OPINION

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OPINION OPINION

To our readers, This is the second and last round of opinion columns from candidates for Chandler mayor and City Council. They were asked to write a maximum 500 word piece on any topic of their choosing. Columns by candidates who missed the deadline will be posted at chandlernews.com. The candidates’ previous columns and the answers to our questionnaire are also at chandlernews.com.

Hartke: Passionate about, committed to Chandler

BY MAYOR KEVIN HARTKE

Arizonan Guest Writer

Ilove Chandler.

I love riding my bike on our beautiful canal system early in the morning as well as catching a sunset at an iconic location like Veteran’s Memorial at Veterans Oasis Park.

I love being surprised by amazing food at a new Chandler restaurant or catching up with a friend at one of our many coffee places.

I love drinking a cold glass of homegrown lemonade or grapefruit juice on a hot day.

I love our rich diversity in Chandler and how culture, different opinions and experiences continue to make us a better community.

I love how our downtown has become a gem, a point of pride for not just Chandler, but the entire Valley.

I love it when someone mentions how a police officer, first responder, neighbor or stranger helped them in a time of crisis and turned that crisis into a lifelong amazing memory. This is our community.

I love Chandler.

For the past 37 years, I have been passionate and committed about serving you.

Through the years, this commitment has manifested in many ways: • Coaching soccer with the YMCA; • Reading to students at Galveston Elementary School weekly for 14 years; • Organizing and serving at Chandler’s largest backpack give-away for over a decade; • Serving with local nonprofits to feed those who need it for decades; • Helping hundreds of men and women who have experienced homelessness get off our streets and into a better life; • Serving as your councilmember for nine years; • Serving as your mayor for 3.5 years; • Serving on regional and state boards, commissions and committees in areas of transportation, economic growth and homelessness for over a decade

I did not show up recently and promise what I would do as a candidate; I have been leading and serving Chandler for most of my life. With your help, I will continue.

This is my promise; I will continue to listen to you to create and continue Chandler’s legacy as a word-class community with great jobs, exceptional schools and safe neighborhoods for ALL. I will: • Make sure that our first responders have the people and resources they need to keep our community safe; • Ensure great customer service and transparency to our residents; • Continue to attract great companies;

Jones: Chandler’s rising homelessness is a major problem

BY RUTH JONES

Arizonan Guest Writer

Everyone should have a home. Right now, in our country we have a problem. The homeless population is rising. This is a problem everywhere but nowhere is it growing faster than right here in the city of Chandler.

To understand this problem, you need some information. The homeless population is counted by something referred to as the Point In Time Count (PIT). These numbers are used for several things. Federal funding is based on this number, and it is also a metric used to determine if our programs are successful. In the 2020 count Maricopa County’s numbers rose 12%. That’s about the national average. However, here in Chandler our numbers rose by a little more than 38%. That should have set off alarm bells and caused us to change what we’re doing, but it did not.

No count was taken in 2021 due to the pandemic so we knew that the numbers would be steeper in 2022. Maricopa went up 34%. Phoenix went up 33%. In 2022, the homeless population in Chandler went up 76%!

What is driving this increase and what can be done?

To answer that question, you must look at the programs here in Chandler. A little over a year ago our mayor introduced Support Court. There is no requirement to complete any program to get assistance there. We also have Operation Open Door. In this program we identify homeless people, we then pay for hotel rooms for these individuals. Housing is provided from 30 to 90 days. It is considered a positive outcome of this program to get a bed in the shelter.

There ares no requirements in the program of working with these individuals to change their situation. No job training, no life skill classes. No substance abuse or mental health evaluation. Not even interview skills or how to get your documents, like Social Security card, is mentioned.

I do not believe in criminalizing homelessness, but if what we are doing isn’t changing lives, why are we doing it? We have more than 15 programs here in Chandler. What is the cost… Millions., Some are funded by federal allotments, but those come with federal requirements. The remainder is from our General Fund. Either way our tax dollars are being spent while the problem continues to grow. This comes at a cost to our citizenry, homeless encampments and open-air drug use is becoming more prevalent near our schools and in our neighborhoods and parks which creates safety,

Meet the candidates for mayor of chandler

Poston: I have the right skills to serve Chandler citizens Encinas: We must reinvest in traditional neighborhoods Orlando: Helping to ensure good policecommunity relations Shifa: More city and private partnerships are a priority for me

BY JANE POSTON

Arizonan Guest Writer

BY ANGEL ENCINAS

Arizonan Guest Writer

BY MATT ORLANDO

Arizonan Guest Writer

BY FARHANA SHIFA

Arizonan Guest Writer

One of the greatest ongoing responsibilities facing Chandler is creating new employment opportunities and maintaining our existing jobs in a highly competitive and changing world. This includes supporting businesses of all sizes.

