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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

Aug 13

30

Parking payday

Posted by Joyce Clark on August 30, 2013
Posted in City of Glendale • Jobing.com arena  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

On August 29, 2013 Paul Giblin of the Arizona Republic wrote a story about the Coyotes parking situation. Here is the link: http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/20130829free-parking-westgate-may-cost-coyotes.html . Hard core, dedicated Coyotes fans are well aware that this season there will be a parking fee for Coyotes games. They have already made clear that they are on board and comfortable with the new parking fees. They understand that it is part of their bargain to keep the Coyotes playing at Jobing.com Arena. Season ticket holders have already been charged for their parking – anywhere from $300 to $600 for the season.

What about the casual Coyotes game attendee? Giblin raised the specter of all of the free parking available in Westgate in lots not controlled by the Coyotes as an alternative that will impact expected “enhanced revenues.” I think his angst was misplaced and deliberately designed to raise an irrelevant issue.

Currently Westgate charges $10 Parking* on Cardinals Home Game Days at Westgate Entertainment District designated lots. Free parking for pre-season games.*Cash Only. Here is the link: http://westgatecitycenter.com/visitorinfo/parking/ . It is logical to expect Westgate to employ the very same system for Coyotes games. If it is not immediately instituted, it certainly will be after a game or two. If one is going to a movie, shopping or eating and not attending a game, look for some kind of rebate system. Westgate cannot allow its customer parking to be usurped by Coyotes fans looking for free parking.              

We can also expect the Cardinals to come up with a parking fee structure for Coyotes games. When the Glendale city council was considering the current ownership deal rumblings were floating that the Cardinals would charge to park (and perhaps undercut the Coyotes’ fees). The city council was well aware of those rumblings. Of course, the council knew about the proposed Coyotes’ parking fees. It was discussed publicly and in its presentation to Council estimates were made by the new ownership of how much revenue would be generated. After 20% is taken off the top by ownership for each game, the balance will become part of the “enhanced revenue” package promised to the city to recoup the additional $9M unbudgeted for the annual arena management fee.  Inevitably, all of the Westgate lots and the Cardinals’ lots will be fee for parking.  

The Cardinals include their parking fee into the cost of each ticket and assign parking lots, i.e., Red, Green, etc., to the ticket holder. A pricey ticket gets you the Red lot. A nose bleed seat gets you the Brown lot and a shuttle over to the stadium. As the former councilmember representing the Desert Mirage and La Buena Vida neighborhoods I raised the concern that fee for parking could push fans into those neighborhoods directly east and across 91st Avenue. The city agreed and established a Neighborhood Protection Program. All mega events (Cardinals’ football games, major concerts, etc.) with attendance of over 40,000 initiate neighborhood protection. Manned barricades are put up and residents have an ID placard identifying their residence in the neighborhood.  It is a system that has worked very well but even with it in place there is a small amount of fan parking that still occurs in those neighborhoods.                                                                    

Back to that casual fan that doesn’t want to pay any fee — $10, $15 or $20 to park. Coyotes’ games have a maximum attendance of nearly 18,000. That is far below the 40,000 needed to initiate the city’s Neighborhood Protection Program. If casual Coyotes fans park in large numbers in those neighborhoods there will be no manned barricades and no means of keeping those fans out of these neighborhoods. There is certain to be push back from residents.  No one wants to see that happen. Is Councilmember Chavira concerned about this issue? Who knows? He was the 4th vote of approval for the IceArizona deal. You would think he would have some clout with them. He should be asking the new ownership group to institute and to pay for the Neighborhood Protection Program for all Coyotes games. That kind of program would drive people back to the fee parking lots – resulting in a better parking payday. After all, part of being a good community partner involves protecting your neighbor from the unintended consequences of your actions. 

©Joyce Clark, 2013

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This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has 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, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. 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 13

14

Vacation’s over…August 13, 2013 Glendale City Council meeting

Posted by Joyce Clark on August 14, 2013
Posted in City Council Actions • City of Glendale • Glendale elected officials  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Glendale City Council

Glendale City Council

As meetings go this one was pro forma. It was the last meeting in the old format. The next voting meeting will begin at 6 PM and the public will have the opportunity to speak before regular business. The next workshop meeting is scheduled for 9 AM on August 20, 2013, not at its regularly scheduled time of 1:30 in the afternoon.

