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Hello. How are you? Life has changed a lot since we last talked. The pandemic changed us in ways we never realized possible. For me, I did a complete nose dive into caring for my family and focusing on the things within my reach. WHY COME BACK NOW?2022 offers the people an opportunity to take back what's been lost. It's an opportunity to rebuild. I'm not talking at the federal level. I'm talking about where it really matters. In our own communities. As I revamp West Valley Families, my focus will start with the City of Goodyear and the local school districts. Eventually, I'll expand. But this is where I start. BIGGEST IMPACTLocal government has the biggest impact on our daily lives. The unconscionable, discriminatory and divisive actions of law makers and school officials have prompted residents across the state to get more active and involved. Locally, Goodyear will hold an election in August. The mayor's seat and 3 council seats are up for grabs. Even closer to home are school board elections. School boards control what our children are enduring day-after-day. What our kids learn in the classroom and whether they compete on the court is up to a handful of people who sit behind the dias. Many times, school board decisions are made by people who don't even have children in school. When lockdowns kicked in 2 years ago, I quickly discovered that a majority of the representatives on the governing board at Buckeye Union High School District did not have children in the district. How could they possibly know what it was like to see our teens lie in bed all day, behind screens, and think they'd come out of this year ok? The problem is that parents are not running for these seats. In the Liberty Elementary School District, a board member who recently moved here from another state was simply seated on the board as they were running unopposed. My hope is to motivate parents to run for these open seats and get them filled by people who understand what's happening to the students and teachers. (Find out which school board seats are open here.) SHARE THE WEALTHMy gift is being able to share my knowledge. When I started up West Valley Families in 2014, I spent a lot of my time aggregating local events and fun information for families to find in one convenient place. Since then, several social media pages and apps have popped up providing that same information. So there's no need for me to go back to that. My purpose is bigger in 2022. What's up next for mandates and restrictions? Will schools will be overcrowded in August? Does my kid really need to take the SAT? (That answer is NO!) I'll show you how to file a Freedom of Information Act form with your school district. And together we'll take a look a the questions every parent should be asking. What pressure will businesses have to face? How can the city improve safety services? Where can families in need find help? And how can we help them? This is what's important in 2022. A NEW GENERATIONA new generation of moms have pulled together an army of motivated parents who are willing to fight for their kids. I consider myself one of them. I look forward to being part of a process making 2022 much better than the last 2 years. Please join me. It's going to be a worthwhile ride...  Driving down Estrella Parkway, it seems our little town is really growing up. From new industry and small businesses to housing developments and homelessness... Goodyear has a lot on its plate.
Have you seen the construction next to the Goodyear Ballpark? That vacant land will be home to "Gates at Goodyear" - condos with mixed-use for the west Valley. Reportedly, "It will feature 80 residential units, with office, dining and retail space below. Noting Arizona’s heat and long-lasting sunlight as motivations, Fair also plans for the structure to be energy independent and efficient, with the goal of residents having net-zero energy consumption. One feature is that residents’ units will have what Fair describes as transition glass, which darkens when exposed to sunlight." The CEO is Andra Fair who got the idea from his land partner, David Byrd, who owns several Goodyear hotels. "The development also involves Sonnen home energy storage systems, so each unit will have two solar-powered batteries, allowing residents to go on or off the grid, he explained." We're chomping at the bit for Saddle Mountain's patio to open. Maybe October? Hopefully? We can't wait! MC85 at Lower Buckeye Road is going to take on new shape in Goodyear. Microsoft is moving in south of the Goodyear Airport. Check out more here. A new school! Litchfield Elementary School District is building a new school. "School 16" will be located at 18601 W. Campbell Avenue in Goodyear... just north of Indian School Road and east of Perryville Road. Pickleball courts at the Goodyear Community Park unveil September 22nd. Goodyear says, "The event will kick off with a tour of the court and remarks by city officials. Later, there will be on-court demonstrations by local pickleball players as well as mini-clinics covering the basics – from selecting the right paddle to understanding the rules of play. The celebration concludes with the courts open for general public play. The project, which was funded and approved in response to residents’ request, converted basketball courts to accommodate pickleball and maintain two high school-sized basketball courts." The cost to build these was $168,000. The project plan reports, "Repurpose the existing basketball court to include four lighted