Queen Creek Tribune 06/18/2023

Forged on the diamond

As they celebrate Fathers’ Day today, Queen Creek Unified Superintendent Dr. Perry Berry and his son Jacob, a high draft pick for the Miami Marlins Major League Baseball team, celebrate a special bond forged years ago. For a look at the glue of that bond, see page 14 (Photo courtesy of the Berry Family)

BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer

or the third consecutive year, the Queen Creek Unified School District will ask voters to approve a bond for capital projects, this seeking one that is considerably smaller than the proposed bonds that failed at the ballot box in 2021 and 2022. The district’s governing board also approved a second measure for the all-mail Nov. 7 election that asks voters to ex-

BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer

AU.S. Surface Transportation Board draft environmental assessment has given a thumbs-up for the proposed Pecos Industrial Rail Access and Train Extension (PIRATE), a 6-mile east-west freight line between CMC Steel in far east Mesa and the Union

tend a 15% budget override to fund day-to-day operations.

The Governing Board voted 4-1 on June 13 to authorize the $98-million bond election, joining nearly two dozen districts across the state with similar measures totaling close to $3 billion. Member James Knox cast the sole “no” vote. That bond would pay for a suite of capital improvements, including upgrades for security, technology and infrastruc-

Pacific Phoenix Subdivision line at Rittenhouse and Sossaman roads.

The report concludes that considering the project’s benefits and recommended mitigation measures, the rail spur’s impact would be “negligible, minor and/or temporary.”

The agency is recommend-

Area tourism officials bullish about bankrupt park

BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer

Youth and amateur sports are a pillar of Visit Mesa’s strategy to drive tourism and hotel stays in Mesa and Queen Creek.

And the organization’s faith in youth sports has not been shaken by the financial woes of the region’s marquee amateur sports facility, Legacy Park, which opened in February of 2022.

Uncertainty surrounds Legacy Park’s financial footing and future ownership after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month and the current owners seek a buyer for the park.

But amid the dour news, events at Legacy are still bringing crowds to the park at Ellsworth and Williams Field roads each weekend.

The park also signed new facilities agreements even as financial woes mounted after it first defaulted on its $284 million loan agreement with bond holders last October.

Legacy’s bankruptcy filing lists over 200 facility use agreements, many inked in recent months.

Visit Mesa, the official destination mar-

keting organization for Mesa, the Town of Queen Creek and other attractions outside Mesa, has helped drive out-of-state business to the park.

The organization is a broker of hotel and event bookings, working closely with the

see LEGACY page 4

Legacy Park will remain a mecca for sports teams of all kinds, tourism officials believe. (Special to the Tribune)

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LEGACY from page 3

sales people for various travel destinations, including Legacy Park.

Visit Mesa officials said they are often the initial point of contact for site selectors exploring Mesa as an option for an event.

Rodney Reese, a Legacy Cares executive who the nonprofit announced last month will oversee the day-to-day operations of the park during bankruptcy, sits on Visit Mesa’s board.

Visit Mesa leaders say the sports park has boosted local tourism in its first, troubled year, and Visit Mesa remains as bullish as ever on youth sports tourism and Legacy Park.

“If there is such a thing as recession-proof tourism, it’s youth and amateur sports,” said Visit Mesa CEO Marc Garcia.

“Even in an economic downturn, and finances are tight in a family, they’ll forgo their family beach vacation, but they will not forgo John or Jane’s opportunity to be seen by some college coach at a college showcase tournament, which is very often what we’re hosting at Legacy sports park.”

Garcia said overall Mesa tourism has been strong this year, and fiscal year to date, hotel occupancy is up 3.3% and lodging rates are up 12%.

Garcia attributes that to numerous Visit Mesa initiates, like becoming the first Autism-certified destination in the U.S. and the region’s Fresh Foodie Trail.

But he also cites sports tourism, a domain where Legacy Park plays a key role.

He acknowledged that some Mesa residents have no interest in youth sports and complain about traffic impact from large tournaments and other events.

But, he said, “You have to just remember how much money they’re dropping into the economy and that saves you money at the end of the year.”

And Garcia believes few industries can bring in tourism dollars like youth and amateur sports.

“When you’re our business, you love to be in a situation where you’re not only enticing people to visit, but you’re darn near obligating them to visit,” he said.

“And that’s what happens when you have a product like Legacy sports com-

plex because the families, they don’t really have a say. Their coach says ‘we’re going to play in this tournament.’ They don’t have a choice – they’re coming to visit.”

Lance Fite, director of sports sales for Visit Mesa, has helped to keep the park occupied during its opening run, Garcia said.

“As it relates to weekend business, Lance and his partners at Legacy’s sports department are doing a damn fine job of bringing those visitors in,” he said.

The destination management organization is less involved in Legacy’s weekday business, which targets residents signed up for league play and other activities.

Fite believes Mesa’s troubled destination sports facility is a gamechanger for the regional tourist economy and has a bright future.

“Regardless of any of the organizational, financial reorganizations that they’re going through, that product is so undeniable that (the park) will continue to be packed every weekend.”

He said the number of fields and combination of indoor and outdoor spaces at the 320-acre park are attractive to site selectors for national organizations like USA Gymnastics, which held its Western Regionals at the park.

The park has the capacity to meet needs that few other venues in the region can, he said.

An upcoming event he cited is a Major League Soccer NEXT tournament in December. NEXT is MLS’s player development program and boasts 11,000 players.

Not only will that event be huge, Fite said, but it will spawn numerous camps and clinics into the future.

“A lot of the U.S. Olympic bodies have to be able to host something in the West, Southwest and Midwest, East, and there is no other giant footprint of a landscape (in the Southwest) that could host something indoors, outdoors, award ceremonies, on-site banquets, everything like that,” Fite said.

Fite says it’s hit or miss whether prospective clients across the country will ask about Legacy’s current financial straits.

“I’ve been to conventions and expos where it’s a topic at this appointment, and the next one’s never even heard of anything that’s happening,” he said.

“There’s nothing shocking that we can know or tell them from inside that’s any different than what they can read.”

Visit Mesa CEO Marc Garcia is bullish on Legacy Park’s future. (Courtesy Visit Mesa)

Lance Fite, director of sports sales for Visit Mesa, has helped to keep the park occupied during its opening run. (Courtesy Visit Mesa)

from page 4

In Fite’s view, the park’s opening year was the toughest it will face and the only place to go from here is up.

He acknowledged that there have been logistical kinks and complaints about traffic flow and other operational issues, like limited network connectivity in the facility that hampers fan activities such as streaming games live to supporters back home.

But Fite said the park is just getting better and he has no reservations about sending clients to the facility.

“There’s no south from here,” he said “They’ve set a baseline with people of, ‘we need to fix this, we need to give a better this. This is wrong – we need to fix it.’ Any steps forward is all going to be positive.”

Last month, a bankruptcy judge approved debtor-in-possession financing that will provide Legacy Park with funds to support operations while owner Legacy Cares, seeks a buyer.

Legacy Cares said in a press release following its bankruptcy filing that it hoped to close a sale of its stake in the park by August. 

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PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY AND CHRONIC PAIN TREATMENTS NOT WORKING!!

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 anti-depressants 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 and numbness.

As displayed in figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves 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 “BandAid” over a situation that will only continue to deteriorate without further action.

Thankfully, Mesa is the birthplace of a brand new facility that sheds 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.

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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.

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ing the project move forward with a more extensive assessment required for projects judged to have a significant environmental impact.

Though the board found no significant environmental impact, it outlines a slew of negative effects – the most prominent being traffic slowdowns on the roads between Mesa and Queen Creek.

Members of the public and local stakeholders have until June 30 to comment on the findings in the draft study before it completes a final environmental assessment. After that, the plan will be reviewed by the Surface Transportation Board for final approval or denial.

The document is a big step toward creation of the line, which backers say would eliminate 30,000 diesel truck trips from Mesa’s burgeoning manufacturing hubs to and from Union Pacific’s freight hub 80 miles away.

The environmental assessment said the line could go into operation in 2024.

The rail spur, paid for by Union Pacific, would run through what is mostly agricultural land now but soon to become home to several large industrial projects in the development pipeline.

A freight train through this corridor of farmland might speed its transformation and bring to Mesa a larger share of the billions in new investment that companies are pouring into semiconductor manufacturing and other burgeoning industries, according to Mesa’s Economic Development Department.

One driver of this new industrial activity is the $40 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company currently under construction in North Phoenix and representing the largest foreign investment in U.S. history.

“When you see a semiconductor fab opening in Phoenix or in Chandler, the economic impact of that is definitely felt in Mesa,” said Mayor John Giles. “The supply chain and the ripple effect of that is a big deal.”

According to Bill Jabiniak, director of Mesa’s Economic Development Department, a “supply chain needs rail access.”

Jabjiniak said his office has already seen an uptick in inquiries from rail-served businesses during the study process, and multiple landowners along the proposed rail route are eyeing feed tracks.

