As bulldozer wheels begin churning on the slow-motion construction of State Route 24, commercial and residential developers are lining up near the new stretch of highway.
As Economic Development Director William Jabjiniak put it, “There’s a whole bunch
of things going on in southeast Mesa.”
The proposed extension of SR24 runs smack through the Cadence at Gateway development, planned for 3,500-plus homes on 465 acres. The developer is asking for a change from commercial zoning to residential in a 20-acre section of the development near Ray and Crimson roads.
Some residents of Cadence at Gateway’s eastern neighbor, the massive Eastmark development on 3,200 acres, are furious over a new request for more homes.
Eastmark developers DMB and Brook�ield
also want city to allow “the development of signi�icant employment and industrial uses along the Elliot Road corridor as well as along Ellsworth Road.”
Eastmark’s existing plan allows for a mix of residential and commercial development.
If approved, a new amendment would allow “large-scale, campus-type employment uses.”
Those large employment hubs would be located in two districts totaling 300 acres off Ellsworth Road, which extends to SR 24.
BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
Damian Paige believes in what can be called “kidney karma.”
The Mesa man was lucky enough to get a matching donor when he needed a kidney – 25 years after he donated one of his own to help a friend.
“It’s like a good deed that came back around,” he said. “I’m thankful for it.”
He said the doctors who treated him had never heard of someone who donated a kidney later being an organ recipient.
“It’s a rare club,” Paige said with a chuckle.
Now 47, Paige was living in Los Angeles and just entering adulthood when he became a friend indeed to someone who needed a kidney.
Production Coordinator: Courtney Oldham | 480-898-5617 production@timespublications.com
Circulation Director: Aaron Kolodny | 480-898-5641 | customercare@evtrib.com The
Micro-surgery saves Mesa micro-babies
TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
Mesa newborn twins Garrett and Carter Lopez got off to life with a rocky start.
They were almost three months premature when they were born Dec. 20 and their combined weight was less than that of a baby brought to full term. Each weighed just over 2 pounds.
As if that wasn’t a big enough challenge for the brothers, the “micro preemies” also had a lifethreatening congenital heart defect that could lead to serious health issues, even death.
Enter a Banner Children’s at Desert medical team, which saved the infants with a unique procedure that addressed PDA, a common heart defect in premature newborns.
Infants born with PDA have an opening between two blood vessels leading from the heart that
KIDNEY ���� ���� 1
fails to close normally, making breathing dif�icult because of increased blood �low to the lungs.
“Just two years ago, this same life-saving treatment would have required open-heart surgery,” said Dr. Daniel Miga, a Banner Children’s pediatric cardiologist. “Medical advancements have given us the ability to treat this birth defect with a minimally invasive procedure that is helping them heal much faster than they otherwise would have.”
Using a small needle, Miga placed a micro-thin guidewire into tiny blood vessels in the leg and slipped it through the infants’ veins to the heart. Attached to the end of the wire was a miniature
A nurse holds tiny Mesa preemie twins Garrett and Carter Lopez. (Special to the Tribune)
of what dialysis patients go through. I just wanted to help a friend,” he said.
Donating a kidney in 1997 was a major operation: “They cut me almost in half,” he said.
But, after three months, he had a full recovery.
Years later, he moved to Mesa and settled down with his wife, Lisa, a compliance analyst at Dignity Health.
A few years ago, Damian went to what he �igured would be a routine physical –and found out his remaining kidney was not functioning properly.
As it turned out, he needed the dialysis treatment he saved his friend from.
If he had both the kidneys he was born with, a dysfunctional one probably would not have been a big deal.
Did Paige come to regret donating one of his kidneys?
“I did re�lect on it,” he said. “I thought about my choices … But I was glad to do what I did. I saved somebody’s life.”
In 2019, there were 23,000 kidney transplants in the country - but Arizona’s waiting list alone for kidney transplants is in the thousands.
Damian is flanked by Dignity Health registered nurses/transplant coordinators Gabriel Quiroz and Kelli Vaughn. (Special to the Tribune)
Five months ago, the Paiges got the phone call they were waiting for: After an organ donor passed away, a kidney was available for Damian.
“When we got the call it was about 8 p.m.,” Lisa Paige said. “Damian was in surgery by 7 a.m. — the next day.”
Thus, Paige became the 100th patient to receive a life-changing kidney transplant at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.
He awoke from surgery feeling pretty good, all things considered. “I know for sure I was thirsty. I was really thirsty
from all the medications. I was a little sore,” he said.
But the laparoscopic procedure was much less painless than his donation procedure: “I was much more sore then. A lot more stitches going across my body.”
A few months after receiving the kidney, “I’m feeling like myself.”
The biggest adjustment, he said, is taking 14 medications, every day. “It’s long term — for the rest of my life.”
He feels good enough to resume computer science studies at Rio Salado College. “I’ve always worked with computers as a technician. I just never pursued a degree in it,” he said.
Damian and Lisa enjoy walks around their East Mesa neighborhood, which they have no plans of leaving.
“It’s beautiful, where would you go?”
Lisa said, with a laugh.
“No tornadoes,” Damian chimed in.
“No earthquakes,” Lisa added.
“No volcanoes,” Damian said.
But, fortunately, plenty of karma.
To learn about becoming an organ donor, visit dnaz.org.
device used to carefully seal the opening.
The babies are now ready to keep on growing.
“They’re both doing great and Garrett has almost doubled in size since birth,” said their father, George Lopez, 30, of Mesa. “They’re still recovering, but making good progress. They’ve been through a long journey.”
Lopez and his wife Nicole have been visiting the infants every day in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit at Banner Children’s. With twins, both parents are allowed to visit, even during COVID visitor restrictions.
The boys, who are the Lo-
pez’s �irst children, are expected to be treated in the hospital for another month.
“We’ll never forget the doctors and nurses in the NICU,” Lopez said. “It’s a blessing to have them.”
The Banner Children’s cardiac program cares for patients from fetus through adulthood.
Services though include immediate access to Level I trauma services and emergency care, a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, general pediatrics, surgical and rehabilitation services, hematology/oncology, urology, gastroenterology, neurology and outpatient services.
The Eastmark developer promises the changes will “further solidify the Elliot Road Tech Corridor as a signi�icant employment area.”
The developers are also asking for amendments to its master plan in two other Eastmark districts (5 north and 6 south) to allow for more homes to be built south of Elliot Road and west of Signal Butte Road.
DMB and Brook�ield outlined the plans at an online neighborhood meeting Jan. 12.
Many neighbors expressed concerns about what type of employers would be coming and that new homes would make Eastmark too congested.
The developers noted the plan approved by the city in 2008 allows for 15,000 residential units – homes and apartments. There are currently about half that many residential units, with from 2,000 to 6,000 more planned.
Eastmark resident Jennifer Castillo emailed Councilman Kevin Thompson and Mayor John Giles, begging them to reject the developers’ request, which she called “unacceptable.”
“When we moved here, we were told this was going to be the ‘outskirts’ of Eastmark, there would be no other houses to the north of us. We were also told there would be a park behind our house,” she wrote.
“We were also told that the property to the north of us would be businesses spe-
ci�ically a ‘tech corridor’ NOT more houses,” she wrote.
Jeffrey Rank, another Eastmark resident, also emailed Thompson and Giles to protest the plan, insisting the shops and restaurants promised when he moved there in 2017 have not come to fruition.
“What was to be a very dynamic community is nothing but housing with high density housing replacing retail and commercial,” Rank wrote.
An email from Dan Moyes to the city concurred with Rank: “When we chose to buy into Eastmark and Mesa, we did so based on the assurance from the developers and builders that our properties would be part
of a community with a ‘small town’ feel … The proposed changes to land use will NOT provide the promised community amenities and a small-town feel.”
Dozens of others emailed similar views, with many concerned about Eastmark developers turning planned open spaces into high-density apartments.
As Christina Zimmerman put it, “After the developer meeting last night I have to add to my previous email. I do not want any more high density housing anywhere in Eastmark.
“All the changes are purely for pro�it, against the vision of the community and, in fact, a direct opposition to what we
want. Eastmark residents want quality shops, boutiques, businesses and some nice eating establishments. No more unhealthy chain restaurants.”
Between Eastmark and the extended SR 24, the city plans to purchase 18 chunks of land — amicably, or, if need be, through legal action — for the Signal Butte Road Improvements Project between Williams Field Road and Germann Road.
According to the agenda for the Feb. 22 Mesa City Council meeting, offers have been made to various property owners.
“However, to avoid construction delays, staff is requesting authorization to acquire certain parcels through eminent domain if necessary,” the agenda states.
“Staff intends to continue to meet and negotiate with the property owners with the intent of reaching a settlement.”
Construction on the federally-funded Signal Butte Road project is expected to begin in the fall 2021.
The agenda for Monday’s meeting is very southeast Mesa heavy.
Two neighboring commercial projects are asking for green lights. One is interested in becoming part of the Elliot Road Technology Corridor; the other is asking to opt out of the technology corridor’s zoning restrictions.
Comarch has a tentative development agreement for 3 acres at Ellsworth Road and Prairie Avenue to opt in to the Elliot
George and Nicole Lopez got to visit their newborn twin sons as the preemies recovered from a delicate heart surgery. (Special to the Tribune)
The proposed extension of SR24 runs smack through the Cadence at Gateway development, planned for 3,500-plus homes on 465 acres. (City of Mesa)
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Traf�ic snarls coming with SR24 project this year
TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
Delays are expected as construction ramps up on the Arizona Department of Transportation’s projects to extend State Route 24 east of Ellsworth Road.
