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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

Mar 23

22

75th Avenue and Bethany Home Road dilemma

Posted by Joyce Clark on March 22, 2023
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale zoning issues • Yucca district  | 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.

Lately I have been receiving a lot of email regarding the proposed development of the property located at the southwest corner of 75th Avenue and Bethany Home Road. Let’s review what surrounds it. Across Bethany on the northwest corner is a residential subdivision. On the northeast corner Beezer Homes is currently building a residential subdivision. On the southeast corner sits a CVS Pharmacy. Immediately to the west of the site is a Glendale Elementary School building. The district closed it as a school and has turned it into a community resource center for those in need of social services. To the immediate south of the site is the dearly beloved and iconic Tolmachoff Farm. It is a treasure and loved by all. Who hasn’t purchased fresh produce there or visited during the Halloween season?

The 3.7-acre site is currently zoned for Commercial Office and has been for many years. I would note that for many years the CVS site was also zoned for Commercial Office and its zoning was changed to C-1 to allow for the pharmacy.

Residents in the area are upset because the site has been sold to a developer who wishes to construct up to 4 retail uses on the site. Let’s dig a little deeper into the situation. The land was owned for many, many years by members of the Tolmachoff clan. Did the Tolmachoff farm owners reach out to the Tolmachoff property owners and make an offer to buy the parcel? Were they unable to come to terms? Who knows? I don’t but I would think that it existed as an option. For whatever reason, that didn’t happen.

So, the parcel was sold as is, current zoning as a Commercial Office site. Think about it, it is certainly not an ideal location for an insurance office or a doctor’s office. These kinds of offices rely in part on foot traffic generated on a commercially zoned retail site. It is logical that the developer would ask for a retail zoning designation.

The community fear is, will this be the nail in the coffin for Tolmachoff Farm? I hope not and I think not. It remains a very popular and viable operation. I have had no recent conversations with Tolmachoff Farm but I suspect they are feeling the pressure of urban encroachment.

Would they sell? I would think ‘yes’ at some point but here’s their dilemma. Right now their land is zoned Agriculture. If they were to sell it would be contingent upon a buyer getting approved rezoning. What’s the most expensive land to sell? Land for multi-family. I suspect if the Tolmachoff farm is ever sold it will be contingent upon the buyer getting the land rezoned for multi-family. The community would be up in arms and fight such a request tooth and nail. If the Farm ever leaves, the only option is to build a residential subdivision on that land. There is no other option.

© Joyce Clark, 2023     

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 23

9

Don’t Puck with Tempe, Part II

Posted by Joyce Clark on February 9, 2023
Posted in Arizona Coyotes • City of Glendale • City of Tempe • Phoenix Metro issues  | 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.

In Part I of this blog, we looked at the finances of Alex Meruelo, majority owner of the Coyotes, and the Coyotes organization. Dun & Bradstreet rates all Meruelo- associated enterprises as moderate-to-high credit risks.

Are there risks for Tempe taxpayers based on the terms of the Tempe development agreement with Bluebird Development (Coyotes’ development entity)? Yes, there are. The deal relies upon providing Meruelo $700 million plus in tax breaks, in both sales & bed taxes and property taxes. For your reference, here’s is the link to the 175-page development agreement: Bluebird Tempe DDA 11162

The first part of the deal relies upon Tempe’s creation of a Community Facilities District (CFD) and the reallocation to the CFD of earned sales and bed taxes.  The CFD can issue bonds up to a maximum allowable amount of $247,134,726.00 million, which reimburses Meruelo for the cost of the land, remediation of the land, and the necessary infrastructure (which developers almost always pay for). These bonds are paid off by taking 0.9% of every dollar of city sales tax; 3.75% of every dollar of city hotel sales tax; and a 6% surcharge on every sale within the CFD (such as tickets, clothing, food and drink) and using the taxes to pay off the CFD bonds. It also creates a taxing district that can be charged an additional assessment if there are not enough taxes brought in – a heightened concern in the early phases of the project.

Within the agreement regarding the CFD, it states, “Developer has agreed…which costs for site remediation and development of certain other public benefits will be financed from the proceeds of the bonds issues by a community facilities district and certain other sources of the city…” This acknowledges that the city may use city funds other than those generated by the imposition of the sales and bed taxes explained above. Question: What other city resources could be on the chopping block to repay these bonds, if and when, these sales tax impositions do not raise the requisite bond repayments? Does the city tell you, the voter, what could be used? The first alarm bell should be going off.

Consider this fact when weighing whether the project has the capacity to generate enough sales and bed tax to pay back the CFD bonds. The project’s raw acreage is 46.26 acres. By the time all infrastructure is built, the useable acreage should be about 37 acres. Make no mistake, this development project can be called a mini-Westgate. But it will never be as large or as profitable as Westgate area which today encompasses nearly 3 square miles. Hear that sound? It’s another alarm bell.

Yet within the agreement, the developer states, “…that it believes it has available to it the financial resources…” Note the word “believes.” It does not state definitively that it has the financial resources but rather it believes it does. How is Tempe to be assured that the private development group is well capitalized? The city failed to hire a forensic economist to examine their financial resources but instead enlisted Beacon Sports, a marketing group that brings financial institutions, teams, and cities together but cannot go beyond the self-reported finances provided by the private developer Meruelo. Yet another alarm bell– this one screeching — should be going off about now.

