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West Mesa Edition
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This Week
NEWS ............................. 4 Mom of teen suicide victim addresses Mesa charter.
COMMUNITY ........ 12 EV Vietnam veterans finally get honored.
BUSINESS . ................ 15 EV firm gases up ice cream treats.
This grilled cheese sandwich is the ultimate in flavor.
COMMUNITY........... 12 BUSINESS ...................15 OPINION ................... 16 SPORTS ....................... 17 CLASSIFIEDS ............. 24
PAGE 20 Sunday, September 30, 2018
Jobs pouring into East Valley as firms flock to region BY JASON STONE Tribune Staff Writer
A
rizona’s job numbers are sizzling, but East Valley numbers are on fire. A recent report from the East Valley Partnership said the region’s six communities – Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, Queen Creek and Apache Junction – added a total of 4,589 jobs from January through June this year. “It’s fun to be mayor when the economy is doing well,” Mesa Mayor John Giles said. Here’s just how fun: The East Valley’s job gains were more than half of all jobs generated in the greater Phoenix area – which is impressive considering the growth that’s also occurring in the West Valley. The investment and manufacturing sectors are seeing the biggest job growth in the region, followed by technology and financial services. Local economic and government leaders agree there’s not just one reason big compa-
nies are either relocating to the East Valley or expanding here. They say it’s a combination of low taxes, low regulations, space to expand, good weather and some forward thinking. “Plus, people who move here actually like it here,” said (Tom Sanfilippo/Inside Out Aerial) Denny Barney, presi- Park Place on the Price Corridor in Chandler is one of the mega-employment centers dent and CEO of the attracting large firms with high-paying jobs. East Valley Partnership and a Maricopa County supervisor. deployed.” “Businesses want to be here,” Barney said. Freedom Financial, State Farm Insurance, “Aside from a stable tax policy, we have afford- ADP, Bank of the West, Pay Pal, GM Financial able housing and a good quality of life.” and Toyota Financial Services are among the “And the single biggest factor is we have See JOBS on page 6 an educated workforce that’s ready to be
Latest FBI crime report offers good news for region BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
P FOOD .......................... 22
EAST VALLEY
State fair offers concert bargains
roperty crime dropped in East Valley cities during 2017, consistent with a nationwide trend that has been noted in the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime report for the past 15 years. The biggest declines were in Mesa and Chandler, while Gilbert’s already low numbers dropped a little further, according to a Tribune analysis of the numbers released by the FBI for 2016 and 2017. While the FBI also noted a troubling 9.5 percent increase in violent crime in Arizona as a whole from 2016 to 2017, that trend did not extend into the East Valley cities. Only Chandler registering a relatively small
increase in violent crime, primarily in aggravated assaults related to domestic violence. The Arizona spike in violent crimes was apparent in Phoenix, where more than 1,800 more violent crimes were reported last year than in 2016. Arizona’s violent crime numbers for last year were up 7.9 percent over the previous year while violent crime nationally dropped by 0.2 percent in 2017 after two consecutive years of increases. Nationally, property crime dropped 3 percent – the 15th consecutive year it has declined, according to FBI estimates. The FBI’s annual report dates back to the agency’s inception in 1930 and is considered the nation’s most reliable measurement of crime, with 16,655 police agencies participating.
In the East Valley, Mesa’s violent crimes dropped by a mere four incidents, despite a small increase in homicides to 23 in 2017 from 19 in 2016. The most significant change in Mesa was in property crimes, which dropped from 11,214 to 10,692 – a 4.7 percent reduction. That included fewer burglaries and 474 fewer thefts. Dan Butler, the Mesa police’s executive commander, said the department’s crime-fighting model uses more up-to-date statistics to target crime on a daily basis. Butler said Mesa also plays a pivotal role in fighting crime throughout the East Valley through the East Valley Fusion Center, where detectives from throughout the region share See
CRIME on page 8