November 7, 2021 | www.santansun.com
Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Chandler bond election cruises to apparent victory BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
With unofficial results showing widespread public approval, the City of Chandler is poised to start issuing $272 million in bonds to pay for infrastructure projects. With final results not expect to be made official until this week, all five bond questions on the Nov. 2 ballot
appeared to have been approved with two-thirds majorities. City Clerk Dana DeLong said the all-mail election went very well. “There were no problems,” he said. DeLong said ballots went out to 172,000 registered voters and less than a fifth cast their ballots: Turnout was at 18.6 percent, according to the latest unofficial results. DeLong was hopeful turnout would
match the 23 percent seen in a special election in March 2020 after all the votes are counted. Here were the early vote totals for each of the questions. Question 1, $73 million for parks and recreation. Voters were backing a plan to build and improve the city’s parks by a 69 to 31 percent margin. Question 2, $25 million for public safety, fire. This had the most support
in early voting, earning 77 percent approval. Question 3, $55 million for public safety, police. The proposal to build and remodel existing stations appeared to pass by a 70-to-30 percent margin. Question 4, $85 million for roads and transit. This question earned the second highest percentage of early votes, being supported by 74 percent. See
ELECTION on page 19
Chandler veteran: Don’t just say thanks, do something BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
You probably won’t see Chandler resident Seth Haahr wearing a hat or T-shirt this Veterans Day that shouts he served as a scout in the Army. “I don’t like putting myself out there as a veteran,” said Haarh, who spent a year in Afghanistan. “I’m not, ‘Hey, look at me, I’m wearing a veteran T-shirt or something like that.’ … That’s not my identity, so I don’t care about that recognition.” Not wearing anything that identi-
fies him as a veteran helps avoid those moments when people try to show their appreciation. “I think there is a lot of lip service that goes into it, were people say, ‘oh, thank you for your service,’ but they don’t actually know what that means,” Haahr said. “That’s one of the reasons why I actually hate it when people say, ‘thank you for your service,’ because most of the time it’s just an empty gesture. But, I’m still thankful for it at the same time.” Haahr suggested instead of thanking
Fire chief addresses concerns over Chandler Airport safety BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
Two more people are expressing concerns about the safety of Chandler Municipal Airport – an air traffic controller and a retired Chandler Fire Department captain. Chandler Fire Chief Tom Dwiggins said his department takes the concerns they’ve raised seriously, but contends that those concerns either do not match the facts or have been addressed. “The response time right now to get crash-fire-rescue to an incident at the airport is 12 minutes,” said Brad Finch, an air traffic controller at the airport. Dwiggins disputes that. He says the response time to the airport is 5:57. The citywide response time is 5:59. What’s more, he said, to maintain its top certification by the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Chandler Fire must have to list their response time with a 90 percent guarantee, meaning that 90 percent of the time they will make it in that time or less. Dwiggins also said his department is one of the few to be certified by both the Center for Public Safety Excellence and get the top score by the Insurance Services Office. The biggest concern expressed by the air traffic controller and the former fire captain involves the inability
of Chandler Fire vehicles to gain quick access to the airport during an emergency. “Our response times to house fires, apartments, is always great,” said Tim Klug, a retired captain in the Chandler Fire Department. “But on the airport environment, it’s a little different. … It takes considerably more time to get from the gate to wherever the incident may be. When gates don’t work, it makes it even more difficult.” Klug and Finch said that in two recent incidents, airport gates failed to open for fire crews. Fire vehicles emit a signal that the gates are supposed to pick up and open automatically when the fire engines get close. Dwiggins says it’s the same system the Fire Department uses at any gated community in the city. But firefighters have a backup in case it doesn’t work. “Sometimes there are issues,” Dwiggins said. “Along with the emitter system, there is a key system, where we put the key in, we turn it, and it opens the gate.” On July 10, a Beechcraft Bonanza airplane skidded off the runway at Chandler Airport and caught fire. Finch said that in that case, the gates failed to open and firefighters had to put the blaze out from outside the perimeter fence. See
AIRPORT SAFETY on page 6
a vet with words, do something. “If you do genuinely care and are truly appreciative you can say, ‘Hey, I hope you don’t think it’s empty words, but I appreciate your service,’ but what’s more important is actually doing something about that,” he said. “Words carry a lot of weight, but action means
Chandler veteran Seth Haahr says thanking veterans on Veterans Day often seems devoid of meaning and suggests people should show their gratitude by doing something to help some of them. (David Minton)
more than words. “So, if it’s volunteering at a veteran homeless shelter or donating to organizations like the military or the Purple Heart, or DAV [Disabled American Veterans], anything like that. That carries more weight than someone saying, ‘thank you for your service.’” Haahr jokes about how he ended up volunteering. “I didn’t stand a chance is kind of the running joke with the family,” Haahr said. See
VETERAN on page 13
Domination
As the 2021 high school football season barrels to the playoffs, Chandler schools not only dominate the state scene but figure prominent nationally. For the story, see page 28 (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
F E AT U R E STO R I E S Major COVID finding in Chandler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .COMMUNITY . . . . . .Page 3 Hamilton teacher gets national honor . . . . . . . . . . .COMMUNITY . . . . Page 20 Chandler chef targets seniors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Business. . . . . . . Page 26 Tarwater kids connect with astronauts .. . . . . . . . . .NEIGHBORS. . . . . . Page 33
More Community . . . 1-25 Business . . . . . 26-29 Sports . . . . . . . 30-31 Neighbors . . . .33-35 Arts . . . . . . . . . 36-39 Faith . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Directory . . . . 41-42