SanTan Sun News 1.1.23

Newbies ready for Chandler City Council challenges

Jane Poston has embraced this city in many ways

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

When Jane Poston finally had a chance to fully embrace a community, she took it. Poston grew up with a dad who worked in broadcast news, which meant they moved a lot as she was growing up.

Putting down roots was not an option.

“We moved all the time,” Poston said. “I was a kid that moved my whole life, about every two years. For me, you know, playing psychoanalyst, that’s why

when I found a community to stay in, I dug in deep and stayed because I always wanted that.”

Poston is about to become a leader of that community. She will be sworn in on Jan. 12 to join the Chandler City Council.

“I counted it once: by the time I was 14, I had been 14 different schools,” Poston said of her youth. She said she was a bit of tomboy growing up and didn’t

New year could challenge city, school fiscal picture

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

The previous year was a pretty good one financially for both the City of Chandler and the Chandler Unified School District.

While this new year may not look scary, city and school officials this year face fiscal challenges that will likely comprise one of the top stories of 2023. But the new year promises other no-

table possibilities to keep an eye on locally – including possible steps by the city to regulate short-term rentals and the long-awaited opening of a tourist-attracting superstore.

City finances

Chandler was doing so well with its finances in 2022 that it made a one-time payment of $50 million toward its debt in

Tax defeat leaves area fi re districts in a bind

BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Staff Writer

State firefighter organizations lobbied the Legislature this year to put a question on the Nov. 8 ballot asking voters to approve a 20-year, .1% sales tax that would generate revenue for fire districts across the state.

The Legislature obliged, but in a 5248% vote – 1,230,042 against to 1,144,495 for – Arizona voters shot down Prop 310, sending fire officials back to the drawing board to address a funding problem they say isn’t going away any time soon.

Community engagement led Angel Encinas to seat

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Alberto Esparza has watched Angel Encinas grow up, meeting him for the first time when he was an 8-year-old boy. He said he’s a bit surprised Encinas got involved in local politics.

Encinas will be sworn in to serve a fouryear term on the Chandler City Council on Jan. 12 and is believed to be its first openly gay member.

“Well, it was somewhat of a surprise,” Esparza said. “I didn’t think he was going that way. But when he told me he was going into politics, I said, ‘Okay, then I’ll help you campaign,’ because I truly believe there are very few people like him. There are a lot of leaders who talk about community engagement, but you’ve

never seen them.

“With Angel, and because of this family background, you see him.”

Esparza and the Encinas family were involved in the United Farm Workers movement.

“He comes from a family background that is very strong with the United Farm Workers Union and with others,” Esparza said. “So because of that, it’s already innate. It’s there, it’s in his heart.”

Encinas calls Esparza a mentor.

“He worked well with my mom,” Encinas said. “He’s one of the people who inspired me at a young age.”

During the campaign, Encinas highlighted his roots in Chandler, having lived

Reason to celebrate

The new year will get off to a glamorous start in Chandler as the seventh annual Chandler International Film Festival rolls out in a few weeks. There’s a special reason to welcome its return this year as it is the first since 2020 to be totally free of COVID-19 protocols. Moreover, festival President/Director Mitesh Patel has made some tweaks to enable more people to attend showings, as you’ll read on page 32 (Facebook)

FEATURED

Sun

Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler

An edition of the East Valley Tribune

City of Chandler, college partner on student jobs

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

The City of Innovation is doing it again. “Other municipalities are calling me saying, ‘How’d you guys do that?’” said Rae Lynn Nielsen, City of Chandler Human Resources director.

The other cities are calling to ask about a new internship partnership between the city and Chandler-Gilbert Community College, wondering, “‘What are you guys doing? What does it look like?’”

Like many other employers, the city is having trouble filling open position. Nielsen said the city currently has about 110 openings. The college has about 13,000 students looking for real-world work experience to both give them an edge when they enter the work force, and also to give them a taste for different jobs that are out there to make sure they are on the right career path.

The city and college have teamed up address their respective needs. They are sharing one employee, Devon Mohan, to coordinate CGCC students interested in internships with the city.

The city and college are splitting the cost of Mohan’s salary and benefits. He has two supervisors, one who works for the college and Nielsen.

A pilot program kicks off this month with an expected hire of 10 interns to work at city departments between 10 and 19 hours a week. The city will pay them for their work. The internships will last either 12 or 16 weeks.

Nielsen said the city has a history of finding some good employees through internships. “We have 25-year employees that are here based on those programs,” she said. “So I think that’s our goal is to hopefully bring them in and keep them.”

Mohan has been meeting with the city’s department heads to figure out how CGCC students can help.

“That was a really exciting piece for me, was getting to go around and meet all of the various departments that are

here, ask them ... ‘where could you see an intern fitting in with your department, your division? What would they learn,’ and then I would get to tie it back to the academic programs that we offer at the college.”

Mohan’s job will be to match what students want to learn with openings the city has. For example, one student wants to be a wedding planner, which is not something the city does. However, the city does have an events coordinator, who stages major events like the Parade of Lights and Chandler Contigo festival.

Nielsen said many inside the city are looking forward to the interns starting.

“There’s a lot of buzz at the director level,” Nielsen said. “’When are we going to start this?’”

The city used to get most of its high school interns from the Cooperative Office Education program, but Nielsen said they phased that out. She said they hope to bring it back at some point.

She said a number of those 25-year employees she was talking about earlier

came from that program. The city also takes interns from other schools, including Arizona State University.

However, the partnership with Chandler-Gilbert Community College is a new concept that they hope will inspire college students to think about careers in city government.

“What you said is what we’re trying to change,” Nielsen said. “I mean, I’ve been in local government at three different places, and people always think of police, fire, garbage. When we start talking about the Museum and the Center for the Arts, and all the social media side of it, we’re really trying to highlight all of the exciting things that we have.”

The city is just one employer looking to get students interested in their openings. The college often hears from businesses that are also struggling to bring in new employees.

“In career services, we do get constant emails and phone calls from employers saying we have all these gaps to fill help us, and everyone’s saying, ‘Oh, can we can we come to make classroom presentations?’” said Deb Ruiz, the manager for academic advisement and career services for the college. She’s Mohan’s other supervisor. “We can’t have 100 employers come and take classroom time away to make a presentation.”

Mohan said he’s eager to get to work, for both the city and the college.

“I’m excited,” Mohan said. “I don’t think that all of the students at Chandler Gilbert Community College are aware of the amount of opportunities that are just a couple traffic lights down.

“So I have the ones who are already reaching out to me, but I am excited to continue to reach out to the other students as well.”

Devon Mahon works for both the City of Chandler and Chandler-Gilbert Community College to help place students in city internships. (City of Chandler)

Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s Deb Ruiz works with a federal work student at the school as part of her job overseeing a new partnership with the city to place students in internships.

(Chandler-Gilbert Community College)

ENCINAS

here all his life. He also said he was a proud member of both the Latino and LGBTQ+ communities and is an alumnus of San Marcos Elementary, Andersen Junior High and Chandler High schools. His family was politically active, so being involved came naturally.

“I was a very active and involved kid,” Encinas said. “Starting from around second grade, I was already in student council. I was already in academic clubs. Even through junior high, I was always involved in student council. I was a chapter president of marketing groups, in the graphics groups. I was in FFA (Future Farmers of America). So I was pretty much involved academically in different programs.”

For fun he and his friends would head to downtown Chandler, where his mom had an office on Boston Street.

Encinas said there were comments about his sexual orientation, but for the most part he avoided any hardcore harassment or bullying.

“When I was in elementary school, during high school and stuff, there would be whispers,” Encinas said. “I’d hear comments there and stuff like that. You know, it was essentially bullying in that time. But for me, it kind of helped build a shell of defense for myself. I got really tough skin through all that.”

Encinas said he accepted his sexual orientation at a young age.

“I’ve always known since I was a small kid, all through high school, college,” he said. “I was always very active in different things and stuff and that part of my life, you know, dating, relationships, and stuff wasn’t ever there.”

Encinas said he waited until after graduating from Arizona State University with a general business degree and until he was fully independent to come out as gay.

He said the Supreme Court approving marriage equality, allowing same-sex couples to marry, had a profound impact on him. He came out of the closet after that with a social media post.

“When they approved marriage equality, that was my first post after that, because I actually saw a future, in my head,” he said. “I never thought I was going to get married, have kids and stuff because it wasn’t attainable at that time. And when that happened, I was like, ‘Whoa, there’s this whole new world that’s opening up that I can see myself a future, for me, a family, potentially kids in

the future.”

Encinas says he is single now.

Finding time for a relationship might be his biggest challenge. He works primarily at an immigration consulting business with his family, Consultas Y Mas, in North Chandler, which helps migrants through the immigration process. He said his mom has been doing that for more than 30 years.

When he’s not doing that, he’s also a real estate agent, though that is mostly part-time. He says he helps some of his immigration clients when they want to buy a home.

Joining the family business was not the path he dreamed of as a child.

“I always wanted to be an engineer growing up,” Encinas said. Later, he discovered a love for design and thought marketing might be his future.

When former President Obama announced the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program in 2012, it changed his plans.

“That’s what kind of pulled me in, because I was working with people who were my age around that time, friends or people who were younger than I, or who I went to high school with, or a little bit older who I knew, and I was helping them out, in getting this work permit.”

Encinas said he thought about becoming an immigration attorney, but decided against it. He did the research and found out it would take three years and cost him $100,000.

“I thought about it and I was like, 'if I go do that, and I come back here to this office, I’m going to be doing exactly what I’m already doing here today.' And I didn’t want to come back to this office and have to charge our clients that premium of having that title.”

His mentor, Esparza, says he always thought Encinas would be an activist pushing for change and not necessarily one of the people sitting on the dais and making the hard choices.

So what drew him in?

“I always had public office, public service in the back of my head, it’s always been there,” Encinas said. “I’ve always kind of thought about potentially doing that. And so I was like, let me explore this a little bit more.

“I started talking to previous council members, previous mayors and things like that, see what the expectations were going to be, and I thought, ‘Okay, this is … something that I do see myself doing.’”

POSTON

embrace her feminine side until reaching her 30s.

“I was born in Nebraska, then off to Iowa, Sioux City, back to Iowa, Wichita, Kansas, South Carolina, Tucson and finally Chandler.”

She said she liked being the new kid in school and admits that all that moving and being forced to make a new set of friends helped develop social skills that every politician needs.

“I did learn a secret, and that is that it was easier to move in the middle of the school year and be the new kid than it was to move at the beginning of the year,” she said, explaining that when kids move in the middle of the year, everyone knows they’re new while if they do it at the beginning, they’re just one of many new faces.

“She’s 100% a people person,” said Jason Heinkel, Poston’s husband and business partner. They own and run J2 Media together.

“It may not come across but she’s all about that,” Heinkel said. “Being that reporter/producer in the past, I think that’s groomed her to be able to talk to anybody, and communicate, and listen.”

Heinkel and Poston met while they were both working for Channel 11, a public access TV station in Phoenix. “It was actually a very good production channel where we won all kinds of awards. I got my first Emmy working out of there,” Heinkel said.

Poston was a producer and a reporter and Heinkel a freelance cameraman.

“I knew him for a year before we ever started dating,” Poston said. She recounted one of their first dates, which was a work assignment. They walked around and talked after for about an hour. He had left the recorder on, so the entire conversation was saved.

“It was such a rookie mistake,” Poston recalled with a laugh.

She said when they finally got serious about each other, things moved quickly.

“We just sort of clicked and it was very fast,” she said. “We got married pretty quick after that.”

They had been doing a number of freelance assignments as a team when they realized it would probably be best just to start their own company. J2 Media was born in January of 2000. Heinkel said they did a lot of travel stories when they first began, which allowed them to travel the world together.

“We were doing a lot of Discovery Channel’s, their top 10s,” Poston said.

“So there were like, top 10 scary places, or top 10 cruise ships, top 10 family vacations, so a lot of Travel Channel stuff, too.”

Still, Poston said she valued the community she embraced in Chandler. The couple have two sons, 21 and 16.

“That was always the key to whenever I moved, is you jump in and get involved, right?” Poston said. “You jump in and you join nonprofits, you join clubs, you find ways to get to know people. And that’s how you feel like that’s your home. I’ve always said Chandler is one of those places where you can be as involved as you want to be.”

Poston did do some work in city governments, first in Phoenix and stays involved in the community, including activities on behalf of the Chandler Chamber of Commerce, where she chaired its board of directors in 2021.

“I do know if I’m going to join something, if I’ve ever been asked to be on a nonprofit or join it, I don’t say yes lightly, because I know how I am once I do it,” Poston said. “I’m not going to be somebody that doesn’t read the stuff, or show up to the meetings, and it’s never going to be just sort of like punching in just to say I did it.”

Jane Poston will be sworn into her Chandler City Council position on Jan. 12. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

from Page 1

from Page 1

Angel Encinas is a native of Chandler and has long embraced involvement in the community. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.

The ongoing expansion at the Intel Ocotillo campus gets a lot of credit for the extra tax dollars coming in. City officials say they see more tax dollars every time Intel launches a major expansion and its current project is no exception.

Intel began the $20 billion expansion in September 2021 to add two new manufacturing areas to make semiconductor chips.

In addition to that construction, there has been a multifamily housing construction boom in Chandler, with a number of new apartment complexes taking shape in the city

At some point, that construction will end and all those extra tax dollars generated by development-related levies will go away.