The other major financial gift to Meruelo is the use of a GPLET (Government Property Lease Exercise Tax). This mechanism allows Meruelo to avoid paying property taxes by leasing each building, when completed, to the city. Cities do not pay property taxes. It amounts to tax avoidance for about 30 years of property taxes on the arena, practice facility and the music venue as well as 8 years of property taxes on the 2 hotels, approximately 316,000 square feet of retail, up to 1,995 of luxury apartment units, and office space. That’s approximately $494 million of property tax avoided (and that’s the Meruelo groups estimate). If Mr. Meruelo paid the property taxes, about $99 million ( or 20%) would go to Tempe’s General Fund. The other 80% (or about $395 million) would go to Tempe’s schools and community colleges in Tempe and the County. A great deal for Meruelo but not so great for schools.

There are two other issues not to be ignored. The first is transportation. Although fans complained about the time it took to travel from the East Valley to the West Valley, keep in mind the arena was directly and immediately off the freeway. This proposed site is several miles from the freeway I-10 but close to the 202 freeway and the exit to the airport..  The time East Valley fans complained about will now be replicated with the traffic jam in and around this site. Tempe recognizes there’s a problem and has required the Coyotes to help mitigate expected congestion at the airport entrance and to pay Valley Metro to try to ease the problem. We’ll see how well that works for Priest Drive, Rio Salado and surrounding neighborhoods, already plagued with traffic woes.

The other issue is the Coyotes’ history of charitable giving and civic involvement. In Glendale, it was crickets. There was no involvement. Have you noted the rash of the Coyotes’ very recent involvement in the Tempe community? I suspect it’s all for show. I assume they want you, the voter, to expect this same level of civic involvement once the deal is done. I suspect you shouldn’t hold your breath. Their current civic engagement is for selling purposes. Once Tempe has bought this deal, it will no longer be an imperative for them.

One issue that merits comment is why hold a Special Election? It seems quite simple. Don’t believe the hype that voters should decide this issue. It’s more basic than that. The Tempe City Council is seeking cover. They are your elected representatives. They are charged with representing your best interests and making the difficult decisions. They have more insider knowledge about this deal than you will ever hear about. The reason to put it to a public vote is, if and when, the deal goes south, your Council will not take the blame for it because it asked you, the public to decide and therefore, their hands are clean.

There is an organization that can provide you with further information about the Coyotes (Bluebird)/Tempe Development deal and that is Tempe1st.  Remember by voting “NO” on Propositions 301, 302 and 303 starting on April 19th (Early Ballots available) and through to the May Special Election on May 16th, you’ll will be telling the Tempe City Council that they can do better. I urge you to visit https://tempe1st.com. Get the facts from them. They have the resources to read the 175-page development agreement and to let you know what issues are problematical.

There is an adage, “A leopard cannot change its spots.” I suspect Meruelo can’t change his spots either. His organization’s propensity to stall on payments, to claim to forget or to claim human error, is not suddenly going to go away. Many observers of this new Coyotes saga believe he’s just looking for a new arena for his unethical practices and culture of dishonesty.

Are Tempe voters and its City Council who have not bothered to learn from history, especially that of Glendale, doomed to repeat it?

© Joyce Clark, 2023     

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 23

7

Don’t Puck with Tempe, part I

Posted by Joyce Clark on February 7, 2023
Posted in Arizona Coyotes • City of Tempe  | 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.

Even with the disclaimer above, I want to emphasize that this blog reflects my personal opinion as a resident of Glendale. It in no way reflects the public position of the Glendale City Council (of which I am a member) or any official position of the City of Glendale.

All the information cited in this blog is publicly available information acquired through various public internet search engines. No proprietary or private information is used.

This blog is directed specifically to the voters of Tempe. On May 16, 2023, Tempe will hold a Special Election consisting of three ballot propositions. These propositions, if approved by voters, will allow the Tempe City Council to finalize a development agreement with Bluebird Development, the entity created by the National Hockey League’s Coyotes and its majority owner, Alex Meruelo. If defeated by voters, Tempe City Council will reject the deal.

I would hope that Tempe voters defeat all 3 propositions.

It is a complicated issue, and there is much to consider. Hence the decision to divide the information into two blogs. Part I will focus on Mr. Meruelo’s and the Coyotes’ finances. Part II will tackle elements of the deal.

Meruelo holds business interests in banking, real estate, media, restaurants, food, casinos, and professional sports. He is the owner of Meruelo Group, as well as Meruelo Media, which owns five radio stations and two television stations in Los Angeles—KWHY-TV and KBEH-TV and radio stations KLOS, KLLI, KPWR, KDAY and KDEY-FM.

In addition, he is the owner of Fuji Food, two casinos, the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada and the Sahara Las Vegas in Las Vegas.

The Meruelo Group has, among other entities, a construction and real estate development firm and has ownership of Neal Electric Corp, Select Electric Inc., and Doty Bros within the Southern California area.

The group also owns the Commercial Bank of California (CBA), which Meruelo co-founded in 2003. It was reported by PRWEB in November of 2022, that the National Merchants Association released an update about its ongoing lawsuit against CBA, a California chartered bank owned by the Meruelo Group, in the Superior Court of California, LA County, case number 21STCV44674 and JAMS Reference No. 1210038694.

In December 2021, NMA filed a seven-count suit against the Commercial Bank of California for various alleged violations, including, inter alia, breach of written agreement, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment and unfair business practices, among other issues.

