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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

Aug 16

6

Clark for Council endorsements

Posted by Joyce Clark on August 6, 2016
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LATEST VIDEO TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN AS SAMMY CHAVIRA AND ANTHONY LEBLANC, CEO, SHARE A MOMENT PRIOR TO CHAVIRA’S FLIP FLOP VOTE FOR A $15 MILLION DOLLAR A YEAR ARENA MANAGEMENT CONTRACT.

My family has always been law enforcement. One member is a retired officer. I am proud of the deep and lasting relationships I have with many in the Glendale Police Department. That is why I am particularly proud to share two law enforcement endorsements with you. One is from the Arizona Police Association and the other is from the Fraternal Order of Police. In addition I received an unsolicited endorsement from a retired Commander of the Glendale Police Department.

FOP EndorsementAPA endorsement June 19 2016

 

August 3, 2016

I have known Joyce Clark since she first became a council woman.  She immediately jumped into her duties as a council woman full time. She continually met with the Police Department Staff on crime issues and held neighborhood meetings to bring neighborhood and district issues to the attention of city staff and police department.

She studied issues and asked very in-depth questions of all city staff to ensure every angle of the issue had been reviewed and it would be in the best interest of her constituents and the city as a whole.

I can honestly say that with my 36 years at the police department, I have never seen any councilmember more dedicated to representing her district and its citizens. She is truly amazing in her love for the city and her district and I, without hesitation, endorse Joyce Clark as councilmember for the Yucca District.”

 John E. Krystek,

 Commander, Glendale Police Department

Retired

The Glendale Star, Thursday, August 4, 2016 ran several Letters to the Editor that I share with you now.

Letter to the Editor

“Very disappointed in The Glendale Star’s non-recommendation for the Yucca District Council nomination. In all other races, the paper gave clear reasons as to why the other positions and candidates were qualified for office and named the person whom they recommended. Not the Yucca district.  

For some reason The Glendale Star chose to state the candidates “are a classic dilemma of choice with no clear or substantive advantage between the candidates.”

That’s a bunch of baloney. They are different as night and day and The Glendale Star must be blind not to see that.  You’ve been writing for weeks about a number of problems Sam Chavira has incurred. He has provided very little, if any, support to the people of the Yucca district in his tenure. Because of that, he has received no financial backing for his race from the residents of the Yucca district. All of his support comes from special interests and unions. On the flip side, Joyce Clark’s campaign is based solely on donations from Yucca district residents who trust and believe in her.

Joyce Clark has been a person of action and will continue to work for the citizens of Glendale. I’d say there’s a vast difference between the two candidates. One understands all facets of the job and the other has no clue.

I could cite more reasons why Sam is not qualified but your paper and the Arizona Republic have done a better job over the past months. Four more years of Sam Chavira would be a disservice to the City of Glendale. We all know it and I still don’t understand why the Star couldn’t say it.”

Bob Stratton

Letter to the Editor

“I will tell you why you should vote for Weiers and Clark by telling you that the fire department needs to stick to fighting fires and stay out of politics.

Before I start, I would like to say I have always supported the firemen and police of Glendale. Safety has always been my concern. However, when they push candidates like (Mark) Burdick and (Samuel) Chavira upon the community, it is time to take a second look at their candidates. The fire unions have put a lot of money into the elections in Glendale and look what we have gotten.

We have Councilmember Chavira, who sold the farm to Coyotes and put the city in debt. He spent city money to see the Pope in Washington; not in person, but on a screen. He has no district meetings with the voters, misses meetings and it seems the only time he talks is when salaries for firemen are on the agenda.

Mr. Burdick is not much better, since in 2012, the fire department was audited while under his watch. It was found that policy was broken in regards to procurement.

Lastly, if you read The Glendale Star’s interview with him last Thursday, you will see that he said he has to lie to win. If this is the best the fire department has to offer, the city will be in deep trouble if they are elected.”

Norma Alvarez

Former Glendale City Councilmember

Letter to the Editor

“Sammy Chavira says to vote on his record. What record?