Dawn Lang, the city’s chief financial officer and deputy city manager, said that the city usually retains about half of the extra income the construction generated when it ends.

But that’s not the major reason why the city is worried about its financial future. That reason resides in the state Legislature, where Republican lawmakers – who hold slim leads in both chambers – may consider changes to local tax control.

Incoming Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, wants to eliminate both the rental and food taxes – a move he says will help ease inflation’s impact on Arizonans.

Chandler gets about $20-to-$25 million a year from its taxes on rentals and food delivered for consumption.

Elimination of the two levies comes at a time when the city, just like any household or business, is paying higher prices as a result of inflation.

The loss of revenue from food and rental taxes also poses bigger threats beyond this year for Chandler in that the extension of the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation could end after 2025 because lameduck Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill that would have put its extension on the ballot this year.

While the new Legislature could approve putting the tax extension on the 2024 ballot, city officials already worry about the potential impact of its loss on transportation and other capital projects.

Ryan Peters, city strategic initiatives director, said the money that Chandler receives from the tax varies, depending on what capital projects they have planned that year.

“If we’re programmed for an intersection that particular year, it can be $20 million,” he said. “If we don’t have any intersections programmed for that year, it can be zero.”

Long term, the city is considering adding rapid bus transit, but without those transportation tax dollars, enacting such a levy is unlikely.

The veto also puts in doubts state projects that were planned for the Chandler area, including widening the Loop 101 and Loop 202 freeways to improve rush hour bottlenecks.

School district finances

Depending on how things go, Chandler Unified School District officials may look at their city counterparts and wish they had their budget problems.

The district in a few months could be be forced not to spend 17% of the money it already has because of the Aggregate Expenditure Limit, a state constitution amendment passed by Arizona voters in the 1980s that is based on a formula heavily dependent on previous year’s enrollment.

In all, some $1.2 billion statewide is at stake if the spending cap isn’t waived and districts can’t spend money they already have in the bank. They will be forced to make cuts in current school year spending beginning April 1.

School officials in Arizona already have said it will be hard not to make most of those spending cuts without laying off teachers and other staff.

“It could mean up to $62 million for Chandler Unified School District,” said Lana Berry, the district’s chief financial officer. “It’s 17%, it doesn’t matter if you’re a big district, or a small district. It’s a massive cut.”

The last Legislature passed the AEL exemption just before the deadline. This new Legislature seems less willing after outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey declined to call a special session to address the spending cap.

A number of state legislators are said to be unhappy that school boards backed a failed petition drive to overturn their decision to funnel more education dollars to private schools.

And they may use the AEL to let them know how unhappy they are.

Arizona consistently ranks among the bottom in the U.S. in funding education. Public schools have fought to keep whatever tax dollars are collected and against giving it to non-public education.

State legislators supporting expanded vouchers said that competition will improve education for all.

Tourism businesses

There are two major businesses scheduled to open in 2023 that will likely draw visitors to Chandler.

Scheels, a North Dakota-based sporting goods company coming to Chandler this fall, is known for its massive store sizes that accommodate a 16,000-gallon aquarium and a Ferris wheel.

The company plans to open its first Arizona location at the Chandler Fashion Center on Sept. 30, replacing the Nordstrom store.

Scheels’ 30 locations around the nation offer a candy shop, a restaurant, arcade games and sports simulators that have become a proven tourist magnet.

Another new business coming to the area may draw even more people.

Construction of the SanTan Mountain Casino has taken longer than expected, but as of December, they expect it to open in late spring or early summer. It was originally planned to open by the end of 2022.

The casino is located just outside of the city’s borders at Hunt Highway and Gilbert Road.

It will be operated by Gila River Resorts & Casinos, which also has the Wild Horse Pass, Lone Butte and Lee Quiva properties.

Short-term rentals

Last summer the Legislature gave municipalities the authority to issue licenses and permits for short-term rental properties.

City of Chandler staff has already been researching that topic and plans to bring some recommendations to the council in 2023.

Both the short-term rental industry (Airbnb and Expedia Group, which owns VRBO) and cities had asked for the law. Vacation properties will now have to be licensed and cities will be able to address any problem properties, depending on what regulations they each pass.

Also ahead

Some of the major multifamily complexes that have been under construction will start opening and be filled with new Chandler residents. They include the first phase of DC Heights with 157 units and Encore Chandler with 208 units.

The city plans to improve Wall Street alley downtown, moving utility lines underground and making it more pedestrian friendly with benches and improved lighting.

The city is also undertaking a downtown parking study to figure out what adjustments need to be made for the future.

Grammy-winners Los Lobos and Lala Hathaway ae among the big names in entertainment coming to Chandler Center for the Arts this year.

The new Fire Station 2 is scheduled to open. That’s the city’s busiest station and it is being expanded to handle the work.

And the Chandler Municipal Airport will celebrate its 75th anniversary.

Scheels sporting goods stores feature a large aquarium and ferris wheel inside. The company plans to open its first location in Arizona at the Chandler Fashion Center in September 2023. (Scheels)

Chandler Unified to launch open enrollment this month

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Trish Do said she values being able to speak in multiple languages.

“I feel like a second language is very important, especially in Arizona, especially the Spanish language,” she said. “It will help them so much for jobs in the future.”

Trish enrolled her son Leo for kindergarten at Chandler Traditional Academy—Freedom Campus after that school started a Spanish dual language immersion program.

In addition to learning Spanish for half a day at school - he spends the other half in English-speaking classes – Leo speaks Vietnamese at home. If he continues, Leo should be fluent in three languages by the time he reaches high school.

CTA Freedom will be expanding its dual language immersion program next year to include first grade, Principal Christina Lucas-Sheffield said.

“That’s the beautiful thing about the program is that it attracted people from near and far,” Lucas-Sheffield said. “So we have some existing family, some community members, that have already been established at CTA Freedom. And then we have families who are coming all the way from Queen Creek or Phoenix.”

Open enrollment beings Jan. 9 for Chandler Unified School District for families that live outside of the current attendance boundaries. The enrollment period for families inside the boundary

begins Jan. 11.

Chandler Unified School District is trying to draw more students in from outside its boundaries because of declining enrollment. The district is currently debating what to do with nine schools as officials expect fewer students will be attending in the future.

The primary cause for declining enrollment, according to a study session the district held last spring, is the high cost of housing in the Chandler area. Young families can’t afford to live or move here, so they are moving to areas with cheaper housing.

To combat that, CUSD is spending more money on marketing, nearly $500,000 this year, to convince families Chandler Unified is a premier district of choice.

And, the district is offering more programs officials hope will entice families to choose CUSD. That includes dual language immersion programs. In addition to Spanish at four schools, the district also has schools (Tarwater Elementary and Bogle Junior High) that have a Mandarin program.

Stephanie Ingersoll, the district’s executive director of marketing and communications, said the key thing to know about open enrollment is that applications are time-stamped. So, getting them in early could help when it comes to placement at some of the district’s most attractive schools.

“It’s a very busy day,” Ingersoll said of the first day of open enrollment. “The phones are ringing off the hook, people are coming in. Everything is taken based on that timestamp.”

Chandler Unified is also offering gifted academies for students who test high enough on the Cognitive Abilities Testing.

The district also offers the Chandler Traditional Academy campuses, where teachers and parents work in a partnership to improve their children’s education. Arizona College Prep is ranked as

one of the best high schools in the nation.

For parents who are unsure which school might be best for their child, the district is offering to help guide them to the best choice.

For Do, and her son Leo, that was CTA Freedom.

“I wish they offered it for my son, my oldest, because it’s amazing how [Leo’s] doing,” Do said. “He’s learning and it hasn’t really hasn’t affected the English portion at all. So his grades are still up in English and his grades are pretty good in Spanish.”

That’s exactly what Principal Lucas-Sheffield likes to hear. She said she pushed to add a dual language immersion program.

“What type of educational experience would I like my child to have?” she asked herself when she first considered it. “I was thinking why not provide students with the gift of a second language? I started talking to community members, different parents, and I surveyed our staff. They wanted us to do it.”

CUSD Open Enrollment

WHEN: Opens 7:30 a.m., Jan. 9 for students outside the attendance area; it opens 9 a.m., Jan. 11 for in-boundary registration.

HOW TO REGISTER: cusd80.com

OPEN HOUSE: 4:30-6:30 p.m., Jan. 23

Rosemary Geary, MD

Julie Silver, PA-C

Ryan Falsey, MD, PhD • Yuliya Schoenling, PA-C

Michelle Jeffries, DO • Sara Pickett, PA-C

Tamara Casillas, FNP-C

Cassandra Shore, PA-C

Ruth Irealnd, FNP-C

Wendy Ridenour, PA-C

Kindergarten students at Chandler Traditional Academy Freedom Campus participate in a Spanish immersion class. The school plans to expand its dual language immersion program to first grade next year. (Ken Sain/Managing Editor)

Galveston school first in line for big rebuild

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Chandler Unified officials say rebuilding two elementary schools offers an opportunity to build the dream school of the future and so they’re inviting everyone to help them with the design.

“With those two rebuilds, we will go through the same process,” said Tom Dunn, the district’s executive director of support services. “Those sites, we’ll reimagine that school, not just rebuild the school as is.

“Looking at what are your needs, what is it that you could be, or that you want to be, and then designing a school that will meet those needs.”

The two schools, Galveston and Hartford, were both built about 60 years ago and need major upgrading.

District officials decided it would be cheaper to build new schools than it would be to do major renovations to improve those schools to the level they want.

The governing board voted Dec. 14 to approve an architect to begin designing a new Galveston Elementary. They selected Orcutt Winslow to do the design, but they will do so with community input.

The district has asked teachers, staff, students and community leaders to help them imagine what the new school should be.

“There’ll be plenty of community in-

put as we move forward,” Superintendent Frank Narducci said. “Staff input has to reimagine what educational needs there are for the Galveston community, and what education could look like for our students.”

The contract with Orcutt Winslow is for $1,275,750 and is being paid with money from the 2019 bond.

Dunn said the hope is construction starts this summer and the new school ready for use for the 2024-25 school year. Current Galveston students will continue to attend classes in the same buildings they’re using now while construction is underway.

Once Galveston is rebuilt, then the district will focus on rebuilding Hartford. However, that would likely require new funding in the form of another bond election.

The Galveston project is expected to cost more than $23.6 million.

The new Galveston school is planned to be 67,500 square feet and have a capacity of 750 students. The current Galveston was designed for the same number, but is currently under capacity at about 600 students.

District officials have said they expect

enrollment to drop further because of overall declining enrollment in the early grades.

Galveston and Hartford are among nine schools the district is looking at for repurposing to make it more attractive to parents. The others are Conley Elementary, Bologna, Hull, Frye, Navarette, San Marcos, Sanborn, and Shumway Leadership Academy.

The district put together a committee

to look at the schools and decide how best to prepare for a future with declining enrollments. It may mean turning the schools into a gifted academy, or adding a language immersion program.

Five of the schools are at less than 50% of capacity. The high price of housing in the Chandler and Gilbert areas is making it harder for young families to live here. Because of that, fewer students are enrolling at the earliest grades, a trend the district expects to continue.

To combat that, they plan to be more aggressive in convincing parents to send their students to CUSD schools. The governing board increased the marketing budget. They hope the success of their gifted academies and other specialized schools will draw students away from charter or private schools.

Lana Berry, the chief financial officer and assistant superintendent for business services for the district, said, “We need to make sure that we are continuously

28th Annual Chandler Multicultural Festival

From left, Galveston Elementary students Amedee Makoubi, Sophia Martinez and Mathew Makoubi offer suggestions on what the new school should look like. (Chandler Unified School District)

Firefighters also noted that at the same time as Proposition 310 failed, voters approved another legislative initiative that requires ballot questions posing tax increases to pass with at least a 60% approval.

Approval of Prop 132 by a 50.7% to 49.3% – 1,210,702 votes in favor and 1,176,327 against – means it will be even harder to get a tax passed in the future.

“We were obviously disappointed. Like the air came out of our sails,” Daisy Mountain Fire District Chief Brian Tobin said. “My firefighters worked very hard on their days off to try and get as much education and information out about 310, but we came up short.”

Tobin and Superstition Fire District Chief John Whitney said Arizona’s urban departments also lost with the defeat of 310.

They said Arizona’s robust “automatic mutual aid” system among first responders stands out among states and helps all of the various police and fire departments to function as one large emergency department for the state.

If a five-alarm fire breaks out on the edge of a city, resources from surrounding departments are deployed in an efficient system.

With a more resilient source of funding, Arizona fire districts would have been able to bring more to the table in the mutual aid system.

Fire districts are special taxing districts governed by an elected board that provide fire service to areas where none exists, such as areas not covered by a municipal fire department.

Arizona’s 154 fire districts provide emergency fire and medical service over huge swaths of the state, including major transportation corridors like I-10. In terms of the number of firefighters the districts employ, they aren’t as large of municipal departments.

About a third of the state’s professional firefighters – or about 2,500 of 7,500 – work for districts.

But many of those fire districts, especially those serving the urban-wildland interface, provide fire protection to dynamic areas as residents move into rural areas, recreation and traffic swells, and wildfire risk grows.

In all, the districts employ over 4,000

repurposing and reimagining our schools.

“If you’re old and it costs more to replace things, we want to make sure that then we’re replacing those schools if it costs more to remodel than to construct. We also want to make sure that we’re reimagining schools to meet the academic needs of that school.”

