Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope you and your family have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend. Please let my office know if we can announce any events or programs in an upcoming newsletter.
4th Annual Tukee Fest Rockin’ in the Park
The Ahwatukee Community Swim & Tennis Center is hosting the Tukee Fest from 5 to 10 p.m. on Friday & Saturday, September 23rd & 24th at Ahwatukee Park (4700 E Warner Rd.). Admission is $5 for adults; kids 12 and younger are free. Music will begin at 5 p.m. each night and enjoy food, beverages, video games, and rides for the whole family to enjoy. NOTE: ASU vs. USC football game will be broadcast live on Saturday.
Good afternoon,
I hope you and your families are having a good start to the school year. I’d like to remind everyone to please slow down and watch for children in your neighborhoods. I hope you find the information below helpful. If you have an event or announcement you’d like me to include in my next newsletter please e-mail council.district.6@phoenix.gov.
Echo Canyon Parking/Traffic Issues Meeting
Phoenix and Paradise Valley are holding a meeting at 6 p.m. on August 24 at Paradise Valley Town Hall (6401 E Lincoln Dr) for residents who live near Echo Canyon Park. The
City management has admitted that they can find no documents that show they told the City Council or public the AMOUNT of employee pay raises until a month and a half after the budget was approved.
City Manager David Cavazos was given until noon today (Aug. 10, 2011) to show that his staff didn’t hide that information while the budget was being formed and debated. He was unable to produce anything showing that staff informed anyone of the pay raise amounts until April 21, 2010. That is a month and a half after the budget was approved and 2 ½ months after the city imposed a 2 percent food tax essentially equal to the amount of pay raises.
Follow me: http://www.facebook.com/DiCiccioSal
Food Tax for Pay Raise Scandal – Ultimatum
“If there was no food tax, there would be no pay raises,” DiCiccio said. “It’s as simple as that.” – The Arizona Republic, June 14, 2011
Today I issued City Manager David Cavazos an ultimatum directing that any and all information regarding the food tax for pay scandal be given to my office (see memo below). I have in my possession documentation that shows that the AMOUNT of the employees’ pay raise was not given to the Council or public until the food tax passed, all public hearings were held and all Council votes had occurred.
Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio won’t face a recall election after the group looking to oust him failed to turn in petitions required to trigger an election.
Save Phoenix Taxpayers had to submit petitions by 5 p.m. Friday to prompt a recall election in District 6, which covers Arcadia, the Biltmore and Ahwatukee Foothills areas.
“We had no doubt that we had more than enough signatures for a recall, but the group that I’m working with felt it may have been a burden on the taxpayers to have a special election,” said Andrew Chavez, head of Petition Partners, which was paid more than $50,000 to collect signatures for Save Phoenix Taxpayers.
The city clerk estimates that a recall election would have cost about $200,000.
DiCiccio said he suspects the group found it didn’t have enough support to recall him.
DiCiccio, who has taken an anti-union stand, was targeted for recall as one of the most vocal members of the council calling for privatization of more city services.
“The fact that they failed at this sends a message to other candidates and other politicians in the state that they can now get a backbone and protect the public’s interest,” DiCiccio said.
A My Turn column positioned as an editorial is a new twist from the liberally skewed daily newspaper.
But there it was. In one fell swoop Cathleen Gleason,* the retired City of Phoenix budget director, takes on Councilman Sal DiCiccio for having the temerity to link the city’s 2010 implementation of a tax on food to fund pay raises and retention bonuses for city employees. Yes, you read that correctly!
Regardless of what other misinformation Gleason attempts to disseminate, the takeaway is this bold admission: “The fact is that, unlike most cities in Arizona, Phoenix has had collective bargaining with its labor groups since the mid-’70s.”
So there! She appears to be taunting.
You may have seen, in the newspaper and blogs, attacks on the reforms that we believe necessary at city hall. Expect more smears in the days to come. Many more.
Union bosses, insiders and beneficiaries of the current system will smear all those looking for reform. They will not let go of their firm grip of city hall and your wallet without a fight. They will smear all the change agents, including me, and do all they can to divert your attention from the real issues.
The people who want reform want you and your family to come first. You have my commitment that I will continue to expose the problems at city hall that must be addressed for Phoenix to prosper and issues that must be resolved to improve our quality of life.
“A battle for control of city government may be under way. DiCiccio wants to break city government from the insular politics that have defined it for so long. Clearly, his critique is resonating with the public, or candidates for mayor wouldn’t be parroting it so much.”
- Bob Robb, Arizona Republic columnist, July 8, 2011 (click here for column)
We’ve had a great thing going living in Phoenix all these years – a growing economy, good recreation and libraries, safe streets, things for the kids to do, marvelous (most of the year) weather, a great reputation. The Great Recession showed us that our economy was too narrowly focused, but those other features still apply, at least for now.
What the Recession also laid bare for all to see, though, was a city government driven by insiders concerned solely for themselves and their benefit, not for you and your family, not for the future economy, not for your kids and parents. If we fix that and expand our economy, Phoenix will lead the nation out of the recession. We will do so with a reputation not only as a well-run city but also as a low-tax, hassle-free, amenity-rich, business-friendly place to call home.
All of this is enormously possible, and not enormously difficult, with your help.
“Union bosses, who feed off their union dues, have become out of control because they are out to serve their best interest — not the taxpayer’s of Phoenix!”…
“It is my belief that City Hall must be reminded that it serves the taxpayers — not the other way around. Emergency tax hikes (food tax) without public input is simply wrong . . . The Phoenix I want represents the interests of the residents of Phoenix, not the union interests.”
– Former Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza, Arizona Republic, July 9, 2011
“Phoenix has no uniform set of procedures and policies for outside contracting and the guidelines it has relied on have been kept from both public view and City Council oversight, a situation that critics say could lead to unfairly awarded contracts and the waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“That’s the way it’s always been.” – Phoenix assistant finance director Susan Perkins on city’s purchasing process, Arizona Republic, July 6, 2011.
That was the only explanation for lack of transparency in the city’s purchasing system. The Arizona Republic story below examines inadequate city procurement practices that cost taxpayer money and benefit insiders.
Phoenix has no uniform set of procedures and policies for outside contracting and the guidelines it has relied on have been kept from both public view and City Council oversight, a situation that critics say could lead to unfairly awarded contracts and the waste of taxpayer dollars. (Full story)
