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BACK IN CLASS
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Wednesday, September 16, 2020
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With God on his side, he aims to restore Lakes course BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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CANDIDATES SPEAK
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SELLERS RULE
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o one skipped a beat last month during the early part of Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course owner Wilson Gee’s testimony in his contempt of court hearing when he matter-of-factly disclosed that one of the parties interested in acquiring the site “told me that God told him to buy it.” As unusual as that might sound to some, the man Gee referred to is deadly serious – not only about buying the course but the motivation driving his offer. “Recently, God has put on my heart to restore an ugly patch of dirt that was once a nice little golf course called Ahwatukee Lakes,” Brad Butler told AFN weeks before Gee’s testimony. The Chandler golf pro and his long-time friend Robin Wood have submitted $1 million
see LAKES page 16
The expansive wasteland behind Brad Butler is the Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course, which he hopes to restore if owner Wilson Gee sells him the 101-acre site for $1 million. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer)
Pecos Center, Ironwood Library not likely to reopen soon . RE1
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BRICK, MORTAR AND TACOS
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BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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ix months after they were closed at the onset of the pandemic, the seven fields at Pecos Park reopened last week, joining the tennis and pickleball courts, the outside basketball courts and the dog park – which were never closed in the face of the pandemic. But the bathrooms are the only parts of the Pecos Community Center that the public can use and when anything else will reopen is anybody’s guess. That means no hoops inside the center and only virtual activities for those who in prepandemic days attended the senior center.
And the teams that reserve playing time on the Pecos fields – or any of Phoenix’s other 154 fields – are required to appoint someone to make sure players, spectators and coaches are wearing masks, that physical distancing is observed as much as possible and that anyone using them passes a checklist of COVID-19 symptoms. And park rangers will be roaming Pecos Park and other city fields to make sure the rules are being followed, with a possible penalty of teams losing their right to reserve the fields for play. Phoenix is the only city enforcing health guidelines, with other municipalities relying instead on self-enforcement. Meanwhile, Ironwood and the other Phoenix
Library branches also remain closed and City Council is not planning to discuss a phased reopening until mid-October. Council’s 7-2 vote on Sept. 2 to reopen the fields came on a request by city Councilman Sal DiCiccio and two of his colleagues, who argued it was time for kids to play ball. Acting city Parks and recreation Director Tracee Crockett had reported that Phoenix was the only city in Arizona that had not reopened its fields, though only six municipalities in the state have opened them for tournament play. That dubious status, DiCiccio said, meant children in poor households were stuck be-
see PECOS page 9