“Crews

trained personnel to provide fire, rescue, and emergency medical services to roughly 1.5 million Arizona residents every day, protecting over 15,000 square miles from fires and covering 27,000 square miles with emergency medical services.

Outside Mesa, for example, the Superstition Fire and Medical District serves communities east of Meridian Road, Apache Junction and the State Route 60 corridor in Pinal County.

The Daisy Mountain Fire District serves the area north of Phoenix along the busy I-17 corridor as far north as Sunset Point.

“Every weekend it’s a s— show” along the I-17 corridor,” Tobin said.

One contemplated project using Prop 310 funds was a fire station at Sunset

Narducci pointed out there is a Chandler CARE Center next to Galveston Elementary, and this might be an opportunity to incorporate the two together.

Chandler CARE Centers were started in 1995 as a school-based family resource center.

“We’re looking at really doing the school-community kind of build where the CARE Center connects right to the school,” Narducci said.

Point, a major rest area for north-south travelers in the state.

“We’ve just had a need in rural areas that are close to urban areas where people hike, bike and ATV, and we don’t have the technical expertise to respond to those incidents. We rely on our partners to respond to those incidents,” he said.

Tobin said fire districts took a major hit in funding when property values plunged during the Great Recession because property taxes are their main source of revenue. The impact was so significant that many fire districts are still trying to get back to pre-recession levels of service.

Daisy Mountain, for example, has fewer firefighters per capita than it did before the recession, according to Tobin.

“It’s been a very slow process to build back out of that,” Tobin said. “We were hoping to at least get ourselves back up to where we were before that time” with Prop 310 funding.

Tobin said there was “excitement” in the department about some of the lifesaving equipment it could buy with the funding. An example, he said, is telehealth equipment on ambulances that would allow medics to coordinate with doctors more closely on long rides to hospitals.

Unlike municipal departments, fire districts say they are especially challenged because they are almost totally dependent on property taxes.

They saw Prop 310 as a way to diversify funding streams.

Whitney said that because the state limits annual increases in property valuations for taxation, his district has only just now crawled back to its funding levels of 10 years ago even though call volume has seen a “dramatic jump” in recent years.

“So we’re going to augment services at the CARE Center, that will really support that community and is connected to the construction of the school. So we have a great opportunity to do that.”

The district recently invited some students in to get their ideas on what a new Galveston might include.

“This will be the first time that we’ve gone through this planning process where instruction is going to drive con-

“At the end of the day, we don’t have access to state shared revenue, we don’t have sales taxes, we don’t have all the different mechanisms available to municipal fire departments,” Whitney said.

“So the citizens of the community continue to shoulder the burden for anyone who uses the services of the district,” he said.

Whitney was disappointed by the defeat of Prop. 310, but he said he isn’t angry at voters and knows they still support their firefighters.

“We understand that there’s a lot of fear about recession and inflation, and people are very conscientious right now about what they’re spending in taxes,” Whitney said. “We understood the challenges all along.”

Whitney thinks the task of convincing voters was made harder by the complexity of the topic and confusion about the difference between fire districts and other fire departments.

With costs and call volumes still growing for fire districts, what’s next after Prop 310’s failure?

“Plan B is to reconvene the stakeholders, and find our way down to the state leadership and try to figure out a solution, whether that’s through surplus funds ... alternative funding mechanisms, something to help offset,” Whitney said.

Whitney predicted that in the shortterm, many fire district property owners will see increases in their fire service levies. Last year, the Legislature raised the cap on these levies as part of a larger tax reform package.

The tax reform lowered the state’s commercial property tax rate, but approved a phased increased in the maximum levy that local fire district boards can set and to help districts compensate for lost revenue from commercial owners.

The previous cap was 3.25% and will go up to 3.75% by tax year 2024.

Whitney said the change will help, but districts don’t like having to hike levies.

“The problem is most of the citizens don’t know about the commercial decrease. All they see is us raising their taxes,” Whitney said. “Great, then we get to take the beating for that.”

“My district board chose not to increase the level,” Tobin said, because the increased revenue from higher property valuations will be just enough to cover recent cost increases.

struction,” Dunn said. “In the past, we’ve just built schools and said, ‘Here’s your school, start teaching.’

“And we really want instruction to have input, including the community, the teachers, the students as well through this process to help understand what the needs are at that school.

“I think we’re going to see a school much different than the last 12 schools that we built.”

Fire Ground Survival is an extensive training through which all the members of the Daisy Mountain Fire District company learn techniques for saving themselves if they become lost or trapped in a life-threatening situation during a fire.

learn many techniques to give them the best preparation for these high risk/low frequency events,” a district spokesman said. (Facebook)

Traditional names in the past for 2022 newborns

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

New Arizona moms and dads aren’t choosing the names for their children this year that their own parent selected for them.

New figures from the state Department of Health Services show the names that were most popular a quarter century have all but disappeared from this year’s Top 20 list.

The lone exception for girls is Emily which was the fifth most popular name for girls in 1997. And it hung on, only barely, at No. 20 for 2022.

And what of the names that were so popular back then? Good luck finding newborns this year with the same names.

Consider Jessica, the most

popular name in 1997. There weren’t enough new parents this year for that name to even crack the Top 100. Ditto Alexis, Ashley and Samantha which came in second, third and fourth, respectively that year: all fallen off the list.

So what replaced them?

Olivia remains the top choice for newborn girls for the third year in a row. That is followed by Emma, Isabella, Sophia and Luna.

A similar situation exists among parents of newborn boys, though the shifts in parental preferences aren’t quite so radical.

Jacob, the most popular name back then, fared no better than 49th this year.

Michael, however, which was right behind at second place in 1997, fared better. It now comes

in at No. 18.

And Daniel, third in popularity back in 1997, dropped to sixteenth position.

Instead, Liam remains the top choice this year for parents of newborn boys for the third year in a row.

Also posting repeat performances are Noah, Mateo and Oliver which followed as second, third and fourth this year, matching the data from 2021.

Still, there were some major shifts from even a year ago.

Luca, which logged in at No. 48 a year ago, rocketed up in popularity to crack the Top 20.

And Violet, which had been at No. 32 in 2021 moved up to No. 17 for girls.

Top girl names for 2022 babies

1. Olivia 2. Emma 3. Isabella 4. Sophia 5. Luna 6. Mia 7. Camila 8. Amelia 9. Ava 10. Charlotte 11. Scarlett 12. Aria 13. Penelope 14. Evelyn 15. Gianna 16. Sofia 17. Violet 18. Aurora 19. Victoria 20. Emily

Top boy names for 2022 babies

1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Mateo 4. Oliver 5. Santiago 6. Sebastian 7. Elijah 8. Ezra 9. Ezekiel 10. Julian 11. Elias 12. Benjamin 13. Levi 14. Alexander 15. Theodore 16. Daniel 17. Angel 18. Michael 19. Gabriel 20. Luca

COME JOIN US FOR OUR NEXT

ADVENTURE

THE VILLAGE IS MORE THAN JUST FITNESS

Our club is all about building relationships with our members. Are you looking for a adrenaline rush, join us for a whitewater rafting trip. If you love the winter time, we take a trip to Telluride for fresh powder rides. Are you one for a relaxing float out on lake, join us on a kayaking trip. Socializing is part of what makes the Village different.

Scan the QR code for a Free 7-day VIP Membership, and see what we’re talking about.

CAMELBACK VILLAGE Phoenix, AZ 85018 602.553.4917

DC RANCH VILLAGE Scottsdale, AZ 85255 480.515.5522

GAINEY VILLAGE Scottsdale, AZ 85258 480.609.6980

OCOTILLO VILLAGE Chandler, AZ 85248 480.579.2940

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

When Chandler Vice Mayor Terry Roe and Councilman Rene Lopez were first sworn into office eight years ago, they said that first year was “daunting.”

“I’ve got massive stacks of papers,” Lopez said. “It was stacks that we would get with development drawings and renderings and all of the budget line items and that stuff, and it was massive.”

Lopez and Roe have been cleaning out their offices and finding some of those old stacks of paper as their terms come to an end. Some agendas can have 50 to 60 items and the supporting paperwork can number into the dozens for each item.

New Council members Angel Encinas and Jane Poston will be sworn in on Jan. 12 and will not have to face that daunting stack of paper: The entire agenda is now digital and available online.

“We were just talking about, you know, cleaning out our offices and that sort of thing,” Roe said. “And we both had some thought that maybe there’d be an office to put some of that. That’s just not the case this time.”

Both men ran for new offices and did not win their elections. They could not run for Council again because of term limits.

The two men looked back at their eight years, proud of their accomplishments, and are eager to continue public service.

As of now, though, they don’t know what form that will take.

“We’ve accomplished a lot,” Lopez said. “You know, we both been on here for this whole eight years and got a lot of good things done and kept Chandler on track, fiscally responsible, keeping all the services high level, keeping police and fire well paid. And I think we’ve done a really good job. And the bitterness is, again, it has to come to an end.”

Both men were part of local govern-

ment during the pandemic, an event that challenged everyone in power. The early days were filled with uncertainty, no one knowing how deadly it was or the right balance between protecting lives and personal freedom.

“I do remember the first few months, I mean, coming in every week, we were having briefings,” Lopez said. “Where’s it going at, the infectious rate, death rate? … I think we as a group, kept an eye on ensuring that we were not overstepping our bounds as a city.”

Roe said his main worry during those early days of the pandemic was to ensure the city would be able to handle any financial loss because of businesses being shut down and no tax dollars coming in.

“I made a lot of noise about wanting to trim the budget because I can be cynical,” Roe said.

Both men mentioned that they leave

with the city in excellent condition financially, and with plenty of water. They credited the council members who came before them for Chandler’s long tradition of managing its resources.

They know not every city does as well.

“I get flabbergasted still to this day when discovering that with some of the excess water, other cities are selling it off to make up budget shortfalls,” Lopez said. “I am flabbergasted when I hear that. And they look over the fence and see that we’ve got this massive pool.”

Both men thanked city staff, saying they do an excellent job running Chandler. They also thanked Mayor Kevin Hartke and the other council members, saying that no one person gets anything done. It takes at least four votes, and the councils there were a part of worked very well together.

“I remember after about 14 months on the council, we’d gone through a budget cycle, and we had our first massive show up of people with pitchforks and torches, about pickleball versus tennis,” Lopez said.

The city was considering converting some tennis courts into pickleball courts and Lopez noted, “We have a pretty dang-well run city, $600 million budget, 230,000 people at the time or less, and this is the biggest issue we have people coming to us with, converting a tennis court to pickleball. That’s a pretty wellrun city when that’s the angriest people get.”

Added Roe: “I think I’ve said it to a number of people, it is not an honorary position. It is an honor, it’s a great honor. And we are, as a council and a mayor, charged with doing the people’s work. And it isn’t about me, and I’m not going to get what I want just because I got elected. It takes people working together, you’ve got to count to four or more.”

Council member Rene Lopez, left, and Vice Mayor Terry Roe are ending their terms on the Chandler City Council. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Homebuyers paid more for less space in 2022

SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

A new report says rising prices last year generally left Valley homebuyers and sellers worse off than those who bought or sold houses in 2021 while an analyst warned a shrinking inventory of homes could spell challenges for buyers in 2023.

The Cromford Report, the Valley’s leading analyst of the Maricopa and Pinal counties’ housing markets, said last month that while demand has dropped to the lowest level since April 2008, “the supply index is falling even faster.”

“We have an extremely low number of new listings,” it said, noting that new listings in 2022 totaled only 1,099 – less than half of a “cold” market in 2005.

The National Association of Home Builders also provided data this month that buttressed the Cromford Report’s assessment of supply.

It said that nationwide, there is a shortage of 1.5 million units – 800,000 apartments and 750,000 sale homes –that won’t come close to being resolved before the end of this decade.

It identified the Phoenix market as one of five metro areas in the country with the biggest shortage of vacant homes and apartments and said vacancy rates among sale homes and rental units had hit .9% and 5.%, respectively – the lowest since 2005, when the association first started collecting such data.

“The current low homeowner and

rental vacancy rates are typically interpreted as a sign of tight housing markets, with abnormally low vacancy rates signaling a greater housing shortage,” the association said, adding that “unusually low vacancy rates signal deeper supply-demand imbalances.”

Meanwhile, Point2, a division of Yardi Systems, Inc., that covers real estate trends, reported that Arizona homebuyers saw significant losses in their purchasing power in 2022 compared to 2021.

Those losses ranged from a whopping $174,097 in Gilbert to $73,709 in Tucson. Phoenix buyers lost $113,684 in buying power year over year while Scottsdale recorded the second highest loss at $157,171, point2 said.

It also found buyers in Mesa had $115,065 less purchasing power last year compared to 2021 while Chandler buyers suffered the third highest loss in the state at $157,171.

That loss of purchasing power trans-

lated into a smaller sized house a buyer could afford, according to point2.

In Gilbert, buyers could afford an average 2,416-square-foot home in 2021 but lost out last year on 810 square feet of space.

Looking at the nation’s 100 largest cities, Point2 said, “The average buyer lost the equivalent of 1 to 9 bedrooms due to increasing home prices and interest

This four-bedroom, three-bath house on S. Greythorne Way in Ocotillo recently sold for $1.3 million. The 3,451-square-foot home, built in 1995, boasted a number of eye-popping amenities, including a floor-to-ceiling gas fireplace, wraparound indoor balcony overlooking the foyer, a private balcony overlooking the lake and other features. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

dark

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Two groups involved in politics in Arizona want a court to void a new voter-approved law designed to prohibit “dark money’’ in political races.