NMA is suing for $280M. The trial is scheduled to take place in February 2023. The alleged unethical and unfair business practices include:

  • Taking NMA’s proprietary processes and information
  • Freezing assets for months at a time, resulting in vendors and partners not receiving payments
  • Misinformation about merchant risk reserves

In June 2017, the Meruelo Group purchased the SLS Las Vegas (formerly the Sahara Hotel and Casino) in Las Vegas. In May 2019, SLS brand owner SBE Hotel Licensing, LLC filed a lawsuit alleging that Meruelo’s Las Vegas Resort Holdings, LLC had failed to pay at least $450,000 in licensing fees since November 2018.

Meruelo owns the following private properties valued collectively at approximately $33 million:

  • A 8,500-square-foot, $7.05 million house at 36 Indian Creek Drive in Miami
  • A $10.79 million penthouse in The Langham, New York.
  • Colom Island in Spain for 3.2 million euros
  • A 22,000-square-foot, $12.1 million house in Paradise Valley, AZ.

The observation for every Tempe voter should be, why is this guy demanding that Tempe pay anything to help him develop the property?

One of Tempe’s councilmembers publicly shared the Dun & Bradstreet Financial Analytics of these Meruelo related entities. This information should have been a warning shot to the Tempe City Council:

How are the Coyotes doing under Meruelo’s leadership? The team looks like it’s a financial disaster. The Coyotes are running pretax cash losses of about $50 million a year. The team also has some $300 million of debt—$200 million from Frank McCourt’s MGG Investment Group at an annual interest rate of somewhere around 9% or 10% and another $100 million of NHL credit-facility debt.

According to Forbes, for yet another year, the Arizona Coyotes are considered the least valuable team in the National Hockey League. It listed the Coyotes as No. 32 at a $450 million valuation as of December 2022. It cites that Meruelo paid $300 million for the team in 2019. The valuation breakdown, according to Forbes is:

Currently the team is playing in ASU’s 4,600 seat Mullet Arena. The tickets are pricey. I have heard from others that as many as 2,000 tickets have been “comp’d” for games. Even in that case, it is said that not all the comp’d ticket holders show up.

The team seems to be bleeding money while it promises to pay Tempe for a lot of things to pursue their development becoming reality including footing up to a $250,000 bill to cover the cost of the May Special Election. They seem to be desperate and realize this is their last opportunity to remain a viable entity in Arizona.

Keep in mind that just last year the team owed $1.3 million in taxes to the State of Arizona including $250,000 to Glendale. That’s in addition to the previous year when the team owed Glendale at least $500,000 in back rental payments.

The team has promised that nothing like this will ever happen again…until the next time it does. Tempe City Council are you listening yet?

As Laurie Roberts said in one of her past Arizona Republic op-ed columns, “A business forgets to pay $1.3 million in taxes, dating to June 2020, due to an ‘unfortunate human error’? Anybody buying that?” It seems the Tempe City Council really, really wants to buy it and appears to be using this Special Election as cover.

Not to be forgotten are vendor and contractor complaints made over the years. Meruelo’s habit and pattern appears to be to stall paying them or disputing bills by threatening to go to court. Most of these entities are small and cannot afford the expense or time to fight in court. So, they end up settling for pennies on the dollar to at least salvage some payment from the job.

What can be learned about Meruelo and the team? Dun & Bradstreet considers all Meruelo associated entities as a moderate to high risk. The lowest amount of borrowing capacity resides with the Ice Hockey Arizona (the Coyotes) in an amount of $5,000; the highest amount of borrowing capacity is with Meruelo Enterprises at an amount of $1.4 million. That’s a far cry from the $2.1 billion plus needed to develop this project.

Team officials have assured Tempe that Meruelo has the real estate and financial bonafides to make this deal happen. But the only way it works is if Tempe will give a portion of city sales and bed taxes generated at the site to pay $230 million plus of the cost. This is from a guy who assured the public that he could generate the investor financing to cover the entire cost of this development.

© Joyce Clark, 2023  

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 23

1

Mad about fireworks…tell your state legislator

Posted by Joyce Clark on January 1, 2023
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials  | 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.

It seems that most Arizonans would like to see fireworks banned. Every year I get tons of complaints about fireworks usually preceded with “I want Glendale to ban fireworks.” Believe me, I would if I could but I can’t. Here’s why. The Arizona State Legislature has preempted all control over fireworks in the state. Preemption means a doctrine in law according to which the legislation of a superior government (such as a state government) supersedes that of an inferior government (such as a municipal government) in conflicts of law. In other words, state law overrides county or city law when it comes to fireworks.

In fact, if you go to the code of state statutes (laws), Chapter 36-1606 is entitled, Consumer fireworks regulation; state preemption; further regulation of fireworks by local jurisdiction. The state law then states, “A. The sale and use of permissible consumer fireworks are of statewide concern. The regulation of permissible consumer fireworks pursuant to this article and their sale or use is not subject to further regulation by a governing body, except as follows:”

Right off the bat, the state is specifically saying that counties and cities cannot regulate or ban their sale and use.

“1. In a county with a population of more than five hundred thousand persons, a city or town within its corporate limits or the county within the unincorporated areas of the county may do all of the following:”

The statue then states the periods of time when fireworks can be used and over which counties and cities have no right to ban or prohibit their use. They are as follows:

“(c) Prohibit the use of permissible consumer fireworks on days other than May 4 through May 6, June 24 through July 6 and December 24 through January 3 of each year and the second and third days of Diwali of each year.”

