Glendale’s Community Newspaper
www.glendalestar.com
Vol. 77 No. 27
INSIDE
This Week THE VOICE OF BUSINESS
NEWS...............9 Drive-by shooting investigation continues
July 1, 2021
Weiers accused of verbally assaulting man BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Glendale Star Executive Editor
Longtime Glendale resident Robert Nejbauer Jr. is pressuring city officials and residents to act after he said Mayor Jerry Weiers verbally assaulted him in the Gila River Arena parking garage. He spoke about the incident during the Glendale City Council meeting’s call to the public segment recently. Afterward, he submitted censure and investigation requests through the city. “It caught fire like I never imagined,” Nejbauer said in an interview with The Glendale Star about the media response. “It wasn’t my intent. I needed to bring this public without directly speaking to the media (initially). I was speaking to the city council, which is streamed live over their website. Within two hours of the meeting
ending, I was home watching the Suns game. I thought, ‘Let’s see if somebody put this on YouTube yet.’ The meeting ended about 7:30. Within minutes of that meeting, it was on YouTube.” Addressing the council, Nejbauer accused Weiers of a profanity-laden assault in the Gila River Arena parking lot, where Nejbauer works, after the June 12 UFC event. “The mayor was way out of line that night,” Nejbauer said. Nejbauer said he was directing traffic when Weiers attempted to speed around him and toward the south exit. “I jumped in front of his car. I had to. He was going fast enough that he would have rear-ended the people that were stopped in front of him,” Nejbauer told the council. SEE WEIERS PAGE 4
Mayor Jerry Weiers is accused of verbally assaulting a Gila River Arena employee. (File photo)
Gila River Arena, Camelback Ranch to receive upgrades BY TYLER WEGLEITNER Glendale Star Staff Writer
FEATURES .... 20 Crooked Pint opens first West Coast location
OPINION..................... 12 BUSINESS.................. 16 FEATURES.................. 20 RELIGION ................... 22 YOUTH........................ 24 CLASSIFIEDS ............. 26
Gila River Arena and Camelback Ranch Spring Training facility will be repaired and upgraded within the next year. This comes after the Glendale City Council approved on June 22 the allocation of funds to renovate both facilities. Upgrades at both locations are part of the city’s Capital Repairs/Replacement (CRR) Program and are aimed at reinvesting in the city’s assets, according to city documents. Both Gila River Arena and Camelback Ranch are owned by the city of Glendale.
Gila River Arena is home to the Arizona Coyotes and hosts other events throughout the year. According to city documents, as part of the 2021-22 CRR Program, the city expects to spend no more than $1,170,689 on upgrades at the arena. Michelle Woytenko, director of field operations for the city of Glendale, said in a city council workshop meeting that one upgrade to the arena will be the partial replacement of the roof. It should be completed by the end of the 2024 fiscal year. According to city documents, it will cost the city $124,249 this year.
Woytenko also said the arena will receive new magnetometers — walk-thru scanners — to replace the current ones, which are about 15 years old. “Now there’s much better technology, more pinpointed areas, and you’re able to move people through faster,” she said. These are also part of a phased approach over the course of six years and will cost $35,000 this year. The city plans to install a new key scan system with an estimated cost of $11,440. Woytenko said these are in the last part of the phased implementation and should be SEE UPGRADES PAGE 3
RETHINKING MEMORY CARE
Newly renovated private & shared room options. 2021_MemCare_Banner.indd 1
623-847-3100 www.glencroft.com 6/10/21 4:38 PM