The Queen Creek Town Council recently approved the conceptual design for a new park, located on the West Park site a 196^th Street and Appleby Road, near Ocotillo and Sossaman roads. The 30-acre park will help meet the need for additional parks and recreational space in the community. The conceptual design includes lighted baseball/softball fields, lighted multi-purpose field (soccer, football, etc.), play and picnic areas, splash pad, wheel park, walking trail, lake, restrooms and concessions.   

“Approving the conceptual design takes us one step closer to having a new park in Queen Creek,” stated Mayor Gail Barney. “The conceptual design provides a framework for the park as it is developed. As a Town Council, we are very excited about the quality of the new park. Over the past several years we’ve seen a number of new homes being built in our community, and every new home results in impact fees that ensure that growth pays for the impacts of growth. We’re using our bank of impact fees that have been accrued over the years to pay for this much-needed new facility in our community. As a Town, we have to balance the needs for recreation opportunities with making sound financial decisions with taxpayer dollars.” 

West Park, which will be named as the park is developed, will be funded through a variety of sources. The park improvements will be completely funded through impact fees designated specifically for parks. The parking and streets associated with West Park will be funded through street impact fees and the two percent dedicated construction sales tax, and the lake will be funded with water and wastewater capacity fees and savings. Changes at the state legislature in 2011 dramatically impacted the use of development fees, restricting the use for new parks to 30 acres, and eliminating the use of impact fees to fund recreational centers larger than 3,000 square feet. 

The development of a new park is supported by feedback on the 2016 Queen Creek Citizen Survey and the 2016 Parks and Recreation Survey, completed for the Parks and Recreation Master Plan Update. In the 2016 Queen Creek Citizen Survey, more recreation opportunities and more parks were both in the top 10 most desired benefits. The 2016 Parks and Recreation Survey had similar results, with 53% of respondents indicating they felt Queen Creek needs more parks and 24 to 29% reporting they felt Queen Creek needs more fields (softball, soccer, baseball, and football). The development of West Park also supports two goals identified in the Town’s Corporate Strategic Plan, superior infrastructure and quality lifestyle.

View the full release and get more information by clicking here. 

The City of Mesa held a ribbon cutting ceremony to bring in a new playground in their Dobson Ranch Park.

The park includes several new inclusive features including a multi-level play structure that has activities connected through ramps, sensory play sandbox, a double zip line with a supported seat, a climbing wall, cozy cocoon for children who need quiet space and updated restrooms to meet ADA requirements, among others.

The 10,000 square-foot playground will allow parents and caregivers to play alongside their child.

The previous playground was donated to the Mesa Sister City of Guaymas, Mexico.

For more information on the new playground and City of Mesa Parks and Recreation, click here.

Save the date for this unique annual event! Trunk or Treat provides a safe environment for families to enjoy an inexpensive evening of Halloween fun in a festival atmosphere! Children trick-or-treat by going from car trunk to car trunk on “Trunk or Treat Street” to get their bag filled with goodies. Individuals or groups sign up to host and decorate a trunk, and the Town provides all the candy to be given out at the event. Admission is free.

Ghouls, goblins and ghosts of all ages will enjoy a festival of activities. So come out and join us for some ghoulish games, frightening food and freaky fun.

The 2016 Republic Services Arizona Celebration of Freedom is Monday, July 4 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. For the third consecutive year, this free event and the “coolest” independence festival in Arizona, will be held at the Mesa Convention Center and Mesa Amphitheatre campus, 263 N. Center St., and along Center Street between First Street and University Drive.

Fireworks will begin at 9:30 p.m.

The Arizona Celebration of Freedom includes live music, patriotic displays, a naturalization ceremony, family fun, fireworks and much more! The festival will include Revolutionary War reenactments from We Make History, the only reenactment group of its type in the southwestern United States. There will also be a Fallen Heroes Memorial honoring the Arizona fallen heroes from the war on terrorism and much more.

