Header image alt text

Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

PLEASE DONATE TO MY CAMPAIGN BY USING THE PAY PAL BUTTON TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE CHAVIRA VIDEOS, ESPECIALLY “MONEY, MONEY” TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN.

It has been 18 years and 202 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

The July 8, 2016 edition of the Arizona Republic has an editorial penned by Phil Boas. Here is the link: http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/editorial/2016/07/07/sammy-chavira-glendale-travel/86789948/ . In part he says, “Glendale council members have also shied away from tackling the problem head-on by censuring Chavira. Shying away from that action also would be a mistake.” He goes on to say, “It is important, indeed, to refine policies and procedures to ensure ethical, professional practices. And we hope Glendale officials come through soon with clearer standards, including on junkets, freebies and late fees.

“But those efforts don’t preclude the mayor and council from passing judgment on a colleague’s decisions that were clearly inappropriate. And sending a message to constituents that the illegitimate use of their taxes isn’t tolerated. That requires and overdue – and well-deserved – censure.”

I agree. The problem is that a majority of council may not. Obviously Chavira must recuse himself in such deliberation and consequent action. That leaves a council of 6 members. Lately there has grown to be a 3 to 3 split between them with Turner, Tolmachoff and Aldama vs. Weiers, Hugh and Malnar. Take the latest major issue, light rail. The vote was 4-3 to approve and move forward – Turner, Tolmachoff, Aldama (and Chavira) for approval and Weiers, Hugh and Malnar against, citing the need for more information on their unanswered questions.

There are mechanisms in council guidelines that allow fellow councilmembers to sanction one another. They have never been used but it seems appropriate in Chavira’s case. How can a split council decide on censure for Chavira? The public perception, rightly or wrongly, is that Turner, Tolmachoff and Aldama would not support Chavira’s censure. So, they are at an impasse and the public may never see the very message the Arizona Republic calls for – that of “sending a message to constituents that the illegitimate use of their taxes isn’t (and will no longer) be tolerated.”

Add to a split council, the fact that Glendale’s City Attorney, Michael Bailey, had given Chavira a pass by publicly stating that he could find nothing wrong with Sammy’s spending. City councilmembers are his bosses so of course, he’s not going to throw one of them under the bus. What should have occurred and did not, was for Bailey to ask an independent third party, such as a city attorney from another jurisdiction, to review and make a decision.

In governmental terms, $25,000 is not a lot of money. In citizen terms, especially when it’s their taxes, it is. There are people at the poverty level who earn no more than that in an entire year. There are senior citizens who receive no more than that amount each year from Social Security. Chavira makes far more than that annually. Between his Phoenix firefighter position and his councilmember salary it seems he would be in the six-figure range.

That brings up another action that should be required and that is reimbursement to the city. Obviously Sammy can afford to do so but don’t hold your breath. It is unlikely that Glendale taxpayers will see this council censure one of its own or will see Sammy repay the money he lavished on trips.

Sammy’s only censure will come from the voters of the Yucca district at the Primary Election on August 30th for they will make clear their anger.

© 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.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LATEST CHAVIRA VIDEOWhat’s Sammy Been Doing, HIGHLIGHTING HIS CONSTITUENT ENGAGEMENT. IT IS TO THE LEFT OF THIS COLUMN.

It has been 18 years and 158 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

This evening, May 24, 2016, city council will vote on the issue of light rail. The meeting begins at 6 PM in Council Chambers at City Hall. Please park in the parking garage at 59th Avenue and Glendale Avenue. Walk east to council chambers. Make your opinion known. As I have stated in previous blogs, light rail may be one of the most divisive issues to ever surface in Glendale. Your voice counts.

On May 15, 2016 I filed a Public Information Request with the Glendale City Clerk’s office asking for the following information:

“Councilmember Sam Chavira and Councilmember Jamie Aldama each made a $2,500 donation on or about April 28, 2016 in support of the 2016 Cinco De Mayo Festival held on April 29, 2016 to May 1, 2016. The event was cosponsored by the City of Glendale and Barrio Breakthru Productions. I request the following public information:

  1. What was the $5,000 donated by Councilmembers Aldama and Chavira used for with regard to this event?
  2. A list of services, equipment, supplies and personnel supplied by the City of Glendale to support, produce, operate and clean up of the event, in-king or otherwise.
  3. The monetary value of all requested items listed in #2.
  4. Any and all reports, summaries, etc., submitted to the City of Glendale by or for Barrio Breakthru Productions that reflects the expenses required to produce the event and any and all revenues earned as a result of the event.”

