JUNE 2016
Candidates on the August 30, 2016 ballot*
GLOBE
Mayor: Al Gameros, James Gilette
District 1: Freddy Rios, Terence Wheeler
District 2: Mike Humphrey, unopposed
District 5: Charlene Giles, David P. Rodriguez,
Bernard Wohlforth
MIAMI
Town Council candidates:
Dan Balen
Mike Black
William Clemmens
Sammy Gonzales
Ruben Mancha II
Don Reiman
Gary Vessels
GILA COUNTY
Board of Supervisors:
District 1: Republican Tommie Martin unopposed
District 2: Democrats Mike Pastor & Fred Barcon, and
Republican Tim Humphrey
District 3: Democrat John Marcanti, and Republicans
Woody Cline & Kenny Evans
Assessor: Republican Debra Hughes unopposed
Recorder: Republicans Sadie Bingham & Monica Wohlforth
Sheriff: Republican Adam Shepherd unopposed
Attorney: Republican Bradley Beauchamp unopposed
Schools: Republican Gail Gorry, Democrat Roy Sandoval
Treasurer: Democrat Debbie Savage unopposed
Judge Division 1 Superior Court: Republican Bryan
Chambers unopposed
* This list is complete to the best of our knowledge. If you
know of additional candidates who qualified for the August
30th primary not mentioned, please contact us here.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
TOWN OF MIAMI MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Monday June 13, 2016 6:30 PM Town Council Chambers
Crime is down in Miami according to a report delivered by
Police Chief Scott Gillen at Monday night's Regular Meeting
of the Town of Miami Mayor and Council. Comparing May
2015 with May 2016, Gillen noted that while calls for
service rose from 325 to 565, adult arrests dropped from 14
to 6, assaults decreased from 6 to 3, disorderly conduct fell
from 19 to 8 and agency assists descended from 35 to 16.
Remaining the same were citations at 25, animal calls at 20,
burglaries at 4 and criminal matters at 7.
A new drop box for outdated prescription and over the
counter medicine is being installed at the police office on
June 23rd. No needles or liquids, but pills and patches will
be welcome. SEABHS, the Southeastern Arizona Behavioral
Health Services organization, is spearheading the effort to
help stop prescription drug misuse.
Valley magician Eric Gilliam was a hit last Friday at the
Miami Memorial Library, with 80 people in attendance. His
show kicked off the summer reading program, which started
Monday. 52 kids have already signed up. Fridays at 3,
movies will be shown. This week, it's Zootopia. Friends of
the Library raised $1400 for the program. Mayor Darryl
Dalley donated to the library, and his friend Don Andrews,
donated 500 books from his late wife's collection.
The Senior Center delivered 668 meals in May and served
551 congregant meals. The free lunch program for kids is
growing. 40 signed up initially and now there are 60. The
Center's budget has increased thanks to more funding from
the Pinal-Gila Council for Senior Citizens.
Councilmember Sammy Gonzales did not attend the
meeting. He was involved with closing ceremonies for the
Little League. Councilmember Rosemary Castaneda
thanked Public Works for taking care of the air conditioning
problem at the Bullion Plaza Gym. In making the repairs, a
second swamp cooler was discovered that hasn't been
hooked up in a while. Mayor Dalley mentioned the great
Memorial Day celebration, with ROTC and the Boy Scouts
helping out. Town manager Joe Heatherly announced the
pool is open and going well, and the first Concert in the Park
held last Friday was a success.
Globe City Manager, Paul Jepson, introduced himself to the
Town Council. Healtherly mentioned that Jepson was a big
help with Miami's garbage truck purchase, and was also
helpful on the transit presentation given to Globe City
Council.
KQSS' Jon Cornell presented a park rules sign he designed
and donated to the Town. At the meeting he brought up his
concern over the ban of bicycles in the park. The Town
ultimately decided to keep the ban. Cornell will donate two
more signs. Mayor Dalley will donate another three to
complete signage for all parks.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF GLOBE MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Tuesday June 14, 2016 6:00 PM City Council Chambers
A public hearing on raising sales tax in the city was held at
last night's Regular Meeting of the Globe Mayor and
Council. The proposal is for a five-year hike in the city's
portion of the tax from 2 to 3.17% to cover the $10 million
liability for pension funds.
Residents were vocal in their dislike of the measure.
