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COMMUNITY C O M M U N I TP.27| Y P .AROUND 2 4 | B UAFS IP.31 N E S| OPINION S P . 2 9 |P.34| O P IBUSINESS N I O N PP.37 . 3 3 |REAL | S P ESTATE O R T S P.RE1| P . 3 6 GETOUT | G E T OP.41 U T | PSPORTS . 3 9 | P.45| C L A SCLASSIFIED S I F I E D PP.47 .42
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STAYING STRONG
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STAGING ARTIST
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
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How they became Club West’s power couple BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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hen she first met him, she hated him because his company was taking over hers. In less than a year, they were cross-country dating, taking turns flying between Arizona and Maine. And even before he proposed to her, he learned he was facing a serious case of colon cancer but she stuck by his side as he weathered treatments and surgery that ultimately rid him of the disease. Meet Julie and Matthew Tyler, who as of last Thursday became Club West’s power couple with her election as the new president of the Foothills Club West Association board of directors. Her husband is president of the Club West Conservancy, meaning they lead the two organizations that will pretty much decide the future of the community’s beleaguered golf course. Though homeowners ultimately will determine the course’s fate, the board’s newly
Matt and Julie Tyler head the two biggest entities at Club West that will largely determine the future of the community’s beleaguered golf course. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer) elected majority and the Conservancy share the same goal: restore the course or turn it into a park without a single house being built on the 160-acre site.
The chronology of the Tylers’ love story tracks astonishingly close to the course’s roll-
It calls for no increases in tax rates or fees, but anticipates more money from property taxes because of the soaring increase in valuations over the past year. It also states “expenditure amounts may change over the coming weeks as staff continues to refine final estimates” prior to the submission of a formal preliminary budget is presented May 4 for the 2021-22 fiscal year. The document also advises that the city faces a $3.4 billion unfunded pension liability for public safety personnel that “will require continued diligence and further resource strategies in the coming years.” The trial budget identifies seven priority areas, the two largest of which are $118 million for employee raises and $21 million for “public safety reform and responsiveness.”
The five other priority areas are “administrative accountability, $3 million; “building community and responding to growth,” $2.9 million; “COVID relief and resiliency,” $2.8 million; “climate change and heat readiness,” $2.8; and affordable housing and homelessness, $2.7 million. Of the 306 new positions, 130 would be for the Phoenix Fire Department’s Community Advocacy Program, which uses civilians in providing crisis responses and connecting people to care. That recommendation is being made “so that police officers are not the only option for residents in crisis,” the memo states. Another 75 positions would go to replenishing the depleted ranks of the Police De-
see TYLERS page 4
Phoenix eyes 306 hires, more police scrutiny
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VALIANT EFFORTS
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BY PAUL MARYNIAK AND KEVIN PIREHPOUR AFN Staff
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hoenix city administration last week submitted a proposed $1.459 billion trial budget to City Council that includes $153 million in new spending, largely for the creation of 306 new positions spread across a variety of departments. That additional spending, fueled by a surplus of $55 million in ongoing revenue and $98 million in one-time additional funding, would “address employee compensation increases, requests from the community for new or expanded services, and funding to ensure the City is helping our most vulnerable residents,” the city manager’s trial budget memo states.
see BUDGET page 14