The second phase of the $77 million SR 24 project, which started in December, will add a four-lane divided roadway for 5 miles between Ellsworth Road and Ironwood Drive.
According to ADOT, the SR 24 extension is scheduled to open by late 2022.
Ramps will be closed for dirt hauling from Feb. 19 to March 29.
The westbound SR 24 onramp at Ellsworth Road will be closed from 9 p.m. Fridays to 5
���� ���� 4
Road Technology Corridor zoning.
Tech company Comarch hopes to join Apple, Dignity Health, Niagara Bottling, EdgeConneX, Digital Realty and RagingWire in the booming Elliot Road Technology Corridor. Comarch’s opt-in request was approved by the Planning and Zoning Board Jan. 27.
The project that is in the corridor but asking to opt out is Elliott 202, a warehouse/distribution project being developed by Marwest Enterprises of Scottsdale.
Marwest developed and leased Landing 202, several industrial buildings a few miles away on East Ray Road, between the Loop 202 and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
Elliott 202 is on East Elliot Road, between Hawes Road and the Loop 202.
a.m. Mondays. Drivers can use detours on Ellsworth, Ray or Elliot roads.
Through July, Ironwood Drive north of Germann Road will be restricted to one lane in each direction while crews begin widening the road in preparation for the future SR 24.
Construction that began Feb. 16 will cause delays on Ellsworth Road near the intersection with SR24. Traf�ic will be stopped for up to several minutes at a time from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday nights for the next four months.
Through mid-May, 222nd Street will be closed to through traf�ic between Williams Field and Pecos roads for SR 24 construction. Local access will be provided to properties on 222nd
Street from Williams Field Road or Pecos roads. Local traf�ic can use Mountain Road via Williams Field or Pecos roads.
Meanwhile, several projects backed by the $100 million in bonds Mesa voters approved will create connections to the new freeway, which will run east from its northern terminus with Ray Road to Signal Butte.
Signal Butte would be four lanes between Williams Field and Pecos Roads, serving as a direct connection to State Route 24.
Another project aimed at reducing highway congestion is the widening of Williams Field Road to six lanes between Ellsworth and Arizona 24, laying the foundation for a new entrance to the airport.
The Eastmark developers are requesting changes to allow for large-scale employers in two of its northwest districts and more homes in two other districts. (City of Mesa)
Marwest is requesting a rezoning of 77 acres to allow two industrial buildings totaling 1 million square feet.
As the developer’s summary notes, tech corridor zoning restricts indoor warehousing and storage. “Marwest has therefore elected to “opt-out” of the Elliot Road
Technology Corridor and pursue this LIPAD (light industrial planned area development) application.”
The developer’s plan shows buildings as high as 60 feet tall that will have truck docks and loading bays as well as outdoor storage. Both the Comarch and Elliot 202 projects would mean more jobs, according to
Construction that will extend State Route 24 is ramping up, but will cause delays in the area. (Arizona Department of Transportation)
Though it is in the tech corridor, the developer of Elliot 202 is asking to opt out of corridor requirements to be able to build transportation warehouses and storage. (City of Mesa)
their pitches. Growth in southeast Mesa “is related to the city’s commitment for infrastructure expansion, the Loop 202, State Route 24, the expansion of services at the Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport and the expanding employee base associated with Eastmark,” according to the Elliot 202 summary.
Also in that area, city council will hear a request for rezoning to allow the building of a Sleep Inn and MainStay Suites “dualbranded” hotel at 5351 South Power Road near Ray Road, just northwest of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The hotel would have 90 rooms, a �itness center and pool.
EASTMARK
Unprecedented low supply strains housing market
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Executive Editor
The inventory of homes for sale in the Valley has reached the lowest levels in modern history, real estate experts say.
And that means that while the few homes that are on the market are drawing multiple offers – sometimes scores of them for one house – anxious buyers will soon be casting their eyes ever farther from the center of the Phoenix Metro.
During Land Advisors Organization’s annual presentation last month that assessed the state of the Phoenix real estate scene, two experts saw no end to the home buying frenzy or the accelerating upward trend in prices.
And Jeff Palacios Jr., director of research for John Burns Real Estate Consulting, and Land Advisors CEO Greg Vogel, indicated homebuyers may have to look as far away as Casa Grande, the Lake Pleasant area and Florence.
None of this comes as a surprise to the Cromford Report, which also closely watches housing trends in the Valley and recently observed, “The supply situation is the worst we have ever recorded.”
“It is dif�icult to describe the state of the housing market in Greater Phoenix these days,” it said. “Just quoting the raw facts makes many people feel you are exaggerating wildly. There are those who seem to believe it cannot really be true when so many people are struggling with their daily lives, battling the worst pandemic we have seen for many decades.”
“Variations in demand are almost insigni�icant,” it continued. “This is because the supply of re-sale homes is so poor it crashes below all-time record lows almost every week.”
Cromford said the ratio between homes under contract and homes for sale without a contract is so out of whack that “we have never before had to invent a description” for it.
It noted that as of Feb. 1, listings were 56.7 percent below total listings a year earlier, the median sales price jumped nearly 17 percent and the average price per square foot climbed over 19 percent. That will be good news for homeowners in a way.
Cromford said, “The annual appreciation
rate has already surpassed 19 percent and could easily reach 30 percent by the time we are well into the second quarter.”
It noted last week, “The speed of appreciation is about to step higher, not lower. It will not take much for appreciation rates to exceed 30 percent and possibly 40 percent over the next few months.”
“New home builders are trying as hard as they can to create more supply, but there are many physical, �inancial and legal limits to how quickly they can do this,”
Cromford also said. “These additional homes are sure to be priced well above the current level.”
Palacios said “the ridiculously strong” housing market in the Valley is evidenced by the fact that home sales in 2020 were 80 percent higher than the norm for the years 2014-2019.
Indeed, he advised homebuilders sales
were so strong that “it is going to be tough to get your growth this year” and said that any overall sales growth, primarily for new homes, will not occur before the second half of 2021.
And new-home communities will be getting bigger from the start – and extending the boundaries of the major Phoenix market well beyond what they look like today.
“You’ve got to think about community count growth, but then you also have to think about how communities are going to be bigger than they were a year ago,” he said.
Palacios said that prices and demand not only will be driven by a seemingly no early end to “crazy cheap money” in the form of low mortgage rates but also by the unrelenting in�lux of out-of-state residents and the growing trend toward working at home.
“I’ve talked a lot about work from home,” he said. “It is going to be trigger. It is triggering a massive catalyst for housing demand.
…So, affordability will get stretched beyond what you
think is the norm.”
Vogel said it’s not just home sales market that has entered into new territory but land sales as well, saying he sees the market going “from a chronic shortage that we were experiencing for several years into a panic that’s leading to rapid appreciation.”
“Even when we look at the 500,000-$2-million price range, we’ve gone from 283 days down by 90 to 26 days,” he said of the time houses are staying on the market before coming under contract.
“We have outsized appreciation,” Vogel said. “I think this is too much. We are going to have a real hard time adding enough supply to curtail this but this can get quickly unaffordable.”
Vogel noted that the number of building permits soared last year primarily in the West Valley and Pinal County, as available land in the East Valley has all but vanished except for huge tracts of State Trust Land in far east Mesa.
He noted that the current inventory of �inished lots in the Phoenix Metro market totals about 13,000 after 28,700 building permits were issued in 2020.
“It’s a little bit frightening related to the supply that is being burned off,” he said. “The builders bought 21,000 lots this past year. Some of those are larger supplies that will last several years, but there’s clearly a deep shortage and the shortage is not only looming but growing.”
He said builders and developers “have to buy land differently than they did in the years prior, where they were able to buy morsels or be able to digest 60 lots and have an option on another 60.
“They need to buy big platforms and we’re seeing that occur very often at this point. It is not unusual for a builder to come in and buy 300 to 600 units. That was not occurring even just pre-COVID,” Vogel said.
This map illustrates the history of housing development in the Valley with the deep purple areas being the spots that will see houses in the next few years. (Land Advisors Organization)
The areas in red are considered the next hot spots for home construction and master planned community development.(Land Advisors Organization)
Discrimination ban heats up Mesa Council meeting
BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
Mesa is the largest city in Arizona without an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on age, sex, sexual orientation, race and other factors. That could change within two weeks, however.
While a Thursday morning study session showed City Council to be in unanimous agreement on implementing an ordinance to protect against discrimination based, there was passionate debate over the size of businesses that should be included.
According to the Human Rights Campaign’s website (hrc.org), 225 cities and counties “prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity in employment ordinances that governed all public and private employers in those jurisdictions.”
Four of those cities are in Arizona: Phoenix and Tucson, both larger than Mesa, and Tempe and Flagstaff, both many times smaller than Mesa.
At the 5:45 p.m. Monday meeting, City Council will consider the proposed nondiscrimination ordinance, “prohibiting discrimination in public accommodation, employment and housing on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, veteran’s status, marital status and familial status and establishing penalties for violations thereof.”
The virtual meeting can be viewed online at youtube.com/user/cityofmesa11/live
Those who wish to weigh in can submit comments up to an hour before the meeting at mesaaz.gov/government/citycouncil-meetings/online-meeting-comment-card.
There will not be a vote at the Monday meeting. Mayor John Giles said he expects Council to vote on it March 1.
Andrea Alicoate, the city’s diversity administrator, led a presentation at last Thursday's study session, noting the ordinance would “ensure that Mesa’s diverse populations have equal access to and treatment in goods, services, employment and housing.”
As a proposed non-discrimination ordinance was discussed last week, with three solidly in favor of no business exclusions and three behind smaller businesses being excepted from the ordinance, it came down to rookie Councilwoman Julie Spilsbury. After saying she saw both sides of the debate, she agreed to an exemption for smaller businesses. (City of Mesa)
She said the ordinance applies to businesses and places of public accommodation, employers and the workplace, city employees and facilities, city contractors and vendors.
