BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer
Ina marathon meeting that ran over five hours on the evening of Oct. 26, the Mesa Planning and Zoning Board gave the greenlight to two multifamily housing projects and a controversial warehouse complex over stiff opposition from neigh bors.
Several dozen residents who live near the developments and presented board Chair Jeffrey Crocket with a “fistfull” of comment
cards requesting to speak.
Three other projects were pulled off the consent agenda and discussed, but the res idential projects attracted the lengthiest public comment.
The board also approved the warehouse project near A.T. Still University.
Neighbors of the residential projects pleaded with board members to deny the zoning change requests and aired grievanc es with the developers’ outreach efforts, complaining the developments threatened their quality of life.
A common sentiment among the com menters was that if housing must go in on the vacant parcels, it should be singlefamily to match the surrounding neighbor hoods.
In the end, most board members felt that the developers had made adequate accom modations to address the residents’ con cerns over density.
Residents will have another opportu nity to make their case when the proposed
BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer
bus line is all the buzz – literally.
Valley Metro began its new Fiesta BUZZ neighborhood circulator in west Mesa, connecting connect the Fiesta District, Asian District and Mesa Riverview with stops at Mesa Community College, Banner Desert Hospital, Mekong Plaza and Sloan Park. “Our public transit plays a vital role in bringing people throughout the Val ley together to many destinations, and the Fiesta BUZZ will enhance this area’s unique, organic growth,” said Councilman Francisco Heredia.
The 30-foot bus can operate in neighbor hoods and on smaller streets because its 10 feet shorter than standard buses.
The service will be available Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to midnight and Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The bus takes approximately 25 minutes to make one full route and is ADA accessible with space for wheelchairs and other mo bility devices.
This route will also have “flag zones,” ar eas off main roads where passengers can flag the bus to stop, just like hailing at a taxi.
The BUZZ is free to ride, as is the general guideline for circulators throughout the Valley.
Valley Metro designs neighborhood cir culators for short, lo calized trips on smaller vehicles with lower rid ership than a traditional fixed-route bus.
Because of this, a fare is typically 25-50% less than a conventional fixed-route bus when a bus fare is collected.
“Under the existing fare collection system, the cost of the fare box and fare collection was more costly than the fares would recover,” a city spokesman said.
Valley Metro is installing a new fare collection system and Fiesta BUZZ could charge a fare in the future.
The vehicles run on compressed natural gas, which produces lower emissions than traditional gasoline or diesel-powered buses.
In 2020, Valley Metro, the City of Mesa and the Maricopa Association of Govern ments completed the Fiesta District Alter natives Analysis, which evaluated high-ca pacity transit options for the west Mesa.
One recommendation was implementing a circulator in the area to further develop the transit in West Mesa.
According to the MAG 2017 Regional Travel Forecasting Model, experts estimate a 35% increase in population and more than 95,000 one-way within the Fiesta Dis trict by 2040.
Funding for the Fiesta BUZZ is a part of the city’s current budget and the estimated cost for is approximately $875,000 for this year.
Valley Metro CEO Jessica Mefford-Miller said this new line creates an attractive trav el option that benefits the environment, lo cal businesses and Mesa residents.
“The Fiesta BUZZ is also appealing to rid ers who are making regional connections to light rail and other bus routes,” MeffordMiller said. “Congratulations to Mesa and our frontline teams for making this new service a reality.”
Mesa, AZ – When it comes to chronic pain and/ or neuropathy, the most common doctor-prescribed treatment is drugs like Gabapentin, Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Neurontin. The problem with antidepressants or anti-seizure medications like these is that they offer purely symptomatic relief, as opposed to targeting and treating the root of the problem. Worse, these drugs often trigger an onset of uncomfortable, painful, and sometimes harmful side effects.
The only way to effectively treat chronic pain and/or peripheral neuropathy is by targeting the source, which is the result of nerve damage owing to inadequate blood flow to the nerves in the hands and feet. This often causes weakness, numbness, balance problems. A lack of nutrients causes the nerves degenerate – an insidious
cannot survive, and thus, slowly die. This leads to those painful and frustrating consequences we were talking about earlier, like weakness, numbness, tingling, balance issues, and perhaps even a burning sensation.
The drugs your doctor might prescribe will temporarily conceal the problems, putting a “Band-Aid” over a situation that will only continue to deteriorate without further action.
Thankfully, Mesa is the birthplace of a brandnew facility that sheds new light on this pressing problem of peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain. The company is trailblazing the medical industry by replacing outdated drugs and symptomatic reprieves with an advanced machine that targets the root of the problem at hand.
1. Finding the underlying cause
2. Determining the extent of the nerve damage (above 95% nerve loss is rarely treatable)
3. The amount of treatment required for the patient’s unique condition
Aspen Medical in Mesa, AZ uses a state-of-the-art electric cell signaling systems worth $100,000.00.
Th is ground-breaking treatment is engineered to achieve the following, accompanied by advanced diagnostics and a basic skin biopsy to accurately analyze results:
1. Increases blood flow
2. Stimulates and strengthens small fiber nerves
3. Improves brain-based pain
The treatment works by delivering energy to the affected area(s) at varying wavelengths, from low- to middle-frequency signals, while also using Amplitude Modulated (AM) and Frequency Modulated (FM) signaling.
It’s completely painless!
The number of treatments required varies from patient to patient, and can only be determined following an in-depth neurological and vascular examination. As long as you have less than 95% nerve damage, there is hope!
Aspen Medical begins by analyzing the extent of the nerve damage –a complimentary service for your friends and family. Each exam comprises a detailed sensory evaluation, extensive peripheral vascular testing, and comprehensive analysis of neuropathy findings.
Aspen Medical will be offering this free chronic pain and neuropathy severity evaluation will be available until October 31st 2022. Call (480) 274 3157 to make an appointment
Due to our very busy office schedule, we are limiting this offer to the first 10 c allers Y OU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER ANOTHER MINUTE, CALL (480) 274 3157 NOW!!
We are extremely busy, so we are unavailable, please leave a voice message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
As displayed in figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves
Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three factors:
Aspen Medical 4540 E Baseline Rd., Suite 119 Mesa, AZ, 85206
Depending on your coverage, your peripheral neuropathy treatment could cost almost nothing – or be absolutely free.
sshumaker@TimesLocalMedia.com
BY RYAN KNAPPENBERGER Cronkite News
approved the Vot er Protection Act in 1998 with the goal of making it harder for state lawmakers to undo what citizens approve at the ballot box.
Some officials think it’s too hard.
pushing for Proposition 128, which would make it easier for the Leg islature to amend voter-approved mea sures that are later found to have legal flaws.
Supporters call it a commonsense
“narrow amendment to the Voter Protection Act so that the Legislature can fix measures that have broken ille gal language.”
But opponents say there’s nothing commonsense or narrow about the proposition. They call it a direct assault on the Voter Protection Act that “just reeks of trying to upend democracy.”
“When you see the scales being
tipped to make it so the Legislature has more power than the actual voter, it becomes very, very concerning,” said Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association.
Proposition 128, introduced by Sen. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, would amend the state Constitution to make it easier for lawmakers to divert funds from or make changes to voter-approved initia tives later found by the state or U.S. su preme courts to have unconstitutional language.
Currently, lawmakers can only make changes to ballot measures if threefourths of the Legislature agree and only if the change “furthers the purpos es of such measures.”
Under Leach’s proposal, such a change could be made with a simple majority once a court determined it contained “illegal or unconstitutional language.”
“This definitely is an effort by the leg islature to exercise greater control over
initiatives … making them more vulner able to manipulation if any part of it has been invalidated by the state Supreme Court,” said Stefanie Lindquist, profes sor of law and political sciences at Ari zona State University.
Voters in Arizona have an easier time of directly enacting laws than those in most other states: The National Confer ence of State Legislatures said Arizona is one of 11 states where voters can place initiatives directly on the ballot for both statutory and constitutional issues and demand a popular referen dum.
That makes the state attractive to outof-state interest groups, which was nev er the intent of the state’s constitutional framers, said Suzanne Kinney, CEO and president of the Arizona chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association.
“When something gets on the ballot
In the battle over what constitutes unlawful interference with police of ficers and what is protected speech, the City of Mesa is considering adding a new tool to limit what law enforcement officials say is a rise in bystanders inter fering with police activity – including citizens filming police.
At Mesa City Council’s Oct. 27 Pub lic Safety Committee meeting, council members on the committee heard a pre sentation from police leadership on a proposed new section of City Code that would explicitly prohibit police interfer ence.
Assistant Chief Ed Wessing told the committee the department “has seen an increase in police interference in recent years, including incidents that involve filming officers from close proximity.”
But unlike other Valley cities, Wessing said, Mesa does not have code prohibit ing police interference.
“There is a code that prohibits ob structing those enforcing livestock and large animal regulations and interfering with those enforcing animal control reg ulations,” but nothing on police interfer ence, he said.
Wessing acknowledged that the code was responding in part to issues associ ated with filming.
But he said, “I want to make it very clear the position of the police depart ment is that we support the constitu tionally protected right to filming police officers in public.
