Congratulations to the City of Mesa Parks and Recreation!

Mesa received a $20,000 grant through the Let’s Play, City Construction sponsored by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) and KaBOOM!  The grant money will go towards improvements for a new playground at Porter Park, 420 E. 8th St. between Mesa Dr. and Brown Road.
Mesa applied for 2013 Playful City USA recognition and also submitted a Let’s Play grant application to the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and KaBOOM!. Mesa was selected to receive a Let’s Play City Construction Grant among the 217 communities that earned Playful City USA status in 2013.

“We are delighted to have been chosen as one of the 217 cities in the nation to receive this grant,” Mesa Parks, Recreation and Commercial Facilities Director, Marc Heirshberg said.  “As our parks age, there is a need to improve the amenities and update the existing play structures.  Through this grant we’re able to speed up this process and take care of the parks that are more mature.”

This will be the third park build for Mesa with KaBOOM!  In 2009, Mesa was awarded $230,680 to build two playgrounds, one at Park of the Canals and one at Beverly Park.

“KaBOOM! and Mesa have an important partnership to improve parks with generous grants and motivated volunteers,” District 1 Councilmember David Richins said.  “I am excited to see improvements at Porter Park to serve another of Mesa’s great neighborhoods. I know neighbors and local businesses will roll up their sleeves and work side by side, like we did on build day for the Park of the Canals, to remake Porter Park as a great place to play! Thank you KaBOOM!”

Playful City USA is a national program advocating for local policies that increase play opportunities for children. KaBOOM! created Playful City USA in 2007 to help local governments address the play deficit among children and it is through mayors, city council members, parks and recreation departments, school districts and community leaders that the program succeeds in benefiting children.

For more information about the public meeting, dates and times, visit: http://www.mesaaz.gov/roads/PublicMeetings.aspx or to learn more about Mesa’s parks visit: www.mesaaz.gov/parksrec.

The City of Avondale was recognized by the Center for Digital Government with a Digital Government Achievement Award Honorable Mention at an event on Friday, Sept. 13, in San Francisco, CA.

Avondale’s Angel Voice solution is being honored for improving government-to-citizen engagement.  The city service assists area residents calling in to register for financial assistance under grant programs, sends utilities disconnection calls so customers can prevent utilities turn-offs, and auto-notifies sanitation customers when holidays change their trash pickup days.  The city detailed significant time and customer service improvements produced.

In its 18th year, the Digital Government Achievement Awards recognize city, county and state governments for outstanding innovation, functionality, productivity and performance for websites and applications.  “As technology continues to evolve, governments are finding innovative ways of utilizing new technologies to transform operations and engage with citizens,” said Todd Sander, executive director of the Center for Digital Government. “This year’s winners have demonstrated the ability to adapt to the changing technology landscape, while creating first-class public and business services.”  The Center presented 57 awards in 10 categories this year.

Avondale has been on the ranking as a Digital City Survey Winner since 2011, reflecting the city’s commitment to be a contender among the nation’s most tech-savvy cities.

View the full story from the City of Avondale

On Saturday, August 28, 2013, five members of the Cottonwood Fire Department, Lieutenant Jeff Boyd, Engineer Jeremy Doerksen, Firefighters Kerrie Hawthorne, Joe Odell and Nick Garcia, built a wheelchair ramp for a local Korean War Veteran. These Cottonwood Fire Department personnel had responded to an emergency medical call at the veteran’s residence a few days before and had discovered that U.S Army veteran and retired law enforcement officer Wilber Quick was confined to a wheelchair but did not have a ramp to make the residence wheelchair accessible. Boyd, Doerksen, Hawthorne, Odell and Garcia decided they would like show Mr. Quick their appreciation for his years of military and law enforcement service and decided to build him a wheelchair ramp. They contacted the Cottonwood Home Depot store and explained the situation to a manager there. Home Depot agreed to donate the materials needed to construct a wheelchair ramp. Doerksen, Hawthorne and Garcia returned to Mr. Quick’s residence on a day they were off-duty and constructed the ramp.
Boyd, Doerksen, Hawthorne, Odell and Garcia’s shift supervisor, Captain Troy Hoke stated “this action displays a caring heart for the community and represents what paying it forward is truly about.”

Fire Chief Mike Kuykendall added “I am proud that our personnel had the initiative and compassion to take on this project and to represent the Cottonwood Fire Department in such a positive way.”