The Center for Arizona Policy and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club contend that Proposition 211 runs afoul of a provision in the Arizona Constitution saying every person “may speak freely ... on all subjects.’’ And that, the lawsuit said, includes the right not to be forced to speak.

“The act violates Arizonans’ right to speak freely by chilling donors from supporting causes they believe in and wish to support, lest their charitable giving become public knowledge,’’ wrote attorney Scott Freeman of the Goldwater Institute.

He represents the two organizations which urged voters to reject the measure. That e ort was unsuccessful as it was approved by a margin of close to 3-1.

Freeman also said the law impairs the ability of nonprofit groups to engage in dialog on public issues to avoid having to disclose the names of their donors.

In the lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, Freeman also argues that the initiative violates another state constitutional provision which says no individual “shall be disturbed in his private a airs ... without authority of law.’’

That, he said, includes financial information, political choices -- and giving to “charities engaging in campaign media spending.’’ And Freeman said that also protect the financial dealings of private organizations.

Only thing is, the “charities’’ the new law a ects includes what the Internal Revenue Service classifies as “social welfare organizations.’’ And while they are nonprofit entities, they can use up to half the money they raise for partisan

HOMES

rates.”

from Page 15

“Aggressive rate hikes (after the latest increase, the average mortgage rate hovers around 7%), coupled with sky-high home prices mean buyers are bleeding money,” it said, adding “homebuyers — and especially post-pandemic homebuyers — are also losing what they wanted the most: More living space.”

“In just a few months, buyers in the 100 largest cities lost between 92 and a staggering 1,140 square feet of space,” Point2 said, basing its analysis on a bedroom average of 132 square feet.

“With a ordability eroding, the homes that cash-strapped buyers can choose

political activities, including spending money for and against candidates and ballot measures.

But Scot Mussi, president of the Free Enterprise Club, said his organization fits the IRS definition because it is “doing work that helps out others,’’ even if it does try to influence elections.

The initiative was aimed at what former Attorney General Terry Goddard, who helped craft it, considers a loophole in the law.

Arizona law for years has required the names of those who give at least $50 to political campaigns or to support or oppose ballot measures to be made public.

That includes “in-kind’’ contributions, where some organization, rather than give money to a cause, runs its own commercials.

But the law until now has been that only the name of the organization need be made public, not the individuals or

from are disappearing,” it said, adding that number has fallen to zero in most California cities and that “in 41 other cities it represents less than 10% of the total homes for sale.”

It was even worse for Mesa and Phoenix, the study found, where only 7% of available houses could be purchased by the average buyer.

“Home seekers go out of their way to find homes that are within their budget, but that usually means they end up settling for a much smaller home, a home in a totally di erent location or both,” Point2 said.

That trend made Gilbert 10th in the nation for the greatest loss in square footage that the average buyer could afford in 2022 compared to 2021.

corporations who donated to the group. That, he said, is why the sponsors of so many of the political commercials run during the campaign were identified only by names that gave viewers no clue as to who really was financing them.

And the Free Enterprise Club itself reporting spending money just this year on several legislative races, both for candidates it supported and against those it opposed. But those reports gave no indication from where the group’s money came.

Goddard said Proposition 211 addresses that by requiring public disclosure of anyone who has given at least $5,000 to one of these groups. Potentially more significant, it requires any group making political expenditures to trace the money back to its original source, no matter how many hands it has passed through.

And while campaign commercials can’t list all major donors, the law says they

Nationally, it said, Scottsdale and Chandler ranked 8th and 9th, respectively, among the 10 cities sustaining the biggest losses in purchasing power.

Point2 based its analysis on a broad range of data and assumed a 20% down payment and a mortgage payment of up to 30% of monthly income.

“When the interest rate was hovering around 3%, the pain of soaring home prices was just a dull ache compared to the major burden it has become,” Point2 said. “Now, with rates crossing the psychological barrier of 7% (a level not seen in more than two decades) the consequences for homebuyers are crushing.”

As for the loss in space an average homeowner can a ord, this couldn’t come at a worst time, according to Pi-

initiative

must include at least the names of the three contributors who made the largest contributions to the

Mussi said the initiative is built on the premise that money is being deliberately funneled through organizations like his to hide the source. He said it’s not that simple.

“You’re operating under the assumption that giving to the Free Enterprise Club or any other organization that was the impetus for the giving,’’ he said.

Goddard, however, said there’s no reason for state law to allow a special carveout from disclosure requirements.

“Ninety nine percent of all people that participate in political contributions in Arizona disclose fully their name, their home address and their employer,’’ he said. “All we’re asking for is that the same rules apply to everybody.’’

Mussi acknowledged that this isn’t about just protecting the names of individuals. As the law now stands – and would remain if his lawsuit succeeds –those shields are available even to corporations.

In 2014, for example, outside groups, including the Free Enterprise Club and Save Our Future Now, put $10.7 million into successful campaigns to elect Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little to the Arizona Corporation Commission.

But it was not until 2019, under a commission subpoena, that it was disclosed those funds had come from Arizona Public Service, the same company which in 2017 had gotten approval from the regulators for a 4.5% rate hike.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in the landmark 2010 case of Citizens United, prohibited the government from restricting independent expenditures for political campaigns by corporations, labor unions and other organizations. But Goddard said the justices specifically did not bar disclosure requirements.

ont2, which noted:

“Although home size in the U.S had been on an upward trend since 1973, the pandemic really made everyone hungrier for space than ever. … With sky-high home prices and rising mortgage rates, big homes are becoming untouchable.”

And the Point2 report wasn’t very encouraging about the future, stating:

“Despite the corrections from the last few months, home prices remain prohibitively high. That’s why, in 97 of the 100 largest U.S. cities, the share of homes at or below the price that the average buyer can a ord is (way) below 50%. Housing a ordability really seems to be eroding faster than ever.”

Information: point2homes.com

Former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and others gathered thousands of petition signatures needed to put the so-called dark money disclosure initiative on last year’s General Election ballot. Now two special interest groups are trying to upend a measure that won voter approval by a wide margin. (File photo)

Despite new debt law, consumers should be on their guard

BY TORI GANTZ Cronkite News

Rodd McLeod thinks voter approval of Proposition 209 this fall will go a long way toward keeping people from being “forced out on the street or lose their cars” when they have medical bills they can’t pay.

But he also thinks that consumers still need to be on their guard.

“I think debt collectors are still going to be aggressive and try to get as much money from people as possible,” said McLeod, spokesperson for Arizona Healthcare Rising, one of the main supporters of the proposition.

“That’s just the reality of the way the debt collection industry functions, which is why it’s important to have protections in the law so that ordinary people don’t get hurt,” he said.

Opponents of the law have not given up the fight. They challenged the measure in court, and a Maricopa County Superior Court judge earlier this month temporarily blocked the law from taking effect on any debt incurred before Dec. 5 – the date the 2022 election results were certified. That injunction was lifted this week, however, and the judge allowed the entire law to proceed for now.

The proposition creating the Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act passed with an overwhelming 72% of more than 2.4 million votes cast. The 1.75 million who voted for the proposi-

tion were the most of any of the 10 measures on the ballot. Only Proposition 211, relating to dark money in politics, had a larger margin of victory, with 72.3% in favor.

Greater Phoenix Chamber Vice President of Public Affairs Mike Huckins said he was only “a little bit surprised” at the passage of the measure, which he credited to successful marketing by its supporters.

“The proponents did a great job of naming it,” Huckins said. “When you have a title like Predatory Debt Collection Protection … it’s an easy one, I think, for people to vote for.”

Given that, Huckins said he does not think business groups and other opponents had “the resources … to get the message out to the voters.”

Proposition 209 makes several changes to state law that supporters said will protect consumers from crushing debt that can lead to a downward economic spiral, costing debtors their cars, which can cost them their jobs, which can cost them their homes.

The measure’s backers said it was aimed at medical debt, the No. 1 cause for calls from debt collectors and what McLeod said is a leading cause of personal bankruptcies. But much of the new law actually applies to all debt.

The new law lowers the interest rate that businesses or debt collectors can levy on medical debt from the previous 10% to 3%. It will also increase the value of homes, cars and bank accounts that are protected from debt collectors for all debt, while lowering the amount of disposable income that can be garnished to settle a debt, from the previous 25% to 10%.

“Any time a debt collector tries to take someone to court for unpaid debt, you know, the … judges will be operating under these new guidelines for what is allowed to be claimed by the debt collector,” McLeod said.

Opponents insist that the long-term impact of the law will end up backfiring on the people it is intended to protect.

“I think it’s going to affect all consumers, not just those that have medical debt because … it raises the exemptions from automobiles, your house, your sal-

ary,” Huckins said. “There may be a little bit of buyer’s remorse for some folks for voting for this once they see the impact it’s going to have on interest rates down down the line.”

That was echoed by Michael Guymon, president and CEO of the Tucson Metro Chamber, who said in a written statement that the new law will be “bad for the Arizona economy, bad for many of our businesses and bad for overall lending in the state.”

Guymon complained about the supporters’ framing of the measure, which he said was “marketed and described on the ballot as a medical debt initiative and it is not.”

“It only references medical debt specifically as it pertains to the interest rate change. The public did not understand that it was going to have an impact on ALL debt and therefore have a detrimental effect on lending, the Arizona rental market, etc.,” Guymon wrote.

He said businesses will be forced to raise prices for everybody to make up for the debt they will no longer be able to collect, an argument advanced by Huckins as well.

“When you put these sort of protec-

tions around folks, where they don’t have to pay back their debts to a certain extent, it’s still going to raise the interest rates for the rest of us and it’s going to reduce the credit market for those folks that … probably are going to need it the most – those folks that don’t have the cash to pay for stuff up front,” Huckins said.

But McLeod said that consumers need protection now – which was evidenced by the roughly 470,000 signatures that were submitted to put the measure on the ballot and by the overwhelming support at the ballot box. He said the chambers of commerce need to recognize

that.

“We’re really pleased and thankful that the overwhelming majority of Arizonans agree with us,” McLeod said. “We would like to see the chamber of commerce join us in that belief.

“We just believe so strongly that you know, somebody with a medical bill they can’t pay should not be forced out on the street or lose their cars and couldn’t get to their job anymore,” he said.

But McLeod said the law alone will not protect consumers.

“What consumers can do to protect themselves is have a lawyer who is up on the law,” he said. “The sad reality is that the overwhelming number of consumers who go to court for this sort of thing are not represented by a lawyer.”

New Chandler eatery focuses on healthy food

BY SRIANTHI PERERA Contributor

Flower Child, which opened its first outlet in Chandler recently, has a catchy slogan: “Healthy Food for a Happy World.”

The restaurant seeks to fulfill its premise by making food from scratch, sourcing ingredients close to each eatery’s location whenever possible and serving healthy food for a variety of lifestyles.

“Whether you’re (eating) gluten-free, vegan, following a strict dietary regimen or just hungry, Flower Child offers a wide range of options for you to enjoy,” said Mark Yost, general manager.

The fast-casual menu offers unusual combinations of ingredients.

Examples are salads, such as Ginger Miso Crunch (carrot zoodles, zucchini, red pepper, Asian cabbage, mint, cashew and sesame seeds) and bowls, such as the Forbidden Rice (including black pearl, red japonica, snap pea, Bok choy and red chili hoisin.

Entrees include Yuzu Brussels Sprouts (charred onion, savoy cabbage and golden miso) and wraps including the Thai Dye (spicy tofu, Thai basil, avocado, carrot, daikon radish, cilantro and snap pea.

The Bolognese Bowl consists of a base of flavorful zucchini strands nestling against the organic pureed tomato flavored with wild mushrooms, red lentil, basil, and parmesan.

A dollop of soft burrata, an Italian cow milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream, sits side-by-side with thin cuts of

chicken.

Drinks include the seasonal lemonade and kombucha on tap along with a selection of loose-leaf hot teas, wines, sangria and local craft beers.

The simple dessert choices are topped by a 420-calorie, sharable chocolate pudding made of sweetened cocoa and milk.

Part of the Fox Restaurant Concepts, Flower Child’s first Chandler location is at The Shoppes at Casa Paloma, in the southwest corner of Ray Road and 56th

Street. It is the sixth Arizona outlet, and joins others in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Gilbert.

The restaurant launched 2014 in the Arcadia area of Phoenix. Over the years, the company has opened restaurants in many other states, including California, Texas and Georgia.

The Chandler location offers a large, airy, and high-ceilinged dining room and a wrap-around patio for pleasant, on-site dining. Multi-generational families may find the setting appropriate, while two

friends may also have a quieter meal.

The décor includes a cluster of lamps shaded by wicker soften the rafters and metals of the industrial design ceiling. Cane chairs are woven tightly with a black and white basket weave and a floral mural by local artist Andy Brown takes prominence on the far wall.

“We want all of our locations to be designed in a way so when you walk in, you know you’re at Flower Child,” Yost said.

“However, as we grow across the country, we have identified ways of introducing paintings or artwork in a way that continues to embody our Flower Child brand, but also helps us to fit in with our new neighborhoods and communities.”

Many restaurants serve healthy food, so how does Flower Child stand out in the community?