“The goal of this new ordinance is re ally to protect the integrity of investiga tions, and most importantly, the safety of our officers and those that they’re deal ing with on a particular call, while still allowing for expression of constitution ally protected rights, including filming of officers,” Wessing said.
The exact language proposed last week is: “It is unlawful for any person to willfully hinder, resist, delay, obstruct or prevent a peace officer in the discharge
of their official duties, or refuse to obey any lawful order issued by a peace offi cer engaged in the discharge of their of ficial duties.
“A person shall not be in violation of this section based on using words alone.”
The new code would apply to interfer ing with any “peace officer,” including animal control and code officers.
According to presentation materials, the proposed code is similar to that used by Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe and Glen dale, and those ordinance “have been in effect for many years and have not been enjoined or ruled unconstitutional.”
Wessing said that recently state leg islation that went into effect Sept. 24 makes it a class 2 misdemeanor to know ingly disobey a reasonable verbal order to remain off the premises of police ac tivity, but the state law only applies to activity at a “possible crime scene.”
The language in the state law doesn’t “address civil violations such as traffic stops, collision investigations, civil city code violations and other non-criminal
matters,” Wessing said.
The city code Mesa PD is proposing would make failure to obey reasonable commands in these non-criminal situa tions a class III, or lowest level, misde meanor.
Council members Mark Freeman and Kevin Thompson spoke favorably of the proposed code during discussion.
“I want to make sure that whatever we do, our officers have the ability to pro tect themselves,” Thompson said. “If this does that while still protecting people’s First Amendment rights, I’m cool with it. First and foremost is officer safety.”
“I see good in this,” Freeman said. “There’s a lot of people affected by a crime scene or whatever it might be, and our officers, they form that forcefield around that scene, and they protect it.”
The three council members on the committee, Freeman, Thompson and council member David Luna, voted unanimously to approve the proposed language and forward it to the city coun cil.
units per acre.
changes go before city council at a later date.
Among the disputed projects was one on six parcels totaling about 6 acres near the northeast corner of Power and Brown Roads, where developers are proposing a 61-unit townhome com munity called The Jackson.
The project owners – and the resi dents who oppose them – have recent experience in the city’s land entitle ments process.
Owners David Darling and Ray John son created the Power Food Truck Park on that property in 2021, hosting food trucks and picket tables on weekends.
When most restaurants were closed in 2021, the park attracted consider able business, with residents reporting as many as 265 cars at a time and likely twice that much over one evening.
Neighbors complained about traffic, noise and the smell of cooking grease, contending the food park didn’t con form with the property’s existing zon ing.
The battle set off a secondary fight between the owners and city planning staff.
While negotiating with the city for an agreement to continue, the owners de
cided to scrap the food park, which had seen declining business as restaurants reopened. They told the city they would “evaluate and explore alternative uses for the property.”
In June, Darling and Johnson submit ted their application for The Jackson, and residents of the neighborhood, which features homes on 1-acre lots, were not pleased with the plan for 10
They worried about traffic, and said they felt the applicant hadn’t really lis tened to neighbors during the citizen participation process.
They said they were surprised to learn for the first time during the hear ing that the townhomes might become rentals rather than for-sale as they were told earlier by the developer.
“Don’t reward the charade of neigh borhood compromise,” said one com menter, who waited four hours to speak as the other cases were heard. “Tell them to go back to the neighborhood, truly work with the neighborhood.”
Sean Lake, an attorney for the own ers, said the land was “a difficult piece of property” to develop because it fronts Power Road and is an irregular shape.
He said buyers would be wary of building a single family home directly
ence city council’s delib erations on the project.
and was opposed by many surrounding neighbors.
on
major road, so higher density housing is a good use for the land.
“I’m tired of people saying people that live in rental homes … are implied to be negative,” Lake said. “People are people and they’re good people wheth er they pay their money to a mortgage company” or to a rental company.
Board member Jessica Sarkissian said, “I know the neighbors are upset that they haven’t seen all their com ments and concerns addressed, … (but) I feel that on this one (the developers) have made a good effort.”
New board member Genessee Mon tes, a principal for Mesa Public Schools, said that she supported more housing options in the area for teachers and families, saying that schools are losing enrollment as families move to neigh boring communities.
“There isn’t a lot of choice for families to move in,” she said.
Two board members voted against approving the project, giving the proj ect a split 5-2 vote, which could influ
The proceedings were generally cordial, but someone in the audience broke decorum just af ter the vote, saying au dibly to the board as the meeting broke up, “Hope somebody screws up your neighborhood.”
Some of the last pieces of land used by the long time Killian family of Mesa to farm citrus and raise beef near Southern Avenue and Greenfield Road is working its way through the entitlement process, and representatives of the owners have proposed two multifamily housing developments on the roughly 24 acres.
A zoning map shows the proposed location of the Mera Green field at Killian Farms, a 55-plus community planned for land previously used to grow citrus. (City of Mesa)
acres spread over 12 two- and threestory buildings, plus a clubhouse, pool and community parks.
One resident said having the apart ment building go up next to their neigh borhood of custom homes on large lots would feel like “we’re in the Middle Ages when a baron builds a castle on the hill over the village.”
She said the land would be best used for custom single-family homes like the adjacent homes, and if not that, the project should be brought down to two stories.
Lake, who also represented this proj ect, told the board that Mera Greenfield had taken great pains to reduce the visibility of the project for neighbors, such as taking out planed cottages and reducing some parts of the building to two stories, as well as giving the build ings a wide setback against neighboring properties.
Mera Greenfield Emblem, which won approval from Planning and Zoning in September, comprises 240 units on 15
Mera Greenfield at Killian Farms, a single 208-unit apartment building for active adults age 55-plus, faced the Planning and Zoning Board last week
“I’ve never seen that big of a buffer,” Lake said, noting the Killian property has many mature trees, which helps ob scure visibility, in addition to planned
landscaping.
“We will have the most dense landscaping of any project along Southern,” he said.
The developer plans to maintain several rows of mature citrus trees on the property.
Other residents object ed to the age restriction on the proposed gated community, saying they would rather have families move into the area.
One commenter said they supported “single-family homes and stable neigh borhoods.”
Before the vote, board member Shel ley Allen stated that she knows the Killian family but has no interest in the project, and asked a city attorney if just knowing the Killians was grounds for recusing herself from the vote.
The city attorney said no. Board member Jeffrey Pitcher re cused himself from the discussion and vote because he has family and profes sional connections with the applicant and developer.
The board approved Mera Greenfield at Killian Farms 6-0.
The future dates for the council hear ings in these projects were not available.
One more controversial project com pleted a hat trick for land use attorney Lake, who also represented the appli cant for the Baseline Logistics project.
Real estate manager Hines proposes an eight-building industrial warehouse complex on 50 acres of vacant land within the Arizona Health and Technol ogy Park just south of State Route 60 at Baseline and Recker roads.
The site is part of a 254-acre district that city officials envisioned in 2004 as an employment hub anchored by a hospital with a medical, technology and education focus.
The 50-acre site in question was once planned by landowner Tenant Health care to hold a hospital.
Those plans never materialized, Lake
said, and Tenant has no intentions to put a hospital at the site.
Despite recommended denial for a 10-acre apartment complex in the same district last month, city staff recom mended approval of the larger logistics warehouse project.
But one of the major anchor users in the health and tech park, medical school A.T. Still University, opposed Baseline Logistics at the meeting.
The university issued a letter of oppo sition to the board.
An attorney for the school told the board that the Baseline Logistics, which is designed to have 220 docking stalls and 16 drive thru stalls for trucks, would clash with the rest of the devel opment and spoil what is supposed to be a campus of kindred organizations.
“You will have wall-to-wall concrete right next to a world class university,” the attorney said.
He worried that with so many truck docks, the project would likely appeal to high-volume shipping business rath er than high-tech companies.
Lake conceded, “They do have quite a few docks here but that’s so tenants have flexibility.”
Since the developers don’t know where prospective tenants will need to have docks, they put a lot of doors in to accommodate future users, but don’t expect tenants to use all of them.
“To narrow the zoning down to hos pital for this property … really I think is so narrowly constricting that they’ll never be able to develop the property,” Lake said.
Board members voted 6-1 to approve Baseline Logistics.
“We are skeptics, honestly,” said Vincent, a graphic designer. “Because if I’m not shown something, I’m not going to believe it.”
Ryneer, a dance instructor and choreographer, said that skepticism drives them to investigate every possibility for something that goes bump in the night.
“We love to try to debunk things,” Rhyneer said. “When someone tells us a story, we’re like let’s get in here and try to figure it out.”
Vincent said her first ghost experi ence happened at age 5 during a fu neral – when she spoke to the man the ceremony was for.
“I really had no idea that I wasn’t talking to an actual person,” Vincent said.
Rhyneer said her first experience happened at her grandmother’s farmhouse in Missouri.
Against her grandmother’s orders, Rhyneer said she ventured to the sec ond floor of the house and opened a door to find a larger-than-possible room full of nurses and men in ban dages lying in beds.
“They were all walking past me like if I wasn’t there,” Rhyneer said. “And I felt like I was in a different time period.”
In 2018, the women met work ing on an event committee at Mesa Artspace Lofts in downtown Mesa.