Excluded would be federal and state agencies, religious, public and charter schools and religious organizations “when furthering (the) organization’s purpose.”
Also excluded are “speech and expressive activities and the free exercise of religion when protected under the First Amendment.”
City Attorney Jim Smith said ordinances in other cities were reviewed and that one difference is “We’ve articulated those First Amendment rights.”
But Assistant City Attorney Jacqueline Ganier noted, “Criminal activity is not protected under this ordinance.”
“I think that’s a point we need to underline,” Giles said. “There are rumors that this ordinance (will lead to) scary scenarios, like a person with bad intent allowed to go into a women’s restroom and do mischief or intimidate someone … Would this ordinance make that OK?”
“It is not allowable now,” Ganier answered. “Any nefarious leering, anything like that is not now and would not be allowed. This ordinance is not a free pass to engage in criminal conduct.”
In addressing fears that a non-discrimination ordinance would clog up Mesa
er. By expanding to 15 then you have 14 employees that aren’t protected by this non-discrimination ordinance,” Luna said.
Luna cited Mesa Economic Development and the Maricopa Association of Governments in noting that of the city’s 13,000 businesses, 11,000 have 15 employees or less.
“We started working on this (ordinance) in 2014. It’s been a long process,” Luna said. “Based on what we’re hearing from Phoenix and Tempe and some of our neighbors, it hasn’t been a big issue. Our role is not to have a big stick; it’s to be a teacher.”
Councilwoman Jen Duff agreed with Luna. She noted companies looking to land in Mesa ask if the city has an ordinance making discrimination illegal. “I’ll be proud that Mesa passes this,” she said.
courts, Alicoate said “other cities have reported a low volume of complaints” after passing similar ordinances.
The majority of complaints were resolved by mediation or education, she added.
Alicoate said the ordinance will not require businesses to spend money.
“Sometimes people like to characterize these things as ‘bathroom ordinances.’ Businesses will continue to have male and female bathrooms, is that correct?” Giles asked.
Alicoate con�irmed, “Businesses can continue to operate as they do today.”
First violations would be subject to up to $300 �ines. Fines of repeat offenders could be as high as $2,500.
If passed, the city will allow 120 days until the ordinance's effective date “to allow for public education,” Alicoate said.
Councilman Mark Freeman was the �irst to express concerns about employment size.
After Alicoate clari�ied that all businesses, no matter the size, would be covered, Freeman requested an exemption for businesses with 15 or fewer employees.
Councilman David Luna pushed back against Freeman’s idea.
“I don’t want to go beyond one employ-
But Giles and Councilman Kevin Thompson – who were absent but submitted a statement – sided with Freeman for excluding businesses of 15 or fewer employees. After new Councilwoman Julie Spilsbury said she fully supported the ordinance but was on the fence about the size of businesses it should apply to, Giles suggested a compromise.
He asked council members if they would accept excluding businesses with 10 or fewer employees.
“Absolutely not,” an emotional Duff snapped. “This is a human right … Discrimination is not ok at any level and I think we have to stand for that.”
Luna added, “We have to remember that behind that number is a human being. I will not budge. No one should be discriminated against in the city of Mesa.”
Councilman Francisco Heredia agreed businesses of all sizes should be included in the ordinance.
With three solidly in favor of no business exclusions and three behind smaller businesses being excepted from the ordinance, it came down to the rookie.
“My email’s full of 200 people opposing this,” Spilsbury said. “I’m only in my second month of this. This is a hard thing to deal with as I’m starting out new.”
But, after Freeman put her on the spot and asked her to “step up to the plate and hit a home run,” Spilsbury made a �irm decision.
“I’m going to be a big girl. I think we should do it to 15 employees,” she said.
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Retaliation threatens voucher extension bill
BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
Republican senators gave the goahead Monday for what could be a huge expansion in the use of tax dollars to send children to private and parochial schools.
But it may not be the last word.
On a 16-14 party-line vote, lawmakers advanced SB 1452 that Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, said will give new educational opportunities to students living in poverty. He said it is designed to ensure these children are not effectively trapped in neighborhood public schools that do not meet their needs.
It even allows parents to use their voucher dollars to �inance transportation to get their youngsters to schools that are not nearby, including options like taxis and rideshare services.
And Sen. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said there is a particular need in the wake of COVID-19, which has resulted in the closure of many public schools. He said that has sent many parents looking for private schools that do have in-person instruction. What SB 1452 does, Petersen said, is make that a more realistic option for families who cannot otherwise afford it.
But the legislation took a detour last Tuesday.
In what appears to be a bit of political payback, Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, RScottsdale, who a day earlier had voted for the measure, persuaded 19 of her colleagues to support her motion to reconsider SB 1452.
That included not only all 14 Democrats who have opposed the bill all along but six Republicans, including herself, who voted for the plan.
Her action came immediately after the Senate, on a tie vote, killed her proposal to make it easier to remove people from the “permanent early voting list.’’ Boyer voted with the Democrats to kill her SB 1069.
Ugenti-Rita did not respond to a request by Capitol Media Services for an explanation of her action.
But Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, said it was abundantly clear in her mind what was occurring: retaliation. “Sometimes I feel like I have returned back to high school,’’ she said.
“I came here to vote on the merit of the bills,’’ Townsend continued. “And I’m horri�ied by what I saw this afternoon.’’
The vote does not necessarily mean that Boyer’s plan to make a majority of Arizona public school students eligible for vouchers of state tax dollars to attend private or parochial schools is dead. But it means it won’t move forward to the House until the dispute is settled.
Giving the bill another look is in line with what Democrats like Sen. Rebecca Rios of Phoenix want.
“We’re going to do this under the guise of helping poor children and children of color,’’ she said.
Sen. Kirsten Engel, D-Tucson, said there are ways to “game’’ the system of
vouchers, formally known as “empowerment scholarship accounts.’’
She pointed out that eligibility extends to any student attending schools, which have enough poor students to classify them as eligible for federal Title I funds. The income of any given child is irrelevant.
That potentially makes more than 700,000 students eligible for the vouchers out of the 1.1 million youngsters in public schools.
Engel pointed out that Boyer’s bill says that a student need be in a Title I school for just 30 days to qualify. And given Arizona’s open-enrollment policies, she said, a parent of means who wants a voucher could put a child into a Title I school for a month, meet the requirement, and then be eligible for those state dollars to send the youngster to a private or parochial school.
The debate on the bill, which now goes to the House, took on racial overtones.
“This 100 percent furthers de facto, if not de jure, segregation,” said Sen. Mar-
tin Quezada.
That drew an angry reaction from Sen. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, who pointed out that civil rights leader H.K. Matthews supports the bill and the whole concept of vouchers.
“If the system is failing a low-income child, you are not allowed to fund your system off the back of that child and cry ‘racism’ if the child has an opportunity to leave,’’ he quoted Matthews.
“School choice is an extension of the civil rights movement because it gives parents, especially low-income and minority parents, the rights and resources to choose any school their child needs.’’
Boyer put a �iner point on it.
“A family choosing for themselves to be in any school that works best for their child?’’ he said. “That’s not segregation. That’s freedom.’’
Rios, however, said the vouchers of about $6,400 are not enough to help those truly in need as it does not cover the full cost of tuition at a private or parochial school. The result, she said is that only the families who can afford the difference will be able to take advantage of this.
Sen. Tony Navarrette, D-Phoenix, said state lawmakers, in declining to add needed dollars, had created “a manufactured crisis’’ in public schools to then use as an excuse to say that students need vouchers to go elsewhere.
If the party-line stance in favor of expansion holds, the measure should clear the House where Republicans have a 31-29 edge. And Gov. Doug Ducey has signed other voucher bills that have reached his desk.
But the last time GOP lawmakers sought to expand eligibility foes gathered enough signatures on petitions to send the issue directly to votes. And they overrode the legislative decision by a 2-1 margin.
There also has been some discussion about a legal challenge should the measure become law.
MICHELLE UGENTI-RITA PAUL BOYER
House panel OKs mandatory pledge for kids
BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
The way Rep. John Fillmore sees it, young children need to hear and say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school.
So, he convinced Republican members of the House Government and Elections Committee last week to mandate it for anyone in kindergarten through fourth grade.
The Apache Junction Republican said its components are important, ranging from the “I’’ declaration, which makes it personal, to pledging to “the United States, that’s all of the states.’’
“And I think that it’s important that we have the kids learn what these words mean and drummed into their heads,’’ he said. “America is a country where people are still dying to come to and they put their lives at risk to come here.’’
Students in grades 5-12 would have no pledge requirement. Instead, Fillmore’s
HB 2060 would require at least a minute a day for students to “engage and quiet re�lection and moral reasoning.’’
Fillmore said he wants that language rather than simply a moment of silence.
“Sometimes the moment of silence is ‘shut up and keep quiet’ versus ‘think about what is good for society or yourself or your family, and for your parents and for your country and community,’‘’ he said.
“Even if they only think about what they’re facing that day or the trials and tribulations in their little lives, I think (for) them to have that ability to have some kind of reasoning is a good thing.’’
Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson, pointed out that among some religious groups, the only pledge they are allowed to make is to God.
Fillmore pointed out his measure does permit parents to excuse their children from the requirement.
But that didn’t satisfy Rep. Athena Salman, D-Tempe.
“The student as an individual has rights,’’ Salman said. “And to force a student to have to rely on their parents in order for them to have their constitutional rights protected I think is a big loophole that could potentially violate the individual student’s religious beliefs that might digress from what the parents believe.’’