Yost pointed to the focus on catering to different palettes and lifestyles, as well as the quality of ingredients.

“We don’t only focus on one type of healthy food. For example, we don’t solely offer gluten-free options, we aren’t an exclusively vegan restaurant, we offer a menu for everyone to enjoy,” he said. “Whether you’re eating our Chicken Enchiladas or a Chopped Vegetable Salad, the ingredients we source will always be of the best quality available.”

The restaurant is also known for its carefully chosen employees. Brand founder Sam Fox, according to the com-

Lebanese Palace serves ‘back home’ delights

BY GERI KOEPPEL Get Out Contributor

Goodbye, peanut shells and burgers; hello, hummus, shawarma and kibbeh: A Lebanese restaurant is now open in the former Teakwoods Tavern on the southeast corner of Ray and Kyrene roads in Chandler.

The Homsi family opened Lebanese Palace in late November, with mother Mona creating the recipes. Sons Kanaan and Sleiman run the dining room and kitchen, respectively. Their brothers Wassime and Samer help out wherever needed, too.

The restaurant already is racking up five-star reviews online and attracting customers of Lebanese heritage looking for familiar flavors.

“All the food that we make here, we’ve been eating this our whole life—the kabobs, the kafta, shish tawook,” Kanaan said. “Everything is homemade here like we would make it at our house.”

Homsi added, “When I eat a kabob, I want it to remind me of Lebanon. This is ‘back home’ food.”

Lebanese Palace serves popular Mid-

dle Eastern dishes such as hummus, falafel, stuffed grape leaves, gyros and baba ghannaouj (roasted eggplant dip).

But it specializes in traditional Leba-

nese cuisine such as shawarma, which is marinated, roasted meat shaved off a rotisserie; kafta, a ball of ground meat and spices on a skewer; shish tawook, skew-

ered chicken marinated in yogurt, lemon, garlic and other ingredients; sambousek, or crispy meat pies; and more.

Appetizers average about $7-10, wraps are roughly $10-12 and come with fries, and entrees are about $15-26.

The number one seller is the chicken shawarma” sandwiches and plates, Homsi said, adding, “We do extra seasoning so it stays juicy the whole time.”

His favorites are the grilled meats, he said, noting, “The filet kabobs we have are really good—flavorful and tender.”

And, he added, many Lebanese customers like the kibbeh, made with ground beef, bulgur, onions, pine nuts and herbs and spices formed into small balls and deep-fried.

They also make a vegetarian version that’s not deep fried made with boiled potato instead of meat called kibbet batata. There’s also a dish with raw lamb called kibbeh naveh.

“People really like the kibbeh, and it’s hard to find authentic kibbeh here,” Homsi said.

Mona Homsi, flanked by sons Sleiman, left, and Kanaan Homsi, run the Lebanese Palace restaurant together in Chandler. Not pictured are her sons Wassime and Samer Homsi, who also pitch in. (Geri Koeppel/GetOut Contributor)

Flower Child offers a cheerful décor along with flavorful food. (Srianthi Perera/Contributor)

Trust is a fragile thing when it comes to money

BY HAROLD WONG Guest Writer

Every year, the Gallup Poll asks Americans their opinions of the ethical standards of various professions. The results of the 2021 Gallup Poll, reported in a Moneywise article by Sarah Cunnane, found 9% believe car salespeople are very honest and ethical; only 12% members of Congress, 13% of insurance salespeople as well as advertising professionals, 14% of stockbrokers, 20% of the nation’s governors and business executives, 22% of all lawyers and 24% of labor leaders.

In contrast, the 10 professions rated most honest and ethical are: nurses (85%), engineers (66%), physicians (65%), pharmacists (64%), dentists (61%) police officers (51%), college teachers (49%), psychiatrists (43%), chiropractors (41%) and clergy (40%),

The 2008 Gallup Poll said 14% rated stockbrokers for high or high honesty

FLOWER

and ethical standards and this was the fifth worst-rated profession. Only 25% rated real estate agents as highly ethical and this was the ninth worst professions.

In contrast, 42% rated accountants as highly ethical and this was the 6th best profession. The third best profession was high school teachers and 60% ranked this profession as highly ethical. Nurses remained #1 rating and 85% rated the profession as highly honest and ethical.

This data should create a dilemma for the public.

Would you trust your life savings to the advice of a high school or college teacher who has read books his whole life, but has never started a business or worked in the real world? In contrast, stockbrokers and insurance agents have worked in the private sector, but aren’t rated as very honest or ethical.

Nursing is consistently rated as the most honest profession, but would you let a nurse advise you on your investments, real estate, taxes, and other financial issues?

In reality, only 35% of Americans use a

from Page 20

pany, is “passionate about hospitality.”

“In addition to the food we serve, we have cultivated one of the friendliest, most hospitable staffs I have ever been a part of,” Yost said. “We have a diverse

LEBANESE

from Page 20

First-time customers Ty Davis of Phoenix and Zach Garoutte of Tempe said they tried Lebanese Palace based on recommendations from multiple friends who had eaten there over the previous few weeks.

Davis got the chicken shawarma sandwich and said, “It was cooked perfectly; lots of flavor. The hummus was really good as well; same with the pita.”

Garoutte got the chicken shawarma plate and said it was high-quality food that tasted homemade. He added, “It definitely checked all the boxes.”

Both said they would “absolutely” be back.

Everything at Lebanese Palace is made fresh daily on site except the bread— which comes from a purveyor in California that bakes Arabic pita—and the feta and labneh, a soft, tangy cheese made from yogurt.

They do, however, make a date brioche as well as baklava daily, and all the

team with a large array of skillsets, but the common denominator among everyone on our team is hospitality.”

Exclusive to the Arizona Flower Child locations, Phoenix Sun fans can eat like famed power forward Cam Johnson by ordering his signature, “Cam’s Power Meal.” The bowl consists

meats are halal.

Keep an eye out for even more delicacies to come.

Homsi said that they’ll slowly start to feature weekly specials featuring that his mom has made at home for years that aren’t typically made in restaurants.

“We’re going to offer something really traditional like no one has,” he said.

The restaurant seats about 160 in two large dining areas, and Homsi said the second room is available for private events. They’re going to have hookah on the patio, and down the line, they might carry Middle Eastern groceries.

There are no plans, however, to add a liquor license.

The family, who lives nearby, decided to open their own restaurant when they saw the space become available.

Their father, Omar, manages another restaurant in the Valley, and Kanaan and Sleiman have worked in restaurants for several years as well.

Mona Homsi was born in California, and she and Omar met there, married and moved to Arizona. They have five

financial advisor, according to the Northwestern Mutual 2022 Planning & Progress Study. Most people tend to either ignore their financial future or decide to be their own financial advisor. The analogy in the legal field is: “He who acts as his own attorney has a fool for a client.”

If most Americans don’t use a financial advisor and instead rely on themselves, please look at a study by Ramsey Solutions titled “The National Study of Millionaires.”

The top five careers for millionaires are: engineer, accountant, teacher, manager, and attorney. Three out of four said that regular, consistent investing over a long period of time leads to success.

They spend less than $200 a month at restaurants and 93% of millionaires use coupons all or some of the time when shopping. Nearly three-quarters have never carried a credit card balance in their lives.

In other words, most millionaires have great financial discipline and are logical. They are able to avoid impulse purchases and instead save steadily for decades

of salmon, gluten-free mac and cheese, and roasted broccoli.

For each meal purchased, guests are entered into a monthly drawing for a chance to win a number 23 jersey autographed by Johnson. This special will be featured throughout the basketball season.

sons and a daughter. Omar is from Tripoli, Lebanon, and still has family there.

In fact, Homsi said he and brother Sleiman spent much of their childhood with their grandparents in Lebanon, where they developed a deep appreciation for the food.

“Lebanese people are meant for cooking,” he said. “Their cooking is really, really, really top notch.”

Lebanese Palace, serving traditional foods of Lebanon and other Middle Eastern cuisine

5965 W. Ray Road, Suite 20, Chandler

Mon-Thurs, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Fri-Sat, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 480-867-1772; lebanese-palace. business.site

The chicken shawarma is the most popular item on the menu at Lebanese Palace in Chandler. (Geri Koeppel/GetOut Contributor)

until they become millionaires.

Most Americans don’t trust stockbrokers or insurance agents and rely on themselves instead of a financial advisor. It’s true that no one cares about your money as much as you do.

For lots of useful financial information, go to drharoldwong.com and then click on the “Published Works” link. You will find all of my Times Media Group articles as well as relevant articles by others.

Attend my free live seminar and supper Jan. 26 at Hyatt Place, 3535 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler. The seminar is 6-7:30 p.m., followed by a free catered supper. The topic is “Beat Inflation by Saving Taxes and Increasing Income!”

To RSVP for the seminar or schedule a free consultation, contact Dr. Harold Wong at 480-706-0177 or harold_wong@hotmail.com. His website is www.drharoldwong.com. Wong earned his Ph.D. in Economics at University of California/Berkeley and has appeared on over 400 TV/radio programs.

Flower Child

7131 W. Ray Road #10, Chandler 602-834-0070

iamaflowerchild.com

Open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Taylor Morrison is building and donating an initial six fully furnished homes to the Banner Health Foundation for an eventual 16-home community in Gilbert to support Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Home Away from Home program.

The program provides housing assistance to patients who travel great distances for care at Banner MD Anderson, the Scottsdale homebuilder said in a release.

“Treatment is complex and emotional, but through our donation, we treasure the opportunity to flex our strengths as a homebuilder to build places of sanctuary for patients and their loved ones while they navigate this challenging time in their lives,” said Taylor Morrison Chairman/CEO Sheryl Palmer.

“For Taylor Morrison to play a role in offering some relief and enabling patients to focus on healing is such a gift.”

The cost of extended lodging during cancer treatment is beyond reach for many patients and their families, Taylor Morrison noted, “especially those traveling far distances to receive care

or whose treatment protocol requires weeks to months of daily therapy or close post-surgical monitoring.”

Taylor Morrison’s donated homes will be located on a parcel of land adjacent to the Banner Gateway Medical Center campus, which is home to Banner MD Anderson.

It will begin phase one next summer, with an estimated completion by summer 2024.

Last year, thousands of patients traveled more than 30 miles each way for care at Banner MD Anderson, and 330 came from outside of Arizona.

The new nearby housing will provide lodging for more than 60 patients annually.

The homes will feature floor plans from Taylor Morrison’s newly introduced build-to-rent brand Yardly, specializing in cottage-style, for-rent homes.

Floor plans will offer 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, laundry, and gathering room. Homes will also be pet-friendly, with private backyards and doggy doors.

“We are deeply grateful to Taylor Morrison’s generosity because for

many patients, having a place to stay without the financial burden is the difference between receiving care or not,” said Michael Herring, CEO at Banner Gateway Medical Center and Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center.

“Hope and healing can be found in something as simple as a safe and comfortable bed and a good night’s rest. With all the concerns and feelings going through a patient’s mind, a home nearby provides such relief and one less thing to worry about.”

With more than 1.5 million patient visits to the Gilbert campus and five extension clinics across the Valley, some 200 clinical trials underway, and a growing team of specialists across disciplines, Banner MD Anderson is poised to become Arizona’s leading clinical cancer research program and the vanguard of a revolution in cancer care.

Tax-deductible donations benefiting the Home Away from Home fund can be made online at give.bannerhealth. com/tm. From Feb. 6–12, at TPC Scottsdale, WM Phoenix Open attendees can also donate while visiting the Fairway House Presented by Taylor Morrison on the 12th hole.

EV athletes honored at Ed Doherty Award luncheon

BY ZACH ALVIRA Sports Editor

The naming of the Ed Doherty Award recipient on a yearly basis is the culmination of every high school football season in Arizona.

Nicknamed “the Heisman” of high school football in the state, it’s awarded every year to the player that stood out among the rest. The event itself is extravagant. Fifty-nine players who have been nominated throughout the season with medallions for excellent play are invited to attend alongside families. Forty were in attendance this year.

They walk a red carpet and eat an extravagant lunch before finding out if they have been deemed the best high school football player in the state for the season. While every athlete aims to come away with the award, simply being one of the nominees is an honor, too.

That was the case for Saguaro senior quarterback Devon Dampier. That is, until he was named the 2022 winner of the Ed Doherty Award.

Dampier shined in his two seasons at Saguaro, the first of which he had to sit out the first five games after transferring from Pinnacle.

He led the Sabercats to the Open

(Right) Basha junior quarterback Demond Williams was part of the Ed Doherty Award luncheon Saturday, Dec. 17, which honors the top high school football players from across the state for their play this past season. He was joined teammates Cole Martin, Wyatt Milkovic and Timothy Tynan. (Above) Williams was joined by several other nominations at the Ed Doherty Award Luncheon on Saturday, Dec. 17 at the Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch. Saguaro senior quarterback Devon Dampier was the recipient of this year’s Ed Doherty Award. (Dave Minton/Staff Photographer)

Division state championship as a junior when he officially took over as the starter in the postseason. As a senior, he guided his team through one of the most difficult schedules in the nation.

Saguaro entered the Open Division playoffs as the No. 5 seed yet made another run to the title game. The Sabercats fell just short of another title.

Dampier passed for 2,349 yards and 21 touchdowns this past season. Even with the accolades, he prides himself on being an underdog. That’s a role he will cherish at New Mexico next year.