Chamber of Commerce Director Ellen Kretch sees it as a
regressive tax that will cause retail leakage. She speculated
that with people going to the valley for purchases, the
ultimate result could be a drop in revenue. And it makes the
area less attractive to new businesses.
Dream Manor Inn owner Rebecca Williams noted that this
puts Globe in the top 15% of city tax rates in the state, and
for lodging establishments such as hers, the rate would total
12.77%. She's concerned that travelers will choose to stay
outside the city limits.
Arizona is unique compared to other states in that
automobile taxes are levied where the car is purchased, not
where it is licensed. It's an arcane system due to the
workings of the transaction privilege tax, which is ultimately
passed on to the buyer. Where other states even the playing
field by taxing based on buyer's residence, Arizona taxes the
point of sale, which makes it drastically unfair to
dealerships.
Udon McSpadden explained that this seemingly minor
increase will drastically affect big ticket items. He sells a
fleet of trucks for $1.6 million. This will kill deals like that.
Right now 80% of the mine trucks locally have a
McSpadden sticker on them. With the proposed increase,
purchases will go to outside bidders. This will not only
affect auto dealerships, but lowest bidding requirements for
City and County purchases will necessitate buying outside
the area. Like Kretch, McSpadden feels the ultimate result
will raise taxes and lower revenue. And no money stays here
when purchases leave.
McSpadden sales manager Mark Appel who recently moved
here from Casa Grande told of a dealership there that lost a
tremendous amount of business from a seemingly small tax
increase. The relationship for big ticket items is undeniable,
he says. You lose sales.
Tim Humphrey said he understood that the city has a $10
million debt it's got to pay, but he sees our infrastructure
eroding, and businesses leaving or folding. He feels it's not a
tax increase that's needed, but a way to grow the
infrastructure to increase the tax base.
Charlene Giles wondered if there wasn't another alternative
to penalizing area buyers.
Today (Wednesday 6/15) at 6 PM a meeting will be held at
City Hall. Arizona Water Company will explain the
settlement details of the long-standing water rights dispute.
June 28th, the Arizona Corporate Commission will have a
hearing to settle the suit from 9 to noon. It's open to the
public.
City Manager Paul Jepson gave a presentation on the
residential sewer and refuse collection rate structure. He
said that it was impractical and too expensive to adjust rates
by use. The required metering system is prohibitively
expensive, and basing rates on water usage would be
inaccurate. Apart from water use not necessarily being
indicative of sewer use, several customers are on Arizona
Water and Globe sewer. Jepson supports the current flat rate
system per household.
No spelling bee winner here!
All three water tanks will be repaired. A bid of $278,000
from Superior Tank Solutions was accepted. The money will
come from Globe Water revenue. The Crestline tank is in
need of immediate repair. There's a hole in the bottom, and a
million gallons are offline currently. And the Apache and
Thompson tanks need to be rehabbed.
Approval was given for an upgrade to the water system
SCADA, supervisory control and data acquisition, for
$330,800.
The Council passed an invitation for bid for Refuse
Collection. The five-year trash contract will be expiring.
Finance Director Joe Jarvis said the bid details will include
an administrative fee, load size and recycling service. The
Council discussed including a workaround for disabled
people who couldn't get their cans out.
Jarvis also led a discussion for funding options for the
$61,000 going to Cobre Valley Transit. He proposed using
the surplus funds from last year's budget, as opposed to the
excess funds expected from the bed tax. That prompted
conversation among councilmembers. Roberta Lee Johnson
wondered where the extra $50,000 expected from he bed tax
next year might go. Jepson suggested it be used for
economic development purposes. Councilmember James
Haley thought the money should go to entities the town
already supports, such as increasing funds to the Chamber of
Commerce or the Cobre Valley Center for the Arts. Mayor
Terry Wheeler felt the bed tax issue should be put on a future
agenda.
Fire Chief Gary Robinson mentioned an event over the
weekend, where a drowning in a resident's pool almost
occurred. CPR was the lifesaver, he said. He urged everyone
to consider CPR training.
The Council unanimously passed, and then signed, the
response letter supporting Resolution Copper in the NEPA
scoping process. A tentative budget including $36,000 for
CVCA from last year's surplus was passed.
The $1 year lease for a police substation at CVRMC was
passed. The Lions will be decorating the space, which, in
addition to police, will be used by the Gila County
Attorney's office and child health services.