Pickleball Courts and two lighted high school level basketball courts. The courts will receive new court surfacing and striping." Dunkin' Donuts is reportedly opening this week on Estrella Parkway just south of Van Buren. Don't forget, there's a fabulous Sunrise Donuts just south of there at 725 S. Estrella Parkway, Goodyear, Az. They're a mom and pop shop with lots to offer! Rumor has it that a Culver's is opening in Goodyear. We checked with the company and they said they do NOT have plan for a Goodyear location. (Hope I'm proven wrong. Although, they are located in Avondale and around the west Valley.) They also sent the franchise link to me if anyone is wanting to open a Culver's. Anyone? NOW OPEN Dream Swirls, owned and operated by Estrella residents, moved to a new location. We stopped by during the grand opening and it was PACKED! I love mom and pop shops. Be sure to check them out. 15557 W. Roosevelt Street, Suite 102, Goodyear, Az. Near Robeks on Estrella Parkway. A quick jaunt into Litchfield Park for a moment... Teacup has opened. Its menu looks awesome and I hope to get there soon. HIREDThe City of Goodyear made two new hires in big positions. Lori Gary is the new economic development director. Goodyear states, "Prior to accepting the post in Goodyear, Lori was a senior project manager for the city of Mesa’s Office of Economic Development. Specifically, she promoted new investment, redevelopment and reuse, and job creation within Mesa’s Fiesta District, Falcon District, and West Mesa." Tammy Vo starts in October as the city's new communications director. "Tammy has spent the last six years working as the marketing and communications manager for the city of Phoenix. Before then, she spent 13 years in television news." Both positions seem to have high turnover in Goodyear. Let's wish them the best of luck in our growing city. Soon-to-be hired are interns for the Goodyear Spring Baseball Season. Check out opportunities here. CHALLENGES AHEAD At Goodyear City Council tonight, Police Chief Jerry Geier and Sgt. Justin Hughes of the Professional Standards Unit will discuss a difficult issue... Homeless Outreach. The agenda reads, "City Management requested that staff prepare information on the issue of homeless outreach and nuisance behaviors such as panhandling in order to ascertain the Council’s level of interest in pursuing an ordinance, policy revision, or other action. This issue has not come before Council in the past." When I assisted Goodyear with its All-America City application in 2008, Goodyear reportedly knew of just 11 homeless people. Now that the city has grown immensely, and so quickly, it's sadly obvious that number is growing. "Staff has compiled information on the issue of homeless outreach, including definitions, existing conditions, and information from other valley cities. Possible alternatives will be presented and direction will be based on Council feedback," Goodyear Staff Analysis. Homeless Youth Connection sent out an email today inviting the community to attend its Empowering Youth Breakfast. It's October 25th. You must RSVP. More here. UPCOMING ELECTIONIf any of the above issues interest you, I encourage you to run for office. In 2021, several termed-out seats will be open and we'll have, potentially, an all new council. Now is the time to brush up and get involved. We were beyond thrilled this week to see Councilmember Laura Kaino announce she's running for the position she was appointed to when Joanne Osborne vacated the seat. We worked with Kaino on the Goodyear Water Conservation Committee and hope she brings that knowledge and ideas to the table. Please follow her on Facebook. She's been very active in the community! Open Seats in the Goodyear Spring Election of 2019 are:
COMMUNITY NOTES
Finally, if you're looking to watch some great high school volleyball this weekend, please check out the Wolves Classic Invitational at Estrella Foothills High School. It's Friday/Saturday. The school's high school Homecoming Parade and Carnival follows at 5pm Saturday night. Best wishes to all the students and athletes this weekend! We'll continue to follow what's happening in Goodyear and the west Valley. Our mission to keep informed ramped up again this spring when a Goodyear City Councilmember falsely made accusations against us. She got us wondering about what's really happening. We know it's important to the community and taxpayers to stay informed. If there's something you'd like for us to check out, please contact us.
Future development and plans are currently in the works to bring the experience of Crocker Park located in Westlake, Ohio, a vertically integrated mixed-used lifestyle center, to the community of Goodyear with the expansion of the Market at Estrella Falls. ~Stark Enterprises In May, we blogged about the Estrella Falls Regional Center. Jobs in Goodyear 3 companies are bringing more than a thousand full-time jobs to Goodyear. Chewy, Ball, and UPS are expanding in our All-America City. Link. Growing Goodyear Construction begins on $4.7M Adelante Healthcare facility in Goodyear. Link. Check out all the Major Projects in Goodyear here. Wellspring Park We're excited to see Wellspring Park when it's completed. Lots of media about it already. Check it out here. Fire Services Expanding We've been advocating for new fire stations for a few years. You can check out the stations in the works here. Fine Arts Show If you have time, stop by the Goodyear Fine Art Show “Southwest is my Home” at the Goodyear Library! We have one of our favorite photos hanging in the show.