My request was promptly fulfilled by the city by May 20, 2016. Questions #2 and #3 were thoroughly answered with the following information:

  1. “Off duty Police officers were hired through Pro-Force (a third party provider) not directly through the city. Sanitation roll-off delivery, rental, pickup and charges for tonnage at landfill. Audio and lighting services were provided by a third party not through the city. Transportation review of Traffic Control Plan (TCP) for event from the barricade company. This generated charges for lane use and TCP review fees.”
  2. “Sanitation roll-off charges: Delivery fee of $46.11; Haul fee of $175.00 and Landfill charges of $22.60. Transportation charges: TCP Review fee of $44.76; and Lane use fees of $335.76.”

My answers to questions #1 and #2 were not fulfilled. It seems that Councilmembers Aldama and Chavira’s total donation of $5,000 is in some black hole of non-information. There appears to be no accountability on the part of these councilmembers. Otherwise they could have provided information to fulfill that portion of my Public Information Request. As far as can be determined, neither asked Barrio Breakthru Productions for any information about the use of $5,000 of taxpayer money.  Apparently they just gave Barrio Breakthru Productions your money. Did the money cover costs of producing the festival? If so, what for?

Based on the information the city requested of the event producer its sole interest seems to be in logistics of holding the event. In the material the city provided there is no request for licenses of any kind or proof of insurance. It would seem these would be important for the city to have on file. Yet the city file supplied makes no mention of either item. One would think that these items would be important especially in light of the criminal damage that occurred at city hall during the event.

We still do not know if Barrio Breakthru Productions or the Breakthru Community Church was ultimately considered the event producer and was responsible for producing a certificate of adequate insurance. If it was the church that was the producer of record with the city then there is still the pesky issue of separation of church and state.

This incident demonstrates a lack of competence and clarity by city staff.  There were requirements for insurance in City Ordinance 2975. Why were the Ordinance requirements not followed? If the requirements were followed why was that information not supplied with all of the extraneous information I received about city requirements for the event? What is city policy these days? If elements of Ordinance 2975 are being waived upon whose authority is it being done?

I guess I will file one more Public Information Request asking Councilmembers Aldama and Chavira to obtain information from Barrio Breakthru about expenses covered by their donation of $5,000 of taxpayer money. I will also ask for any and all licenses and proof of insurance on file for this event provided to the city by Barrio Breakthru. Will let you know what response I obtain.

© 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.

It has been 18 years and 138 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

Signatures thermometer 2It’s official. I am now a candidate for the Yucca district city council position. On Wednesday, May 4, 2016 I turned in my nominating petition signatures to the Glendale City Clerk. Having verified the signatures we know that there are far more “good” signatures than are required.  From March 10, 2016 to April 30, 2016, in 8 weeks, we collected all the signatures needed.

The City Clerk and staff did an excellent job. They were very professional. I had paperwork to fill out which was then notarized. The staff counted signatures and verified that my petitions were correct as to form on the front and the back. I actually turned in more than the maximum number of signatures allowed (927). So at the end of the 927th signature a red line was drawn to indicate the maximum number had been turned in.

We personally verified signatures to make sure we had enough registered voter

City Clerk Pam Hanna and Yucca district city council candidate Joyce Clark

City Clerk Pam Hanna and Yucca district city council candidate Joyce Clark

signatures and know that out of the 927+ signatures submitted, 682 were verified as “good,” signed by registered voters.

By now the entire city council has been informed that I have turned in my paperwork. That is standard operating procedure. If and when Sammy turns his nominating petitions the City Clerk will notify me.

There are so many people to thank. My apology if I have not included your name. The list is long. People included, but were not limited to, Tom Traw, Norma Alvarez, Michael Hernandez, Sue Komernicky, Michael Socaciu, Monica Toby, John Fernandes, to name a few, and of course, my family – and many others. All walked faithfully and for that I am very grateful. I walked and secured many of the signatures personally so that I could talk to the voters

Many volunteers met no registered voters who said that Sammy or his representatives had been by to solicit signatures. Only twice did any of my volunteers meet a voter who indicated that someone from Sammy’s camp had been by. Well, not really Sammy’s camp. People have been circulating petitions for several state legislative candidates as well as Glendale mayoral candidate Burdick and Sammy. It appears that Sammy will rely on mayoral candidate Burdick and the fire union to obtain his petition signatures. Could it be that Sammy can’t be bothered with something as mundane as getting some of his own petition signatures?  Out of the over 900 voters we contacted, only 2 said the opposition had been by.

Sammy has truly become the Invisible Man. No one knows who Sammy is. When I revealed to petition signers that he was their councilmember and asked if they had read a news story about his travel expenses, some said they had and others expressed surprise that he was actually their councilmember. They were angry to read of his wasteful travel expenses paid by them as taxpayers and usually shared an earful with me.