But every silver lining has its cloud, and

the environment assessment lists a slowdown in traffic at the critical nexus between Mesa and Queen Creek as one of the larger adverse impacts of the rail.

With the growth of southeast Mesa and Queen Creek, these roads are already handling large volumes of traffic.

As the assessment notes, “few major transportation routes serve Queen Creek to the south of Germann Road, resulting in a funneling effect to routes like Ellsworth and Germann Roads.”

The documents add that roadway improvement are in the pipeline that could help with that funneling, including the extension or Signal Butte Road and the buildout of State Route 24 connecting the Loop 202 with Ironwood Road in Pinal County.

Besides slowing traffic, the new rail would also eliminate at least 115 acres of burrowing owl habitat, the study found, and adversely impact four ancestral American Indian habitation sites from the Hohokam period along the route.

These historic sites, consisting mostly of pottery fragments, were deemed eligible for National Register of Historic Places status and the assessment recommends drafting a memorandum of understanding with the State Historic Preservation

Office and descendant tribes over how to mitigate impact during construction.

To protect the owls, the assessment calls for the Arizona Game & Fish Department to survey the project site, place a buffer around any observed burrows and remove owls that cannot be avoided during construction.

The project would also adversely impact a half-acre of surface waters for which the railroad would obtain an EPA permit and develop a mitigation plan. The thin strip of wetlands and surface waters runs along the north side of the Phoenix Subdivision line west of Sossaman Road.

An in-depth traffic analysis came at the request of the Town of Queen Creek, the draft assessment states, and modelers compared traffic patterns in 2050 with the railroad spur and without it.

Analysts predicted slower traffic at almost every major intersection in the vicinity with the railroad, despite the finding that the rail would likely replace 30,000 diesel truck trips annually.

Those trips largely involve moving recycled steel, rubber and hazardous materials to and from industrial operations like CMC Steel and FujiFilm.

The traffic slowdowns from PIRATE would come in part from the creation of

five new surface-level railroad crossings that the board determined would ultimately slow traffic at eight intersections.

The draft assessment estimates cars would be stopped at the crossings for 10 minutes during each trip. Following the passing of the trains, there would be “longer queues” at nearby intersections that would “dissipate within the first few cycles of the traffic signal operations.”

Union Pacific believes PIRATE would see a maximum of two train trips per day –one in and one out.

The trains would run at 20 mph, and would likely begin service with 30 to 35 cars per day with trains about 2,200 feet long.

Mesa Transportation Director R.J. Zeder said he supports building the rail and believes the impact on car traffic will be negligible.

“We’re very comfortable, both nearterm and long-term, the spur won’t have a negative impact on the region,” he said.

As the number of rail users in the Pecos Advanced Manufacturing Zone grows, train lengths could grow to 70 cars for a maximum length of 4,500 feet, or nearly a mile, which might create another source

The 6-mile east-west freight line between CMC Steel in far east Mesa and the Union Pacific Phoenix Subdivision line at Rittenhouse and Sossaman roads could become a reality next year. (Special to the Tribune)

RAILROAD from page 6

of slowdown, according to the draft assessment.

“When loading and unloading at CMC, Fujifilm, or other future rail customers on segments of connecting track outside of the PIRATE right-of-way, trains could block public roads if they were long enough to extend past a crossing,” the document states.

If the future customer facilities are close enough to Ellsworth Road or Crismon Road, trains servicing these facilities could block traffic, the assessment says.

“I think what they’re projecting is a worst-case scenario,” Zeder said. “We’ve asked Union Pacific to run the trains outside of peak hour.”

Zeder said the railroad also agreed to monitor traffic delays on Ellsworth Road, the busiest thoroughfare in southeast Mesa. If slowdowns reach a defined threshold, the railroad would initiate an application for “grade separation” at Ellsworth – a bridge or underpass to eliminate the crossing.

Queen Creek is also eyeing a grade separation at Ellsworth, among other traffic mitigation measures.

“Ensuring smooth traffic flow and minimizing interruptions to the north-south arterial is of paramount importance to the Town of Queen Creek,” said Mohamed Youssef, Queen Creek’s public works director.

Besides the potential grade separation, Youssef said the town is “seeking commitments from Union Pacific Railroad regarding the hours of operation, the length and frequency of line utilization.”

Zeder added that regardless of whether PIRATE is built or not, Mesa is planning to widen Ellsworth from four to six lanes, and that will help alleviate congestion on the road in the future.

The draft environmental assessment concludes that traffic impacts would be mitigated by benefits to the local economy and higher air quality due to reduced truck traffic on the road.

The climate would also benefit from a reduction in carbon emissions. The study added that hazardous waste that is currently transported over local roads would be moved to the rail.

Jabjiniak said the city has conducted several economic impact studies on the

rail, and the figures on a 10-year summary are eye-popping: 21,000 jobs gained and $19.7 billion impact in the region, including $4.6 billion in wages and $686 million in state and local tax revenue.

The jobs the rail would bring are “good, well-paying jobs,” he said.

And besides all that, he added, “Kids love trains.”

BOND from page 1

ture – including air conditioning at some schools – as well as new buses and additional classroom space.

“Six or seven years ago, if a bond came to my house, I would gleefully vote it down,” said school board member Matthew Riffey, whose father was once the district’s chief financial officer.

“The guy was cheap,” Riffey said of his dad. “He felt it was the taxpayers’ money and he did not spend it. In fact, I tease him that he invented copper wire by fighting with a teacher over a penny.”

Riffey said his perspective completely changed once he was elected to the school board and realized the state does not give school districts 100% of the money they need to operate, and that budgets are not as easy to write when the state leaves big holes to fill.

“We don’t get our full budget from the state; we get a portion of it,” said Board President Jennifer Revolt. “That’s the beautiful thing about local control.

“If you feel like your district is doing a good job and if you feel like you should support your district, you get to see exactly where that money goes. You get to be a part of making that decision.”

Ellen Gross, a Queen Creek resident who spoke during the meeting, had a different reaction.

“I almost never vote for bonds because I don’t think they’re a good idea,” Gross said. “It tells me that you weren’t responsible with the budget you were already given.

“I don’t want to pay extra money when I am already struggling to get money for gasoline and groceries and my electric bill to pay for wrought iron fences that I can’t afford to put on my own property because you want the campus to look nice.”

The proposed fences are designed for student safety and security, according to district documents.

“I’ve heard some hyperbole,” Riffey said. “I for one hate taxes. I literally loathe them. But you, as voters, are able to see, uniquely, where this money goes. It goes to your school district and my belief is you are investing in your kids.

“You are welcome to come down here any time and go through the books with Amber (Stouard, Chief Operating Officer).”

“It’s public record,” he continued. “But we can’t say ‘manage your budgets better’ without showing up and digging into the data. They do manage their budgets better. They are very fiscally conservative here.”

The measure the board authorized was the most expensive of three bond options it considered, but substantially smaller than the $198 million bond voters defeated by double digits last November.

A year before that, voters rejected a $286 million bond proposal.

Board Vice President Samantha Davis pointed out that the state has no required minimum standard when it comes to paying for safety and security in schools, which speaks to the need for the bond.

“If there is any safety and security measures that needed to be added to a school …that does rely on the taxpayers to help kick in and fund that,” said Davis, whose two children are in district schools.

Knox contended safety was a “want” and not a “need.”

“It’s not that we need security. I think as a community we want security,” he said. “It’s not that we need wrought iron or nice metal fences. We want these.”

Board member Patty Campbell countered, “I don’t think security is a want. It is see BOND page 11 The red sliver indicates the amount of money the 15% budget override would contribute to Queen Creek Unified School District’s overall maintenance and Operations budget. (QCUSD)

BOND from page 8

a need. That is my opinion. I don’t need to change anybody else’s mind.

“If I had a child at school in the district right now, that is a need that we need to take care of. Because we’ve seen what’s going on throughout the United States.”

Knox said he wants the Legislature to better fund school district priorities so local elected boards are not in the position of asking taxpayers for more money when the state does not meet the local needs.

“I heard overwhelmingly when I ran for this office that people did not want to support a bond,” Knox continued.

Davis contended Knox had changed his position from the time the two had a private conversation about the matter.

“You did say these numbers were more palatable and that you could potentially support a bond this year,” David told Knox during the meeting. “So, I am just wondering where the breakdown between our conversation a week ago and today is.”

“I said I would come and listen with an open mind,” Knox responded.

After

“You told me you could support it because the numbers were more palatable,” Davis continued. Knox retorted, “I’m not going to get into

an argument about that, but no. I’m going to be a hard no.”

“Interesting it changed,” Davis said.

Revolt said, “Security and safety of our students and having adequate learning spaces for students is a top priority, and I believe we should invest in our students’ future. Somebody invested in ours. I want to pay that forward.”

The 15% override for the $89-million Maintenance and Operations budget would help pay for expenses such as salaries, academic programs, an already up and running, classroom size reduction strategy and building maintenance.

Knox also voted against that measure.