According to the state, the use of fireworks is permissible on:

  • May 4 through May 6 – 3 days for Cinco de Mayo
  • June 24 through July 6 – 13 days for July 4th
  • December 24 through January 3 – 11 days for New Year’s Eve
  • Second and third days of Diwali

Who needs 13 days or 11 days to celebrate with fireworks? It’s nuts and very confusing to the public. I bet there’s not one citizen who actually is aware of these time periods.

Then to muddy the waters even further, the legislature is not even consistent on the hours of use:

“(f) Prohibit on all days the use of permissible consumer fireworks between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., except:

(i) Between the hours of 11:00 p.m. on December 31 of each year through 1:00 a.m. on January 1 of each year.”

What needs to happen to curb or stop the use of fireworks? Very simply, put the pressure where it needs to be – on your state legislator. I have listed the website below for a list of all of the Arizona state legislators. It includes the district each represents and their email addresses and phone numbers. For email addresses use the initial of the first name with the last name and all go to @azleg.gov. Here is the site: https://www.azleg.gov/memberroster/ . I would suggest that you wait until their next session begins later this month to contact them.

One final thought. The state regulates the sale and use of fireworks but it does not preempt the counties and cities from regulating where fireworks can be used. What if each city designated specific areas where fireworks can be used and banned their use on private property? I don’t know if it is possible to do but I am willing to pursue the idea.

© Joyce Clark, 2023     

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

Dec 22

14

Did you miss the December Yucca District Meeting? Here’s a recap

Posted by Joyce Clark on December 14, 2022
Posted in City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Desert Diamond Arena • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale elected officials • Heroes Park • Mattel Amusement Park • VAI Resort • West Branch Library • Westgate • Yucca district • Zanjero  | 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.

I’ve wanted to write this blog since I hosted my Yucca district meeting on December 1st. Do you ever have times when other demands take priority? Well, that’s been the case for the past two weeks.

First, I must apologize to the residents of my district. Every year I send out Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter editions of my newsletter to every homeowner in the district. I planned for its mailing on November 15th because it announced the date, location and agenda for my Dec. 1st district meeting. Everything conspired against my plan. The printing company’s equipment went down and the mailing company had a lot employees out with Covid. Instead of mailing out my newsletter by November 15th, it was mailed on December 1st, the day of my district meeting. To say that I was upset would be an understatement. Suffice to say, I will be using a new printer and mailing company.

I still had excellent attendance of about 50 people as I had announced the meeting on social media. Nevertheless, I have heard from many that they wished they had known and were disappointed in not being able to attend.

I want to publicly acknowledge and thank Dale Adams, Manger of the Desert Diamond Arena (formerly Gila River Arena) and Nicole Jensen, Special Events Director for their generosity in providing the Dos Equis Lounge and the wonderful food. Even though it was outdoors on a frosty December evening, the lounge was warm and inviting with heaters throughout the area. The food was very, very good. Everyone was so pleased with the venue that I plan to use it again for my Spring District Meeting.

There is something you can do to make sure you don’t miss out on district or city-wide events. Subscribe to my weekly E Newsletter that comes out every Thursday. For three weeks prior to the district meeting, information about the meeting was offered in the E Newsletter. It’s ridiculously easy to subscribe. Take your phone and take a photo of the QR code below. It will take you directly to the subscribe page for my weekly digital newsletter. Fill out the form and submit. That’s it. It will take you less than 3 minutes to become a subscriber.

QR code for digital E Newsletter

Here’s a recap of what was discussed at the district meeting. City Manager Kevin Phelps presented information on the growth in the Westgate Zanjero area and the New Frontier area.

 1.The Westgate/Zanjero area is very complex so it is divided into 4 quadrants. The first  quadrant is north of Glendale Avenue from 91st Avenue to the Loop 101. All of the projects have either been recently completed or have been approved and will be complete by the end of 2023. It has 6 apartment complexes: Zanjero II, Zanjero III, Bungalows at Westgate, Mera at Westgate, Zanjero Assisted Living and Capistrano. There are 2 commerical areas: En Fuego which already has Raising Cane’s, Starbucks and Red Robin with more to come; and Northern Crossing with unidentified tenants to date. This area also has 2 new hotels, Cambria and Marriot.

2. The second quadrant is south of Glendale Avenue between 91st Avenue and the Loop 101. There are 6 apartment complexes: Glen 91, the District at Westgate, Broadstone at Westgate, Copper Falls, Acero, Urban 95 and Cardinals 95. There are 12 commercial projects: Bruster’s, Chicken N Pickle, Popstroke Golf, Eegees Salad and Go, Texas Roadhouse, MGM Sports Book at Sportsmans Park, Heritage at Sportsmans Park, Sunrise PreSchool, 91st Center at Camelback, Popeye’s, VAI Resort and Mattel Adventure Park.

3. The third quadrant is north of Glendale Avenue and west of the Loop 101. There are 4 apartment complexes: Springs at Westgate, Ariva Villa and Flats, Prose and Ridgehouse. There are 8 commercial projects: Northern Parkway Self Storage, Maplewood Cabinets, Rainbow Ryders, Westgate Medical Office Building, Desert River Mixed Use Planned Area Development, 99th Avenue Mixed Use Planned Area Development, Quik Trip and Cobblestone Carwash.

4. The fourth quadrant is south of Glendale Avenue and west of the Loop 101. There are 6 commercial areas: Vision 2 – a mixed use Planned Area Development that includes Ferge Ball Park Apartments, Main Street – a mixed use Planned Area Development that includes an unnamed apartment complex, Andrade Indoor Karting, Holiday Inn, Camelback Self Storage and Cornerstone at Camelback – a mixed use Planned Area Development.