Sammy has a problem. He has only been responsive to the big donors to his previous campaign. Some told me that they scheduled time to meet with Sammy, only to have him cancel their meeting, never to be rescheduled.

Sammy had only one district meeting during his term and that was in early 2013. Since then he has been neither seen nor heard. He’s lazy and relies upon council staff to produce his weekly Friday e-newsletter.

Sammy missed a record number of 12 council workshops or voting meetings during his term. There were other council meetings when he participated telephonically or arrived late. He even arrived late for the most recent council budget workshop of May 3, 2016.

What was gratifying to me was that many knew who I was and expressed their gratitude that I was running again and volunteered that they would be voting for me. Some offered to help in any way that they could.

There is an avalanche of change approaching and Sammy is directly in its path. Sammy has no one to blame for his poor performance and invisibility but himself. He squandered his voter-granted opportunity to serve the people of the Yucca district. Instead Sammy has only served Sammy and his agenda. He has not earned the privilege of continued service as a councilmember in the City of Glendale.

Since there are only 2 candidates for the Yucca city council seat the winner will be decided in the Glendale Primary Election. That is why it is so critical that you send in your Early Ballot or take the time to vote.  I ask for your vote at the Primary Election on August 30, 2016. You have a dramatic choice between a man who has failed to serve the people of his district and has been invisible and me, with a proven track record of availability and service to my district.

Please vote for Joyce Clark on August 30, 2016.

© 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.

This morning in checking the latest edition of the Glendale Star I noted a story that Sammy Chavira had received a speeding ticket in Glendale. That, however, it not what caught my attention. Rather it was that Sammy failed to appear for his court date resulting in additional fines and a suspension of his driver’s license and vehicle registration. Here is the link to the online story: http://www.glendalestar.com/news/article_396a5ba0-0bbd-11e6-aeb2-e79ffa40b720.html

It seems as if Sammy Chavira and recalled councilmember Gary Sherwood are brothers under the skin. Gary Sherwood was recalled after it was discovered that he had received at least one speeding ticket, allegedly continued to drive while under suspension (criminal offense) and he failed to appear in court. Subsequently a warrant for his arrest was issued for his Failure to Appear. That wasn’t the only reason for his recall. There were others such as his lack of representation of his constituency on the Becker Billboard issue, etc.

Sammy is apparently following in his buddy’s footsteps. Here are the facts as publicly available from court records:

  • Chavira w car 2On Sunday, March 13, 2016 Sammy received a speeding ticket (civil traffic citation) in Glendale. Apparently he was in a minor traffic accident. A Glendale officer was called to the scene and the officer determined that the cause of the accident was due to Sammy’s “speed too fast to avoid collision.”
  • His date to appear in Glendale City Court was Wednesday, April 13, 2016.  According to the court record he failed to appear. Since Sammy’s citation was civil, no arrest warrant would be issued for his failure to appear in court.
  • His case was turned over to the court’s collection agency, FARE, and fines were imposed and started to mount.
  • The court also sent a notice to ADOT and a letter to Sammy suspending his driver’s license and vehicle registration. The vehicle is not registered to Sammy although he has been driving it for quite some time.
  • On Monday, April 25, 2016, Sammy apparently received his letter from the court and paid his fines, now at $408.

In the spirit of full disclosure I had two speeding tickets issued to me in Glendale…one was 20 years ago and the other 15 years ago. I paid my fine and attended the one day of traffic school in each case and I was done. No points on my license, a painful fine and an even more painful day in traffic school.

Sammy could have done the very same. Does Sammy think that the law doesn’t apply to him? First is his issue of his nearly $25,000 in questionable travel expenses and now a Failure to Appear for his court date.

A pattern demonstrating Sammy’s less than ethical behavior has emerged. First in the pattern is his apparent abuse of taxpayer money in his councilmember discretionary accounts. He used taxpayer dollars to go to Washington, D.C. to see the Pope and on another trip to D.C. to see a friend sworn in to Congress. Yet city policy, as lax as it is, requires that substantial, official city business be conducted.

This time he received a civil traffic ticket and failed to appear for his court hearing. Sammy’s response to being queried by the Glendale Star is typical Sammy when he responds with, “A glitch, I’m all good.” I don’t know about you but when I received my speeding tickets 20 years ago, I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t consider it a “glitch.” I couldn’t pay my fine and go to driving school fast enough.

Sammy also questioned why his ticket would be a news story. He still doesn’t get it. Elected officials, the visible leaders of our community and the highest representatives of Glendale, are and should be, held to a higher standard. Their decisions and behavior should be beyond reproach and should be examples of ethics and morals to emulate.