Yesterday, we were concerned about the status of Goodyear’s Estrella Falls Mall as the link was no longer showing. We contacted the Goodyear City Manager for clarification on the status of the mall. The "Estrella Falls Regional Center" link is now here. **UPDATED** While Estrella Falls Regional Center won’t have a traditional mall at this time, it will attract shopping, dining, and entertainment. No name change. The development agreement with the property owner requires additional square footage of retail/entertainment by 2021. The original agreement between the city, Macerich and Globe Investors was approved in 2006. With the impact of the economic crisis, the development schedule was put on hold. This coupled with the very rapid growth in online shopping, has changed the dynamics of the project (and retail in general) and it has not moved forward at the scale and pace once planned. However, retail developments have taken place in the area including the Market at Estrella Falls and the very successful Harkins Theater. We are also expecting the announcement of the development of a major full service restaurant shortly. There are obligations in the current development agreement for construction of additional retail by Macerich by 2021. Macerich has not presented any new development ideas for the site and Globe has not to date presented a plan for the land it owns. Currently the city is relying on the existing agreement but is open to new ideas for the overall area and development of a concentration of retail within its boundaries. What is the plan? We don't know. But, the City of Goodyear is still very committed to making this land a destination point. That's good to know as residents have always wanted more entertainment and dining options on this side of town.  It's time to get back to the original purpose of West Valley Families. In 2014, I started West Valley Families as a resource guide. As a parent, it was hard for me to find local events. Since then, our web calendar has been filled monthly with local events showcasing all the great things happening in the southwest and west valleys of Phoenix, Arizona. The other purpose of West Valley Families was to be the eyes and ears of the west Valley. Local news is sparse in this area. I'm a retired journalist and it's frustrating to me that we really don't know what's happening here. I was happy to see the West Valley View newspaper come under new management. But, it's impossible for the small outlet to cover some of the most important topics in this growing region. THIS YEAR 2018 has been a very challenging time for my family. I got away from covering Goodyear City Council meetings. I've grown my own company. And I'm the mom of a very social teenager. Even though I served on the local Water Conservation Committee in Goodyear for the past two years, my focus was pulled away from local politics. (I enjoyed the respite.) Unbeknown to me, a local councilmember went on a rant on a competing Facebook page for the past several weeks, thinking she was talking to me. When brought to light, the other page acknowledged I had no affiliation with it and stated, "Apparently, some councilmembers aren't very happy about it [their page] and want us silenced." I do not have any affiliation with Goodyear Guardian or Citizens for a Stronger Goodyear. (You can find those pages by clicking on the links.) But, I am the creator of West Valley Families and its Estrella counterpart. If I have something to say, my name is on it. I don't hind behind anonymous Facebook pages. You'll also find me taking my concerns to City Council meetings. You may recall my concern about longer than average response times and a request for fire stations in Estrella and the west Valley here. *By the way: Estrella's fire station is on track to open in fall 2019. The west Goodyear station would be open in late 2020. Track each station's progress at http://www.goodyearaz.gov/government/city-projects. MOVING FORWARD  With another spring election coming up and candidate packets being available soon, it's time to get back to covering Goodyear meetings. Councilmember Joanne Osborne is stepping down soon and I'm excited about one of the potential residents looking to fill the vacated seat. More on that later... I will always stay true to my vision of being a positive force in the west Valley. I saw Goodyear through the All-America City competition in 2008. There's so much good here. The City continues to collaborate to make great things happen here. But, it's time to get back to seeing what our lawmakers are doing. And that's the "why" I plan to get back to over this summer.
March 15th is the big day! Dutch Bros. is opening a new location in Goodyear. It's located south of I-10 on Estrella Parkway on the west side of the street south of McDonald's.
GALLERY: JUNE 22, 2017 - MARCH 14, 2018 The much awaited meeting to discuss whether Goodyear should continue spring election cycles is Monday night. We have a look at preliminary staff reports. 
