Politics

19th October
2011
written by Nelli Machi

So tell me Tucson Democratic Party leaders, ‘How Bad Does It Have To Be To Lose The Arizona Daily Star Endorsement As A Democratic Incumbent?”

The short answer is pretty darn bad.  Maybe the Rio Nuevo boondoggle, the FBI and Attorney General investigations, the Park Wise scandals, the condition of the roads, medians and general decay of our market, the total lack of economic activity anywhere in the City limits, catching the old tired democratic elected officials and party playing the same old tricks, the total lack of faith of anything coming out of City hall as the truth, the revolving door at the City Managers office and all major department heads. Stop me before I lose you…..it seems like the ADS and the voters already have lost jumped ship.

Rio Nuevo’s failures taint everything at City Hall. It’s such a symbol of waste that there’s no chance voters will trust city government until Rio Nuevo is turned around.

That refocus must be based on a specific plan for downtown redevelopment, created in cooperation with the state-apppointed Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District Board.

We do not believe that Councilwoman Shirley Scott, a Democrat campaigning for a fifth term, can help envision or lead the turnaround.

She is one of two elected officials who have overseen Rio Nuevo from its voter-approved creation in 1999. The other, Mayor Bob Walkup, isn’t seeking re-election.

Scott does not demonstrate that she understands her role or responsibility regarding Rio Nuevo. She has said that council members are not CPAs and make decisions based on advice from the city’s staff. She has blamed the failures on former managers and senior staff members.

After the city spent $230 million with little to show for it over 12 years, Scott’s perspective is unacceptable.

We believe voters should elect Scott’s challenger, Republican Tyler Vogt, a political newcomer, as the representative of east-side Ward 4.

In written responses to the Star (Vogt declined two invitations to meet with the editorial board), Vogt said he would push to get both the city and the Rio Nuevo district board to negotiate and “to focus on the common goals of completing what remains of Rio Nuevo.”

His email added: “The city is culpable for the current Rio Nuevo situation and will be required to provide remedy for same. This is another instance where the city is not engaging in a cooperative business environment.”

We don’t entirely agree with that assessment. In recent months the district board is as much to blame for failing to meet with the council to settle differences over spending and the ownership of particular properties.

Asked to describe his working style, Vogt wrote, “Compromise is essential in any collaborative effort and I am willing to make tough decisions when the data indicates a change of plan is necessary.”

Vogt, who has been a Tucsonan since 2000, has not been involved in city government. He wrote that he’s concentrated on his family, church and career. He’s a deputy chief engineer of production at Raytheon.

Star readers asked us to question candidates about several issues, including the poor condition of streets. Vogt said road maintenance would be his second budget priority behind public safety.

To pay for street repair, he wrote, “There will be cuts to secondary services, including Sun Tran.”

Vogt also favors abolishing red-light cameras and radar vans, which he described as “not cost effective.”

“Safety needs to be addressed by engineering controls rather than by punitive observation,” he wrote.

Vogt added that “vast portions of the sign code and land-use code contain restrictions” that do not meet the city charter’s mandates. Government is required, he said, “to make and enforce all such local, police, sanitary and other regulations as are deemed expedient to maintain the public peace, protect property, promote the public morals and welfare, and preserve the health of inhabitants of the city.”

On paper, Vogt’s use of phrases such as “focus on the common goals” and “a cooperative environment” between business and government indicate that he has the right perspective to solve the many challenges facing the city.

The Star endorses Tyler Vogt for the City Council in Ward 4.

Arizona Daily Star

19th October
2011
written by Land Lawyer

Law governs annexations, not supervisors
Posted: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 4:00 am
By Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, Special to The Explorer | 0 comments
The old adage “Never let facts get in the way of a good story” seems to apply to Councilwoman Roxanne Ziegler’s recent opinion in The Explorer (“County official should follow best practices,” Oct. 5, 2011).
Lackluster (the councilwoman’s word) does not accurately describe the County’s treatment of Marana’s and everyone else’s sewage. True, treating sewage is not glamorous, but it is absolutely necessary to protect public health and the environment. Our public servants who treat your sewage – around the clock, 365 days a year – have been recognized nationally and internationally for excellence. Many of these hardworking employees who rise to such excellence are Marana residents.