“I like to feel like I’m an underdog,” Dampier said. “I never think I’m good enough, it’s just the expectations I have for myself in my head.”

Dampier was joined by five other finalists for the award on stage – American Leadership Academy Gilbert quarterback Adam Damante, Higley quarterback Jamar Malone, Liberty quarterback Navi Bruzon and Basha quarterback Demond Williams. Pinnacle tight end Duce Robinson, another finalist, wasn’t present.

Three of the six nominated players won their respective state title games a week prior. Damante led the Eagles to their first-ever championship at the 4A level, beating Snowflake. Malone led Higley to its first championship by beating Cactus in the 5A game. Williams led Basha to a win over Saguaro in the Open.

“It means a lot,” Williams said. “We’re all very big players who had good seasons. There’s a reason we’re here. It means a lot. This is a big thing for me because I have been here since my freshman year.”

Of the 59 players nominated for the award throughout the course of the season, 40 attended the event last Saturday. It was an opportunity to mingle among other players, and of course be considered one of the best the state has to offer.

That meant a lot to players like Eastmark wideout Austin Johnston and quarterback Mack Molander.

They comprised one of the best tan-

dems in the state while leading the Firebirds to the 3A championship win over Thatcher. Receiving Ed Doherty medallions and being invited to the luncheon was a nod to where they have come as players and how much they have built Eastmark into yet another power in the East Valley.

Mountain Pointe quarterback Chris Arviso was the lone representative for the Ahwatukee community. But he did it with honor and it was earned after a standout season.

He helped rebuild the Pride program the last three seasons, and he was recognized for it as one of the state’s best players.

The Ed Doherty Award, while special for the winner, also recognizes the outstanding play of a select players from most conferences across the state.

While every player aims to join the likes of Hamilton alum Nicco Marchiol, Mesquite alum Ty Thompson, Perry alum Brock Purdy, Salpointe Catholic alum Bijan Robinson and Desert Vista alums Zach Miller and Bobby Wade, simply being nominated and invited to the luncheon is an honor and experience they will never forget.

“It feels good to be rewarded,” Dampier said. “I’m just going to keep grinding, keep working to try and be the best me. I feel like I’ve proved myself.”

Seton alumna wins 3 Emmy awards for her film

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

From the outside it appears Seton Catholic graduate Audrey Wood is a very accomplished young woman. Last year as a senior at the Chandler school she was named a Flinn Scholarship semifinalist for her accomplishments both in the classroom and the impact she made outside of it.

This year, the freshman at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles won a National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences student production award, also known as an Emmy.

But that’s from the outside. At one point in her life, inside Wood’s head was very different. She said felt like she was a fraud. She worried that she would be found out and exposed. Despite all of her success, despite all of her friends’ and family’s praise, she just couldn’t believe it.

They call that condition ‘imposter syndrome” and it’s the subject of the short film Wood made that earned her an Emmy.

Wood was honored for writing “The Elephant and Me,” which was a film she made for a class at Seton last year. It’s a poem she wrote, with the use of animation. It was also nominated for best non-fiction short form film.

At the Rocky Mountain Student Production Emmys, the film was nominated for five awards, winning three of them, including writing and best non-fiction short form.

So how does such a successful person

feel like a fraud?

“I think that, honestly, people who sometimes are doing the most things experience the most doubt,” Wood said while at home on break from Loyola.

“I honestly think because, I wrote this film for my theology class, so there is like a spiritual element to it. And I think that the biggest thing for me is that, God gives us gifts and talents that he wants us to use in this world. And so, of course, whenever the people who have gifts and talents that he wants us to share … the devil doesn’t want us to share those things.”

Wood has a lot she wants to share.

“I’m a film and television production major, which is super fun,” she said.

(David Minton/Staff Photographer); (Above) This is a scene from Audrey Wood’s Emmy-winning film, “Elephant and Me.” To view, go to youtu. be/vUFk5PKzPwI. Find her on Instagram: @audreywood07. (Submitted)

She’s attending Loyola Marymount with hopes of going into filmmaking. It’s something she has been doing for years.

“When I was in fourth grade, my cousin and I would just take my old iPad and make really silly and weird, just like little TV shows together,” she said. “And it wasn’t good, but it was fun.”

She won a state an award at the Arizona Student Film Festival for her “Day 87” in 2021. It was a film about being stuck at home with no place to go because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also won a Rocky Mountain student Emmy for her work as an anchor for Seton’s student newscast. She was also nominated for another Rocky

Mountain student Emmy for her longform short film, “More to Come: Conversations on Disabilities.”

That’s a long list of accomplishments, and Wood says she no longer feels like a fraud. As she wrote in her film “Elephant and Me,” things start to get better with Imposter Syndrome when you first admit to yourself that there’s a problem.

“If we don’t ever use our gifts and talents, and we don’t step out there and do something with them, then nothing is ever going to get done,” Wood said.

“So any action/change in this world really starts with getting out of our own heads. And so that’s why I wanted to make a film to raise awareness for that.”

Artist named to Chandler cultural group board

BY SRIANTHI PERERA Contributor

Multi-talented artistic creator Peppur Chambers has been living in Chandler less than two years and she is already giving back to the community as a new member of the Chandler Cultural Foundation Board.

Chambers, described by a peer as a “truly infectious personality,” is a book writer, editor, playwright, film/theater director and producer, and occasional actor. She feels honored to be on the board that provides oversight for the Chandler Center for the Arts.

“It is a true pleasure to be the first artist to hold this position,” she said. “I believe in building community, empowering people and creating opportunity. When these three things are centered in the arts is when magic happens. I just love it.”

Chambers said access to the arts is important to everyone.

“When people can express themselves, their boundaries in life expand; they can grow through expression, they can heal through expression; they can educate; people merely need access to a stage and a microphone -no matter what that might translate into,” she added.

The 15-member volunteer board of the nonprofit foundation oversees programming and provides fiduciary control for the arts center. Members are appointed by the Mayor of Chandler and Council.

“Peppur possesses an unusual combination of not only being a successful artist, but one with an acute business acumen,” said David Woodruff, board chair, in a release issued on her appointment.

“The Chandler Center for the Arts is always balancing those two forces – how to present new and interesting artists for the community while maintaining strong fiscal responsibility.

“Having a voice from the artist’s perspective, one that understands how to weigh those two objectives, will be a real asset to the foundation,” he added.

Early in her career, Chambers studied advertising and marketing and worked for a mutual fund firm in Chicago until she decided to pursue her artistic and creative passion in New York. She took her first acting and writing lessons there in 2000.

“For my day job, I worked for an entertainment firm with David Bowie and Shakira as

(Left) Seton Catholic Preparatory High School alumna Audrey Wood won several student Emmy awards for projects her senior year over the 2021-2022 school year from The Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the High School Writer, High School Talent and High School Editor categories.

Peppur Chambers is ready to share her dual knowledge of the arts and business acumen with the Chandler Cultural Foundation Board. (Courtesy of Audience Magnets)

Sun Lakes Rotary helps inspire students

SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

The Rotary Club of Sun Lakes supports various educational and community service project within the CUSD schools.

Among them is the A World In Motion program, sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers, that aims to get K-8th grade students to consider a career as an engineer or other technical fields.

Rotary and society representatives go into the classroom to work with the teachers and students using hands-on projects.

The Sun Lakes Rotary provides recognition to the winning teams at the end of each session.

The majority of the World in Motion volunteers are members of the Sun Lakes, General Motors retirees and ASU students.

Don Robins said, “A World In Motion gets students excited about math and science. The RCSL provided ‘hands on’ volunteers to work in the classrooms with over 200 students at CUSD Fulton Elementary in Chandler’s 5th grade JetToy Program and the 6th grade Gravity Cruiser Program.”

CHAMBERS

from Page 26

two of our clients. Then in the evenings, I would go on auditions and perform,” Chambers said.

“That experience really taught me what it takes to be a performing artist, both from the management side with budgets, operations, and marketing, as well as what is required to thrive as a working artist.”

She added: “I came to understand what it takes to create and present art, but also that as an artist you need help; you don’t need to do everything yourself.”

Chambers moved to Los Angeles in 2004 and began creating her own work as a writer, producer and educator.

She moved to Chandler with her husband Matthew Soraci to join family here during the pandemic.

In tow were their two rescue dogs; Molly, the pit mix, and Vivian, the poodle/chihuahua mix. Her brother and his family and her father live nearby. Her mom resides in Tucson. Soraci’s mom has moved here from Florida as well.

As a freelancer, Chambers juggles various arts projects.

Among them, she’s working on her second 1940s fiction novel, Harlem’s Last Dance, due to publish in March with Spaceboy Books; co-producing a short film about reparations and Black collective history; producing a women’s filmmaker brunch during the Chandler International Film Festival with her friend, Landi Maduro, who runs Los Angeles-based Women of Color Filmmakers.

She also is writing the second episode of her radio play, The Boll Weevil & Chester Higgensworth for Los Angeles-based Lower Depth Theater.

Chambers and Soraci, who was in the

(Left) JetToy volunteers include, from left, Bill Crump, Stan Klein, Stephen Phair, Debbie Bailey, Janet McDonald, Chuck Cox (Non-RCSL Member), Gary Kay and Don Robins (representing Sun Lakes, Chandler, Tempe, and San Tan Valley). Not present: Ana Logan, (Courtesy of Dr. Honora Norton); (Above) CUSD Fulton Elementary School 6th grade Gravity Cruiser winners were Cassius Fard and Sierra Wilson. They are congratulated by Sun Lakes Rotary President Stephen Phair and their teacher, Brittan Shirkey. (Courtesy of Debbie Bailey)

wine business and now has embraced a film career, launched a YouTube channel this year called, Her Words His Wine, where they film themselves “eating and drinking deliciousness” in their new Arizona surroundings.

Some episodes are filmed at home, while others are in restaurants in the East Valley and beyond.

Chambers is also in the early stages of writing a theatrical experience for the city of Chandler.

When asked which artistic endeavor makes her the happiest, Chambers said writing brings out her best.

“That is when I have the most ‘control’ over what and how I am trying to express myself,” she said. “However, writing is very solitary; when I am around people as a director, for example, I feel very alive because I truly enjoy collaborating with other artists and making something wonderful together.”

Being part of the Chandler board is also a collaborative endeavor that holds the promise of fulfilment.

“I feel that my contribution to the board will be most important and relevant by me being myself and me bringing my full self to the position,” she said.

“I’ve been a starving artist; I know what a grant or financial support can really mean toward advancement or even paying rent to stay afloat and have the mental energy to be able to create new work.

“I am a Black woman,” she added. “I know what representation, inclusion and being able to use my voice means to my work and my overall well-being. I am a producer; I love to make things happen—taking action, exploring new ideas and addressing creative options are my jam.

“I bring a multitude of perspectives to the table and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”

Jewish War Vets host disabled veterans leader

SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF

Jewish War Veterans Copper State Post 619 in Sun Lakes on Jan. 15 will host Dr. Carl Forkner, commander and a service offi cer for Disabled American Veterans East Valley Chapter 8 in Mesa.

The meeting takes place at 10 a.m. at the poolside building of Oakwood Country Club, 24218 S. Oakwood Blvd. in Sun Lakes.

DAV is a service organization dedicated to empowering veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity.

As service offi cer for the DAV East Valley Chapter in Mesa as well as Northern District of Arizona, Forkner assists his fellow veterans and their families in receiving the benefi ts and assistance they have earned through their service.

DAV also fights for the interests of America’s injured heroes on Capitol Hill and educates the public about the great

sacrifi ces and needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life.

Complimentary bagels, lox, doughnuts, and coffee start at 9:30 a.m. and the public is invited.

Forkner served as a commissioned offi cer in the Navy for three decades under five presidents. His operational experience during his Navy career included eight overseas deployments including service in three counter-terrorism operations.

Now retired, Forkner works as a research psychologist with Vitanya Brain Performance in addition to his community advocate DAV position. He is also a certifi ed Dementia Friends AZ champion and trainer, an ambassador and crisis response planning coach for Objective Zero, a fi eld advocate and trainer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and AZ Chapter and a published member of the Forbes Coaches

Council.

Forkner was recipient of five Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal awards during his career.

JWV Post 619, which meets the third Sunday of the month from September-May, boasts members who represent a wide range of religious affi liations and participates in philanthropic activities to help Jewish and non-Jewish veterans.

Fundraising activities enable the Post to accomplish its mission of supporting hospitalized, at-risk and veterans experiencing homelessness.

Thanks to a partnership with Fry’s Food Stores and The Mesa Market Place, JWV volunteers raise suffi cient funds to contribute to veterans’ organizations in the valley throughout the year.

To learn more about JWV activities and membership, contact Commander Chuck Wolin at 602-300-5913.

Chandler Unified meets a variety of staffing challenges

BY MURRAY SIEGEL Contributor

School districts not only have the challenge of hiring and keeping qualified teachers, but also maintaining proper staffing in the various district departments.

Among the Chandler Unified School District employees who help to carry out this vital role is Ciji Yungdahl, systems and applications support supervisor.

Yungdahl oversees the CUSD helpdesk team and the student information systems support team.

A district employee for 15 years, she previously managed the implementation of a new telephone system and coordinated technology services and student information support. This has prepared her for her current supervisory position.

“It is rewarding knowing the difference we’re making in the lives of our students and staff,” she said, adding that she likes to help preserve “the family feel to the district.”

