Opinion
www.SanTanSun.com
March 7 - March 20, 2015
31
Community Commentary
‘Great things’ expected in 2015 BY MAYOR JAY TIBSHRAENY
Jay Tibshraeny.
In the last issue of the San Tan Sun News, I discussed last year’s winners of my annual Neighborhood Excellence Awards, announced during the State
of the City Address. I also took the opportunity that evening to talk about a few Chandler businesses that are doing great things here in our City. These are smaller firms that some may not have heard of, but they are making great investments in the local business community. AvAir began 15 years ago with the opening of a small, unassuming airplane parts company in West Chandler. Growing over time, it survived the devastating attacks of Sept. 11, an event that crippled the airline industry. It endured the Great Recession of recent years, and has emerged as a superb example of American ingenuity and success. AvAir is expanding with the construction of a 170,000-square-foot building not far from its existing space. With 33 Chandler employees, as well as business development members across the globe, it plans to hit 100 employees within the next five years. Last year, they made Inc. Magazine’s list of America’s fastest growing, privately held companies. Most know our downtown as a place with exceptional dining, nightlife, arts and retail. A place where new residential development and other leading-edge commercial projects are in the pipeline. But there’s another side to the City core you may not be aware of. There is a cluster of highly sophisticated firms that are making some waves in the tech world. Tanga, one of the fastest-growing companies in Arizona, has seen close to 60 percent growth in its Internet sales since 2011. Humble beginnings would be an understatement as the creators were selling board games out of their garage less than 10 years ago. Outgrowing space near the airpark, they moved into the First Credit Building and are now working with Derek Neighbors at Gangplank to explore new growth opportunities.
A talented team and a company that I suspect will quickly become a household name with the likes of Amazon and eBay. Emailage is a leading fraud prevention company that leverages an email address to determine the risk of a transaction. They work with some world’s top eCommerce and Financial Institutions to stop fraud before it happens. Emailage has landed on Forbes “Most Promising” list—one of just two Arizona companies to make the current list. Seeing exponential growth in recent years, and with offices in Los Angeles and Brazil, we look forward to great things in the very near future and thank them for their investment here in Chandler. Offering technology and cloud-based business solutions to others, Levementum has grown with our downtown over the past several years. The founders created the company’s strong vision of values, culture and respect for their clients in 2005—over a couple of bottles of wine— in a Paris café...Really. Local Motors’ Chandler address is a bit deceiving as it sits just off our western border on the Intertate-10. Theirs is a story of “Fantasy Land meets Tomorrow Land.” You may have heard that Local Motors created the world’s first 3-D printed car. The creativity that takes place within its trio of micro-factories exemplifies “cool”—and has been a strong influence on our Maker community. They are a game changer, and a national draw for hobbyists, makers, engineers, creators. And we love that Local Motors is a partner—and a big fan—of the heart of Chandler’s Maker community, TechShop. Entrepreneurship drives today’s tech economy. We’ve said that over and over. Well, Tech Shop empowers entrepreneurship. Just over a year old, and located with Arizona State University at its Chandler Innovations Center, Tech Shop is propelling Chandler’s local Maker Movement and future economy. So much so, that the Chandler location was highlighted as a tech leader on Fortune. Com just last month. This is just a sampling of the many great things I was able to highlight in the local business community. You can view my entire speech on the City’s website at www.chandleraz.gov. And like our neighborhoods, when it comes to Chandler business, the State of Our City is in a pretty good place.
Lawmakers should support public education Despite the numerous and wide variety of choices, 90 percent of Arizona parents still choose to send their children to local public schools. I support the ability of Jim Bishop. every parent to find the school that is the best fit for their child. Fifteen years ago we chose to move to Chandler because of the local schools. As a parent of two high school children in the Chandler Unified School District (CUSD), I can speak firsthand about the outstanding education and wide range of opportunities they have experienced. So, the question is simple, if so many parents such as myself prefer local public schools why is this not reflected in the actions of our state lawmakers. A simple look at the glaring “conflict of interest” of some of our lawmakers provides a clear insight as to why funding and support of public schools has suffered extremely the last seven years. State Rep. Eddie Farnsworth recently proposed HB2303, a bill which dictates every school in Arizona delay starting their school year until Sept. 1. This bill would have a direct deleterious effect on many schools who have a modified year round school year. This calendar has been implemented for over 20 years and was the result of polling parental wishes and studies which concluded shorter breaks will help student retention and limit the need to spend valuable classroom time reviewing material. Rep. Farnsworth is the president of the “for-profit” Benjamin Franklin Charter Schools. The delayed school year would match his charter school’s calendar, and increase his competitive edge. This bill would take away local control and produce a direct financial benefit for Rep. Farnsworth. We are all very aware of the severity of the “Great Recession” with its impact on Arizona’s finances. This led to draconian cuts across the board to public education. CUSD alone experienced 36 million in cuts, and is currently slated to experience $6 million more cuts based on the governors proposed budget. Despite the cuts to public education, the amount of tax credit money
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for private schools has doubled over this time period. Increasing the private school tax credit limits the money available for public schools, few benefit at the cost of many. State Sen. Steve Yarbrough earns a salary in excess of $100,000 as the executive director of Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization. You cannot be what is in effect a paid lobbyist and a lawmaker at the same time. This is precisely why public schools which educate over 90 percent of the children in Arizona have suffered disproportionality over the last seven years. Here is quick summation of some pending legislation, these bills reflect the overall goal of limiting funds available for public schools. HCR 2030 would require initiatives increasing spending to be approved by two thirds of voters, this would further limit future revenue streams for education. HCR 2016, eliminates property taxes on personal property (less than $2.4 million) purchased after 2016 used for agriculture, business or trade. This would deplete an already underfunded state government. Bill 1173 requires districts seeking bonds and overrides print the total tax revenue cost of the district not simply the proposed increased, this would confuse voters and skew the public against supporting these measures needed by school districts. Public schools are a bedrock of society. A healthy and thriving school district benefits everyone, not just parents and students. Strong schools will stabilize property values and attract new business. Investing in education pays off. Parallel studies by the University of Illinois and Northeastern University in 2009 concluded the cost benefit of a high school graduate versus a dropout provides society with an additional $300,000 lifetime gain per graduate. CUSD, increased its graduation rate by 2.4 percent between 2008 and 2012, this translates to approximately 72 additional grads a year or a $21.6 million yearly benefit to society. Public education pays off, this is why over 60 percent of Arizonans want increased funding for K-12 education. The cuts must stop, the lawmakers must reflect the wishes of the majority of their constituents. Please contact your local reps and let them know you want them to support public education. Jim Bishop is a Chandler resident and the chairman of “Yes for Chandler Students.” EXECUTIVE EDITOR
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