Lastly, Mr. Phelps spoke of the New Frontier area. It includes projects such as Williams-Sonoma, Nestle, Red Bull, White Claw, Walmart and Amazon. These are just a few out of the two dozen projects in the area. To date there is 11+ million square feet either built, under construction, approved and in design review creating over 6,600 new jobs. Another 11+ million square feet is specutively under construction with no identified tenants to date promising thousands more new jobs. With the prospect of approximately ten to twelve thousand new jobs, the Loop 303 corridor has become an employment powerhouse in the Valley.

Not included in the presentation are at least 6 residential subdivisions under construction or in design review in the district. The largest of these subdivisions is called “Legacy” (450 homes) and will redevelop the Rovey cattle farm on Northern Avenue and 75th Avenue. Soon, the smells wafting from the cattle will be a distant memory.

After Mr. Phelps’ presentation, I presented several other topics. The first was the Beautify Yucca District Grant Program. Applications for 2023 will be available in January of 2023 and information will be available in my weekly digital E Newsletter. The winners of the 2022 Beautify Yucca District Grant Program are: Mike Zaremba’s project to do a make over of a dead end street in his subdivision; Edgar Hernandez’ 2 new benches in the Grand Canal Linear Park and Tom Traw’s monument sign construction for his subdivision. Below are photos of the projects. For more information, please contact Sbeck@glendaleaz.com .

Edgar Hernandez and his wife with one of the two new benches

Mike Zaremba’s new dead end

Tom Traw’s subdivision entry monument signage

 

 

 

 

 

 

I announced that construction of the sports fields will begin in 2023. This past Tuesday, city council approved an additional allocation of $4 million toward the project bringing the total cost of Phase I of the sports fields at over $11 million. Just some of the elements include: 8 lighted pickleball courts, 3 lighted soccer fields, a multi-use turf area, and walking paths.

I have revisited with staff the concept of expansion of a 75 person meeting space expansion at the library at a cost of  $1.7 million. I have decided that there is a better way to approach the lack of meeting space. I am asking that a portion of the $1.7 million be used to fund the design of the Recreation and Aquatics Center. Once the design is complete it will be easier to get the funding to begin construction. I will be asking that the balance remaining of the $1.7 million be used for the sports fields to add additional elements that would not be included in Phase I of its construction.

Constituents continually ask the status of 83rd Avenue between Glendale Avenue and Northern Avenue that I refer to as “Alligator Alley.” Here is the status. There are 16 property owners with right of way along both sides of 83rd Avenue. To date, 11 of them have agreed to cede right of way. There are 5 hold outs with which the city continues to negotiate. If the city is not successful then those rights of way will go through condemnation. Once all of the rights of way have been acquired, the city can do the final design of the street. Once that is done, funding will have to be allocated. This is a project with over a $2 million price tag and it may require being part of the bonding authority that the city will be asking residents to approve.

I have highlighted the significant portions of our presentations. Of course, there was more, but I don’t think you want to read a book!

The next time I promise my mailed district newsletter will be received by you with an announcement for my next district meeting and will be received in time so that you can plan to attend. It was a good meeting packed with information.

© Joyce Clark, 2022      

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.

Nov 22

23

Yucca district wide meeting…one not to miss

Posted by Joyce Clark on November 23, 2022
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Desert Diamond Arena • Downtown Glendale • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale elected officials • Westgate • Yucca district • Zanjero  | 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.

There is so much being offered at my next district wide meeting on December 1, 2022, at 6 pm that I felt it would be helpful to put all of the information in a blog.

Let’s start with parking. Here is a map that shows you where to park:

Everyone enters at Gate 3 of the arena. Please park in the red parking lot marked WEST VIP. Should that parking lot fill up, please park in the SOUTHEAST CORNER OF WESTGATE LOT 5.    These lots are free. Most of the other lots and the Renaissance parking garage charge a fee for parking.

As for any arena or stadium event, there is a bag policy. Bags should be 4 ½ X 6 ½ inches. Items will be searched. Prohibited items are firearms, knives, alcohol, drugs or paraphernalia.

The meeting site is the Dos Equis Lounge on the second floor of the arena. It is an outside lounge. There will be heaters, but I suggest you dress warmly.

Refreshments are courtesy of Desert Diamond Arena. I want to personally thank Dale Adams, Arena Manager and Jenae Nelson, Director of Special Events for their assistance and generosity. Here is the menu. So save your appetite:

We have a jam packed agenda featuring Glendale’s City Manager, Kevin Phelps. Mr. Phelps will share information on the Downtown City Hall Campus Redevelopment Project and the renovation of this very arena.

I have invited the 3 recipients of the first Yucca District Beautification Award Grant Program to share their experiences and to show you the results of their efforts.

There is so much development occurring in the district that I have prepared graphics to show you what and where and will walk you through the projects. The highlighted areas of development will be the Westgate/Zanjero/Ballpark Blvd. area and the Loop 303 area.

Please save the date. Everyone is welcome. We always reserve time for residents’ questions.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again.

© Joyce Clark, 2022      

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.

Nov 22

1

It’s Halloween and here’s a Coyotes arena update

Posted by Joyce Clark on November 1, 2022
Posted in Arizona Coyotes • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Phoenix Metro issues  | 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.

