BUSINESS

Boyhood memories inspired Chandler eatery owners

BY MALLORY GLEICH

Contributor

When you think of the words “double” and “dutch,” what comes to mind? Do they conjure up an image of summer time, playing outside and jumping rope with friends from the neighborhood until the street lights came on?

If so, Jason Key and Tom Montgomery had the right idea with the name of their latest concept, Double Dutch Kitchen + Cocktails, an American-style neighborhood gastropub that opened last month near Dobson and Germann roads in Chandler.

Montgomery and Key grew up in the bar and restaurant business – and were friends back when their parents were running things.

“Jason, me and my brother Steven have been friends for almost 20 years. My parents, who are from Ireland, owned Irish pubs and restaurants in the Bronx. Jason worked in restaurants like Gramercy Tavern in New York before we all moved out to Arizona,” Montgomery said.

The Double Dutch is the second restaurant that the trio has opened together.

They opened The Kettle Black in downtown Phoenix in 2016. Montgomery and his brother also own Tim Finnegan’s Irish Pub, a staple in Glendale that opened more than 15 years ago. “We decided to open a spot in Chandler

Double Dutch Kitchen + Cocktails not only offers a friendly environment but some dynamite cocktails and food menu to enjoy it by. (Special to the Arizonan)

seeDUTCH page 30

Teams, tribes ready for your sports bets

BY JILL R. DORSON

Sports Handle

With companies like Caesars, FanDuel, and Penn National Gaming building out sportsbooks at professional sports venues across the Valley, fantasy sports betting already has come to Arizona with betting on games arriving Sept. 9.

Only a last-minute effort by the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe stood in the way of sports betting going live that day. A hearing on a request for an emergency injunction to halt sports betting is set for Labor Day. (See page 31)

Assuming the judge does not grant the request, Arizona is poised to become the biggest state in the West to launch live sports betting since the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May 2018.

The Arizona Department of Gaming is targeting the first day of the NFL season to launch the first operators. Many of the biggest, most well-known sports betting operators will be offering odds and taking bets.

The Arizona launch will be the fourth in the U.S. this year – unless either Wyoming or South Dakota, both which are also moving toward offering live sports betting, get there first.

In January, operators went live online in both Michigan and Virginia, and two North Carolina tribal casinos began taking bets in March.

As legal sports betting has spread from Nevada to more than 30 other U.S. juris-

Stretching over 7,400 square feet, including an outdoor terrace, the FanDuel Sportsbook at Footprint Center will be fans’ one-stop-shop to enjoy Suns games and other sporting events around the world while placing wagers on the action. The sportsbook will feature five betting windows, and one VIP window, 40 HD televisions, a 35-foot video wall, an MVP Room and 26 self-service betting kiosks. The FanDuel Sportsbook will be open daily for patrons to place wagers on a wide variety of events throughout the year. (Courtesy of FanDuel) seeSPORTSBET page 30

dictions in the last three years, the western states have been a little behind the curve. And where sports betting is available, it’s not widely available. Lawmakers in Washington State legalized sports betting in March 2020 at brick-and-mortar locations only. The state regulator expects the first bets to be taken before the end of 2021.

Live wagering west of the Mississippi is up and running in six states. In-person wagering is currently available at a handful of tribal sportsbooks in Oregon and New Mexico as well as at lottery-run kiosks throughout Montana, and in-person at handful of Arkansas venues.

Consumers can wager on professional sports online/mobile in Oregon via the state’s lottery platform.

One potential roadblock to the Sept. 9 start of sports betting in Arizona is a suit filed by the Yavapai-Prescott Tribe to halt it. (See story on page 31).

Big population excites operators

With a population of just over 7 million, it doesn’t hurt that the state is home to a professional sports team from each of the four major leagues, hosts NASCAR events, is a PGA Tour stop and has a passionate college football fan base.

In all, eight sports organizations have received licenses. So too have 10 Arizona tribes after beating out six other tribes that had been competing for licenses.

“We are very excited about the future in Arizona. During the NBA playoffs, the world learned that the state has one of the most passionate fan bases in the country,” Matt Prevost, chief revenue officer at BetMGM said.

BetMGM has formed a partnership with the Arizona Cardinals.

It also had partnered with the Gila River Indian Community, which was not listed by the state as a winning applicant to run a mobile sports betting off-reservation.

However, Arizona Gaming Department spokesman Maxwell Hartgraves said all tribes can offer sports betting at their casinos.