The majority of the agenda items were approved with nary a comment. Councilmember Sherwood did pull Item 3, a new liquor license for the 99¢ store at 53rd Avenue and Glendale Avenue. It was pulled to assuage the concerns of downtown merchants who had expressed their disapproval and wanted council to deny this applicant. We all learned more about 99¢ stores than we cared to. It appears that this retail chain has revamped its model and now desires to sell beer and wine to increase its revenues. Perhaps someday we’ll see shoe stores and clothing stores selling liquor “to increase revenues.” A specious argument used ad nausea by applicants applying for a liquor license. The new license was approved despite empty reassurances from various councilmembers that they supported downtown Glendale.

It does bring up some interesting thoughts for your consideration. When does an area have enough liquor stores and can a lot of liquor stores in a small geographical area stigmatize it? A topic best saved for discussion in another blog.

The other discussion that proved most interesting was that of the car cruising event that was held in downtown Glendale. It is Mayor Weiers’ baby and he put a lot of effort into its promotion. Apparently with some success as it brought people to downtown Glendale in the middle of the summer and the merchants loved it. Now it appears that the woman who produced the event has betrayed him. She is moving the event to Westgate where apparently they are willing to pay her for her production. This is in sharp contrast to producing the event in downtown under the city’s thumb. It appears far more attractive to her to be paid for her work rather than paying the city hefty permit fees for permission to hold her event. There was much gnashing of teeth by the mayor, vice mayor and Sherwood and Martinez, promising that they would “look into it” because they were behind the downtown merchants 100% — but not when it comes to denying a new liquor license. It is also noteworthy that Weiers still hasn’t the foggiest idea of how to run a council meeting. He often forgets where he is on the agenda, takes items out of order or has to be corrected by Vice Mayor Knaack.

Norma Alvarez

Norma Alvarez

Lastly and not surprisingly Councilmember Alvarez did not attend and did not call in to participate in the meeting. It appears she has injured herself once again. How many meetings has she missed due to injury?  Feel free to do the research but it’s been a bunch. Sometimes she did call in to participate. Often she did not show or call in. She lost her effectiveness as a councilmember a long time ago and for the good of her district she should resign. She does stand for reelection in 2014 and she would be well advised not to do so. Except for a few Ken Jones types and the Tohono O’odham she has lost the support of many in her district due to a combination of her antics and absences. For the first time I have added a poll question on the left side of this article. It provides you with an opportunity to cast your vote on the question of Alvarez’ resignation.

Vacation’s over, folks.

©Joyce Clark, 2013

FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has 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, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to:http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Jun 13

26

Troubling times

Posted by Joyce Clark on June 26, 2013
Posted in City Council Actions • Jobing.com arena  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | 9 Comments

A disclaimer: I have not made a decision on the Renaissance Sports and Entertainment bid to manage the city’s arena. It is not possible until I have read the document. To date it is not available to the public.

I don’t usually post 3 blogs in one day but this appears to be one of those days that demands it.

On June 25, 2013, Paul Giblin, a reporter for the Arizona Republic issued the following story online, Glendale still unsure about Phoenix Coyotes deal. Here is the link: http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/20130625glendale-unsure-phoenix-coyotes-deal.html . Several aspects of his story are troubling. One issue is that a vote is still scheduled for hidden agendaTuesday, July 2, 2013. It is my understanding that the council has requested another Executive Session for Thursday, June 27, 2013. The city had better made sure that notice of another Esession on June 27th is properly posted 24 hours in advance. Which means that the meeting notice has to be posted on Wednesday, June 26th…today. However, even more worrisome is that with an Esession scheduled for June 27 the very earliest the deal points could be posted publicly would be on Friday, June 28th or even as late as on Monday, July 1st. Could the city post as late as 24 hours before a scheduled vote? Yes, they could but would they? I hope not as suspicions will shoot through the roof if the public is given one day to review and understand any deal between Renaissance Sports and Entertainment (RSE) and the city.