For those rabid fans who become offended every time I post a blog on the Coyotes…sit on it.

The Coyotes played 15 seasons in Glendale and like it or not, Glendale (and I) are now part of their history.

Recently it was reported that the Tempe city council may very well approve the deal and then establish a referendum vote of its citizens to approve or deny the council decision. What does this mean? It appears the city council will approve the deal but it needs ‘cover’ for its approval. By having a referendum of the people on this issue, it offers the council an ‘out’ if its residents do not approve the deal.

There will be plenty of support from the business community who, bless their greedy hearts, are already hearing the cha-ching of their cash registers. Count on them to pour money into a slick campaign to convince voters that this proposed deal is the second coming.

What makes this possible referendum vote so interesting is that there are approximately 101,822 registered voters in Tempe out of a total population of 184,361 residents. In the last election, 21,338 registered voters voted. That’s about 20% or 1/5 of the total number of registered voters. I wonder how many of those 20,000+ of those likely voters are avid Coyotes fans willing to throw taxpayer dollars at yet another sports franchise? The purported 5,000 fans attending games at the Mullett Arena? Obviously, not all the attendees reside in Tempe. An interesting question is how many Tempe residents attended?

If there is a referendum vote it will come down to two issues:

  • MONEY

Make no mistake, this is all about money and who stands to gain and who stands to lose. Obviously, the Coyotes hope to make a ton of money utilizing public funding. It’s going to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 million just to clean up the old landfill site. Muerelo will invest $40 million to clean up the site but where does the other $30 million come from? The City of Tempe will have to issue $30 million in bonds. That’s $30 million that could be used for parks, public safety, etc. Of the anticipated $430 million generated in new sales taxes, Muerelo would keep half (approximately $215 million) as reimbursement for cleaning up the site.

The Coyotes also want a 30-year property tax exemption on the arena, practice facility and theater. In addition, they want an 8-year property tax exemption on the hotels, office, retail and residential.

Arizona House of Representatives Athena Salman, representing Tempe, said these requests total $649 million (over half a billion dollars) in tax abatements for the Coyotes. While Moms see grocery bills skyrocketing and everyone sees gas at the pump hovering around $4.50 a gallon.

  • FLIGHT PATHS

There is concern on the part of Sky Harbor Airport about the proposed apartment complexes at the site. Recently the airport sent fliers to residents in Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale advising them that the airport may have to change its current flight paths. This move could end up shifting routes over currently unaffected neighborhoods. The noise from the aircraft will be nothing compared to the noise generated by affected residents.

To placate citizens Tempe is hosting a series of meetings. The first was hosted by, wait for it, the Coyotes, on October 15th at 11 a.m. I wonder how many residents took time off from work to attend this one. The next three meetings are hosted by Tempe at its Development Review Board meeting on November 15th, and two city council meetings on November 22nd and 29th. Residents’ time to speak is usually limited to 3 to 5 minutes. Not quite a fair fight.

It comes down to two basic questions for Tempe voters. Are Tempe residents willing to subsidize a sports franchise for $649 million dollars? Are residents willing to live with altered Sky Harbor flight paths that could destroy their quality of life?

If a referendum vote occurs, I guess we’ll find out.

As a side note, I heard from several people who attended the first several Coyotes games at the Mullett Arena. All said there were empty seats. One person revealed that actual ticket sales were around 3,000 out of a total of 5,000. Over 1,000 tickets were ‘comp-ed’. That would explain why there were empty seats. It’s one thing to plunk down $100 (or more) for a seat. You would make sure your money wasn’t wasted and would attend. Not so with free tickets. You may or may not, attend.

Make no mistake. Despite their hype, it appears that the Coyotes are losing money. I guess they can afford to do so if their pot of gold becomes a reality in Tempe. What if the deal falls through? Someone told me, they have a back-up plan. Oh, really?

© Joyce Clark, 2022      

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.

Oct 22

27

An RV park?

Posted by Joyce Clark on October 27, 2022
Posted in City Council Actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • VAI Resort • Westgate • Yucca district • Zanjero  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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.

We are all familiar with the farm land wrapping around Walgreens and the small commercial center located on the southwest corner of 83rd Avenue and Glendale Avenue. The people that own the trailer park in this area also own this land.

Yesterday I received an Interested Parties notification letter inviting me to an Open House neighborhood meeting. Here is the link to the notification letter: RV proposal

Interestingly, my office, to date, has not been informed of this upcoming meeting. I suspect after the applicant’s representation reads this blog, my office will receive an invitation.

Since 1984, for nearly 40 years, this land has been zoned as R3. R3 zoning is multifamily zoning at 20 units to the acre. If it were to develop as R3 there could be a maximum of 340 units, probably 2 story. However, with extractions for streets, landscaping, buffering, open space and retention, my best guess is that there would be somewhere between 275 and 300 units.

What else can be developed on R3 zoned land? Here from the Glendale Zoning Code are the permitted by right uses: single residence dwellings, multiple-residence dwellings, boardinghouse and public schools, parks, and playgrounds.

The property owner, states that their only other option of choice, by right, is to put multifamily on this site and the city could not stop it. To do so would be a “property taking.” There is no consideration by the property owner of a single residence development. That option has been rejected.

However, multifamily is not what the property owner is proposing. If you read the letter which I offered in the link above, you would learn that they are proposing to develop a “high-quality, luxury RV resort.” The applicant states that 3 times on page 2 of the letter.