Sammy’s unethical behavior coupled with the urging of many people disgusted with his inaccessibility and lack of responsiveness as a councilmember were prime motivators for my decision to run for the Yucca district city council position. I can, and will, restore honesty and integrity to the position. No more voting for large campaign contributors’ issues. No more flip-flopping on campaign promises. No more following a personal agenda. No more looking to see what’s in it for me. No more repeated absences from council meetings. No more invisible councilmember. No more personal trips using taxpayer money and then claiming city business.

In other words, NO MORE SAMMY.

Below is the actual court record, a public document obtained from the online Arizona supreme court website:

         
Case Number: M-0747-TR-2016006290  
Title: ST OF AZ VS CHAVIRA SAMUEL UL Category: Traffic
Court: Glendale Municipal Filing Date: 3/15/2016
Judge: J BAXTER Disposition Date: 4/20/2016 
       
Citation Count Description Disp. Date Disposition
C00000000905382 1 SPEED GREATER THAN REASONABLE AND PRUDENT 4/20/2016 FAILURE TO APPEAR
Date Description Party
4/21/2016 FARE: COLLECTION LTR TYPE 1 D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: 2012 SURCHARGES (83%) D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: VICTIM RIGHTS ENF ASSMNT D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: COURT IMPROV-BASE D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: DEFAULT FEE $45 031602 D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: 2011 ADDTNL ASSESSMENT D 1
4/20/2016 SUSPENSION LETTER SENT D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: FARE DELINQUENCY FEE D 1
4/20/2016 FUND:PROBATION ASSESSMENT D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: FARE FEE SPEC COLL D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: TIME PYMT $20 JCEF D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: CRT IMPROVE SURCH 83% D 1
4/20/2016 FUND: BASE FINE D 1
4/20/2016 INFO: ASSIGNED TO FARE D 1
4/13/2016 CAL: ARRAIGNMENT-CIVIL TRAFFIC
3/15/2016 COMPLAINT FILED-UNIFORM CITATN D 1

I hadn’t seen this opinion piece in the Glendale Star until several people brought it to my attention this morning. Obviously I agree with Judge Tolby’s opinion on the issue and so I am offering it to you.  It was posted on the Glendale Star website on Thursday, April 14, 2016.

Judges are held to a higher standard, so should councilmembers

 By QUENTIN TOLBY, Lessons from the Bench

When I became a judge some 25 years ago, the commission on judicial conduct made me aware that you did not even have to do something bad, as a judge you were held to a higher standard, even the “appearance” of impropriety is wrong.

When I read the lead story in the March 31 edition of The Glendale Star and saw Councilmember Sam Chavira ask for a review of the city’s travel policy, I almost choked. Councilmembers are given taxpayer money to spend for the benefit of the taxpayer, not for their personal pleasure or benefit.

It is really very simple; ask yourself what benefit is the taxpayer going to get from me spending their money. Not very complicated; buying dinner for your boss who’s the fire chief of Phoenix, does not benefit the taxpayer in Glendale. Notice when everyone who benefited from the dinner found out he used a City of Glendale credit card and not his own, they quickly sent their check to the city.

Spending the taxpayer money to go see the Pope does not benefit the taxpayer in Glendale. Going to see Congressman Reuben Gallego sworn in is not going to benefit the City of Glendale.

Once in a while, I have been known to mess up. I told an off-color story, and the commission on judicial conduct wrote me asking about it. Now, I did not think the story was that bad, I do not think the company I told it in was that bad. My first thought was I can beat this rap, I can defend my action. Then, I realized the right thing was “no defense.”

I wrote the commission a three-line reply: It happened. I am sorry. It will not happen again. And the situation went away very quickly.

If Chavira would have said up front, “I messed up, I am sorry, it will not happen again,” this story would have gone away. Asking the council to review the policy keeps it alive.

What does the council write into the policy? “Do the right thing. Spend taxpayer money on the taxpayer.”

Chavira asked the city attorney if he violated city policy in spending the money on himself and the city attorney said, “No.”

He should have asked, “Did I violate the public trust?”

I think the answer is, “yes.”

Lesson: Chavira must have lost his moral compass.

Here is the link to Tolby’s opinion piece: http://www.glendalestar.com/opinion/article_89581056-00d4-11e6-b831-8748894570bf.html .

It has been 18 years and 110 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

The Glendale city council workshop of April 5, 2016 had 3 major issues up for discussion and direction by city council: the temporary West Branch Library; the pavement management program; and an introduction to the proposed new city owned arena manager.

Since I brought up parking for Heroes Park in my blog of April 5, 2016 entitled Glendale…fix the parking problem you created, it was definitely a topic of discussion. Erik Strunk, Director of Parks and Libraries, stated that they are working on temporary parking. He did not address the issue of Park Rangers sending people to park in adjacent neighborhoods or the safety issue of people crossing Bethany Home Road or 83rd Avenue to get to the park.