Goodyear contacted 10 cities to find out how they included over and under votes... and unqualified write-in votes. REASONS TO MOVE THE ELECTION TO BE HELD IN THE FALL OF EVEN NUMBERED YEARS Goodyear staff list these reasons for consolidating the city election with state and national elections:
REASONS TO NOT CHANGE THE SPRING ELECTION CYCLE IN ODD NUMBERED YEARS
THE RECOMMENDATION COMING MONDAY NIGHT Goodyear staff does not make any recommendation about whether this All-America City should move the election cycle to fall of even numbered years. However, staff does encourage City Council to "pass, adopt and approve an Ordinance to clarify how the majority vote is determined." That wording would read: For the purposes of this Section, “votes cast” shall mean a legal vote actually cast in that candidate’s race for a legally eligible candidate and excludes ballots and other votes that were not actually cast in that race including “over votes” and “under votes”. THE OPTIONS Goodyear staff lays out the options. 1. Change the Charter to move towards Consolidated Elections. This requires a vote by the People and terms for existing Councilmembers would have to be adjusted. 2. No change and elections would remain in the spring of odd numbered years. CONTACT COUNCIL: [email protected]  Opinion Piece by Jen Barber Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'. ~Ronald Reagan  What are the odds Goodyear's Mayor and Council will be forced to vote to reduce their terms in office? Or... what are the odds they'll vote to add extra time to extend their terms? And how many laws will need to be changed to do so? It occurred to me in the middle of the night that this might be a real-case scenario in our All-America City. In the "Goodyear Gold Mine" blog from June 9th, I casually mentioned former Council candidate Sara Gilligan went to Council to speak in favor of moving Goodyear's elections to even-numbered years. I joked about grabbing the popcorn to sit back and watch as Goodyear has avoided this issue for several years. Now that a resident has come forth, it's not so funny. They've gotta respond. The concern: Currently, Goodyear's City Charter mandates elections be held in the spring of odd-numbered years. Doing so mandates tax payers fork out thousands of dollars to hold independent elections as the State's elections are in the fall of even-numbered years. We reviewed the tape. Gilligan specifically asked Council to look into what it would take to align Goodyear's election with the State election cycle. Gilligan argued paying roughly $180,000 for Goodyear's Spring Primary and General elections could be avoided by shifting the City election to coincide with the State's election cycle. West Valley Families was further thrown into the mix on this issue when Gilligan tagged us in a post yesterday asking for more information. Gilligan posted she received a reply from the Goodyear City Clerk stating the election cycle is stated in the City Charter. But, Gilligan asked us if we had any further info. So, we did our own research. Well, the City Clerk is right. As we pointed out in our "Goodyear Election Cycle Concerns" blog, "Goodyear's City Charter ARTICLE IX. SECTION 5. states 'Primary elections shall be held on the second Tuesday in March of odd-number years preceding the General election on the third Tuesday in May of odd-number years.'" What I assume Gilligan wants to know is why Council hasn't made an effort to change this law. GOODYEAR LOOKING AT THE OPTIONS I was blown away last night when I was told the City is taking this issue to a Council worksession in August. We were first to report it on our Facebook page here. Shifting Goodyear's election cycle has come up numerous times, as I've reported this week. 2011: 'Goodyear Votes' grassroots organization called for the change in Goodyear's voting cycle. 2012: Goodyear watched patiently as Phoenix and Tucson challenged a new State law requiring cities to have their elections only in even-numbered years. 2014: The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled 17 Charter Cities, (including cities like Goodyear), can hold elections when they want. 2017: Resident Sara Gilligan formally asks Goodyear City Council to review Goodyear's election cycle. PROS, CONS, AND THE EGO
Some elected public servants feel the independent spring election avoids "voter fatigue." Let's turn to Tucson for a closer look at this argument. Arizona Capitol Times reported Tucson City Attorney Mike Rankin, who failed to urge then-Governor Jan Brewer to veto the election law, "pointed out that state law requires federal and state races to be placed first on the ballot. 'Rankin said forcing consolidated elections would result in “the local issues being on Page 20 before anybody gets to them.” And he said pushing those local races the bottom would result in voters losing interest — and not finishing the ballot — before they get to those local races.'"