We’ve had some incredible announcements and a lot of be proud of to the credit of both the City and the Chandler Chamber. However, we can’t rest on our past successes- because we aren’t just competing with other Valley cities – we’re competing for jobs across the country and the globe.

One of the biggest issues affecting businesses right now is workforce development and training. We are fortunate to have companies right here in Chandler take on some of that responsibility. And although the City doesn’t oversee the education system, our economic development efforts should be focused on facilitating connections between schools, colleges and businesses. I have first-hand insight into the importance of educating our young people and how an educated workforce translates to a strong business community through my experience includes working with both the city’s Economic Development Reinvesting into Chandler’s traditional neighborhoods is an investment that benefits our entire city. Historical and culturally important neighborhoods add character and interesting nuance to our city and its residents.

It also cultivates a sense of hometown pride. It attracts new residents, and in a city where only 30% of our neighborhoods aren’t, generally speaking, track houses and developments with HOA’s, that character is ever more important in my view.

It behooves the city and the greater community not to let these neighborhoods fall into a state of disrepair. They need our protection in much the same way an HOA protects its residents.

Our city has invested millions over the years in the revitalization of our downtown. That development and investment is now slowly moving north on Arizona towards the 202.

The Chandler Arts Center, the Overstreet development, New Square, San Marcos Commons, and the influx of new restaurants and businesses exemplify the dedication of our city to our collective economic development and making our downtown one of the most vibrant, exciting, and entertaining downtowns in the Valley.

We need to reinvest in our traditional News media outlets have identified numerous police agencies throughout the nation as lacking or needing to improve on Police Use of Force and/or de-escalating practices. As early as 2000, City Council, in conjunction with the Police Department, has been leading the Valley, if not the state, in implementing numerous programs and practices to ensure our citizens are engaged with police accountability practices.

In May of 2000, Council created the Citizen’s Panel for Review of Police Complaints. The panel, consisting of 15 citizens and Police Department personnel, reviews all police shootings and police incidents when direct physical force by the police results in serious physical injury or death. The panel also reviews the findings of the department’s investigation of unsubstained, unfounded or exonerated citizen complaints, when that citizen requests a review of the Police Departments findings.

The panel acts in an advisory capacity to the Chief of Police. The panel is encouraged to make recommendations concerning training programs, revisions of policies or procedures, commendable actions, preventative or corrective meaPublic-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are agreements between government and private sector partners. The PPP decision-making process requires input from all stakeholders (individuals and businesses) and results in improved solutions.

These outcomes are consistently more creative and cost-effective than traditional government “top down” decisions. The end result of PPPs are taxpayer savings, better services / infrastructure, and less government overreach.

In 1998, the City of Chandler partnered with the Chandler Unified School District to create a full-service branch of the Chandler Public Library at Hamilton High School. The Hamilton Library is shared-use facility that serves both the community as well as Hamilton High School students. The city and the school district successfully met a shared need with a single facility with both realizing a significant and ongoing cost savings.

In March 2021, the Chandler City Council partnered with Maricopa Ambulance to assist the Chandler Fire Department in providing Emergency Medical Services to the Chandler community. Since January 2022, a private sector ambulance along with an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Chandler fire-

• Collaborate with our schools and neighboring cities to maximize amenities like pools, libraries, parks and pub-

JONES from page 32

health, and quality of life concerns for all.

lic spaces; • Ensure that we have the water we need, now and in the future; • Continue to approach build-out wisely; • Ensure that Chandler is a community

We need programs that give positive results. Those in our programs need to be accountable for services received. where ALL can prosper and be safe.

Our city is prospering. Our taxes and utilities rates are the lowest in the Valley. We are fiscally balanced. We are one of the top cities in the nation in regard to prosperity, safety, desirability, education and transparency. I will continue this work as your mayor.

You can learn more about me and my campaign at kevinhartke.com.

Programs that educate and don’t just get them off the streets but keep them off the streets. Further, the city needs reliable data and metrics to capture the effectiveness of said programs. When I am mayor, this will be a top priority.

POSTON from page 33

division and the Chamber of Commerce on business recruitment and retention and serving as the board president of the Chandler Education Foundation and marketing chair of the Chandler Unified School District’s Bond and Override Committee.