The final direction of the city council was to move forward with a temporary, 7500 square foot modular building. This action, of course, removes all impetus to ever build a permanent library structure. So, we in west Glendale, once again, get less — a 7500 SF modular structure half the size of Velma Teague Library in downtown Glendale.

The second item for discussion and direction was the city’s pavement management program. Currently the city spends $10 million annually to repair and maintain the city’s streets. Staff requested an additional $5 million a year. Ms. Vicki Rios, Interim Finance Director, presented a series of slides during the discussion. I bring two of those slides to your attention. This first one shows the city’s current debt service. The red, dotted line is the city’s secondary property tax revenue that is used to pay this form of debt. Please note that as of this year’s (FY 16-17) budget there is new debt capacity available…perhaps to build the west branch library? The new debt capacity is the difference between the red, dotted line and the sold green block depicting debt payments.

Current General Obligation debt

Current General
Obligation debt

Not so fast. Look at this second slide. It depicts current debt plus new, proposed debt.

Current debt plus new debt

Current debt
plus new debt

Note the Series 2016 debt depicted by the brownish square in the legend. That Series 16 debt is the $32 million the city is issuing next week to pay for the land and to construct parking on it to satisfy the city’s obligation to provide adequate parking for Cardinals’ football games. The orange, olive and blue areas above the brownish parking debt represent $5 million dollars a year in new debt for the pavement management plan. Note the red, dotted line which are funds used to pay the debt. Now there is no debt capacity available until Fiscal Year 21-22. With council’s approval of two items: the issuance of $32 million in debt for Cardinals’ parking and the $5million a year ($15 million total) for the pavement management plan there is no debt capacity to do anything else including building a permanent west branch library. The significance of these decisions is that there will be no debt capacity to build a west branch library for SIX more years until Fiscal Year 21-22. We will have waited for the west branch library for 25 years. There is no word to describe this situation other than disgraceful.

The last item was a public introduction of AEG as the proposed new manager of the city owned Gila River Arena. There was no mention of the Coyotes who continue to declare that they will move to some magical, undefined new facility somewhere else in the Valley. The reality is that AEG, as arena manager, the Coyotes and the city will have to come to terms in the meantime. I continue to believe if the Coyotes and AEG can come to agreement for a few years, why not long-term?

Under council requests for future workshops only one councilmember spoke, Sammy Chavira. He requested that the city present its travel policy and compare it to other Valley cities. What was more interesting is that Sammy, largely invisible these days, was cornered by an Arizona Republic reporter and questioned about his trips. Sammy’s only response was, “I want to stick to the policy to find out from now on – so next time, if you look at your policy, if you see anything, that you know that’s what we’re adhering to. What I want to do is I want to put something in concrete.” Say what? What did he say? Here is the link to the full story in the Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/glendale/2016/04/06/glendale-councilman-sammy-chavira-requests-review-travel-policy-after-council-trip/82631826/ .

I can see it now. Sammy’s defense is that he followed city policy. OK, so now it’s the city’s fault? Where is Sammy’s ethical and moral compass? In essence he is admitting that he took advantage of a policy. It’s the same as if there were a policy that said, thou shall not steal. Since the policy is so vague an argument could be there is no definition of the word “steal.” Sammy is playing word games but they won’t work this time. He is accountable for his actions. He should voluntarily reimburse the city for the nearly $25,000 he spent for trips to see the Pope, his buddy sworn into Congress, his excessive baggage claims and rebooked flights, and his two highly suspicious trips to California. Don’t hold your breath on this one.

© 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.

It has been 18 years and 109 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

HeroesParkbutton

Prior to the first Cardinals football game held at the University of Phoenix stadium as your Yucca district councilmember I insisted that senior management create a “Neighborhood Protection Plan” for neighborhoods adjacent to the stadium. I, and the residents, worried about game day parking on neighborhood streets and cut through traffic to get to or to leave the stadium. Such a plan was created and implemented. Many of you in adjacent neighborhoods may remember the Resident Placards distributed to every household adjacent to the stadium. After years of attendance most of the fans have been trained and do not park in neighborhoods or cut through them anymore. Barricades at the entrance to adjacent neighborhoods are still used on game days just to remind fans to park elsewhere.

This time the city has created its own parking mess, not adjacent to the stadium but rather in neighborhoods adjacent to Heroes Park, located at the northeast corner of 83rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road.

Despite the lack of amenities at the park for there are only a few basketball courts, a splash pad, a tot lot and ramadas, the park is still heavily used and loved, especially on weekends. So, what’s the problem?

