Mesa City Manager Chris Brady at “Celebrate Mesa” event with wife Shawna and daughter Whitney

At the Arizona City/County Management Association’s Winter Conference Awards Ceremony, Mesa City Manager Chris Brady  was awarded the John J. Debolske Award, the highest honor that ACMA bestows upon an active Arizona city or county manager.  The namesake of the award, Jack DeBolkse, was the Executive Director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns for 40 years, and was an advocate for the council-manager form of government.

Chris was recognized for his 25 years of service to the local government profession, and most notably his outstanding accomplishments in Mesa by partnering with the Mesa City Council, city staff and our residents in creating transformational projects to build a better Mesa.  As city manager, Chris steered Mesa through some of the most difficult economic times in recent history.  He made certain that Mesa would be in a stronger position to progress during and after the recession. Even during these times, in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2013 the city was successful in having Mesa voters approve bonds for public safety facilities, utility infrastructure, streets, parks and cultural facilities to enhance the lives of Mesa residents.

Mesa has recently achieved great economic development success in extending light rail through downtown Mesa which will open in 2015 with another 2-mile extension planned to open in 2018;  recruited five liberal arts colleges to Mesa,  housing some of them in once vacant buildings; retained the Chicago Cubs and just opened the new Cubs Spring Training Complex and adjacent spectacular Riverview Park;  came to an agreement with the Oakland Athletics to rehab the Cubs former stadium so they can begin Spring Training in 2015; and brought an Apple manufacturing facility to Mesa. Through Chris’ leadership, these successes have gained Mesa national and international recognition as being tactically bold and forward thinking.

Chris was also recognized for creating a leadership pipeline, fostering the next generation of local government leaders and ensuring the future success of the city of Mesa by developing all levels of the organization. Chris regularly meets with college students to share his expertise, has created internship and full-time employment opportunities for recent college graduates, created the Executive Manager Program which rotates four city employees per year through the city manager’s office, and regularly shares Mesa’s best practices with other communities at national and state conferences.

“This is an incredible and unexpected honor.” Brady said, “I have devoted my professional life to public service and my experience in the city of Mesa over the last 8 years has been both challenging and rewarding. The community, city employees and elected officials have worked hard to bring many successful projects and initiatives to fruition.”

The fact that Arizona is a “leader of science, technology, and innovation” must be celebrated. During Arizona SciTech, this is exactly the commitment Arizonans enthusiastically fulfill.

While the festival generates awareness of what an “immense potential” both research and technology offer to the state’s bright future,  residents engaging in its various events and activities will also encompass the significant roles both fields have played throughout  Arizona’s past and in maintaining its dignitary present. The SciTech Festival is recognized state-wide as a “powerful vehicle for leveraging productive synergy in the scientific, educational, and business communities.” This  celebration continues to not only further address the state’s education, economic, and workforce needs, but is dedicated to increasing the number of future leaders and innovators in all STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Throughout both February and March, cities and towns will commence SciTech Festival in unique and fun ways. Residents scattered throughout Arizona will appreciate the especially diverse scattering of event settings, and can count on topics and activities that will capture their interest. From concerts to workshops, the majority of occurrences are free, completely open to the public, and even within close proximity of public transportation.

The City of Glendale kicks off its 2nd Annual Passport to science Series. A proud partner of the Arizona SciTech Festival, Glendale is hosting a series of events to promote science, technology, engineering and math within their city. They are also collaborating with the Glendale-based HEROES for Students in a joint initiative to promote science to students.

The City of Cottonwood will host an interactive session of water system testing followed by a tour of it’s wastewater treatment plant. Residents will see how their city utilizes biology and chemistry to not only turn wastewater into reclaimed water, but even recycle it.

The City of Chandler will dedicate three days to invention exploration. Residents can take advantage of the unique opportunities to explore the discoveries and science instrumental to daily life.

The Town of Gilbert is giving residents and visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the science of the city, with tours featuring its water treatment plant and innovative solar projects.

The City of Tempe will blend science, technology and fun during its Geek’s Night Out. This family-friendly event will host several booths showing how the next generation of Tempe’s workforce  is using science to address world-wide concerns.

The City of Buckeye held its air fair event last weekend, where attendees enjoyed seeing aviation demonstrations, aircraft displays, and even a car show, among many other features.

 The City of Scottsdale’s Science Week promises fun for everyone as residents fuel their imaginations and learn about the science’s contribution to baseball and various city services. 

To learn about the Arizona  Sci-Tech Festival and see a full listing of upcoming events, visit: azscitechfest.org.

In Apache Junction, George Hoffman serves as the City Manager. Serving his community since 1987, Hoffman is an excellent leader, implementing long-lasting improvements and holding high ethical standards. He has prepared the community for growth, positively positioned the community with a low level of bonded indebtedness and demonstrated that Apache Junction is a community on the forefront with the first LEED Certified municipal building in Arizona.

George has not only benefited the citizens of Apache Junction; he strives to ensure positive and proactive partnerships with the business community, as well as other government entities in the region. Hoffman said that as city employees, they are “blessed to have responsibility for an organization and for a community.” He said that they “do not ‘own’ the organization, but we have the opportunity to serve others and to leave an organization and a community better than when we started.”