Vincent said decorating in the art ist-residences’ main gallery had led to numerous ghostly occurrences, such as lights flickering in an empty utility room and a balloon she had to bat away for more than 15 minutes.
“There was a lady sitting [nearby] and her mouth was just on the floor hanging open,” Vincent recalled.
One of their first official investiga tions came from the gallery’s utility closet.
Vincent said they use” open-line investigations” that involve leaving an iPhone in the room with a record ing device and walking a good dis tance away to listen to what happens on another iPhone.
After a long night of listening to
“weird” sounds interrupting the stat ic, Vincent said they returned to the utility closet “completely trashed” with chairs, tables and broom handles so strewn about that they had to crawl across the floor to retrieve their re cording equipment in the far corner.
“That whole night was pretty scary,” Vincent said.
Rhyneer said they learned many lessons that night that have shaped their investigations ever since, one of the most important being to use a video recorder.
“For that to be our first one, I think that was a good wake-up call on how we need to move forward in other in vestigations,” Rhyneer said.
Over the last four years, East Valley Paranormal has investigated dozens of historical places – such as The Nile Theater, Mesa Historical Museum – as well as dozens of private resi dences across the state.
Vincent said homes become a spe cial priority if children become in volved, such as when they collected
a set of “creepy” stuffed animals be cause “they were bothering the child.”
“If there are children involved, we go right away,” Vincent said.
The equipment they use on investi gations include and electromagnetic field reader, a “spirit box” that uses radio frequency white noise to hear spirits and motion detectors that light up when ghosts pass it.
Vincent said real-life ghost hunt ing consists of “a lot of dirty, smelly, nothing happening.”
The ladies said they spend hours listening to their equipment emit white noise – which can become al most too boring only to have a brief encounter.
“It’ll amp up and then you might get a really great 15 minutes out of a three-hour investigation,” Rhyneer said.
From lights flickering at Terror Trader collectibles store in Chandler to strange shadow figures in Guild of the Vale in Mesa, Vincent said some of their experiences can get to her
sometimes.
That’s all part of a lifetime of para normal experiences, she said.
“When you grow up and you’re used to these things, you think ev eryone is used to these things, so it becomes normal for you,” Vincent said. “I just found a best friend who it’s normal for her to thank goodness because it’s very strange.”
Vincent said their investigations are as much about the apparitions and poltergeists as they are about the history of each location that they learn.
“One of the things that has always gotten me about visiting a location is that people not knowing the his tory of what was there,” Vincent said. “This is the stuff we learned about in our history classes for Ari zona history.”
Now, East Valley Paranormal has expanded beyond investigations into other ventures, including a ghost
tour through downtown Mesa.
The Rydables Downtown Mesa Ghost Tour is a 90-minute tour that spans about four blocks and covers all the paranormal hot spots around Main Street.
Rhyneer said they play a lot of the audio and video evidence on the tour that helps people learn histori cal facts and stories that many don’t know about – such as the tunnel sys tem that’s under downtown Mesa.
Participants can “hear actual testi monials from local shop owners the residents who have experienced the paranormal,” Rydables says on its website.
The Rydables tour costs $69 for people 12 and older and $39 for kids. Each Rydables cart can hold up to 400 pounds but the women limit each cart to one adult and one child 11 years or younger.
Rhyneer said Rydables approached East Valley Paranormal about a downtown Mesa ghost tour and
asked if they wanted to collaborate with them.
“They reached out to us after talk ing to some of the people who work and own businesses in downtown Mesa that brought up our name to them,” Rhyneer said.
Eventually, the women plan to open a coffee shop as their home base, but can’t say any more about the location except “it’s one of the most haunted buildings on Main.”
For now, Rhyneer said they’ll con tinue to investigate the supernatural because she has a quest to answer the why behind each ghostly occur rence.
“We always walk away from an investigation and I’m always a little bit more confused,” Rhyneer said. “I want to solve it. I want to know what happens.”
To learn more
Rydables Downtown Mesa Ghost Tour: rydables.com/ghost-tours.
East Valley Paranormal: East Val ley EVPinvestigates.com.
The leader at the helm of Arizona’s fastest growing municipality is step ping down after nearly 27 years in Queen Creek government.
Town Manager John Kross’s last day on the job will be Jan. 20 after deciding “this was probably the time.”
“When you’re in one place for that long,” Kross said, “you have the opportunity to work on a lot of very interesting projects and assignments with a lot of wonderful, wonderful people and it just felt like a lot of the goals that I had established and certain ly the mayor and council had established for me, have really been accomplished.
“The town is in its best financial condi tion that it’s ever been in the history of the town and that’s certainly a consideration,” he said.
Kross’ decision to leave was tough for Vice Mayor Jeff Brown to confront.
“Hearing of John’s retirement was diffi cult and emotional to grapple with,” Brown said. “If one were to attempt to compile a list of significant milestones and achieve ments under his management, it would be both extensive and considerable.
“For me, however… that significant, 26-year-long list would represent a ton of fond and shared memories. He will be missed, both professionally and personally,” Brown continued, adding:
“It has truly been an honor and pleasure to work side by side with John Kross since 2008 in my role as Council member, and even prior to that as I served on various working groups and committees going back to the early 2000s.”
Kross came to Queen Creek in 1996 as planning director and became town man ager in 2007.
Over the last 12 years, he has seen the town’s population soar from 27,091 to al most 75,000.
Kross said Queen Creek is about halfway
to buildout, a far cry from what it was when he arrived.
“When I got here, there were no signal lights,” he said. “We are essentially building a brand-new community from scratch.
“It was a tremendous opportunity to build from virtually nothing by way of infra structure, investment in new commercial centers, neighborhoods, parks and trails, water and waste water, let alone the public safety apparatus.”
In addition to his focus on roads and oth er infrastructure to keep up with the rapid growth, Kross also helped Queen Creek form its own police department in early 2022 after having relied on the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office for public safety and law enforcement up to that time.
“Really as far as our public safety pro gram,” Kross said “that was really the last puzzle piece to put together for the com munity and with the success of that roll out it really felt like there was tremendous momentum happening certainly in that
area, but it really complemented a lot of the other paths and goals that we’ve really been working on for the past number of years.”
Kross had a hard time whittling a favorite out of the list of impactful changes that he has seen in his 27 years, but listed the con struction of the Ellsworth loop road as the most important one for the town.
“That is as much an economic as it is a transportation corridor for Queen Creek,” he said. “Going in in 2007 that was in a lot of ways a transformation of the infrastructure for this community and so integral.”
Among his most difficult challenges has been managing Queen Creek’s unbridled growth in the town.
But he pointed to the economic turmoil of 2008 and 2009 as clearly the greatest challenge of his career.
“The Great Recession was a major impact to the community,” Kross said.
The growth rate during that period was
between 2% and 3%, instead of the 12% to 15% rate prior to the downturn.
“Next to the Great Recession, the pan demic was a very close second,” he said.
pandemic had its own unique chal lenges on a whole different level in some respects with variables that I had never ex perienced.
“But the Great Recession was absolutely devastating for Queen Creek and this re gion and that was the most challenging eco nomic and fiscal period of time in my entire tenure.”
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to leave Queen Creek but added that the right professional opportunity could lure him to relocate.
East Valley Tribune.
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reductions, additions, or
“I’ve got a couple of opportunities that I’m exploring right now,” Kross said. “They’re not for certain or anything like that. I’m keeping my options open and opti mistic about those options.
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“There’s a lot of great things yet to hap pen for the community. I might be sitting here sitting in the stands cheering every body on.”
The current Town Council will dovetail with the incoming one to work on finding Kross’ replacement, according to Brown.
The growth in Queen Creek barely tapped the breaks since coming out of the Great Recession and continues apace as the pandemic slows.
Kross attributed the town’s growth to an “increasingly popular perception” that “Queen Creek is an appealing place for fam ilies to live.”
“You get a little bit more property for your investment,” Kross told the Tribune in April.
But with that growth has come a huge in crease in the cost of living, making Queen Creek one of the most expensive places in the Phoenix-metro area to live.
The median single-family home price in town now tops $625,000 and a two-bed room apartment rents for nearly $2,500 ac cording to a recent study.
As Queen Creek has grown, Kross has worked to keep the town competitive even though, geographically, it remains far from major population centers and is heavily re liant on infrastructure that has had a hard time keeping up with the growth.
“The rate of growth in both residential and non-residential investment is directly related to the infrastructure needs to ser vice this growth and position the town competitively,” Kross wrote in his presenta tion of the budget earlier this year. “Roads are priority No. 1.”
Though Kross is stepping away from his town manager role in Queen Creek, he did not rule out other professional opportuni ties.
“I’m still young enough and I’d like to do a lot more and there may be some additional city management types of opportunities or related professional development, things of that nature, that will surface,” he said. He said he does not currently have plans
“Looking ahead, I am confident that as a Council we will work together to identify next steps that are in the best interest of our community.” Brown said. “We antici pate discussing the go-forward steps at an upcoming council meeting.”
Mayor-elect Julia Wheatley will be at the forefront of the new council’s efforts and, like Brown, will miss Kross’ rock steady leadership and attention to detail.