The seven-year override has passed the last two times it was on the ballot.

The board also accepted the terms and conditions of accepting over $70 million for new school buildings and land to build them on from the State Facilities and Oversight Board.

The board increased by 7% Queen Creek Unified’s initial request following a site visit last year.

The board approved $59.1 million with the biggest item being $27.8 million for a new elementary school, which is currently referred to “Elementary #10.” Another $11.2 was approved to buy 11.4 acres where the elementary school will be built.

While grateful for the money, Campbell said, “The hard thing for me to swallow is the state is giving us money for our new builds, but they don’t help us with our existing facilities.”

Queen Creek is among the fastest growing school districts in the state in a town that is one of the most rapidly growing in the country.

The school board also voted to increase the cost of school meals between 10 and 35 cents. The cost of a school breakfast will go up 25 cents to $1.75 and lunch will increase 10 cents to $3 at elementary schools and $3.50 at secondary schools. 

Professional

Dental

Dental

Oral

Oral

Housing measure tanks in state Legislature

BY BOB CHRISTIE AND HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Efforts at the state Capitol to address the rising cost of housing imploded last week, at least in part because conservative Republicans are unwilling to override local regulations, even with the consent of affected communities.

Sen. Steve Kaiser, R-Phoenix, acknowledged that the comprehensive zoning overhaul won’t happen this year despite the deal he struck with the League of Arizona Cities and Towns on a slimmeddown version of his bill.

Kaiser also had picked up support from many Democrats who see local zoning and “NIMBY-ism” as enabling communities to keep out “affordable’’ housing.

The deal would have set state standards for zoning, requiring municipalities to allow backyard casitas and a mix of new smaller developments including small lots sizes, duplex and tri-plex homes and manufactured housing.

But it ended up going a bit too far for many.

Rep. Neal Carter, R-San Tan Valley, saw problems with Kaiser’s effiort to set some baseline restrictions on those local powers.

“I do not want to turn the Legislature into the local zoning board,’’ he said, contending that would happen if questions of size and density suddenly became matters that were governed by state law.

In a Twitter post, Mesa Republican Rep. Jacqueline Parker described the package as “horrible, suburb-destroying bills.’’

Kaiser’s efforts were designed to jumpstart the construction of smaller, cheaper housing in already built-up communities to ease a housing crunch that has made it impossible for many people to find rental homes they can afford. One result is rising homelessness.

Kaiser said he could not even get a majority of fellow Republicans in the House to get on board.

The Senate, in a separate action, overwhelmingly rejected a backstop measure designed to garner support from the conservative “Freedom Caucus.’’ It did not work.

“Ultimately, I think members just want to slow down and really work on a better product during the interim and then run something in January,’’ Kaiser said. “I think a lot of them were a little bit uncomfortable with just how fast everything was moving and how complex the issues are.’’

House Majority Whip Teresa Martinez agreed.

“This was too much to absorb,’’ said the Casa Grande Republican.

Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, who was at the forefront of Democrats working to expand access to affordable housing, expressed frustration.

“When we earn constituents’ votes, those come with accountability,’’ she said. “So constituents need to ask their legislators why they are voting ‘no’ on affordable housing measures and measures that will ultimately bring affordable housing in the middle of a crisis.’’

The Home Builders Association of Central Arizona has been a key backer of Kaiser’s original package.

That even included elements of what is called “zoning by right.’’ That would have allowed some property owners to convert the use of their property from how it was zoned to something else without having to first get local approval.

But lobbyist Spencer Kamps said for is members the key element of the original package was the effort to cut down on what he said is the red tape in getting a new development approved.

“The private sector can’t respond to the market quick enough when demand increases,’’ he said, with the problem being local regulations. The result, said Kamps, is an “artificial spike in pricing because of the supply.’’

And delay, he said, is a big part of it.

“My industry literally 40 years ago you could be able to get a subdivision approved from raw land to the first home sale in about two years,’’ Kamps said. “And we’re now up to about four years.’’

But Kamps said that by the time Kaiser was done amending it after negotiations with the League of Arizona Cities and Towns and others, his organization decid-

Expires 6/30/23.

HOUSING from page 12

ed to neither support or oppose it.

Kaiser seemed resigned and even supportive of calling a pause to his efforts.

But he was buoyed by emerging and “long overdue” efforts in places like Phoenix to voluntarily change their zoning regulations to allow developments that are more affordable than the single family homes that have been a hallmark of development in Arizona for decades.

“If the local governments can match supply with demand, then there’s no need for the state to be involved,’’ he said.

Still, he said that even if a large number of cities voluntarily adopt new zoning rules that match what he believes is needed, they should not expect him to just drop his efforts to force zoning changes.

“I think there’s still there’s so much work to be done on zoning,’’ Kaiser said.

“It’s so complex,’’ he said. “There’s a million layers and barriers you can reduce, to speed up the process, but still respect local input. So there’s still work to be done for sure. But they’re moving in the right direction.’’ 

Amazon, Google expand footprint in EV

BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer

The Elliot Road Technology Corridor inside the Loop 202 freeway is mostly former dairy and alfalfa farm land.

Motorists driving this stretch of Elliot Road get a more rustic feel than the portion of Elliot north of Eastmark and east of the 202.

But with a flurry of activity this month, the inside-the-loop part of Elliot Road started catching up with the corridor to the east.

On June 9, Amazon celebrated the grand opening of its 1.2-million-square-foot storage and distribution center at the northwest corner of Elliot Road and the 202.

The developer originally planned two large industrial buildings, but Amazon, the long-term lessee, requested the buildings be combined.

The architects for the project created the current mega-building, which Amazon says is the largest storage and distribution

center in the U.S.

The company says it’s the first “major” Amazon facility east of Central Avenue in Phoenix.

Down Elliot Road to the west of the new Amazon facility, Google is getting ready to break ground on the first phase of its massive, $1 billion Red Hawk data center campus.

The highly vaunted project was first approved by the city council in 2019.

Google received the greenlight last week from Mesa’s Design Review Board on its plans for a 288,000-square-foot data hall.

It’s the first phase of a total 750,000 square feet of development on the 186-acre site, once an alfalfa field.

The design hearing gave the public its first look at details of the secretive project, but even at this stage of the process, the company is taking steps to protect information about it.

When the first Google data hall is complete, the formerly rural area will have two of the largest companies in the U.S. anchoring it, giving the corridor an auspi-

cious start.

Nearly 2 mile perimeter

Officials with Amazon said the Mesa facility launched four weeks ago when it began receiving inbound-only deliveries to fill up its rows of tall metal shelves, which seem to go on forever inside the building.

Amazon said the center will serve as an intermediary between its largest warehouses where products are stored in bulk and the fulfillment centers where orders are packed for final delivery.

Intermediate facilities like this are important for keeping high-volume items in stock and holding products closer to customers, enabling the company to deliver packages in a day or two instead of four or five days.

The warehouse is one large open space, but it’s so vast that it’s difficult to make out the opposite wall of the building while standing at one end.

Mayor John Giles, who toured a small

AMAZON page 15

QC schools chief’s bond with son grew strong on the diamond

BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer

Coaching his son Jacob has been part of Queen Creek Unified Superintendent Dr. Perry Berry’s DNA for years.

Jacob Berry has the memories of countless coaching hours implanted in his DNA as well, recalling “the first memory I have of when I played catch with my dad was at our old, little house up in Page, Arizona when I was maybe 3 or 4 years old.”

“The reason I remember it is because I broke the window,” chuckled Jacob, a onetime Queen Creek High School and then college baseball standout.

Quipped his dad, “That’s when I knew he could hit.”

He also was a standout high school and college baseball player and toiled in the minor leagues for four seasons in the early 1990s before going into education.

But his son beat the odds in a big way last year, becoming a first-round draft pick of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins and the sixth player chosen in the 2022 MLB Draft – and earning a $6 million signing bonus.

At 21, Jacob is playing his first full season of professional baseball, working with the Beloit Sky Carp of the Midwest League in Wisconsin, the Marlins’ High A affiliate. A standout for Team USA, the University of Arizona, and Louisiana State, Jacob now competes with some of the best young talent in the world of baseball.

“It’s a work in progress,” Jacob said of his development as a pro ballplayer.

His dad is still his most trusted coach and mentor.

“It seems like every day from when I was a little kid, even now. I mean, he came out last week and threw me some batting practice. He is still the guy that I lean on the most with my hitting,” Jacob said.

“When he was a high school principal back in Page, Arizona, I would bus over and wait in his office until he got off work, and we would go hit in the cages right outside of his work,” Jacob said. “I don’t even know how to explain how much he’s meant to me and how much he’s done for me.”

His father added that before the family moved to Queen Creek, “It seems like we were always scrambling to find places to hit.”

He was finally able to install a batting cage in his yard in his new home in Queen Creek.

“We were always going to fields and jumping over fences,” he said.

Even last year, the father-son duo scrambled for playing space elsewhere.