1. One meeting with his district voters in four years.

2. He, along with best buddy, Sherwood, gave money away to the Coyotes. That is why we have potholes in our streets.

3. He spends money on frivolous trips to Washington D.C. to see the Pope on a screen.

4. When the apartments on 75th and Glendale were condemned and people had nowhere to live, Sammy was not there to help.

5. He supports the fiestas, but when you want to know what the money went for, he never produces receipts.

6. He has missed more meetings than any other councilmember. Not that that is a great loss.

7. He supported the Cinco de Mayo fiestas, along with Jaime Aldama. Again, no receipts, but we did get vandalism to the tune of $50,000. He should be in the newspaper every day, demanding that people be arrested and that restitution be made. Not Sammy; those are his buddies’ kids.

8. Sammy is a planted fireman, who was asked to run to get more money for the fire department. He is all show, but no go.

Vote for Joyce Clark and get someone that will show up for meetings, get our streets fixed, get decent libraries in the Yucca District, and above all, will be a workhorse, not a show horse like Sammy.”

Bob Gonzalo

© Joyce Clark, 2016

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.

Aug 16

4

Chavira and Burdick, two peas in the same pod

Posted by Joyce Clark on August 4, 2016
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , , , | 2 Comments

PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW VIDEO TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN ABOUT CHAVIRA’S MOMENT WITH ANTHONY LEBLANC, OWNER OF ICEARIZONA BEFORE VOTING APPROVAL OF THEIR $15 MILLION A YEAR MANAGEMENT CONTRACT.

The August 4th edition of the Glendale Star ran the following under Letters to the Editor.

An open letter to Mark Burdick

“Dear Mr. Burdick:

We are writing you in response to your comments to the editorial staff of The Glendale Star. Specifically, your astounding admission that you were knowingly and deliberately attempting to deceive the voters of Glendale by misrepresenting the record and accomplishments of our current mayor, Jerry Weiers. You explained that your advisors told you that you needed to lie in order to have a chance of winning the race, but this, in no way, relieves you of the responsibility of your deceit.

Your campaign consultants may have advised you to lie, but you willingly agreed to do it. You stood before the people of Glendale and lied. You wrote editorials to newspapers that contained lies. And even after being confronted, you doubled down on the lies.

It is our belief that while a campaign over legitimate policy differences is healthy and worthy of our city, you have run the most dishonorable race imaginable. You cannot lead a city if you cannot be honest with the citizens of that city. Nor would we want you to.

Accordingly, we believe that, through your dishonest actions and gleeful confession, you have disqualified yourself as a legitimate candidate for mayor and we ask that you withdraw from this race. It is unfair to subject the voters of Glendale to another month of lies masquerading as a political campaign.”

Respectfully,

Ray Malnar, Councilmember

Ian Hugh, Vice Mayor

Bobby Casares

John LeGendre

Larry Rovey

Ron Kolb

Norma Alvarez

Adela Guerra

Laura Hirsch

Bobby Gonzalo

Bill Kelleher

Richard and Mickey Lund

Randy Miller, USMC Ret

Tom Traw

Jeff Blake

The reason I have posted this Letter to the Editor is Sammy Chavira, who supports Mark Burdick for Mayor (and after all, why wouldn’t he…they are both in fire; one a former Chief and the other currently a Phoenix fire fighter) took a page out of Mark Burdick’s style of campaigning. He took a kernel of truth and misrepresented it beyond recognition.

Another pro-Chavira mailer hit the streets today. This time paid by Revitalize Arizona with major funding by Residents for Accountability. It’s my understanding that a PAC that spends money on behalf of a Glendale candidate must be registered with the Glendale City Clerk. As of August 4th, neither of these PACs is registered with the Glendale City Clerk according to the City Clerk’s website. In fact, OpenSecrets.org says, “This PAC does not exist in the 2016 election cycle. Try another cycle.” The Residents for Accountability PAC is registered with the City of Tempe but was only active in 2012 and 2013.

It’s another one of those pesky “Independent mailers” supposedly unknown to candidate Chavira nor coordinated with his campaign committee. Haven’t we seen this disclaimer before with his previous mailer? You bet we have. If one had the time to dig deep enough the connections between these two PACs and Sammy would be discovered.

Sammy’s mailer takes one fact: that I chaired the Risk Management and Workers Compensation Trust Fund as the city council representative. That is a fact and is true.

Sammy’s mailer implies that I was a participant or condoned the misappropriation of taxpayer dollars while serving on this board. That is not a fact and not true.

I served as Chairperson of the Board during my last year of council service in 2012. An audit of the money in the Risk Management Trust Fund and Workers Compensation trust fund was conducted in 2012. The misappropriation of funds by city staff members that had the responsibility of managing the funds on a daily basis had occurred several years earlier.