In 1979, Pima County and its residents, and at the request of all area cities and towns, chose a regional wastewater treatment model because it is better and more cost-effective. Today, most, if not all, of the urban regions throughout the country follow a regionalized model. This model is smarter and a documented best practice in public service.
The councilwoman says the vast amount of unincorporated population in Pima County “isn’t normal, nor is the fact that County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry tries his hardest to keep it that way.” She forgets Marana’s own history when she declares that, “Pima County has for years fought annexation and incorporation attempts by its residents.”
The incorporation of cities and towns and annexation are governed by state law.  The County plays no role; we neither approve nor disapprove, and state law created the ability of cities and towns to block incorporation. Councilwoman Ziegler forgets that when the community of Tortolita tried to incorporate in 1997, it was Marana, not Pima County, that filed suit to block the incorporation.
The Board of Supervisors certified the incorporation because it was the will of two-thirds of the residents. Marana did not hesitate to join Tucson and others in blocking the will of the people of Tortolita. Marana, not Pima County, fought incorporation of new communities.
Over the last two decades, there have been multiple initiatives to incorporate communities in Pima County. These efforts failed, not because of Pima County, but because voters in those areas either rejected incorporation or other jurisdictions blocked them. Voters in the Catalina Foothills, one of the largest communities in the county, turned down incorporation by 70 percent. This is fundamental democracy at work.
Over the last decade, the population of unincorporated areas has grown statewide at a faster rate than cities and towns. For at least the last decade, more and more people in Arizona have chosen a simpler lifestyle with fewer levels of simpler lifestyle with fewer levels of government and less government regulation.
The councilwoman also declared that, “… Huckelberry recommends raising property taxes to offset revenue losses from the state.” This is untrue. In fact, the total Pima County property taxes collected dropped this year; it is a fact the councilwoman can easily verify by looking at her property tax bill or by visiting http://www.pima.gov/taxes/.
Councilwoman Ziegler did accurately state that I am not a member of the International City/County Management Association. Membership in that group, she naively believes, makes local government more credible by exposing officials to “best practices” and by holding members to a strict code of ethics.
As a serving manager and administrator for decades, I can assure you, using taxpayer money for dues, travel and conferences does not necessarily make one a better manager.
As for ethics, it is remarkable that a public official would believe that concepts of right and wrong can be purchased (using taxpayer money, no less) by joining a fraternal organization.
Finally, these opposing diatribes have actually been only about water – certainly not about who can better treat sewage.
Marana believes controlling their destiny requires them to treat sewage.  It does not. Pima County has offered to give Marana free access to their water (treated sewage) without charge – free. Marana wants their residents to pay for something the County is willing to give for free.
Does that make sense? We don’t think so.

11th October
2011
written by Arizona Kid

After a week of getting hammered by a coordinated GOP attack following the release of a congressional map, the Independent Redistricting Commission approved its draft map of the state’s 30 legislative districts this afternoon in Tucson.

“We have a draft legislative map,” said IRC chairwoman Colleen Mathis. “And there is no question that we’ll be entertaining a lot of comments over the next 30 days on this.”

The vote was 4-1 in favor of the map, which was drawn up by IRC members Linda McNulty, a Democrat, and Scott Freeman, a Republican.

Only IRC member Rick Stertz voted against the map, saying he was unhappy with the southern Arizona districts.

“There’s a lot of this map I truly like, a lot,” Stertz said. “There’s parts that I have significant issues (with) …. I’m not exactly sure what’s in this map yet.”

While he voted in favor of moving the draft map to the public-comment stage, Democrat Jose Herrera said he wanted to see more competitive districts in the final map. Right now, if you consider 8 percentage points or higher a significant advantage, the map gives a strong advantage to Republicans in 16 districts, strong advantages to Democrats in nine districts, and has five districts that close enough to be up for grabs in a normal election year.

Herrera said he was pleasantly surprised by how McNulty and Freeman worked together to craft the legislative map.

“It was very nice,” Herrrera said. “It was actually a little boring because there was no bickering.”

