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July 29, 2021
BY GLENDALE STAR STAFF
Verizon-authorized retailer Round Room LLC is giving away 140,000 backpacks full of school supplies to children across the United States through its TCC and Wireless Zone.
The School Rocks Backpack Giveaway has been held since 2013. Since then, TCC has donated 1.2 million backpacks fi lled with supplies to students nationwide to ensure children are well prepared for the start of the school year. TCC will also award three students each $10,000 college scholarships.
Nearly 750 participating TCC and Wireless Zone stores are inviting local families to their locations on Sunday, Aug. 1, between 1 to 4 p.m. to pick up a backpack fi lled with pencils, paper, a pencil box, a ruler, folders and glue. One backpack per child present will be given away on a fi rst-come, fi rstserved basis while supplies last. Each store location will adhere to local and CDC guidelines to provide a safe environment for event attendees and TCC employees. “The start of the school year is an exciting time, and we are thrilled to support the education of the youth in our communities through our School Rocks Backpack Giveaway,” said Scott Moorehead, CEO of Round Room.
“By providing families across the country with essential school supplies, we’re easing the back-to-school shopping burden and helping set children up for success.”
According to the National Retail Federation, American families with school-aged children spent an average of $789.49 on school supplies in 2020 — totaling $33.9 billion spent in America last year on school supplies alone. TCC is working to ease the strain of rising school supplies costs through its annual program.
The participating store is in Glendale at 20211 N. 67th Avenue, Suite B1. Each participating TCC store will donate up to 150 backpacks, with all leftovers being donated to local schools.
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COYOTES FROM PAGE 1 of an RFP.
“Any professional sports franchise or entity partnered with the franchise can respond to the RFP,” it said. “It is open to all qualifi ed organizations, locally and nationally.”
It is customary for municipalities to issue RFPs to get specifi cs that can be analyzed and evaluated. In this instance, the city determined that these 46 acres of land are underutilized and it desired to open this RFP process.
After the RFP closes, the city will examine and evaluate all responsive proposals. That evaluation will include projected economic impacts, job creation, public benefi t, neighborhood impacts, traffi c impacts and more. There is no estimated time period for these analyses.
The council accepts or rejects proposals for further work and negotiation.
“It is possible during any RFP process that no respondents are chosen to proceed,” it said. “Any eventual development agreement that results from any RFP must equate to the best deal possible for Tempe residents.
“The city exists to serve our residents and we take seriously our obligation to provide a safe, livable community in a fi scally responsible way. Any development agreement consideration process takes place in public at city council meetings.”
The two city parcels involved in this RFP represent an important area of the city, near Tempe Town Lake and the Tempe Center for the Arts, and adjacent to neighborhoods and employers, the city said.
“These people and places also will be top of mind during evaluations of RFP responses.”
Glendale recognized for its use of data to improve lives
BY GLENDALE STAR STAFF
The city of Glendale has been recognized for achieving the 2021 What Works Cities Certifi cation, the national standard of excellence in data-driven city governance.
What Works Cities Certifi cation evaluates how well cities are managed by measuring the extent to which city leaders incorporate data and evidence into their decision making.
What Works Cities is a national initiative by Bloomberg Philanthropies to help cities use data and evidence to more effectively tackle their most pressing challenges.
Glendale, which achieved certifi cation at the silver level, is one of only 16 cities to be newly certifi ed this year and one of only 40 cities to be certifi ed since the program was launched in 2017.
Among the city’s many accomplishments, Glendale was specifi cally recognized for the development and use of the GlendaleOne service portal and for providing new ways to reach and deliver service through the Community Action Offi ce (CAP).
GlendaleOne became the city’s new customer service portal starting in 2020. Residents can submit requests for nonemergency services, see estimated time for resolution, and track the city’s performance. The portal has dramatically improved both effi ciency and communications for service requests to the city.
“Earning this esteemed designation has been a goal of ours since this program began, and we worked very hard to earn this,” Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps said.
“We are thrilled to be recognized for our investment in the collection of data as part of our decision-making processes across the city, and we look forward to continue using data in order to make a positive impact on the lives of our residents.”
During the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Glendale moved rapidly to provide emergency aid to residents using the Community Action Offi ce. Demand for service skyrocketed during the pandemic. To meet that demand, Glendale quickly and effi ciently used I could not be more proud of our Glendale staff in earning this certifi cation. But this is about more than just a plaque to put on the wall; it signifi es all of the hard work Glendale has put into using data to deliver fi scally responsible services to our residents.”
– Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers
data to improve work fl ow and staffi ng, while also transitioning to a fully online application process and providing a new computer kiosk to facilitate online applications. By more effi ciently managing and tracking the data, in two quarters alone, the city safely delivered almost $9 million in COVID-19 relief funds to more than 2,000 families in need of rent and utility assistance
“I could not be more proud of our Glendale staff in earning this certifi cation,” Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers said.
“This is about more than just a plaque to put on the wall; it signifi es all of the hard work Glendale has put into using data to deliver fi scally responsible services to our residents.”
What Works Cities Certifi cation assesses cities based on their data-driven decision-making practices, such as whether they are using data to set goals and track progress, allocate funding, evaluate the effectiveness of programs, and achieve desired outcomes from contracts with outside vendors. The program also measures whether cities are publicly and transparently communicating about their use of data and evidence.
In addition to the launch of GlendaleOne and CAP offi ce improvements, over the past year Glendale has demonstrated measurable progress on these foundational data practices. Other notable examples of the city’s use of data include: • Launching the new SmartGov portal for local businesses. The portal allows businesses to apply for and renew licenses online.
• Establishing a Data Governance program which includes training for every department and a citywide data inventory.
• Implementing an annual process to identify the upcoming three highestpriority procurements and assigning a dedicated team to manage those procurements to improve performance.
“City leaders are using data to understand and support the needs of residents like never before,” said Michele Jolin, chief executive offi cer and co-founder of Results for America, the lead partner in the What Works Cities initiative. “Throughout the COVID crisis and a historic reckoning with racial injustice, mayors have relied on data to identify and narrow racial gaps and to make smarter investments that increase opportunity for all their residents. These cities are testing new solutions and measuring what works, rebuilding trust in government by engaging with their residents, and using evidence and data to drive faster progress on their toughest challenges.”
“Since certifi cation was fi rst introduced, cities have made tremendous progress in their ability to build the data capacity and skills needed to drive their decision making with data and evidence,” said Jennifer Park, founding director of What Works Cities Certifi cation. “This year, cities used data and evidence to guide their response to COVID, address budget shortfalls, reimagine public safety, advance equity, and much more. Data wasn’t just a valuable tool for city leaders — it was a necessity.”
For more information, go to glendaleaz.com/WhatWorksCities.
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July 29, 2021
West Valley NAACP reacts to the signing of HB 2906
BY HOWARD FISCHER AND LAUREN SERRATO Glendale Star Staff Writers
Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation to block the use of public funds for what he calls “critical race theory.’’
But there appears to be a disconnect between the description of what has become a favorite talking point of Ducey and other Republicans and what that term actually means. It leaves open the question of what state and local agencies — and, in a separate bill, schools — will and will not be able to do and teach.
On paper, HB 2906 is relatively simple.
It says employees cannot be required to go through orientation, training or therapy that presents any “form of blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex.’’
Then the bill gives examples of what that includes, such as saying one race, ethnic group or sex is inherently morally or intellectually superior to another; that someone is inherently biased, whether consciously or otherwise, due to race, ethnicity or sex; or that an individual should feel discomfort, guilt or psychological stress because of race, ethnicity or sex.
Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale, said none of that is being done right now. Instead, he said, it appears to be more of a political move.
“They’re kind of making ‘critical race theory’ out to be this bogey man when it’s kind of a false narrative on a whole bunch of different fronts,’’ Quezada said.
But the danger of the measure, he said, is it could be used to stop the use of public funds for anything that deals with teaching sensitivity about racial, ethnic or sexual issues.
“If anything, we should be mandating that type of training for state employees, and for legislators, too,’’ Quezada said. “The message that it’s going to send is that any training whatsoever that brings up the conversation of diversity, of equity, of differential treatment of people.’’
The West Valley National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said it is “appalled by the actions of our current Governor, Doug Ducey, for signing HB2906 into law.”
“The struggle for equality and anti-racism has been fought for, by many, for decades. To see now, that those who are afraid to face the reality of historical racism and its existence in America, have stooped so low as to threaten the livelihood of those who aren’t afraid to speak the truth, is disappointing but not unexpected,” wrote Bishop Holt, WVNAACP president.