Tory Roberg, lobbyist for the Secular Coalition of Arizona, suggested anything that pressures students to recite the pledge, with its language about the county being “one nation under God,’’ could amount to illegal religious coercion.
Rep. Kevin Payne, R-Peoria, said he was “amazed’’ at how many people had registered at the legislative web site as opposed to the measure.
“We’re not talking about a prayer,’’ he said. “We’re talking about a pledge of allegiance to the �lag.’’
Payne pointed out that lawmakers begin each session with the same pledge. “I just don’t get it,’’ he said. “I thought we were in
America.’’
Salman countered that’s exactly the point.
“What we’re talking about here is the Constitution of the United States of America,’’ she said. “What we’re talking about is the First Amendment.’’
In the only case addressing this, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that an Alabama law mandating a moment of silence was unconstitutional. But much of that was based on the admission by the measure’s sponsor that it was designed to “return voluntary prayer to our public schools.’’ Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in a concurring opinion, said she would have upheld the requirement if lawmakers had shown a true secular purpose.
She said school-led moments of silence can be legal because, unlike school-led prayers, they are not inherently religious and do not coerce students into participating.
The 7-6 vote sends the measure to the full House.
Kids will get grades, but schools won’t
BY HALEIGH KOCHANSKI Cronkite News
The Arizona Department of Education wants to make sure parents understand their kids will be getting letter grades this year – and to drive home the point, the department sent the message last week in capital letters.
Actions taken by the governor and Legislature earlier last week apply to schools but “NOT individual student grade (ex. ‘A in Chemistry’ or ‘C+ in English’) – those are under the purview of local control,” the department said in a statement.
The statement followed Gov. Doug Ducey’s signing of a bill that declared state schools will not get grades re�lecting their students’ performance on the AzMerit standardized tests this year, because of the ongoing pandemic.
An accompanying executive order and statement from Gov. Doug Ducey said the law allowed “some �lexibility around the state’s A-F letter grade system.”
Some parents apparently read that to mean the change applied to the letter grades their kids receive – not their kids’ schools.
Phoenix resident Lori Worachek, who has two daughters in the school system, said her initial reaction was that the executive order was unfair to kids.
“It wasn’t the right way to approach it because it’s not fair to the kids that have been working hard,” she said.
But that was never the intention of the bill, said Rep. Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, the lead sponsor of HB 2402.
“Letter grades for schools are used by the state, by parents and by communities to hold schools accountable for teaching students,” Udall said.
“School letter grades include measures of student achievement on the statewide assessment, student growth, attendance, college and careers readiness indicators, metrics of various subgroups, etc.,” her statement said.
Suspending letter grades for students would cause serious issues with college admissions and preparation for future courses, Udall said.
In a letter accompanying his approval of the bill, Ducey said the law calls for students to continue to be evaluated, “while also recognizing this year is unique and provides some �lexibility around the
state’s A-F letter grade system.”
But those student assessments are no good unless the Board of Education uses the data to compare learning progress during the pandemic year to other years, Ducey’s letter said.
“Students have been kept out of school for far too long, and I have serious concerns about the learning loss that has occurred this past year,” he said in the letter to Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. “Getting kids caught up and on track needs to be a top focus of ours.”
Toward that end, Ducey signed an executive order directing the state board to use the AzMerit data – which he called a “critically valuable tool to gauge the educational attainment of Arizona students” –to prepare a report by Nov. 1 on academic progress in the past year and to present “evidence-based strategies to mitigate the impact of learning loss.”
The state Department of Education said it is ready to work with the Arizona State Board of Education “to analyze data around the learning that occurred during the pandemic and strategies to address the opportunity gap to help schools meet all students’ academic needs.”
Sergio Chavez, the president of the Arizona Parent Teacher Association, has no doubt that there has been a “learning loss” over the past year, as students and teachers have tried to �igure out remote learning.
Chavez noted the problems students might face when the teacher has recorded a lesson and an assignment, for example, but the student has questions and no opportunity to ask the teacher face-to-face.
“It’s not like you can say, ‘Wait! Did you mean this? Or is this what you’re trying to say?’” Chavez said. “You don’t have that.” Chavez hopes for strategies to get schoolkids caught up.
“I’m hopeful that it does turn into something that can help and that it can help catch the children who are behind and it actually becomes what it says it’s going to be,” he said.
After getting a clearer picture of the law and the executive order, Worachek called it “a good thing.”
“I think that’s a brilliant idea because it would be nice to get a perspective on the impact that the pandemic and virtual learning has had on the learning and the kids’ ability to be successful or not in the school year,” she said.
PUBLIC NOTICE
INITIATION OF FIVE-YEAR REVIEW AT THE FORMER WILLIAMS AIR FORCE BASE
The United States Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) has initiated preparation of the fifth Five-Year Review to evaluate the ongoing environmental remedies at the former Williams Air Force Base in Mesa, Arizona.
The Five-Year Review report is being prepared pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act Section 121, and the National Contingency Plan. Past disposal of hazardous materials, such as solvents, fuels and other chemicals resulted in soil and groundwater contamination. The purpose of the Five-Year Review process is to determine if the groundwater remedies, soil vapor extraction remedies, long-term landfill cap maintenance/monitoring remedy, and prescribed institutional controls continue to be protective of human health and the environment. The report also provides recommendations if deficiencies are found. The Air Force is the lead agency responsible for the Five-Year Review while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Arizona (Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Water Resources) review the report.
Public input is being solicited during the preparation of this Five-Year Review report. Any questions, comment, or input should be directed to the contact address located below. When the Five-Year Review is finalized, another public notice will be issued informing the community the review is complete. The completion date for the final document is September 2021 and it will become a part of the AFCEC Administrative Record for the former Williams Air Force Base on the web at: https://ar.afcec-cloud.af.mil/. Ms. Catherine Jerrard, P.E.
BRAC Environmental Coordinator
Air Force Civil Engineer Center 706 Hangar RoadN Rome, New York 13441 315-356-0810 or email: afrpa.west.pa@us.af.mil
Mesa �ilmmaker a Paul Revere of superbugs
BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
Afrightening documentary shows a president begging the world to take notice and provide funding for safeguards before millions die from a global health crisis.
Though it may make viewers want to wash their hands raw, this isn’t about COVID-19.
Meet Bill Mudge, who might be called “the Paul Revere of superbugs.”
President Barack Obama raised alarms about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” during his 2014 State of the Union address. Years later, the problem is still lurking, according to Mudge’s creepy “Beating Superbugs: Can We Win?”
The Mesa �ilmmaker’s feature-length documentary was scheduled to start
Mesa filmmaker Bill Mudge made it to Amazon Prime with his feature-length documentary, “Beating Superbugs: Can We Win?” (Special to the Tribune)
streaming last week on Amazon Prime until “an editorial emergency,” as Mudge put it, delayed the release. A fact checker
pointed out something in Mudge’s animal feed antibiotics section that sent him scrambling to edit.
From his Las Sendas home where Mudge did much of the research and computer animation, the �ilmmaker said he is con�ident “Superbugs” will be streaming by the end of February.
The movie trots around the globe, showing a tourist who nearly died from a superbug in India, discussing antibioticpumped animals in China and interviewing experts from several nations.
Mudge became interested in the subject, after he met former Phoenix Suns basketball star Grant Hill, who chillingly recalls recovering from a MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infection.
Hill talks about a fever that spiked to near 105 degrees, shaking so hard he thought he would die and, since recov-
ering, begging his children to wash their hands frequently and vigorously.
The project started 10 years ago, when Mudge decided to ditch a �inancial career and embrace his creative side by enrolling at San Francisco Film School. He had moved to Mesa after a post-9/11 lay off, then returned here when he �inished �ilm school.
Mudge said he expects ASU’s new Sidney Poitier New American Film School to boost a surprisingly vibrant �ilm culture around Mesa.
“Some of my friends in San Francisco will say under their breath, ‘I can’t believe anything worthwhile is happening in the middle of the desert.’ … But I’ve been to local �ilm groups and I’ve been really impressed with some of the quality there is here,” Mudge said.
Mt. View students compete as constitutional scholars
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Executive Editor
Have any idea why Patrick Henry refused to attend the Constitutional Convention in 1776 because he said he “smelt a rat”?
Can you explain American federalism to a non-American?
Or how about explaining to what extent the U.S. Constitution embodied the idea of the common good?
A group of students at Mountain View High School �ielded those and many other questions – and answered them so well that they’ll be representing Arizona in the national We The People, The Citizen and Constitution National Invitational in May, competing with their counterparts from the 49 other states.
Sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, the competition is billed as a “na-
The Mountain View High School We the People team has racked up the state title and now has its eyes on winning the national championship sponsored by the Center for Civic Education. (Special to the Tribune)
After making short documentaries on sailing and paratroopers, Mudge, now 60, is launching his �irst feature-length �ilm.
The production team includes Jean Mudge, his mother, who lives in Berkeley.
Working like nearly all documentary �ilmmakers on a shoestring budget, Mudge �igured he would save money by learning how to do the animation by himself.
“I was able to learn this right here in Mesa,” Mudge said.
He said he worked off a desktop in his home and “95% or more of the creative work was done here.”
One can say his “Superbugs” project has been festering for years.
“It started in �ilm school. My thesis project was a documentary about MRSA,” Mudge said.
He �inally found time to focus on a bigger project of the variety of antibiotic-resistant virus strains just as the coronavirus hit.
“We �inished �ilming interviews a year ago. We were just starting to talk about
COVID at the time — nobody knew how bad it would get,” he said.
The pandemic makes his project all the more timely, Mudge stressed.