The amended Tribal-State gaming compacts that were signed by Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona Tribes earlier this year included the ability for tribes to offer a variety of new casino games such as craps and roulette as well as sports betting, Hartgraves said.

“With that comes a lot of expectations and we look forward to delivering an above-and-beyond sports betting experience with unique mobile and retail activations throughout the state,” Prevost said.

Arizona’s new law allows for a maximum 20 “event wagering operator” licenses, divided evenly among tribal casinos and professional sports teams/ franchises.

Those with a license will be able to operate at least one retail sportsbook and up to two digital platforms. There are an additional 10 retail-only licenses available for the state’s horse racetracks and OTBs.

Consumers will be able to wager on professional, college, and Olympic sports. The new law is broad enough that operators may ultimately be able to offer betting on things like the Academy Awards, Heisman Trophy, and other events that are not specifically tied to sports.

Major operators have partners

While Arizona will ultimately offer consumers myriad choices in who to bet with, the design of the law means that some tribal casinos won’t be able to offer sports betting.

The ADG approved daily fantasy operators to go live Aug. 28. Those that are licensed must also have received approval for internal controls and house rules from the ADG. They include DraftKings, FanDuel, FFPC, Yahoo, Fantasy Sports Shark and Underdog Sports. In addition, approved event wagering operators already can offer consumers the chance to create and fund accounts. Approved operators can also begin marketing to consumers.

Licenses sports teams and their partners include: Arizona Cardinals (BetMGM), Arizona Diamondbacks (William Hill), Phoenix Suns (FanDuel), Arizona Coyotes, Phoenix Mercury (Ballys), TPC Scottsdale (DraftKings), Phoenix Speedway (Penn National) and Arizona Rattlers (Rush Street Interactive).

Operators have plans for brick-andmortar sportsbooks at professional venues – and some are also entitled to open a second location within a set distance of the stadium.

FanDuel has already released renderings of a modern, state-of-the-art facility in the works at the Footprint Center while Caesars has plans to begin offering in-person wagering via kiosks at Chase Field as soon as possible.

For the most part, operators plan to launch their mobile platforms on Sept. 9 with brick-and-mortar locations to follow.

Tribes that have received licenses include Fort Mojave Indian Tribe (SuperBook Sports), Quechan Tribe (Unibet Arizona), Tonto Apache Tribe (Churchill Downs), Tohono O’odham Nation, Hualapai Tribe (Golden Nugget), Ak-Chin Indian Community (Fubo), San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe (Digital Gaming), San Carlos Apache Tribe (Wynn) and Ft. McDowell Yavapai Nation (BetFred). Arizona is among the first U.S. jurisdictions in which sportsbooks will exist at professional sports venues.

Washington D.C.’s Capital One Arena became the first pro venue in the country to accept wagers when it began doing so in the summer of 2020.

And as of now, only Washington, D.C., Illinois, Maryland, and Arizona allow for sportsbooks in arenas. There are currently two open in Washington, since the BetMGM began accepting bets at Nationals Field earlier this year.

Jill R. Dorson is the managing editor at sportshandle.com, a national sports betting website that focuses on sports betting legislation and regulation. Dorson is a longtime newspaper sportswriter who covered everything from high school sports to Super Bowl XXXVII, but her specialty now is how sports betting is getting legalized and how it operates in dif-

ferent states across the U.S. ■

DUTCH from page 29

because we really love the people and the neighborhoods in this part of the Valley,” Montgomery said. “We thought Chandler could use a fun, new restaurant.”

Key and Montgomery explained that the inspiration for The Double Dutch came from their time growing up in the New York City area and Bay Area of California.

“We were always outside playing with friends and family members, enjoying games in the street and going home to eat when the street lights came on,” they said. “We wanted a fun, upbeat neighborhood American restaurant that can become a gathering spot for friends and families alike.”

The duo enlisted the help of Chef Nicholas Salazar of California to come up with their menu items.

Salazar worked at Nobu in Orange County, the Ritz seafood restaurant in Newport Beach and Poquito’s in Seattle before heading to the dry heat of Arizona.

Montgomery said that inspiration for menu items for the American-style pub came from the people, cultures and cuisines of the United States.

“Things like our elote street corn and seafood ceviche come from chef’s Latin background, the fish and chips and a pint of Guinness are a nod to our Irish heritage, the Reuben sandwich is reminiscent of New York delis, and the braised beef short rib dish reminds of us of Sunday dinners at grandma’s house,” Montgomery said.

