ECRWSS Carrier Route PreSorted Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 371 Cave Creek, AZ
Rachel Mitchell new county attorney PAGE
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Serving the communities of Anthem, Desert Hills, Norterra, Sonoran Foothills, Stetson Valley, Tramonto, New River, Desert Ridge and North Phoenix
TheFoothillsFocus.com
INSIDE
This Week
FEATURES ........ 16
Cactus Shadows senior inks contract with Phoenix Rising
FEATURES ........ 18 Rusty’s Angels raises funds through annual event
YOUTH ............. 24 Anthem athletes say ‘yes’ to furthering their careers
OPINION ......................9 FEATURES ................ 15 YOUTH ...................... 24 CLASSIFIEDS ............ 25 Zone I
Kids sports sampler Anthem Area Edition
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Wednesday, April 27, 2022
‘Trial budget’ calls for new positions BY PAUL MARYNIAK Foothills Focus Staff Writer
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lush with a $76 million surplus from this year, Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton is proposing $1.7 billion in general fund spending for the �iscal year beginning July 1 that includes the creation of 166 new positions at a cost of $21 million. In addition to those new positions covered by the general fund, Barton is proposing another 132 new positions at a cost of $4.9 million from enterprise and special revenue funds.
Enterprise funds come from aviation, water, wastewater, solid waste and the convention center; outside of the convention center, they are funded by users. Special revenue includes grants, gas taxes and other special streams of money. The so-called “trial budget” — a precursor to a more formal preliminary budget to be submitted to city council Tuesday, May 3 — is $93 million, or 5.8%, above the current budget and sets aside $55 million of that surplus to “for future city council spending
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Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton released his proposed spending plan. (Special to Foothills Focus)
Committee unveils ambitious EV plan for Phoenix
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Foothills Focus Staff Writer
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14-member ad hoc committee recommended to Phoenix City Council a broad range of initiatives for moving the city toward more electric vehicle use, urging the construction of 500 charging stations, buying 200 EVs for city use and even developing a ride-sharing plan to give low-income people access to such vehicles. Although no cost estimate was included in the plan, spearheaded by South Phoenix Councilwoman Yassamin Ansa-
ri, Mayor Kate Gallego praised the “very significant time, energy and intellect” that went into the plan, 10 months in the making. “We hope that the stakeholders are excited about this vision as we bring it to fruition,” Gallego said. “Quite a future in front of us we expect about 20 or 30,000 EVs on Phoenix roads by 2030. It’s essential that we start acting now to identify the infrastructure and make sure we are ready.” Calling EVs “just one tool for decarbonizing our transportation infrastructure,” the mayor called the committee’s
plan part of a broader effort by Phoenix to reduce fossil fuel dependency by increasing the “micro-mobility network” of electric scooters and bicycles as well as expanding the city’s transit system. Although the committee did not provide any estimate of the cost of its recommendations or how they would be paid for, Gallego said, “This comes at a time when there is a signi�icant in�lux of resource more than $7 billion, thanks to the infrastructure and jobs act in a bipartisan legislation passed by Congress so
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