INSIDE:
COMMUNITY P.25| AROUND AF P.29 | OPINION P.32 | BUSINESS P.34 |REAL ESTATE P. RE1| GETOUT P.39 | SPORTS P.45| CLASSIFIED P.49
www.ahwatukee.com
STINGER DANGER
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
A
. 19
MENTOR’S GROUP GROWS
. 25
P
AMONG THE WINNERS
. 34
P
THUNDER WINS
. 45
P
@AhwatukeeFN
Kyrene board member wants a new superintendent BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
P
@AhwatukeeFN |
freshman Tempe member of the Kyrene Governing Board found herself out on a limb last week when she openly criticized Superintendent Jan Vesely, voted against extending her contract and said the district needs a new executive leader at the helm. Her four colleagues couldn’t disagree more. Michelle Fahy’s stunning speech at the board meeting last week drew immediate rebukes from her four colleagues. But it also may have made Vesely an election issue just two years into her tenure at the district –
about six months longer than Fahy has been on the board. “I believe that the district needs a superintendent who will come to the table and work with all board members equally, be willing to engage in healthy discussions – which may lead to differences of opinion, may have disagreements, or hopefully lots of agreements as well, but certainly different points of view,” Fahy said, adding: “I think we need someone who is willing to answer questions of all board members, not just whenever all the other board members have a question, but (when) any board member has a question, because I think that’s why there are five of us, so that we can all ask questions.
I think that the lack of communication and the opportunity to meet as a board member is troublesome to me.” Fahy went on to say that she had a series of emails over a six-week time period requesting a meeting with Vesely that failed to get action. “My concern is not about me, but this is indicative of a bigger communication issue that we have in Kyrene,” she continued. “I care deeply about Kyrene. I taught here for 19 years, and Kyrene is about its students and its staff and its community. And I believe that Kyrene deserves the superintendent who will look at all the issues, both positive and See
KYRENE on page 18
Field of LD18 candidates faces He ‘check-mated’ a predator election winnowing next week BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
T
he two incumbent members of the state House in the legislative district that includes Ahwatukee will learn Tuesday night whether they survived challenges within their own parties as the 2018 primary season reaches a conclusion. Two-term Republican Rep. Jill Norgaard and freshman Democratic Rep. Mitzi Epstein are running in a four-way and three-way race, respectively, for the chance to continue their campaign this fall in LD 18 – which includes parts of Chandler, Tempe and Mesa. Along with Norgaard – the only Ahwatukee resident among all seven candidates – attorney Greg Patterson and retired computer programmer Don Hawker, both of Tempe, and Chandler small business owner Farhana Shifa are seeking the Republican nomination. Epstein, a Tempe businesswom-
an, faces two Chandler residents – Jennifer Jermaine, a self-employed management consultant to nonprofits, and LaDawn Stuben, executive pastry chef at Liberty Market in Gilbert. While she’ll have to wait for Election Day results, Norgaard is the clear winner among all seven contenders in the race for campaign cash. Her campaign’s latest report, filed last week, shows her entering the last week of the primary with a cash balance of nearly $77,000, outdistancing second-place Epstein by more than a 2-1 margin. Epstein’s $31,445 cash balance reported last week is twice that of either Jermaine, who reported a cash balance of $14,205, and Shifa, who began the final days of the primary season with $13,884 on hand. Both Stuben and Hawker are Clean Elections candidates. See
ELECTION on page 10
(Kimberly Carrillo/AFN Staff Photographer)
Ahwatukee attorney Mark Pyper holds the rent check he got from Raheem Oliver, right, that enabled him to help federal law enforcement officials to arrest and convict Oliver on charges he swindled more than 200 vulnerable elderly people out of more than $600,000 in a nationwide magazine subscription scam. Oliver, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison last week, tried to pay his rent with a check from one of his vistims. Details: Page 6.