t figure out where to go to vote please go to the Maricopa County Recorder site: https://recorder.maricopa.gov/elections/ . Here is their complete contact information:

Recorder and Elections Dept. 
Main Downtown Office
111 S. Third Ave.
Phoenix AZ 85003
Hours: 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday
Phone: 602-506-3535
T.D.D. 602-506-2348

I hope you will cast your vote for Emmanuel Allen as your Ocotillo District councilmember and Ray Strahl as your Barrel District councilmember. No matter your choice please remember to vote this Tuesday, August 28th from 6 AM to 7 PM.

© Joyce Clark, 2018         

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.

[poll id=”31″][poll id=”30″]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.

Glendale’s Primary election is on Tuesday, August 28th, in less than 2 weeks. Just in case you think your vote doesn’t count let’s look back at some close elections.   

  • In the 2010 Ocotillo District Primary Election there were 3 candidates. The top two vote getters that would move on to the General Election were David Goulet with 738 votes and Norma Alvarez with 725 votes. A difference of 13 votes. Ms. Alvarez would go on to win in the General Election by 193 votes out of a total of 3,584 votes cast.
  • In the 2012 Cactus District General Election out of 7,259 votes cast, Ian Hugh prevailed over Gary Hirsch by 172 votes.
  • In the 2014 Ocotillo District Primary Election Jamie Aldama won by 19 votes out of       2, 423 total votes cast. Aldama had 1221 votes to Alvarez’ 1202 votes.
  • In the 2016 Yucca District Primary Election with 3,151 votes cast, I prevailed over Chavira. I had 1591 votes and Chavira had 1545 votes – a difference of 46 votes. 
  • In the 2016 Mayoral contest with 26,022 votes cast, Jerry Weiers with 13,712 votes beat Mark Burdick with 12,767 votes – a difference of 405 votes.

Despite overall voter apathy in Glendale and because so few registered voters actually take the time to vote, Glendale’s elections tend to be ‘squeakers’. Expect about 2500 people to vote in the Ocotillo district and about 4,000 to 5,000 voters in the Barrel district. With those kinds of numbers you can see that truly every vote does count.

If your Early Ballot is still sitting on your kitchen table or ‘To Do’ pile, dig it out, fill it out, and please send it in. You don’t need postage and it only takes 5 minutes to swing by a postal outlet or postal box when going to and from work or grocery shopping. You still have time to mail it in.

If you are a poll voter, take a minute to get online at the Maricopa County Recorder’s Election website and check to find your polling location. Many locations change from one election cycle to another. Don’t assume that because you voted at a local church or school site that it will automatically be used as a voting site this time.

Vice Mayor Lauren Tolmachoff of the Cholla District is running unopposed and her election will simply confirm that fact. In the Ocotillo District your candidates are Emmanuel Allen and Jamie Aldama. In the Barrel District your choices are Ray Strahl and Bart Turner.

To tell you the truth, there is not a lot of daylight between all of the candidates’ positions on the issues. It may come down to a question of character and passion. I think perhaps the best way to help you to decide in this election is to call the candidate directly and ask about any local issue important to you.  Did the candidate call you back? If not, don’t expect to get a better response should that person be elected.

In the spirit of fairness, I went to each candidates’ online presence, whether it was Facebook or an independent web site and looked for a contact phone number. I was able to find the following:

  • Emmanuel Allen     602-488-0147
  • Bart Turner           623-487-3808
  • Ray Strahl            623-341-7614
  • Jamie Aldama       623-930-2249 (I could only find the main city council office number)

Please do vote. It’s so important to the future of Glendale…and you and your family’s future as well. Yours could be one of a very few votes that causes a candidate to win or lose. Remember a margin of 19 votes can decide the winner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Joyce Clark, 2018         

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

 

 

 

[poll id=”31″][poll id=”30″]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 Wednesday, August 8, 2018, the Glendale Women’s Club hosted its biennial candidate’s forum. Present were: Barrel District candidates Bart Turner and Ray Strahl; Ocotillo District candidates Jamie Aldama and Emmanuel Allen; and Cholla District candidate Lauren Tolmachoff (unopposed).  Each candidate was given three minutes to introduce him or herself. Their responses often mirrored their campaign mailers including how long they have resided in Glendale, their backgrounds, etc.