There is a new way to get there now that light rail travels through downtown Mesa! Passengers can exit at the Center and Main Street stop and travel north just two blocks on Center Street to reach the event.

The 2016 Republic Services Arizona Celebration of Freedom is presented by KOOL-FM, Downtown Mesa Association, Visit Mesa and the City of Mesa. Other sponsors are Sertoma Club, Entertainment Solutions Inc., American Traffic Solutions, Wal-Mart, Boeing, FCI Constructors, Haydon Building Company, Hilton Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona Republic, Crescent Crown Distributing, CORE Construction, Valley Metro Rail, Century Graphics, Mesa Recycles, Mesa Water, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Phoenix-Mesa Marriott, Mesa Energy Resources and Special Devices Inc.

JEFF BELL
Parks and Recreation Director
City of Apache Junction

There wasn’t a blade of grass in the name of Apache Junction Parks and Recreation, let alone a ball court or a piece of playground equipment. The city itself was still in its infancy – just a few employees, some trailers that doubled as offices and a used dump truck.

That is what Jeff Bell walked into at age 23. Three and a-half decades later, he can look back at having developed more than 2,000 acres of park and open space in a thriving operation that employs more than 100 full and part-time staff, has hundreds of volunteers and serves a community of tens of thousands, winning accolades from peers and citizens alike over the timespan.

The first Parks and Recreation director in city history retired earlier this year after 35 years of building a department from scratch.

“Jeff started with nothing and ended up with beautiful parks, a sparkling Multigenerational Center, and a tremendous staff to boot,” said Apache Junction Mayor John Insalaco. “It is nothing short of miraculous to see what Jeff has done since arriving in 1980.”

That year, a few weeks before Ronald Reagan would be elected president, Bell took the position of “community services coordinator” since there wasn’t a Parks department yet. Ground had just been broken on ball fields and tennis courts near Apache Junction High School. Bell began his job working with the school district to develop agreements for joint use facilities. That led to many projects, including the aquatic center at what has become Superstition Shadows Park.

Of course, Bell was destined for a career in recreation. Growing up in Casa Grande, he started volunteering with that city’s parks department before he was a teen-ager. He worked there through his school years and even after he went to Arizona State University, where he earned a degree in recreation management.

“For several years in our organization, Jeff was known as ‘Senor SOAR’ (Service Over and Above the Rest),” city manager Bryant Powell noted. “Jeff was our senior staff lead on this work. He embodied the idea. This was a several year assignment where Jeff took on extra duties to provide expertise to many city teams, helping them review and implement city staff customer service and process improvement projects.”

It started with Veterans Memorial Park on the city hall complex and now encompasses a system of parks, facilities and awards that rival any city. Bell oversaw the first programs, including a senior softball league that began right after he started to the comprehensive offerings of today. It was under Bell’s vision and leadership that Prospector Park was developed and, of course, the Multigenerational Center.

“Two things stick with me about Jeff,” said Klindt Breckenridge, president of Breckenridge Group, which designed the Multigenerational Center. “In designing the facility, Jeff brought up the idea of ‘connections’ – more than physical connections; but how the center would connect with all members of the Apache Junction community, seniors; young families; millennials; longtime residents and newcomers; fitness fans and leisure pursuits  – making the Multigenerational Center a welcoming place for everyone.”

Recreation Management magazine selected the center for its Innovative Architecture and Design Award in 2006 and Athletic Business subsequently featured the project in its publication.

But the list goes on – the Little League Park, Superstition Shadows Park and Aquatics Center which includes the skate park, Silly Mountain Park, and the Focal Point, all came to be over his time. Remarkably, Bell worked with the school district and the federal Bureau of Land Management to acquire the trails and open space, some of which became developed parks.

The agreement with the Bureau of Land Management led to what is now Prospector Park and the Rodeo Grounds, the Sheep Drive Trail (city multi-use trail) which extends for more than eight miles as well as the trails up Silly Mountain. The last 35 years also have included community partners, like the Superstition Area Land Trust and the Association for the Development of a Better Environment.