While the map may well end up tweaked from where it is today, here’s what’s proposed for Southern Arizona:

• Legislative District 1 covers a big chunk of what’s now Legislative District 30, which is represented by the GOP delegation of Sen. Frank Antenori and state Reps. Ted Vogt and David Gowan. The new LD1 includes a bit of eastern Tucson, Green Valley and Sierra Vista, but now pushes east to grab a lot more of Cochise County, which is now represented by LD25 and the GOP trio of Sen. Gail Griffin and Reps. David Stevens and Peggy Judd. Antenori may be out of the picture if he decides to run for Congress, but the new configuration sets up Gowan to run against the LD25 bunch in his future campaigns. Vogt has been drawn into a new—and competitive—central Tucson District 10; more on that below. The voter breakdown: 42 percent Republican, 26 percent Democrat and 32 percent independent. (For simplicity’s sake, we’ve included minor parties such as the Greens and Libertarians as in the “independent” category.)

• Legislative District 2 covers a lot of the current Legislative District 29, which is now a heavily Hispanic district that is represented by the non-Hispanic trio of Sen. Linda Lopez and Reps. Daniel Patterson and Matt Heinz. It still includes South Tucson and Tucson’s southeast side, as well as the homes of both Patterson and Heinz. But the district now stretches down the Santa Cruz River to Nogales and snakes along the border, pulling in cities like Bisbee and Douglas. The new LD2 is a minority-majority district, a key requirement of the federal Voting Rights Act; voting-age Hispanics make up 61 percent of the population. The voter breakdown: 46 percent Democratic, 21 percent Republican and 33 percent independent.

• Legislative District 3 is another minority-majority district, where voting-age Hispanics make up 51 percent of the voters. It includes Tucson’s west side and covers a big part of what is now Legislative District 27. The voter breakdown: Nearly 50 percent Democratic, 18 percent Republican and 32 percent Democratic.

• Legislative District 4 is a third minority-majority district that stretches along more than half of Arizona’s southern border. Voting-age Hispanics make up nearly 54 percent of the voters. The new district includes Three Points, the Tohono O’odham Nation and Hispanic neighborhoods in Yuma. Voter breakdown: 39 percent Democrat, 26 percent Republican and 35 percent independent.

• Legislative District 8 includes a lot of the current Legislative District 26, including Oro Valley and Saddlebrooke, where state Sen. Al Melvin resides. From there, it stretches north into Pinal County. Voter breakdown: 36 percent Republican, 32 percent Democrat and 32 percent independent.

• Legislative District 9 grabs the Catalina Foothills from what’s now LD26 and merges it with central Tucson’s LD28. The result is a competitive district that’s we think is home to LD26 Rep. Terri Proud (although we’re still trying to confirm that). Voter breakdown: 37 percent Democratic, 33 percent Republican, 30 percent independent.

• Legislative District 10 includes the central part of Tucson south of Helen Street, which is the dividing line rather than Speedway. (We’re sure that has nothing to do with the fact that state Rep. Steve Farley lives on the south side of Helen Street, putting him in this district.) State Rep. Ted Vogt, who now represents the safely Republican LD30, lives in the new LD10, which is Tucson’s second competitive district. The voter breakdown: 37 percent Democratic, 33 percent Republican and 30 percent independent.

• Legislative District 11 takes in most of Marana and travels north into Pinal County—which, given the way that Marana has been feuding with Pima County, is step toward a developing community of interest. This has an interesting voter breakdown, in that the majority of voters aren’t with either major party: 36 percent Independent, 33 percent Republican and 32 percent Democratic.

You can check out the map yourself here. (And let us say that we agree with activist Jim March, who suggested today that the IRC staff do a better job of providing a legend for the maps they’ve posted and a few better maps that don’t require advanced computer knowledge to get a close look at precise boundaries.)

If you’ve got any insight into what happens with other incumbents, feel free to let us know via the comment section.

8th October
2011
written by Arizona Kid

Why the US was downgraded…

• U.S. Tax revenue:            $2,170,000,000,000
• Fed budget:                          $3,820,000,000,000
• New     debt:                          $1,650,000,000,000
• National     debt:                 $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cut:              $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s remove 8 zeros and pretend     it’s a household budget:

• Annual family income:                                                     $21,700
• Money the family spent:                                                  $38,200
• New debt on the     credit card:                                     $16,500
• Outstanding balance on the credit card:                  $142,710
• Total budget cuts:                                                                      $385

7th October
2011
written by Arizona Kid

1st October
2011
written by madge

This is 24/7 Wall St.’s list of Nine American Cities Going Broke.