The menu boasts various seafood dishes, sandwiches, pasta and chicken dishes – but the side dishes and desserts are also a thing of beauty.

They include: a couscous salad, sweet and spicy brussel sprouts, corn succotash, a banana bread pudding and, of course, New York-style cheesecake.

“Our street corn, wild mushroom arancini and braised beef short ribs are probably our most popular dishes right now,” Montgomery said.

Double Dutch also offers a happy hour on Monday through Friday from 4-7 p.m. Specials include five-dollar craft beer and IPA drafts, $4 wines and $7 select appetizers, as well as specials on their craft cocktails, which Montgomery said is a far cry from the drinks he used to whip up at the Irish pubs.

“Our mixology program is out of this world. We’re making stuff I’ve never seen before,” he said.

The team at Double Dutch is also working on a brunch menu that they hope to unveil when patio season comes around.

“What started as our families drawing hopscotch squares in the backyard for our kids has manifested into an indoor/outdoor high-end playground called Double Dutch,” Montgomery said. “We are new to the Chandler area and we hope to be a part of this community for years to come.”

Information: thedoubledutchaz.com.

Bridging the gap between retirement dreams & reality

BY DR. HAROLD WONG

Guest Writer

Arecent 2021 Logica Research survey, sponsored by Schwab Retirement Services, found that 401(k) participants across America now believe they must save $1.9 million for retirement – up from $1.7 million in the 2019 survey.

Not only has that goal increased, but so has investors’ confidence in reaching their goals. More than half (53 percent) said they are likely to achieve their retirement goals, up 16 percent from a year ago when the coronavirus pandemic created massive economic turmoil and uncertainty.

The pandemic has changed the way they approach their finances, with: 48 percent planning to save more; 36 percent planning to increase their 401(k) contribution rate; 35 percent planning to invest more outside of their 401(k) plan, and 34 percent planning to pay off debt.

These are all lofty goals, but what’s the reality?

A recent study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, found that in 2019, median 401(k) balances saved across several age groups was: $51,000 for those ages 35-44; $90,000 for ages 45-54; and $120,000 for ages 55-64.

In order to save $1.9 million by age 65 and assuming a person had saved the median 401(k) balances, here’s how much one would have to save monthly until age 65: $900 for the 35-year-old; $2,475 for the 45-year-old; and $9,000 for the 55-year-old.

There’s obviously a HUGE gap between what folks think they need to save for retirement vs. actual savings. So, why don’t most people save what they want for retirement? • Lack of understanding the substantial amount that must be saved for decades. Most people have not calculated a detailed retirement plan and don’t know what the required savings numbers are. My experience is that until folks reach age 50, most aren’t very serious about retirement. Remember the old Yippie leader Gerry Rubin saying from the 1960’s: “Don’t trust anyone over 30”? When you are young, your late 50s and 60s seem far away. • Insufficient income: The 2020 national median family income was $78,500, according to an April 1, 2020 notice from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. If this is your family income, can either you or both you and your spouse learn a new skill or start a side business to earn an extra $30-50,000/ year? If one can save this extra income, most will be reach their retirement goals. • Losing money in one’s Investments: According to moneychimp.com, the compound average growth rate in the S&P 500 Index of stocks has been 4.57 percent in the 21-year period from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2020. One could add the average 2.02 percent dividend rate, but then would also need to subtract the inflation rate and all Wall Street fees.

The reason this rate is so much lower than what the public believes is because the stock market had two previous major crashes. In both the 2000-2002 Dot-Com crash and the 2008-early-2009 financial panic, the stock market dropped by about half. Even though the stock market has been in an unprecedented 12-year bull market, two huge stock market crashes can kill a retirement plan. • Not saving enough: In order to save substantially for decades, one must have unusual self-discipline. One must be able to ignore millions of ads, whether it is on TV, radio, publications, or the internet. There is a giant advertising industry enticing you to spend all your money.

Conclusion: For most, there’s a huge gap between the desired vs. actual size of their retirement fund.

Free live seminars and lunch: 10:45 a.m. Sept. 18 and Oct. 9 at The Old Spaghetti Factory, 3155 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler. Topic is “Double Your Social Security & Other Retirement Income and Pay Less Tax!”

To RSVP or schedule a free consultation, contact Dr. Harold Wong at 480-706-0177 or harold_wong@hotmail.com. His website is drharoldwong.com.