For his leadership and dedication, George recently received the 2013 Dwight W. Patterson Lifetime Achievement Award from the East Valley Partnership.

City managers like George are some of the many people who make Arizona cities and towns work!

The Arizona cities and towns of Queen Creek, Oro Valley and Yuma are making 2014 a celebration of their past, present, and future. In honor of Queen Creek’s 25th year as an incorporated town, its residents are invited to help design a special commemorative flag. Designs are encouraged to include symbols, original logos, text, and anything residents believe represents their unique community. While all submissions will be featured on the town’s websites and various social media outlets, the winner will enjoy having his or her flag flown proudly in Queen Creek during the rest of year.

To recognize its 40th year as an incorporated town, Oro Valley will be encouraging its students, K-12, to participate in  a “Life in OV” art contest. Entries may include  simple artwork or photography, or even a video clip, altered image, or digital collage for the especially tech savvy. Each participant should include a brief explanation of how their creation embodies life in Oro Valley.  All artwork entries will be displayed at Oro Valley Town Hall, and Mayor Hiremath will announce  the four lucky winners at Steam Pump Ranch. Winners will not only enjoy a special lunch invitation with the Mayor himself, but a $100 gift card and even a family four pack of day passes to the town’s Aquatic Center.

The City of Yuma will be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and residents and visitors will not want to miss the official April 7th kick-off to the city’s Centennial Celebration.  Attendees will enjoy the proclamation by Mayor Doug Nicholls and the lighting of the new Main Street signs by Governor Brewer.  The talented Ms. Arizona will even be singing the National Anthem. On the 9th, the city’s Art Center will unveil  a photo display 100 years in the making. Residents will not only get a glimpse of what life has been like in Yuma from 1914 to now, but will do so enjoying live entertainment and light refreshments. Anyone with a photo to contribute to this special display may contact the Yuma Art Center at 928.373.5202.

Monday, Jan. 20 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and celebrations in 2014 will serve to strengthen communities and accomplish collective goals. The Corporation for National and Community Service has set this day aside as a day of service nationwide, to honor the memory and service of Dr. King. Many of Arizona’s cities and towns will honor Dr. King’s commitment to creating positive community change through various clean-up tasks and volunteer projects.

Phoenix volunteers will come together to for a special garden harvest project that will provide a healthy food source to low income residents.

Nearly 200 of Glendale participants will spend the day at Sahuaro Ranch Park Historic Area picking citrus for use in food boxes from St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance.

Show Low volunteers and employees will meet at their City Hall to carry out various community cleaning assignments.

City of Mesa participants will take the day to show their appreciation for a retired Air Force Veteran by painting the exterior of his home

Clearly, cities and towns in Arizona are committed to, as Show Low says, transforming the holiday from a “day off” to a “day on.”  

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.

As the City Manager of Goodyear, Brian Dalke is always thinking about how to make the city better into the future. His forward-thinking attitude has been the guiding aspect for recently adopting a new city strategic plan and implementing a city-wide performance measure program.

He is also focused on the city’s residents, working with city employees to ensure that they are satisfied with the work their city is doing. He works closely with the Human Resources Department to develop an employee appraisal tool that is aligned to core customer service values. He has also started an initiative for Priority Based Budgeting, which will help facilitate meaningful communication between Council and staff about resources and their city initiatives.

Before becoming City Manager, Brian spent twenty years working for the city, learning the culture of Goodyear. He joined as an Economic Development Director, leading the small city as it made its mark in the West Valley. In his role there, he helped charge on many development agreements and projects that still continue to sustain the city.

His role in development continued as Deputy City Manager, where he oversaw key projects like the Estrella Falls Regional Mall agreement, which is slotted to bring a 1.2 million square-foot regional shopping center to the West Valley in 2016. In addition, the was instrumental in the development of the Goodyear Ballpark and Recreational Development Complex, which serves as a year-round economic engine for the community, and a venue for many events for the community to enjoy.

Brian likes to say that in Goodyear, they are in the “forever business,” and his guidance is ensuring Goodyear will be prosperous for many years to come. He is one of the many reasons Arizona Cities Work!

On October 26^th the City of Coolidge, Arizona celebrated Make a Difference Day and Arizona Cities and Towns Week with three different service projects directed by the Coolidge Rotary Club.

These projects aimed at beautifying the city included: applying landscaping to the area next to Arizona Boulevard in front of the Hohokam RV Park, cleaning up and landscaping around the sign that welcomes people to Coolidge and cleaning up the property of Boulevard Bob’s auto shop on Arizona and Kensworthy.

Rick Miller, a Rotarian and director of the city’s growth management department was in charge of the service project. In addition, volunteers included people from Coolidge High School, Imagine Prep and many others from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Taking pride in our municipalities the main theme for Arizona Cities and Towns week.  Miller States, “when people come into town, you don’t want them to see graffiti, you don’t want them to see trash, you don’t want them to see junk cars…

You want them to come into town and say that there is a community of people here who care, and it shows.”

Arizona Cities and Towns Week is set aside each year to provide citizens with important information about the services and programs provided by their city/town.

Thank you City of Coolidge for participating in Arizona Cities and Towns week!