“Ignorance, fear and hatred have gripped the very foundation of our society. The only way to move forward, into a place of anti-racism and acceptance of all, is to have courageous and diffi cult conversations about the belief that just because you or your immediate family didn’t partake in or cause the original defi nition of slavery, and present day racism, doesn’t mean that you are not responsible for the perpetuation of ignorance that continues to affect the lives of every person of color today.”
The measure made its way into the law books because of a procedural maneuver by Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, tacking it on to a Senate-passed measure during House fl oor debate. That avoided any public hearing at all.
Hoffman, in describing the measure, said he wants to prevent teaching that there is a premise of institutional racism that he does not believe exists.
“America is not racist,’’ he said at the time. Hoffman said that, going back as far as the Civil War, there is a history of “stomping out racism’’ wherever it exists.
“This nation is accepting and diverse and loving,’’ he continued.
“Sadly, the trend of teaching this hateful, racist and bigoted revision of the story of America has reached a fever pitch amongst the activist community on the left that seek to denigrate and demean nearly every American citizen,’’ Hoffman said. “It must be addressed.’’
He produced statements from others who disputed Quezada’s claim that none of what the new law would ban is happening.
“I have seen fi rsthand taxpayer funds being spent to train hundreds of (school) board members and staff from across the state on the disgusting racist ideology called critical race theory,’’ said Shelli Boggs, a member of the board of East Valley Institute of Technology.
Sal DiCiccio, a member of the Phoenix City Council, said his city has multiple programs like that, though they don’t use the phrase “critical race theory.”
“Worse, it’s not just employees being indoctrinated with this garbage,” DiCiccio said, adding that there are elements of it in the city’s Climate Action Plan and other programs.
Ducey, in signing the measure, said using public funds for what he called “political commentary” is not responsible.
“I am not going to waste public dollars on lessons that imply the superiority of any race and hinder free speech,” Ducey said.
The governor expressed the same sentiments about a similar provision, buried in a budget bill he signed earlier, which imposes fi nes of up to $5,000 on schools that have similar teachings.
Quezada, for his part, said the harm of the new law is “perpetuating the narrative that they’re trying to push right now.”
“That narrative is, one, that any type of training that does address diffi cult issues, diffi cult topics is a bad thing, and, two, that, even though this isn’t exactly what it is, that critical race theory as a concept is a bad thing,’’ he said.
All that leads to the question of what is critical race theory.
Nolan Cabrera, a professor at the Center for Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona, said what is important about critical race theory is it doesn’t take racism as an individual defect.
“Critical race theory started grappling with the idea that … just individual prejudice can’t account for the results that we’re getting,’’ Cabrera said.
“There needed to be something bigger, something more structurally ingrained in society about race. That’s what they’ve been trying to fi gure out.’’
He took a swat at the governor’s
Phoenix Rescue Mission sets record for street rescues
BY GLENDALE STAR STAFF
As the Valley reaches record-breaking temperatures, Phoenix Rescue Mission is also breaking records. The Mission’s Street Outreach Team has rescued 120 men, women and children off the streets since launching its Code:Red Summer Heat Relief effort in May.
“Our Street Outreach teams have been working tirelessly to fi nd and rescue people from the hot sun and, frankly, the streets in general,” said Nathan Smith, chief program offi cer.
“We knew they were making an impact, but it wasn’t until the numbers came in that we were truly blown away. In 2020, our average was 27 each month, but we broke our all-time record in May with 60 rescues, which is amazing. Then we hit that number again in June, and that’s when we realized our success was not a fl uke. Because of the passion and care our teams bring to the streets, the partnerships we are building in cities around the Valley and the strong support of the community, it makes sense that we’re making incredible progress.”
Among the 120 rescues this summer was a single mother and her fi ve children who found themselves in dire straits when a move to Phoenix from Indianapolis didn’t go as planned. Down to her last few dollars, the mother had only one option — to use her car for shelter, a deadly proposition in the Valley of the Sun.
But, thanks to the Mission’s Street Outreach Team, the mother and her children were rescued before they spent a single night on the streets. After helping the mother reconnect with family back home, the team provided bus tickets for them to make it home safely.