Pamela Lundbohm, human resources supervisor began working for the district

29 years ago in the Food and Nutrition Department. She found that her supervisors took the time to support her work

and prepared her for her role as the manager of an elementary school food and nutrition team.

The district provides opportunities for employee growth, which allowed Pam to gain skills in leadership, employee relations, technical systems and internal procedures, and led to her assignment in payroll and to her current position

“Because CUSD values the role in which all employees play in providing top rated education, remains family oriented and student focused, I am proud to call CUSD my home,” Lundbohm said.

Marissa Diaz, preschool activity coor-

dinator, is a Chandler Unified grad who began working for the district seven years ago.

In 11th grade, she was a student worker at Kids Express in the Community Education Department and realized that she had found her calling. While receiving her undergraduate psychology degree at Arizona State University, she continued to work at Kids Express. Marissa is in her final year of graduate program to be a clinical mental health counselor.

“I continued to grow within the department from student worker to childcare group leader, site lead, and my final position as preschool coordinator,” she said, “I couldn’t ask for a better place to work.”

To learn more about district job opportunities: cusd80.com/apply.

DR. CARL FORKNER

PAMELA LUNDBOHM

MARISSA DIAZ

Outgoing Councilman Rene Lopez reflects on his tenure

BY RENE LOPEZ Guest Writer

As I near the end of my eight years of serving the residents of Chandler, I want to thank you for the humble opportunity to represent you and our City to improve the lives of our residents. My wife of 25 years and I are blessed to have landed in this great City back in 2007 to finish raising our children.

I had been involved with many communities and political projects and was serving on the Parks and Recreation commission when I became aware of the opportunity to further be involved in the city as a council member. With two young kids, and my wife and I working full-time jobs, it was a major sacrifice for my family to support my run. However, it was the best decision we made.

Now that our children are grown and my tenure is wrapping up, I reflect on all

the accomplishments we have made to keep Chandler the shining example for other cities to strive to be:

• In downtown Chandler, we saw the completion of Overstreet, New Square, and two new parking garages, and we have still more developments to come.

• We saw massive economic investments with Intel’s $20 billion expansion, the retention and growth of Orbital ATK, and their subsequent purchase by Northrop Grumman with additional investments and growth along the Price Road corridor, and many other new headquarters moving to Chandler.

• Our population grew by over 15% with 38,000 new residents now calling Chandler home.

• All this growth occurred while still maintaining best in class for cost of service by lowering the City portion of our property tax seven consecutive years in a row, cumulatively cutting it by 6.5%.

• Continue to be a leader in water conservation, water infrastructure investments, and a City that is well prepared for the coming years of drought.

• Paid down Chandler’s unfunded liability to our Public Safety Pension Retirement System by over $125 Million, securing the retirements of our police o cers and firefighters, and putting more money back into the pockets of our, and into our reoccurring general fund.

• Continued to expand our partnerships with non-profits, completed the Chandler Museum, and reinvested in the Chandler Center for the Arts.

• Developed new parks such as Citrus Vista, Homestead North and South and Lantana Ranch.

• Renovated several other parks including Harris, Summit Point, Vida, Folley and Tumbleweed, to name a few.

• Lastly, my most proud and enduring contribution, completing the

Veteran’s Field of Honor at Veteran’s Oasis Park.

I also want to thank my personal mentor, prior Mayor Jerry Brooks, in providing guidance, support, and collaboration during my time in o ce. I only regret that he passed before he was able to see the completion of our Veteran’s Field of Honor.

I have been privileged to serve our City alongside many great people that hold the residents of Chandler in extremely high regard. I am leaving the City in great hands of leaders that want to see Chandler continue to succeed, a City sta led by Joshua Wright, and a great contingent of executives and directors that make me proud to have spent eight years serving with them. They have become more than just friends, but part of my Chandler family.

This is not goodbye, as I continue to serve our community in other ways, so I hope to see you around Chandler. And if you see me, please stop to say hello.

A new year offers a new chance to talk to God

BY RABBI IRWIN WIENER Coumnist

Here we are in another year and the old one has disappeared. What kind of year has passed and what kind of a year lies ahead? These are just two of the many questions we will ask ourselves as we do each year at this time.

What kind of year are we saying goodbye to? It was a year that will not soon be forgotten.

It was a year that was filled with traumas and destruction and more importantly, the loss of so many lives because of the COVID virus, and RSV, and the Flu.

It was a year in which floods and hurricanes inundated our cities and destroyed life and property.

It was year of murder and mayhem in our streets, in our schools, and in areas that were thought to be peaceful.

It was a year that witnessed destruction and atrocities in a faraway country.

It was a year that will be remembered for a long time, more than perhaps others.

Some of us will wonder whether we did enough to matter, and some will contemplate about things that never were and maybe will never be. Through it all, however, there is one constant theme that will resonate within us as we sit and sing and pray and listen and it is something I think about, not just at this season but all year long and is best illustrated by the following story:

A seminary student was having a discussion with his pastor. “Someday, I too hope to become a pastor,” said the youth. “Aside from my studies is there any other all-important qualification I will need?” “Yes, the stimulus of imagination,” replied the pastor. “You will have to imagine that somebody is paying attention to what you say.”

Will we listen to the climate watchers who shout from the rooftops to stop the destruction of our planet and all life therein?

Will we listen to our medical professionals who warn us that science is the answer to combating illness and disease?

Will we listen to each other as we attempt to bring sanity to a chaotic environment?

I believe that all of us during our life-

time have wondered whether anyone listens to us, our children, our colleagues at work, and our significant others, and even ourselves. We have a great deal to say because communicating is the most significant way of connecting.

Sometimes we say things that really don’t matter and, of course, we do say things that affect our lives and those around us. Sometimes we say things that have different meanings because we are not clear and precise. Sometimes we say things we really don’t mean because we want to be sensitive to another’s feelings.

And sometimes say things that aren’t true because we are too ashamed or embarrassed as to our real intent.

A new year give us an opportunity to say things to God we never thought we had the ability to express. There are thoughts we have that mean so much because we are at a stage in life where

minutes, hours, days, weeks, and years are precious and not to be wasted.

It takes a great deal of imagination to expect that God is listening and hears our words because we believe we cannot see, or touch, or even hear an answer. But it doesn’t take imagination to realize that answers can come from experiences and happenings that remind us we do matter.

We see the miracles of life daily, but we tend to ignore them. We can touch a loved one because that touch awakens the understanding of togetherness and companionship. We hear laughter at joyous times, and tears that fall when we lose someone we love or witness illness.

As we embark on another year, we all should listen to our inner voice that tells us life is to live and treasure. Listen to a friend or relative as they reach out for understanding and compassion.

And, if we are having difficulty hearing, be sure we are tuned in to what is being said. Try not to miss “I love you,” or “I care about you,” or “I wish you were here.”

Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D., is the spiritual leader of the Sun Lakes Jewish Community.

Chandler Film Festival offers a feast for the eyes

BY KEN SAIN Managing Editor

Chandler filmmaker Mitesh Patel says there has been a noticeable change when he attends film festivals around the world.

“When I go to see some, like AFM American film market, or any other like Berlin, or Cannes, whenever I go somewhere for my movie work, I meet with people and they talk about the festival,” said Patel, who is president and the director of the Chandler International Film Festival. “And what’s surprising to me is they all know, mostly I would say they know about the Chandler Film Festival.”

Patel said he and his team once had to work hard to get the word out about the annual festival. Now, they don’t.

The seventh annual Chandler International Film Festival is scheduled for Jan. 21-29 at the LOOK Dine-In Cinema in downtown. Patel is extending it to nine days this year so they don’t have as many matinee showings. Films will start at 6 p.m. most days, with some matinees on the weekends.

“You know a lot of people work, so it’s kind of a struggle, but it was good for the people who are coming from out of town so they can just stay for an entire weekend,” Patel said.

He said he wanted more Chandler residents to be able to attend, and that was the reason for pushing back start times and extending the festival.

Patel said the number of films will be the same, about 125 or so. He said they had more than 500 submitted to be considered. That’s still down considerably from pre-pandemic when they would get about 1,000.

“I think the pandemic is still going on,” Patel said about the lower number of submissions. He added that they no longer advertise and push hard to get the

(Above) Former Chandler resident Rob Smat directed “Walkout.” It’s the story of his friend Thomas Marshall (in photo) leading employees to try and force change at Walmart after the tragic mass shooting at its El Paso location. (Courtesy of Chandler International Film Festival); (Right) Dana Beth Kippel stars in “Reflect,” a film she directed and wrote

a spiritual obstacle course. Parts of the film were

(Courtesy of Chandler International Film Festival)

word out about the festival, relying on the fact that many in the business are already aware.

The films will be shown at LOOK Dine-In Cinemas for the second time. Patel said they were great hosts a year ago, and complimented their food. After-hours parties will be staged around the downtown area.

There will be no online viewing of the films for the first time in two years.

In 2021, the festival was all digital because of the pandemic. Last year people had the option to watch them online if they didn’t want to sit in a crowded theater.

Patel said many directors are concerned about piracy if they put their films online, so they would rather not.

The lineup of films is still being determined in late December with an announcement expected in early January. Patel said he had not decided on which film to open the festival with, but he does have one that he would love to open it with.

The festival is adopting a theme for the first time, and it will be a celebration of Indian filmmaking. The country is celebrating 110 years of filmmaking in 2023

Chandler filmmaker Mitesh Patel founded the Chandler Film Festival, which has been growing in influence and audiences since its launch in 2016. (Special to GetOut)

so Patel thought that was an easy choice.

“Last Film Show” was chosen by India to be its submission for the best international film Oscar at the Academy Awards. It has won top honors at some of the film festivals where it has been shown.

It’s the story of a 9-year-old boy in rural India who loves films so much, he bribes the projectionist of a run-down theater with homemade food so that he can watch and learn about films and filmmaking from the best seat in the house. It’s a semi-autobiographical story of director Pan Nalin.

One of the keys to being the opening night film, Patel said, is that the filmmaker needs to be in attendance. He said Nalin said he’s willing if his film is not nominated for the Academy Award. However, if it is he will be far too busy promoting it and won’t be able to attend.

“I noticed that whoever attends the Chandler Film Festival, they get very excited when someone from the movie, they’re coming and attending,” Patel said.

He added a couple of films in this year’s festival will be by directors with Chandler ties. Former resident Rob Smat made a documentary called “Walkout.” It’s about Walmart’s reaction to having 23 people shot and killed in its El Paso store in 2019.

After the tragedy, the company took no action to stop selling firearms at its

stores. Its employees decided to do something about that and forced the company to change.

India will not be the only country getting a focus at this year’s festival. Patel said they plan to have special nights throughout the nine days.

“We’re adding a Japanese day, a Spanish day, a Korean day, a Chinese day,” Patel said, pointing out the Chinese New Year will happen during the festival (Jan. 22).

One of the reasons the Chandler International Film Festival has gotten such notice is because of the success it has had in matching filmmakers with distributors. Patel said all of their feature-length films last year got distribution deals.

“It’s been a couple of years now,” Patel said of the 100% distribution. “I’ve been doing this for 15 years, I know so many companies. And I created this festival to help the filmmaker to showcase their work and put it out.”

Festival Films with Arizona ties

Walkout: Directed by former Chandler resident Rob Smat

ID: Directed by Chandler resident Kiran Kondamadugula

The Monster Inside Me: Directed by Phoenix resident Tony C. Silva

Reflect: Parts filmed in Sedona Eyes Upon Waking: Directed by Tucson resident Timothy Zwica

Carlos (Juan Francisco Villa) takes the lead in a wheelchair race at a holding facility a woman goes to after a suicide attempt.

“Eyes Upon Waking” was directed by Timothy Zwica, a Tucson resident.

(Courtesy of Chandler International Film Festival)

If you go

Chandler International Film Festival

WHEN: Jan. 21-29

WHERE: LOOK Dine-In Cinema, 1 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler

TICKETS: chandlerfilmfestival.com

about friends participating in

shot in Arizona.

Chandler arts center opens 2023 in a big way

BY GETOUT STAFF

Chandler Center for the Arts kicks off the new year with a full calendar of concerts and events.

Tickets are on sale at chandlercenter. org or by calling 480-782-2680. All performances are at Chandler Center for the Arts, located at 250 N. Arizona Ave in downtown Chandler.

Drumline Live!

Jan. 20

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Marching Band offers heart-pounding rhythms, the sights and sounds that helped make Beyoncé’s 2018 Homecoming at Coachella an epic experience.

The Texas Tenors

Jan. 21

The Texas Tenors have amassed a huge fan base worldwide with their operatic renditions and beautiful harmonizing arrangements of popular songs, thrilling with Broadway tunes, country songs, and hits from Bruno Mars to Puccini.

A Tribute to Johnny Cash

Jan. 22

Relive the amazing songs of Johnny Cash in Scott Moreau’s electrifying tribute to the Man in Black.

Lalah Hathaway

Jan. 28

Five-time GRAMMY® award-winning singer/songwriter and producer Lalah Hathaway performs.

Chandler Symphony Brings

Broadway to Chandler Jan. 29

A free popular performance every

year, the CSO Pops Concert will bring to life all of your favorite Broadway tunes.

Syncopated Ladies: Live

Feb. 3

Created by Emmy Award-nominated choreographer and tap star Chloé Arnold, Syncopated Ladies: Live is a ground-breaking all-female tap show that celebrates a sisterhood of beautiful diverse women on stage.

