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AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS Wednesday, December 7, 2016
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Friction, water issue loom over Club West golf course purchase plan
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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lub West homeowners will learn next week the details of a plan to buy and operate their beleaguered golf course. Save Club West will lay out the plan at a 6:30 p.m. meeting Dec. 14 at Mountain View Community Church, Pecos Road and 24th Street, Ahwatukee. Both state Rep. Jill Norgaard and Chad Blostone, chairman of the village planning committee, are expected to speak. The road to an ownership change remains rocky. While the group is still trying to resolve the course’s irrigation problem, friction continues between Save Club West and the community’s homeowners association board. Save Club West leader Jim Lindstrom said the HOA board has withheld its support and cooperation with his effort. “They keep hanging on to these feeble distractions,” he said. HOA President Paul Moroz told Lindstrom in an email that his “adversarial interactions make dealing with you difficult” and that “if you wish to work as a team, a change in behavior is suggested.” Wilson Gee, who owns all three golf courses in Ahwatukee and sold the fourth at Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Club, said he cannot afford the $700,000 annual water bill from Phoenix for irrigating the Club West course. He’s put it up for sale with an asking price of $1.9 million, simultaneously fighting a lawsuit by the Club West HOA board that accuses him of “not operating the golf
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS EXTRA SAFE Kids belted on Kyrene buses
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(Cheryl Haselhorst/AFN Staff Photographer)
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Estrella Elementary School kindergartener Victoria Stockton, left, presents a poster about frogs to her class with the help of her teacher, Candy Rice, during an all-day-K class. All-day kindergarten’s benefits are coming under question, but Kyrene Superintendent Jan Vesely says there is no doubt about its early learning effectiveness.
Kyrene officials firmly behind all-day kindergarten despite conservatives’ assaults COVER STORY
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BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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s the state Legislature prepares for a new session next month, funding for all-day kindergarten appears to be unlikely as some conservative Republicans raise questions about its value and the absence of standards. But Kyrene School District officials are prepared to continue all-day K, convinced that its positive contribution to early education is well-documented. Apparently, so are parents in the district.
“The bottom line is we cannot deliver our present-day kindergarten curriculum in a half-day model,” said Kyrene Superintendent Jan Vesely. Noting that only six parents opted for halfday kindergarten while 1,570 enrolled in the all-day program this year, Vesely added, “Clearly our community understands the importance of early childhood education. Parents want this kind of education for their young children.” All-day K has been a political football in Arizona for nearly a decade even as See
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FRICTION on page 15
Lagos Tuition-Free Dual Language Academy Kyrene de los Lagos, 32nd Street and Pecos • www.kyrene.org •