Dr. Harold Wong earned his Ph.D. in economics at University of California/ Berkeley and has appeared on over 400

TV/radio programs. ■

Tribe sues to halt sports betting in its tracks

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

One of the state’s Native American tribes is suing to bring a halt to offreservation wagering on sports just weeks before it is scheduled to begin. The lawsuit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court by the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe, contends that state lawmakers have no right to permit sports franchises to start taking wagers on professional and collegiate games.

Attorney Luis Ochoa said that’s because Arizonans went to the polls in 2002 and voted to confine certain kinds of gaming to reservations.

Ochoa noted that another measure on the ballot that same year to permit offreservation gaming was defeated, with 80 percent of the votes cast against it.

Ochoa does not dispute that other tribes state have signed agreements with the state to permit such off-reservation gaming. In exchange, these tribes got the right not only to accept similar sports bets at their gaming facilities but got to expand the number and types they can offer in their casinos.

But he said that still doesn’t get around the 2002 measure, which he said is subject to the Voter Protection Act. “HB 2772 not only fails to further the purpose of Proposition 202 .., it is directly repugnant to and inconsistent with the intent of Proposition 202,’’ Ochoa said.

He also claims the law is unconstitutional discrimination against Native American tribes. He said the gaming rules are more favorable to the sports franchises than they are to the tribes.

There was no comment from Gov. Doug Ducey, the defendant in the lawsuit who negotiated what he called the “modernized gaming compacts’’ with the tribes that went along with the deal.

But the lawsuit drew an angry reaction from Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, who sponsored one of the versions of the law. He pointed out that the lawsuit was filed not when the measure was signed by Ducey on April 15 but now, after applications have been accepted to operate the new sports gaming operations and with actual wagering supposed to start on Sept. 9. That first legal test will on Labor Day as Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Smith considers Ochoa’s request to put an immediate halt to any new gaming until the legal issues are resolved.

In 2002, a coalition of tribes crafted an initiative to give them the exclusive right to operate casino-style games in exchange for giving the state a share of the profits. By definition, that limited such gaming to reservations.

The plan approved by the Legislature earlier this year allows not only wagering at sports facilities like the Cardinals stadium on all professional and college games, but also the ability for the private gaming companies with whom the teams have to associate to offer online wagering.

The deal is set up so the state gets a share of gaming revenues, a figure that could exceed $100 million a year.

In exchange, the state agreed to ink new gaming deals with tribes, giving them similar rights to wager on sports. But they also get to install more of the slot machines and poker tables they now have as well as the ability to offer things like craps, roulette and baccarat.

Ochoa, on behalf of the YavapaiPrescott Tribe, says the deal is illegal, not only because of the 2002 initiative but because it also is unfair.

It starts with the fact that there are only 20 sports gaming licenses being award. Half, he noted, go to existing sports franchises. And given there are more licenses than franchises, that means every franchise that wants one gets one.

But with at least 21 tribes in the state, Ochoa said, that gives any one of them less than a 50 percent chance of landing one of the lucrative franchises.

And there is no chance of the YavapaiPrescott Tribe getting one as the deal says only those tribes that agreed to the new gaming compacts get a shot at it. . ■

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 33 OPINION Share Your Thoughts: Send your letters on local issues to: pmaryniak@timespublications.com

Arizona’s most thankless job: school board member

BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ

Columnist

Most of us like to believe we’re decent people. We give a few bucks to charity, we volunteer, maybe even help a friend move. But be real: There’s being a decent human and then there’s going above and beyond.

Like by serving on your local school board.

If there’s a volunteer role existent in Arizona today that I cannot wrap my head around, it’s that one. And the past year of headlines – full of protests, threats and extreme surliness – have only deepened my confusion. Our state has about 240 school boards and 1,200 board members.

Each of them deserves a medal. Or our prayers.

Because anyone who does that job for $0 a year deserves something in return.

School board members begin their careers by running for election. You speak at public forums, knock on doors, stand in front of Safeway, anywhere you can meet a few voters, most of whom pay attention for 14 seconds before pushing past you like you’re a human turnstile.

Then, say you win. That earns you the privilege of going to 25 or 30 weeknight meetings annually, many of which last for hours and involve a “call to the public.”

If you’ve never been to a school board or municipal council meeting, lucky you. I’ve attended many, and trust me: Most members of the public who answer this call do so because no sane human being has ever listened to them for three minutes straight without dialing 911. It’s like open mike at an insane asylum, minus the lithium.

And that was before COVID, before antimask protests, and before machinations over Critical Race Theory. Nowadays, your average school board meeting frequently resembles Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol. Minus the gun�ire – so far.