There are not enough parking spaces at the park. As a result, people park in the dirt along the periphery of the park, especially along 83rd Avenue.

The city, in its wisdom, decided this would never do. Instead of creating more parking spaces, direction was given to park rangers to tell people that such parking was prohibited and they would have to move their vehicles or suffer their vehicle being towed away.

Where did the park rangers tell people to park? They told people to park in an adjacent neighborhood on the south side of Bethany Home Road. Last weekend over 75 vehicles parked in that neighborhood. There were so many cars that neighbors came out of their homes to see what was going on while seeking an explanation for all of the cars lining their streets.

To make matters worse, the city has created a major safety issue. Park visitors often with children in tow, having parked in the neighborhood, now have to cross a major arterial street, Bethany Home Road, to get to the park. Bethany Home Road has a lot of traffic at all times of

Street identification signs

Street identification signs

day and night. Vehicles traveling eastward approach the pedestrian crossing area from a hill with a curve providing no sight line to see pedestrians. There is no signage, no crosswalk, and no markings for vehicular traffic warning of heavy pedestrian crossings. Quite frankly, it is just a matter of time before a pedestrian is injured or killed trying to cross Bethany Home Road to get to the park.

What was the city thinking? The city has a policy that does not allow Cardinals game day parking in adjacent neighborhoods yet now is directing park patrons to park in an adjacent neighborhood? Why?

Instead of creating a permanent solution by developing, at the very least, temporary parking

Southwest Heroes Park

Southwest Heroes Park

spaces on 60 acres of unused dirt and weed-filled Heroes park property, it directs park patrons to park in a neighborhood? Is it because, once again, a problem at this park in west Glendale is not a priority? It is ironic that the city could throw $32 million at its Cardinals parking problem but appears to have neither the motivation nor the money to fix a relatively minor parking issue.  Is it a reflection of the city’s reluctance to spend any money on infrastructure improvements in west Glendale? Or was it through sheer incompetence that such a wacky solution was created? If this situation occurred in north Glendale it would last about 30 nanoseconds.

Where is Councilman Chavira? He had been told of the problem by local residents. Why hasn’t he demanded that this parking problem and safety issue be solved? Once again, we have an invisible councilmember who is not listening to his district residents much less advocating for an immediate remedy. Our district deserves better representation than it has received from Sammy Chavira during his term of service. Oh wait, Sammy doesn’t appear to serve his community interests…only his own. Is it because there isn’t any money to be made for Sammy in creating a parking solution?

Glendale…fix the parking problem you created.

© 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.

It has been 18 years and 105 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

In the March 31, 2016 edition of the Glendale Star there is a Letter to the Editor written by Bob Gonzalo. It was unsolicited and I am grateful for his expression of support for my candidacy as your Yucca district councilmember. Here is the link but I have taken the opportunity to reprint his entire letter:

http://www.glendalestar.com/opinion/article_b401961a-f5f3-11e5-8a1e-d769cdc773b5.html

Bring back a fighter who cares

“The City of Glendale has done extremely well with this city council in correcting the mistakes of Mayor Scruggs and all her cronies. Their spending habits put the city in an untenable situation. However, this next election is extremely important in voting the right people in to continue to improve the character and ethics of the city.

“My suggestions are to vote Sam Chavira out of the council. Every time you look in the newspaper, his character is being questioned. Look at the questions about his expense account. Look at the fact that he was investigated for breaking open meeting laws.

We have no library, no O’Neil pool, Hero’s Park is still not done and what has Chavira done? Voted for millions for the Coyotes. If this is the best the fire unions have to offer, we are in deep, deep trouble.

“I would vote for Joyce Clark, someone from the past, who has never stopped fighting for the Yucca district.

Read her blogs. She is intelligent, well versed in the law and truly cares about her district. She will fight for a library in Yucca, she will help open O’Neil pool, and she will improve our roads. More importantly, she will communicate with her community, unlike Chavira.”

Bob Gonzalo

Mr. Gonzalo is correct in his assessment of the choice facing Yucca district voters. He is correct regarding Sammy’s abuse of your taxpayer dollars and that Sammy was investigated for alleged violations of the open meeting law. Sammy in the past year has been absent quite frequently from city council meetings and workshops. He has also been late to meetings as well. Sammy is the Yucca district’s “invisible man.” His only claim to fame is his vote for a $12 million annual arena management fee payment to IceArizona.

There is a more serious question to consider. Mark Burdick, Glendale’s former Fire Chief, is running for mayor and at the same time Sammy, a fire fighter, is running for council. Ask yourselves, do you really want the Glendale fire union to run this city? Make no mistake. Each of these men has an agenda and that is to move more city money into the Fire Department budget. Unfortunately, the only way it can happen is by taking money away from other city departments.