“John Kross has been instrumental in the success of Queen Creek and the quality of life we all love and enjoy. I am blessed to have known him and grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside him for 12 of his 27 years,” Wheatley said.
“As the only town manager I have worked with, I could not have hoped for better. John’s knowledge, experience and leader ship is evident in everything he does,” she said. “He has a remarkable ability to re member details.
“Over the years, I have asked him numer ous questions about our community and he can always recall exact details. John is known throughout the state and across the country as one of the absolute best in his profession. Queen Creek is better because of John’s service and dedication. He has tru ly left a legacy…He will be missed beyond words, and I wish nothing but the best for him and his family.”
While remaining optimistic about his fu ture, Kross is clearly nostalgic for his past.
“Every day is a new day and so it just keeps on giving you new energy and before you know it a year has passed, 5 years has passed,” Kross said. “One year here is like seven. It’s like dog years, ya’ know? and be fore you know it it’s like a decade and you wonder did that time go?”
here, if it’s successful, it often shows up in other states, so we’re kind of a test ing ground,” Kinney said. “I doubt they envisioned it working out this way.”
Kinney’s group was one of 11 to sub mit statements in support of Proposi tion 128, along with the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and the Center for Ari zona Policy Action, among others.
Aimee Yentes, vice president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and a Gilbert Town Council member, said in her written statement that with ballot propositions “thrown together by outof-state special interest groups,” they often include language that does not conform with Arizona’s Constitution.
She pointed to Proposition 208: Ap proved by voters in 2020, it would have raised income taxes on high earners to
fund the state’s schools, but was later ruled unconstitutional by state courts.
Garcia thinks the success of Proposi tion 208 is the real reason for Propo sition 128 – not to preserve voter-ap proved initiatives, but to prevent them.
“This is a direct attack on … our work on Proposition 208, Invest in Ed,” she said.
The Invest in Education Act was ap proved in 2020 with 51.75% of the vote.
It called for raising the income tax from the current 4.5% to 8% on indi viduals earning more than $250,000 –or $500,000 for couples – with most of the new funding going to teacher’s sala ries and school programs.
It was not long after that vote, in Feb ruary 2021, that Leach introduced the legislation to put Proposition 128 on the ballot. It passed the House and Sen ate on party-line votes.
Meanwhile, the Goldwater Institute
sued, claiming that a simple majority of voters could not approve a higher tax through the Invest in Ed Act, since Ari zona’s Constitution requires a superma jority for the Legislature to pass a tax.
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge agreed and overturned the initia tive in March 2022.
Garcia said that if Proposition 128 had been in place, it could have fasttracked that process, making it easier for lawmakers to overturn measures whenever they want.
Francisco Pedraza, associate director of the Center for Latina/os and Ameri can Politics Research, said the proposi tion could lead to a “slippery slope situ ation,” with legislators intervening even before the courts step in.
Along with Pedraza and Garcia’s groups, others on record opposing Proposition 128 include One Arizona,
the League of Women Voters of Arizona and small business owners.
Kinney said her organization spoke up for Proposition 128 over concerns that some voter initiatives could hurt the state’s pro-business image.
“It’s important to our members to have the most attractive environment to attract new businesses here,” she said. “Unfortunately, a number of the measures we’ve seen, funded from out of state, would make the business envi ronment less attractive.”
But Garcia said it is not the out-ofstate interests that will be hindered by Proposition 128 as much as it is the vot ers in-state.
“In our minds, these are direct push backs to us having a majority of voters wanting something, and 31 folks in the House and 16 people in the Senate not agreeing with it,” she said.
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ACalifornia man last week closed a deal to buy 3 acres of vacant land in west Mesa for $1.3 million with an eye toward build ing a 72-unit apartment complex.
Hoa T. Lai of Milpitas bought the property at 333 W. Brown Road at Country Club through an LLC called Enzo and Jax from Omega Healthcare Investors, according to Valley real es tate tracker vizzda.com, although the application to the city for site plan re view identified the seller as Sen-Mesa Investment Properties LLC.
Preliminary site plans were submit ted to the Mesa Planning Department in March for a 72-unit apartment complex in three three-story resi dential buildings with 168 parking spaces.
Flanked by commercial, office and apartment developments, the prop erty the property is compatible for multi-family residential development and use.
“It is further understood by the ap plicant that the property has been vacant undeveloped land for decades and has been the site for trash depos its and transients,” the application by BFH Group states. Improvements to this property would be a huge benefit to not only the City of Mesa, but also to the local businesses and residents
The application said the developer has not yet decided whether the com plex will be gated and has not yet determined a construction schedule, though it indicates construction is not anticipated for at least a year.
“The Country Club Apartments site is ideal for a multi-family develop ment,” the application says. “There is a demand in the area for attain able housing in Mesa and inadequate supply. More housing in this area will generate a higher demand for com merce, including supermarkets, con venience stores, offices, retail, etc.
“It is the intent and desire of the developer to work hand in hand with the City as well as the neighbors to create a viable development that ben efits not only the existing neighbor hood, but also the future residents.”
Meanwhile, three other major real estate deals in Mesa were reported by vizzda. One saw a change in own ership of a senior living community, another could bring a 47,944-squarefoot speculative industrial warehouse to Stapley Drive and Mesa Road and a third brought new owners to part of a retail complex at Dobson and Broad way roads.
Moses Lake Industries, a company based in Washington State, agreed to pay $8.7 million for 3.7 acres of vacant land on the northwest corner of Stapley and Mesa for a warehouse that will have two truck wells with 14 docks and a 2-acre storage yard, according to vizzda.
There was no debt re corded with the sale.
Moses Lake Industries, established in 1984 as a wholly- owned subsidiary of Tama Chemicals, sup plies “high-performance chemical solutions to the semiconductor and flat panel industries,” accord ing to the company’s web site.
The area shaded in pink is vacant land in west Mesa that a California man intends to develop for a 72-unit apartment complex. (vizzda.com)
In the third deal, Grub Collective LLC paid $1.4 million for seven of 14 units in a two-building complex at 1712 W. Broadway Road. The seller was the East Mesa Aerie 4508 Frater nal Order Of Eagles.
Built in 2007, the condos comprise 9,388 square feet of retail space and the sale price represented a squarefoot price of $145, according to vizz da.
Also, Bourne Financial Group, a Florida-based real estate private eq uity company specializing in senior
living development, acquisition and management, bought the 188-unit Bella Vista Retirement Living com munity for $24.1 million – more than twice what its previous owners paid for it 10 years ago, according to vizz da.
Built in 1978 on 5.1 acres, Bella Vis ta comprises a four-story and two sin gle-story buildings housing a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments. The sale price represent a per-unit price of $128,191 – or $161 a square foot, vizzda said.
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Allowance amount does not carry over to the next quarter or the following year.
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The Clean Elections Voter Education Guide is official election information sent straight to your mailbox. It’s filled with key voting dates, how to get your ballot and candidate statements, so you don’t have to look far for all of the information you need to vote.
Look for your guide in the mailbox or download it at AZCleanElections.gov/guide or call 877-631-8891 for more information.
FormerMesa Mayor Keno Hawker, who led Mesa through the trauma of 9/11 and laid the groundwork for the city’s booming economic climate, died on Oct. 21. He was 76.
Mayor Hawker served two terms on the city council between 1986 to 1994, a two-year term starting in 1998, and then eight years as mayor between 2000 and 2008.
A co-founder of Hawker and Evans Asphalt Co. after moving to Arizona in 1972, he ran for council because he hat ed paying the annual $50 fee to the city for the “privilege” of collecting sales tax.
“If anything, the city should pay me $50 for the effort,” Hawker said at the time.
Julie Rees, who served as his chief of staff from 2001-04, said Mayor Hawker saw “the opportunity that we had in the Southeast Valley and Mesa for sustain able development.”
He served the city during two major events that will impact Mesa for genera tions: the federal government’s closing of Williams Air Force Base and the clos ing and sale of the General Motors Prov ing Grounds, both of which opened up thousands of acres to development.
“Sometimes people will see (south east Mesa) now, and they’re like ‘wow, this is great, this happened overnight,’ and it didn’t,” City Manager Chris Brady ironically had mentioned in talking about Mayor Hawker at a council meet ing several weeks before his death. “It took decades of planning, deliberate dis cussions about what we wanted it to be.”
Mayor Hawker helped set the vision of converting the Air Force base into Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and surrounding area an employment hub and protecting what was initially called
“Williams Gateway Regional Job Center” from encroaching residential develop ment.
In his 2007 state of the city address, he said, “It has been my goal to turn Mesa from a bedroom to a boardroom community.”
This mantra is still repeated by current District 6 Councilman Kevin Thompson and by his predecessor Scott Somers, who will rejoin the council in January.
Rees said that Mayor Hawker saw in frastructure as the key to unlocking Me sa’s economic potential.
“It was really exciting to watch him as he led the charge” for passing Prop. 400 in 2004, which extended the transpor tation tax in Maricopa County for longterm transportation projects, including the buildout of the Loop 202 Freeway,
considered as a transfor mative piece of infrastruc ture for the East Valley.