And the Council decided to lease the broom-the road broom
vehicle for cleaning city streets.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
GILA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Tuesday June 7, 2016 10:00 AM Gila County Courthouse
It doesn't happen often, but yesterday morning at its Regular
Meeting, the Gila County Board of Supervisors was
blindsided. Not only that, but blindsided by its own
attorney. An action item on the agenda to approve an
agreement with Triplet Mountain Communications, Inc. for
point to point broadband links was tabled just prior to a vote.
County attorney Jeff Dalton interrupted IT Director Kelly
Riggs' presentation with his contention that the matter must
go to competitive bidding.
But does it? It will be researched. It's more than just money.
Performance will come into the picture too. The consensus
is that current provider CableOne can not deliver the speed
and reliability, and would not entertain a bid as low as
TMCI's $319,892.10 which would give the county five years
of service at 1 gig per second, which Riggs feels would be a
vast improvement over CableOne.
It's probable the matter will go out for bids, which will delay
any contract for at least two months. There was no comment
from TMCI.
Gila County is being asked for an additional $40,000 to fund
the University of Arizona's College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences Cooperative Extension in the next fiscal year. The
program's Regional Director, Richard Gibson gave the
presentation in place of Dr. Jim Sprinkle who has retired.
For the current fiscal year, Gila County is contributing
$60,000. $31,500 goes to travel, with $28,500 in operation
expenses.
The $40,000 increase is due to the expiration of several
grants that were not renewed. It will fund faculty in Payson
and Globe.
Gila County is one winery richer. The board granted a farm
winery license to the Bruzzi Vineyard located in Young.
And County Manager Don McDaniel said the tentative
budget for Fiscal Year 2016-17 should be ready for the next
meeting.
THE ARIZONA WATER COMPANY /
CITY OF GLOBE AGREEMENT
Presented Wednesday June 15, 2016
6:00 PM Globe City Hall
The long-standing dispute between Arizona Water Company
and the City of Globe has been settled, much to the relief of
the Arizona Corporate Commission, which was reluctant to
rule on the matter in lieu of a settlement.
Gary Hayes counsel for the city of Globe, joined by Arizona
Water Company general counsel, Rob Spear, gave an
overview of the dispute. They said that according to Steve
Olea, who retired recently after 32 years as Utilities Director
for the Arizona Corporation Commission, this was a unique
battle that began in 2012 when Gila County wanted to
abandon a right of way easement. Doing so necessitated
contacting the party responsible for utilities on the property,
which Gila County believed was AWC. Initially, this was
news to the company.
After several months reviewing documents as far back as
1910 and voluminous private notes from long-time Globe
Mayor, Stanley Gibson, AWC was of the opinion that the
service area was theirs. Globe, which had been serving the
area for generations, believed they had the rights to it.
It came down to a dispute over two properties being served
by Globe Water, one called north, running along US 60 from
the old Revere Ranch to Hilltop Motors. The other called
South, commonly considered to be Arlington Heights. The
sticking point was Globe's water treatment plant located in
the north area. Globe could not afford to concede it to AWC.
The city simply did not have sufficient money to pay an
outside company for its use.
Arizona Water Company sued Globe for over $7 million
dollars, claiming they had the rights to both areas. Legal fees
began to rise, the dispute became more contentious, and no
end was in sight. Ultimately two things were responsible for
a settlement-the urging of the ACC, and Globe's lack of
funds to continue a legal battle.
The settlement, which was unanimously approved by the
City Council last December, gives AWC both properties.
AWC will have to buy the infrastructure for both for
$105,000 plus the cost of 975 feet of the recently installed
water main on US 60. AWC will also have to commit
$250,000 to infrastructure improvements on the properties.
While the property to the north will be owned by AWC,
Globe will operate it under a no-cost license, thereby solving
its issue regarding the water treatment plant. AWC will own
and serve the south property.
Also on hand for the meeting was Freddie Rios, local
manager for AWC in the Globe-Miami area for the past 13
years, Frederick Schneider, a VP of Engineering for AWC,
Globe Mayor Terry Wheeler, Councilmembers Roberta Lee
Johnson and Lerry Alderman, and more than a dozen city
employees including Chris Collopy, Jerry Barnes and Paul
Jepson. In addition to KQSS' Jon Cornell, two members of
the public attended.
