Water drive / P. 3
Museum master / P. 14
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Big ifs confront big rebound for economy here
INSIDE
This Week
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Executive Editor
NEWS ........................ 8 Downtown project triggers City Hall flap.
COMMUNITY ........
16
Mesa native's school opens film industry doors.
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rizona and the East Valley will recover from the pandemic-fueled recession and become global economic giants over the next 10 years if business and political leaders invest in infrastructure and education – and strap on their seatbelts for lightningfast change. That was the gist of three presentations last week to the PHX East Valley Partnership, an in�luential group of business, education and community leaders. Holding their annual meeting virtually for the �irst time to observe social distancing, they heard sobering but upbeat forecasts from Ari-
zona State University President Michael Crow, Greater Phoenix Economic Council President/ CEO Chris Camacho and Dennis Hoffman of ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business. While Camacho and Hoffman – economist/ director of the Carey School’s L. William Seidman Research Institute – provided analyses of how quickly the state and region might rebound from the recession, Crow starkly outlined the challenge ahead. “What’s going to happen in the future is all things are going to accelerate – technological change, economic change, social change, cultural change, biological change. They’re all going to be accelerated,” Crow said. “What that means, then, is that if you want to win economically, if you want to be com-
Talking about race
He's building Eastmark High's baseball program. COMMUNITY ............................... 16 BUSINESS ..................................... 19 OPINION ....................................... 21 SPORTS......................................... 22 PUZZLES ...................................... 23 CLASSIFIED ................................. 23 1
The killing of a black man in Minneapolis has triggered mass protests nationwide, but in Mesa, it's prompting soul-searching conversations involving people like Mesa High assistant basketball Coach Tony Darden and Mesa Mayor John Giles. For details, see page 4. (Tribune file photo)
petitive going forward, your agility is going to be really, really important.” All three speakers stressed that an educated, nimble workforce – coupled with a huge investment in transportation and hi-tech infrastructure – are critical to a durable and vibrant post-pandemic rebuilding of the regional and state economy. “The agility of your workforce will be even more important; for them to adapt to technological change, even more important; your ability to deal with disruption, even more important; your ability to be resilient, even more important,” Crow said. “And if you aren’t those things and if you’re
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‘Map’ to school reopening charting a rocky road BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Executive Editor
SPORTS ............... 20
Zone
Sunday, June 7, 2020
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s Mesa Public Schools continues planning for students’ return to its campuses in August, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman’s 35-page “roadmap” for reopening schools could become a handy tool for parents. Even though it includes several strongly worded disclaimers warning it is neither a legal document nor necessarily error-free, the roadmap is �illed with questions that could
help parents decide whether they want to send their children back to school – and suggests what questions they should be asking before they decide. No school district in Arizona had a stronger presence than MPS in the making of the document. Nine Mesa teachers and other staff were among dozens of educators from across the state who provided input. Of eight subcommittees that worked on various aspects addressed in the document, only the
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