“Superbugs follow up and often kill people after they’re initially infected with COVID,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backs up his fear: “Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health challenges of our time. Each year in the U.S., at least 2.8 million people get
tional academics showcase” in which students “display the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to effectively participate in our constitutional democratic republic through simulated congressional hearings.”
After their impressed handling of numerous questions in the state contest, the Mountain View students are now preparing for a battery of equally challenging brain teasers, such as whether slavery was a necessary evil in the union’s formation; what problems the principle of consent has on creating and amending constitutions; and how the concept of habeas corpus has evolved in the country.
Mountain View has a traditional of capturing the state title in the competition. This year is the school’s consecutive state title win.
It resulted from a lot of hard work by 19 students – Drew Allen, Aubrie Bradshaw, Laura Castro, James Driscoll, Cole Evans, Tyler Hughes, Haley Howerton, Tessa Jagoda, Hannah Larson, Daniel Manning, Christopher Manuel, Ryanna Peterson, Ben Philips, Waad Rahal, Aaron Robedeau, Reid Schwann, Pratik Shah, Susan Sharpe and Sam Stock�isch.
They were led by Mountain View
teachers Nancie Lindblom and Sasha Litzenberger during months of preparation that began in August and included individual study and research, lectures and discussion by experts and classroom exercises since this is a formal course for the seniors.
“We have different units of students that are working on different constitutional issues that they’re going to be presenting in the competition,” explained Lindblom.
“We have volunteers that are lawyers or history teachers or people in the community that will come in and work with them one-on-one and give them feedback on their presentation as well as their content,” she continued. “And we really have some good discussions with them about their content.”
Lindblom is a veteran coach/teacher of the We the People team and class; she has been the Mountain View program director the last three years.
The course mirrors the structure of the competition. There are six different units of study, ranging from the history of the Constitution’s formation to the philosophical backgrounds of the framers and other broadly de�ined areas that demand from the students a lot of thought and a deep grounding in historical fact.
Though they know the general ques-
tions in advance and have to prepare a four-minute statement in response, the students must then handle impromptu questions from the judges.
“They don’t know what questions they will be asked so we just have to prepare the kids in anything we think they might be asked so that they have the evidence to back up their claims,” Lindblom explained. “So, they’re using case law, they’re using historical examples, they’re citing the Constitution, they’re using the state constitution, they’re using current events.”
Like last year, this year’s national competition will be online – a bummer for the hard-working students because their predecessors got a chance to go to Washington, D.C.
That disappointment was just one of many weighing on last year’s Mountain View team as the members struggled with the prospect of no prom, no commencement exercises – and no classes for the �inal quarter of their senior year, Lindblom said.
This year was only a little less disappointing as Mesa Public Schools volleyed between in-class and online learning.
“We were just so pleased that they had persevered through the whole thing,” Lindblom said. “These kids have had their own struggles.”
Lindblom has been part of the We The
an antibiotic-resistant infection, and more than 35,000 people die,” according to the CDC website.
After talking to patients, doctors, researchers and experts in economics, government and pharmaceuticals, Mudge insists that, though it won’t be cheap, “We’re utterly convinced this is a solvable problem.
“Therein lies the challenge. It doesn’t matter if we have our act together here and in Europe if they don’t do anything in India and China — or the reverse, if the Indians and Chinese have their acts together and we don’t do anything. We now know it’s just one �light away,” Mudge said.
“COVID has shown us these things are moving around and will be on the other side of the planet in a day or two.” Information: beatingsuperbugs. com.
People program in Mesa Public Schools for seven years and had coached the team at Skyline High before going over to Mountain View.
And over that time, she’s seen the participants not just grow into good competitors but become better educated citizens as well, even entering law or politics.
“To watch these kids grow and to watch them just literally become experts on everything,” said Lindblom, “I get goosebumps… It’s aggressive and these kids just shine and they take that information, though, and it really sticks with them because of what they’ve done here. They really believe what’s going on in the world and in their community and in the government is important and they carry that with them.”
Mudge’s movie shows scientists researching not only cures to new threats but looking as well for superbugs that might emerge as threats. (Special to the Tribune)
Ex-chopper nurses jump into aesthetics
Jordan White and Phillip Schafer may have traded the adrenaline rush of working as nurses on a life-�light helicopter ambulance for the somewhat staid life of aestheticians, but there is one thing they’ve taken with them to their new Mesa practice.
They love caring for people.
And Schafer, 35, and White, 30, say they get a different kind of rush from their business, TriCity Aesthetics at 8413 E. Baseline Road. They also have a clinic in Prescott.
“I love making people feel amazing from the inside out,” said Schafer. “I personally was impacted by hormone replacement therapy; I thought I needed to bring this to the world... The world of aesthetics complements hormone therapy and wellness quite well.”
Phillip Schafer, left, and Jordan
Mesa.
opened TriCity Aesthetics on Baseline Road
runs the Mesa clinic while Schafer oversees the duo’s Prescott operation.
(Pablo Robles/Tribune Sta Photographer)
Added White: “Aesthetics is exciting and fun because we are able to make a positive difference and see it instantly in many cases. It is an art and you truly have to have the ‘aesthetic eye’ in order to have quality results.”
Both men remain practicing nurses, with Schafer managing the Prescott clinic.
They specialize in aesthetic medicine, men’s health and overall personal wellness. White also has been listed as one of the “top preferred aesthetic injectors in America” by Med Aesthetics America.
Married and the father of three, Schafer has a B.S. in nursing from Northern Arizona University and a master’s degree in nursing from the University of South Alabama. He was a nurse at Yavapai Regional Medical Center Emergency Department and �lew for Air Evac for three years. It was during his �lying career that he met White, who with his wife is expecting their �irst child. He also has his undergraduate degree in nursing and is completing his master’s work as a nurse practitioner. He got into �light nursing �irst in Miami and then in Virginia and Maryland before coming to Arizona,
“I love adrenaline and have always loved working under pressure,” White said. “I love taking care of the sickest of the sick.
Banner starts construction on rehab hospital
Construction has begun in Mesa on Banner Rehabilitation Hospital East, the third Valley venture between Banner Health and Select Medical.
The one-story, 59,344-square-foot building at 1702 S. Pierpont Drive, Mesa, will be a 56-bed all-private-room hospital when it opens in spring 2022. It promises state-of-the-art equipment and treatment for patients recovering from strokes, orthopedic injuries, cardiac, pulmonary and neurological disorders, brain and spinal cord injuries and amputations.
Select Medical, a subsidiary of Select Medical Holdings on the New York Stock Exchange, operates 95 critical illness recovery hospitals in 28 states under the names of Select Specialty Hospitals and Regency Hospitals. The company and Banner Health al-
Lynn Rosenbach, vice president of postacute services at Banner, said during the Peoria groundbreaking in 2019 that has expertise and a national reputation in providing physical rehab for signi�icant injuries and that acute care was the nation’s fastest growing segment of the healthcare industry.
“We have acute rehab units and often those are at capacity, so we wanted a newer designated space to expand this service line and meet additional demand,” she said.
The new Banner Rehabilitation Hospital East in Mesa is expected to open next year and will be the third of its kind launched by Select Medical and Banner Health. (Special to the Tribune) GOT
ready have two other facilities in Peoria and Phoenix that opened last year.
Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@ timespublications.com
White recently
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White
TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
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The job is certainly rewarding.”
The two men worked together as emergency �light nurses.
White said he relished “the ability to perform skills that are normally outside of the nurses’ scope and to function with autonomy in a chaotic and dynamic environment.”
Schafer said he also treasured the “grati�ication of knowing you made a positive impact on that patient's life.”
Schafer ultimately decided to open an aesthetics clinic in Prescott.
“A year ago, I messaged him after I saw he was opening his own aesthetics practice,” White recalled. “After one conversation, we walked out with a new practice opening in Mesa.”
Not that the change in career wasn’t a little intimidating.
“You would think for someone who took care of dying patients regularly, someone who would be using scalpels on the side of the interstate at 3 a.m., this wouldn’t have been scary, but it was terrifying,” White said. “I was hanging up a six-�igure income and stable job to embark on really
just hopes and dreams.”
But White said they share some common beliefs that calmed his initial anxiety.
“We both hold integrity and honesty in high regard – that was the foundation of our business,” White said. “We both have the same vision of businesses being successful when they take care of their customers/clients. We both hustle and are passionate about what we do. We both will work non-stop to achieve those goals…to a fault sometimes.”
They both look at aesthetics as “exciting and fun.”
“We are able to make a positive difference and see it instantly in many cases,” White explained. “It is an art and you truly have to have the ‘aesthetic eye’ in order to have quality results.”
And he added that he’s amused of where the detour his career path has taken, stating:
“If you would have told me a year ago that I would be injecting lips, running lasers and running an aesthetics practice, I would have laughed – hard.”
Information: 480-316-4139 or tricityaesthetics.com
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Limbaugh was skilled at �iring up hatred
BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ Tribune Columnist
In 1995, in a column for this newspaper, I made a serious error in judgement.
Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia had died of a heart attack while in drug rehab and I wrote about it. Speci�ically, I wrote that lamentations about Garcia’s death were ill-advised because of the way he and his trippy band glori�ied drugs. Garcia was simply one more “dead doper.”
Hundreds of calls and letters later, I learned a valuable lesson. Don’t speak ill of the dead.
I have not since, but upon the death of Rush Limbaugh, it might be time to again cross that line.
The talk radio titan died Feb. 17 at 70 after �ighting lung cancer for a year. I’ve been composing this piece in my head ever since, because I’m determined to do something Limbaugh rarely did in his more than 30-year run on America’s national airwaves: Be fair to someone with whom I had many disagreements. Limbaugh was never much for fairness, nor for qualities I admire in people who dwell in the intersection between media and politics: Respect for others, grace, compassion.