“I found this buddy of mine that had a cage in an old Quonset hut out on his farm,” Perry said, describing a trip to southwest Colorado last year with Jacob in tow.

Batting cages became an important component in this father-son relationship, Perry Berry said. Some of the best and worst conversations, as well as difficult moments, came during the countless hours of practice inside them.

“We had some of the biggest fights a dad and son can have in any place in a batting

he had a bloody nose. His nose was all swollen.

“Lana was all mad, Perry said of Jacob’s mom’s reaction to the mishap. “I think that is a moment I’d like to forget.”

Jacob would not. “They are all good stories and things we look back on,” he said.

While most dads are familiar with rushing to early morning games and evening practices, Perry and 8-year-old Jacob traveled six hours each way from Page to the Valley so Jacob could play with a club baseball team on the weekends.

“We would get up at 3 or 4 in the morning…and hustled down to the game,” dad said. “He’d sleep all the way there. I would get him out, get him loose, and then he would go out with his team. Then we would stay at my buddy’s.

“He had an extra room that was like an office and had a foldaway bed and Jacob and I would stay in there. And then we would get done with the games on Sunday and drive back to Page.”

Those long drives home could go either way, depending on how Jacob did in the games.

“A lot of good car rides and a lot of bad car rides,” Jacob remembers. “Baseball is a game of failure. So, there are some obviously good learning lessons and some hard, hard conversations.”

Jacob said those rides helped shape him as a person and as a player, explaining, “I learned that I’m never as good or as bad as I think I am.”

Jacob probably did not realize it at the time, but the lessons were going both ways.

cage, and had some enjoyable talks, depending on the day and what’s going on,” the superintendent said.

“It’s been a place where we can be alone and spend time together and work on something while spending quality time together.”

There had to be plenty of good times to make up for an especially bad incident when one of the old man’s errant batting practice pitches got away from him and hit Jacob in the face.

“Jacob, didn’t I break your nose?” Berry asked?

“I don’t know. I’ve broken my nose a few times,” Jacob responded.

His father added, “He turned away but didn’t turn away enough and I think it clipped his nose and came home and

The 6-hour drives gave his father time to reflect on not only what he was teaching his son but on what he was learning as a dad.

“I learned that setbacks and struggles can create good opportunities … to foster discussions about motivation and work ethic,” the elder Berry said.

It is a lesson he has taken to heart while raising his other three kids, all of whom are also athletes.

Daughter Jade is a high school senior and committed to run track at Stanford.

Daughter Jenae is a junior who plays softball and son Jet plays baseball and football.

“I learned that it is important to seek

Superintendent Dr. Perry Berry visited his son Jacob when he was a standout for Louisiana State baseball team. (Courtesy of the Berry Family)

God’s wisdom and grace in my role as a dad, and I was reminded that spending time with the kids no matter what the situation, is valuable time to talk about things that really matter and to get to know Jacob.”

Despite the long drives and his good play, Jacob could not land a place on a club team.

“He would hit the ball well on the weekends and then the coach would cut him because we couldn’t make the practices during the week,” dad explained. “The parents and everybody would get mad because he wasn’t there for practices.

“We couldn’t find a team. He would play for a team, do well and they would cut him. Play for another team and they would cut him. It got frustrating.”

Finally, Jacob did find a home with the Sandlot Club Team in the Valley, whose coaches told Jacob’s father that if he was willing to drive that far every weekend, Jacob was welcome on their team.

Those long car drives also have prepared Jacob for grueling minor league bus rides.

As a professional player, Jacob Berry will continue to use the lessons his dad taught him in tee-ball, the batting cages, the long car rides, and in the Quonset hut to keep The Dream alive.

“During the bus rides I look back on all the times I spent with my parents and real-

part of the building along with other city officials, joked that he could see “the curvature of the Earth” inside the warehouse.

Christina Matus, senior operation manager for Amazon, said a recent inspection walk of the building perimeter was 1.7 miles long.

The site managers have made the building’s mascot the jackalope, and images of the mythical creature appear throughout the warehouse, adding a bit of levity to the behemoth center.

The Mesa facility currently has 650 employees, with plans to eventually employ 800 to 1,300 workers at full operation. Fulltime employees work four 10-hour shifts per week, Amazon managers said.

Site Lead Rodney Huffman, a graduate of Mesa High, said the distribution center has been meeting all of its hiring targets so far.

As officials toured the facility during the grand opening, several new employ-

Perry

was all smiles when Jacob was drafted by the Miami

last year, snagging a $6 million signing bonus. (Courtesy of the Berry Family)

ize how fortunate I am,” Jacob said.

With his son now a professional athlete and their time spent together diminished,

ees were being trained on the company’s Power Industrial Trucks.

The trucks comprise a key component of the operations as they are designed to navigate the rows of shelves and move employees up and down to retrieve product.

Company officials boasted high-tech safety features, that help the trucks navigate the aisles and prevent accidents.

In Arizona, Amazon has 17 fulfillment and sortation centers, 13 delivery stations and more than 33,000 full-and part-time employees.

Red Hawk rising

In 2019, the Mesa City Council approved a development agreement and tax incentive program with Google to develop the data center campus on Elliot and Sossaman roads, but there’s been little visible movement on the project until last week’s design review hearing.

Google must meet development milestones. It faces a July 2025 deadline for

“It went by so fast,” he said. “At the time it was occurring you think it’s never going to end but now looking back I wish I could go back in time and appreciate it a little more as a parent, the little things.

Perry Berry reflected on the bond the two made over countless hours of practice and car rides.

250,000 square feet of development and $600 million in capital investment.

According to the agreement, the average salary of all full-time employees on the project must be $65,000 per year.

The city is allocating 1,120 acre-feet of water initially and up to 4,480 acre-feet at buildout, promising as well “sufficient emergency back-up supplies for water.”

Water is important for data centers as an efficient means of moving heat away from servers. Data centers use a lot of water, but the industry is trying to develop technology to reduce its water demands.

The city is sweetening the deal for Google with a $16 million tax break over the next 25 years, which Mesa believes will be far exceeded by construction sales tax, electricity sales tax and personal property tax generated by the data center.

Google submitted site plans ahead of the hearing, but according to the project narrative, “proprietary information regarding the equipment in the server halls

“The car rides. In the spirit of Father’s Day, I think it’s important to remember that things go by so fast and to spend good, quality time.” 

has been removed from the drawings due to intellectual property concerns.”

“The client would be willing to disclose the design of this area in an in-person non-public review meeting,” the document continued.

The internal features of buildings are blocked out in gray on the architectural drawings submitted to the city.

Security features of the data hall include a 10-foot wall surrounding the project, a gated entry and guard shack.

In the site plans submitted by Google, designers have added interest to industrial buildings with metal accents and LED lights, some of which casts dramatic shadows on the side of the building at night.

Issues related to the land use of the project are outside the purview of the design review board, which is focused on the appearance of a project.

Board member Tanner Green summed up the board’s sentiment on the first phase, “We’re looking forward to this project.”

Dr. Perry Berry admits time has flown by since he held Jacob in his arms and ushered him through the early years of his promising baseball career. (Courtesy of the Berry Family)

Dr.

Berry

Marlins

AMAZON from page 13

Ex-Future Farmers official charged in $1.7M theft

BY CECILIA CHAN Tribune Staff Writer

Aformer Future Farmers of America official is accused of secretly spending $1.7 million of the organization’s money on things like for his and his wife’s personal credit cards while he worked at its office in the state Education Department, the Arizona Auditor General reported last week.

A state grand jury on May 31 indicted Tyler Grandil, 50, of Gilbert, on six felony counts related to computer tampering and fraudulent schemes that allegedly occurred during his last four years on his job, according to court documents. His trial is scheduled for Nov. 22.

Grandil, who became the FFA executive secretary in June 2000, declined to comment.

FFA is a nonprofit that prepares youth for agricultural careers and is one of six student organizations in the state department’s Career and Technical Education program. Chapters exist at various schools throughout the East Valley.

Grandil’s lawyer, Evan Tomkins, said in an email, “There is a lot we would like to say about Tyler Grandil, his integrity, and his devotion to Arizona Students. But we respect and want the legal process to run its course.

“For 15 years, Mr. Grandil selflessly served the students of Arizona through his leadership with the Arizona Chapter of the Future Farmers of America. His efforts led the FFA to reach new heights - more than doubling its membership, while orchestrating innovative funding mechanisms that continue to provide financial stability through this day. His devotion to Arizona agricultural education brought incredible learning experiences and opportunities to thousands of students.

“We have not spoken with or been informed of an Arizona FFA member or student who is anything but grateful for Mr. Grandil’s selfless work. Regarding a ‘secret’ bank account, this account was an FFA bank account created with the FFA tax-identification number and the proceeds therein were used for FFA

non-profit purposes.”

Tomkin added, “Mr. Grandil emphatically denies any wrongdoing.”

The Auditor General looked at financial transactions from March 2011 through December 2015, when Grandil was fired from the organization.