I was not chairperson of the board at the time of misappropriation but I did chair the board when it was discovered and when the solutions to fixing the problems were crafted. The board immediately released its findings with a series of corrective measures to prevent it from happening again — to the city council which accepted the recommendations unanimously.

Sammy’s mailer also says, “…helped lead a spending spree that nearly bankrupted our city.” It’s just another Burdick-like lie. Boy, I wish I had had that kind of power! Things would be a lot different.

No, the spending spree lies at the feet of former Mayor Elaine Scruggs and her band of crony councilmembers. She had the majority of votes on council that approved much of it and included former Councilmembers Yvonne Knaack and Manny Martinez, both of whom have endorsed Mark Burdick.

The mailer goes on to say, “…she called the auditors ‘nitpicky’.” Lie. I did not. I was shocked to learn of the misappropriations and supported all of the conclusions in the auditors’ report. I did say that I thought some of the irrelevant details in the report were “nitpicky.” One word – yet taken completely out of context.

Again, let me remind you all of the accusations against Chavria are fact based upon his decisions and actions and reported in detail in various media, both TV and the newspapers.

As was stated in the above letter, it is unfair to subject the voters of the Yucca district to “another month of lies masquerading as a political campaign.”

Sammy has done the same that Burdick has done “by misrepresenting the record and accomplishments.” Is it any wonder that Sammy is endorsing Burdick? There’s an old adage, “Birds of a feather flock together.”

These men are part of a “flock” that has no place in the leadership of Glendale.

© Joyce Clark, 2016

FAIR USE NOTICE

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

Jul 16

31

First mailing about Chavira hits mailboxes

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 31, 2016
Posted in Arizona Coyotes • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale finances • Glendale zoning issues • West Branch Library  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW VIDEO TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN ABOUT CHAVIRA’S MOMENT WITH ANTHONY LEBLANC, OWNER OF ICEARIZONA BEFORE VOTING APPROVAL OF THEIR $15 MILLION A YEAR MANAGEMENT CONTRACT.

Several friends received Sammy’s first campaign mailing and gave me copies. As I forewarned this mailer was paid for by Truth and Leadership, a Political Action Committee (PAC).  Its Chairman is Bill Scheel, of Javalina, a consulting firm. He managed Chavira’s last campaign in 2012. It is registered as an Independent Expenditure Committee.

An independent expenditure committee, by law, may not consult, share information or its plan of action in support of a candidate, with the candidate. That means no personal contact with a candidate.

The mailing clearly says, “Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s campaign committee.”

One has to wonder if Bill Scheel, chairman of the Truth and Leadership PAC, and Ben Scheel of Bright Consulting (paid $1500 on 5/13/2016 by Sammy for campaign consulting) are relatives.

The mailer was also paid by “major funding provided by United Food & Commercial Workers Union of AZ Local 99 PAC” (Stan Chavira works for the UFCW). Is this yet another relative? The major funding for the mailer from the UFCW is in addition to another $6250.00 it already contributed to Sammy’s campaign. It’s eerie…Bill and Ben Scheel and Sammy and Stan Chavira. It makes you wonder.

Are we to assume that Sammy Chavira has never discussed funding for or the content of this mailer with his relative Stan Chavira and are we also to assume that Bill Scheel and Ben Scheel (are they also relatives?) never discussed this mailer either? Ben Scheel is Sammy’s current campaign manager. So how would that work? If these actions occurred – and we don’t know if they did – that would be collusion and a direct violation of the Truth and Leadership PAC’s requirement to be a truly independent expenditure committee.

Let’s give Mr. Bill Scheel of the Truth and Leadership PAC an “A” for creative writing in fiction. Mr. Scheel describes Sammy as an “independent voice.” Pure fiction easily seen if you ever watched Sammy in action (or non-action) at the council meetings he did attend. Sammy and former recalled councilmember Gary Sherwood were in lock step on many issues including Sammy’s deciding vote to approve the $15 million dollar a year arena management contract with IceArizona. So much for any voice from Sammy as he has become legendarily known for not offering anything meaningful at council meetings other than to thank everybody for any and every thing. So much for an “independent voice.”