Encouraging public-private and nonprofit partnerships is also key to supporting our business community. The City can bring all of these stakeholders together to strategize the best methods to provide assistance and support to our businesses, especially new startups.

A few examples of how Chandler is already making headway in these areas are the partnerships it has established to launch Chandler Innovations, an entrepreneur incubation program sponsored by the city. By helping companies turn their ideas into a business, and leveraging the expertise of local business leaders, the city is well positioned to land innovative, high-tech companies in its backyard and create job opportunities for residents. Another example is the city’s partnership with the University of Arizona, which offers both undergraduate and masters level courses in Chandler.

As a former local government employee (I’ve worked in both Phoenix and Chandler), small business owner and longtime community volunteer, I believe I bring the right skills and experience to serve our residents and businesses. Specifically, my past community service experience includes serving as board chair of the 2021 Chandler Chamber of Commerce, chair of Women in Leadership, 2021 Citizen Bond Committee (Airport), and East Valley JCC Board. I also have provided pro bono work for Chandler Firefighter Charities, AZCEND, ACEE and Fans Across America to name a few. I’m proud of the many opportunities Chandler offers the business community members to become involved with our city and I look forward to expanding these community service opportunities.

Through strong collaborations between our city, its residents, educational institutions, and our businesses, we can continue to build a thriving community that we can all take great pride in…let’s all work together to make Chandler the first choice for people looking to open a business and to get a job!

ENCINAS from page 33

neighborhoods with the same exuberance, making them a reflection of the downtown area and reinforcing our city’s dedication to its traditional neighborhood residents and their economic maturation as well. This benefits all of Chandler.

Increased opportunity zones for residential, programs and revenue aimed at fixing blighted homes and areas in need of assistance must be a priority. Increased community events in these neighborhoods build pride in the community, which is self-reinforcing. I also believe holding landlords in these neighborhoods more accountable for keeping their property maintained is an area that needs greater attention. Landscaping and aesthetic investments in these areas should not be ignored either.

Greater safety measures such as increased lighting, bicycle, and pedestrian pathways, speed bumps and signage yield positive outcomes which keeps neighborhoods and the children who live in them safe.

Combined, all of these things revitalize neighborhoods, build community, protect our children, and increase residency and property values, while exemplifying our city’s commitment to all of its residents.

ORLANDO from page 33

sures except for employee discipline and community concerns regarding police action and procedures. I have attended several of these meetings and have been impressed by the honest and open engagement by the panel’s members and the police department. The meetings are open to the public and I encourage you to attend.

In addition to the panel, the Police Department has trained de-escalation practices and tactics for nearly ten years. Prior to the official implementation of de-escalation tactics and practices, the agency trained to the concept of using minimal amounts of force necessary to safely take a subject into custody.

The Chandler Police Department implemented numerous policies and practices; this is just a small list: • Defined and described de-escalation in general orders policy and implemented an annual de-escalation policy review. • Annual training for all officers in Crisis

Intervention Training (CIT) practices and techniques, to include training to self-identify biases that can hinder/ hurt decision making and create unreasonable force options under stress. • Training on emotional control and

decision-making under stress and the effects that stress can have on officers’ and citizens’ emotions. •Training on tactics that promote deescalation and successful outcomes with individuals experiencing mental health-related events. This year we will hire 5 fulltime behavioral health police officers that will specialize in deescalating situations. • The department has purchased a topof-the-line simulation system that will allow officers to train in reality-based video de-escalation scenarios. The system will also allow officers the opportunity to run scenarios involving

developmentally disabled individuals. • A “Duty to Intervene” definition, training, and general order has been developed. This allows a second officer to intervene or take over for the primary officer if a situation dictates.

As a Council member, I am dedicated to the promise that our community is provided a high quality of life and safe neighborhoods, it is vital our law enforcement officers are equipped with the training, knowledge and tools necessary to navigate complex situations.

Go to MattOrlando.com for more information.

SHIFA from page 33

fighter paramedic is dispatched to 911 medical emergencies. Each ambulance is equipped with advanced medical equipment to support the patient. In addition, each ambulance carries equipment to enable the firefighter paramedic to respond to any emergency; e.g., extrication equipment. This is another example of the private sector partnering with Chandler to provide improved and innovative services to our community.

As Chandler moves forward and meets its future challenges, we must continue to search for additional opportunities to make use of PPPs. I look forward to working with Chandler’s citizens and businesses to find workable and costeffective solutions. And I will emphasize the importance of including our community and private sector in making decisions that directly affect them.