Investigators stated that in March 2011, without the knowledge of the FFA or the Education Department, Grandil opened a checking account under the name “Arizona Association FFA,” and deposited $1.7 million of the Future Farmers’ money, which included student and chapter membership dues and conference registrations.

He designated himself as the sole signer.

The money instead should have been deposited in the education department’s AZFFA checking account, according to the Auditor General.

Grandil’s duties at the time involved leading the program’s day-to-day operations and managing its finances.

“To help conceal his actions, Mr. Grandil altered 483 invoices in the department’s accounting software, making it falsely appear AZFFA monies were not due to be deposited in the department checking account, and he instead deposited those monies in his secret ‘Arizona Association FFA’ checking account,” the report said.

It added that Grandil’s actions resulted in the monthly financial reports omitting these revenues and associated expenses.

The report also stated that Grandil failed to obtain his supervisors’ approval for any of the $1.7 million in expenditures.

“Mr. Grandil admitted that he used five personal credit cards for both AZFFA and personal purposes, comingled AZFFA and personal monies for payments, and failed to keep a separate accounting that tracked AZFFA and personal purchase,” according to the Auditor General.

“As a result, we were unable to determine how much of the ($1.6 million) Mr. Grandil spent from March 2011 to December 2015 toward paying the balances on his personal credit cards was for either AZFFA or personal purposes.”

Grandil also is alleged to have used $41,000 from the secret account to pay his family members and himself. From May 2011 to August 2015, Grandil allegedly issued 18 checks totaling $29,500 from the account to his family members, their companies or their companies’ credit card, the report stated.

Although the family members claimed that Grandil hired them to provide goods and services to AZFFA, they were unable to provide documentation to prove that, investigators said.

Also, from February 2012 to October 2015, Grandil wrote to himself 10 checks totaling $11,450. He claimed they were for reimbursements for a $10,000 loan he provided to AZFFA in 2010 to cover amounts he charged to his personal credit cards.

“Although Mr. Grandil did not provide documentation to support this loan, we found that in January 2011, Mr. Grandil and his wife used their personal monies to make a $10,000 payment on one of their personal credit cards,” the report said.

“Nonetheless, it is still unclear if this payment was for a loan to AZFFA because... their credit card balances included both AZFFA and personal charges.”

The report said that Grandil spent the remaining $68,240 for AZFFA and other purposes. From March 2011 to December 2015, he used $27,355 to pay for AZFFA disbursements such as conference and ho-

tel expenses, $12,626 for bank charges and $1,081 for “likely personal purposes such as payments to a home warranty company and a telecommunication company.”

The investigators faulted former education department officials for allowing Grandil to be the direct recipient of all AZFFA revenues, make deposits in the department’s AZFFA checking account, record those deposits in the department’s software and be the administrator of that software, which allowed him “unfettered access and control of AZFFA monies.”

During the time period of Grandil’s alleged misdeeds, he served under Republican state Superintendents of Schools John Huppenthal and Diane Douglas.

The report said the misuse of public monies could have been avoided had the department separated responsibilities for receiving, depositing and recording AZFFA monies or routinely generated audit-trail reports from the accounting software.

According to the report, department employees now serve in an advisory and assistant capacity to AZFFA and not in a management or decision-making role.

Managing the AZFFA, including the finances, shifted to its advisory board in 2017.

Grandil had a long history with FFA. He began working as a part-time FFA consultant in July 1997 until he transitioned to the executive secretary role.

But prior to that, at the age of 20, he was elected vice president the FFA’s Western Region in November 1993, according to the Deseret News, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

According to Grandil’s Linkedin account, he, his brother and his father own a beef operation.

After the FFA, Grandil in 2016 assumed the executive director’s role with Arizona National Livestock Show, where he remained in as of last week.

The show is the largest livestock show in the Southwest – bringing nearly 1,700 head of the nation’s best cattle, horses, sheep, goats, swine and poultry for competition - and an annual Phoenix tradition since 1948, according to the organization. 

TYLER GRANDIL

Transportation tax put on life support for now

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Voters across the state are likely to get to decide whether Maricopa County residents get a chance to extend the half-cent sales tax for transit projects.

Gov. Katie Hobbs said last week she will back a proposal to put an issue on the 2024 ballot repealing a state law that requires only Maricopa County to get legislative approval before putting the tax renewal to voters.

That move was supported in a letter signed by six Valley mayors – including Gilbert’s Brigette Peterson, Chandler’s Kevin Hartke and Mesa’s John Giles.

The letter ripped “a very small group of lawmakers – all Republicans linked to the so-called “Freedom Caucus” – for derailing the ballot measure, accusing the “uncompromising band of lawmakers” of “spouting the half-truths of fringe special interests.”

The governor acknowledged that she could call lawmakers back to the Capitol after she vetoes the funding plan approved June 13 by Republican lawmakers.

Hobbs said what was sent to her is unacceptable, from less money for mass transit than sought by the Maricopa Association of Governments to the fact that the GOP plan would require two separate votes.

“I don’t think it serves anyone’s purpose if they’re not willing to come to the table and talk about a deal,’’ she said. “And that requires some cooling off.’’ Time, however, is not a likely answer.

“This is going to be the only bill that passes this session’’ on extension of the tax,’’ said Rep. David Livingston, R-Peoria, of the GOP plan.

Other Republicans made it clear that if Hobbs won’t accept their plan, Maricopa County voters will have no chance to extend the levy, first approved in 1985, for another 20 years.

If that’s the case, they claimed, the current tax will self-destruct at the end of 2025. And all the funds it would raise – an estimated $20 billion over the next two decades – would not be collected and all the projects that the cash would fund will not happen.

But Avondale Mayor Kenn Weise, chairman of MAG, said that’s not true. He sent a letter to the governor seeking a veto.

What that leaves is Plan B – what Weise called the “Free Maricopa’’ initiative. He said the idea is to sell voters statewide on the idea that residents of the state’s largest county should not be hobbled by a restriction that doesn’t apply anywhere else.

“Maricopa County is the only county in the state that has to go through this process’’ of getting the blessing of state lawmakers to ask voters to extend the tax, Weise said. “And we’ve seen just how disastrous that can be.’’

What that would mean is getting 255,949 valid signatures on petitions by July 3, 2024 to put the issue to voters that November. Then, if it passed, it would be up to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to set a date for a special election in early 2025 on extending the tax to kick in when the current levy expires at the end of that year.

Livingston said he doubts the business community would pony up multiple millions of dollars to get the signatures for the initiative and then probably $10 million or more to convince voters statewide to let Maricopa County out from under the legislative restriction.

Weise said he doesn’t foresee a problem getting the necessary backing, especially in the wake of Republicans telling Maricopa County, effectively, that when it comes to a transit tax, it’s their way or the highway.

Hobbs said she believes that voters statewide would be willing to support repeal of the restrictions under which

Maricopa County has to operate.

“They’re holding them hostage,’’ she said. “It is ridiculous that Maricopa County has to go to the Legislature to get permission to go to the ballot for something for their region.’’

Moreover, she said, “If Maricopa doesn’t get this, then every other region of this state is going to be competing with Maricopa for transportation dollars.”

All that goes to the question of why the Legislature decided that it needed to have veto power over the Maricopa plan.

“They thought that a government agency like MAG could have too much power,’’ Livingston said.

Livingston sidestepped the point that MAG lacks the power to impose a levy.

Ed Zuerker, MAG’s managing director, said, “We have given on freeways,’’ he told Capitol Media Services. “They wanted more freeways, so we increased the freeway number.’’

At the same time, Zuerker said, MAG decreased the percentage it was seeking for transit. And he said the organization even agreed that any light rail extensions would be funded by other revenues.

Zuerker said MAG even agreed to language to require Valley Metro to meet certain “benchmarks,’’ based on comparable cities, of what percentage of the operating costs of buses, trolleys and light rail would be covered by fares.

“We just have hit a limit of there’s no more to give,’’ he added.

Hobbs and MAG want an extension of the half-cent levy for 20 years, with 40% of the proceeds going towards freeways, an identical amount to mass transit, with the balance for regional and arterial roads.

By contrast, Republican lawmakers authorized a vote on a 0.0495 cent levy, with a larger share going towards freeways. They also want voters to separately approve a 0.07-cent tax for construction and extension of light rail.

House Speaker Ben Toma said what Republicans approved gives Hobbs and MAG, made up of local elected officials, what they want: the chance to extend the sales tax until 2045.

Republican Rep. Barbara Parker said during debate the experience in her home community of Mesa, where the light rail now runs, suggests to her that residents have seen enough.

“The light rail not only destroyed our historic Main Street and downtown Mesa, but it destroyed lifelong businesses of families and generations of business that had been there for years and year,’’ she said.

“We are funding a loser,’’ Parker said. “In our town, it’s a moving urinal and that is it.’’

But Democrat Lorena Austin, also representing Mesa, painted a different picture.

