CITY GIFTS UOFA $1M
TU LOOKS AT MENTAL HEALTH
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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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This Week
NEWS ............................ 20 Chandler Historical Society fading away.
BUSINESS ..................
30
Why downtown Chandler is rockin' strong.
SPORTS ....................... 36 Chandler High's S'Niyah Cade ready to take over.
KIDS CAMP ................................... 22 COMMUNITY ............................. 26 BUSINESS ..................................... 30 OPINION ....................................... 35 SPORTS ......................................... 36 CLASSIFIEDS ..................................37
April 3, 2022
Light in Chandler’s police-fire pension tunnel BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff Writer
C
handler Mayor Kevin Hartke was keeping count of every time Councilman Matt Orlando shouted, ‘Hip, hip, hooray,’ during the city’s second budget workshop last month. The final tally was six after more than two hours of staff giving the members of the council mostly good news. Revenues are up and Council members have a lot of extra money they can use to address priorities.
One of those ‘hip, hip, hoorays’ was for Chandler’s obligation for police and pension funds to the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS). The city has been making huge payments to the fund for years. “As long as investment earnings come in as they should, and everything happens the way the plan is, we would be completely 100% funded by 2027,” said Dawn Lang, the city’s deputy city manager and chief financial officer. She said if they do that – and there are
Legendary Wild Horse raceway will be closing next February
some ifs involved – the city would see an increase in available funds of about $9.2 million a year. That would be the extra money the city has been paying to eliminate its unfunded liability in PSPRS. “Hip, hip, hooray,” Orlando said. “Council, I’m always in favor of turning one-time dollars into ongoing dollars,” Hartke said. The city has the extra cash for a couple of reasons. First, staff anticipated much lower
Little hero
see PENSION page 8
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor
A
fter four decades of racing thrills, Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park will be closed forever next year as the Gila River Indian Community’s development arm takes a giant step toward creating a 3,300-acre entertainment-retail-office complex. The Wild Horse Pass Development Authority announced March 25 the former Firebird International Raceway would hold its final National Hot Rod Association race (NHRA) next February at the 440-acre complex that includes a drag strip, road course and 2.4-mile oval motorboat racing lake. “For nearly 40 years, the NHRA, in conjunction with the Wild Horse Pass Development Authority, has wowed Arizona spectators and fans at the fastest quarter-mile in Arizona,” its brief announcement on social media stated. “Wild Horse Pass Devel-
see MOTOR page 10
At age 5, Connor Shaw of Chandler has been fighting acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) since his diagnosis in August 2020. To raise awareness of childhood cancer, Connor will be the honorary starter for this year’s Children’s Cancer Network’s annual Run to Fight Children’s Cancer. See the story on page 6. (David Minton/Arizonan Staff Photographer)
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