Rees said her onetime boss also focused on mak ing sure that Mesa was “get ting its fair share” of public dollars.
Gateway Airport spokes man Ryan Smith said Mesa leaders who came after Mayor Hawker benefited from his work, including Smith’s father, Mayor Scott Smith, who succeeded the late mayor.
“A thing that’s kind of lost on political leaders to day – a good elected leader shouldn’t worry about the payoff that they’re going to get while in office,” Ryan Smith said.
“Good planning and good political leaders plan for the next generation, and when you look at Keno’s ac complishments, all of those accomplish ments were going to come well after he was out of office.”
Mayor Hawker said in a 2018 inter view that his strong Libertarian smallgovernment philosophy was nurtured by an economics professor at the Uni versity of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.
“He questioned every project, every spending proposal that came through the council,” said Barret Marson, a for mer reporter who covered the mayor for the Tribune.
“He always raised issues about wheth er this small, conservative city should be involved in various kinds of projects.”
But that fiscal conservatism didn’t stop him from backing many major city projects and initiatives, including tax in centives to bring businesses to Mesa.
A Tribune profile published at the end of his two terms as mayor noted the irony that he left a city government that was larger and more proactive than he found it.
Rees said that Hawker won allies for his projects by being “a really great lis tener.”
“He was always looking for points of intersection,” she said.
In a 2003 Maricopa Association of Governments newsletter, Mayor Hawker said “I have never been one who has en joyed party politics. Non-partisan I love, because then you represent your sup porters and not political party leader ship.”
Named Keno in honor of his father’s landlord in San Diego during World War II, he was originally from Janesville, Wis consin, and graduated from University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point with a de gree of finance, and a masters in busi ness administration from University of Wisconsin - Madison.
He was an avid outdoorsman and ath lete and enjoyed adventures, including a 2,400-mile cross-country bike ride.
He once said that “he who dies with the most toys wins,” and enjoyed many – including a unicycle, river rafts, mo torcycles, airplanes and a climbing wall, among many others.
Some Mesa residents may remember him riding an old-fashioned penny-far thing bicycle in a parade.
“He was interested in a lot of diverse things,” Rees said.
Mayor Hawker is survived by his wife Penny Wolfswinkel-Hawker, son Ryan Hawker, daughter Shelby Hawker and two grandsons.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. at the Mesa Arts Center’s Virginia G. Piper Theater. Memorial donations can be made to Mesa United Way.
Keno Hawker crossed the finish line on Octo ber 21, 2022, with fam ily by his side.
Born on July 24th, 1946 in Janesville, WI, Keno was the youngest of two boys in an active and loving family. An athlete like his broth er, Dennis, Keno was a multiple sports star in high school and college, lettering in football, basketball, and track.
Keno studied business and economics at University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and received an MBA from University of Wiscon sin – Madison. While in Madison, Keno dis covered a lifelong passion for economics and also for sailing, applying his economic philos ophies later in his public service and using his sailing skills throughout his life on boats from a 16 ft. Hobie-Cat to a 48 ft. Catalina.
Keno was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam conflict. While serving his term in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, Keno married Marilyn Evans, with whom he had two chil dren, Ryan and Shelby. They raised their fam ily in Mesa, AZ, where Keno started a suc cessful asphalt products, sales and application business.
Keno loved life in Arizona. From owning cabins at Hawley Lake, Rainbow Lake and Haigler Creek, to becoming an instrument-rat ed pilot and flying his airplanes out of Falcon Field, racing his 400 Yamaha motorcycle in the desert, hiking to the top of Four Peaks and Weavers Needle, or just enjoying time on his family’s Apache Lake houseboat.
Keno’s athleticism continued throughout his lifetime. He competed the Alcatraz tri athlon twice. At age 39, he bicycled from San Diego, CA to Jacksonville, FL. Keno was also an accomplished juggler and uni
cycle rider. He enjoyed scuba diving around the world.
With the success of Keno’s business came the opportunity to serve his community, a time when he also met his wife, Mary Jo Vecchiarelli. Keno served in leader ship positions with Mesa Baseline Rotary Club, Mesa HoHoKams, Mesa Chamber of Commerce, ten years as a Mesa City Councilmember, and eight years as Mayor of Mesa from 2000-2008. As Mayor, Keno framed the path for a generation of sustain able growth in Mesa and the East Valley, including the expansion of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport, the 2002 Mesa General Plan, and passage of Prop. 400, which to gether created long-term infrastructure for transportation, mass transit, job creation, and economic growth.
Keno first met Penny when she presented a zoning case before the City of Mesa 33 years ago. Keno voted against the case but would later marry and find lasting love with the pre senter. During his active retirement, Keno en joyed traveling the world with Penny, spend ing time with grandchildren and gardening at home in Paradise Valley, Flagstaff, or their cabin in Young, AZ.
Keno is survived by his wife Penny Wolfswinkel Hawker of Paradise Valley, AZ, son Ryan Hawker (Renee Fry) of Quin cy, MA, daughter Shelby Hawker of Brook lyn, NY, stepchildren Erin Kolb (Rick), Clifford Jenkins (Lauren), and grandsons Beto Brea, Liam Hawker, Dillan and Wy lan Kolb. He was preceded in death by his father, Earle, mother, Genella, and brother, Dennis.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Sun day, November 13th at 1:00pm, at the Mesa Arts Center Virginia G Piper Theater. Please consider making a donation in Keno’s honor to Mesa United Way.
2022
Travis Strote and Haley Byfield are saving the world, one pair of leg gings at a time.
The Scottsdale residents founded Yoga Democracy, the only zero-waste manu facturers of active wear in the United States. They will showcase their new collection and their best sellers during Arizona Fashion Week 2022.
Yoga Democracy’s event is Friday, Nov. 4, at the Mix Center in Mesa.
“We are going to be showcasing a new collection as well as our bestsellers,” said Strote, a Navy veteran. “We are a lo cally made brand, seven years going. We manufacture everything in Carefree. We will showcase what we stand for: People and planet before profit.”
A Scottsdale resident, Strote said seven years ago there wasn’t a compa ny serving women who wanted to ex press themselves through yoga cloth ing. Most apparel firms offer plain, neutral colors.
“We are loud and unique and differ ent, and we were hoping women would embody that uniqueness,” he said. “And it worked. We’ve grown a bit over seven years. We just finalized a production fa cility in Kenya so we can make a deeper impact for the people working for us there.”
The Carefree facility will be used for small batch runs and a sample house. It’s there that Yoga Democracy staff will do research and design for their products.
Yoga Democracy’s clothing are made with recycled water bottles and fishing nets. The excess fabric is collected and repurposed or recycled. It uses a nowater dyeing process that cuts down on waste.
“We put our excess materials in dog beds and donate them to local shelters,”
he said.
“If you walk into an average dog shel ter, the dogs are sleeping on hard con crete. Therefore, they’re uncomfortable and it lessens the chance for adoption. The dog is already on edge. Our goal is to make the dog more comfortable.”
Strote and Byfield met in yoga class in Florida. They founded Yoga Democracy in New York. As Yoga Democracy grew, the partners started looking for sewing machines for sale. They found a small production company for sale in Carefree and they bought it five years ago.
“We moved out to Carefree, and we grew it from there,” he said. “It’s been born and raised here. Previously, we were cutting and sewing on the floor of her apartment in New York City.”
Byfield is the lead seamstress and creative captain, who begins the sew
ing process on every single product Yoga Democracy produces.
The clothing is available on its web site, yogademocracy.com, or at its flag ship store in Old Town Scottsdale.
Along with showcasing Yoga Democ racy activewear, the Old Town location is a micro-production facility. Shoppers can peek in back and see seamstresses creating clothing. In addition to creat ing clothing, Yoga Democracy offers onsite hems and alterations. Transparency and honesty is key to Yoga Democracy, Strote said.
Strote comes from a family of entre preneurs. His mother and sister rescue former racehorses. He got the entre preneurial bug when he started his first company, Pit Dawg Hats.
“When I got out of the Navy, I want ed to continue my service for helping
people,” he said. “I traveled all over the world with the Marine unit as their med ic. I was in the Navy but attached to a Marine unit. Coreman are the only Navy the Marines will put up with.”
When: Time TBA Friday, Nov. 4
Where: Media and Immersive Experi ence (MIX) Center at ASU at Mesa City Center, 50 N. Centennial Way, Mesa Cost: See website for details Info: azfw2022.com
7146 E. Fifth Avenue, Scottsdale 917-769-9955
yvydscottsdale@yvydactive.com yogademocracy.com
Muscle cramping, difficulty walk ing, burning, tingling, numbness, and pain in the legs or feet are symptoms of neuropathy people live with every day,” explains Dr. Kerry Zang, podi atric medical director of CIC Foot & Ankle. “The thing is PAD has very sim ilar symptoms. So similar that in many cases, people are told it’s neuropathy when it may not be.”
Medicine is often prescribed. “Pills aren’t a cure, they just suppress the symptoms,” says Zang. “If neuropathy
isn’t causing the symptoms, the real problem could get worse.”
It’s important to determine if PAD (pe ripheral artery disease) is causing the pain or making it worse. PAD is plaque in the arteries which causes poor circulation.