Mr. Gonzalo is also correct when he states that I will fight for the people of the Yucca district. He is correct when he says I will fight for the reopening of O’Neil Pool, the completion of Heroes Park and the building of a permanent West Branch Library. Glendale’s south and west districts have been ignored, especially by Sammy, for the past four years. I will also restore honesty and integrity to the office of Yucca district councilmember. I can provide the leadership that our district has been without for the past four years. I will be accessible to all. I have never shied away from using my home telephone number as a point of contact for the people of the Yucca district. I was a good councilmember and I intend to be one again.

So, thank you Mr. Gonzalo for your letter of support.

© 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.

It has been 18 years and 99 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

At the Glendale city council meeting of March 22, 2016 during Council Comments Sammy stated that he will request a review by council of its travel policy. And so the story of his questionable travel expenses lives on. If he thought announcing that he was requesting a review of the policy would put him on the right side of the issue he was wrong. Once someone in the public eye has committed a transgression it lives in the public eye forever. Sammy’s travel expenses are an election issue. They go to the character of the man and to his ability to make sound, ethical judgments.

Paul Giblin of the Arizona Republic has another story on Sammy’s travel out today, March 25, 2016. Here is the link: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/glendale/2016/03/24/glendale-councilman-sammy-chavira-seeks-review-travel-policy/82181492/ .

In Giblin’s story there are quotes from a recent Chavira email and City Attorney Michael Bailey’s email response on the issue. Chavira emailed City Attorney Michael Bailey and City Manager Kevin Phelps saying, “I would appreciate if you confirm that I followed all the rules and regulations regarding my travel expenditures. Additionally I would appreciate it if you would confirm that I submitted all my receipts and appropriate paperwork.” Note Sammy’s choice in wording. He used the word “confirm.” Hmm…it’s pretty obvious that Sammy is seeking someone, anyone to provide cover for his ethically challenged travel expenditures.

Mr. Giblin received Public Information Requests not only for Sammy’s email but for City Attorney Michael Bailey’s response. Now it gets interesting.  Bailey noted that the council’s travel policy is lax as no prior approval is required by anyone and the councilmember has the responsibility to decide if an expense is reasonable. What appears reasonable to Sammy may not be reasonable to you or others.

Giblin quotes from Bailey’s email, “Noting the foregoing (council’s lax policy and the absence of any standard for reasonableness) and based upon the information I have been provided regarding travel expenditures, the information does not conclusively establish any unlawful expenditures or any expenditures in violation of council policy.” How is that for making sure Bailey has wiggle room? You have to especially like the use of the word “conclusively.”

Then there is the issue of lost receipts raised by Councilmember Turner. Council has no policy regarding how to handle them appropriately or to establish a cap on reimbursements made with no paperwork to confirm the amount being requested. Apparently Sammy was reimbursed for lost receipts as well.

It gets even better. Giblin asked former Fire Chief Mark Burdick, now a mayoral candidate, about the situation. Burdick’s answer? He thought Sammy used his personal credit card and had no idea that Sammy used the city’s credit card to pay for the infamous $420 dinner. Where is Burdick’s announcement that under those circumstances, he too, will reimburse the city personally? Where is Burdick’s statement on the propriety of a dinner that included one of his subordinate fire fighters, Glendale fire fighter Danny Valenzuela?  According to Giblin, Burdick goes on to request a citizen’s ethics commission to oversee councilmembers’ expenses. That idea may be a bit of overkill as a remedy but hey, Burdick’s got to distinguish himself from the incumbent mayor somehow. This is as good a way as any.

In Giblin’s online Arizona Republic story there are graphs and charts comparing the travel expenditures of all of the councilmembers. Note that the two highest spenders are Sammy and recalled Councilmember Gary Sherwood. It appears that both fancied themselves as high rollers. They were buddies. They often went on the same trips. They voted together on many high profile city issues. Many citizens believe that they might have traded votes. The most notable being Sherwood’s flip-flop on the casino issue voting in favor and Sammy’s flip-flop on the $15 million a year arena management contract to IceArizona voting in favor. Each of these men voted in direct opposition to their campaign promises to their voters.

The ethical action for Sammy would be to reimburse the city for his problematical travel expenditures. He can’t do that although he should. If he were to reimburse the city that is tantamount to an admission of wrong doing. Sammy has no choice but to continue his mantra of I did nothing wrong. We’ve all heard many politicians say the same only to have them end up in jail.

The problem for Sammy is twofold. This issue is not going to go away before the Primary Election on August 30, 2016 and it forever defines his ethics and character for the voters of the Yucca district. They are angry and disgusted to learn Sammy wasted nearly $25,000 of their hard earned tax dollars.

