Glendaleโs Community Newspaper
www.glendalestar.com
Vol. 75 No. 4
INSIDE
This Week
City gives homeless a second chance Thereโs a better way
By Darrell Jackson Glendale Star staff writer
NEWS ..............8 Ducey delivers State of the State speech
FEATURES .... 14 Fired Pie opens its third location in Glendale
January 24, 2019
Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers and other city officials have witnessed the growing homeless problem, and they have been working on a solution. Say hello to Glendale Works. The city started the program, which offers homeless people day jobs at minimum wage. โLook, according to reports, 40 percent of homeless individuals want full-time jobs and want to get their lives back together and get off the streets,โ Weiers said. โIf we can help 40 percent of homeless people get their lives back, this is a win, win, win, win for everyone involved.โ
ing website, managed by the United Way of Central New Mexico, allows motorists to donate to shelters or food banks that helped the city pay the panhandlersโ wages. โI was impressed with the program and decided Glendale needed to look into a similar program,โ Weiers said. โThankfully, council was in full agreement and we started Glendale Works.โ Council agreed and budgeted approximately $200,000 for the one-year pilot. Besides the city, Glendale Works is funded in part by the Phoenix Rescue Mission and a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The cityโs direct cost is approximately $41,000. SEE WORKS PAGE 2
Weiers spent time in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to discuss and review its โThereโs a Better Wayโ program, for which two vans drive around the city and pick up homeless people who wish to earn money. โTheir program is a little more intensive,โ Weiers said. โThey drive around picking people up and taking them to jobs. But it makes a difference in them and the short time I was there, I saw a big difference in the people who worked on the jobs.โ The Albuquerque van initiative is working to reduce homelessness and panhandling. In 2015, the city posted blue-and-white signs with a phone number that panhandlers can call to connect with services. A correspond-
Ordinance to limit scooters in city limits
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By Darrell Jackson Glendale Star staff writer
ARTS ............ 22 Kelly Clarkson coming to Gila River Arena
OPINION.................. 12 FEATURES .............. 14 SPORTS ................... 18 RELIGION ................ 20 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ................................... 22
BUSINESS .............. 28 CLASSIFIEDS ......... 30
The Glendale City Council will soon discuss Bird Scooters, but thereโs already an ordinance on the books about similar devices. Passed unanimously by council in 2005, the ordinance limits within the city self-propelled devices that have a motor โ gas or electric โ a deck on which a person may ride and at least two tandem wheels in contact with the ground and which is not otherwise defined. The 2005 ordinance calls for a fine of up to $150 per offense. City staff was aware of the ordinance, but began investigating it further after receiving complaints about the scooters. โWe have been in contact with the Bird people and they are providing us their legal opinion on why they believe they do not fall under our ordinance,โ City Manager Kevin Phelps said in a recent phone interview. โIt is their opinion that their device is different from our ordinance and we are looking at and we SEE SCOOTERS PAGE 3
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