Lynette is the silver lining of a tragedy because she and her team provide support in people’s darkest days. She is responsible for the Glendale Crisis Response Program, which includes therapy dog Topaz.

The Glendale Fire Department Crisis Response Program provides crisis intervention. Their philosophy is to deliver an innovative service delivery that involves immediate Crisis Intervention to family, victims, and witnesses of tragic events; including but not limited to fires, drownings, unexpected death, or to support victims of a crime.

This program has been an effective tool for the past eleven years in dealing primarily with crisis intervention after a tragic circumstance through the utilization of trained volunteers and student interns.  Volunteers and interns are recruited and complete rigorous training in victimology, crisis intervention, communication skills, sudden and violent death, stages of grief, death notification, post-traumatic stress disorder along with many other profound and bitter circumstances.

Lynette works endless hours in the community and helps people determine what to do next while working through a traumatic experience. There are also no boundaries with her. After the Yarnell tragedy, she immediately reached out to Prescott and started volunteering her time and services for two weeks up there, literally working around the clock to plan 19 tragic funerals. Lynette has dedicated her life to helping people move forward in their lives and she continues to be an excellent Samaritan in her community.

A new addition to the Crisis Response program was adopted in 2008 to enhance the crisis intervention efforts. Lynette, is the owner of Topaz a three year old yellow Labrador retriever who was adopted from Paws with a Cause which is a service dog school.  Topaz is a tool used much like a therapy dog in a hospital, but the Glendale Fire Department uses him immediately on dispatched calls to calm down children and adults who love animals.  Several law enforcement agencies use canine crisis response; however Glendale Fire Department is the first fire department in the nation to embrace this program staying with the mission statement and providing innovative ways to give excellent customer service.  There is no doubt that Lynette and Topaz have had a positive impact in the Glendale community.

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Melissa Maddison loves living in the Town of Queen Creek and appreciates the clean and homey look of the community. It was partly due to those reasons that she applied for the position of Neighborhood Preservation Specialist when she made the decision to return to the workforce after staying at home to raise her three sons. Despite only having worked for the Town for slightly over a month, Melissa already understands the importance of her role in making the community look better.

“I like the neighborhood to look good, the Town to look good,” said Melissa. “I love helping to maintain the Town. It’s a nice place to be, to live, to shop.”

A typical day for Melissa includes taking in calls from residents, looking over complaints that have been filed using the mobile application “QC Connection,” and hopping in a Town truck to look for ordinance and code violations. Fliers advertising garage sales on stop signs and utility poles are often the biggest offenders in neighborhood preservation, and Melissa works face-to-face with residents to keep the community looking sharp.

“We also take care of any graffiti in Town and noise complaints,” said Melissa. “Our job is to help people understand the different ordinances in Town.”

“Having professionals like Melissa enforcing the Town’s regulations is an important piece of keeping Queen Creek a safe and beautiful place to live and work,” said Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney. “Her positive attitude and empathetic nature make her the perfect person for this role and a great representative for our community.”

Drawing from her previous career experience as a sixth grade teacher, Melissa says respectful communication is key to her work with Queen Creek’s residents. Her friendly smile and calm approach when confronting residents about complaints help make her job easier.

“I think if you go up and be nice to people they will generally be nice back,” said Melissa on her customer service philosophy.

As a resident of Queen Creek, Melissa is proud of her community and its history. She believes the most important aspect of her job is to preserve the history and to maintain the niceness of the Town and the community.

“I love being able to see crops and horses on my drives,” said Melissa. “It’s a neat place to come and live. As a neighborhood preservationist, I want to make sure it stays that way and to encourage people to be here, to do their shopping here and to live here.”

To learn more about the QC Connection program, visit QueenCreek.org/QCConnection. To keep up-to-date on all the Town’s activities and programs, follow us at www.facebook.com/QueenCreek, www.Twitter.com/TOQC_official and www.instagram.com/TOQC_official.

Written by :  Jen Snyder

None of us enjoyed getting our homework returned by the teacher tattooed with red ink, but sometimes it was warranted.  This scenario is repeated numerous times in the world of Construction Plan Review, and Jim Dawson is the guy wielding the red pen.

As a Building Plans Examiner, Jim pores over the construction plans of developers and builders to ensure they are designed in accordance with the International Building Code, Fire Code, Mechanical Code, Plumbing Code, Energy Conservation Code, National Electric Code, Residential Code, and the Accessibility Design Access Guidelines that developed out of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Builders sometimes take issue with corrections being requested, but Jim’s grasp of the subject matter and reasoned demeanor usually wins out. And sometimes Jim doesn’t have to say a word, like the time a design consultant was upset with several ADA requirements and insisted on meeting personally with Jim. The consultant’s objections evaporated when Jim rolled his wheel chair into the lobby to greet him.

Jim has been paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair since 2001 following a fall he took while on vacation in Canada. With his injury has come limited mobility and a greater reliance on others, especially his wife of 32 years, Tina. Before the accident, Jim was an active outdoorsman and traveled frequently while holding numerous jobs both in the United States and Canada. He has worked with Canada’s Department of Indian and Northern Affairs overseeing the infrastructure, housing and social service needs of numerous Native American communities in northern Alberta, Canada. He later owned his own construction company in his hometown of Kingston.

Meanwhile in Arizona he held jobs with Scottsdale and Gilbert, went into the home inspection business, and even operated a restaurant and bar in Mesa. He joined Chandler seven years ago and says he’s grateful to be working alongside many wonderful coworkers.

When asked about his life philosophy, Jim smiles and says, “I make a conscious mental decision each day to make it the best day I can possibly make it.”

In any city or town, great leadership is essential to providing quality services to residents and creating a plan for the future of a municipality.  Arizona’s cities and towns have great leaders in the visionary mayors and council members who strive to make their communities shine.

A perfect example of great leadership is Surprise Mayor Sharon Wolcott. Having served in office since 2011, she has kept the city’s focus on jobs, education and transportation, all while settling the city’s complex financial past.

During her time in office, Mayor Wolcott has helped Surprise develop a budget surplus and create more than 1,000 jobs for residents. These new jobs have created stability for residents while producing more than one million square feet of new manufacturing, family entertainment and shopping to enhance community life.

Mayor Wolcott has also helped rally the community to fix Bell and Grand Avenue, a major regional transportation issue.

She has put extensive work into fighting to save Luke Air Force Base and put the City of Surprise at the table to discuss Interstate-11 planning. She has also helped unite the West Valley on youth, economic development and education issues.

Mayor Wolcott is just one of many great leaders in our state who make Arizona cities work.