“If you’ve been to downtown Mesa, even in just the past year, you would see that all the retails are actually booming,’’ Austin said. “We can’t get businesses in there fast enough. And it has everything to do with public transportation.’’

Senate Minority Leader Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, told colleagues that short-changing mass transit is not a good move, stating:

“If we continue to have the idea that everything must be a single driver in a car on a road, we will just get to the point of having to pave every speck.’’

Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said the GOP plan does not mean that there will never be a further extension of light rail. What it does mean, he said, is that it won’t be paid for by everyone who buys items subject to sales taxes throughout Maricopa County.

“If cities want to do light rail, you know what?’’ Petersen said. “They can find ways to fund it and do it.’’

Bob Christie of Capitol Media Services contributed to this story 

Budding QC actress in big ‘Mean Girls’ cast

BY KATY SPRINGER Tribune Contributor

Everyone knows a mean girl. Whether you’re currently a student or graduated high school decades ago, you know that girl who inspired fear – and total obedience – among her classmates and even the occasional adult. Her power was absolute: students clustered around her to curry favor – or scampered away to avoid her gaze.

At Northshore High School, that girl is Regina George. And now, Limelight Performing Arts is bringing Northshore to life with its production of “Mean Girls High School Version,” playing June 23July 1 at the Studio 3 Artspace eatre at 511 W. Guadalupe Road in Gilbert. e mean girls experience is so thoroughly universal that the movie, which hit the big screen nearly 20 years ago, still resonates with teens today.

In 2018, it launched as a Broadway musical, and now it’s being produced as a musical movie.

High school students nationwide are clamoring to be part of it.

“So many talented kids came out to audition for this show,” said Emma England, artistic director of Limelight and director of “Mean Girls.”

“We cast an incredible group of teenagers who connect with the story in such a personal way. It really shows in their performance.”

e musical follows Cady Heron, a naïve 16-year-old who arrives at a suburban Illinois high school after growing up in Africa with her scientist parents. She quickly confronts the challenges of tting in and the realities of the popularity pecking order.

At the top of the social hierarchy sit

“ e Plastics,” a trio of lionized Mean Girls led by the charming but ruthless Regina George, who rules the school with an iron st.

With the help of her outcast friends, Janis and Damian, Cady concocts a scheme to take on e Plastics and dethrone Regina, but soon learns the hard way that you can’t cross a queen bee without getting stung.

“ e show uses humor in a very edgy way to tackle di cult topics like insecurity, bullying and revenge,” said England.

“ e entertainment value is very high, but the show also does an incredible job reaching kids who are dealing with these

issues in real life.”

In addition to a storyline that’s all-too familiar to teens and adults everywhere, Limelight’s production of “Mean Girls” o ers all the best elements of a stage production: drama and comedy, catchy musical numbers, showstopping ensemble performances and a rotating set that transports audiences from Africa to a high school cafeteria, the local mall, Regina’s bedroom and beyond.

“We accomplish these scene changes with our use of lighting, projections and a set that’s continually moving,” England said.

“My favorite thing is that there are no

blackouts and no downtime in this show. e e ect is that audiences are completely immersed in the world of Northshore High.”

Indeed, there’s never a dull moment in “Mean Girls.” e dancing adds energy and interest to every number, but it also conveys emotion in a way few other musicals can.

Said England, “ e choreography adds so much feeling to the show. It allows audiences to see the story from each character’s point of view.

“For example, in a couple of scenes, Cady sees her classmates as the predators and prey of the African savanna. e dancing tells the story and reinforces the high emotion she’s experiencing.” e score o ers both a musical theater and rock and roll and sound – along with lyrics that are equal parts edgy, hilarious and touching.

“Our cast includes very talented vocalists who bring so much power and emotion to their performances,” said England.

“ e songs in ‘Mean Girls’ really get to the heart of the teenage experience. Some of them will make you laugh so hard you cry. Others are deeply moving.”

Tickets for “Mean Girls” are $15 and can be purchased at limelight.ticketleap. com. e run includes both matinee and evening performances. Group discounts are available.

Cast members include Queen Creek’s Mackenzie Gilligan, 14, as Gretchen Weiners, and San Tan Valley’s Shayla Forero, 14, as Mrs. George.

Adapted from Tina Fey’s hit 2004 lm, “Mean Girls” features music by Je Richmond, lyrics by Nell Benjamin and book by Fey. e Broadway production was nominated for a staggering 12 Tony Awards.  

Mackenzie Gilligan of Queen Creek, left, and Shayla Forero of San Tan Valley are among the cast of talented teens in Limelight Theatre’s production of “Mean Girls High School Version.

(Sam Weid/Contributor)

Texas contractor looks forward to QC venue

BY MARK MORAN Tribune Sta Writer

Rick Dubec remembers the day he drove into Queen Creek, scouting out a potential third location for Dallas-based MYCON General Contractors.

“We pulled in there and everything just seemed like it was new,” Dubec recalled in an interview as he drove through rural southeast Texas to MYCON’s College Station o ce.

“We like the area. e potential for growth in that area,” he said. “We are also looking to do commercial projects in and around the Phoenix area. It’s a great town and a great location for us to t in what we are doing.”

Dubec is a partner and vice president of the company, a full-service construction company with o ces in Texas, Tennessee and, soon, Inverness Industrial Park in Queen Creek.

Doreen Cott, town economic development director, noted, “MYCON is joining a great lineup of other businesses in the Inverness Industrial Park and will offer a wide range of construction services in Arizona.”

While it is not speci cally targeting Queen Creek for the bulk of its work in the West, opening the o ce here is geographically strategic for the company as it expands.

“We do a lot of work all over the state of Arizona, Colorado Utah, and California. is is us getting started with the idea that we continue to grow we will be growing into bigger buildings,” Dubec said. Dubec said his company has already had to boost the o ce’s initial square footage to keep pace with demand and will relocate employees to sta it.

As of now, there will be six people assigned to the Queen Creek location and Dubec anticipates that will grow to 15 people as business increases. He said the company works with 25 construction superintendents who roam the state over-

seeing MYCON’s projects.

“We will do about $35 million out of that o ce this year,” he said. “Our expectation is that we will keep growing from that and in the next three to ve years that o ce is doing $75 million to $100 million.”

Dubec said MYCON has about 15 to 20 repeat customers across the West, and they include Walmart, Best Buy, and the Kroger grocery store chain.

MYCON’s portfolio includes developments ranging from healthcare, industrial and institutional buildings to churches and food processing companies.

“As a company we have done big industrial buildings,” he said. “We have done a lot of retail, worked with a lot or national retailers. We’ve done Walmarts, Best Buys, some academies that are over here in the South. A lot of grocery stores.”

While MYCON hopes to capitalize on the growth in the West, the company is being forced to confront overall cost of living

increases in the Valley, in ationary pressures, supply chain bottlenecks and soaring home prices and rents in Queen Creek.

Dubec said the higher cost of living here as opposed to its Texas locations forced to the company to change its initial nancial plans for the employees it is transferring here.

“We had to make some adjustments on salaries percentage-wise,” he said, because of the di erence in the cost of living.

MYCON has been in business 36 years, and is projected to generate $600-million in total revenue across its four o ces this year, Dubec said. It employs about 200 people company-wide and is on track to continue to expand.

“It’s incredible the growth we have seen over the years,” MYCON president/CEO Charles R. Myers said in a press release. “We are on track to surpass our ve-year nancial goal in under two years. Our

focus on investing in people, processes, and market diversi cation has helped us get to where we are today – exceeding all expectations.”

MYCON comes from humble beginnings. Myers borrowed $2,000 from his parents and started MYCON in 1987, turning his converted garage into the company’s headquarters.

Alongside his parents and a fourth person who served as a construction superintendent, MYCON’s maiden project was nishing the inside of a small, remodeled jewelry store in Dallas.

From there, the company has grown, taking on bigger renovations, remodels, major improvements for various tenants and completely new construction projects, all while growing and expanding to additional locations.

“It’s just another step for us to continue to grow out west,” Dubec said of the new Queen Creek o ce. 

MYCON sta cut the ribbon to their Queen Creek facility in March. (Courtesy of MYCON)

Congress must block Biden-IRS tax prep plan

BY JD HAYWORTH Tribune Columnist

Ronald Reagan managed to make the ominous sound humorous.

He famously noted, “ e nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” Reagan may have played it for laughs, but Joe Biden and his bunch hope to use it to take more of your hard-earned money – and procure even more political power.

e Internal Revenue Service —the same bureaucratic entity in the process of adding 87,000 new agents—also plans to expand its duties into the realm of tax preparation.

You read that right.

Imagine “H & R Blocked.” TurboTax unplugged. A CPA signaling SOS.

It could become reality if Congress allows our big-spending Uncle Sam to take over as the nation’s tax preparer.

Like most dubious schemes hatched in Washington, this one would start small, utilizing a “pilot project.”

Calling the proposal “Direct File,” the IRS recently announced that it will prepare the taxes of select Americans who make under $125,000 in the upcoming tax year.