Here is an excerpt from the applicant’s letter: 

“Although two-story apartments could be built on the site under the current zoning, we believe views from two-story windows into the neighboring homes would raise concern by those neighbors. We believe there is a better use for this infill property given its location in Glendale.” Page 2, paragraph 1

Knowing how surrounding residents feel about apartment complexes, this statement could be perceived as a threat. In all fairness, Yucca district residents have not objected to all of the complexes being built in the Westgate/Zanjero area, west of 91st Avenue.  That creates a synergy of population mass that supports these entertainment areas. However, the suggestion of another apartment complex in our immediate area would be met with a great deal of resistance. Keep in mind this parcel is within the 83rd Avenue corridor where nearly all the district’s large lot developments are situated.

In the applicant’s notification letter, the amenities being offered are: on-site manager residence; high-end clubhouse, which would have a small convenient market for guests to purchase small necessities; and within it includes office space; fitness center; kitchen; activity and game rooms. The outdoor amenities they offer are: a large, resort style swimming pool with seating; BBQ; pickleball courts; and a dog park.

I did extensive research on what luxury RV resort parks offer as standard amenities and here is the list:

  • Cable
  • WiFi (All Sites)/Hardwired
  • Free Phone Jacks at Each Site
  • Heated swimming pool/spa – heated?? We don’t know.
  • Clubhouse with fitness center, business center, social hall, game room and activity area; big screen TV with new release movies; and a library area
  • Laundry facility
  • Resort store
  • Playground with tot lot and splash pad
  • Dog park
  • Picnic table rentals
  • Gas fire pits and fire pit rentals
  • Recreational activities as standard offerings: basketball, horseshoes, badminton, pickleball, bocce, putting green
  • Extra Cargo storage (for those needing additional space)
  • Full hook-up 20/30/50 amp
  • Water and waste disposal
  • Propane rental on site
  • Private restrooms with shower and toilet
  • Extended driveways
  • Casitas
  • Patios with propane grills and outdoor furniture
  • Grass lined concrete pads
  • Outdoor lighting
  • Shade trees at every RV site
  • Pull though spaces for RVs
  • Manager and activity coordinator on site every day
  • Age, pets and style of RV permitted are restricted
  • Gazebo style community kitchen
  • Handicap accessible

As you can see, they are a long way from meeting the list of amenities found at a luxury RV resort. I also propose a limitation on the length of stay as this is not intended to be a permanent living RV park but rather is designed to accommodate temporary visitors to the Westgate/Zanjero/Vai areas.

Although the numbers are difficult to read on their rendering of the proposed page 5 conceptual plan, it appears there will be 159 RV sites. Less than a third are pull in sites.

There are stipulations that must be incorporated along with amenities that will ensure that this is an upscale RV Resort Park:

  • An 8 foot perimeter wall on the west and south side of the existent shopping center as well as to the west and south sides of the proposed development.
  • Since there will be a constant turnover of patrons on vacation, it becomes critical to use enhanced and extended buffering adjacent to any nearby or adjacent single family residential use to mitigate any extraordinary partying resulting in noise or music. That would include to the west where there is the RV park and to the south where there is single family residential.
  • Enhanced and upgraded entry way yet with muted signage. RV users will not be the casual motorist along 83rd or Glendale Avenues but rather will have found this park through RV sites on the internet or by word of mouth.

Their letter invites you, the public, to a neighborhood meeting:

“We are hosting a neighborhood open house meeting to provide information and answer questions regarding these requests on November 7, 2022, at Towne Place Suites Glendale (Conference Room), 7271 N. Zanjero Blvd., Glendale, Arizona 85305. We know people have different schedules, so that is why we have set this up as an open house style meeting. The open house will run from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Feel free to arrive and leave anytime during the 60-minute window.” Page 5

I object strongly to the concept of an Open House meeting. All of the neighbors attending do not hear the questions posed or necessarily receive the same response. They have scheduled this meeting for one hour (which I think may be too short). Their format should be a sit down meeting where the presentation is made at once to all attendees and questions/responses are made to all attendees at one time.

Yucca district residents from these neighborhoods not only need to pass out the word and become informed about this meeting but should attend as well:

  • Rovey Farm and Glen Eden (across the street from the proposed project)
  • Large lot development single streets of Cavalier, Montebello, Georgia and Orange
  • Residential subdivisions of Shalimar, Desert Mirage, Parkside, La Buena Vida, Missouri Estates and Missouri Ranch

If this land must develop as an up-scale, luxury RV resort park then it darn well should be one.

© Joyce Clark, 2022      

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.

Oct 22

18

If you haven’t checked these out, you should

Posted by Joyce Clark on October 18, 2022
Posted in Blogs • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Heroes Park • 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.

GAIN EVENT

This Saturday, October 22, 2022, the City of Glendale will hold its annual Getting Arizona Involved in Neighborhoods (GAIN) event at Heroes Park (at the intersection of 83rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road) from 10 AM to 1 PM.

We encourage neighborhoods to create their own neighborhood watch program. Why bother? Let’s begin with a basic question. How well do you know your immediate neighbors? We tend to be isolated from one another, especially in our own neighborhood. Do you have a relationship with your neighbor immediately to your right? left? across the street? Sadly, the answer is probably no. If you or your children were in trouble, could you count on your neighbor to help? GAIN is a doorway to getting to know your neighbors.

Some of your neighbors are home all day. If they saw a person trying to get into your car or house would they know enough about you to realize that someone may be trying to rob you? GAIN encourages people to report suspicious activity and helps your neighbors to learn that the person trying to get access to your home or car should be reported.