“Blood brings oxygen and nutrients to your feet which they need to stay healthy,” explains Zang, “When your feet aren’t get ting an adequate supply, they start send ing signals.” Those signals include pain, burning, tingling, numbness, or cramping.
The good news is PAD is treatable in
an office setting. Dr. Joel Rainwater, MD endovascular specialist explains, “We go into the bloodstream to find the blockage using imaging guidance. Then with small tools that can go into the smallest arteries, remove the blockage, and restore blood flow.”
Getting the proper diagnosis is the first step to getting better. “It’s all about find ing out what’s causing the problem,” says Zang. “When your feet burn, tingle, or feel numb, it’s your body telling you it needs help, and you should listen.”
If your neuropathy medication is not working, your symptoms may be an indication of another condition.
One in 40 people over the age of 50 may find themselves limiting their activi ty because of a condition called hallux rigidus. It’s a degenerative disease of the big toe joint. As it progresses, the pain in the joint increases and motion decreases.
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“People don’t realize the impact their big toe has on their life. It plays a role in balance, shock absorption, and forward movement as you walk,” explains Dr. Daniel Schulman, of CiC Foot & Ankle. “When the joint is stiff, it’s not able to bend and rotate properly, and it changes how we walk without us even realizing it.” These changes can lead to back or knee pain as well as discomfort in other parts of the foot.
“It always concerns me to hear that someone is playing less golf or stay ing home because they’re in pain,” says Schulman. “There are ways to help.”
The goal is to protect your feet from the repetitive stress of everyday activities. “We have several treatment options to not only relieve foot pain but help im prove how your feet work. If we can help your feet function better, in many cases the need for surgery can be avoided or at the very least postponed,” says Schul man. “Patients are always happy to learn about ways to alleviate their symptoms.”
For golfers, a stiff big toe can make their game suffer.
TheMesaTribune.com | @EVTNow /EVTNow
As the Nov. 8 General Election draws near, you may want a prediction about the out come. Here’s mine – and it’s a pretty safe bet.
In the major races drawing hun dreds of millions of dollars and the national spotlight, we aren’t going to know anything definitive on the night of Nov. 8. And likely not for days or weeks afterward.
You’ll hear a lot of screaming that this wait is evidence there’s election rigging afoot – despite zero credible evidence of any cheating.
Ironically, much of the reason it will take days on end to tabulate our ballots traces back to the very same election deniers who bleat constant
ly about cheating. Let me explain.
It has become fashionable among the MAGA elite, including President Trump, to tell their people – even those who receive an early ballot in the mail – to hold that ballot un til Election Day, then turn it in. As Trump put it recently, “it’s much harder for them to cheat that way.”
State Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Pluto, told One America News Network a few days ago, “We need to vote on the last day, the day of Election Day, so they don’t know how much to cheat by.”
There will likely be a few hundred thousand of these ballots statewide, known in the business as “late ear ly’s.” Per the law, each “late early” must have the signature verified by a human being before being counted.
That can’t start until after Election
Night, leading to days of counting –and lots of screaming, especially if a Republican candidate is trailing and drawing nearer by the day.
Jen Marson, executive director of the Arizona Association of Counties, is one of the state’s foremost elec tions experts. A fierce independent and a certified elections officer, Mar son works with county election of ficials statewide. She, too, sees mas sive amounts of “late early’s” as a potential issue.
“The late early votes count just as much as any other vote and some times they turn the tide of what was reported on Election Day,” says Mar son. “And that’s when people lose their minds.”
Marson warns some races will last into December if they’re close enough to trigger a recount – 1/2 of
one percentage point between the top two candidates or between the yes and no sides on ballot measures. Such a recount can’t even begin until Dec. 5, says Marson.
“If the governor’s office has to be recounted, it’s going to be mid to late December before we know the re sults,” she explains.
Can you imagine? We already have candidates saying they won’t accept the results unless they win – thanks, Kari Lake – and armed morons in camo camped outside a ballot drop box in Mesa.
Let the hard feelings simmer for a few weeks, and add in fantasies about ballot mules and rigged vot ing machines. Another prediction: Chances are slim we make it through
Voters can be forgiven their skepticism as Election Day ap proaches.
While eight days separate Hallow een from the “first-Tuesday-follow ing-the-first-Monday in November,” there is little to differentiate cam paign promises in television ads from the youthful cries of “Trick or Treat!” on the front porch.
One “age appropriate” distinction becomes readily apparent.
For the “over 18 crowd,” the trickor-treat dynamic is superseded by two conflicting emotions: Hope or fear.
Sadly, that latter feeling is spread ing…and with far more credibility than the false assertion that “This is
a pandemic of the unvaccinated!”
It was bad enough when Joe Biden “played a doctor on TV” to utter that talking point. It was even worse when Anthony Fauci, a trained physi cian more comfortable with political science than medical science, echoed the same inane phrase.
And just as American tax dollars apparently flowed to Communist Chinese research labs to help engi neer a bioweapon, so too is federal largesse underwriting a contagion that could prove fatal to our Body Politic.
The shocking steps taken by the Biden Administration to politicize the Justice Department and the FBI, augmented by the Chief Executive’s menacing remarks in Philadelphia Sept. 1, where he described his polit ical opponents as extremists threat
ening the “very foundations of our Republic,” have poisoned our public discourse.
Call it the “Death of Civic Virtue.”
Our electoral system depends upon people of good will and strong character.
While they may eagerly embrace a political philosophy or partisan label, they must also recognize the rights of others to espouse opposing political viewpoints and different partisan passions.
Whatever disagreements that oc cur during the course of a campaign must ultimately yield to a uniform insistence that only legal votes be counted on Election Day – and that the tabulation take place in a way that insures both accuracy and trans parency.
Unfortunately, events surround
ing the 2020 election and its after math have featured little transpar ency, prompting serious questions about the accuracy of the outcome. A recently released study of the 100 most populous counties in the 14 traditional swing states discovered that only two of those states and six of the counties retained the actual voter files from the General Election of 2020.
The analysis, conducted by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), found that 12 states and 96 counties are violating the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which mandates the retention of those records.
Included in that AFPI count are six Arizona counties: Apache, Coconino, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, and Yavapai.
Again, none of those counties appear to be in compliance with the afore mentioned Civil Rights Act.
Whether this non-compliance arises from incompetence or ignorance, arro gance or even evil intent, it must end.
Such actions—or more accurately, non-actions—prompt an obvious question.
What are you hiding?
Thankfully, two neighboring sec retaries of state— Frank LaRose of Ohio and Mac Warner of West Vir ginia—have begun a national effort to ensure that their colleagues in the
other 48 states will preserve election files going forward.
Of course, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is a little preoccu pied right now, since she’s the Demo cratic nominee for governor.
Not only has she been criticized for her failure to debate GOP nomi nee Kari Lake, now renewed scrutiny of her performance as secretary of state has attracted additional criti cism.
During the six month period from April 1 through Oct. 14, Katie only showed up to her official office for a total of 19 days.
No foolin’.
Press reports reveal that she was especially scarce during April and August, absent from her office for almost the entirety of those months.
Of course, Katie has ignored her opponent’s request that she step aside from any supervision of the midterms, given that her name is on the ballot.
That’s why there’s a real fear that Hobbs may spend much more time in her official office during the remain ing days before the election.
Republicans hope Lake’s margin of votes is so great that it can withstand any “hands on” efforts from the sec retary of state.
this election without at least one weapon fired in anger.
All this over fantasies of cheat ing that have never, ever come true. Heck, half of you reading this column think I’m part of the cabal of cheat ers trying to persuade you to allow yourself to be cheated.
Whatever happens in this election – and I don’t care who you vote for, though I do hope you vote – I agree with my friend, Jen.
“There has never been any law en forcement investigation, “fraudit,” audit, people looking (that has un covered widespread cheating),” says Marson. “Whoever has come to look at whatever machines in any county, they have found no evidence of wide spread cheating or fraud or hacking. None of it.”
Settle in, friends, for a doozy of a wait. Unless I’m dead wrong – and I pray I am – Election 2022 will be with us for a while.
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ArizonaCardinals kicker Matt Am mendola lined up at the 26-yard line to attempt a manageable 43-yard field goal. If the ball went through the up rights the Cardinals would tie the game. The sound of the home crowd was a constant buzz as the replacement kicker lined up for the kick. Instead, the ball sliced right, effec tively ending the game and sending Arizona home with a loss.
Afterwards Ammendola was hounded by media members who asked him about the loss. Cardinals guard Justin Pugh stood be side his kicker and lectured that the loss isn’t on one guy.
The next week, Ammendola was hardly used and eventually was cut.
It’s a tough gig to be a kicker. While Pugh may be right, in that no one person is to blame in a loss, the fact is that kickers are a unique position in football. In crucial kicks, like the
one Ammendola faced, all eyes land on one person. All the praise or blame will be sent that way. That is a lot of pressure for even a professional kicker. That same pressure ex tends to the same kickers at local high schools.