9. Camden, NJ
> Credit rating: Ba2
> 2009 revenues: $181,257,000
> 2009 debt: $103,284,000
> Median household income: $25,418

Camden suffers from high unemployment, high poverty, and a weak tax base. The city’s median household income is less than half that of the national median income and is the lowest of all the municipalities on this list. Moody’s notes that “more than half of Camden’s real estate is tax-exempt, hampering already weak tax collections.” The city has had a speculative grade credit rating since 1998. Three out of the past five Camden mayors have been sent to prison for corruption, the most recent in 2001. (Buying up open space  in Pima County takes that land off the property tax rolls forever.)

8. Strafford County, NH
> Credit rating: Ba2
> 2009 revenues: $36,204,000
> 2009 debt: $23,866,000
> Median household income: $58,363

Strafford County’s low rating is largely due to a money-losing nursing home, on which the county spends two-fifths of its budget. Just under 85% of the patients at the Riverside Rest Home are eligible for Medicaid, yet state reimbursements to the county continue to decrease, according to Moody’s. Between 2004 and 2009, the nursing home lost $36 million. The county does not expect to recover much of the money it used to cover these deficits. (Pima County has spent a couple hundred million on Kino Hospital)

7. Riverdale, IL
> Credit rating: Ba2
> 2009 revenues: $8,358,000
> 2009 debt: $9,350,000
> Median household income: $40,659

Riverdale has run operational deficits for a number of consecutive years, driven primarily by a reduction in the amount the village relies on debt financing. “The village funded itself by borrowing money from its sewer and water funds, and now carries an operating fund balance of -52.1% of revenues.” The city, like many others on this list, is extremely small, with a population of just over 14,000. (Pima County and Tucson residents have seen 40% increases in sewer and water bills over the past five years.)

6. Salem, NJ
> Credit rating: Ba3
> 2009 revenues: $7,059,000
> 2009 debt: $10,098,000
> Median household income: $28,397

Salem guaranteed bonds issued to finance an office building downtown. The city planned to pay for the bonds with revenues earned from leasing office space in the building. However, revenue fell short of what was projected when construction delays caused lease payments delays. “The project’s debt service reserve fund has been drawn down numerous times,” Moody’s reports. “Once the reserve fund has been exhausted, the city is obligated to pay debt service for the life of the bonds.” (Rio Nuevo anyone?)

5. Detroit, MI
> Credit rating: Ba3
> 2009 revenues: $1,280,791,000
> 2009 debt: $2,449,480,000
> Median household income: $29,447

Detroit has suffered worse from the recession than almost any other U.S. city. The effects of the city’s economic situation are reflected in its credit rating. Many of Detroit’s biggest companies, such as General Motors and Chrysler, declared bankruptcy, placing “significant pressure” on the city, according to Moody’s. Detroit relies on the auto industry for its tax base, and the industry’s contraction has hurt the city immensely. The city became a “habitual note borrower,” relying on investors to close budget gaps.

4. Harrison, NJ
> Credit rating: Ba3
> 2009 revenues: $32,763,000
> 2009 debt: $92,613,000
> Median household income: $49,596

Harrison “issued a significant amount of debt to foster redevelopment, and continues to collect substantially less revenue from those developments than projected,” Moody’s explains. One of the largest projects is the $200 million Red Bull Arena, which was opened in March 2010 and cost the city $39 million in debt but has yet failed to have the expected returns. To help solve its debt problem, the city, which has a population of 13,620, plans to fire some police officers and firefighters.  (Rio Nuevo – what if we had built the $200 million hotel?)

3. Jefferson County, AL
> Credit rating: Caa1
> 2009 revenues: $309,440,000
> 2009 debt: $1,337,233,000
> Median household income: $44,718

Jefferson County’s debt, which is the second largest on this list, comes from a $3.2 billion overhaul of the county’s sewer system as well as a series of risky, controversial bond deals meant to help the county pay for the sewer work. A number of city officials have been sent to jail on corruption charges linked to the project. “The county defaulted on almost $3.5 million in 2008 — the biggest default in municipal history,” according to Moody’s. Worse still, this year, the Alabama Supreme Court invalidated the county’s occupational tax, which accounted for one quarter of the county’s total revenues. (Pima County is staring down a billion plus upgrade to it’s sewer system – an expense they’ve known about for over a decade.)

