OK, some English please!  “Alternative Expenditure Limitation”?  Huh?  And, even the simpler “Home Rule” name doesn’t explain much on the surface.  So what exactly is this item and why is it on the Globe primary election ballot?

In 1980, Arizona voters approved a tax reform package that placed limits on expenditures for cities and towns.  This means that regardless of the money coming into the community or their actual needs, the city cannot spend over the state-imposed ceiling.  The limit is the community’s 1979-1980 budget with a small cost-of-living increase built in for each subsequent year.  However, the cost-of-living increases have come no where near to keeping pace with actual costs of supplies and services, so the limits set 30 years ago are now less tax reform and more economic shackles.  Fortunately, a back door was built into the legislation wherein local voters could approve an exception to state-imposed expenditure limitations and decide locally what is best for their own city or town.  This back door is lovingly referred to as “Home Rule.” 

If we pass Home Rule then we are allowed to expend the actual revenue that we receive to provide services to our residents.  Each year, we will be allowed to set our own expenditure limits after community input is received through a transparent budget and public hearing process.   Additionally, the city is required to have a balanced budget, so our expenditures are naturally restricted by our actual available revenues.  And, just to clear up a frequent misperception, Home Rule does not allow the city to raise or change the property tax or sales tax it already collects, rather it simply lets us spend what was already approved in the annual budget.

So, to make this more personal, let’s look at actual numbers for Globe.  Last year, our community budget was around $26 million which included about $1.5 million in our water bond revenue.  Because of the state mandate for a balanced budget and the subsequent outcome that we cannot spend more than is listed in our budget, our budget is usually expanded to make room for unexpected revenue sources like grants, bonds, or money received from court decisions or wildland firefighting.  However, if those funds don’t come in, then we can’t spend money we don’t have.  Consequently, the $26 million in our budget is really a “best case scenario”, but has never actually come in that high.  Our actual budget of what we bring in and what we spend is around $15 million a year.  [As an aside:  This number is impressively low for the number of services provided to our citizens.  The former city councils and city managers get credit for keeping us extremely lean fiscally.  There is not much “fat” to be trimmed from our daily operations!]  Now, if we pass the Home Rule Option, then we will be allowed to spend however much of our budget actually comes in (this year, it looks to be closer to $14 million, not $15 million).  However, if Home Rule does NOT pass, then the city can only expend the state-imposed limit of $7.8 million, EVEN IF WE GET IN MORE MONEY!  This would cripple our operations.  We cannot continue to provide the same level of city services at this limit, so we would have to make major cuts in ALL departments from public services like library and parks to more essential items like police, fire, water, trash, and roads.  We estimate we would have to lay off approximately 60 city personnel and completely close some of our departments.

So, if Home Rule seems like a “no brainer” choice, you might wonder, “Why is it on the ballot this year?”  Because the legislation requires that Home Rule be reviewed and decided again by local citizens every four years.  The City of Globe voters have approved the Home Rule Option every four years since 1980, as have 75 other Arizona communities as of 2009.  The residents of Globe are asked to again pass the Home Rule Option to allow us to locally decide what is best for Globe and not be shackled by state-imposed limits that take no account of our community’s service needs or income stream.

The City of Globe primary election will be entirely by mail this year.  The ballots will be mailed out on 2/10/10 and you will have until 3/9/10 to get them mailed back in.  Please stop and take just a minute to cast your vote and return your ballot.  I find it amazing how few people vote each year and how much power those few have to decide the fate of the entire city.  Be a part of those that make a positive difference!

It took men and machinery to plant several mature trees reaching 10-15ft each in the planters on N Broad Street . Photo By : Johnny Kay

Last week a variety of deciduous and non-deciduous trees were planted along the newly developed pedestrian-way on North Broad Street. The on going street enhancements are part of a collaborative project involving the City of Globe, Historic Globe Main Street Program, Cobre Valley Center for the Arts, the Globe Tree Committe and the group which calls themselves the MOB. The majority of funding for the improvements stem from a $98,000 grant which was awarded to the Downtown District this summer.

The trees were carefully selected for their low water usage and ability to provide shade. The variation in deciduous and non-deciduous insures the area will have leafy shade all year round. In addition the North end of Broad has been undergoing additional improvements according to Project Manager, Chris Collopy including guttering, new curbs, a watering system for the trees, and lighting. Bricks, pavers and benches will follow in January and when completed will invite pedestrians to walk the entire length of Broad Street and enjoy the Downtown District.

New curbs, gutters and watering system for trees are also part of the overall plan to develop pedestrian friendly walk-ways in downtown Globe . Photo by Johnny Kay

Volunteers are needed to lay the pavers in mid-January. Please call the Cobre Valley Center for the Arts at 928-425-0884 for more information on volunteering on this downtown project

A lighted bollard

Also- Check out the new bollards designed just for this project, and how you can sponsor your own!