city hall 2

Glendale City Hall Complex

Now, about that second $25M the NHL has offered (at the 11th hour) to take payments on of $5M over each of the next 5 years. Great…too little, too late and it doesn’t solve the city’s problems. The $30M leaseback of City Hall was designed to replenish the city’s Enterprise Funds, Vehicle Replacement Fund and Technology Replacement Fund.  Glendale staff crafted a brilliant strategy. Now that strategy has been tabled by council until after the scheduled Coyotes vote on July 2nd… Hmmmm…The $20M the city has held in an escrow account for the NHL payment simply isn’t enough to cover all of the city’s needs. It will pay back some of the loans leaving $5M still outstanding.  While a generous offer on the part of the NHL, it could have been done a long time ago and in fact, I and several former councilmembers called for just such an arrangement. Why now? I suspect it is in reaction to what they perceive as a very negative story about the city planning to enter a leaseback of City Hall to pay back loans directly related to the $50M partially paid and partially still owed to the NHL.

To discover that councilmembers are not on top of the revenues derived from either the Westgate area (remember those revenues are already being used to pay off the original construction debt on the arena and are NOT new found money) or the arena is disturbing to say the least. At least one of them has touted himself as an expert on the entire RSE deal.

Norma Alvarez

Norma Alvarez

Lastly, good old Councilmember Alvarez and her statements have got to have you snapping your heads in double-take mode. Alvarez said, “I called them knuckleheads, because they don’t get it. They don’t get it. They don’t get it. They’re going to continue discussions. Discussions of what? We’re selling City Hall because of paying $50 million. C’mon. C’mon.” Factually she is incorrect. The city is proposing a leaseback arrangement not an outright sale of City Hall with visions of employees moving out after a sale. As for continuing discussions, they should continue but they don’t have to result in acceptance of the deal…not if RSE cannot or will not guarantee “enhanced revenue streams” for the city.

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Jun 13

26

Stick to baseball, Ms. Dozer

Posted by Joyce Clark on June 26, 2013
Posted in City of Glendale  | Tagged With: , , , , | 2 Comments

A disclaimer is in order. I neither support nor reject the current RSE bid to manage Jobing.com Arena. I cannot make an informed decision until I have had the opportunity to review the proposed lease management agreement and that document is not yet publicly available.

Boy, thanks to SRP, leave a person without power…or the Internet…or air conditioning… for not just a day but 5 hours on the first day and 10 hours on the second day can make a person very grumpy and very testy. In an effort to play “catch-up” on today’s Coyotes’ news I was sent a link to KTAR radio’s Karie Dozer opinion piece entitled Final Word: Phoenix Coyotes aren’t the economic engine Glendale needs posted on June 25, 2013. Here’s the link: http://ktar.com/100/1644653/Final-Word-Phoenix-Coyotes-arent-the-economic-engine-Glendale-needs?fb_action_ids=566353163423827&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B504510449622426%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.recommends%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D#

baseball 1hockey 1Dozer, Dozer, mmmm, that name sounds awfully familiar. Is Karie Dozer the wife of Rich Dozer, one of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ former Presidents?? I think so. I am sure Ms. Dozer is an expert on baseball, especially the Arizona Diamondbacks but an expert on anything hockey related?? I don’t think so. She made some amazing statements that certainly warrant comment. One was, “Look, I like hockey. What great fun, especially in Phoenix, IN JUNE, to go into an ice palace for sports. But I don’t like it enough to pay for it.” Of course she wouldn’t like hockey enough to pay for it. It is a sport in direct competition for your sports entertainment dollar with her husband’s business, the Arizona Diamondbacks.  If she were to attend any sports event you can bet it would be baseball. Does she get the best seats in the house? Are they free of charge? Could there be a conflict of interest on her part?

In an effort to show genuine concern for the residents of Glendale and her perception of the drastic loss of services because of hockey she goes on to say, “This in a city where 911 service was at risk last year.” What bunk. As a councilmember until January of 2013 I can tell you that the city’s 911 service has NEVER been at risk. Chief Black spoke at several council meetings in the past few months reassuring everyone that police service and most specifically, 911 service (especially Priority One calls involving imminent bodily danger or loss of life), would remain at the same level of service that Glendale’s residents have enjoyed for years.