I’ve read a slew of Rush appreciations in the past 24 hours. Most described Limbaugh as “fearless” and ever-willing “to say exactly what he was thinking.”
If by that you mean making fun of Michael J. Fox for having Parkinson’s disease or referring to Chelsea Clinton, a teenager,
as “the White House dog,” then yes, Limbaugh was willing to speak out.
He was a master of outspokenness, enough to build an audience of 20 million Americans on 600 radio stations coast to coast.
Rush invented modern talk radio, an invention that pro�ited me personally. From 1999 to 2006, I hosted a talk radio program that ran opposite Limbaugh’s on the Valley’s largest news radio station.
While our audience was larger than Limbaugh’s, his audience listened to him for hours on end. That was the secret to Rush’s huge ratings – his “dittoheads” stayed tuned endlessly, never tiring of him af�irming their world view.
For them it was like attending church and listening to the preacher’s gospel. “Barack the Magic Negro” must fail as
President. “The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.” As for immigrants, “let the unskilled jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do – let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work.”
I could go on all day, quoting Rush “owning the libs” or demeaning the “feminazis.” Instead, let me draw a bombastic parallel Limbaugh himself would appreciate. The man was incredibly good at what he did, to the point where no one ever did the job better. It’s not easy to talk out loud for three hours a day and be consistently cogent, much less compelling to a huge audience day after day. Limbaugh was a genius of the talk genre, better than anyone who has ever spoken into a hot mike.
But that doesn’t make what he did worth doing. My Limbaughesque comparison: Ted Bundy was the greatest serial killer who ever lived. Florida executed him in 1989 and we’re still watching biopics documenting his murders.
If ever we crowned a Ted Bundy of talk radio, Rushbo would be the man.
I agreed with Limbaugh on taxation, smaller government and the death penalty. He, too, referred to Jerry Garcia as a “dead doper.”
Where I disagreed vehemently was with Limbaugh’s decades using his platform to gin up hatred, to make America more partisan, and to make Americans believe that anyone who disagreed with them was not wrong, but evil.
Rest in peace, Rush – the very same peace you rarely granted to others with whom you disagreed.
‘Mesa Mick’s city on boxing’s biggest stage
BY ZACH ALVIRA Tribune Sports Editor
Micky Scala has been destined to put on a pair of boxing gloves since watching his father and brother at a young age.
He looked on as the two trained in a local Mesa boxing gym nearby his home, waiting for the day he could put the gloves on himself and begin training. That day �inally came at 6 years old, and was followed by his �irst �ight at 8 in Las Vegas, Nevada. His love for the sport, and talent, has only grown from that point on.
“I grew up in the gym,” Scala said. “My brother was �ighting so I kind of picked up what he was doing. It was pretty easy for me just because I like to �ight, and I liked to watch my brother �ight.”
Scala continued to �ight at the amateur level as he grew older. He spent time traveling to other states to compete in national tournaments. He won several state and regional championships and picked up two national championships during his amateur career. In 101 total amateur �ights that led up to his senior year at Westwood High School in Mesa, he won 87 of them.
Scala, 16 years old at the time, made his professional debut in Tijuana, Mexico in 2019. His opponent, a 24-year-old man who had yet to lose. But that didn’t faze Scala.
The �ight went four rounds and Scala was named the winner by decision. His second professional �ight several months later, this one in Las Vegas – his United States debut – went his way by knockout. The �ight was part of the Mayweather Promotions card, owned by now-retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Word of Scala’s win on one of boxing’s grandest stages began to �lood the hallways of Westwood. Previously, his peers shrugged off his claim of being a �ighter. After his win, that was no longer the case.
“A lot of people were sharing the post after I won and they would say, ‘oh, he’s for real,’” Scala said. “They realized I do this professionally and it isn’t just a hobby. I would go in at lunch and just watch �ilms
“Getting the call from my advisor and being told we signed, it was one of the biggest accomplishments for me and my family in my life so far,” Scala said. “Being the youngest ever, I’m very happy. But it’s one small step to a bigger future.
“All of my family combined, we put hours into boxing. Just to earn that, it shows the hard work has paid off.”
Scala’s �ight that landed him with Mayweather Promotions was also his last since the pandemic began. He had �ights lined up, however they were all canceled.
While disappointed, Scala didn’t let it hamper his desire to improve in the ring.
and currently boasts a 4.0 GPA. Scala recognized the importance of mental health early on in his life and strives to be able to one day help others realize they have a place in this world even if they don’t believe it themselves.
After school he and his father train at a local boxing gym, which is then followed up with running and footwork drills. Before bed, he does pushups and sit-ups.
“I do about four workouts a day and try to study as much as I can,” Scala said. “It’s what has allowed me to be successful.”
Scala is hopeful to make a return to the ring in the next few months. Currently, �ights are tentatively being lined up for late spring and early summer. However, another surge in virus cases could once again put that on hold.
No matter when he is able to step in the ring, he vows to stay ready. He wants to improve on his current 2-0 record as a professional �ighter and continue to represent Westwood, Mesa and all of Arizona on boxing’s biggest stage.
on �ighters. I never really put it out there that I was a �ighter but after my �ight there were some cool reactions.”
Scala’s win in his U.S. debut did more than just rile up his peers at Westwood, it opened the eyes of those in charge at Mayweather Promotions. So much in fact, the company made Scala the youngest �ighter to ever sign with them. He was 17 years old at the time.
Scala said it was a dream come true for him and his family. Especially because of the support each one of them have for him on a daily basis during his training regimens and �ights.
From his brother, Chris, who joined the Air Force and was forced to miss his �ight in Las Vegas but was there in spirit, to his father, Chris Jr., who is his trainer. His mother, Amanda, has never missed one of his �ights stemming back to when he was 8 years old and meal preps for him while his younger sister, Marissa, is one of his biggest fans.
He starts his day with an hour of weights at a local Mesa gym, which is then followed by a few hours of classes at Mesa Community College where he is studying psychology and counseling
“People are starting to call me ‘Mesa Mick,’ and I’m embracing it,” Scala said. “To have Mesa backing me, it’s probably the greatest feeling in the world. Mesa is a super prideful city and I’m looking forward to putting on a show for them.”
Scala made his professional debut at 16 years old in Mexico and his United States debut at 17 in Las Vegas, winning the first match by decision and second by knockout. (Courtesy Micky Scala)
Mesa-native Micky Scala, a Westwood alum, became the youngest boxer ever to sign with Mayweather Promotions, owned by now-retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Courtesy Micky Scala)
Chandler store houses a whole wine-making operation
GET OUT STAFF
You won’t �ind grapevines or even grapes around Basil and Colleen Kaspar’s Chandler store, but inside you’ll �ind all the makings for the smallbatch, home-made wines they make, bottle and sell there.
What started as a hobby for Basil 18 years ago has evolved into Down Time Wines at 393 W. Warner Road – a store, a boutique restaurant-special events venue and a growing distribution center owned by Colleen, a former bank teller supervisor, and her husband, a vice president for IT at Bank of America.
Some social discomfort started all this.
“He always told people he was embarrassed to go some place and take a bottle of Mogen,” Colleen explained. “He wanted to make his own.”
And so he started doing just that.
He gets juices from various vineyards and experiments with various ingredients – whipping up wines like a peach chardonnay, three varieties of a Tuscan red and even a coffee wine. He also has a Christmas line which he puts out around Thanksgiving – and sells out of well before Dec. 25.
At most times, the store’s shelves are loaded with 30 to 40 different varieties of Basil’s wine creations priced between $12 to $18 generally.
His entire operation is housed at the store – a welcome change for Colleen from where he used to make his wine.
Back then, Basil’s hobby occupied “my dining room and my kitchen” she recalled until “I �inally said, ‘OK, this is enough.’”
Colleen quit her job as a bank teller supervisor four years ago to run the store while Basil splits his time between his job as a vice president of IT operations for a bank and orchestrating the whole fermentation, �lavoring and bottling operation at the store.
Basil executes the whole fermentation process at the store, using plastic barrels because they are easier to sanitize.
“We bottle it, cork it, label it – everything
all right here,” Colleen said. “We’ve got barrels that hold up to 150 bottles.”
“I keep a schedule of what needs to be done each day – this needs to be mixed, this needs to be racked, this needs to be started, whatever,” she added. “We might not have anything and other days we might have three or four to work on.”
The wine also has no nitrates or preservatives, opening the Kaspars’ product to an entirely new demographic.
“Many people who can’t normally drink
wine because it causes them to break out, get headaches or have other adverse reactions have come to �ind they can drink our wine with no problems,” Colleen explained. The home-made labels – and their brand name – have a sentimental attachment for the couple.
“It’s got a picture of Canyon Lake – that’s kind of part of the story of where I started. We had a boat at Canyon Lake and we love Canyon Lake and our boat didn’t have a name on it when we bought it. We had it in a slip out there and we’d go out every weekend and people kept saying ‘you got to name your boat, it’s not good luck to have a boat without a name.’ So Basil �inally came up with the name ‘Down Time’ because we’d go to the lake for downtime.”
They had to sell the boat when they started the store – and that was probably all for the better since they do more than make, bottle and sell wine at the establishment.
The front of the store can seat 30 people and before the pandemic struck, Down Time Wines hosted comedy nights the third Friday of the month.
They also host paint parties, where an artist comes in with table top easels so patrons can sip and create; “Fine Farkle Nights,” when patrons can play a popular dice game and relax with a glass; “Wine Wednesday” and “Fantastic Friday” for wine tastings all day from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
They also host birthday and other kinds of parties and a monthly dinner-and-wine event, featuring fare like prime rib and Italian specialties from restaurants that carry their wine.