We Banjo 3

Feb. 4

From Galway, Ireland, the multi-award winning We Banjo 3 finds common ground between Old World tradition and authentic Americana by playing their banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin in an innovative fusion of styles that they dub “Celtgrass.”

Showtime SeriesKaren Hester as Dolly

Feb. 19

Winner of Jimmy Fallon’s Clash Of The Cover Bands as the best tribute artist in the country, Karen Hester is one of the most sought-after Dolly Parton tribute artists in the world.

Mwenso & The Shakes

Feb. 25

Taking from the stylings of Fats Waller, Muddy Waters, James Brown and other American musical legends, this band of global artists entertains with their command of jazz and blues expressed through African and Afro-American music.

Rhythm of the Dance

Feb. 26

This two-hour dance and music extravaganza contains a wealth of championship Irish talent from The National

Dance Company of Ireland.

Billie and Blue

Eyes:

Featuring John Pizzarelli and Catherine Russell March 5

Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra are performed by two outstanding modern award-winning jazz musicians Catherine Russell and John Pizzarelli.

Los Lobos with special guest Gaby Moreno

March 11

For nearly five decades, Los Lobos has released album after album filled with music that reflects America’s melting pot of cultures. GRAMMY® award winner Gaby Moreno brings her Latin-infused blend of jazz, soul, blues, and 1960s rock.

Trey McLaughlin & The Sounds of Zamar

March 12

Trey McLaughlin & The Sounds of Zamar have created a distinct place for themselves within the music industry with their soul-stirring arrangements of contemporary gospel, musical theatre, and rich original compositions.

Dixie Longate: Cherry Bombs and Bottle Rockets

March 16

The new show from Dixie Longate is a web of storytelling that only America’s favorite southern redhead can create.

Showtime Series - King in Concert: The Elvis Tribute

March 19

Direct from his international tour, Victor Trevino, Jr. is a world-renowned Elvis tribute artist.

Tickets now available for Sun Lakes talent show

BY GETOUT STAFF

It’s not often that a variety show featuring 16 acts is produced by local people for local people solely for the purpose of having fun and building community. The performers are singers, dancers, comedians, musicians and a magician with plenty of ad lib humor thrown in.

It’s the brain child of Ray Texeira, a magician and resident of Sun Lakes, who has produced his own stage magic shows in the past and has performed here in Arizona, California, Nevada and Hawaii, winning a major competition before his professional career in telecommunications intervened.

“I realized after my last magic show in Sun Lakes that there are lots of folks who would love to get up on stage to strut their stuff, and I have the time and expertise to make that happen. I also know that there are plenty of people in the community who want to be part of something like this and who have

the interest and time to volunteer. Right now we have 20 folks who are very excited and involved. It’s a great catalyst for building community.”

The main goal of the project is to let the audience have the full talent show experience including an audition/knock out round with audience voting, and then a grand finale show with a panel of judges voting for the top candidates who will win prizes.

“We are happy to announce that the Signature Models and Talent Agency of Scottsdale will be joining the panel of judges at the Wednesday “Audition/Knockout” event. The votes of the judges will be tallied along with the votes of the audience. We think the agency may be surprised by the talent of our local performers.”

The Audition/Knockout Show will be on Feb. 15, at which time the audience and judges will vote for the acts to move on to the grand

finale. The Grand Finale Show will be on Feb. 18, with prizes awarded to the top acts selected by the judges.

Both events will be held in the San Tan Ballroom at the Cottonwood Country Club, 25630 S. Brentwood Drive, Sun Lakes. On both event nights the doors will open at 5 p.m. and a limited dinner menu will be available until 6 p.m. The cash bar will be open 5-8:30 p.m. The show is scheduled to start promptly at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are now available – two shows for the price of one. To buy tickets, go to eventbrite.com and enter Sun Lakes Talent Show in the “search area” or Google “Sun Lakes Talent Show” and click on the Eventbrite site.

The ticket price of $17.50 includes a service charge and will provide entrance to both of the shows. The site will automatically pick a “best

Los Lobos will be bringing their high-powered performance to the Chandler Center for the Arts in March. (Special to GetOut)

Sun Lakes resident and Magician Ray Taxeira came up with the idea for the talent show. (Special to GetOut)

Gem and mineral show coming to Mesa

BY MARC FLEISCHER GetOut Contributor

Some people know Evan A. Jones as a member of Xtra Ticket, a Grateful Dead tribute band that started in 1994.

The Cave Creek resident takes on Bob Weir’s role, playing guitar and vocals.

But Jones is well established as a serious gem and mineral collector and dealer and he’s taking part in the 50th annual Flagg Gem & Mineral Show next weekend, Jan 6-8, in Mesa Community College’s southwest parking lot at Southern Avenue and Dobson Road.

The Flagg Gem & Mineral Show is very special to Jones, the son of Bob Jones, editor of Rock and Gem Magazine and author of “The Frugal Collector.”

The younger Jones has been surrounded by minerals his entire life.

“My father gave me a fossil set at age 7 along with fossil and geology books, which really started things for me. Prior to that, minerals were just the cool things in my dad’s cabinets and collection drawers. No other family members were really interested at the time,” Jones said.

By age 12, he was attending shows with his father. Later, as an adult, he began participating as a dealer.

“Back in the old days it was all about visiting rock shops and attending shows,” he said. “What’s great about the Flagg show is that many of the dealers have been participating for decades, and they’ve passed their love of collecting down to their kids and grandkids.”

It’s the largest and longest-running gem and mineral show in the metro Phoenix area and attracts thousands of people every year, ranging from serious collectors to families with young children. Admission and parking are free.

This year’s golden anniversary event will feature more than 100 dealers who will showcase and sell a variety of minerals, fossils, gems, beads, jewelry and lapidary materials. In addition, several organizations will exhibit educational information and the event features fun children’s activities, including gold panning.

A native of Arizona, Jones found it natural to specialize and collect minerals from the Grand Canyon State. He was on the advisory board in the early planning stages of the new Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Over the years, he has split his time between performing with his band, buying and selling minerals, and attending gem and mineral shows.

“I chose to join a Grateful Dead tribute band because it’s my favorite genre

of music,” Jones said.

“They basically invented what’s now known as ‘jam band’ music. Xtra Ticket has played for deadheads all over the country.”

He said he knows many mineral collectors and dealers who started collecting or vending while on Grateful Dead or other jam band tours.

In addition to going to shows, Jones has explored more than 100 underground mines throughout the state. “Most were devoid of specimens, but the thrill of exploring underground is a strong pull,” he said.

He estimates that his current collection has more than 1,000 specimens, all from Arizona.

“It’s hard to pick a favorite. I really love wulfenite, the official state mineral of Arizona,” he said.

“It has tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color. I also love azurite, which is characterized by its soft, deep blue color. Cuprite is also a mineral I enjoy collecting. A soft, heavy, red oxide mineral, it’s also called red copper ore and it can form beautiful crystals.”

Jones credits the internet with reviving interest in collecting gems and minerals. “I’m seeing a lot of new collectors, and many are very knowledgeable and sophisticated,” he said.

But attending a show provides a chance to meet dealers and examine specimens in person.

“If you’re just starting your collection, go to as many shows as you can,” Jones said. “Look at mineral dealers’ inventory, examine their specimens and read the labels. That’s the quickest way to learn minerals and the hobby.”

Jones said one reason he likes the Flagg

Gem & Mineral Show is because there’s really something for everyone.

“I like the friendly, hometown attitude and easygoing nature of the show,” he said. “There’s good camaraderie with other dealers, there are plenty of great finds for seasoned and new collectors, it’s a ton of fun for kids, and there are amazing deals and fair prices.”

The Flagg Mineral Foundation is a memorial to A.L. Flagg who was a renowned and inspirational founder of the Mineralogical Society of Arizona. The Flagg Mineral Foundation is a non-profit scientific and educational organization.

Information: flaggmineralfoundation.org

TALENT

from Page 33

table” or patrons can choose their seat at a specific table. Although the system will assign or require a purchaser to pick a particular seat, the purchase is at a reserved table of 10, not a specific seat.

This production is a not-for-profit endeavor, neither is it a charity event, and all sponsored money – after expenseswill go to the performers as prizes.

Sponsors include: HomeWell Care Services, Arizona Songbird Senior Placement, Skunky’s Junk Removal, JUDY/ WEAR Boutique, the Cateys and Sam Luse.

Additional sponsors are welcome and can contact Jacque at jquestew@yahoo. com.

For questions about the show: Ray at slgt1@yahoo.com or 480-374-1711.

Robson Library offering a variety of programs

BY GETOUT STAFF

Ed Robson Library in Sun Lakes has a full slate of offerings this month.

For a complete list of offerings visit mcldaz.org/edrobson, where people can register for programs or call 602-6523000.

The library is located at 9330 E. Riggs Road, Sun Lakes, and is open Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Book Page Wreath, 10-11 a.m. Jan. 4

Welcome 2023 by taking old book pages to create new, unique wreaths.

Classic Movie: Casablanca, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Jan. 9.

Watch Casablanca, rated PG. Feel free to bring popcorn and treats.

Woodburning Crafts, 10-11 a.m. Jan. 12

Create wood burned bookmarks and signs.

Trivia: Pop culture through the decades, 2-4 p.m. Jan. 14

Bring your family and friends down to the library to compete in a monthly trivia competition. This month’s theme is pop culture through the decades. Trivia teams can be 2-5 people.

Journaling Workshop, 10-11:30 a.m. Jan. 18

Duane Roen will discuss keeping a diary or journal to record and reflect on daily activities. Participants will write a journal entry and share if comfortable, so bring paper and pen or a laptop.

Thumbprint Art, 10-11 a.m. Jan. 19

Create beautiful works of art.

Watercolor Instruction, 10 a.m.-noon Jan. 21

Join Rachel, artist and owner of Pink Puddle Studio, for a watercolor painting session. She will teach how to paint

desert plants. All skill levels are welcome and encouraged.

Storytime, 10-10:30 a.m. Jan. 24

Come to family Storytime library to learn new rhymes, read fun books, and learn new literacy skills.

Book Club, 10-10:30 a.m. Jan. 25

Join library staff in discussing a book.

BINGO, 10-10:30 a.m. Jan. 26

Game cards will be provided along with chips to cover cards.

Evan A. Jones will showcase his collection at the Flagg Gem & Mineral Show Jan. 6-8. (Courtesy of Evan A. Jones)

Now Hiring in Mesa!

Hiring in Mesa!

Now Hiring in Mesa!

Steel Arizona has proudly been the steel that builds America since 2009.

Steel Arizona has proudly been making the steel that builds America since 2009.

are hiring immediately for all

are hiring immediately for all skilled

positions to be part of building

new, state of the art micro mill from the

positions to be part of our new, state of the art micro mill from ground up!

GENERAL EMPLOYMENT

PLAN YOUR DREAM

BEST OF HAWAII FOUR-ISLAND TOUR

12 days, departs year-round

Oahu

Hawaii Island

Kauai

n t h u s i a s t i c v o l u n t e e

o

S t P e te r Lu t h e r an Ch u r ch , C ali f o r n i a Ra r e F r u i t G r o w e r s - A r i z o n a C h a p t e r , a n d N e w F r o n t i e r s f o r L i f e l o n g L e a r n i n g a t M es a C o m m u n i t y C o l l e g e

B o b i s s u r v i v e d b y s i s t e r s B e r n i c e Hunt and Margaret Reynoldson, daught e r s T e r e s a B e c k e r , B o n i t a S w e d a ( T h o m a s S w e d a ) , a n d K a t r i n a B e c k e r ( H o w a r d S c h u l e r ) , g r a n d c h i l d r e n T imo t h y a n d J en n i f er S w ed a , an d co mp a n io n P e g g y R an d o lp h

H e w a s p r ed e ce as e d b y w if e D o r o t h y C h u n g B e c k e r a n d p a r e n t s H e r m a n a n d Lena Becker He is greatly missed Bob B e c k e r ’ s m e m o r i a l c e l e b r a t i o n o f l i f e w i l l b e h e l d a t S t P e t e r L u t h e r a n C h u r c h , 1 8 4 4 E D a n a A v e i n M e s a , A Z a t 3 P M o n S a t u r d a y , J a n u a r y 2 8 , 2 0 2 3

More information and full obituary at h t t p s : / / e v e r l o v e d c o m / l i f e - o f / r o b e r tb e c k e r /

Enjoy a fully guided 4-island Hawaiian vacation with centrally located lodging in Waikiki on Oahu, and beachfront lodging on the “Big Island” of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui. Guided throughout by our friendly Tour Directors—your local experts. Includes 3 inter-island flights.

GRAND ALASKAN CRUISE & TOUR

Vancouver

Juneau

Skagway

Glacier Bay

Anchorage

Denali • Anchorage

and more

Visit Denali National Park and Glacier Bay National Park on the same incredible trip! Cruise through the Gulf of Alaska and the Inside Passage as you discover the best of the Frontier State by land and by sea.

CRIMSON CANYONS & MESAS NATIONAL PARKS TOUR

12 days, departs May - Sep 2023 10 days, departs Apr - Sep 2023

Grand Canyon

Arches & Canyonlands

Capitol Reef

and more

Experience the stunningly red rocks of these 6 iconic southwestern national parks. Travel through deserts, forests, mountains, and to the very edge of the Grand Canyon on this tour.

Robert Henry Becker

DIRECTOR OF HRIS Responsible