The forum was about two hours in length and can be viewed following this link:

http://www.glendaledailyplanet.com . There was time enough for each of the candidates to give one minute responses to the following questions. Since I am not a professional stenographer I am paraphrasing the questions:

  • Question 1: Blight is a concern for many cities. How would you address blight in Glendale?
  • Question 2: Would you vote to support the current downtown festival budget?*
  • Question 3: What are your thoughts about the newly created Historical Downtown Merchants Association?
  • Question 4: Since light rail has been cancelled what should be done with those transportation sales tax dollars?*
  • Question 5: List two major achievements in your district.*
  • Question 6: What is your position on Glen Lakes Golf Course?*
  • Question 7: Should there be a citizen’s commission on city charter review?
  • Question 8: Many residents still believe there is north versus south when it comes to the allocation and use of city funds. Do you concur?*
  • Question 9: What is your position on the city construction of the new parking lot by the Cardinals Stadium?*
  • Question 10: How have you allocated your council budget resources?*
  • Question 11: Would you change the current vision for downtown?
  • Question 12: Do you support raising the mayor and council salaries?
  • Question 13: In 2012 a .7 sales tax was instituted. Should it be eliminated?*

As you may note, I have placed asterisks on seven of the questions. These questions can only be answered competently based upon in depth information received through the actual experience of serving on city council. These particular questions were loaded in favor of the incumbents.

I love the Women’s Club Candidate Forum and hope the organization continues to provide this valuable service to our community. But there may be ways to make it even better. All questions are submitted by the public at large. As nearly everyone knows, the questions are usually submitted by each candidate’s supporters, often at the request of the candidate.  In addition, the questions seem to reflect geographically localized Glendale issues (i.e., downtown Glendale) rather than broader policy issues affecting all of Glendale.

Perhaps there is a better way to craft questions that do reflect broad policy issues. Maybe it is time to consider using questions that come from some kind of independent panel. Some questions that could have been used:

  • If you are elected what are your three priorities for your district? for all of Glendale?
  • How would you work to decrease the city’s debt?
  • The city’s budget determines expenditure priorities. For example, public safety versus parks and recreation. How would you balance competing needs for limited available funding?
  • What attributes do you have that would make you a better representative than your opponent?
  • Do you believe public transportation is a priority for Glendale? Why or why not?
  • Have you ever received a traffic ticket, been charged with a DUI, been charged with a felony? had a bankruptcy?

I would also note that answers provided by both incumbents and challengers at this forum were generally the same. There was nothing offered that provided major distinctions between the candidates. This election may well be decided on several things: a candidate’s personality; a candidate’s ability to get out the vote; and I kid you not, since some voters have no idea about the candidates, it comes down to position (first) on the ballot and whether they like your last name.

It was an interesting evening and I am glad that I took the time to attend. Seeing who was in the audience was very instructive. There’s also nothing that can surpass seeing candidates in person because it helps one to get a feel for their characters and personalities, something that just doesn’t come through on TV.

© Joyce Clark, 2018         

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.

[poll id=”29″]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 July 5, 2018 the Glendale Chamber of Commerce announced its endorsements for the three city council seats to be voted upon in Glendale’s next election. The endorsements were for all three incumbents: Vice Mayor Tolmachoff from the Cholla district; Councilmember Bart Turner of the Barrel district; and Councilmember Jamie Aldama of the Ocotillo district. All candidates were interviewed and their written responses reviewed by the Chamber’s Public Policy Council. Those recommendations were then forwarded to the Board of Directors for approval. Here are the members of the Glendale Chamber’s Public Policy Council:

  • Bill Toops, Glendale Star, Chairperson (also serves on Board of Directors)
  • Steve Adams, AlphaGraphics, (also serves on Board of Directors)
  • Rachel Aja, Cox Communications
  • Kathi Beranek, Blue Cross Blue Shield (company also represented on Board of Directors)
  • Judy Butler, Butler Creative & Consulting
  • Ron Castro, BNC National Bank, (company also represented on Board of Directors)
  • Michael Cavaiola, Redflex Traffic Solutions
  • Stephanie Colbert, Chance Mikos Farmer’s Insurance
  • Donna Davis, Expect More Arizona
  • Patricia DiRoss, Salt River Project, (company also represented on Board of Directors)
  • Yvonne Knaack, State Farm Insurance
  • Matt Ligouri, Southwest Gas
  • Bobbi Magdaleno, Arizona State University, (also serves on Board of Directors)
  • Dave Mitchell, Ideal Insurance Agency
  • Liz Recchia, WeMar
  • Brent Stoddard, Director of Public Affairs, City of Glendale
  • Lyndia Vescio, Vescio Law Firm, (also serves on Board of Directors)
  • Robert Heidt, CEO Glendale Chamber of Commerce, (also serves on Board of Directors)

Here are the members of the Chamber’s Board of Directors;

  • Maria Brunner, Chair of the Board, OneAZ Credit Union
  • Lily DeBileux, Chair-Elect, Pendergast Elementary School District
  • Steve Adams, Treasurer, Alphgraphics
  • Scott Spillman, Vice Treasurer, BNC National Bank
  • Jean Higginbotham, Past Chair, Blue Cross Blue Shield,
  • Robert Heidt, CEO, Glendale Chamber
  • Victoria Coley, Humana
  • Ariana Deerman, Wells Fargo Bank
  • Stephanie Klingener, VitalFit Training
  • Kate Kochenderfer, Salt River Project
  • Wayne Lawson, Signarama on 51st Avenue
  • Patrick McDermott, Arizona Public Service
  • Bobbi Magdaleno, Arizona State University
  • Kevin Phelps, City Manager, City of Glendale
  • Mary Pritchard, Pritchard Insurance Group
  • Richard Sherry, Dignity Health Arizona
  • Bill Toops, Glendale Star
  • Jeffrey Turney, Military & Veterans Affairs
  • Lynda Vescio, Vescio Law Firm
  • Judy Walter, Dignity Memorial
  • Mayor Jerry Weiers, City of Glendale

Of the 18 members of the Public Policy Council, 8 members (44%) also serve on the Board of Directors or have another person from their company serving on the Board of Directors. Once the Public Policy Council has made a recommendation for endorsement it is very probable that the Board of Directors will ratify the recommendations. After the 8 members have made a decision those same 8 companies can ratify the recommendations made to the Board of Directors needing only one more person to constitute a majority of the Board.

It is also worth noting that seven (38%) of the 18 members of the Public Policy Council members represent large companies (Cox Communications, Blue Cross Blue Shield, BNC National Bank, Redflex Traffic Solutions, Salt River Project, Southwest Gas, Arizona State University). All have a Valley-wide presence. Should Valley-wide, major companies be empowered to make recommendations about local candidates for office?

What criteria were used to make their recommendations for endorsement?

  • “Candidates were selected who have distinguished themselves as knowledgeable and supportive (emphasis mine) of issues positively affecting the business community in the city of Glendale.”
  • Bill Toops, Chair of the Chamber’s Public Policy Council said, “The Glendale Chamber Board of Directors is pleased to endorse candidates who have demonstrated accessibility and collaboration (emphasis mine) in support of promoting interests most important to our local businesses.”
  • Robert Heidt, the Chamber’s CEO, said, “Throughout this process we heard from those running for office and have endorsed candidates who has the clearest understanding of the challenges facing the business community and those whose policies align with our initiatives (emphasis mine) to foster a pro-business environment focused on the creation of quality jobs, along with business retention and expansion.”

These criteria seem to favor incumbents. Their positions as elected officials provide many opportunities to “distinguish themselves as knowledgeable and supportive,” to have “demonstrated accessibility and collaboration,” and to have advocated for “policies that align” with the Chamber’s initiatives.