Down south near Tucson, the April 27 meeting of the Vail governing board required sheriff’s deputies before the meeting even started. About 150 anti-maskers – some armed – stormed the meeting, pushing past school district employees, screaming and berating board members and refusing to wear masks, per Pima County’s mandate.

“There was a handful of people – I don’t know exactly how many – who either don’t have kids in the school district, don’t live in the school district, don’t live in the county, who came with the express purpose of whipping up that group,” Supt. John Carruth told the Arizona Education News Service.

Talk about needing more hobbies. The Litch�ield Elementary School District has degenerated into chaos over the passage of an “equity statement” last December. Since then, the Arizona Attorney General’s Of�ice has been involved and protests have become a regular feature of board meetings. Last week, Dr. Tara Armstead, the school board’s only Black member, resigned and scorched the 12,000-student district on her way out the door.

“I will not say thank you for the time that I served here,” said Armstead, “or express any gratitude or appreciation because, for the �ive months I have been here, I have been treated like I’m not an expert in the �ield and have no idea what I’m talking about.” The Scottsdale Uni�ied School District Governing Board has been equally protest-laden and chaotic. Last week, Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg lost his temper with a mom who falsely accused a district employee of distributing a Neo Nazi comic book.

Greenburg stage whispered “Jesus (expletive) Christ” into a hot microphone.

He later publicly apologized. “I’m very sorry about that,” Greenburg explained. “I have to admit it was done out of frustration in the moment.”

The wonder is that more school board members don’t drop f-bombs. Or outright quit. Because there’s surely no more thankless job in this state. ■

Mass amnesty is lousy politics, bad economics

BY LISA ASKEY

Arizonan Guest Writer

Sen. Mark Kelly recently chastised President Biden for failing to address the ongoing border crisis.

Waves of migrants keep arriving in our state. That’s “a major problem that shouldn’t fall on the shoulders of Arizona communities,” our junior senator told reporters. “We’ve got to address this and it can’t be on Arizona taxpayers and Arizona towns that are really struggling right now. It’s a federal government problem.”

He’s right, of course. But the solution proposed by President Biden and many Democrats in Congress – a mass amnesty for up to 10 million undocumented immigrants – would make the problem even worse.

It’s up to Sen. Kelly and his colleague Kyrsten Sinema, another moderate with a reputation for bucking her party, to prioritize Arizonans’ needs above the White House’s demands by rejecting amnesty.

Congressional leaders are hoping to use the upcoming budget reconciliation bill to offer work permits and citizenship to nearly all illegal immigrants currently in this country, allowing them to compete against Americans for jobs.

The bill would also presumably enable those folks to sponsor their relatives living abroad for additional green cards, rewarding people who broke our laws and cut the line in front of legal immigrants.

The prospect of amnesty – and all the rewards that come with it – is already enticing people to rush the border. The number of family members crossing the border illegally soared by 168 percent the �irst month after President Biden assumed of�ice, according to the Pew Research Center. And the numbers have climbed every month since then. July saw roughly 212,000 illegal crossings, the most in over two decades.

No one denies the humanity of people seeking a better life in the United States.

But our pandemic-ravaged economy can’t afford porous borders. As of midAugust, Arizona was recording well over 2,000 new Covid-19 cases each day – the highest totals since February.

The spike in cases and hospitalizations threatens not just Arizonans’ lives, but also their livelihoods. One index that measures consumer con�idence plummeted to a decade-low in early August, a worrying sign that people are frightened to travel and shop. That inevitably means fewer sales for restaurants and small businesses and more layoffs.

Sympathy doesn’t pay taxes or put food on the table for struggling Arizona families. Our overall state unemployment rate in June, the latest month for which data is available, was 6.8 percent, two full percentage points higher than it was pre-pandemic.

Almost 245,000 Arizonans were still unemployed – an increase of 73,000 over January 2020, before Covid-19 ravaged our nation.

If Congress rams through amnesty on a party-line vote, it’ll attract additional waves of job-seeking migrants – and result in lower wages, fewer job opportunities, and more coronavirus transmissions for too many Arizonans. As Senator Sinema recently said, “the only way to stop the spread of the coronavirus and save Arizona jobs is through bipartisan cooperation.”

Arizona’s border towns and cities are buckling under the strain of this border surge. Arizonans can only hope that Senators Sinema and Kelly recognize that amnesty would further in�lame the crisis.

Lisa Askey owns a marketing company based in Chandler.