Mr. Scheel, in bold text, offers you, the voter, two tag lines: “Yes to stopping special interests” and “No to cutting public safety and quality of life.” It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Saving Glendale — all by himself. Sammy has looked out for the interests of every major contributor to his campaigns, from this campaign as well as his 2012 campaign. Sammy didn’t stop IceArizona, a special interest group, did he? Perhaps it was because he’s a full time Phoenix fire fighter and doesn’t have time to listen to his constituents.

We wouldn’t expect Sammy to ever say no to cutting public safety because his interest and agenda, as a fire fighter, is to other fire fighters including those in Glendale. But if it’s for the citizens of his district he settles for crumbs. His action to approve a 7,500 square foot trailer as the West Branch Library has certainly been devastating to the quality of life for all Yucca district residents. He settled… for less than any other Glendale resident enjoys with the Foothills Branch Library ( 4 times the size of the trailer library west Glendale residents will get…eventually) and Velma Teague Branch Library (twice the size of the trailer library) .

His approval of the John F. Long application for the residential project known as Stonehaven with 46% of the lots being only 5,500 square feet has a real impact on Yucca district residents’ quality of life as they see their property values lessen. He didn’t protect the district’s quality of life with his yes vote for Stonehaven. He settled.

Bill Scheel, chairperson of the Truth and Leadership PAC, Patrick Barrett (another campaign consultant being paid handsomely by Chavira in the amount of $4,000 to date) and Ben Scheel ($1,500 to date) are masters at using smoke and mirrors to divert the voters’ attention away from Chavira’s transgressions and failings.

They deliberately use buzz phrases like “led the charge” or “stood up to special interests.” They have no choice but to paint Sammy as a hero to divert voters’ attention away from his misdeeds. They don’t want you to remember about his nearly $25,000 thousand dollars worth of unethical travel on the taxpayers’ dime. Yes, you read that correctly. He used your tax dollars as his own personal check book to take trips and to entertain his Phoenix fire bosses with an extravagant dinner ($420) – all of these actions are wholly unrelated to his responsibilities to Glendale.

They don’t want you to remember his speeding ticket and failure to appear in court or his subsequent driver’s license suspension and hundreds of dollars in fines. They don’t want you to remember that he called it “a minor glitch.” They don’t want you to remember that he paid his fines only after being questioned by the media.

They don’t want you to remember that he held only one district meeting during his term in office, or that he has been absent from a dozen council meetings, the equivalent of 6 months of absent time for which he continued to be paid; or that he doesn’t return constituent calls. Because if you remember these things you will not vote for him.

They have shown utter contempt and disrespect for the voters of the Yucca district. They assume you are ignorant or perhaps stupid. They assume if they put in writing that Sammy is a hero and you receive a slick campaign mailing saying so, since it’s in print, you will believe it.

They don’t know how smart Yucca voters are and they certainly have not gauged the level of anger people feel about Sammy’s misbehaviour.  It looks as if Sammy is just another sleazy politician who believes he can charm you enough so that you will ignore his unethical actions.

It’s up to you, with your vote, to show Sammy and his paid, hired gun consultants and the fire PACs that will pour thousands of dollars into Sammy’s campaign, that you will no longer vote for Sammy as a councilmember. We simply cannot afford his outrageous spending of taxpayers’ money or his lack of ethics any longer.

© Joyce Clark, 2016

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 tohttp://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Jul 16

27

It’s Fire PAC season in Glendale

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 27, 2016
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale's Fire Union  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LATEST VIDEO ABOUT CHAVIRA’S RECORD TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN

In July, 2016 three Political Action Committees registered in Glendale. The first one is Glendale Forward. It registered as a PAC on July 6, 2016.  Here is the link to the Glendale City Clerk’s page about its registration with the city: http://glendaleaz.com/Clerk/documents/GlendaleForward.pdf . The registered Chairman of this PAC is Mike Colletto. Mr. Colletto is the Director of Legislative Affairs for the Professional Fire Fighters, the Phoenix chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). The registered Treasurer is Stephen Gilman, a firefighter who works for the City of Goodyear.

The second one to register with the City of Glendale on July 20, 2016 is the Campaign for Truth and Leadership. Here is its link: http://glendaleaz.com/Clerk/documents/CampaignforTruthandLeadership.pdf . Its Chairman is Bill Scheel, of Javalina , a consulting firm. He managed Chavira’s last campaign in 2012. Its Treasurer is Darryl Tattrie of Common Cents Consulting. It registered as an Independent Expenditure Committee. An independent expenditure committee, by law, may not consult with or share information or its plan of action to support a candidate with the candidate. Consider that as a wink and a nod for which politics is famous.