Incumbents have the decided advantage as they have the opportunity to interact with the Chamber in a variety of ways in their official capacities as well as the opportunity to approve/disapprove actions that benefit the Chamber’s interests. It’s not a level playing field. Often those running in opposition to the incumbents have no experience or knowledge of specific city initiatives or actions, especially any that could benefit the Chamber. It’s not their fault. They haven’t been playing ‘inside baseball’ for the previous four years (term of an incumbent). They simply do not have any experience serving as an elected and therefore are at a disadvantage. It takes any newly elected official time to learn how the city works, to become familiar with its policy positions and to establish relationships with various stakeholder groups within the city.

Perhaps the better criterion to be used would not to be rely upon experience (that is weighted always toward the incumbent) but rather to review candidates’ positions on the issues and which policies would be supported. If two candidates for the same office shared the same views perhaps using incumbency to tip the scales should not be the option for recommendation. Perhaps in some cases there should be no recommendation or a recommendation to support either candidate.

I remain troubled with the process used by the Chamber to select endorsements in a local campaign. It will be another two years before the Chamber issues its next set of endorsements for local office. That time might be well spent in developing a process that recognizes an incumbent’s advantage and levels the playing field for those who have never held office.

© Joyce Clark, 2018         

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.

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.

I haven’t done one of these types of blogs in quite awhile but there is so much occurring politically it’s a good time to throw one out there.

Vice Mayor Lauren Tolmachoff filed her nomination paper and petition signatures with the City Clerk’s office on Thursday, May 10, 2018. She is now an official candidate for the position of councilmember representing the Cholla district. It appears as of this date she will have no opposition thereby assuring her of another term.

Also on Thursday Ray Strahl of the Barrel district obtained a candidate packet and filed a statement of organization. Should he turn in enough petition signatures by May 30th he will become an official candidate for the position of councilmember representing the Barrel district. It appears likely that the current councilmember, Bart Turner, will have an opponent in the August primary election.

On April 30, 2018 Councilmember Jamie Aldama of the Ocotillo district filed his nomination paper and petition signatures with the City Clerk’s office. His likely opponent, Emmanuel Allen, has until the end of May to turn in his paperwork to become an official candidate.

Aldama’s campaign manager is Chuck Foy. It’s appears that Jamie likes to keep his distance from nasty stuff and that is apparently part of Mr. Foy’s usefulness. On March 13, 2018 Mr. Foy filed a first Freedom of Information Request seeking any and all information with regard to the city and Emmanuel Allen, a possible opponent of Aldama’s for the Ocotillo city council seat. I guess the city’s first response was either disappointing or Foy and Aldama haven’t found any dirt to throw at Allen yet. Foy made another request for more information on Thursday, May 10th. They seem to be trying to find something nefarious about Allen’s ROOTS organization, the successful bidder for providing after-school programming at two city locations.  Allen’s organization bested the current operator, Breakthu Barrio, who appears to have had a long and fruitful relationship with Aldama.

Yet another fascinating Freedom of Information request was filed with the City Clerk on Thursday, May 10th by Bryan Willingham. Mr. Willingham is a Glendale resident but also just happens to be a Phoenix Fire Captain and Executive VP of the United Phoenix Firefighters Association, Local 493. What was the nature of his request? He requested information on the recall process for all councilmembers as well the procedures and requirements for filing a citizen’s initiative proposition. His action seems to be for the purpose of firing a warning shot at the mayor and all councilmembers.

I will flesh out the reasoning behind Mr. Willingham’s query on behalf of the fire union in an upcoming blog but suffice it to point out initially that Glendale fire fighters are among the best paid fire fighters in the Valley. Did you know they work 502 hours less per year than nearly every fire fighter in the Valley? Yet it seems the Glendale fire union is very unhappy over this year’s negotiations with the city on pay and benefits. How and why is something every citizen in Glendale deserves to know and will in the near future.

© Joyce Clark, 2018         

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.