Senior Preston McCabe and sophomore Damian Chavez share kicking duties on the Skyline High School varsity football team. The duo is 22-of-26 (84.6%) in point after at tempts this season. With the help of the pair, the Skyline Coyotes are 5-1 this year, mark ing their first five-win season since 2018.
Even during success, Chavez has noticed the added pressure that comes with being a kicker.
“I feel like every position feels pressure, but I feel like us kickers feel it more,” Chavez said. “We are held up to not be bothered by that pressure.”
How that pressure is controlled differs from player to player. With the hum of the crowd noise, the bright lights against the black night sky, and the necessity for points, the pressure could be too much to handle.
For Chavez, his method is physical. Be fore taking his two steps to the left of the ball he shakes out any nerves and takes out a deep breath. In his recollection of his pro cess, he recites his phrase, “Deep breaths, deep breaths.”
Meanwhile, McCabe’s approach is more mental.
“I kind of just imagine myself making them,” McCabe said. “[I] just mentally say, ‘You got this, you got this, you got this,’ and I just go on and do the best I can.”
No matter how sturdy the mind or body is in pressure-filled situations, unplanned vari ables in a game can throw off their habit. In expectation of this, Skyline’s first-year head coach Adam Schiermyer uses practice time to rehearse a wide range of situations that his kicker may face.
To help McCabe, “left,” and Chavez, “right,” Skyline head coach Adam Shiermyer puts them in stressful situations in practice. Often, he will count down from 10, requiring them to run on the field, get set and snap the ball before he hits zero. It prepares them for game situations and helps them relax when the team needs a big kick. (Dave Minton/Tribune Staff)
down from ten and it’ll be a fast ten second where they have to get set up, got to get set, and they have to put it between the uprights.
Schiermyer has noticed that one of the best ways to coach his kickers is to let them be. The more a coach nitpicks specifics about a kick, the more the kicker dwells and over thinks which leads to over correcting kicks.
“Everybody knows he isn’t out there to miss a kick,” Schiermyer said.
No one is perfect but that doesn’t mean that those missed shots don’t stick in the craw of an athlete. McCabe can still remem ber the details of his one missed field goal this season.
In the season opener against North Canyon, the senior kicker recalls the dis tance,25-30 yards, the spot of the ball, on the right hash. Unfortunately for McCabe, his normal holder left the game with an injury which led to a receiver holding the ball for the first time.
“I was under pressure a lot. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go,” McCabe said.
see if I could make it five in a row.”
Eventually, McCabe began to make the kick regularly in practice, leading to more positivity to that kick.
Pressure isn’t always a negative though. The adrenaline of such a big moment can lead some people to gravitate to the kicking position. Chavez is one such person. Dur ing his freshman season, Chavez knew little about American football but was interested in trying for any position. The role of a kicker gravitated to him due to his lifetime of expe rience in soccer.
At 3 years old Chavez began playing soc cer, eventually playing at a club level. Al though the transition from soccer to football techniques were challenging, Chavez has liked the importance of the kicker role.
“The thought about making a point for your team, that pressure and enjoying that pressure is fun. It’s good for me,” Chavez said.
Skyline High School football kickers senior Pres ton McCabe and sophomore Damian Chavez embrace the pressure that comes with the position. They’re often the ones counted on in tough situations, and the first to be blamed af ter a missed field goal. (Dave Minton/Tribune Staff)
“We want to really intensify our prac tices when they’re running out for a kicker,” Schiermyer said. “We’ll run an offensive play and they won’t have any timeouts and we run the field goal team out there. We’ll count
McCabe remembers the ball being snapped into the ground which led the ball to being flat on the tee block leading to the miss.
“It took two days to move on from it,” Mc Cabe said. “At practices I would go and prac tice that kick over and over again, trying to
Kickers will continue to make and miss kicks. Some will be important, some won’t be. But when the highlights of these missed kicks land on Chavez’s Instagram page a sting of empathy is there.
“You feel how they feel and sort of em pathy for them because you know what it’s like and you know how it would feel if you missed a PAT or field goal at that level.”
GRAMMYaward-winning prog-metal guitarist John Petrucci has always been a fan of trios.
He calls himself “the biggest fan” of acts like Rush and the Steve Morse band, explaining, “There is something organic about bands with three guys like Cream and Rush.”
So when Petrucci decided to go out on the road on his first solo tour – which will come to the Celebrity Theater on Wednes day, Nov. 2 – it only made sense for him to add two esteemed musicians to share the stage.
One is his former bandmate in the progmetal act Dream Theater and renowned sticks man Mike Portnoy. “Mike left Dream Theater 12 years ago and we haven’t stepped onstage (together) since then,” Petrucci said.
Although the two haven’t graced the stage together in over a decade, they reunited in 2020 to record “Terminal Velocity.”
“I asked Mike to play drums on ‘Terminal Velocity’ and that was fun because in that case, I had written all the mu sic already and Mike came in the studio and played drums on it. Now we’re going to take that music and bring it to life on stage, so it’s exciting for the both of us.”
Rounding out the trio is bassist Dave LaRue. “I’m the biggest Steve Morse fan on the planet and I’ve been go ing to see Steve Morse and his bassist Dave LaRue as long as I can remember and I was always enamored by
Dave’s talent,” Petrucci said.
Since LaRue had laid down the bass parts on Petrucci’s first solo album in 2005, “Suspended Animation,” and had joined Portnoy in projects like Flying Col ors, the Led Zeppelin cover band Hammer of the Gods and Petrucci’s latest album, it seemed like the perfect fit.
“Mike has experience playing with Dave as well since Dave plays in a couple of proj ects of Mike’s, so the chemistry is perfect,” Petrucci said.
That chemistry will best be displayed on some of Petrucci’s favorite tunes from his latest work.
“There’s an old song that I put on my new album called “Gemini” and it was a song I wrote back in the 90s as like a guitar masterclass demo and I finally recorded a
version of it,” Petrucci said.
Petrucci said fans can expect the songs to sound different from his recordings.
“The arrangements of the songs might be slightly different from the album ver sions,” Petrucci said. “We might stretch some things out a bit so we can have some improvisation.”
But he added that fans can expect to hear him hum on his guitar a lot.
“Basically, in my solo stuff, the guitar takes on the role of the singer and the so loist and everything else,” Petrucci said.
He said he likely will alternate between using standard tuned six and seven-string guitars but also teased he could break out an eight-string guitar.
Petrucci is equally excited to tour with the reunited all-female thrash metal outfit Meanstreak – which features his wife Rena Sands and Port noy’s wife Marlene playing to gether on guitar.
“Meanstreak just reunited, so I told my wife ‘if you guys reunite, you can open up for my tour,’” Petrucci said, “so for the first time, I’m touring with my wife and I’m excited about that.”
He added that his relation ship with Rena Sands and the Portnoys feels like one big family.
“All of our kids were born around the same time, every body knows each other and we’ve been this big, happy family for a long time,” Petruc ci said.
Petrucci hopes that fans in attendance will rekindle their once-lost love of live music.
“I hope that they have fun since live music was taken from us for a couple of years there and everybody is getting
back at it now,” he said
“It’s great to be together seeing an in strumental show since it’s a unique type of audience because they’re going to see three guys play music and usually, there’s a lot of musicians in the audience.”