The settlement will be confirmed by the ACC on June 28th
at 10 AM in Phoenix. Video will be shown at AZCC.gov,
and audio can be heard live by calling 602-545-0222.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
TOWN OF MIAMI MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Monday June 27, 2016 6:30 PM
Town Council Chambers - Sullivan Street
Miami has ordered a property owner to cut three feet off his
trailer. That was revealed in last night's Regular Meeting of
the Town of Miami Mayor and Council, as frustrated
property owner Rueben Gutierrez took advantage of the Call
to the Public to discuss his dissatisfactory interaction with
Town management. It started when Gutierrez bought a
property on North Miami Avenue. He got a permit to tear
down the existing structure. But when he attempted to find
out about what zoning and permit requirements would be
necessary to put a mobile home on the property, he got no
response. Code enforcement head Gary Leveque admitted
he didn't know what the code specifications were, but he
promised Gutierrez he'd find out. Gutierrez never heard
another word from anyone in the Town offices, so last month
he put a 66_ foot trailer on his 72 foot lot. The neighbors
had no problem-even signed statements to that effect.
The Town had other ideas. After receiving no response on
what to do, Gutierrez got a notice that to comply with the
code they didn't provide to him, he had to cut three feet off
his mobile home. When he contacted Town Manager Joe
Heatherly for relief, Heatherly provided none. So Gutierrez
asked about petitioning a Board of Adjustment. Gutierrez
told the Council that Heatherly replied, “I am the Board of
Adjustment.” When he asked if he could go to the Town
Council, he claims Heatherly told him it wouldn't help. But
will it? The Council in keeping with meeting requirements
could offer no comment to his pleas. What they will do now
that they've heard his story is another one of the unknowns.
Deaf resident Gary Mulcher also participated in the Call To
the Public, via letter read by Mayor Darryl Dalley.
Mulcher's concern is that people in Miami are hungry
because the local food bank is closed and they have no
money for transportation to Globe food bank. The Mayor
said he'd talk with Heatherly about Mulcher's concerns. And
Councilmember Susan Hanson added that the food bank has
agreed to provide transportation to Globe for Miamians, and
that a permanent solution in a new Miami location is
actively being pursued.
The IDA's Fred Barcon was in attendance to get the
Council's support for the IDA's pursuit of an EPA
Brownsfields grant. The EPA has several grants associated
with the program designed to reduce blight. The IDA is
pursuing is a $400,000 Assessment Grant, which if awarded
would be used for planning for development, not for the
development itself. The IDA's application focuses on
community gardens, a food bank, a health care clinic and a
youth center..
The Council questioned Barcon about the disposition of the
IDA's Promise Zone application. Barcon informed them that
it did not materialize. This grant, which has an August
deadline to apply, he said, is totally unrelated.
The future of Gila County providing court services is in
question. Currently there is an IGA for the Consolidated
Administration and Operation of Limited Jurisdiction
Courts. The agreement automatically renews next month,
but either side can give notice to terminate it. Miami, which
has whittled down to $18,000, the amount it owes Gila
County for the arrangement, is aware that the County does
not want to continue it. The Council voted to inform Gila
County of their request that the agreement continue for
another year.
A tentative budget was passed which includes no tax
increases- sales, property or head count. It's likely the staff
will receive a 3% increase in salary but that's not guaranteed.
There will be a 2.4% increase in the cost of utilities
provided by the Town. Outstanding account payables have
dropped considerably. They were at $1.3 million, but now
stand at $800,000-with another $800,000 in unfunded
liabilities. Continuing issues with the IRS were mentioned
but there was no elaboration.
On the positive side, $670,000 in utility receivables is owed
to the Town. Heatherly pledged to be more aggressive in
collections. The fire truck will be sold, and should bring in
$125,000. Gila County and Globe have voted to increase
their participation in Cobre Valley Community Transit to
$61,000 each, with Miami also contributing $61,000. The
tentative budget appears to be balanced at this point. There's
a Public Hearing on it, on July 11th at 6:30 PM.
The Mackie Camp Bridge overhaul is not looking good.
FEMA will pay for it, but requires Miami to first fund it and
then be reimbursed. Miami does not have the money to do
that.