Acknowledgements abound over the years, from the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association and others. In 2004, the state association named Superstition Shadows Park the “Outstanding Facility for a community with a population under 60,000,” and the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Governor’s Office gave Parks an award for “Excellence in Rural Development” for Superstition Shadows Park.

In 2008, the Phoenix New Times honored Lost Dutchman Days with their award for “Best Place to See a Homegrown Rodeo.”

Bell also built a staff that is the envy of the region. Many have been acknowledged by the city and the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association. One of his protégés, Liz Langenbach, became the second Parks director in city history after Bell’s retirement.

Bell’s efforts continued right up to early this year in initial plans for the first downtown park, off North Apache Trail. The grass hasn’t even been planted yet – much like how Bell arrived in Apache Junction more than 35 years ago.

Boating Coordinator
City of Tempe

Born and raised in the city where she now works and still calls home, Alicia grew up in Tempe and spent her high school years playing varsity basketball.

Coming of age at a time when female athletes were finally starting to get the attention they deserved, Alicia saw first-hand how this recognition and the earlier passing of Title IX would come into play.  As colleges and universities were recruiting to fill spots on sports teams, San Diego State University came calling. They were adding a women’s rowing team to their collection of athletics and were recruiting female high school athletes.

Though she had never rowed before, Alicia was a respected athlete who jumped at the opportunity to move to San Diego and try out for their varsity rowing team. A year later, she was attending SDSU on a full ride rowing scholarship. She was the very first person in Arizona ever recruited to row at the collegiate level.

Meanwhile, Alicia’s hometown was undergoing some changes of its own. Discussions about the creation of an urban lake in Tempe had been going on for years and in 1999, during her freshman year at SDSU, Tempe Town Lake was filled.

Alicia enjoyed being out on the water and after graduating, she was brought on as an assistant rowing coach at SDSU. She spent two years in that position before becoming the director of rowing at the Mission Bay Aquatic Center in San Diego. The center, run by the State of California, gave Alicia her first taste of working with local government.

While she had come to fall in love with the City of San Diego, Alicia returned home to attend law school. In the midst of applying, she found a job posting as an assistant boating coordinator for the City of Tempe’s Tempe Town Lake. It was the perfect position.

Continuing her passion for boating and finding a newfound passion for working in local government, Alicia went on to receive her Master of Public Administration. After four years working as the assistant boating coordinator, Alicia moved on to work for four years as an assistant events coordinator in the city, followed by the position of senior boating coordinator, which she has now held for two years. Alicia is the third boating coordinator the city has seen since the lake’s inception.

As the senior boating coordinator, Alicia is essentially responsible for any activity that happens “on top of the water.” She oversees the boat house at Tempe Town Lake, which provides private storage for people to keep boats at the Lake. The City of Tempe offers recreation classes on the lake and Alicia manages rowing, kayaking and stand up paddling, in addition to hosting corporate, youth and teambuilding events. The lake also hosts three major regattas, which Alicia oversees. She also supervises junior rowing, which brings together students from all over the Valley. They row five days a week and travel across the country to participate in competitions. Many of these junior rowers hope to find success at the collegiate level, just as Alicia did.

And like Alicia, maybe one of those junior rowers will find their own perfect job someday. One where they can stay on the water all day, interact with the boating community and volunteers, and serve the city that they call home.

Judge
Town of Gilbert

Copyright – Arizona Republic, 2012. Michael Chow, photographer. Used with permission. Permission does not imply endorsement.

Gilbert Judge Nicole Laurin-Walker is a legal rock star.

Growing up just outside of Chicago, Nicole Laurin-Walker was a serious student of classical piano and competed regionally. Her studious manner led her to attend the University of Michigan where she received a degree in psychology and later the University of Arizona College of Law where she received her law degree. It was there in Tucson that she received her first taste of courtroom experience as an oral argument contest winner at the law school. She also spent time working as a Haitian asylum petition writer during a summer in Miami, a legal intern for Motorola in Phoenix, and an intern at the Pima County Public Defender’s Office. After law school, she worked as a bailiff at the Maricopa County Superior Court while she studied for the bar exam.