2. Pontiac, MI
> Credit rating: Caa1
> 2009 revenues: $46,183,000
> 2009 debt: $99,115,000
> Median household income: $32,199

The source of Pontiac’s troubles is similar to that of Detroit’s. General Motors, which went bankrupt during the recession, is the city’s largest employer and taxpayer. The city has been in receivership since 2009. Also in 2009, the city sold its Silverdome stadium, which cost over $55 million to build, for $583,000. Such concessions have not been enough to raise the city’s rating. (Again Rio Nuevo – Train Depot, MLK Apartments, Scott Avenue).

1. Central Falls, RI
> Credit rating: Caa1
> 2009 revenues: $17,601,000
> 2009 debt: $18,753,000
> Median household income: $33,520

In August 2011, Central Falls declared bankruptcy largely because of the city’s pension plan, which promised $80 million in retirement benefits. According to the New York Times, the “pension fund will probably run out of money in October, giving Central Falls the distinction of becoming the second municipality in the United States to exhaust its pension fund, after Prichard, Ala.” This $80 million is approximately five times the city’s general fund budget. (Unions squeezing the golden goose may end up with nothing …..Sun Tran anyone?)

1st October
2011
written by JHiggins

On Wednesday, we laid out a vision for a business-friendly Tucson region. It was part of a forum put on by radio station KVOI 1030-AM and the “Tucson Needs Business” campaign spearheaded by the station’s president, Doug Martin.

While some progress has been made, there are plenty of ways to improve the environment for business in Tucson and Pima County.

Here is what we are proposing:

  1. Pima County should act like a county. The Pima County Board of Supervisors needs to realize that having healthy vibrant municipalities is good for the economy because it creates competition. Blocking annexations and fighting with other jurisdictions is holding back the entire Tucson region. A strong Marana or Sahuarita or Oro Valley is good for the region. Pima County is providing municipal-type services, such as law enforcment and road pothole repairs, to heavily populated unincorporated areas and that contributes to property tax rates that are almost five times higher than what Maricopa County is charging. It’s estimated that because 36 percent of the population is in unincorporated areas, the Tucson region is losing up to $80 million per year in state shared revenues. Pima County needs to get out of the way. That may require a change in a majority on the Board of Supervisors next year.
  2. Remove politics from Tucson Development Services. Between an entrenched bureaucracy and meddling city council members, business owners aren’t just getting squeezed, they’re getting crushed.
  3. Support tourism promotion. Marketing of this region’s tourism assets must be fully-funded to one or more organizations. The organization, or organizations, must be accountable, transparent and effective. The Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau has an opportunity when it hires its new chief early next year. Once an effective new strategy is crafted, all hands in the region should get behind it to make it happen.
  4. Set governmental priorities. The basics of local government are police, fire and fixing potholes. Those are the priorities that must be in order before trying to win platinum status as a bicycle community.
  5. Get back to education. For businesses to have a reliable workforce source, students must first get a solid educational foundation in reading, writing and math skills. As the state’s second largest school district, Tucson Unified School District bascially defines education in this region. The district of nearly 53,000 students has been sidetracked by such things as ethnic studies, a program in which 365 students are enrolled. Nine schools have been closed in the past two years and with 1,500 students per year opting out under open enrollment or to charter schools, it appears that families are doing what they can to take educational matters into their own hands.
  6. Activate business leaders. Business leaders need to do their part. Claiming to be a pro-business candidate during a campaign isn’t enough. Once elected, business leaders must hold politicians accountable while in office.

Positive changes have occurred over the last 2½ years. New leadership has invigorated the Tucson Metro Chamber. A backroom political deal for an ill-conceived city-owned downtown hotel was stopped, saving taxpayers a $200 million burden. Voters elected Steve Kozachik to replace Nina Trasoff, allowing a new city councilman to shine a light on some of the backroom deals, and the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau is about to undergo a management change with the retirement of long-time leader Jonathan Walker.

But there’s more to do. In this economy, Tucson can no longer be content to talk about the weather and wait on the sidelines for opportunity to come knocking.

When opportunity does arrive, city officials shouldn’t be rubbing their hands and seeing it as an opportunity to charge $316,000 in permit fees to build a $900,000 Texas Roadhouse restaurant.