For elected politicians, whose terms end in odd-numbered years, their terms would either have to end earlier... or be extended further. And what sitting Council member would vote to end his or her term early? THE $64,000 QUESTION... OR $180,000 CONSEQUENCE... If Goodyear's Mayor and Council were forced to vote on this issue, would any of them have a conflict of interest? We were told the process for Goodyear City Staff and Council to review the election cycle would "be complete prior to the next election scheduled in 2019." STOP THE PRESSES! Mayor Georgia Lord and Council members Pizzillo, Campbell, and Hampton were just voted in spring of 2017. Their terms end 2021. That's an odd-numbered year. A vote to align Goodyear's election with the State election cycle sooner rather than later could, potentially, require the Council to vote to terminate these four seats early. OR! Council, also could vote whether to "extend" the terms to 2022. You read that right. They might choose to add more time to their terms. 1. City Charter states "The Mayor shall be elected for a term of four years but shall not serve more than two consecutive four-year terms." Georgia Lord was just elected to her second four-year term. Extending her term would require changing this Charter's ordinance, as well. Don't forget, Mayor Lord was elected in 2011 to fill a two-year unexpired term when then-Mayor Cavanaugh unexpectedly stepped down. So, she's already served two additional years. 2. No person shall be eligible to serve in the office of Council member for more than three (3) consecutive terms, but there shall be no limit on the number of non-consecutive terms. Council members Pizzillo and Campbell were just elected to their third four-year terms. Extending their terms would require changing this law in the City Charter, too. 3. If the effort is made to extend these terms, you've got the Mayor and three council members who'd have their seats affected by the vote... and, in my humble opinion, could be considered a conflict of interest. I mean, what politician - who's spent thousands of dollars campaigning to get the seat in the first place - would want a shorter term? Wouldn't one's ego want to "extend" the term? Just a hypothetical question. To boot; Having four members of the Council recuse themselves from such vote would mean there's not a quorum. No quorum = no vote. WHAT'S THE ALTERNATIVE? Shortening or extending the length of these terms of Mayor Lord and Council members Pizzillo, Campbell, and Hampton is only one scenario. The Council could also choose to:
*Ummm... Goodyear has a problem. While confirming Council members' terms, I found a major error on Wally Campbells' profile.  JEN'S TWO CENTS Mayor Georgia Lord is a very popular mayor. And for good reason. She's a good leader and devotes all of her energy into helping Goodyear. She presents well and it shows. I truly wouldn't be surprised if she gets little resistance from the possibility of her term being extended. The City has a theory that when people aren't complaining... they must be happy. It's been a long time since this City has witnessed a real stir. I do find this additional coincidence interesting. Just moments before Sara Gilligan took the podium to express her thoughts on the election cycle, Mayor Lord was discussing Council procedure on "Comments from the Floor". She said... "But as long as I’m the mayor, and I will be that for four years more, we will do the call like we’ve all done.” Mayor Georgia Lord, June 5, 2017 Did Mayor Lord know what Gilligan was going to propose? Is she saying she won't go down without a fight? Or was this purely a coincidence? I'd also like to add my thoughts on comments made by a west Valley newspaper here. The writer states, "We hounded the city clerk for a couple of days..." The #1 rule about government is that nothing happens quickly. The City Clerk most likely had to run all of this up the totem pole and have it settle again before issuing any statements. I know from personal knowledge that the clerk's office is a professional, well-run, well-oiled machine and has been since I first was introduced to it in 2008. "Hounding" the city clerk isn't going to get this going quicker. As I stated yesterday, we've been told the City Council and City Staff will review this issue at its August 21st worksession. This process could take nearly two years. We'll be watching.