Her extreme focus led Laurin-Walker to become the Town of Gilbert’s first assistant town prosecutor in 1994. Back then there was only one prosecutor in the office, and she appeared before one judge. Her hiring at the time doubled the size of the prosecutor’s office!

As a prosecutor, she was in the Gilbert Municipal Court every day, appearing before Gilbert’s sole judge, David Phares, handling everything from probation violations to jury trials. After a bit, she moved over the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and prosecuted felonies before returning to Gilbert to write appeals for the Prosecutor’s Office. After her return, Judge Phares decided it was time to add a second judge to the court and Laurin-Walker applied, despite being only 27 at the time. She was offered the job and has held the position ever since.

When a person is accused of committing a misdemeanor in the Town of Gilbert, Judge Laurin-Walker begins her duties. When the individual first appears in court, her job is to make sure they understand the charges they face and the rights they have, appoint them an attorney if they are eligible, listen to the victim’s concerns, and then set some release conditions to make sure the accused person will appear at future court dates. If a person pleads not guilty, she will set the case for trial, making decisions before the trial about what evidence should be allowed and what should be kept out. During an actual trial, she questions jurors to make sure they are fair and impartial, decide which rules of law the jurors will be required to follow, and make sure proper procedures are followed by the parties so that the process is fair to both sides. If there is no jury, Judge Laurin-Walker has the authority to decide if the accused is guilty or not guilty and also give a sentencing, should the case require it.

Laurin-Walker likes to hear people’s stories and try to figure out what drives them and what might change their behaviors. Nothing makes her happier than watching a defendant work his way through jail and counseling probations and see him go to college or get a real job at the end of it all.

Gilbert Judge Nicole Laurin-Walker is also a real rock star.

True to her musical roots as a classically-trained pianist, Laurin-Walker continued to be a musician alongside all her schoolwork and lawyering. She now sings and plays keyboards in a rock band called The Love Me Nots. The band tours worldwide and has put out six albums. Laurin-Walker says she has gotten a taste of real rockstar success, despite the restrictions she had due to her work with the town. Her colleagues all support her musical endeavors and strive to maintain their own hidden talents outside of work.

“I love working in a place where everyone seems to be doing something fascinating outside of work hours,” said Laurin-Walker. “It gives us a better perspective overall.”

Director of Communications, Marketing & Recreation
Town of Queen Creek

Marnie Schubert has worked for the Town of Queen Creek for eight years, starting as communications manager and changing roles several times throughout the years. She currently serves as the director of communications, marketing and recreation. Her degree is in radio-television communications from the University of Central Florida.

Marnie came to QC from the community of Celebration, FL, “the town that Disney built,”where she created the communications department. Her duties there included overseeing the community website, which included a resident “forum”section –an early predecessor to social media. Her experiences in Celebration have served her well, especially since communication resources shifted dramatically during the Great Recession. Gone are the days of printed newsletters, direct mail and reporters assigned to cover specific cities. She says that while she learned a lot during that era,  she continues to find excitement in digital news, tweeting with reporters who cover a variety of communities, and interacting 24/7 with residents on social media.

“Communications is an industry that is always in motion, which is why it appeals to me”says Schubert. “The strategy that works today likely won’t work this time next year. This is a great time to work in government communications because social media has leveled the playing field. Small communities can be just as visible — and have a voice arguably just as strong — as big cities thanks to Facebook, Instagram and other digital platforms. It’s all about engagement.”

Having grown up as a military brat (Go Navy!), Marnie had the advantage of moving every year or so and getting to know people all over the world. You quickly learn how to make friends and recognize consistencies in human nature, while learning to appreciate the fun quirks that make us all unique. She says that likely channeled her toward the communications industry: growing up around a diverse range of people in many different types of communities, mainly working toward the same positive goals.