Doug Martin’s campaign is spreading the word that a good business climate is the engine that will create a thriving economy and produce jobs.

Tucson Needs Business.

Contact Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone at wakeuptucson@gmail.com. They host “Wake Up Tucson,” 6-8 a.m. weekdays on The Voice KVOI 1030-AM. Their blog is at www.TucsonChoices.com.

1st October
2011
written by Mike

Arizona State University President Michael Crow’s message of regional collaboration by Tucson and Phoenix to compete in the global economy went over well Friday with a large, sold-out audience of Tucson-area business and community leaders.

After his talk in Oro Valley, officials in government, business and academia agreed that it’s time for these long-sparring communities to go beyond their parochial interests and start dealing with the entire region’s problems.

Before 600 people, Crow said that the idea that individual cities or metro areas can by themselves compete with other regions is outmoded. His vision is of a “Sun Corridor” region consisting of Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties working together to compete for new jobs. In another way, Crow was pushing a message of self-sufficiency, saying that business and community leaders need to find other ways of raising money to build their economies than relying on cash-strapped governments.

In the speech sponsored by Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc., an economic development group, Crow also presented a litany of statistics showing how far Tucson and Phoenix are behind the rest of the country economically. He cited very low educational achievement, very high poverty levels and well-below-average incomes.

“He painted a clear picture of opportunity for us to become one of this country’s economic powerhouses,” said Tim Bee, a former Republican state senator from the Tucson area who is now the University of Arizona’s associate vice president for state relations. “The only way to do that is through collaboration. Apart from each other, we don’t have the economic strength we have together.”

Daisy Jenkins, an executive with the Carondelet Health Network, said she hoped Crow’s ideas create an intellectual awakening in this community.

“He’s saying, ‘Look, folks, we are living in isolation in our thinking about developing Tucson,’” said Jenkins, Carondelet’s executive vice president for human resources and administration. “We have to think of Phoenix as well.”

Crow’s ideas are very realistic about where this region needs to go, said Marty Laurel, a vice president for community relations for Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

“The old ways of thinking that people in Phoenix need to look out for Phoenix and Tucson for Tucson – those days are gone,” Laurel said.

Crow said people should instill in themselves the idea that the basic economic barometer for this region is not the health of Phoenix or Tucson. “It is what is the region capable of competing for on a global scale? What does Arizona have that can compete with central Texas and Shanghai?”

He also said that a regional “megapolitan” area such as the Sun Corridor must look at every possible option for raising money to carry out its goals other than going to the taxpayer.

Paula Aboud, a Democratic state senator from Tucson, said Crow’s ideas will help the business community look beyond the Legislature for help and achieve “a new degree, a new level of creativity. … I’d like to have our governor say what Mr. Crow says.”

Arizona IN decline

In an earlier talk at the event at the Hilton El Conquistador Hotel, TREO President Joe Snell laid out statistics showing that Arizona had dropped in just a three-year period since the recession started in 2007 from being among the national leaders in job, income and population growth to being at the bottom in all three categories.

He also told the crowd that the factors that companies look at when deciding where to locate with new jobs have changed since the recession started.

Points such as climate, outdoor recreation, quality of life and cultural amenities, in which Tucson has long excelled and which used to be very important to employers, have slipped in recent years, he said. The most important things today are a company and community’s ability to recruit workers, a pool of workers with the right skills, a strong research university, a healthy system of roads and other infrastructure and a business-friendly reputation, he said.

Also important are “cost reductions,” meaning government incentives that will reduce a company’s costs to open up in a new city.

“That didn’t even make the list five years ago. Post-recession, it has become one of the key drivers,” Snell said.

Speaking of infrastructure, he said that recent presentations from Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems and other employers show that when they track their employees by ZIP code, they find out that there is no “critical mass area” where most live. So the ability to move people around at a reasonable rate is critical for the region’s survival, he said.

Also important is the reputation of the area’s K-12 school systems, the continued momentum of downtown revitalization and the city’s physical and aesthetic appearance, Snell said.

“We have one of the most beautiful natural environments in the country. But let’s be honest with each other. Our man-made environment at times leaves something to be desired,” he said.

Contact reporter Tony Davis at tdavis@azstarnet.com or 806-7746.

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/business/local/article_55cc958a-f831-5c2d-ac4e-0e75dfb58f11.html#ixzz1ZXSxHe00

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