Note: The 2009-2010 historic downtown street enhancements have been entirely funded from HUD Streetscape Grans and from generous sponsorships through the Bollard Sponsorship Program.

Can you think of one significant community project resulting in improved quality of life — that did not require foresight and strategic planning?  Do you recall any major municipal improvement that came without a price tag, or without controversy?
So it shall be with a recent Globe City Council decision to move toward a revitalization of our Public Library.
Is the Council’s majority decision to purchase the real estate on both sides of the existing Library (as a first step toward revitalization) — an example of visionary leadership OR irresponsible city governance?
Change — especially change that carries a price tag is an easy target. Maintaining the status-quo is usually the safe bet.  No guts required of an elected official to ‘just say no’ to a major expenditure that may not seem absolutely necessary.  Bold leadership is always a risky proposition in the present tense.  Naysayers will surely raise persuasive, logical objections. Such as —

• Cost. The price tag does not justify the benefit.

• Need. The proposed change does not meet the highest priority needs threshold.

• Planning.  The decision to act now is premature — careful analysis was not undertaken.

• Timing.  The project may be worthwhile, but this is not the right time.

Seriously, are not these objections entirely appropriate and logical? Yes, indeed!  However, such objections can also represent the predictable mantra to resist change and progress.  Simply put — it is almost always easier and safer to stand in opposition.  Inaction appears to be cost effective and risk averse.  Citizens and their elected leaders can rest complacently if things are just kept the same as ‘they’ve always been’.  Just postpone the tough decisions for the next City Council, perhaps the next generation.
One person’s ‘pet project’ is another person’s ‘sign of progress’.  The kicker is how to discern the difference!  So, which is it?  Was the majority decision by the Globe City Council to commit public funds toward a major library revitalization project (in these tough economic times) an act of wasteful, reckless spending for a ‘pet project’ — or a shining example of visionary leadership?

The library is located on the south end of Broad street and is flanked by two unoccupied properties which are uninhabitable. The City has purchased these with the intent of expanding the library in it's current location and keeping this valuable community resource in the heart of downtown Globe.

A few observations by yours truly, reveals my inclination to support this decision by the Council.  First, I see no evidence that a revitalized Public Library represents a ‘pet project’ of any Council Member — meaning that any Council Member is going to benefit, financially or otherwise, more than any other member of the community.  Secondly, it appears fairly obvious that a real need does exist to develop a first-rate library complex that all citizens can utilize and be proud of. (Yes, community pride is immeasurably valuable, although not so easily $ quantifiable.)  Third, if the cost does not justify the benefit — it certainly will not be due to the fact that both adjacent properties were purchased at substantially depressed market prices.  Finally, regarding ‘timing’ — IF the current location of Globe’s Library is the preferred location, then capitalizing on the two adjacent properties while they were for sale — at attractive prices — sounds like pretty good timing.
We Globe-ites can choose to maintain the status-quo (of the past several decades), and allow aspects (& assets) of our City’s infrastructure, especially Historic Downtown, to decay and disappear — OR, we can choose to INVEST WISELY NOW in projects that improve the quality of life for everyone in our community, and move us toward a more prosperous future with a greater sense of community pride.
I, for one, commend the Globe City Council for taking this ‘forward-looking’ action to revitalize our Public Library.

Reflective Note:   I fully recognize, and it should be stated, that conversely it can also take real guts to stand firm in opposition to ‘popular’ but wasteful spending.  Of course, the trick is to know when to ‘hold’ vs. when to be ‘bold’!  In this case — I say, ‘BE BOLD’!

Floyd Crank, Mayor Fernando Shipley, Clay McReynolds of Pacific Companies, Supervisor Mike Pastor, Mark Shellenberger, Ed Dawson

It was a tough slog to get to this point according to the developer and political leaders who attended Friday’s ground breaking ceremony for a new 48-unit senior housing development. Despite being billed as a senior housing development with the express intent of serving an older population who face special needs and fixed incomes, there was local opposition to the project from those who felt the development might turn into a low-income, drug-infested housing development – or those who simply didn’t want a building development of this size “in their back yard.” It took over three years and multiple city hall meetings, planning and zoning debates, meetings at local and state levels and closed door meetings to arrive at a point where bulldozers could go in and break ground on the project.

The final approvals coincided with the economic upheaval in September of ’08 and while the events of ’08 caused a delay in the project, according to Clay McReynolds,  the investors and banks held firm in their support of this project. A final vote on the project was put before the Globe City Council. The vote was 3-For and 3-Against.  The tie vote generated a discussion to table the vote for more discussion, or vote again. It was decided to vote again and with it still tied it was Mayor Fernando Shipley who stepped in to break the tie and cast the deciding yes vote to insure the project moved forward.

Floyd Krank and Clay McReynolds are the dynamic duo which got the project underway.