That mother’s story is just one of many rescues that could not have been possible without the recent expansion of the Mission’s Street Outreach Team, which now boasts a fl eet of vehicles capable of going where the need it at, searching for and rescuing vulnerable individuals and families like this mother and her children.
This coordinated effort is largely possible because of several public-private partnerships between Phoenix Rescue Mission and local municipalities, including Glendale, Goodyear, Peoria, Avondale, Scottsdale and Surprise.
Each municipality works closely with the Mission’s Street Outreach Team to identify those in need and connect them with the appropriate solutions to help them re-enter society and reach their potential. Whether addiction recovery, mental health support, vocational development, food assistance or housing, the Street Outreach vans are available to pick up the individuals and transport them to either Phoenix Rescue Mission or an appropriate organization or destination that will serve the needs of that person.
The expansion of the Mission’s Street Outreach Team is the latest example of the nonprofi t’s continued goal of growing and meeting the needs of those it serves by focusing on community impact in a fi scally responsible way.
“For decades, we have been providing Christ-centered, life-transforming solutions to persons facing hunger, homelessness, addiction and trauma,” Smith said. “Our staff and volunteers are equipped with proven, time-tested programming to help those within our residential recovery programs undo lifelong strongholds that may be at the root of their suffering and fi nd their purpose in life.”
Info: phoenixrescuemission.org
(Photo courtesy of Phoenix Rescue Mission)
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July 29, 2021
WV cities pay millions toward $11.8B pension debt
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Glendale Star Staff Writer
Despite an $11.8 billion unfunded liability owed by more than 300 Arizona municipalities, counties and state agencies, some encouraging trends are emerging in the system that provides pensions for nearly 60,000 retired first responders, corrections officers and qualifying elected officials.
Shaped in part by the unexpected surge in revenue many government entities have seen for nearly a year, those trends aren’t just good news for the retirees who receive pensions from the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System. They’re also good news for West Valley and other taxpayers.
One trend involves the largely unflagging health of the stock market that — combined with some astute investment decisions by PSPRS — produced an unaudited return of close to 25% on investments for the agency’s pension funds.
Though the final percentage won’t be known for several months, pending the outcome of a routine annual audit, that one-year return is the biggest the PSPRS has seen in more than 30 years.
The other trend puts the pension fund on more solid footing and spares taxpayers millions of dollars in fees on the unfunded liability owed by municipalities, counties and some state agencies.
Over the past fiscal year, many of those employers have paid a total $1.58 billion in additional contributions to PSPRS to whittle down some of their unfunded liability. For taxpayers, that means savings in penalties for the unfunded liability totaling more than $1.7 million.
Employers either devoted some of their budget surplus from the 2020-21 fiscal year to pay down their pension debt or borrowed money at interest rates less than half and even a third of the 7.3% rate PSPRS assesses annually on their unfunded pension liability.
That $1.58 billion in extra payments is on top of the $1 billion employers were required to pay on accruing pension benefits and the interest on their pension debt.
Required contributions to cover the unfunded liabilities account for roughly two-thirds of total required employer contributions each year.
“The additional contributions help secure pension stability for employers’ retirees and members while saving taxpayers money by eliminating or reducing unfunded pension debt,” PSPRS spokesman Christian Palmer said.
PSPRS Administrator Mike Townsend was even more ebullient.
“This milestone is the result of an effort to help employers understand and realize the true cost of public safety pension benefits and the taxpayer savings that can be achieved by paying off unfunded pension obligations. Although the large amount of additional contributions is great, the other impressive fact is that employers across the state are chopping down a mountain of pension debt,” Townsend said.
Sources said Townsend personally appeared before more than 40 county boards of supervisors and city and town councils to urge them to take advantage of historically low interest rates to pay down their pension debt.
Many heeded Townsend’s encouragement, with Gov. Doug Ducey taking the biggest step by adding $500 million each to the unfunded liability owed on pensions for corrections officers and retired state troopers.
The current unfunded liability for retired adult and juvenile corrections officers combined is $1.12 billion, while the unfunded liability for Department of Public Safety employees totals $898 million.
In the West Valley, Goodyear led the pack in the 2020-21 fiscal year with $24 million in extra payments on an unfunded fire and police pension liability totaling just under $40 million.