On July 22, 2016 a third PAC was born, Fire Fighters Interested in Registration and Education PAC.  It’s an out-of-state PAC located in Washington, D.C. Here is its link: http://glendaleaz.com/Clerk/documents/FireFightersInterestedinRegistrationandEducationPAC.pdf . The sponsoring organization is the International Association of Fire Fighters. Its Chairman is Harold Schaitberger, President of the IAFF and its Treasurer is Thomas Miller. Even though it is required on the registration form, there is no information provided about the Treasurer’s occupation or employer. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume it is the IAFF.

What do 2 of these 3 PACs have in common? They are suddenly created to support only fire-related candidates in specific, local elections such as Glendale’s and after an election they go to PAC heaven (or hell). The third PAC in this illustrious list is a permanent PAC. I assume its purpose is to register voters and to educate them. Perhaps that’s the kind of education Chavira meant when he misled voters in 2012.

These 3 PACs, recently registered in Glendale, were created for one purpose and one purpose only and that would be to mail campaign material supporting former Fire Chief Mark Burdick, currently running for mayor and Sammy Chavira, a Phoenix fire fighter, running for re election to the Yucca district council seat. These are the only two fire related candidates in Glendale.

So-o-o, brace yourselves for an onslaught of campaign mailings from this point until the election on August 30th. Usually at the bottom in small print or on the return address you can tell who sent them. If they are from Glendale Forward, Campaign for Truth and Leadership or Fire Fighters Interested in Registration and Education, they will be nasty and dirty. They will attempt to destroy Mayor Weiers or me. Their only purpose is to keep Sammy and elect Burdick. You should be very suspicious of their content.

On the other hand, you have read the facts the Arizona Republic and the Glendale Star have reported about Sammy. Sammy told reporters he would let his record speak for itself. It has. His spending on travel; his speeding ticket and subsequent actions; and his failure to appear at six months worth of council meetings and do his job are all actions and decisions he made as a councilmember. I have used facts that are on the public record and have been reported by various media. They tell you what he has done. I’ve told you what he has not done for the people of our district.

That he settled for a trailer instead of a permanent library like Velma Teague, the Main Library or Foothills Library. That he held only one meeting of Yucca residents in 4 years, choosing instead to take your money to go to Washington, D.C. to see the Pope.

 It is evident what he has done and more importantly, what he has not done for the people of our district. Along with the media I have tried to make everyone aware of Sammy’s record so as a voter you can make an informed decision, a choice for change and offered a way to get your voice back.

Our election is August 30th but early vote-by-mail ballots go out on August 3rd, and likely will arrive in your mailbox before August 8th. I ask you to return your mail-in ballot promptly as these early votes are a large portion of district votes. For many, the tendency once your ballot is received is to place it somewhere. It is sometimes forgotten and never returned. This election is critical and your councilmember will be chosen at the Primary. Make your vote count. Return your early ballot promptly.

I pledge as your councilmember that your access to me for your problems will be easy and my response prompt. Please help me to give your voice back.

© Joyce Clark, 2016

FAIR USE NOTICE

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

Jul 16

25

Meet and greet with Weiers and Clark

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 25, 2016
Posted in City of Glendale  | No Comments yet, please leave one

SAVE THE DATE Weirs Clark

Jul 16

24

Compare and contrast

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 24, 2016
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale finances • Glendale zoning issues • West Branch Library  | Tagged With: , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LATEST CHAVIRA VIDEO TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN ABOUT HIS RECORD AS A COUNCILMEMBER

I have shared Sammy’s record with you based upon facts reported publicly or from city council meeting minutes: his failure to fulfill his duties as a councilmember and to be accessible and to represent his constituency; his speeding ticket and subsequent actions; and of course his abuse of taxpayer money with his lavish trips. He has abused the trust voters placed in him and has shown himself to be ethically bankrupt.

What do I stand for? Why vote for me?