Though they still hold the dice game nights – Colleen calls the game “like Yahtzee but more fun” – they have been holding off on many of those larger gatherings because of the pandemic.
Still, the pandemic hasn’t stopped them from offering memberships in their wine club, which patrons can join to have wine delivered or ready for pick-up at the store.
Aside from catered dinners once a month, they also have a daily menu of $5 croissant sandwiches, other kinds of sandwiches, chips, pizza and salads.
“The pizza we get from Nicatoni’s in Gilbert,” Colleen said. “He carries our wine and we carry his 10-inch pizza here. We’ve got three kinds and he makes them for us and then he partially bakes them and then we get them frozen and then we continue the baking process.”
They even have a gift shop with “winethemed items” such as glasses, tumblers, towels. And they even personalize their labels for special occasions and events.
“Those make special gifts for private celebrations and even for businesses that want to give their customers a token of their appreciation,” Colleen noted.
Information: downtimewines.com.
Basil and Colleen Kaspar have turned a hobby into a wine-making and retail business in Chandler. (Pablo Robles/GetOut Photographer)
Down Time Wines stocks between 30 and 40 varieties made by Basil Kaspar. (Pablo Robles/GetOut Photographer)
King Crossword
Obituaries
Donna Maria Dorris (Hamilton)
A resident of Gold Canyon, A Z died in a local hospital on February 2,2021. Donna was born i n Cuyahoga County, Ohio on June 9,1946. Her surviving childre n are son Isaac Demetrius an d daughter Hope Laverne.
Patricia "Pat" Moulton Fulks
Age 90, passed away De c 15, 2020 in Chandler AZ
Born in Montana to Norma n D. and Anna (Brend ) Moulton. The family move d to Glendale AZ in 1944.
Pat graduated from Glendale High School, married, started a family then attended Arizona State University, graduating w ith honors. A teacher for several years, i n 1969 she changed careers and went to work for B ashas' Markets as an insurance clerk, ultimately retiring as the Vice President of Labor Relations. Upon retirement, she enjoyed traveling and went around the US, Europe and Australia to visit her far-flung children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, extended family and friends. But, she best loved Arizona, he r cabin at Christopher Creek and her home and farm in Chandler Heights.
Survived by her children, Larry Fulks, Paula ( Fulks) Dickinson, Brenda (Fulks) Dossey , three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren . A lso survived by her sister, Sharon Adam s (Ken) and brother Bill Moulton (Ann). Pre-dec eased by sisters Beverly McGaffic, Sandr a H ilbink and brothers Walt and Dan Moulton . Pat will be remembered as a trusted, loyal and generous friend, big sister, loving parent a nd grandparent and 'Aunt Pat' to so man y n ieces, nephews, extended family and multit ude of friends. No funeral, she donated he r b ody to the University of Arizona School o f Medicine. The family hopes to be able to have a memorial later in the spring M emorial contributions may be made to a charity of the donor's choosing.
Obituaries - Death NOtices iN MeMOriaM
We are here to make this difficult time easier for you. Our 24 hour online service is easy to use and will walk you through the steps of placing a paid obituary in the East Valley Tribune or a free death notice online.
Visit: obituaries.EastValleyTribune.com
Obituaries
James Patrick Geraghty
On Thursday, February 11th, 2021, loving husband and father, James (Jim) Patrick Geraghty, passed away at the age of 78. Jim was born on August 4th, 1942 in Fairbury, NE to Merrill and Edna (Trotter) Geraghty. He received his teaching degree from Arizona State University in 1964 and Masters of Education in 1978. He joined the United States Air Force in September of 1964 to August 1968. He was a radio operator stationed in Okinawa, and while there, participated on the Air Force Track & Field team where he was nicknamed “Go Go Geraghty.” In 1974, he married Loreen Ann McCue and together they resided in Arizona and raised one daughter, Patricia Kelly Geraghty. He was preceded in death by his parents, Merrill and Edna, and brother Tom, who died in Vietnam in 1968. He is survived by his wife Loreen, daughter Trish and her partner Kristen, grandson Scott, brothers Dennis, Dan, and Mike, and sister Sandra and nephew Chris. Jim had a passion for teaching high school and coaching track and football, which he did for 34 years. He loved history and sharing that knowledge with others and was an avid reader and book collector. He liked backyard projects including woodworking, gardening, and home repairs, and enjoyed hiking and playing tennis. He loved animals and adored his pets, although his greatest passion in life was his daughter Trish, who he was so very proud of. He always said he was looking forward to being reunited with his beloved dogs one day, and we know they welcomed him home on Thursday. In lieu of flowers, please make a charitable donation to Marcos de Niza High School where he taught and coached for 30 years, or the Arizona Humane Society.
Employment General
Business Technical Analyst - BS Engg, Info Sci or rel. + 2 yrs exp. Rally, TFS, Agile, SDLC, SQL, Cherwell. Travel req. Mail res: Virat Inc, 6909 W Ray Rd #148, Chandler, AZ 85226
Financial Statement
Manager sought by K & R Tax Accounting Services, LLC (Mesa, AZ) w / min. Bach's deg i n B usiness Admin fore ign equivalency acceptable & 3 yrs; exp in fin'l reviews & presentation. Must have specific knowl of Canadian taxation regulations to overs ee fin'l statement o f
C anadian nationals P lease mail resumes t o K & R Tax Accounting S ervices, LLC, attn. : K elly Lowry - 2853 S S ossaman Rd, Ste A101, Mesa, AZ 85212.
Obituaries
SENIOR COMPUTER PROGRAMMER: Design, develop, scale and maintain infrastructures . Create, manage, maintain technical web-based info s ystems running on Java, Perl, PHP, MySQL o n Linux/AIX operating systems. Required to keep systems operational as directed.
Q ualifications: Knowledge of languages BASH , P ERL, & CGI. Exp. w/one of the major programm ing languages, I.E. JAVA, PHP, JAVASCRIPT, ETC. BS degree in IT or related field + 3 yrs. exp Job site: Mesa, AZ
To apply send resume to Crimshield Inc: info@crimshield.com
If Stability is what you are looking for, then MAAX Spas , one of the Best Places to Work in the Chandler area has immediate openings for 1st and 2nd shift production.
Many associates have been with us for 10 to 35 years and we are looking to add more to the family. Generous pay with full health insurance, paid vacation and sick time, combined with matched 401K program are the just the start.
Call today t o learn more about the opportunities and join the MAAX Spas family, 480-8954575. OR Apply online at maaxspas.com.
Senior Software Devel-
o pment Engineer (Jo b C ode: SV0601) sough t
b y 41st Parameter, Inc
i n Scottsdale, AZ. Pro -
d uce Java code relate d t o new features, enhancements & bug fixes f or the CrossCor e product. BS + 5 yrs. Apply by email at recruitment@ experian.com (Reference Job Code)
Prayer Announcements
PRAYER
Wanted to Buy
Manufactured Homes
Religion
Healing Ministry Sufi Tradition If interested send letter of inquiry care of Master Warren Muen 4340 E. Indian School Rd, Ste 21-126, Phoenix, AZ 85018.
Dear heart of Jesus in the past I have asked many favours. This time I ask you this special one (mention favour). Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favor not mine. Amen. Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted. Never been known to fail. Must promise publication of prayer. S.P.
Cash 4 Diabetic Strips! Best Prices in Town. Sealed and Unexpired. 480-652-1317
Diabetic Test Strips by the box, unused. Any type or brand. Will pay top dollar. Call Pat 480-323-8846
WANTED BY COLLECTOR
OLDER MODEL 22 CALIBER RIFLES AND HANDGUNS IN NICE CONDITION CONSIDER OTHERS I DO NOT SELL GUNS. CALL WITH WHAT YOU HAVE. LEE 602-448-6487
Motorcycles/ Scooters
1969 Yamaha R3. 350cc Engine. Great Condition. Located in San Tan Valley. Asking $4,500.00. Call for Appointment to see 480-223-2022
Region Technologies has openings for the following positions in Phoenix, AZ and/or client sites in the US.
Must be willing to travel/relocate. IT Engineer reqs US Masters/foreign equiv or bachelors + 5 yrs exp to design/dev/test systems/apps using Java/J2EE/CSS/Net/Database/Data Analysis/Mainframe/Testing technologies on Linux/Unix/Windows/HTML. IT Analyst reqs US Bachelors/equiv (3 or 4 yr degree) to test/maintain/monitor systems/programs using Hadoop/Bigdata/Tableau/SQL/Selenium/QA on Linux/Unix/Windows. Send resume to careers@regiontechnologies.com with ref # 2021-19 for IT Eng; 2021-21 for IT Analyst & ref EVT ad
BRAND NEW NEVER LIVED IN 2 BED / 2 BATH HOMES
$58,900 Financing Available
55+ Mobile Home Park in Great Chandler Loc. Call Kim 480-233-2035
BRAND NEW 2019 Clayton, 2B/2B, in AJ. 16x66, Central A/C, Front Porch, Covered Concrete Drive, W/D Hkups, 2 Door Refer, Gas Range, MW, DW, Spacious Floor Plan, Steps, Skirting, all set in a 55+ Active Resort Community, near Banks, Shopping and More. $68,800 Call Sandy 480-228-7786
2021 Champion Park Model 11x36, 1B/1B, Awning, Steps, Skirting, 2 Door Refer, Elec Range, Laminate Wood Like Flooring, Walk in Shower, 2" Blinds, Patio Door. All set on 5 Star, 55+ RV Resort in Apache Junction. $39,999. Call Sandy at 480-2287786
Carpet Cleaning Cleaning Services
Garage/Doors
Ask for Martha or Annie 480-495-5516 or 480-797-6023
Move
CITY OF MESA MESA, ARIZONA
16” WATER MAIN – SIGNAL BUTTE ROAD, PECOS ROAD TO GERMANN SIGNAL BUTTE ROAD FROM PECOS ROAD TO GERMANN
PROJECT NO. CP0828NP01
ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that sealed bids will be received until Thursday, April 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. All sealed bids will be received electronically at EngineeringBids@mesaaz.gov . Bids must be submitted as an unencrypted PDF attachment with a maximum size limit of 20MB. Any bid received after the time specified will be returned without any consideration.