Sammy has never addressed the primary purpose of his trips. To all appearances his primary purpose was to have fun in Washington, D. C. on your money. His perceived secondary purpose was to throw in some sort of brief meeting on a city related topic to provide him with just enough cover to be considered legal. The primary purpose and secondary purpose of a trip on taxpayer money is the distinction that many are missing. If the primary purpose is conclusively for city business that is legitimate. Perhaps secondary, unrelated to city business, portions of trips should be paid by the individual.

The voters of the Yucca district are angry. Glendale city councilmembers should be angry as well. They made appropriate and ethical decisions regarding the primary purpose of their travel. Unfortunately the ethically-tainted brush being used on Sammy will be used on them. Sammy’s apparent unethical decisions have now called into question their decisions.

Sammy’s questionable ethics is a story that is not going to go away although he may on Primary Election Day.

© 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.

It has been 18 years and 97 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

The Glendale city council meeting of Tuesday, March 22, 2016 was completed in a little over an hour despite an agenda of 41 items, 36 of which were consent agenda or consent resolutions. The only curious item of note was Item 12, Position reclassifications presented by HR Director Jim Brown. There was only one position reclassification requested and that was for the City Attorney’s Office. The request was to create a new title, Senior Assistant City Prosecutor. The reason given for the request was to “realign to better meet department needs.”  Hmmm…it seems a bit strange to bring forward only one position in the organization for reclassification.

The more interesting events of the evening were not formal agenda items. During the public comment portion Bill Dempsky of the Sahuaro district, a regular citizen public speaker, railed about Councilmember Sammy Chavira’s excessive and questionable travel expenses. He cited specific facts about those expenses and commented that Sammy wasted $3,000 of your taxpayer dollars with his constant habit and practice of changing flights.

Sammy has become very nervous about his recent negative press coverage and so, lo and behold, he spoke. At the end of the council meeting during council comments, he pulled his written comments before him and began to read. His comments were carefully worded and it was obvious that Sammy did not write them for he does not speak that well.

He said he always followed the travel policy of the city. He failed to mention that in relation to elected officials whatever policy does exist is non-existent or very weak. We would not expect him to acknowledge that he gamed the system. He can claim he did nothing wrong but the Yucca district voters no longer believe him. One man told me, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. He went on to say appearances are everything and it appears to him that Sammy is using his power and privilege to his advantage, not that of the people.

Chavira had two “fun” trips on his agenda – one to see the Pope in Washington, D.C. on a large screen TV and the other to see his friend and mentor, Ruben Gallego, be installed as a U.S. Congressman. But Sammy had a problem. For you see, he had to make these trips “legitimate.” What to do? Simple, claim some sort of meeting related to city business—with someone, anyone, willing to back up his claim that a city issue was discussed. For all we know the so-called meeting could (and probably was) 5 minutes long but it would have been enough to CYA.

Sammy’s bosses, including the Phoenix Fire Chief, have tacitly acknowledged the impropriety of Sammy’s paying $420 for their seafood and steak dinners by returning their portions of the check (5 Phoenix officials have done so to date) to the City of Glendale. Not only that, but they repaid with personal funds. Has it ever occurred to Sammy that it’s time he repaid the city as well? Probably not.

Sammy went on to say that he supports review of the city’s travel policy and at the April 5, 2016 city council workshop he, personally, would request such a review as an action item for a future city council workshop.

Sammy is definitely scared. He got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and is desperately looking for a way to keep his hand intact. This time it’s not going to work. What Sammy doesn’t realize…yet…is there are a lot of angry voters out there. They were already angry about his lack of accessibility and responsiveness to his constituents; his canceling of scheduled meetings with them; his absences from council meetings; and his lack of communication with the people he was elected to serve. Sammy’s performance as their councilmember has been less than sterling. Now with these new revelations about his use of taxpayer money, they have had enough.

To a majority of Yucca district voters Sammy has exhibited the worst characteristics of an elected politician, with his cronyism, his advocacy of issues in support of his large campaign contributors, his advocacy of more money exclusively for the fire department and his abuse of power. They are disgusted and have had enough. They believe he epitomizes the worst of establishment politicians and they will not vote for him again. They think he represents the cliché of smoked-filled rooms and back deals. They realize that Sammy is not working for them. Rather Sammy is working for Sammy.

All of these reasons…and more…persuaded me to run for the Yucca district council seat: to restore dignity and honor to the position; to research and to question staff thoroughly regarding their policy recommendations; to restore accessibility and communication to the people of the district; and to become an instrument of giving the people of the district their voice back. I ask the people of the Yucca district for their support. I ask for their vote in the August 30, 2016 Primary 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.