Glendale kicked off the current fiscal year shortly after it began July 1 with an even bigger effort by putting an ad-
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Mike Townsend, administrator of the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System, praised the dozens of municipalities, counties and state agencies that have made extra payments on their unfunded pension liability. Phoenix taxpayers are paying additional penalties on an unfunded police and fire pension liability of $3.2 billion. (Submitted photo) ditional $169 million on its police fund liability of $193.9 million and also paid an extra $82.2 million toward whittling down an unfunded liability of $95.8 million in its firefighters pension fund. Goodyear is in better shape than many cities because its fire and police pension funds are on surer footing. Records show it has fully funded 71% of its fire pension account and nearly 66% of police pensions. At the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year, Glendale’s police pension fund was close to being 50% fully funded while its firefighters fund was funded at just over 58%. Some West Valley municipalities’ first responder pension funds are more fully funded. For example, Tolleson’s police pension account has an unfunded liability of $2.9 million, so it paid an additional $400,000 toward reducing it. Its firefighters fund is close to 87% but it still has an unfunded liability of $2.8 million. It paid an extra $125,000 toward that debt. Other West Valley municipalities haven’t paid any additional money down on their unfunded pension liabilities. For example, Peoria has an unfunded pension liability totaling almost $110 million — $40.6 million for firefightSEE PENSIONS PAGE 9
PENSIONS FROM PAGE 8 ers and $69 million for police. Funding levels for those two pension accounts are at 66.3% and 54.6%, respectively.
An unfunded liability of $16.1 million leaves Buckeye’s police pension fund at 65% while its firefighters pensions are 84% funded with an unfunded liability totaling $6.5 million.
While Avondale police and fire pension accounts are funded at 61.2% and 71.6%, respectively, it still has an unfunded liability totaling over $34 million combined.
Phoenix city administration sent a memo to the Phoenix City Council detailing the importance of unfunded liabilities, as it grapples with an unfunded police and fire pension liability totaling more than $3.2 billion.
In that memo, City Manager Ed Zuercher and Chief Financial Officer Denise Olson explained the need to whittle down that unfunded liability and “avoid a huge burden” down the road that would require “significantly decreasing services or an increase in taxes.”
“This taxpayer burden must be balanced with being fiscally responsible and committed in providing pensions to retirees,” the memo said.
Because pension debt is a priority expenditure for any governmental employer, the unfunded liability’s costs have “placed significant budgetary constraints on the City’s ability to provide employee wage and non-pension benefit increases, public services and infrastructure maintenance,” the memo noted.
HB 2906 FROM PAGE 6 statement that his signature on the bill will “keep critical race theory out of Arizona classrooms and our government institutions.’’
“Gov. Ducey doesn’t have any clue what critical race theory is,’’ Cabrera said.
There are more general definitions, generally centering around the theory that racism is not about individual bias but something built into legal systems and policies. One example has been segregation.
For years, banks would not lend to minorities who wanted to buy homes in certain communities, using a practice of “redlining’’ what areas should be re-
Unfunded pension liability for PSPRS didn’t exist until the housing market crash in 2008 and the subsequent economic collapse that adversely impacted the stock market and reduced government hiring to a crawl.
At the same time, more government employees were retiring, and with fewer new employees paying into the plan, the agency’s pension obligations were increasing.
As municipalities started putting more of their available revenue into more immediate public services, their pension debt steadily increased — fueled in part by the penalties assessed annually on that debt.
Voters in 2016 overwhelmingly approved Prop 124, which reduced costof-living increases in the pensions for retired firefighters, police and elected officials.
Those cost-of-living adjustments were now tied to the regional Consumer Price Index with an annual cap of 2%.
For nearly 20 years, an annual 4% compounded increase had been paid out to retirees, significantly cutting into the amount of money remaining to pay future retirement benefits.
But that prop had the strong support of public safety unions, which said the move would make the pension fund more secure.
The Arizona Tax Research Association and the Goldwater Institute contended the measures provided no short-term financial relief for taxpayers and that savings may occur only years down the road.
served for whites. There also have been restrictive covenants prohibiting the sale or rental of homes to minorities.
Even zoning policies that preclude affordable housing can be seen as contributing to segregation.
Mary Carol Combs, also a UA professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies, said it is important to understand what critical race theory is not.
She said that, despite Ducey’s statements, there is nothing about teaching that a particular race, ethnicity or gender is superior to another. Nor, she said, does it teach hate against whites. And, contrary to what the governor claims, it does not limit free speech.