This contract shall be for furnishing all labor, materials, transportation and services for the construction and/or installation of the following work:
Installation of 5,371 LF of 16” water main between Pecos Road and Germann Road, ahead of the construction of the future S ignal Butte Road alignment including valves, hydrants, corrosion protection, etc. Installation of 673 LF of 12” water main to connect to the existing line to the east of the Signal Butte Road and Germann Road intersection.
The Engineer’s Estimate range is $1,400,000 to 1,600,000.
For all technical, contract, bid-related, or other questions, please contact Donna Horn at Donna.horn@mesaaz.gov.
Contact wi th City Employees. All firms interested in this project (including the firm’s employees, representatives, agents, lobbyists, attorneys, and subconsultants) will refrain, under penalty of disqualification, from direct or indirect contact for the purpose of influencing the selection or creating bias in the selection process with any person who may play a part in the selection process. This policy is intended to create a level playing field for all potential firms, to assure that contract decisions are made in public, and to protect the integrity of the selection process. All contact on this selection process should be addressed to the authorized representative identified above.
Contractors desiring to submit proposals may purchase sets of the Bid Documents from ARC Document Solutions, LLC, at https://order.earc.com/arcEOC/PWELL_Main.asp?mem=29. Click on “Go” for the Public Planroom to access plans. NOTE: In order to be placed on the Plan Holders List and to receive notifications and updates regarding this bid (such as addenda) during the bidding period, an order must be placed. The cost of each Bid Set will be no more than $28, which is non-refundable. Partial bid packages are not sold. You can view documents on-line (at no cost), order Bid Sets, and access the Plan Holders List on the website at the address listed above. Please verify print lead time prior to arriving for pick-up. For a list of locations nearest you, go to www.e-arc.com.
One set of the Contract Documents is also available for viewing at the City of Mesa’s Engineering Department at 20 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ. Please call 480-644-2251 prior to arriving to ensure that the documents are available for viewing.
In order for the City to consider alternate products in the bidding process, please follow Arizona Revised Statutes §34.104c.
If a pre-bid review of the site has been scheduled, details can be referenced in Project Specific Provision Section #3, titled “Pre-Bid Review of Site.”
Work shall be completed within135 consecutive calendar days, beginning with the day following the starting date specified in the Notice to Proceed.
Bids must be submitted on the Proposal Form provided and be accompanied by the Bid Bond for not less than ten percent (10%) of the total bid, payable to the City of Mesa, Arizona, or a certified or cashier's check. PERSONAL OR INDIVIDUAL SURETY BONDS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE.
The successful bidder will be required to execute the standard form of contract for construction within ten (10) days after formal award of contract. In addition, the successful bidder must be registered in the City of Mesa Vendor Self-Service (VSS) System (http://mesaaz.gov/business/purchasing/vendor-self-service).
The successful bidder, simultaneously with the execution of the Contract, will be required t o furnish a Payment Bond in the amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price, a Performance Bond in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price, and the most recent ACORD® Certificate of Liability Insurance form with additional insured endorsements.
The right is hereby reserved to accept or reject any or all bids or parts thereto, to waive any informalities in any proposal and reject the bids of any persons who have been delinquent or unfaithful to any contract with the City of Mesa.
BETH HUNING City Engineer
CITY OF MESA, ARIZONA ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Mesa is seeking a qualified firm or team to act as the Construction Manager at Risk for the following:
Northeast Public Safety Facility
1304 N POWER RD. Mesa, AZ 85205
PROJECT NO.CP0913
The City of Mesa is seeking a qualified Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) to provide Pre-Construction Services assistance and complete Construction Services as the CMAR for the Northeast Public Safety Facility Project. All qualified firms that are interested in providing these services are invited to submit their Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) in accordance with the requirements detailed in the Request for Qualifications (RFQ).
The following is a summary of the project. The required tasks will be reviewed with the selected CMAR and defined to meet the needs of the project as part of the contract scoping.
The scope of the project includes:
1. Accommodations for two (2) Fire crews and one (1) ambulance crew, including up to five (5) pull-through bays for Fire and Medical vehicles.
2. Accommodations for Police personnel and operations.
3. A common space lobby, community/ training room, workout room, and conference rooms.
4. Parking lot
• Secured parking for staff and police vehicles.
• Public parking for community engagement.
5. Site improvements and utility improvements
ATTEST:
DeeAnn Mickelsen City Clerk
Published: East Valley Tribune Feb. 21, 28, 2021 / 36489
The City may include other miscellaneous improvements on the site, as needed.
The estimated construction cost is $23,500,000 - $26,500,000.
A Pre-Submittal Conference will be held on March 3, 2021, at 9:00 AM through Microsoft Teams. If you would like to participate, please send an email to Stephanie Gishey at stephanie.gishey@mesaaz.gov to receive the invite. At this meeting, the project team, including City staff will discuss the scope of work, general contract requirements and respond to questions from the attendees. The Pre-Submittal Conference is not mandatory but recommended. All interested firms may submit a Statement of Qualifications whether they attend the conference or not. All interested firms are encouraged to attend the Pre-Submittal Conference since City staff will not be available for meetings or to respond to individual inquiries regarding the project scope outside of this conference. In addition, there will not be meeting minutes or any other information published from the Pre-Submittal Conference.
Contact with City Employees. All firms interested in this project (including the firm’s employees, representatives, agents, lobbyists, attorneys, and subconsultants) will refrain, under penalty of disqualification, from direct or indirect contact for the purpose of influencing the selection or creating bias in the selection process with any person who may play a part in the selection process. This policy is intended to create a level playing field for all potential firms, to assure that contract decisions are made in public, and to protect the integrity of the selection process. All contact on this selection process should be addressed to the authorized representative identified below.
RFQ Lists. The RFQ is available on the City’s website at http://mesaaz.gov/business/engineering/construction-manager-at-risk-and-job-order-contracting-opportunities.
The Statement of Qualifications shall include a one-page cover letter that contains current company/firm contact information including a valid phone number and email address, plus a maximum of ten (10) pages to address the SOQ evaluation criteria (excluding PPVF’s and resumes but including an organizational chart with key personnel and their affiliation). Resumes for each team member shall be limited to a maximum length of two pages and should be attached as an appendix to the SOQ. Minimum font size shall be 10pt. Please provide one (1) electronic copy in an unencrypted PDF format to Engineering-RFQ@mesaaz. gov by March 11, 2021, by 2:00PM. Please refer to our website for the most current information on how to submit SOQs. The City reserves the right to accept or reject any and all Statements of Qualifications. The City is an equal opportunity employer. Statement of Qualifications must include the following information (failure to include may result in rejection of Statement of Qualifications).
Firms who wish to do business with the City of Mesa must be registered in the City of Mesa Vendor Self Service (VSS) System (http://mesaaz.gov/business/purchasing/vendor-self-service).
Questions. Questions pertaining to the Construction Manager at Risk selection process or contract issues should be directed to Stephanie Gishey of the Engineering Department at stephanie.gishey@mesaaz. gov.
BETH HUNING City Engineer
ATTEST
DeeAnn Mickelsen City Clerk
Published: East Valley Tribune Feb. 21, 28, 2021 / 36505
Public Notices
CITY OF MESA MESA, ARIZONA
NOTICE OF VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETING
RED MOUNTAIN PARK EXPANSION Project No. CP0932
Please join us for this live online Virtual Public Meeting to learn about the City of Mesa, Red Mountain Park Improvements Project. There will be a presentation showing renderings of the site layout, sports fields, lighting, etc. This will then be followed by a Q&A session where you can provide your inp ut or have your questions answered. This meeting will be specific to the Red Mountain Park expansion located on Brown Road between 80th Street and N Sunvalley Blvd. in Mesa, AZ. The project was made possible by Mesa voters in the 2018 General Obligation Bond Election. We hope you register and attend this on-line meeting!
You are invited to attend a Virtual Public Meeting where City staff will be available to answer your questions.
A SHORT PRESENTATION WILL BE GIVEN FOLLOWED BY A QUESTIONS AND ANSWER SESSION
Date: Thursday, February 25, 2021
Time: 6:00pm to 7:00pm
Location: Register online at mesaaz.gov/engin eering
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this project, please contact Curt Albright Michele Arrollado, Lucy Lopez and Juanita Gonzales with the City of Mesa Engineering Public Relations Department at (480) 644-3800.
Published: East Valley Tribune Feb. 14, 21, 2021 / 36325
Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC): The advertising requirements of the statute does not prevent anyone from placing an ad in the yellow pages, on business cards, or on flyers.
What it does require under A.R.S. §32-1121A14(c) <http://www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01165.htm> , is that the advertising party, if not properly licensed as a contractor, disclose that fact on any form of advertising to the public by including the words "not a licensed contractor" in the advertisement.
Again, this requirement is intended to make sure that the consumer is made aware of the unlicensed status of the individual or company.
Contractors who advertise and do not disclose their unlicensed status are not eligible for the handyman's exception.