And for what it's worth... I don't have a horse in this race. Just curious to see what the City chooses to do. SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE: SHOULD GOODYEAR CHANGE ITS ELECTION CYCLE? YES OR NO?  Opinion Piece by Jen Barber Today we were tagged in a Facebook post by Gilligan for Goodyear. As you may recall, we mentioned former Goodyear City Council candidate Sara Gilligan went to Council on June 5th speaking in favor of moving City elections to the same election cycle as the State of Arizona. Moving Goodyear's election is estimated to cut cost to tax payers and increase voter participation. Arizona's elections are held in the fall of even-numbered years. Goodyear's are held in the spring of odd-numbered years. Concerns regarding the waste of tax payer dollars to keep this All-America City's election off the State's election schedule has been discussed at length over the years. And voter turnout and participation is dismal. In 2011, the Goodyear Votes grassroots group pushed for Goodyear to move its election cycle to no avail.  Goodyear's City Charter ARTICLE IX. SECTION 5. states "Primary elections shall be held on the second Tuesday in March of odd-number years preceding the General election on the third Tuesday in May of odd-number years."  IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY This debate is not new. In 2012, Gov. Jan Brewer signed House Bill 2826 requiring municipalities, counties, and school districts hold primary elections in August and general/runoff elections in November of even-numbered years. Find out more here. As reported in the Kingman DailyMiner here:
The League of Arizona Cities and Towns suggested 76 of 91 towns and cities in Arizona would have had to move their election dates. Check out this presentation posted online and attributed to Maricopa County Elections Department. "Consolidated Elections" explains the challenged and amended A.R.S. State Statute 16-204. Essentially, Charter Cities like Goodyear can still choose when to hold elections.  HOW TO CHANGE A GOODYEAR CITY ORDINANCE The Goodyear City Charter states Council can act by "motion, resolution or ordinance." A majority vote of council members is required for a motion, resolution or ordinance to pass. You can read more under ARTICLE VII. But, if Council is unwilling to do so.... Residents can take advantage of an initiative option to influence public policy. It's shown in Goodyear's City Charter ARTICLE X. Check out this handy guide on Initiatives an Referenda from Secretary of State Michele Reagan. In Arizona:
We contacted League of Arizona Cities and Towns to find out the process for starting this initiative in Goodyear. Here's what we were told.
Oddly enough, we just came across this article regarding Arizona's Governor Doug Ducey "approved a bill that makes it easier to keep citizen initiatives off the ballot by tightening the legal standard proponents must meet. He said in a statement that voter-approved laws allow substantial and permanent changes to state law." Challenges to the new law abound. NOW WHAT? This is the law. If the voters of Goodyear truly want to change the election cycle, someone will need to step up to get the process started. It's going to take time and money. And I'm quite sure it won't be as easy as it sounds in description above. (Just getting enough signatures to be placed on the ballot as a candidate is a lot of work.) The State's guide to Initiatives and Referenda show statewide petitions require formation of a committee, an established bank account, statement of organization, chairmen, etc. I'm not sure what the requirement is for Goodyear as we have not heard back from Goodyear or Maricopa at the time of publication. Goodyear Votes, a grassroots group, had a lot of momentum and media coverage in 2011. (Its Facebook page appears to have been edited since we visited it last week.) Their effort failed - or really never took off. So, if changing Goodyear's election is going to be a successful venture... it needs to be well organized from the get go. VOTE NOW - DO YOU SUPPORT GOODYEAR'S ELECTION CYCLE BEING MOVED TO THE STATE ELECTION CYCLE TO SAVE TAX PAYER MONEY AND INCREASE VOTER TURNOUT?
 Opinion Piece by Jen Barber, Goodyear Resident No doubt Goodyear is growing quickly. It seems mid-Goodyear is the center of a lot of action this week. Mid-Goodyear has seen land sales well over appraisal price and we've taken a look at taxpayer dollars being spent here. HYBRID LEASED NEW-HOME OPTIONS COMING TO GOODYEAR
LET'S GO FOR A WALK DOWN VAN BUREN...
GOODYEAR MUNICIPAL COMPLEX LAND FOR LEASE OR SALE? Monday, June 5, 2017 During a Goodyear City Council Special meeting, Council convened into a private, Executive Session to "discuss leasing or selling City-owned real estate." Council also was to "discuss the City's position on negotiations for the lease of portions of GMC" or - what we can guess - is the Goodyear Municipal Complex. We say "guess" because the discussions are not made public and we were unable to confirm from the City if "GMC" is the GMC we know to be the Goodyear Municipal Complex. (If there's another GMC in Goodyear we've overlooked, please contact us.) However, if the City is looking to sell or lease portions of the land in the Goodyear Municipal Complex, it could be quite interesting. From what we understand, the City of Goodyear agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars OVER the appraisal price of the land which we know as the Goodyear Municipal Complex just two years ago. Let's back up a minute. In December 2014, Goodyear City Council unanimously voted to approve the purchase of approximately 7 acres of property at $4 per square foot. We went back through City records and found the following discussion and staff notes on this.
Goodyear's municipal complex is the area near Van Buren Street and Bullard Avenue. It's home to the Goodyear Library, Police Department, 911 Center, Court, Fire Department, etc.