An artist's rendition of "Madera Peak", shows a nicely landscaped development which will provide 64 senior apartments, a laundry room, pool, gym and other senior-friendly amenities.

“I have seen seniors in this community who have to decide between paying their mortgage or buying medicine. I’ve seen seniors living alone in un-safe conditions in old houses which they can’t afford the repairs,” said Shipley. It seemed to be the general consensus of those who have worked so tirelessly on this project that the time has arrived to provide a better housing alternative for Seniors.

The development will include 48 units, an on-site laundry, exercise room and pool…as well as a raised bed garden which was suggested and championed by Supervisor Shirley Dawson, early on in the planning process.

The Pacific Companies recently completed Cobre Village last year – a64 unit development- which is almost fully leased with families and children who meet certain income guidelines. Floyd Krank spoke at yesterdays ground breaking about that project, which also met with local opposition who feared “low income” meant problem neighbors. Instead he says, on any given day you can see 10-15 children playing in the center couryard, and there have been no problems with tenants thanks to the oversight of the management who carefully screens tenants history and maintain strict guidelines as to who can and can’t rent apartments at Cobre Village.  Krank, who sold the land to the Pacific Companies to develop and help to spearhead the approval process, is proud of that development and, as Clay Reynolds noted in his speech, ” Perhaps those who had concerns about this project will look back on it once it is up and running and say, “We may have been wrong. It is not what we feared.”

Floyd Krank and Globe Mayor, Fernando Shipley

Damolin is handling the intial earth work on the project

A crowd of approximately 50 attended Friday's Ground Breaking Ceremony

Dr. Glenn Wilt, who began teaching in the early 60′s,  distinguished himself as an educator at ASU’s  WPCarey School of Business. These days, however he is finding his reputation as educator eclipsed in the news by his reputation as a slumlord. Wilt, who has built a career out of teaching others about finance and real estate now finds himself at odds with the communities where he invests and the courts which are beginning to take action on his apparent blatant disregard of city codes and official requests for action. With over eighty properties – both residential and commercial- throughout Tempe, Superior, Globe, Hayden and Winkleman, Dr. Wilt and his company, Superior Development Co. are increasingly in the news.

According to many of his tenants and local municipalities, he has proven to be adept at side-stepping even the most basic requirements of maintaining his properties creating both a hazardous and blight condition in these areas. The East Valley Tribune and reporter Ryan Gabrielson covered the mounting problems with Wilt’s properties in Superior over a year ago.

It seems little has changed except for the resolve of local residents and town officials to bring Wilt to task for cleaning up and maintaining his properties.

Yesterday, in Superior Court, Dr. Glen Wilt was a No Show at a hearing where 11 citations for city code violations were presented to Judge Bravo. Many of the citations dated back to February when Wilt was asked to clean up weeds and debris and secure roofs and windows from the elements. The judge seemed to be in no mood to extend the leniency he had shown 30 days earlier when he had granted Wilt an extension on his court date. This time, he found the ASU professor guilty on all counts and issued a summons to appear for sentencing on December 17th at 3 pm. At this time the court can issue fines of up to $2500 per citation and/or jail time.

The Superior summons comes on the heels of a long-awaited trial- involving another of Wilt’s properties; The Pioneer Hotel. The hotel fire which consumed the building and all three businesses who were renting from Wilt,  took out the adjacent Globe Theater in July 2005

The trial is slated to begin in Gila County courthouse in Globe on December 2. Judge Duber will be the presiding judge.

It appears that Dr. Wilt will be spending more time in the courtroom than the classroom this Fall,  and that might prove to be his biggest lesson yet to pass on to his students.

Additional Links on the issue of Dr. Wilt and his Real Estate holdings.

AzSilverBelt on Wilt AzSilverBelt on Wilt Aug 12

KPHOChnl5 on Wilt

By: Linda Gross

The Globe City Council  voted last month, 3-2 to install photo radar in the city of Globe. The vote came after hearing public comment which ranged from concerns about Big Brother , and a perception that the cameras represent a violation of rights… to destroying the quality of small town life. Despite the emotions which ran high at the meeting, the effort of the Mayor and Council to stay the course and move forward with the contract to Redflex is grounded in a belief that a limited number of photo radar units will actually serve to protect small town life by making streets and roads safer for all who live and work in the area, as well as visitors who come here. They point to such dangerous stretches of road as the curve on Hwy 60 near DeMarcos where people pulling out into traffic have to compete with poor visibility and drivers going – on average- 20 miles over the 45mph posted limit.

Redflex Stationary Camera

According to Police Chief Dan Melvin there have been 585 accidents, 231 injuries and 4 deaths. And on Ash Street alone, where the High School borders the Highway there have been 123 accidents and 32 injuries. This is especially problematic since most people driving through our community are not aware of the High School and the likelihood of student pedestrian traffic.

