East Valley Tribune - Chandler/Tempe December 16, 2018

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THE VOICE OF THE EAST VALLEY SINCE 1891 AND WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING

New weapon to fight sex predators

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Chandler/Tempe Edition

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This Week

EAST VALLEY

Mesa High football finds coach PAGE 21

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Mesa joins lawsuit over It’s Santa! Proposition 126 tax ban BY JIM WALSH AND WAYNE SCHUTSKY Tribune Staff Writers

NEWS............................... 3 Fight looms over $32 vehicle fee.

BUSINESS................... 17 EV skin care firm goes brick and mortar.

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lthough they say they don’t want to trample the will of voters, Mesa, Scottsdale and other city officials are filing suit over the just-approved ballot proposition banning additional taxes on services. Claiming the Prop 126’s language is ambiguous language, an unknown number of municipalities are banding together to seek a declaratory judgement that would define what constitutes a service and what can and can‘t be taxed. The city councils in Mesa and Scottsdale in separate meetings last week voted to join the suit. Mesa officials are concerned the new law could undermine the impact of a separate ballot question approved by votes to raise the sales tax 0.25 percent to hire more police and firefighters. “Proposition 126 creates multiple issues and ambiguities that endanger the ability of the City of Mesa to collect and retain the Public Safety sales tax,’’ according to a statement issued by the city. See

LAWSUIT on page 4

(Kimberly Carrillo/Tribune Staff Photographer)

Little Lily Galindo of Chandler is awed by the chance to meet Santa, unaware he’s really Wesley Turner, who plays Santa for a living around the East Valley. Read hoow he trained and what he does on Page 13.

Scooter-pestered EV officials consider controls BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer

GET OUT.................... 24 Drumline bringing thrills to Chandler.

FOOD........................... 26 Here’s your guide to a holiday cookie re-do.

COMMUNITY.................13 BUSINESS........................ 17 OPINION.........................19 SPORTS ...........................21 GETOUT..........................24 CLASSIFIED.................... 27

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lectric rental scooters have quickly become a ubiquitous – and for many, irritating – part of life in the East Valley, popping up near Metro light rail stations, busy street corners and even on a vice mayor’s front lawn. Now, officials in at least three East Valley municipalities are moving to regulate them as they face complaints about blocked sidewalks and restricted access for the disabled as well as fears of serious collisions. Tempe, which is inundated with hundreds of scooters along Mill Avenue, is on the verge of approving a new series of regulations early next year. Mesa City Council is scheduled to review a potential ordinance early next year. The Town Council in Gilbert – where Vice Mayor Brigette Peterson recently found two abandoned scooters on her front lawn – will

discuss potential regulations at its regular meeting next Thursday. And Arizona State University has already banned them from its Tempe campus. Only Chandler is taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the growing popularity of bikeshare and “scootershare” programs. “At this point, nothing has been presented to council,” said Chandler spokeswoman Stephanie Romero. “However, staff is currently researching what other cities have done regarding scooters and bikes and what’s worked for them.” Scottsdale adopted new regulations governing both rental bikes and scooters in the face of complaints by business owners who kept finding them abandoned in front of their shops and galleries. While Tempe officials want to control the scooters, they don’t want to eliminate them – viewing them as helpful in reducing the number of cars, especially on crowded Mill Avenue, and curbing emissions.

“We want the scooters here. It really adds to our multi-module transportation system,’’ said Tempe spokeswoman Tai Anna Yee. “We just want them to be safe.’’ But the vehicles got a less favorable reception at a Mesa council study session earlier this month, as Councilman Mark Freeman asked City Manager Chris Brady to report on how scooters are a benefit to the city and whether it would be possible to ban them. Mesa officials appear to consider the scooters more of a nuisance, posing a potential threat to public safety and access for the disabled guaranteed by federal and state law. Mesa Mayor John Giles directed City Manager Chris Brady to bring a potential ordinance before the council early next year after Transportation Director R.J Zeder outlined how the city’s streets were not designed to accommodate scooters. Zeder said there have been problems with See

SCOOTERS on page 8


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