  • Completion of Heroes Park with a permanent West Branch library
  • Location of a grocery store within the district
  • New business attraction with quality jobs
  • Creation of a business incubator
  • Streamlined city business codes and regulations
  • Adoption of zero-based budgeting
  • Equitable use of all city resources and redress for areas long neglected
  • Continued emphasis on street repair and reconstruction
  • Continued fiscal emphasis on our core city services
  • Adoption of technology that keeps city government lean and effective
  • Refocus on code compliance
  • Accessibility to constituents in-person, by phone, email or other social media
  • Regular posting online of every cent of taxpayer money I spend with who, what, where and why
  • Restoration of integrity and ethics to the position of Yucca district councilmember
  • Will “do my homework” on all issues coming before council and consistently and regularly attend all council meetings
  • Will represent you and “get your voice back”

Here are a few previous accomplishments

  • Hosted a tour for senior management of the Yucca district sparking the creation of the Neighborhood Partnership Program
  • Successfully gained council approval for the first 50,000 Christmas lights in Murphy Park now known as Glendale Glitters
  • Loan program for E-readers
  • Adoption of Care Program providing discount prescription drugs for people and their pets
  • Piloted street identification signage for motorists later adopted throughout the city
  • Successfully gained basketball courts, water play feature for children, tot lot, X-Court and ramadas for Heroes Park
  • Insured that new residential development  such as Rovey Farm Estates, Missouri Ranch and Missouri Estates, incorporated large lots designed to raise property values in our area

© Joyce Clark, 2016

FAIR USE NOTICE

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

Jul 16

22

Tidbits on a hot Friday July afternoon

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 22, 2016
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TO MY CAMPAIGN USING THE PAY PAL BUTTON TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LATEST VIDEO DEPICTING SAMMY’S RECORD OF SERVICE.

Today it will be 114 degrees and as we continue to plant campaign signs we will be dripping within 5 minutes…sigh. Arizona politicians are probably tougher than any others. Who in their right mind would campaign in the summer in Arizona? Only in Arizona, I guess.

Last night I held the first Yucca district meeting since Sammy held his one and only meeting in May of 2013. About two dozen hardy souls attended. Unfortunately we were competing with Trump’s acceptance speech (reportedly over 30 million viewers). That’s OK. It was a very good meeting. Many questions were asked of both Mayor Weiers and me and as a result, the meeting lasted for two hours. Mayor Weiers did an excellent job demonstrating his breadth of knowledge on city issues as our Mayor. Interestingly, there were 4 gentlemen from Phoenix in attendance. Obviously they were there on behalf of either the Burdick or Chavira campaigns. We hope they had a good time.

I had planned to post the video of the meeting but due to its length of 2 hours I don’t have the capability to do so. We may try to figure out how to edit it down to something manageable and post snippets.

One of the questions was about the “temporary” sale tax increase. I was the councilmember who insisted that it be temporary at the time of its passage. It was due to sunset in 2017. Chavira, in an Arizona Republic interview of July 25, 2012 (almost 4 years ago to the day) said this about the sales tax increase, “Hopefully, the new council can expedite the five-year sunset.” Enter the sound of crickets…just another empty campaign promise made by my opponent. He made no call for council’s action on this issue.

That Arizona Republic interview of Sammy was full of his insistence on transparency and communication with his constituency. Here are just a few of his more memorable comments on the subject:

  • “Firefighter prepared to listen to residents.”
  • “Chavira, 47, thinks increased transparency and a greater willingness to involve residents, businesses and neighboring cities in decision making can help Glendale come out of its difficult times.”
  • “Many of the city’s latest problems stem from a lack of input from residents.”
  • “Chavira said he’s committed to getting resident input.”
  • “People seem to forget politicians are here to serve the citizens they represent.”

Sammy ignored his very own premise that he was elected to serve the citizens he represents. When is the last time he contacted his constituency to seek their input? How about never. He’s had only one district meeting during his entire term.

In that same interview, Chavira was asked what can the City Council do to help make education better in Glendale? His answer was, “We need better and more after-school programs, park and recreation programs and we need to bring back, we don’t have Little League anymore. We need to be more accessible to our children.” Not sure what he means by being more accessible to our children. Perhaps you can figure that one out.

Let’s not forget Sammy’s promises in a 2012 campaign mailing, “We need excellent schools to prepare our children to compete for high wage jobs and to attract companies to our region. I will fight to fully fund Head Start, promote education tax credits, and make city-provided after-school programs more academically focused. We also need to keep our parks and library programs strong to provide activities that keep our youth off the streets (emphasis is Chavira’s).”

Keep in mind that a local city council has absolutely no authority over local education in its community. That is the job of local school district boards. They make the decisions about where funds will be expended, what their curriculum will be and they make policy and procedure decisions for the schools within their district. As for the pledges he made in his 2012 campaign, enter the sound of crickets chirping once again.