Melvin acknowledged that he was initially against photo radar for some of the same reasons cited by local citizens; invasion of privacy, Big Brother etc. However. once he took a tour of the Redflex headquarters in Phoenix and did some additional research on the issue, he became supportive of the cameras. “Just consider the value to a local merchant of security cameras in his store. If someone steals merchandise, he has it on camera. We don’t consider that invasion of privacy. How is it that we consider cameras on public roads to catch speeders and red-light runners an “invasion of privacy?”

As for the argument that the cameras “make people guilty before they are tried, Melvin explains that the two options you have when handed a ticket by an officer is (1) pay the ticket as it stands or (2) go to court and argue your case. Drivers will have exactly the same options with tickets issued by photo radar. The term “reasonable and prudent” is used in applying the law and refers to the idea that if it is two in the morning and you are clocked at 60 instead of 45, it might be the reasonable and prudent thing to ignore the “violation.” The discretion of those reviewing the “violation” will be viewed the same whether it is photo radar or a uniformed police office which clocks you at 2am.

Melvin points to statistics which show accidents have decreased in areas which have photo radar. That, plus freeing up officers to pursue other issues which truly require one-on-one intervention from domestic violence calls to drug busts.

Globe Mayor, Fernando Shipley initiated the review of Photo Radar for the city after talking with the mayor of Star Valley, a relatively new community in Northern Gila County. Mayor Bill Rappaport reported a drastic reduction in speed on one stretch of highway which had a posted speed limit of 45. Prior to radar being installed the average speed on this stretch was 82 mph and there had been 8-12 accidents. Rappaport said after the cameras went in the average speed dropped to 43 and accidents fell by half. The community also receives revenue from the tickets which was another hot items in the public debate. Some felt the city was doing this just for the money.

While the income stream was not overlooked in reviewing the program for the local area, the program was first and foremost initiated because of its ability to reduce accidents and force people to slow down when going through our community.

City Manager, Kane Graves, negotiated a five year contract with Redflex with a one year “easy out”, whereby the City has the option of backing out of the contract with no penalties should they feel the program did not meet their expectations for any reason. This caveat gives both detractors and supporters of photo radar one full year to review the real-time data collected by Redflex on the local area instead of relying on stats from other communities (like Star Valley).

Since the mere mention of  Photo Radar conjures up such a love/hate battleground where successes and failures are held up by both sides as proof-positive that they are right and the opposition is wrong, the advantage of a year long trial basis – which is what the one-year “easy out” option- really is all about, gives some breathing room to both sides to get some much-needed facts on how the program works in our community.

Here is how it will work:

On the issue of Safety:

The Globe Police department has identified the most dangerous sections of road in the area. They include the stretch of Ash/Hwy 60 which borders Globe High School, the intersection at Hwy 60 and Main (Oak Realty), the intersection at Hwy 60 and State Rte 188 (Judy’s Cookhouse), the intersection of Hwy 60/70 and the entrance to the Historic District at Ash & Broad Street. (Entrance at the train trestle) and Hwy 60/70. Photo Radar will be installed at four of these locations and a fifth- mobile unit- will be moved around and used to address other problem areas as needed.

On the issue of Citations & Enforcement

The cameras will only record drivers going 11 miles or more over the posted speed limit. The tape on all “possible citations” will first be reviewed by three Redflex employees to determine extenuating circumstances such as “Did the driver have to accelerate to pass a large truck? Or did construction in the area obscure signs” etc. After the tapes are reviewed and approved by Redflex, they are sent to the City to be reviewed. The process will be handled by a Globe police officer or a trained and deputized individual. If the City approves the evidence submitted only  then will Redflex send out citations to the drivers. Tickets will be based on the existing rate structure – ie, higher fines for higher speeds- but Redflex takes $35 (or about 25%) and the balance of the citation is divided between city,county and state – as are all court fees. The monies received by the City for this program “will go into the general fund and be prioritized in addressing the needs of the community.”

On the contract and upfront costs

Redflex will incur all upfront costs of the program including (5) cameras and all administrative and field personnel required to maintain and manage the program. The costs of each camera is estimated at $150,000 and with the added overhead of personnel and oversight of the program it is estimated that the company will put out nearly $1 million the first year with no guarantee the contract will make it past that time period.

Redflex, which is an Australian company, has operated in the United States for nearly 20 years and employees over 400 people at their headquarters in Phoenix. According to their website, they have provided photo radar services to 240 communities in 21 states throughout the United States and hold the contract with Star Valley which was negotiated through the County two years ago. The contract which the City of Globe negotiated with Redflex drew on a joint agreement between the County and City which allows the City to take advantage of contracts negotiated by the County. This meant City Manager, Kane Graves, could “tag on” to the county agreement which has a preferred rate over any current rates.