While some trusting souls—those you see wearing a mask while driving alone in a car or the comparative few who regard Joe Biden as an honest, hard-working, public servant—would leap at the chance to have the agency in charge of collecting taxes prepare their returns for them, most of us would say, “No, thank you.” e reason is obvious.

You never hear IRS o cials brag that “‘Revenue’ is our middle name,” yet the agency exists to do just that…maximize

the nation’s tax revenue. It’s not an entity that you or your loved ones should expect to have your best interests at heart.

A 2022 study from the MITRE Corporation, which operates many federally funded research and development centers—including those within the Treasury Department—showed that the public wouldn’t want the IRS ling tax returns. e reason? Mistrust of the agency. at mistrust was only compounded when the IRS chose not to release the 2022 study until last month—days after Fox News reported its existence. en the agency, apparently in fulledged “damage control,” claimed that it never commissioned the study.

Understandably, Congress nds that hard to believe – especially Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Rep. Jason Smith (R-Missouri).

“It’s alarming that the Biden IRS has not

come forward and been transparent about MITRE’s independent ndings when the ‘In ation Reduction Act’ itself calls for a truly non-partisan, independent, third-party review of the feasibility, the cost to develop and operate such a system, the IRS capacity to run such a system, or taxpayer opinions on the matter.”

You can understand why Smith and the lone Arizonan serving on Ways & Means, Rep. David Schweikert, might have a low opinion of the IRS and its conduct toward Congress. Actually, the apparent concealment of the MITRE study ts a pattern of incidents that call into question the integrity of those running the agency.

In April, IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel testi ed that “no decision has been made on moving forward with [a] ‘Direct File’ solution.” at testimony came on

see HAYWORTH page 22

e rise of food insecurity in Arizona

BY JASON REED Tribune Guest Writer

Life can change rapidly. Unfortunate circumstances such as being laid o from a job, getting into a car accident and receiving a life-changing diagnosis happen all the time.

For many families out there, one emergency can have a huge impact on theirnances, making it challenging to feed the household.

Simply put, food insecurity has increased because of the decrease in a ordability of groceries. Nearly 751,690 Arizonans are currently reported to su er from food insecurity.

Within our community, it means one out of every 10 individuals lack consistent access to the food needed to live a healthy lifestyle because of their eco-

nomic situation.

Unfortunately, individuals and families su ering from food insecurity do not always have access to a nutritious and well-balanced diet. is can negatively impact their mental and physical health. e inability to consistently access nutritious, healthy food is known for increasing the risk of chronic health conditions. Also, food insecurity can produce mental health issues such as mood swings or struggles with focusing.

Oftentimes, families base their grocery store schedule on when they get their paychecks and are forced to prioritize quantity over quality to stay within their budget.

If your family is struggling with food insecurity, here are a few tips for planning your next trip to the grocery store.

Tip one: If you are shopping on a budget, make a list of what items you have and what you need before the next grocery trip. Find recipes where you can use the

same ingredients for multiple dishes. at way, perishable items can be used quickly and e ciently.

Tip two: Take advantage of coupons and grocery ads to access a discounted price on various proteins, fruits, veggies and other food essentials. Coupons can be found through newspaper ads, loyalty programs and online at retailer’s websites. ese discounts can be accessed for other necessities such as toothbrushes or laundry detergent.

Tip three: Apply for SNAP bene ts. e Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides neighbors who qualify with monthly bene ts to help purchase grocery items to meet basic needs. Check to see if you qualify at des.az/gov/howto-apply-snap.

Tip four: Visit a local food bank or pantry. ere are several across the state that are dedicated to making sure you and your loved ones are fed. Organizations such as

United Food Bank are working to provide hunger relief and access to nutritious meals to the entire community.

Tip ve: If you are in immediate need of food, a hot meal or an emergency food box, you can nd resources using the Arizona Food Bank Network food locator.

How to help:

United Food Bank works closely with local churches, schools and community partners to serve nearly 50,000 meals every day to families and seniors who are experiencing hunger. e East Valley-based food bank works to meet the food needs of today by getting a family to food stability, so they have enough food to meet their immediate needs.

Food banks rely on the entire community to help make their mission possible. Food banks, pantries and soup kitchens

April 19 – not April Fools Day. In May, the IRS announced it would indeed move forward with the “Direct File” pilot.

at’s why it’s important to remember that the “I” in IRS does not stand for ‘Integrity.”

It’s obvious that America’s tax bureaucrats are scheming to grab more operational power. e aforementioned 87,000 new agents and the $80 billion added to

FOOD from page 21

are always looking for volunteers to assist with everyday tasks, such as putting together food bags or passing out food.

Additionally, you can provide monetary donations or organize a food drive to assist the organizations in collecting unopened non-perishable food items needed for

the agency’s budget are aimed at increasing audits on taxpayers earning less than $75,000 a year.

How on earth could the IRS then take over as America’s preparer and ler?

Congress must assert its oversight authority, end these IRS power grabs, and disconnect “Direct File” before its too late.

After all, President Reagan also said our nation should “trust but verify.” Sadly, it seems that with the IRS, we can do neither. 

our community members. e food items most in demand are rice, pasta, canned fruit or veggies, peanut butter and soups.

For more information on United Food Bank and to learn more about the resources available, please visit unitedfoodbank.org.

Jason Reed is president and CEO of United Food Bank.

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New Rail Line

DOCKET NO. FD 36501, Union Pacific Railroad Company - Construction and Operation Exemption - In Maricopa County, AZ

Submit Your Comments

The Surface Transportation Board’s (Board) Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) announces the availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for public review and comment. The Draft EA analyzes the potential environmental and historic impacts of approximately 6.0 miles of new rail line in southeastern Mesa, Arizona. Comments are due to the Board by June 30, 2023.

The Draft EA is available on the Board’s website, www.stb.gov, by clicking “Search STB Records” and searching for “Decisions” using docket number “FD 36501.”

To learn more about the proposed rail line and the Draft EA, please visit: bit.ly/3pNXz9s.

Proposed HS spring football league met with criticism

BY ZACH ALVIRA Tribune Sports Editor

Aproposed spring football league for some of the top players in high school football is in the works to begin as soon as next year in 12 cities across the country.

Phoenix is on the list.

Brian Woods, the former president of the United States Football League, is leading the charge to create the league, which he hopes would draw in some of the top sophomore and junior high school football players from participating cities. e league would be separate from state athletic associations, giving players the opportunity to pro t o name, image and likeness, a direction some states have already gone with high school athletes but has yet to be implemented in Arizona.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Woods’ goal is to o er an opportunity to high school athletes to be evaluated in front of college coaches in a true 11-on-11 padded setting. Currently, most states allow only non-padded spring football practices and for a short duration.

e proposed league has already drawn criticism from those involved in the Arizona high school football scene, including Arizona Interscholastic Association Executive Director David Hines, who said instate players who participate automatically lose eligibility to play for their schools in the fall.

“Bottom line is if somebody has kids that want to do that, then they’re going to go do that and lose their eligibility,” Hines said. “I don’t think it’s smart. It’s not helpful to high school athletics. Honestly, the more contact you have in football, the greater the risk of injury. It’s tough enough when you play a season of football let alone coming back and playing another one.

“ ere’s a reason the NFL doesn’t play all year round.”

Woods told the AP the league would operate a six-week regular season. Players lo-

cal to the Phoenix area will be in full pads and compete against other teams from the 11 other cities.

A “player development fee” will be paid by players to help fund the league. He told the AP it would be similar to what athletes pay to play in the AAU circuit for basketball and other club sports. He also hopes ticket sales and sponsorships will help front the costs.

e league is set to operate on NCAA rules and use sensors to measure performance metrics that can be sent to colleges as another recruitment tool alongside lm.

To be eligible for the league, players must be enrolled in a middle or high school curriculum in the area.

Woods said in the report his goal is to put players in front of college coaches to help them earn a scholarship opportunity. He believes this route is better than what the spring football season currently o ers in most states: two to three weeks of non-padded practices with little to no contact.

“If you look at 7-on-7, you look at these camps, at the end of the day, none of them are 11-on-11 football,” Woods said. “None of them are going to give a quarterback, for instance, in a 7-on-7 situation, a live pass rush. So if you’re looking to evaluate players in an actual football context, that’s what this league is about.”

While still a fresh concept, the idea of a spring league has been met with criticism from East Valley coaches. Many elected to decline comment due to an overall lack of knowledge but were quick to question the legitimacy based on preliminary details.

Perry coach Joseph Ortiz questioned the safety of players potentially suiting up for two tackle football seasons in a year. He also questioned who would be coaching.

“Who’s going to coach it?” Ortiz said. “I don’t need my players getting hurt in the spring. Why are we adding more wear and tear on these kids’ bodies?”

Questions surrounding the impact to spring sports were also raised.

Many football coaches like Ortiz and Mountain Pointe’s Eric Lauer also coach

track in the spring, which has become one of the biggest tools for football players to not only stay conditioned but to also work on their speed.

e spring league would run April 19 through May 24, virtually eliminating the opportunity for football players to compete in track and baseball.

