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Wednesday, June 29, 2022
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Phoenix preparing $500M bond package ask BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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he City of Phoenix has begun creating a $500 million bond package it will put before voters in November 2023 to fund a variety of construction and renovation projects that have yet to be identified. The package is the city’s first general obligation bond package since 2006, when voters approved an $878.5 million bond program that brought to $4.6 billion the total amount
of such bond issues voters have approved over the last 65 years. Since 2016, City Manager Jeffrey Barton told City Council at a hearing earlier this month, “Our population and the demand for city services – like public safety, library, parks, and streets, to name a few, have greatly intensified. “As a best practice, a well-oiled and wellpositioned city should have a recurring bond program every five to seven years,” Barton said. “It’s been long a dream of mine since my days in Budget and Research to restore the city
back to a place where we had that reoccurring bond programs every five to seven years. And I’m excited to be here today to present to you with a plan that gets us just there.” Barton said the city is positioned to have a recurring bond program in that five-to-sevenyear time frame “that can fit within the existing footprint of the existing tax rate.” City Chief Financial Officer Denise Olsen said that based on a variety of scenarios she
see BONDS page 4
Ahwatukee native Cole Tucker living his dream
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PRIDE RUNS DEEP
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BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI AFN Staff Writer
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hwatukee native Cole Tucker has been waiting 26 years for his dream to come true. That dream? To play in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. On June 5, the Snakes claimed Tucker off waivers and optioned him to the Reno Aces of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. “It’s really exciting,” said Tucker, calling from Sacramento where the Renos were playing the River Cats. “I grew up a diehard D-backs fan. I was growing up in Ahwatukee in 2001 when the D-backs won the World Series. “The D-backs were a part of my young, impressionable life. It’s a dream come true to be employed by them.” His girlfriend, actress Vanessa Hudgens, expressed her excitement via social media. “Let’s go babyyy. A great day indeed,” she posted. In a much-circulated quote, Ben Cherington,
see COLE page 16
Mountain Pointe alumnus and Ahwatukee native Cole Tucker is now part of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. (Courtesy of the Arizona Diamondbacks)
INDOOR/ OUTDOOR LIVING A TREND THAT’S NEVER OUT OF STYLE
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