The 911 Center property was purchased in late 2012. This additional 7 acres - approved in December 2014 - was needed to build the new, and quite frankly much needed, police department. At the December 2014 Council Meeting, the City said it evaluated a number of sites and scored the properties against the needs and wants of the City being…
This team who chose this property also kept the Council’s priorities in mind when selecting this property. The criteria included
This location scored highest based on its transportation corridors and connectivity north and south in the city. Linda Beals, the Real Estate Coordinator for the City of Goodyear said they went back and forth in negotiations several times with the seller, “The bottom line was, what we were able to come up with, was a negotiated sales price of $4 a square foot.” Beals says the sales price was within the range of sales within the City. The closing costs were estimated at another $10-15,000. Beals stated the huge savings on this property was the infrastructure. Some of it had already been brought in by surrounding developments. COUNCIL DISCUSSION ON THE PURCHASE PRICE The appraisal was $3.00 per square foot with a total amount of $915,000. And we negotiated a $4.00 per square foot?” ~Councilmember Campbell Councilmember Stipp said - at the time in 2014 - they were hearing from businesses that the rents are higher in Goodyear. “But, so is the quality of the community and quality of the centers they buy and etc.” Mayor Lord said it "makes sense" to acquire this land adjacent to existing city properties. "It actually is at the request of our citizens. When we did the City Center plans, the residents were very clear that they did not want the police department or any other facility near the City Hall. They wanted them in their own complex. And although we would all like to see it at a lesser price, but that’s market, and you have to say, “Hooray for Goodyear” that we are at market because that’s the market that’s attracting homes and businesses," comments Mayor Lord. THE GOODYEAR "GOLD MINE" Given the developments this week, it seems the seller was right. The location is a "gold mine" and expansion of the area is happening quickly. We do not know why the City wants to potentially sell this land. Of course, would the City get its money back on this land? We'd assume so... giving the NexMetro sale went for $4.19 per square foot. But, it's anyone's guess. And... that's assuming "GMC" under discussion is the Goodyear Municipal Complex. (For clarity, we are only guessing Monday's discussion of GMC was in regards to the Goodyear Municipal Complex. Goodyear would not confirm this.) RISING TAXES? The notice shows Goodyear intends to raise its Primary Property Taxes by 2%. THIS PROPOSED INCREASE IS EXCLUSIVE OF INCREASED PRIMARY PROPERTY TAXES RECEIVED FROM NEW CONSTRUCTION. THE INCREASE IS ALSO EXCLUSIVE OF ANY CHANGES THAT MAY OCCUR FROM PROPERTY TAX LEVIES FOR VOTER APPROVED BONDED INDEBTEDNESS OR BUDGET AND TAX OVERRIDES. ~City of Goodyear JEN'S TWO CENTS This spring, voters re-elected Mayor Lord. Councilmembers Pizzillo and Campbell are going into their 3rd four-year terms. And Brannon Hampton was elected in a runoff to fill outgoing Councilmember Sharolyn Hohman's seat. The inauguration is Monday, June 12th. We wish them all the best. We should note, Hampton's challenger Sara Gilligan went to Council on June 5th speaking in favor of moving City elections to the same election cycle as the State of Arizona. Those are held in the fall of even numbered years. This has been discussed at length in the City of Goodyear over the years. In 2011, the Goodyear Votes grassroots group pushed for Goodyear to move its election cycle to no avail. I have no horse in this race. But, I will say, running for Council as a candidate can be outrageously expensive. (We found candidates in the spring election for Goodyear City Council spent anywhere from $7,000 to $14,000. That's for a job that only pays $9,2000 a year.) And the cost to the taxpayers for spring elections is questionable. So, I'll grab my popcorn and wait for the City's response on Gilligan's request. An attractive city needs landscape improvements, art, and all those pretty things. But, $240,000 for library and City Hall hardscape and landscaping improvements seems high. With the dire need for fire stations in Goodyear, I'd like to see the City reserve more funds to get these projects completed first. The Goodyear Capital Improvement Plan shows funding for the much needed station in west Goodyear not kicking in till 2021-22. Parks are nice. But, I'd like to see more priority for funding safety first. Just my two cents. For some historical reading regarding the land around the Goodyear Ballpark: Link
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Barber is a Goodyear resident resident of almost 20 years and a retired broadcast news journalist. Involved in various nonprofit and city organizations since 2008, Barber has a unique view of what's happening in the West Valley of Arizona. 
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