Maintenance and Operations Supervisor Steve Gonzales works to ensure the Town’s high use, high visibility areas are maintained.

By Donyelle Kesler, Digital Information Specialist

When residents begin heading out to their favorite biking and hiking trails and Little League teams hit the ball fields, Maintenance and Operations Supervisor Steve Gonzales is working to ensure all Queen Creek parks and municipal grounds are in top condition and ready for their use.

Gonzales is responsible for the Town’s high use, high visibility areas and also oversees department-wide purchasing, works with contractors and takes lead when needed on Town improvement projects.

“Our parks and municipal grounds are important to establishing and maintaining the quality of life and vitality in our community,” Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney said. “We are lucky to have Steve and his team in our Maintenance and Operation division. These professionals are committed to maintaining the Town land and helping to enhance the quality of life in Queen Creek.”

Despite having multiple individual responsibilities, Gonzales possesses a team mentality and believes that it’s through the hard work of entire Maintenance Division that things run smoothly.

“Nobody does anything without each other,” Gonzales said. “We have a very strong team that takes a lot of pride in what they do. For us, projects are never finished. When people say the parks or projects are looking good, our response is ‘We’re getting close.’”

Gonzales supervises four part-time and six full-time technicians. He makes it a priority that each member of his team has the opportunity to attend the most comprehensive trainings to perform to the best of their ability.

“Watching the team members grow professionally is really rewarding,” Gonzales said. “Seeing them come in green and being able to help them, making sure they get the best training they can so they can do their best, that’s what I enjoy most about what I do.”

And Gonzales’ workload won’t slow anytime soon as he begins focusing on upcoming projects such as the Town’s planned dog park and splash pad, both of which he’ll will be working to create a maintenance plan from scratch. He also recently took lead on a project to implement a Town-wide computerized irrigation system.

“Everyone goes to Steve for everything,” Municipal Grounds Unit Superintendent Rich Purcell said. “He’s really the go-to guy in our division and is always the first one here and the last one to leave.”

Gonzales has worked with the Town for more than eight years and has an extensive resume with certifications in pest management, playground safety inspection and turf grass. He is also a certified arborist, and has received certifications from the International Society of Arboriculture, Professional Landscape Network and the University of Georgia, National Recreation and Parks Association and Arizona Department of Agriculture Office of Pest Management. The days he can use those certifications outside of the office are the ones he says he looks most forward to.
“Those are the days I really enjoy,” Gonzales said. “I’d much rather be out in the field doing work than sitting in the office.”

If someone moustache you this question: Who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people wearing false moustaches? The answer now can be proclaimed: The City of Goodyear.

Yes, it’s official. Goodyear Ballpark staff received the news from London-based Guinness World Records on August 22 that the city set the record during its Star Spangled 4th event at Goodyear Ballpark on July 4.

And Goodyear now holds the record by more than a few hairs: There were 1,957 participants who helped set the Guinness World Record for “Largest Gathering of People Wearing False Moustaches.” The previous record was 1,532 people wearing false moustaches at Gilda’s LaughFest in Grand Rapids, Michigan in March, 2013. The record attempt of the largest gathering wearing false moustaches has remained popular throughout the year, but Goodyear covets the official record for now.

“We wanted to do something that involved a large group of people to get the crowd involved,” said Debbie Diveney, Supervisor of Business Operations for Goodyear Ballpark, “Moustaches are becoming very trendy right now, and we thought having people wear them would be a fun thing to do. We felt pretty confident that we could set the record, and we did it. We were hoping to double the number of people who set the previous record, but we did pretty well.”

Participants in Goodyear were given moustaches made of synthetic hair as they entered the Moustache Zone, located in the seating area behind home plate during the 4th of July festivities. In order to officially set the record, participants had to remain in this area during the entire attempt, and keep their moustaches on for a period of five minutes. The crowd was engaged in the zone, participating in the wave and dancing to songs including Macho Man and Y.M.C.A. while members of the crowd could be seen on the scoreboard’s video screen wearing their moustaches.
Video and photographic documentation, along with steward and witness statements were submitted to Guinness World Records Headquarters in London, England to verify the record attempt was done within Guinness’ guidelines. It took approximately three and a half weeks for Guinness to make an official determination of whether or not the attempt was successful.

Participants may purchase a Certificate of Participation from the Guinness World Records store online to commemorate the event and have a piece of proof that they were part of a record-setting event.

Planning for the 2014 Star Spangled 4th has already begun.