She then opines, “I know, a lot of people’s jobs depend on the Coyotes. Shops at Westage (sic) and security jobs all could go away if the Coyotes leave.” First, it’s WESTGATE, not Westage. Second, how about a minimum of 1600 jobs in the immediate Westgate area (restaurants, hotels and retail)…and that does not include the almost 2,000 jobs at Tanger Outlet Mall, Cabela’s or Humana. Throwing 1600 jobs out the window doesn’t seem to bother her but what the heck, she’s got a radio hosting job.

Lastly, she said, “I think sports teams CAN be a great economic engine. This one just isn’t.” Really, Ms. Dozer? Of course she thinks sports teams are a “great economic engine.” She appears to enjoy the financial benefits of one of those “great economic engines.” To say that the Coyotes are not  shows her lack of history or knowledge about the Coyotes since they came to Glendale in 2003. For she would know that the team, through circumstances not of its own making, has never had the opportunity to demonstrate its ability to become a “great economic engine.” Stick to baseball, Ms. Dozer.

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Feb 13

28

Steak or hamburger?

Posted by Joyce Clark on February 28, 2013
Posted in Blogs • City of Glendale  | Tagged With: , , , | 4 Comments

steak 1Let me pose a hypothetical question. I will offer you two choices. I will give you a scrumptious steak dinner every day for one week. After that week I will give you nothing. You are on your own. Or I will give you a hamburger dinner every day forever. You will never have to worry about providing your food.

I think most of us would choose the certainty of knowing we would have an assured supply of food.hamburger 1 Of course, there will be the few who will choose the immediate gratification of that glorious steak dinner and worry about the consequences of that choice later.

Hockey fans are wonderfully diverse, men and women, toddler to septuagenarian, white to black, American to Canadian, Catholic, Jew and Atheist. They share one common theme and that is absolute devotion to the team of their choosing. In Arizona and beyond the team of choice is the Coyotes. The nearly four year saga to find an owner who is committed to keeping the team in Glendale has been trying for all and no more so than for its fan base.

The band of hockey brothers and sisters that fought off, as one cohesive group, a referendum and an effort to repeal a sales tax increase in Glendale has now dissolved into two groups of equally committed and passionate hockey fans. The steak and hamburger analogy is an apt way of describing the camps that have arisen. One group has decided on the steak, the other on the hamburger. The steak group wants the Coyotes to say, even if it’s only short term.  The hamburger group wants the assurance of permanency and wants the team for the duration. Is one group right and the other wrong? No, of course not.

I am in the hamburger group and I will tell you why after having been intimately involved as a councilmember from the time the decision was made to build the arena and the Coyotes played their very first game at Jobing.com arena until January 15, 2013, my last day as an elected official.

Jobing.com arena was built primarily, contrary to the former Mayor’s assertions, to host hockey. Of course there would be other non-hockey events held there as well. Witness the wonderful concerts that we have attended over the years. But its primary function was to serve as a hockey arena. History attests to the fact. Steve Ellman owned a hockey team and he was looking for a new home for the team.  Hockey is the lynch pin of Westgate. It attracted the UofP Stadium, Cabela’s, the Renaissance Hotel and a myriad of other commercial venues.

Courtesy Christopher B.

Courtesy Christopher B.

When it seemed as if the ownership issue was about to be resolved in 2012, a resurgence of Westgate development occurred with the opening of Tanger Outlet Mall, new restaurants like Chipotle arriving and Dignity Health Hospital’s decision to locate nearby. These development actions demonstrate that once permancey for the team as an anchor tenant is achieved, further development will explode – just in time for Glendale’s hosting of the Super Bowl.

Coyotes practice session

Coyotes practice session

Then there is the team itself. Imagine playing each and every game wondering if it’s your last in Arizona. As much as the General Manager, coaches and players try to ignore the implications, periodically another spate of media speculation ekes its way into their consciousness. No one can play their best under a perpetual cloud of uncertainty. This team deserves better. They deserve the assurance of knowing that this is their home not just for 5 years, only to relive today’s turmoil once again, but for the next 10-15-20 years.

Knowing that the Coyotes will remain for the long haul is so important for the team and for Westgate.  I choose hamburger forever.

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