Chief Scott Gillen gave the police report for the week of
June 20th. There were 174 calls, 14 citations, three 911
calls, one assault, five animal control calls, three civil
matters, one domestic disturbance and three juvenile
referrals. The new prescription drug drop box is now
available in the lobby of the police department.
The Chief updated the Council on the pool electrocution
case stemming from a break-in that resulted in injury to
David Garcia. Garcia pled guilty and will be sentenced at a
later date.
Heatherly reported hearing some great comments on the
pool. Checks from Carlotta, Resolution Copper and Freeport
McMoran were very helpful, he said. There's a new
refrigerator at the Senior Center, new AC for the concession
stand at Veteran's Park, and Town staffers are making
progress with the Caselle accounting software, which is now
being used for both billing and receivables.
Councilmember Sammy Gonazles praised Low Expectations
for their performance at last Saturday's Music in the Park
event. And the Mayor congratulated the Pinal Mountain
Little League Girl's Team, which his still undefeated in their
championship quest.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF GLOBE
MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Tuesday June 28, 2016 6:00 PM
City Council Chambers - Pine Street
A task force was set up at last night's Regular Meeting of the
Globe Mayor and Council to determine how to pay the $10
million owed to the Public Safety Personnel Retirement
System, since the option of temporarily increasing sales
taxes was hotly contested by several area businesses. Two of
the most outspoken, Rebecca Williams from the Dream
Manor Inn, and Udon McSpadden from McSpadden Ford
are on it, along with the Chamber of Commerce's Ellen
Kretsch. Among other probable members are Ken Bernstein,
Mike Stapleton, Steve Stratton and Roberta Lee Johnson.
The task force has been asked to present recommendations at
the July 12th council meeting for how to come up with $10
million.
Rebecca Williams, Ellen Kretsch, Udon McSpadden
Finance Director Joe Jarvis accepted that a tax increase
could affect spending, but added there's no way to know at
this point if it would, and to what extent it might.
Mayor Terry Wheeler proposed taking $2 million from the
city's $4 million reserve fund account to pay down some of
the debt. Chamber of Commerce's Kretsch was in support of
that, as it doesn't raise taxes. Councilmember Lerry
Alderman suggested waiting for the task force
recommendations, but Councilmember James Haley
suggested it be put to a vote immediately. Rules were
waived, the vote was taken, and Wheeler's proposal did not
pass.
Rules were waived for most every vote at this meeting
including approving Besh Ba Gowah museum director Leana
Asberry's request for $8,000 to replace the museum's air
conditioning unit which recently failed.
Besh Ba Gowa's Leana Asberry
Several annual leases were renewed including the $1 a year
lease for the Cobre Valley Center For The Arts at he old
courthouse building.
One issue tabled until the next meeting was options for the
bed tax. Jarvis and City Manager Paul Jepson project over
$200,000 will be collected for Fiscal Year 2016-17.
Councilmember Haley suggested getting rid of the $100,000
a year distribution cap, and doling out the receipts to the
current beneficiaries proportionately. Councilmember
Alderman proposed quarterly checks be sent, based on
collected funds. Ultimately the Council agreed the matter
needed more study.
Jarvis announced it's time for applications to be submitted
for non-profit grants. There is $15,000 available to
non-profit organizations that benefit Globe residents. Bed
tax recipients are not excluded from applying. Applications
must be in by July 20th at 5 pm. If there are any questions,
contact Joe Jarvis at City Hall.
Councilmember Alderman described the Tuesday Morning
meeting of the Arizona Corporation Commission as having a
“kumbaya” feel to it over the approval of the settlement
between Arizona Water and the City of Globe. Jepson added
that there will be a judicial review, which is largely a
required rubber stamp, after which point it will be final.
Mayor Wheeler and Vice Mayor Eric Mariscal attended the
Resolution Copper Globe office opening last Friday. Over
100 people were there. Both enthused about how good it is
to have Resolution Copper here. They were thankful for
their support and pleased that the whole Copper Triangle
will benefit from their presence.
There was a special presentation from the Globe Fire
Department in collaboration with the Globe Firefighters
Association and the Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center.
Angel Mendoza was honored for using CPR to save the life
of 6 year old Madison Hobbs, the child who almost
drowned. The Madi project has been named in her honor. It
centers around drowning prevention and education. The
initial seminar will be this Thursday at 5 pm at City Hall.
Fire Chief Gary Robinson, Madison Hobbs, Angel Mendoza