Volunteer City of Maricopa

Ted Yocum is a resident committed to community involvement and has been passionately involved with the City of Maricopa since 2009 when he attended the Maricopa Citizen Leadership Academy. “I knew I wanted to make a difference in Maricopa,” says Yocum. And make a difference he did!

Since 2009 Mr. Yocum has volunteered with the police department, chaired the board of adjustment, participated in the development of the 2040 Vision Plan and general plan update, served on the zoning code rewrite task force and currently serves as the vice chairman of the city’s planning and zoning commission, and as a member of the Maricopa Advocate Program.

“From the moment I ventured into Maricopa to look for a home, the friendliness, warmth, and small-town feel enveloped my wife and me. I knew it was the place I wanted to retire to get away from the east coast hustle and hassle. But for me personally, most of all, Maricopa, this blank-slate new city, has given me the opportunity to make a difference; to apply my experience, professional skills, and energy to contribute to the success, growth, and long-term vision for our fantastic new city. ” Yocum describes his participation in the Maricopa Zoning Code Rewrite Task Force as the biggest and most impactful project he has worked on with the city.

Maricopa was incorporated in 2003, when the city was experiencing rapid growth. At the time the decision was made to stay with the Pinal County Zoning Code, but eventually the city needed its own code to keep up with its unique needs. In 2012, city council engaged a consultant to work with a citizens’task force to rewrite the entire zoning code. Yocum served on that task force which worked through monthly meetings and many hours of study, investigation, and discussion over an eighteen-month period. The new code, more than 400 pages long, was adopted by city council on November 5, 2014 and most recently was recognized by the Arizona Chapter of the American Planning Association as an outstanding zoning code.

Mr. Yocum grew up in Pennsylvania, attended Drexel University and Albright College. He is retired from insurance management, and moved from New Jersey to Maricopa in 2006. He is also the Vice President of the Desert Cedars HOA Board. When he is not championing the City of Maricopa he enjoys bowling, pinochle, the beautiful weather and Maricopa’s friendly people.

“I hope my Maricopa legacy will be that I have used my professional knowledge, skills, and love of the city to enhance the quality of life for future generations.”

Heavy Equipment Operator
City of Mesa

Josh Wolfgramm has worked for the City of Mesa Transportation Department for 11 years.  He started as a street maintenance worker and has worked himself up to heavy equipment operator on the slurry crew.  A slurry seal is a process where a mat of asphalt emulsion, water, and aggregate is applied to the street to create a new surface.  A slurry seal is used to extend the life of the existing pavement when it starts to show signs of deterioration.  On the slurry crew, Josh operates a heavy piece of equipment called a sand conveyor but is nicknamed a “salad shooter.”  Josh also gets called on to help with many other different tasks, like cleaning up trees after a storm.  His supervisor describes Josh as clever, helpful, and eager – a perfect combination of traits when you are on a transportation field crew and get called on to do many things!

Josh is unique in that he works with and operates heavy equipment during the day, but away from work he is a Polynesian dancer.  Yes, a dancer!  He performs every weekend with a group called the Royal Islanders for special events all around the Valley.  The dance that Josh performs is part of the grand finale and is called the Samoan Fire Knife dance.  During this dance he twirls a heavy baton-like knife that is on fire on both ends.  Josh learned Polynesian dance as a young boy growing up in New Zealand.

Josh moved to the United States 15 years ago after he saw a stunningly beautiful woman performing a Polynesian dance while he was visiting.  It was love at first sight and Josh moved to the US to marry the beautiful dancer, whose name is Sadie.  Together Josh and Sadie have four sons who range in age from five to 12.  The boys are following in their parent’s footsteps and perform Polynesian dance, too.

Aside from working full-time, dancing on the weekends, and attending his sons’ sporting events, Josh is taking college courses, as well.  Somehow he finds time to do it all!