Chavira chooses buzz words to define his campaigns. He chose a hot button issue that is decidedly important to all of us knowing full well that he, as a member of the city council, could do nothing about it with the exception of city-funded, after school programs. He has not advocated for and has done nothing to fulfill his pledges regarding education. It implies that either he is truly ignorant and doesn’t know that he has no impact on educational issues or it is a deliberately cynical use of an issue as he relies on the voter to be ill informed. Beware of his use of the same themes and tactics in this election.

© Joyce Clark, 2016

FAIR USE NOTICE

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

Jul 16

21

Yucca district meeting tonight

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 21, 2016
Posted in City of Glendale  | 2 Comments

CHECK OUT THE LATEST VIDEO ON CHAVIRA’S RECORD AS A COUNCIL PERSON

SAVE THE DATE JULY 4 2016

Jul 16

19

Yucca district meeting

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 19, 2016
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials  | Tagged With: , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

SAVE THE DATE JULY 4 2016

Jul 16

14

Is Code compliance effective?

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 14, 2016
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale  | Tagged With: , , , , , | 4 Comments

It has been 18 years and 208 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

Since I have been retired from city council I still get calls from Glendale residents inside and outside of the Yucca district with code compliance issues. Today I visited a resident with a litany of code issues. All of these photos were taken on just one residential street in Glendale.

This person represents many of us in the community. We continuously try to maintain and/or improve the exterior and interior of our homes. We water our grass, plant new plants in spring or get an itch to remodel a bathroom. This person is no different from many of us.

In an attempt to be fair and balanced I have to say that while I was on council there were many times – not every time – that code worked diligently and solved many of my constituents’ problems. But at that time there were code inspectors assigned to specific areas of the city. I don’t think that is the case anymore. These inspectors were proactive and could write complaints as they viewed them without the need for a citizen complaint. I don’t know how the system is set up these days.

I have received enough complaints over the past few years to question Code’s current level of effectiveness and its level of responsiveness to citizens when they have no councilmember to advocate for them.

IMG_1516This most recent complaint is a case in point. When I was on council, Code could and did write up people for dead trees and untrimmed palm trees. Apparently that is not the case anymore. This citizen was told, “We don’t deal with untrimmed palm trees anymore.”

The city is not responsible for pigeons that seem toIMG_1513 congregate everywhere but in some instances where there may be a health or safety issue, the city does have the responsibility of advising a resident of a situation that is unsanitary. Look at the pigeons who have made a home underneath this cooling system on the roof.

When there were loud noise complaints dealing IMG_1512with barking dogs Code had developed a system that required 3 other neighbors to confirm the complaint and required the complainant to keep a log for several weeks. There was no such Draconian system for odors and I remember a citizen complaining about the cat smells coming from a next door neighbor’s house and code addressing the issue.

Previously the city had a contract with Maricopa Animal control to remove stray animals. In a cost saving measure that contract has been discontinued. Now a Glendale Police Officer has to respond. Officers are not equipped to deal with these types of situations. It also takes them away from performing real police work and responding to calls in a timely manner.

Much to my surprise I learned during my visit to this person that for odors the complainant must use the same system used for barking dogs. TheIMG_1507 complainant must fill out the same type of log and get neighbors to confirm and attest to the odor complaint. That is just plain illogical and unworkable on so many levels. This system is enough to turn away all but the most determined.

Then there are the sanitation issues we’ve all seen. I have seen people leave their trash receptacles on IMG_1497the street continually. There are others that put their cans out days before collection and then leave the cans on the street days after. Or what about loose trash? In our part of town they pick up loose trash the last week of the month. I have seen those who put new loose trash out immediately after having had their current stockpile just picked up. Code had and I don’t know if it still does, persons surveying residential streets for just these kinds of violations. I suspect these people are spread too thin to be effective.

IMG_1521IMG_1520IMG_1519

 

 

 

 

Has Code abdicated its responsibilities? Many citizens believe that Code looks for reasons to be nonresponsive. They complain that an oft used response is, “We can’t do anything about that.” Once again, it’s time for Code to dialogue with residents to find out what it is doing well and where  it is not being effective. Instead of telling residents what Code cannot do it is time to think outside the box and figure out how it can be more effective and responsive.

© Joyce Clark, 2016

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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