Who: John Petrucci featuring Mike Portnoy and Dave LaRue with special guest Meanstreak
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2
Where: The Celebrity Theatre, 440 N 32nd Street, Phoenix
Cost: Tickets start at $42
Info: Johnpetrucci.com/tour
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STATE OF NEW MEXICO COUNTY OF LUNA SIXTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT IN THE CHILDREN’S COURT In the Matter of the Adoption Petition of Leann Moreno and Raul Fernando Moreno, Petitioners. No. D-619-SA-2022-00002 Judge Jarod K. Hofacket Notice of Petition for adoption The state of New Mexico to the following named or designated persons: Mario Vonne Newton Notice is hereby given that a Petition for Adoption has been filed by Petitioners in the aboveentitled cause on April 7, 2022. Please be further notified that, pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 32A527(E), you are required to file a written response to the Petition within twenty (20) days from the date of this notice if you intend to contest the request for an adoption decree of the prospective adoptee with the Sixth Judicial District Court, 855 S. Platinum, Deming, NM 88030. Failure to file a written response with the court shall be treated as a default and your consent to the adoption shall not be required. The Petitioner’s counsel is Benting Law Firm, LLC, 115 E. Ash St. Deming, NM 88030, (575) 546-6300. WITNESS my hand and seal of the District Court of Luna County, New Mexico, on this 19th day of September, 2022. Clerk of the District Court By Miriam Davila, Deputy. Pub-lished: East Valley Tribune, Oct 16, 23, 30, 2022 / 49726
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY, CITY OF SAN JOSE
Address:
EAST
STREET, 16TH FLOOR
JOSE State: CA Zip: 9511 3 Telephone: (408) 535
in Need of Protec tion
(408) 998
Name: WILLIAM GARB ETT 4 Notice of Hearing A court hearing is scheduled on the request for restraining orders against the respondent Hearin g Date 11/30/2021 Time: 9:00AM Dept : 4 5 Temporary Restraining Orders a Temporary Restraining Orders for personal con duct and stay away orders as requested in Form WV 100, Request for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders, are: (1) All GRANTED until the court hearing 6 Service of Documents by the Petitioner At least five days before the hearing, someone age 18 or older not you or anyone to be protected must personally give (serve) a court file stamped copy of this Form WV 109, Notice of Court Hearing, to the respondent along with a copy of all the forms indicated below: a WV 100, Petition for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders (filestamped) b WV 110, Temporary Restraining Order (file stamped) IF GRAN TED c WV 120, Response to Petition for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders (blank form) d WV 120 INFO, How Can I Respond to a Petition for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders? e WV 250, Proof of Service of Response by Mail (blan k form) Date: 09/20/2021 /S ERIK S JOHNSON To the Petitioner The court cannot make the restraining orders after the court hearing unless the respondent has been personally given (served) a copy of your request and any temporary orders To show that the respondent has been served, the person who served the forms must fill out a proof of service form Form WV 200, Proof of Personal Service, may be used For information about service, read Form WV 200 NFO, What Is "Proof of Person al Service"? If you are unable to serve the respondent in time, you may ask for more time to serve the documents Use Form WV 115, Request to Continue Court Hearing and to Reissue Temporary Restraining Order To the Respondent If you wan t to respond to the request for orders in writing, file Form WV 120, Response to Request for Workplace Violence Restraining Orders, and have someone age 18 or older not you or anyone to be protect mail it to the petitioner The person who mailed the form must fill out a proof of service form FormWV 250, Proof of Service of Response by Mail, may be used File th e completed form with the court before the hearing and bring a copy with you to the court hearing Whether or not you re spond in writing, go to the hearing if you want the judge to hear from you before making an order You may tell the judge why you agree or disagree with the orders requested You may bring witnesses or other evidence At the hearing, the judge may make restraining orders against you that could last up to three years and may order you to sell or turn in any firearms that you own or possess Request for Accommodations Assistive listening systems, computer assisted real time captioning, or sign lan g u ag e in ter p r eter s er v ices ar e av ailab le if y o u as k at leas t f iv e d ay s b ef o r e th e h ear in g Co n tact th e cler k s o f f ice o r g o t o www courts ca gov/formsfor Request for Accommodations by Persons with Disabilities and Response (Form MC 410) (Civ Code, § 54 8) ORDER ON REQUEST TO CONTINUE HEARING Case Number: 21CH010281 Superior Court of California, County of SANTA CLARA 191 N FIRST STREET, SAN JOSE, CA 95113, DOWNTOWN SUPERIOR COURT 1 Peti tioner (Employer) CITY OF SAN JOSE 2 Respondent WILLIAM GARBETT 3 Next Court Date b The request to resched ule the court date is granted Your court date is rescheduled for the day and time listed below See 4 8 for more information New Court Date 12/06/2022 Time: 9AM 4 Temporary Restraining Order b A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) is still i n full force and effect (1) The court extends the TRO previously granted on 09/20/2021 It now expires on (at the end of the court date listed in 3b) Warning and Notice to the Respondent If 4b is checked, a temporary restraining order has been issue d against you You must follow the orders until they expire 5 Reason Court Date is Rescheduled c The court reschedules th e court date on its own motion 6 Serving (Giving) Order to the Other Party The request to reschedule was made by the: a Peti tioner (Employer) (3) You must serve the respondent with a copy of this order This can be done by mail You must serve by: 10/01/2022 7 No Fee to Serve (Notify) Respondent NOT ORDERED Date: 09/06/2022 /S/ Sunil R Kulkarni, Judicial Of ficer Clerk's Certificate I certify that this Order on Request to Continue Hearing (Temporary Restraining Order) (CLETS TWH)(form WV 116) is a true and correct copy of the original on file in the court Date: 09/06/2022 M SORUM, Clerk o f t h
Name: AMBER
TA CLARA Case No 21CH010281 CITY OF SAN JOSE, a charter city, Petitioner v WILLIAM GARBETT, an individual, Re spondent Date: September 6, 2022 Time: 9 00 a m Dep't: 4 Exempt from Filing Fees (Govt Code § 6103) After reviewing the Application for Order for Service by Publication of Petitioner City of San José, and it satisfactorily appearing therefrom that Petitioner has made reasonably diligent efforts to personally serve Respondent, WILLIAM GARBETT, and that Respond ent is a necessary party to this action and is both aware of this action and the contents of the Petition; and IT FURTHER AP PEARING that a Notice of Court Hearing (WV 109) (the "Notice") has been filed in the above entitled Court action, said Re spondent cannot, with reasonable diligence,
served in any other manner specified by sections 415 10 through 415 40 of the Code of Civil Procedure IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that service of the Notice be made on Respondent WILLIAM GARB ETT by publication thereof in the Mesa
circulation published in the County of Maricopa, Ari zona, as well as in the San Jose
of
of
give said Respondent actual notice in this action, and that publica
circulation published in the County of Santa Clara, Cali fornia,
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Mesa is seeking a qualified firm or team to act as the Job Order Contractor for the following:
WATER & WASTEWATER PLANT FACILITIES CONSTRUCTION SERVICES
PROJECT NO. JOC-W23
The City of Mesa is seeking a qualified Contractor to provide Job Order Water & Wastewater Plant Facilities Construction Services. All qualified firms that are interested in providing these services are invited to submit their Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) in accordance with the require ments detailed in the Request for Qualifications (RFQ).
The following is a summary of the project.
This Job Order Contract is for a broad range of maintenance, repair, mi nor and major construction work pertaining to water and water reclama tion plant or related facilities construction projects. The work is required in support of the City of Mesa’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and other City department requests. This will be an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) type contract and will include a wide variety of individual construction tasks.
The initial term of the JOC contract will be for three (3) years and may be renewed up to two (2) additional one-year terms. The maximum con struction contract value for an individual job order issued under this con tract will be $4,000,000, or the maximum permissible limit authorized by the City at the time the job order is executed. Pricing shall be negotiated fee. Utility improvement projects anticipated to be completed under this JOC contract are based on, but not limited to the current 5-year Capital Improvement Program. Information on the Capital Improvement Pro gram may be viewed at Capital Improvement Programs | City of Mesa (mesaaz.gov).
Renewal of the contract will be based on the successful performance by the JOC Contractor and the needs of the City. During the contract peri od, the City will identify construction tasks required to complete each specific job and will issue individual Job Orders to the Contractor to complete those jobs. The Contractor shall be required to furnish all mate rials, equipment and personnel necessary to manage and accomplish the Job Orders. The Contractor shall be required to maintain a management staff in order to receive Requests for Proposal (RFP), prepare and nego tiate proposals, receive signed Job Orders (JO) and Notices-to-Proceed (NTP), receive and initiate contract correspondence and provide other construction services to accomplish individual Job Orders. Job Orders will vary in size, with many anticipated to be of small to medium size. Some Job Orders may require incidental design services. The schedule for the work will start after award and will be ongoing over the life of the contract.
A Pre-Submittal Conference will be held on November 2, 2022 at 8:00 am through Microsoft Teams. Parties interested in attending should request an invitation from Stephanie Gishey at stephanie.gishey@ mesaaz.gov. At this meeting, City staff will discuss the scope of work and general contract issues and respond to questions from the attendees. Attendance at the pre-submittal conference is not mandatory and all in terested firms may submit a Statement of Qualifications whether or not
they attend the conference. All interested firms are encouraged to attend the Pre-Submittal Conference since City staff will not be available for meetings or to respond to individual inquiries regarding the project scope outside of this conference. In addition, there will not be meeting minutes or any other information published from the Pre-Submittal Conference.
Contact with City Employees. All firms interested in this project (in cluding the firm’s employees, representatives, agents, lobbyists, attor neys, and subconsultants) will refrain, under penalty of disqualification, from direct or indirect contact for the purpose of influencing the selection or creating bias in the selection process with any person who may play a part in the selection process. This policy is intended to create a level play ing field for all potential firms, assure that contract decisions are made in public and to protect the integrity of the selection process. All contact on this selection process should be addressed to the authorized representa tive identified below.
RFQ Lists. The RFQ is available on the City’s website at https://www.me saaz.gov/business/engineering/construction-manager-at-risk-and-job-or der-contracting-opportunities
The Statement of Qualifications shall include a one-page cover letter, plus a maximum of 10 pages to address the SOQ evaluation criteria (ex cluding PPVF’s and resumes but including an organization chart with key personnel and their affiliation). Resumes for each team member shall be limited to a maximum length of two pages and should be attached as an appendix to the SOQ. Minimum font size shall be 10pt. Please provide one (1) electronic copy of the Statement of Qualifications in an unencrypted PDF format to Engineering-RFQ@mesaaz.gov by Novem ber 17, 2022 at 2 pm. The City reserves the right to accept or reject any and all Statements of Qualifications. The City is an equal opportunity employer.
Firms who wish to do business with the City of Mesa must be registered in the City of Mesa Vendor Self Service (VSS) System (http://mesaaz. gov/business/purchasing/vendor-self-service).
Questions. Questions pertaining to the Job Order selection process or contract issues should be directed to Stephanie Gishey of the Engineering Department at stephanie.gishey@mesaaz.gov.
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