Now I will admit I liked the old GAIN format a lot better than the current one. Ten, fifteen years ago instead of an event at a centralized location, neighborhoods were encouraged to hold block parties on one night in October. Councilmembers, police and fire personnel would try to visit as many of these neighborhoods as possible. I, typically, had a dozen or more block parties to visit on that special night. While I may not have visited all, I went to as many as I could. They were wonderful! Neighbors got to meet neighbors and I got to meet many people living in great neighborhoods. It gave me the additional opportunity to learn what concerns and issues these neighborhoods had.

Again, I encourage you to attend the GAIN event this Saturday. There will be: Police K9 & Drone Demos | Emergency Response Vehicles | Raffle Prizes & Giveways | Safety Displays/Info Booths | Meet City & Community Leaders | Military & Public Safety Recruiting | Teamup to Clean up | Children’s Activities | Music by 96.3FM Real Country | Children’s fingerprinting.

I encourage you to attend to learn how to set up a Neighborhood Watch. With crime on the rise a Neighborhood Watch seems like a good investment of your time and talents.

Every week I send out a weekly Enews letter to subscribers. If you have never bothered to look at it, you’re missing out. It’s chock full of information. My Council Assistant, Shannon Beck, has made it even easier to sign up for my weekly Enewsletter by creating a QR code to subscribe. Here it is:

Just use your phone to click on this code and it will take you right to the Subscribe form. Fill out the form, submit it and you’re good to go.

On the subject of QR codes, here’s another one for you. Don’t miss a single post of joyceclarkunfilted.com . Click on this QR code to read the latest blog:

We didn’t stop there. We now have monthly calendars in the newsletter. Simply click on a date and it will bring up any events that are occurring on that day. Want to know which streets in the Yucca district are scheduled for pavement management? We’ve got that. Want to know what’s happening in downtown Glendale? We’ve got that. Want to know what happened at the last city council meeting? We’ve got that.

Why am I sharing this information with you? I want you to be informed about what’s happening in Glendale. Even more importantly, these events and venues give you the opportunity to share what concerns you the most. I want you to be involved in your community. I want you to attend events specifically designed for your and your family. I want to hear from you. Together, we can make Glendale an even better community for all.

© Joyce Clark, 2022      

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.

Oct 22

2

45th Annual Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards…We won!

Posted by Joyce Clark on October 2, 2022
Posted in City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Heroes Lake  | 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.

Last night, Saturday, October 1st, I had the privilege of attending the annual Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards. The reason for my attendance was that my “Beyond the Headlines: How to build a lake” was nominated for an award in the Public Affairs Program category. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaxlBYerWug .

 

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”2″ sortorder=”36,35,41,37,38,39,40″ display=”basic_slideshow”]I learned a lot. This award is a big deal as it is part of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Southwest Region covering Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Southeastern California. All the nominees were TV stations, universities, and professional production companies. Glendale was the only city nominated for any award and the only city to win in its category.

The award banquet was held at the Chateau Luxe which is quite like our very own Civic Center in downtown Glendale. It was a black-tie event and attendees were dressed to the nines.

I was delighted to be sitting next to Lin Sue Cooney and her husband, Tom. Lin Sue retired from news in August of 2015.  She now shares her skills and talents with Hospice of the Valley (HOV) as their Director of Community Engagement, overseeing their marketing, business development, fund development, volunteers, and creative services.

How did we get to last night? Every councilmember has the ability to produce their own half hour programming. My intent with my series called “Beyond the headlines” has always been to go beyond the news headline and to go in-depth into a topic. When I knew Heroes Lake was about to start construction, I asked our Media Department to take video and drone video footage from the start. I told them I wanted to do an in-depth segment on building the lake. I, like most people, assume it’s an easy construction job and can be done almost immediately. As with most construction projects, it’s a lot more complicated and time consuming than we think. Add to that, I was pressuring the city’s engineers to get the job done in about 8 months. I was always asking, what was the status of the project? Staff knew that every time I saw them, I would ask. It got to the point the first thing they would tell me was the status of the project.

In meeting with Sue Breding, Public Affairs Administrator; Jessica Mensch, Producer, Writer, and Editor of the video; and Luis Jacinto, Photographer and Drone Photographer of the video, I laid out my concept for the video. I wanted to explain how complicated such a project is, what is involved, why it took so long to build and what the cost was. After all, it’s taxpayer dollars and our citizens should have the opportunity to learn for what and how those dollars were being used.

The first draft presented by Jessica and Luis was very good but didn’t quite reflect my vision. After conversations they went back to the drawing board and their next effort was perfect. It captured what I had envisioned and was extremely professional. At that time, I quipped that they should enter it for an award. That is exactly what Sue Breding did. She submitted it for an Rocky Mountain Emmy Award. I remember how excited she was when she told me it was one of three nominees in the Public Affairs Program category. Little did I realize what a big deal it was to even be a nominee. To have won in that category is even more spectacular. My very own Emmy statuette has been ordered and it will receive a place of prominence in my office.

I may have had the idea for the video, but it was due to the professionalism and talent of Jessica and Luis that we won. You, as a resident, should be very proud of Glendale’s staff. Often, they are the best and brightest in their respective career fields.

So, we won! You should be very proud of all of Glendale’s achievements for its staff regularly and routinely wins awards in all kinds of fields including finance reporting to water management.

© Joyce Clark, 2022      

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.

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