“College football coaches come around and the big-time schools we talk to, they’re asking if our players run track,” Lauer said. “So we will continue to push that. It threatens what we do as high school coaches. I don’t see how we would coexist.

“Football, the tire tread can start to wear when you look at injuries and collisions. So to add another season of full contact, it’s a lot.”

Queen Creek Coach Travis Schureman shared the same concern as Lauer regarding spring football, a time when players become reacclimated to the sport and begin bonding with teammates for the new season.

“One thing that stood out is that it goes through May,” Schureman said. “So, kids wouldn’t be able to do spring ball with us and that.”

Hines, who spent 30 years as a coach, teacher and administrator in Mesa Public Schools, has seen the impact club leagues and prep schools – especially in basketball – have had on players.

Low-impact sports such as basketball, soccer and volleyball have ourished under that concept. But football is a di erent animal. Contact on every play, at times with violent collisions.

Hines said he doesn’t see any of the AIA coaches encouraging their players to suit up for the league when and if it arrives next spring. Not only can it risk their overall health, but injuries that linger into the fall season could impact scholarship opportunities, too.

“I don’t see coaches encouraging their kids to do that,” Hines said. “ ey go out there and play and get hurt, then what do you do? ese are supposed to be the top kids. at makes them break teams.”

A new high school spring league may be coming to Arizona as part of a new concept created by former USFL president Brian Woods. The league, which would run from April through May and be full contact with NIL opportunities, has drawn criticism from coaches in Arizona. (Dave Minton/Tribune Sta )

‘Hairspray’ to dance across the Gammage stage

BY LAURA LATZKO GetOut Contributor

Even though it is set in the 1960s in Baltimore, the musical “Hairspray” resonates with audiences around the world because it tells the story of a girl who is trying to nd her place in the world and be accepted for who she is.

It also delves into relevant topics such as racial discrimination, representation on TV and freedom of expression.

e national tour of “Hairspray” will visit ASU Gammage Tuesday, June 20, to Sunday, June 25.

e musical tells the story of 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad, a girl with big dreams and ostentatious hair who is trying to make it onto “ e Corny Collins Show.” She faces opposition from star dancer Amber Von Tussle and her mother Velma because she looks and moves di erently than the other dancers.

She starts to see the bigger picture of the push for equal rights in her community when she meets fellow student Seaweed J. Stubbs, his mother, Motormouth Maybelle, and his sister, Little Inez. is inspires her to become more involved with the ght for civil rights.

Along the way, Tracy falls for teen heartthrob Link Larkin, and her shy, dorky and loveable friend Penny Pingleton nds love with Seaweed.

e show, inspired by the 1988 John Waters lm, ran for over 2,600 performances on Broadway and took home eight Tony Awards in 2003.

e national tour stars Niki Metcalf as Tracy Turnblad; Andrew Levitt as her mother, Edna; Ralph Prentice Daniel as her father, Wilbur; Skyler Shields at Link Larkin; Asabi Goodman as Motormouth Maybelle; Billy Dawson as show host Corny Collins; Ryahn Evers as Amber Von Tussle; Addison Garner as her mother, Velma; Emery Henderson as Penny Pingleton; Joi D. McCoy as Little Inez and Charlie Bryant III as Seaweed J. Stubbs.

Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Bryant is making his national tour debut with “Hairspray.” He joined the national tour last August.

Previously, he had been in shows such as “Spelling Bee,” “Cinderella,” “Memphis,” “ e Addams Family,” “Once on is Island” and “Company.”

Bryant previously played Seaweed in a high school production of “Hairspray.” He said in playing the role again, he is more focused on his character’s development and role in the story.

“Back then, I was younger, and I wasn’t focused on the storyline. It was more so just hitting all of these vocal beats and hitting the dancing beats and not being focused on the actual story that needs to be told. Now playing it at 24 years old, playing a 16-year-old, I can dive deep and see who this role actually is, what story he is trying to get the audience to see,” Bryant said.

Bryant said the issues explored in the musical are relevant to events going on now.

“Racism still exists. Body shaming still

exists, especially in the musical theater industry. I think it’s very relevant, and I just hope that audience members take something away from the story, something deeper than the costumes, the lights and the set pieces,” Bryant said.

Recently, musical theater has been changing and becoming more open to people of di erent shapes, sizes and backgrounds, he adds.

“ ere was a time when you didn’t look a certain way, there was no chance of you being in the ensemble or getting this particular role just based o the way you looked. And by the way you look, I mean the size you were…. I feel like in today’s time, we are working hard to take that o the face of the Earth and take that out of our industry. No matter what size you are, if you can bring it to the table, you can do it,” Bryant said.

Bryant said the musical follows a similar storyline and has comparable music as the 2007 lm version, which starred Queen Latifah, John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky. e musical features popular numbers

such as “Good Morning, Baltimore,” “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” “Welcome to the ’60s,” “( e Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs,” “I Can Hear the Bells and “(You’re) Timeless to Me.”

Bryant said that he and Emery Henderson connected early on in the rehearsal process. During their o time, they hung out to get to know each other better.

“I think an o stage connection will make your onstage connection stronger,” Bryant said.

e role of Seaweed is demanding vocally and physically. Within the musical version, audiences get to know Seaweed more than in the lm. Bryant said through his portrayal, he wants to showcase the di erent facets of his character.

“I want to make Seaweed this very genuine guy,” Bryant said.

“He’s sweet. He’s smart, and he’s ready for change at this moment. He’s using his dance moves. He’s using his education, and he’s providing all of these tools to Tracy to help us get where we need to be, to help us to get the show integrated.”

e relationships between Seaweed, Motormouth Maybelle and Little Inez are also explored more in the stage version.

“ e movie version is limited to a certain number of scenes. You can only see so much. With the live version, you get to see it all. During the big number ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ that Motormouth Maybelle sings, you get to see her comfort her kids at this time that we are going through. I think there’s a deep connection there that you will see in the show,” Bryant said. 

National Tour of “Hairspray”

Where: ASU Gammage, 1200 S. Forest Ave., Tempe

When: Various times Tuesday, June 20, to Sunday, June 25

Cost: Tickets start at $35

Info: 480-965-3434, asugammage.com

“Hairspray” returns to the ASU Gammage Theater next week with an all-star cast and a relevant message. (Special to GetOut)

IIn the 1950’s, my parents opened an Italian restaurant in Lake Tahoe. They were truly pioneers of fine dining in that beautiful resort playground to the stars. Labor Day marked the end of their season – time now to hunker down for a snowy winter with months of refurbishing, repairing and getting the restaurant ready for the next summer.

With JAN D’ATRI

GetOut Columnist

This steak sandwich is a great treat for dad any time

It was truly a mom and pop operation with Dad as the butcher and bartender. Momma was the gourmet chef, prepping all of the meals from scratch.

My father was a butcher all of his life. One of the very first meat cutters at Safeway back in the 1930’s. Through the years I’ve talked a lot about my childhood and that I was the only kid in school.

I’m certain, who had prosciutto and mortadella hanging on hooks in the garage. My biggest “meal memory” growing up is how we gathered around our massive butcher block in the kitchen to eat meals, standing up, side by side, diving into slices of meats, cheeses, olives, pepperoncini and big slices of crusty Italian bread. To this day, I’ll stand at my butcher block and nosh on cold cuts.

Back then, steak sandwiches were a favorite. We’d pan grill a steak then slice it up and lay it open face on olive oil-brushed slice of bread with tomatoes from Momma’s

Ingredients: (For 4 sandwiches)

• 1 (16 oz) steak

• 1 loaf French or Italian bread, cut in four sections

• 2 large vine ripened tomatoes, sliced thin

• 8 -10 leaves lettuce

Directions:

Drizzle steak with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on both sides. Salt and pepper steak on both sides. Sear in a hot dry skillet or grill. Cook until medium, about 4-5 minutes on each side. Set aside to rest, about 10 minutes. When rested, slice in thin slices.

garden that were also soaked in olive oil, salt and pepper. I’ve recreated our family sandwich for you including an ncredible two-ingredient cheese slather that brings the sandwich to life. I used a sirloin steak sliced thin, but you can use any cut of your favorite steak. On Father’s Day, I miss biting into that crusty steak sandwich with my pop by my side more than anything. 

• 1/2 cup sour cream or Alfredo Sauce

• 1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese

• 1/2 cup olive oil for (for steak and tomatoes)

• 1-2 teaspoons salt, divided

• 1-2 teaspoons pepper, divided

In a bowl, add about 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Coat tomato slices in olive oil and set aside. Make gorgonzola slather. In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup sour cream or Alfredo sauce and 1/2 cup gorgonzola. Mix until lumps are gone. Grill bread.

To assemble: Spread cheese mixture evenly over 8 pieces of bread. For each sandwich, begin with lettuce leaf. Then layer tomatoes, steak, another lettuce leaf and finish with bread.

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